A Rose By Any Other Name
Three: Holding On to the Rose
Things seemed to be going well for the most part. The rose Iruka received bloomed beautifully for nearly three weeks. Mizuki kept making small, flirty gestures toward Iruka, even in public, but Iruka hardly minded it. In fact, it seemed as though Mizuki had always been his lover: it was just not official. Everday the couple would wake up, Iruka would make breakfast, they would go to work together at the academy, go out for lunch, come back to teach, and come back home for dinner. Once in a while (usually Fridays), the two would go and share a private onsen, where they felt was one of the few places where they could freely speak to one another as lovers, and not as commerades.
“It was funny too!” Mizuki said, scubbing Iruka’s back. “Kotetsu was so adamant about getting me to say that we were together.”
“Did you?” Iruka asked.
“No, of course not.” the white haired mand said. “I would never betray that secret.” Iruka frowned a little when he said that.
“Do you really want to keep it a secret? Kotetsu and Izumo are freely together, and no one has given them grief about it.”
“Koi, you’re too naive about that.” Mizuki claimed, sighing. “People don’t talk to you about things like that because you’ll set them straight, and they don’t want to ‘corrupt’ your mind.”
“As if them talking to me about a gay couple will do anything to me.”
“True enough.” he admitted. “But they don’t know that you’re gay.”
“Why can’t I just tell them?”
“You’ll get hurt.”
“Do you honestly think that will happen? Even you said that people think I’m naive.”
“You are.”
“Do you think that they’ll try to hurt me?”
“Then what about me? I live with you. Rumors will go around that I’m sleeping with you.” Mizuki said, angry at Iruka. “We’re risking a lot by being together.”
“Sticks and stones.”
“Hurt, and sometimes aren’t just stones. They’re deadly weapons, koi.” Mizuki retorted, putting everything away. “I’m trying not to get you killed here.” Iruka sighed and rinsed off his back.
“Let’s go into the onsen.” the brunette suggested. “We’ve had a long week.”
“Oi!” Mizuki said, finding another person in the hot spring assigned to them. “I think that the sign said ‘private’, no?” The man in the water turned around and looked at the two other men.
“Konbanwa, Mizuki-kun, Iruka-kun.” he said, his face half covered by a wash cloth. “Gomen, ne. The owner ran out of spaces in the public bath. She said she had informed you.”
“No, she hadn’t.” Mizuki muttered. “Would you mind leaving, Kakashi?”
“I just got in.” Kakashi said. “There’s plenty of room for all three of us.” Mizuki was about to say something, but Iruka interrupted him.
“That’s fine. We weren’t going to stay long anyway.” the brunette said, trying to compromise. Kakashi’s eyes smiled.
“I see.” he said, turning back to the wall and his sake. “Well, the water is very nice. Come in whenever you want.” Mizuki pulled Iruka to the side and looked at him firmly.
“This is–”
“I know, but we can’t avoid the situation.” Iruka said, knowing that this was ‘their’ time together. Mizuki shot a glare at the Jounin sitting in the onsen.
“I’m going home. You can stay if you want.” the white haired man said, turning and stalking off. Iruka knew full well that his lover didn’t mean that. Mizuki wanted Iruka to follow suit and go home. That’s how it always was with Mizuki. However, this particular week had been rough on Iruka, and he rather enjoyed his weekly onsen. Sharing the hot spring with Kakashi wasn’t so bad. . . and he could always cuddle up with Mizuki later. Thus, he didn’t understand why his lover had been so adimate about being in the same room as the Jounin. Nonetheless, Iruka sighed and walked into the bath, deciding to not worry about Mizuki and his attitude.
“I see you and Mizuki have a thing going on.” the silver haired Jounin said. Iruka shook his head.
“A lot of people have been saying that these days, but no.”
“That’s a lie.” Kakashi said. “It’s quite obvious, you know. You’re always together, you live in the same house, he makes those flirtatious passes at you and you don’t care. . . Heaven knows Izumo and Kotetsu have been trying to crack open Mizuki for the last week or so.”
“I know. He told me.”
“Then why hide it?” Kakashi asked. Iruka looked at the other man and searched for a sign of deception. There was none.
“Well, I don’t want people talking about us, really.” he said, just restating Mizuki’s reasons. “Mizuki has been hearing people who disapprove of Izumo and Kotetsu recently, and we don’t want to share in the gossip.” Kakashi shook his head at the brunette.
“I don’t think that those are your reasons, Iruka-kun.” the Jounin said. “It doesn’t sound like you were the one who came up woth those words.”
“Why do you say that?” Iruka asked, shocked that a man, whom he hardly knew, figured out so easily that Iruka had never once thought those reasons.
“You seem the open type, particularly when you write in English.” Kakashi stated. “Your ‘a’s are almost alwyas open at the top.” Iruka furrowed his brows.
“A’s?”
“Yeah, your ‘a’s.”
“You’ve seen my handwriting?”
“All the time. You do get Anko’s reports, no?” Kakashi asked. Iruka then remembered that Kakashi and Anko often worked together for menial tasks around the village, and part of the required teacher work was to process paperwork from missons. Apparently, Kakashi had noticed that the small amounts of English in the reports were in fact Iruka’s handiwork.
“What does my handwriting have to do with anything?” he asked.
“English is strange.” Kakashi said. “Your personality comes out in much of your writing. Most of what I know about your writing tells me you’re a happy, open, dedicated person. Sadly, I don’t think I can say the same for Mizuki.”
“What’s he like?”
“Close minded, stubborn, calculated, and mostly selfish.”
“Selfish?”
“His name is written bigger than any other word in his work.”
“Where did you learn this?”
“Books.”
“You trust that?”
“Not more than my intuition, but more than a rumor.” Kakashi stated, pouring more sake for himself. “Would you like some?” the Jounin offered.
“I don’t drink.” Iruka said. “But thanks anyway.”
“Does Mizuki drink?”
“Sometimes too much, honestly.”
“Be careful about that.”
“He’s never gotten out of hand.”
“Records don’t always mean everything.” Kakashi said, sipping his sake from underneath his mask. Iruka decided that the other man was trying to pull something to perhaps break up himself and Mizuki. Maybe. . . Mizuki had spoken the truth! There were people who wouldn’t approve of their relationship! Kakashi was either one of them, or someone trying to protect them.
“Thanks for the advice.” Iruka said, grabbing a towel. “I think I should be going now.”
“Oh? So soon?”
“I still have work tomorrow, and it’s going to be long and tedious. I should get all the sleep I can.”
“All right. Kio tsukete, Iruka-kun. Oyasumi.”
“Oyasumi.”
**-**-**
Mizuki was asleep when Iruka arrived home, and he was glad because of it. He didn’t really want to hear Mizuki lecture him, as he knew the white haired man would. All he wanted right then was to grab some decaf tea to warm him up, and then go to bed.
“’Ruka?” Mizuki asked, barely conscious and walking out toward the noises in the kitchen.
“I’m sorry. Did I wake you?” Iruka asked. Mizuki shook his head.
“Nah, I fell asleep waiting for you.” he said, getting down two mugs. “How was it with Kakashi?”
“Nothing mentionable, really.” Iruka replied. “He knows about us.”
“Did you tell him?”
“No, but even when I denied it he wouldn’t give up his claim as everyone else has.”
“I see.” Mizuki said, sitting. “I’m sorry I walked out. I should have stayed.” Iruka stood there shocked. Mizuki was apologizing? This was a first.
“It’s fine. I don’t hold it against you.”
“Still, you could have called me on it.” the other man said. “You didn’t have to let me go.”
“I didn’t want to argue with you, or cause a scene.” Iruka said. “We could always talk at home.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Mizuki commented. “I needed time to cool down.”
“I’m glad to see that you did.” Iruka said, smiling. “Now, let’s get our tea and go to bed. We have tests to grade tomorrow.”
“Oh joy.” Mizuki said, taking the mug Iruka filled with water and a tea bag.
TBC...
**-**-**
Notes:
Konbanwa: Good Evening
Koi tsu kete: Take care
Oyasumi: Good Night
A/N: Again, I'm sorry for the delay! I had some time right now, and I decided to write this one for a while ^^. I'm working on chapter 6 right now, so hopefully that one will be posted soon... -____- knowing me it won't be, but we can always be hopeful!! ^^;;
Please rate and review!! ^____^ I'll be more motivated to update! X3
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A/N: Sorry it took so long to update! Just for you all, I'm going to post TWO, yes TWO chapters!! I'll do one right now, and then one tomorrow afternoon!! (I'm tired of college already -____-;;;).
PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW!!!!!!! ^__________^