Fandom: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Sailor Stars (anime)
Date Finished:
Classification: Romance, Humor, Angst
Pairing: Seiya/Yaten, references to past Fighter/Kakyuu, shades of Seiya/Usagi
Rating: NC-17

Give Unto Me
By Elsewhere
elsewherecw@shaw.ca

All other information in Part One.

Part Four: Solitude

Glossary:
baka - idiot
e? - huh?
fuku - uniform
gomen - I’m sorry
hai - yes; okay
hime - princess
hontou ni - really
katakana - a set of Japanese written characters, often used to write out foreign words
koneko-chan - the little kitten
ne - sort of like ‘eh’ or ‘hey’…a word used to emphasize a point or get someone’s attention
neko-chan - little cat
Odango - dumpling---Seiya’s affectionate nickname for Usagi
ohayou/ohayou gozaimasu - good morning
oi - hey
oyasumi - good night
senshi - soldier; warrior
shiruku - silk
urusai - shut up

Note: The lyrics Seiya and Yaten sing in this part are, of course, from the Three Lights’ most famous song, ‘Nagareboshi e’. The lines they sing translate as follows:

Kimi no kaori zutto (sagashiteru) - Your scent is what I’m always (searching for)
Boku no koe yo todoke (aishiteru) - Can you hear my voice calling out? (I love you)
Ima doko ni iru no - Where are you now?
Boku no princess - My princess

Kotaete - Answer me
Ima sugu - Right away
Kotaete - Answer me
Yasashiku - So gently

Oh, and Seiya also sings one line from the B-Side of the ‘Nagareboshi e’ single, ‘Todokanu Omoi’. That line translates as:

Kimi no egao mabushisugite - Your smiling face is too brilliant

Additional Note: The poem Seiya recites is ‘My Pretty Rose Tree’, with half-hearted apologies to William Blake. I do, however, whole-heartedly apologize to Taiki as a character and Tsunoda Narumi as a seiyuu, who actually recited Blake very nicely. ;P

Yet Another Note: Kawamura Ryuichi is a Japanese pop/rock singer, formerly the lead singer of Luna Sea, who tends to have rather…expressive eyebrows when he’s performing. *cough* There’s no way to describe Ryu’s eyebrows; you’d just have to see for yourself.

*****
Where will you go
With no one left to save you from yourself
You can’t escape
You don’t want to escape
*****

Yaten woke up suddenly, pulled out of his dreams so quickly that he was left with only a vague sense of horror, bereft of the images that so often accompanied it. He frowned as he sat up, lifting a hand to wipe at the few beads of sweat that stood out on his forehead and frowning in disgust before he sighed and turned to look at the clock.

Three o’clock. He’d slept no more than a couple of hours. It had been dark when sleep had finally managed to claim him, but now his room was bathed in the soft blue glow of moonlight. He sighed as he got to his feet and moved to the window, a slender hand pushing aside the curtains. His eyes, shimmering brilliant green in the odd light, focused on the moon.

Unbidden, an image of a young girl in a senshi fuku, with brilliant white wings, flowing blonde hair, and big blue eyes came to his mind, and he bit his lip thoughtfully.

"Sailor Moon…" he murmured into the silence of his room. "Who are you? What is it that you truly want…? Seiya…Fighter thinks you can help us…"

He sighed as he let the curtain drop closed and turned around, running a hand back through his loose hair. As he passed his desk he picked up his abandoned ribbon, and by the time he’d reached the door, the trademark Three Lights ponytail was back in place. He paused, a hand on the doorknob, to cast a sideways glance at the various new items on the floor.

Before Taiki and Seiya had pushed Yaten to go to bed, telling him that they’d take care of the kitten for tonight, they had led him to his room to show him the rest of his presents, which basically amounted to a huge mess on his usually spotless floor. Cat toys and accessories of every description had been dumped there, not to mention a litter box---which was currently with Taiki and Seiya---, a little cat bed, and a crate Yaten could use to carry the cat around or take her on tour. Of course seeing all of these practical things laid out before him had caused Yaten to begin to consider some of the other practicalities.

"What are we going to do with her while we’re at school!? While we’re working!? We’re hardly ever home!!" Yaten had exclaimed suddenly, so loudly that the cat had started to get upset, digging her claws into the jacket of Yaten’s school uniform and mewling her distress.

"Shh!!" Seiya had said, soothingly petting the kitten’s head until she’d gone back to sleep in Yaten’s arms. "It’s okay…for tomorrow she’s going back to Aino-san’s house to stay with Aino-san’s cat, but after that she’ll be going to a sort of pet daycare type thing. We’ve got it all worked out!"

"How did you think of all this?" Yaten had asked, amazement and disbelief warring for dominance on his face.

"We had a lot of help," Taiki had admitted, looking a bit sheepish behind his glasses. "From Aino-san and Tsukino-san."

After that---and after they’d reassured Yaten that yes, they had plenty of cat food and other such necessities---Taiki and Seiya had bustled Yaten off to bed, saying he’d had a long day and was plainly exhausted, and Seiya had claimed cat duty for the night. Yaten’s half-hearted protests had been drowned out by the other two Lights firmly shutting the door in his face.

"It’s not that I want to steal all your kitty time," Seiya had assured Yaten with a wide grin. "You can still see her tomorrow, Yaten-kun. She’s yours…hontou ni."

Yaten huffed out an impatient breath at the memory of Seiya’s cheeky smirk, rolling his eyes as he shuffled down the hallway towards the stairs. He’d heard Seiya saying something to Taiki about going to the kitchen to stay with the kitten, and something else about unpleasant kitten bodily functions that Yaten didn’t want to think about. But as Yaten started to pass Seiya’s door, something made him pause, and he took a step closer to the door instead. He blinked when he heard the distinct sound of Seiya’s voice through the door.

With only the slightest hesitation, he opened the door and poked his head through, and couldn’t help a slight smile at the sight that greeted his eyes.

Seiya was sprawled out on his bed on his stomach, dressed in a pair of dark blue boxers with big garish yellow stars on them and a bright red tank top, his ponytail messily spread over his back and the bed, legs bent at the knees and socked feet lazily kicking back and forth in the air. He was idly flipping through the Weekly Oricon with his left hand, his right hand skimming along the paragraphs in an open Fool’s Mate. As usual, his battered notebook was lying open not far from the magazine, the open pages covered in unintelligible scribbles, mostly in katakana. As cute a picture as Seiya made on his own, the most adorable part of the scene was the tiny grey kitten curled against his side, nothing but a little silvery ball messily tangled in Seiya’s black ponytail, settled into the curve of Seiya’s hip.

"Kimi no kaori zutto," Seiya sang softly, kicking his legs with a bit more fervor as he picked up a red marker and highlighted a few things in the Fool’s Mate article. From his position in the doorway, Yaten could vaguely see pictures of the three of them. He knew that Seiya liked to keep up to date on public opinion of the band.

"Boku no koe yo todoke," Seiya continued, and his voice was so soft and sweet that Yaten found his smile widening as he decided to join in with the refrain.

"Aishiteru," he sang, his own soft, higher voice layering over the lead singer’s song for a moment before Seiya’s voice sharply cut off.

"Deh!?" Seiya exclaimed, scrambling to his knees so quickly that the kitten gave a high-pitched meow that sounded like a shriek and bolted across the bed, cowering in the corner. Seiya’s attention instantly turned from Yaten to the cat. "Ah, gomen!"

Seiya reached for the frightened kitten, scooping her up into his arms and petting her reassuringly until she calmed down.

Yaten chuckled softly as he closed the door behind himself.

"Yo," he said quietly, glancing up and meeting Seiya’s eyes, still amused by the surprise he found there. It softened the color of Seiya’s gaze to a pleasant, light blue.

"Yo," Seiya replied, still a bit breathless. "What are you doing up? You should be sleeping."

"What about you?" Yaten asked, gesturing to the open magazines and notebook.

Seiya smirked.

"Ah, you know me," he said with a shrug. "I’m fine on any amount of sleep."

"So you claim," Yaten agreed with a raised eyebrow as he started towards the bed, stopping in his tracks when Seiya made a quick warning sound.

"Watch your step," Seiya cautioned him with a little grin. He pointed to a large wet patch on the carpet, and then the bottle of carpet cleaner and package of paper towels lined up against the wall. "We had a little accident."

An expression of distaste crossed Yaten’s face, which he then quickly tried to suppress when Seiya laughed.

"Honestly Seiya," Yaten said with a sigh, putting his hands on his hips and shaking his head. "I thought we’d managed to finally house train you."

"Ha ha," Seiya said with a grin as Yaten carefully stepped around the wet patch and made his way over to the bed, climbing up and crossing his legs campfire style. Seiya watched with a smile as the kitten quickly hopped out of Seiya’s lap and climbed into Yaten’s. Yaten cooed a hello and tickled behind the kitten’s ears, receiving a pleased purr in response.

"You all right?" Seiya asked as he lay down on his back, propping himself against his pillows and with his arms crossed under his head so he could still look at Yaten. Yaten looked up, surprised to see the kindness in Seiya’s eyes. He was always surprised to see kindness there, even though it wasn’t strange…Seiya and Taiki were so often kind to him. They were always there for him. But just like hugging Taiki, it felt different to be treated with kindness by Seiya. If it were Fighter…

Yaten sighed, closing his eyes.

"Fine," he said quietly. "If there were nightmares, I don’t remember."

"Mm. That’s how it is for me most nights," Seiya said with a sigh. When Yaten looked at him this time, Seiya’s eyes were fixed on the ceiling, or, more likely, fixed on something in his memory. His eyes were narrowed slightly, but not in anger. The blue had darkened again, with fear and remembered pain. "I’m not sure if that’s better or worse. I know in my dreams I’m remembering it all…is it better to wake up without the images in my mind? Only the taste of ashes in my mouth…?"

Yaten was silent.

"Eh…never mind," Seiya said suddenly, with a smile. "What can I do for you, Yaten-kun?"

"You can tell me why," Yaten said quietly, as his hand stroked slowly over the kitten’s back, again and again. It was a mindless motion, and yet somehow it gave his mind something to focus on, removing the temptation to watch Seiya’s expression. "You can explain to me why you did this."

"E? Did what?" Seiya asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"This. Her," Yaten said, voice softening slightly as his fingers gentled in her silken fur. He realized that sometime soon he would have to think of a name for her. "Did you even consider the consequences? Seiya…what about our duty?"

"What are you talking about, squirt?" Seiya asked frankly, giving a little chuckle when Yaten frowned at the nickname.

Yaten sighed and tried again.

"What about when we find Kakyuu-hime? What about when we go home?"

"Ah," Seiya said, letting out a quick breath. "So that’s what you mean. Listen, Yaten…let’s just cross that bridge when we come to it, all right? Just because we have a duty…just because we’re senshi…it doesn’t mean that we can’t have other things in our lives, right? Taiki and I…we thought you’d like this. We thought it might make your time here more enjoyable. We know you’re not happy here…"

His voice trailed away, and Yaten closed his eyes again, this time because his throat was feeling closed off again. Not only that, but something in his chest felt hot…heavy.

He jumped a bit, eyes opening quickly, when he felt Seiya’s hand curl gently around his thigh.

"Ne," Seiya said softly. "Look at me."

Yaten reluctantly lifted his eyes, and caught his breath when he saw the kind smile on Seiya’s face.

"Come on," Seiya said gently. "Don’t worry about it. Just…if she makes you happy, even a little…then focus on that, okay? Let us worry about the rest."

"Why do you care so much how I feel?" Yaten asked, a tinge of bitterness in his voice as defensiveness finally flickered across his eyes, his half-hearted attempt at closing himself off against the warm feelings that were pushing against his instinct to remain cold. He couldn’t afford to let go…not here, on this planet, with these people. Not *here*. "I know you like it here. You have your Odango."

Seiya blinked, mouth hanging open for a moment before he sat up, leaning forward.

"My Oda…" he began, but then he cut himself off, waving a hand impatiently in the air between them. "No, never mind that. I can’t believe you’d ask why I care how you feel. Yaten…come on! It’s me!"

Yaten kept his eyes firmly on the kitten in his lap, on the way his hand stroked down her back, then lifted and dropped to her head before stroking down her back again. Such a simple rhythm, but so soothing…Kakyuu-hime would so often stroke Healer’s hair like this when she was upset. Why couldn’t she be here now? Every day, he needed her more…

"Hey," Seiya said, and Yaten froze when he felt Seiya’s slender fingers touch his cheek, then slide under his chin. Seiya tilted Yaten’s chin up until their eyes met. "Yaten, I wanted to make you happy because…"

Seiya considered for a moment, then grinned and tilted his head to one side.

"Kimi no egao mabushisugite," Seiya sang, his voice sweet and strong, and then he stopped and laughed, almost as sweet a sound. Against his will, Yaten blushed, then tried to cover it by haughtily pushing his bangs back off his face.

"There are easier ways to make me smile than buying me a cat, baka," Yaten said, obviously not terribly amused.

"What, like this?" Seiya said, sticking his fingers in his cheeks and pulling to either side as well as rolling his eyes up into his skull to create an extremely odd face. Yaten continued to give him a dull expression, now complete with a raised eyebrow, so Seiya relaxed his face, rubbing his now-sore cheeks, and contemplated his options.

"Hm," he said, stroking his chin. "Well, I can’t tickle you again, because frankly, Seiya junior can’t take another hit this evening…"

Another flush crept up into Yaten’s cheeks, causing Seiya to snicker.

"Ah, I know!" Seiya exclaimed, lifting a finger before he bounced off the bed. "This one always gets you."

He moved across the room to his bookshelf and pulled down a box of costume props, pulling out an enormous pair of gag glasses. He cleared his throat loudly and put the stupid black glasses on his nose, then fetched a red rose out of the fresh bouquet he always kept on his writing desk. He moved around to the side of the bed where Yaten was sitting and knelt, then quickly spit on his hand and used the moisture to slick back the few curls that strayed onto his forehead. When he was finished, he vaguely resembled an extremely deformed Taiki.

"AHEM," Seiya harumphed loudly before he recited, in an extremely nasal tone of voice:

"A flower was offer’d to me;
Such a flower as May never bore
But I said, ‘I’ve a Pretty Rose-tree,’
And I passed the sweet flower o’er.

Then I went to my Pretty Rose-tree,
To tend her by day and by night.
But my Rose turn’d away with jealousy
And her thorns were my only delight."

Yaten was smiling by the time Seiya had finished his horrible rendition of the poem, but when Seiya deliberately stuck his fingertip onto one of the thorns and then shrieked like a little girl and waved his hand around in the air, the smile became a laugh.

"Oh, woe is me, woe is meeeee!!" Seiya cried, getting to his feet and bouncing around, ponytail flying. "Whatever shall I do!? O rose, thou art sick!!"

By the time Seiya’s shrieks brought the third Light to the door a moment later, Yaten was giggling helplessly behind a hand.

"What’s going on in here?" Taiki demanded sleepily, sounding more than a little concerned as he opened the door and took a step into the room. Seiya stopped bouncing around, ending up face to face with the very person he was aping so meanly. Taiki blinked and stared at the shorter Light, focusing in particular on his ridiculous boxers and the enormous black-rimmed glasses still perched precariously on his nose.

"Hi Taiki," Seiya said with a grin. "We weren’t making fun of you, honest."

Yaten started to giggle uncontrollably again, now using both hands to try to stifle the sound, as he watched Taiki’s expression change to sheer disbelief.

"Seiya," Taiki said finally, obviously completely flabbergasted, "I really don’t care what you do in your spare time, either of you, but could you please do it a little more *quietly* at four o’clock in the morning? We do have a math test coming up later this week, you know."

Taiki muttered something under his breath as he shut the door and they heard the sound of his footsteps moving off down the hall towards his room.

"Oh, well," Seiya said, sniffing superciliously as he adjusted the glasses on his nose and walked back towards the bed. "We have a math test coming up later this week, *you know*."

"I know," Yaten gasped from behind his hand as he tried to get his laughter under control.

"Uh-huh," Seiya said with a smile as he handed Yaten the rose with one hand and pulled off the glasses with the other, tossing them towards the desk. "Mind the blood."

Yaten chuckled as he accepted the rose, then placed it on the bedside table.

"E?" Seiya said, noticing the motion as he made his way around to his side of the bed again, preparing to lie down. "Aren’t you going back to bed now?"

"No," Yaten said simply before he sighed and picked up the kitten in his lap, who stirred sleepily and protested with a soft mewling as he placed her down on the bed. She settled down to sleep quickly enough though, obviously exhausted. "I still have to do what I actually came here for."

"Oh? What’s that?" Seiya asked, eyebrows lifting in curiosity.

"What I should have done hours ago," Yaten said, shifting a little closer on the bed. His expression was oddly determined, and Seiya’s eyes widened with surprise. "I’m here to heal you."

Seiya’s eyes widened further before his expression relaxed into a grin.

"Heh…don’t tempt me, Yaten," Seiya said, voice strangely husky for a moment as he waved a hand dismissively and then settled down on his stomach again, obviously intent on returning to his magazines.

Yaten tilted his head, wondering for a second whether he should ask what the hell Seiya meant by that remark before he decided that it really didn’t matter.

"Don’t be immature, Seiya," Yaten said with a touch of irritation before he leaned forward.

"O…oi!" Seiya exclaimed as he was abruptly grabbed in a very strong grip and manhandled over onto his back. "Yaten…! What the…!?"

"Stop struggling, baka," Yaten said from between gritted teeth as he straddled Seiya’s legs, giving himself leverage to push down against Seiya’s torso. "I’m not going to hurt you."

That stopped Seiya’s motions instantly; he quickly stilled under Yaten’s hands, although he didn’t relax, remaining so tense that Yaten felt *he* was now in danger of being kneed unpleasantly if he made any sudden moves.

"Just hold still," Yaten said quietly, pressing one hand to Seiya’s hip as he lowered the other to rest a few inches above Seiya’s groin. He heard Seiya catch his breath and glanced upwards to find Seiya staring at the ceiling, seeming entirely frozen.

Yaten sighed before shaking his head and focusing on his task, eyes on his hand as he spread his fingers and focused his energy. It was true that normally he would demand skin contact in order to heal, but in this case…

He felt more than heard Seiya start to breathe again, somewhat raggedly, as Yaten murmured the words of the incantation and his hand started to glow white before the magic started to flow from his palm through the space between his hand and Seiya’s body.

Yaten sighed again when he felt Seiya tense further, the firm muscles of his hip bunching against Yaten’s other hand. What was wrong with him!? This shouldn’t hurt him. All he should feel would be warmth, the long familiar sensation of the transfer of his fellow senshi’s energy. Then Yaten blinked when he felt the muscles tense against his hand again, this time more strongly, and this time he realized what it was…Seiya’s hips were shifting upwards, trying to buck *towards* Yaten. Yaten glanced towards Seiya and found him still staring at the ceiling, still breathing raggedly and looking very uncomfortable, and Yaten felt his confusion rising.

Yaten took a quick breath and focused himself a bit deeper within his own mind. It took more effort at this point in his life to relax the barriers than it had taken, so long ago, to learn to build them, but now he stripped them away until he began to feel some of Seiya’s emotions flowing into his mind where before they had only been a dull thud against him, like waves lapping against a waterbreak.

Yaten sucked in a quick breath and nearly lost his grip on Seiya’s hip when the first of Seiya’s prominent emotions of the moment shivered through Yaten’s own mind. Then Yaten’s eyes traveled down to where his hand rested in the air above Seiya’s crotch, and Yaten instantly tried to stop the blush he could feel creeping up his neck. His ears were burning so hotly he thought they must be steaming.

The obvious tent in Seiya’s boxers, straining up towards Yaten’s hand, was only physical evidence of what Yaten had felt in Seiya’s mind. Seiya was…aroused, Yaten thought would be the best way to put it. Aroused by what Yaten was doing to him. A jumble of feelings were moving through Yaten’s mind over the now-open connection, and he could only sort some of them out. He could make out that Seiya had been aroused as much as panicked when Yaten had grabbed him and flipped him over…aroused as much as panicked at the thought that Yaten might strip him naked to perform the healing, and see the proof of what he was feeling. He could easily see that Seiya was confused by his own feelings, by their strength, particularly now that Yaten’s magic was running directly into the place in his body where his arousal centered itself---painful as that had been when that particular part of his anatomy had been so sore.

This was…an interesting development, Yaten decided, wondering to himself what the hell he could possibly do about it. He smirked slightly as he thought to himself that his interest in the situation was only dampened somewhat by the fact that part of Seiya’s plight was due to the fact that Seiya had been badly neglecting his bladder for the last two hours at least.

Yaten closed his eyes and pulled back his hand, slowly drawing away from Seiya, letting go of his hip. With the motion, he also allowed his usual barriers to fall back into place, and shivered slightly at the harsh sensation of Seiya’s emotions withdrawing from where they’d entwined around his own.

"There. How does that feel?" Yaten asked, surprised to hear how husky his own voice sounded. Even more surprising was the fact that he…was aroused too, he realized. He’d never really been aroused by another person---he wasn’t even sure if that was what it was, or if the contact with Seiya’s mind had affected his body by proxy---so the sensation seemed even more strange than usual, and he quickly pulled his knees up close to his chest to hide any evidence.

Seiya swallowed, remaining still as he stared at the ceiling. He was flushed, and it seemed to take him a few minutes to regain use of his voice.

"I think…I need to use the bathroom," he said finally, hoarsely, before he slowly tried to sit up.

Yaten tried not to smile.

"I’m not surprised," he said simply, and watched as Seiya made his way to the door, not turning back.

Yaten turned his attention to the kitten when the door shut behind Seiya.

"What was that about?" Yaten whispered, lifting his eyebrows. "Seiya…was this just a fluke, some kind of freak reaction, or have you had feelings like this before?"

He sighed softly, running a hand through his hair before he settled down on his side next to the kitten, curling himself around her. He knew he had to stay with her until Seiya got back, awkward as that was and as much as he wanted to get back to bed and not have to face a possibly awkward conversation with Seiya. What if Seiya knew that Yaten had noticed? Would he mention it, or would he ignore it? Did Yaten even *want* him to ignore it?

Yaten closed his eyes as he let himself go back to stroking the kitten’s back. As soon as his eyes were closed and he was lying down, he felt himself getting sleepy, his body seeming to grow heavy against the bed, and almost without realizing it, he started to sing their trademark song from where Seiya had left off, in little more than a tired murmur.

"Ima doko ni iru no? Boku no princess…kotaete…ima sugu…kotaete…"

He let out a slow breath.

"Yasashiku…" he whispered before his voice dropped away into silence. He had never heard the door open or realized that Seiya was standing in the doorway, watching.

"Yasashiku," Seiya sang lightly, voice just above a whisper as he pulled a blanket over the sleeping idol and his new kitten, then ran a hand through Yaten’s hair, brushing his fingertips gently over Yaten’s cheek. "Oyasumi…"

*****

That morning when Yaten woke up and stretched, he tensed almost immediately, recognizing instantly that he wasn’t in his bed. He relaxed almost as quickly, realizing just as abruptly that he was just in Seiya’s bed. The events of the night before came back to him quickly, and he found himself fighting against a light flush as he quickly flung his legs over the side of the bed and glanced at the clock. He still had a few minutes before he had to get up for school, but there was no way he’d get back to sleep now, especially in *Seiya’s* bed.

He padded out into the hallway and glanced from side to side before making his way to the bathroom, checking to make sure it was empty before he went to take a shower. By the time he’d finished, he felt a lot better about the prospect of facing a new day. A new day which had the potential to be quite awkward where Seiya was concerned…after all, Yaten still didn’t know whether Seiya knew that Yaten *knew*…

Yaten sighed, glaring at himself in the mirror as he fiddled with the blow-dryer.

"Baka," he told himself frankly, rolling his eyes. /What does it matter anyway? He only has eyes for his Odango…/

He was still glaring as he made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen. As usual, Taiki looked up over his newspaper to say a polite ohayou gozaimasu, while Seiya grinned and said ohayou from around a mouthful of some disgustingly sweet cereal. However, unlike usual, Seiya also had a paper in his hands---a tabloid, specifically, with a picture of Yaten on the front page, and the words ‘THREE LIGHTS’ YATEN KOU’S AFTER HOURS AFFAIR WITH THREE HIGH SCHOOL CLASSMATES’ emblazoned in enormous black letters across the front page.

"Why Yaten," Seiya said teasingly as he lowered the paper and waggled his eyebrows at his band mate, "we had no idea. No wonder you’ve been looking so exhausted lately."

"It’ll blow over in a few days," Yaten said again, more to himself than to his two chuckling colleagues, his tone disgruntled.

After a few more minutes, during which Seiya pointed out the highlights of the article---"I had no idea you knew those words, Yaten!! Tisk tisk!"---and managed to make Taiki nearly snort coffee up his nose at least twice, Seiya finally moved on, putting the tabloid article aside and turning his attention to something else, chattering mindlessly about something he’d read in one of the music magazines he’d been going through early that morning.

During all of this, Yaten’s eyes remained on Seiya, noting that his behavior was entirely normal. There was no awkwardness in his expression, nothing lingering in his eyes, no note of embarrassment in his voice…obviously he either didn’t know, or his acting skills had improved considerably since Akane-san’s musical.

Yaten, for his part, decided to play it the same way as Seiya as best he could. It must not have been working, however, because he could feel Taiki’s eyes lingering on him at one point, the paper remaining turned down for longer than it should have been. Yaten grew increasingly nervous as he worked on his grapefruit, trying to ignore Taiki’s searching gaze, until finally Taiki turned his attention back to the news and Yaten relaxed.

Yaten glanced down when he heard a loud mewling, and then blinked as he watched the kitten bound up onto the table.

"Hey, you! No!" he exclaimed, but before he could move, Seiya had reached out and plucked the kitten into his arms, chuckling.

"Eh, third time this morning," Seiya said with a grin. "She’s a feisty one. It might take a while for us to teach her not to jump on certain pieces of furniture."

Yaten watched as Seiya finished the last of his cereal one-handed and then moved off into the living room with the kitten.

"Has she eaten?" Yaten asked then.

"Yes," Taiki said as he folded his paper and pushed away his plate, devoid of all but toast crumbs. "She’s ready to go if you are."

"Yeah," Yaten agreed as he got to his feet, grabbing his bag. "Let’s go."

Taiki nodded, grabbing his sunglasses on the way out the door.

*****

After school that day, Yaten reluctantly agreed to go with the other two Lights to Aino Minako’s house to pick up his cat, despite the fact that he felt he was in serious danger of being glomped. However, Minako wasn’t even home yet, and instead the Lights were greeted only by her parents and her own cat, a white male named Artemis with a crescent moon-shaped bald patch exactly like Luna’s on his forehead. Yaten crouched to say hello to Artemis, recognizing him instantly as the cat that had come to care for Luna when Luna had been injured after attacking Iron Mouse.

"You’re gathering yourself quite a feline fan club," Seiya teased as they made their way back to the car, Yaten’s kitten cradled in his arms. Yaten frowned at Seiya as the two of them got into the back seat and Taiki took his place in the driver’s seat, checking around carefully before he pulled out into traffic.

"I just like cats," Yaten said defensively. "You chase girls without rhyme or reason; I should be allowed to like something without having to explain myself."

Seiya laughed, but there was an edge to it. Yaten felt a familiar pair of eyes watching him from the rearview mirror.

"What’s that mean?" Seiya asked, still trying to sound casual, but Yaten could feel the same vague pulse of irritation he could hear in Seiya’s voice.

"It means don’t bother me and I won’t bother you," Yaten said curtly before turning his attention to the passing scenery out the window, cutting off his side of the conversation as best he could.

All three of them were silent the rest of the way home, and they remained silent for the rest of the evening. Taiki and Yaten stayed at the dining room table in companionable silence, doing their homework, while Seiya played video games in the living room and then got to his task of making dinner. As usual, Yaten only ate portions of it, namely the majority of the salad and some of the bread, leaving most of the main course---some kind of rice and hamburger concoction---for the other two, but for once he decided not to be terribly verbal about his disgust with such an unhealthy meal.

After that, Yaten retreated to his room, where he sat on his bed with his knees pulled up against his chest and stared out the window, wondering why he was being so cruel, why he was thinking the way he was…why he was letting old jealousies and new irritations get in the way when there were far more important things to worry about. Obviously the revelations of the night before had shaken him more than he had admitted to himself. He sighed, closing his eyes, only to snap them open again when he heard a soft, familiar knock on the door.

"Yaten?" came Seiya’s soft voice through the door.

Yaten remained silent, but after a moment, Seiya’s voice came again, gentle and hesitant. Yaten held his breath as he listened to Seiya’s words.

"I’m sorry, Yaten…I didn’t know I bothered you. Sorry."

Yaten quickly took a breath and got to his feet as he heard Seiya’s footsteps moving off down the hallway.

"Seiya," he called as he threw open the door and started out into the hall. Seiya turned, looking up, and Yaten was surprised to see the way he was slumped, obviously miserable.

"Yaten," Seiya said, sounding stunned, and at first Yaten wasn’t sure why, but then he reached up a hand to his cheek and felt the moisture on his skin. He sighed impatiently as he walked towards Seiya.

"You have nothing to apologize for," he said roughly. "I’m the stupid one. I just…"

He swallowed, closing his eyes, his voice falling to a whisper.

"I just want to find her, Seiya," he murmured. He could hear the exhaustion and pain in his own voice. He sounded so…deadened. He hadn’t sounded like that, once. It seemed so long ago. "I’m so tired of this place…I’m so tired of looking. I just want to be with her."

Seiya let out a slow breath, then tugged lightly on Yaten’s arm, pulling him into a tight hug. Yaten felt the same discomfort for a moment before he relaxed, focusing on Seiya’s warmth, and that familiar, sweet scent. Taking a chance, like he would have with Fighter, he nuzzled his nose lightly against Seiya’s neck, inhaling the fragrance of olive blossoms.

"I know," Seiya said softly, his hands gently stroking Yaten’s back and hair. "I know. I want that too, Yaten. I miss her…more than anything."

"That’s all…that’s why I lash out," Yaten muttered, resting his forehead against Seiya’s shoulder. "I don’t really mean it. I just…I’m sorry."

"It’s okay," Seiya said, shaking his head as he clasped Yaten’s shoulders, holding him even more tightly for a moment before he pulled back and stroked the tears away from Yaten’s cheeks. Seiya smiled gently. "Ne?"

Yaten nodded, but he still looked miserable.

"Come on…let’s go down and see koneko-chan," Seiya said with a grin, lightly tousling Yaten’s hair before he wrapped an arm around Yaten’s shoulders and led him towards the stairs. "Oh, and the cat, too."

That made Yaten chuckle softly as Seiya led him downstairs. The chuckle became a full-blown laugh, however, when they reached the living room and saw Taiki sitting on the couch cross-legged, trying to study but not succeeding too well due to the kitten perched happily directly on top of his head.

"Oh…that’s too priceless for words!!" Seiya hooted, cheering and clapping his hands. "Hold on, I’m getting a camera!"

"I hardly think it’s that funny," Taiki said with a sniff, pushing his glasses farther along his nose and trying to keep his focus on his textbook as the kitten pawed at his hair, disturbing the perfectly polished bangs.

"Come on, neko-chan," Yaten said with a laugh as he picked up the kitten, who protested with a soft mewl of displeasure at being taken from her nest. Yaten cradled her against his chest with one hand and used the other to smooth Taiki’s hair. Taiki looked up at him cross-eyed for a moment, then sighed and returned to his studying.

"So, have you thought of a name for her yet?" Seiya asked as he flopped down in an armchair, his eyes on Yaten as he curled up, legs under himself, on the couch next to Taiki.

Yaten considered this in silence for a few moments, his hands idly stroking through her silken fur.

"Hai…" he said slowly after a moment, smiling a bit lopsidedly. "Shiruku."

"Shiruku?" Seiya repeated, eyebrows spiking upwards and mouth twitching. "Isn’t that a little…?"

"I believe ‘unimaginative’ may be the word you’re looking for," Taiki said with a smile, reaching up to take off his glasses before he glanced at Yaten, one eyebrow raised.

"Shut up," Yaten said defensively. "It’s her name and it’s fine."

"Sure, sure!" Seiya said, holding up his hands in a pacifying gesture. "You’re right…it’s a great name. Really."

"It’s certainly…accurate," Taiki said, sniffing softly before replacing his glasses and turning back to his book.

"Hmph," Yaten said, deciding to ignore his band mates again and focus entirely on his newly-named kitten as Seiya started to chuckle loudly, only making a half-hearted attempt to hide it. "It doesn’t matter if they don’t understand, does it, Shiruku? Because all we need is each other…"

"FEELINGS!!" Seiya belted out abruptly, at the top of his lungs, placing a hand dramatically against his chest and adopting a facial expression that would have made Kawamura Ryuichi jealous. "NOTHING MORE THAN FEELINGS!!!"

"URUSAI!!!!!!!!"

*****

END PART FOUR