Catch My Fall

Chapter 2: Help me, I don't know what I'm doing. Help me, before I fall to ruin.

Tezuka set the cloth down on the bar and gave everything one last look before he made his way over to Fuji, who was sitting on the edge of the stage playing his guitar.

"You play quite well," Tezuka complimented.

Fuji stopped strumming and set his guitar back in its case. "Thank you."

"We're opening in an hour and I had a few last things I wanted you to know before you have your first show."

Nodding, Fuji got to his feet and stood close to Tezuka. "What do I need to know?"

Tezuka felt his body warm being so close to Fuji. They were only about a foot a part and he could see the playfulness in Fuji's eyes. "Well, we have a request box."

He pointed over to the edge of the bar to where a small wooden container lay. "People request songs they want to hear and once a night, one choice gets picked at random. Although, I do screen them to make sure that there's a valid song request on them."

"That sounds interesting," Fuji replied, still looking at the box.

Tezuka walked over the door and unlocked it. "Our staff should begin to arrive shortly."

"Ah," Fuji said with a nod. "How many people work here?"

Tezuka placed the key back in his pocket. "We have two waitresses, a chef, and busboy, maintenance worker, and I work as bartender and manager. Atobe handles the financial and promotional aspects."

"Tezuka?" Fuji began, voice a little hesitant.

He frowned, wondering what had Fuji nervous. "Yes?"

"I-I don't mind the other employees knowing my real name, but I'd rather go by my stage name in front of customers."

Tezuka raised an eyebrow at that. "I'm sure that will fine. May I ask why?"

Fuji smiled at him, shaking his head for a moment, at what, Tezuka wasn't sure, and then Fuji became quite interested in the state of his nails. "I don't think anyone could ever lie to you."

Tezuka wasn't exactly sure what Fuji meant by that. "Are you in some sort of trouble?"

Smiling brightly, Fuji replied easily, "No, not as such, but I'd rather be anonymous for a while."

Tezuka had a feeling that Fuji might tell him more if he was patient, so he let it go. "What's your stage name?"

Fuji looked at him with a glimmer of mischievousness and smirked as he replied, "Kagerou Zutsumi."

"There's a story behind that, I'm sure," Tezuka said, bemused.

Fuji inclined his head in agreement. "Yes, perhaps I'll tell you someday."


Just as Tezuka was going to ask Fuji another question, the front door slammed open.

"Bastard, watch where you're going," Kaidoh snapped at the man behind him.

"I'm not the one who needs to be careful. Not the one," Momoshiro replied, just as testily.

"It's not my fault your love life is in shambles."

"MY LOVE LIFE JUST FINE! BASTARD."

"You're too loud. No wonder why she won't marry you."

"If I asked, Tachibana's sister would marry me in a heartbeat."

"Sure."

"HEY!"

Tezuka frowned as he watched his chef and busboy argue again and made a mental note never to hire people related to each other, even if only by marriage.

"Momoshiro, Kaidoh, enough," Tezuka said in a voice that brooked no argument.

"Sorry, Boss," they both replied, sheepishly.

"Are you two fighting again?" Tomoka asked, coming in behind them.

"Do they ever stop?" Sakuno added as she stepped next to Tomoka.

Tezuka grimaced, "Unfortunately, they don't."

"Are they still arguing? I could hear them fighting all the way down the street," Kawamura asked as he joined Tomoka and Sakuno.

"Everyone, come here," Tezuka addressed the room. Everyone was silent and standing in front of him within seconds. Sometimes he wondered if he should have gone into coaching.

"We have a new crew member joining us. He's a talented musician and he'll hopefully be staying with us for some time. Welcome Fuji Syusuke." Tezuka stood to the side, beckoning Fuji forward.

"It's nice to meet all of you," Fuji said graciously.

Tezuka waited until everyone exchanged greetings before he got down to business. "Momoshiro, before you leave tonight, I need a list of food needed for the kitchen. Kaidoh, there are two new trays to replace the old ones for the dishwasher. Kawamura, I need you to take a look at the toilet in the men's room. It's been running all day. Sakuno, Tomoka, Atobe left a package for each of you in the back with your new aprons. Let's not get careless and we'll have a productive shift."

Tezuka turned to Fuji after everyone had left for their respective parts of the club. He had felt those eyes on him during his speech and it unnerved him just a little bit.

"Any orders for me, Boss?" Fuji said with a grin.

Tezuka felt heat creep up the nape of his neck. He stared at Fuji and then finally, something came to him. Fuji was wearing a pair of light brown pants and a dress shirt. He doubted that was what he would wear on stage. "You should change."

Fuji grabbed his bag and headed out to the back. "Yes, Boss."

Tezuka got behind the bar and poured himself a soda because, for some reason, his throat felt dry. He looked up as he heard footsteps approaching, and nearly lost his grip on his glass. Fuji had changed from his slacks and dress shirt into leather pants that looked painted on and a button down white top with only the middle three buttons done.

"Can I have something to drink?" Fuji asked as he sat down at the stool. Tezuka nodded dumbly, but poured him a soda while wondering how Fuji even breathed in those things.

"Here," Tezuka said as he pushed the drink in front of him. Fuji leaned forward a little, sticking his tongue out to flick at the straw before wrapping his lips around it and sucking. Tezuka forced himself to look away before Fuji noticed that his eyes were no longer attached to his head.

"Thanks. I have to go tune up now," Fuji said with a playful smile before he sauntered off to the stage. Tezuka told himself he was watching Fuji walk away to make sure he went to the right place, and not because that arse that he had appreciated earlier certainly looked better in leather.


"Fuji, good job tonight," Tezuka said as he got ready to close the bar. Everything had gone better than he had hoped. Fuji had been remarkable and he knew how to win a crowd.

"That means something, coming from you, Tezuka," Fuji replied.

"You don't know me very well. I could be humouring you."

Fuji cocked his head to the side. "You're not one to give praise extravagantly. I can tell."

Tezuka didn't know why it made him feel good to have Fuji understand him at all, even in that one aspect, but it did. "You're right."

Stepping out into the cold night, Tezuka looked over at Fuji, who seemed to be preoccupied with something.

"Can I walk you home?" Tezuka asked, hoping maybe that Fuji might talk if they did.

"Ah, no. I'm going to go find a hotel and sleep."

Tezuka raised his eyebrow. "You're staying at a hotel?"

Fuji nodded. "Yes, I'm still looking for a flat. I've only been here for less than a week."

"You can stay with me until you find some place," Tezuka found himself offering. He didn't know exactly why he made that offer, but he wasn't going to rescind it.

Fuji smiled brightly at him. "Thank you. I-I'd appreciate that."

The rest of the walk home was in silence, although it wasn't uncomfortable. He wished Atobe could appreciate silence more. He'd have headaches less often if he did.

Once they had arrived at his flat, Tezuka got each of them a cup of tea and they sat on his sofa while they drank in silence. The warm tea coupled with the long day had Tezuka feeling incredibly sleepy.

Tezuka stretched out and wondered why his pillow felt so much firmer than it usually did. Blinking himself awake, Tezuka realised he was still on the couch. He reached to the coffee table and found the glasses that weren't on his face. He then realised that his pillow wasn't a pillow, but Fuji's lap, one of his hands resting on Tezuka's chest and the other in his hair as if Fuji had spent some time playing with it before he fell asleep himself. Tezuka got to his feet, and berated himself for not seeing that his guest was comfortable before passing out on him.

He stopped dead in his tracks. That last thought was wrong. He didn't suppose that there would be a good time to pass out on Fuji. He was about to get a blanket and pillow for Fuji, when he quickly changed his mind, scooped Fuji in his arms, and laid him down his bed. He pulled the blanket over him, and watched as Fuji immediately curled up underneath it without waking. A part of him, a rather large one if he was honest with himself, wanted to crawl right in next to him, but another part of him, a really small, but extremely stern part, told him to be a good boy. Reluctantly, Tezuka grabbed a blanket and pillow from his closet and went back to sleep on his couch.


Fuji was already gone when he woke up, but he had left a short note thanking him and letting him know that he was out flat hunting. Tezuka was grateful he didn't have to face the man on whose lap he slept in the night before just yet, and he proceeded to get ready for the day.

After quickly washing up, Tezuka went to the gym for an hour-long work out and he felt immensely better afterward. Something about exercise had always made him less stressed out. However, when he walked to the coffee shop, he found himself hoping that he'd run into Fuji again. He refused to acknowledge the disappointment he felt when he didn't.

"So," Atobe began as he scribbled down something on the paper in front of him, "how was he?"

Tezuka adjusted the paper and, without looking up, responded, "He did well. The crowd loved him."

Atobe scowled and looked over at Tezuka, who put down his paper under the weight of Atobe's glare. "You know what I mean."

"I wouldn't know," Tezuka replied with a touch of irritation.

"Didn't he stay at your house last night?" Tezuka wondered exactly how Atobe found out the things he did. He wanted to deny it, but he nodded anyhow. Atobe pinched the bridge of his nose. "I backed off as a gift to you."

Tezuka snorted. "And the fact that he wasn't interested in you had nothing to do with it?"

Ignoring the last remark, Atobe pressed on. "I don't understand you. He wanted you, obviously, and if you wait... I know you, Tezuka. You'll find a million and one things wrong with him, and you won't. There's no one good enough for you. No wonder you've only had sex twice in the last six years."

Tezuka glared at Atobe, lips pressed in a thin line.

Atobe sighed, "Okay, that was an exaggeration...wasn't it?"

"Four."

Atobe's eyes widened. "Only four times? You're practically a virgin."

Getting to his feet, Tezuka snapped, "Better to sleep with anything that moves?"

Atobe took a sip of his tea. "No, just the pretty ones."

Tezuka almost laughed. Atobe had always been so incredibly shallow.

There was a tap at the door and Tezuka went to answer, almost shutting the door when he realised whom it was.

"Echizen," he said in acknowledgement. Tezuka wished he had another coffee. He hadn't consumed enough caffeine to deal with both Echizen and Atobe in the same room.

"Tezuka," Echizen said with a nod before sauntering toward Atobe.

Echizen had a smirk on his face when he plopped down in the chair across from Atobe, and put his feet up on the table. "Hey, Monkey King."

Atobe rolled his eyes. "Ore-sama doesn't like that name."

"Well, Ore-sama can't do anything about it," Echizen said as he looked over his shoulder at Tezuka. He sighed and went to get the brat a drink.

Tezuka placed the can of Ponta down in front of Echizen. Why Atobe insisted they kept some on hand for the brat was beyond him, but Atobe usually got what he wanted, mainly because Tezuka didn't want to listen to him whine anymore than he already did.

"Echizen, what do you want?" Atobe asked, annoyance lacing his tone.

"I was wondering when you planned on closing this place," Echizen said with a grin.

Atobe frowned. "Ore-sama will not close this place, right Kabaji?"

"Usu."

Tezuka started. Sometimes Kabaji could be so quiet, he scarcely noticed him at all.

Tezuka rolled his eyes. This could go on all day. "Echizen, don't you have to open up your own club?"

Echizen pulled the cap down to cover his face. "Mada mada…"

Atobe smirked then. "Yes, go run and open the club, or your father will begin to paw at all the strippers until they quit on you again."

Echizen got up, finished his Ponta, and left mumbling under his breath.

Tezuka shook his head. He didn't know why Atobe and Echizen felt like they always had to have this pissing contest, but it was annoying.

"Tezuka, will you take my advice?" Atobe asked and Tezuka cursed his luck. He thought Atobe had been thoroughly distracted from that conversation.

"Hmmm." Tezuka really didn't want to discuss this at all.

"It's sex, Tezuka. You may find it helps you develop a personality. Just sleep with him."

"Sleep with whom?" A voice came from behind both of them. Tezuka and Atobe turned to see Fuji looking at them both with a very amused grin on his face.