Asami had Kirishima drop him off at Sion after their planed landed in Tokyo; he had things to take care of, as per usual. When he finally made it back to the penthouse, Takaba was asleep in their bed. Asami grinned at the tousled mop of hair sticking out of the covers before unpacking his bag from the trip to Hokkaido. He carried his toiletries with him to the bathroom, planning on a nice shower to wind down. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Takaba's orange toothbrush back in the heavy porcelain cup by the sink. Asami frowned; it was adulterously cozy with Takaba's cheap razor. Asami glared and closed in . . . .

Akihito yawned and opened his eyes. Morning already? He rolled out of bed and walked toward the familiar rumble of Asami's voice. The older man sat at the table, talking on his cellphone while annotating some documents spread out in front of him. When his golden eyes looked toward him, Akihito just nodded a good morning before wandering into the kitchen for tea, not wanting to disturb him. He had drunk about half a cup when he thought he heard his name. Carefully he snuck closer so he could hear Asami's conversation.

"How are you planning on transporting Takaba-sensei from Mt. Fuji to Nagoya?"Takaba-sensei? Me? That idiot! He hurriedly put down his tea and rushed over to Asami. He noticed now that the older man had his cell phone.

"What are you doing?" Akihito hissed. "Don't call me a sensei!"

Asami just smirked at his lover's horrified reaction and continued his conversation. Akihito tried to pry the cell phone away, but Asami just took the opportunity to loop an arm around his waist and pull him into his lap. The younger man sat there and seethed till the conversation was over. Asami had negotiated his pay, travel, accommodations, meals, everything.

"Yes, we'll be waiting for the revised contract, good bye." Asami ended the call.

"You bastard!" Takaba exploded. "They're never going to work with me again since you made it so damned difficult. I don't need that kind of reputation!"

"This whole contract was poorly written." Asami gestured to the stack of papers he had extensively marked.

"When did that get here?"

"Yesterday's mail."

"Couldn't you at least let me read it before you-"

"You were asleep," Asami said with a dismissive smirk.

"So wake me up! Jeez, were you going to sign it for me too?" Akihito twisted himself out of Asami's grip and stood, glowering. Asami's eyes narrowed.

"Akihito, don't you trust me?"

"Not when you hijack my professional life!" Asami rolled his eyes.

"I'm just taking care of the legal side of things, don't exaggerate." Akihito bit his lip and exhaled hard through his nose.

"Try to understand," he said hoarsely, "that it's important for me to handle things myself."

"Because you have so much experience negotiating contracts," Asami huffed.

"I'm not saying I wouldn't ask your advice!" He protested as Asami looked away agitatedly and lit up a cigarette.

"Those idiots tried to under pay you, too," he muttered darkly. It hadn't occurred to him that Takaba would mind his "help." He was glad to see his lover's talent finally acknowledged and wanted to make the future road as smooth as possible. He was surprised when the younger man sat back down on his lap and pawed through the papers.

"Where's the first page?" Akihito's sharp eyes skimmed the pages of legalese for the right one. He wasn't sure, but it seemed like Asami was sulking.

"Here," Asami said gruffly as he pushed the correct page to the forefront. His arm curled back around Takaba. After Takaba looked over the changes, he went to the bathroom to wash up.

"Why is my razor in the trashcan?" he shrieked.

Asami smiled contentedly, warm cup of tea in his hand. Everything was as it should be.

Three weeks later, Akihito was riding a train between locations for his new job when he got a text: My cute Takaba-sensei, victim from Hokkaido likely Korean. You, me, Seoul?

Akihito grinned.

The End.

a/n: Okay, so I'm writing a sequel which will be about Asami and Akihito going to S. Korea to solve the murder. They must enlist help from the characters from the "Totally Captivated" so the story will be a cross-over, for those who are interested. If you've never read "Totally Captivated," you should because it's a great story.

Also, if anybody has an opinion about how I used "Takaba" and "Akihito" in this story, it would be great to hear. I tried to use "Takaba" when I wanted it to be more from Asami's point of view, and "Akihito" when it was more from Aki's POV. If you think it was/wasn't effective, or didn't even notice, would you be so kind as to tell me? I'm trying to be more graceful about navigating scenes with same-sex folks in them where pronouns can be confusing. Of course, general comments are always welcome as well!