After he'd put away his picture and trophy, he'd come downstairs only to be dowsed with a shower of champagne. Touma pouring a bottle over his head, while Shu held him still. Big, muscular Shu. Strong, powerful Shu. Seiji had shivered, but not from the chilly champagne…

The party was still going on. Shu had bought some beer, and Shin had baked a cake - a nice white sheet cake with "Congratulations, Seiji" in bright yellow frosting. Nasuti's house was a mess, and it didn't seem like there would be an end to the festivities any time soon. Touma and Ryo were at the heart of it all, cheering and hollering every time Seiji walked into the room. It had been fun for the first hour or so, but now…

Now he was hiding in the kitchen. He was hiding from a drunken Ryo and an equally drunken Touma. The two of them tended to get a little loud when they drank. Seiji felt sorry for poor blushing Shin who was suffering through all their bawdy talk, although he knew Shu would be there to help buffer any lewd comments thrown at the fishman. Or he would chime right in… I can dream, can't I?

Seiji sighed and absently picked at his lower lip, a bad habit he'd picked up in high school. Shu. Shu was their pillar of strength. Even when he'd doubted his armor, he'd managed to pull through for them and saved Jun's life. Jun who later helped all of them with the Jewel of Life. Shu did far more than anyone gave him credit for. Sure, he was boisterous at times and a little discourteous, but nothing Seiji couldn't handle. Of course, they did have their fair share of arguments. Especially when Shu wanted to rush right in and bust Dynasty heads open without even thinking about the consequences of those actions. He could have been killed. And then Seiji would have died…of heartache.

"Hey, Seiji."

Seiji blinked and sat up straight. Shu sauntered past him and over to the cake on the counter. He threw a couple of slices on a plate and got the milk carton out of the fridge. He plopped down across from the blonde.

Trying to hide the pink blush that now stained his cheeks, Seiji picked up the newspaper on the table and pretended to read.

"Rereading the article about your big win, huh?"

"Nani?"

"Couldn't get enough of it the first time, huh, Blondie?"

Seiji snorted and pretended to ignore him.

Shu noisily smacked down a couple of bites of cake before proceeding to gulp from the milk carton.

"You could get a glass," Seiji suggested.

"Yeah, I could…" Shu took another swig from the carton.

Seiji rolled his eyes and went back to pretending to read the newspaper. He peeked at the dark-haired man sitting across from him. What was it about Shu that fascinated him? Besides the obvious of course - dark charcoal hair and caramel brown eyes. Lightly tanned skin encasing battle-hardened muscles. Seiji swallowed to keep from drooling.

The bearer of Kongo was strong and carried with him an overwhelming sense of justice. His rashness stemmed from a need to bring swift retribution to those who deserved it. Seiji admired him. Admired what he stood for and his ability to forget anything but dealing out justice. Admired him for the way he filled out those jeans…

"Seiji?"

Seiji jerked his eyes back to his newspaper. "Hn?"

"Can I ask you something?"

Seiji turned the page. "Sure."

"Will you put down the paper first?"

Seiji panicked. At the moment, this newspaper was the only thing keeping him from leaping across the table and attacking Shu. "Uh, okay…" He lowered the paper slowly, trying to breathe normally. As soon as the newspaper was down on the table, Shu looked him in the eye. Seiji's mouth went dry. Those beautiful eyes…

"Why don't you ever go out?"

"Nani?" An elegant eyebrow arched.

"I mean…why don't you ever go out with any girls?"

"I don't know…"

"You always have a couple of 'em following you around like lost puppies, but you never choose to go anywhere with them, they just seem to find you. Touma and Ryo have the same problem, but you're the worst."

Seiji frowned. "The worst?"

"Yeah, you ignore all those chicks. It would be pretty easy pickings for you, if you wanted to."

"I guess…"

"You always just hang with us. You don't have to, you know. You could really score."

Seiji blushed. He knew what Shu meant, but none of those girls ever held his attention. They just weren't as interesting as any of his friends. Nor did he think any of them would ever understand or condone his attachment to the other Samurai Troopers.

Shu shoved another bite of cake into his mouth and paused briefly, a surprised look on his face. "You," he said as he leaned forward conspiratorially and spewed out bits of cake, "aren't a virgin, are you?"

Seiji blushed a deeper shade of red and picked up the newspaper.

"Holy shit! You are! You're a virgin! Lady-killer Seiji, a virgin! Who would have guessed?"

"Shut up."

Shu laughed. "Hey! Guys!"

Seiji launched out of his chair and grabbed Shu's collar. "Shut up, ReiFan if you know what's best for you."

"Whoa! Whoa! Jeez, you sure are uptight. I was just kidding, you know."

Seiji struggled to compose himself. The flare of anger was gone, and he resisted a sudden urge to pull Shu's face close and kiss the shit out of him. Instead, he reluctantly let go of Shu's collar and sat back down. He didn't apologize. He wanted to, but he didn't trust his voice.

"You know, I could give you a few pointers."

Seiji stared at Shu. That wasn't exactly what he'd expected or wanted the dark haired man to say. "Pointers?"

"Yeah. You know, what to do and stuff."

Seiji cringed. "I don't need any 'pointers'."

Shu shrugged. "Well, okay. But you'd better get that taken care of," he pointed to Seiji's crotch, "before you kill someone."

Seiji rolled his eyes and picked up the well-used newspaper. I should just leave the room. That's the only way he'll let this drop.

But he didn't want to leave the room. He liked Shu's company and the big guy's attention centered on him. Okay, him and a piece of cake.

"Maybe you oughta go jack off or something."

Seiji slowly lowered the newspaper to stare at Shu. "What did you just say?"

"Maybe you oughta go jack off or something. That'll relieve some of that tension."

Seiji just stared.

"You do that, don't you?"

Seiji was blushing furiously now. He knew splotches of red were scattered all over his body. "Of cour…that is NONE of your GODDAMN business!"

"Okay! Okay! It was just a suggestion," Shu muttered.

Silence filled the room.

What was Shu up to? Where did he get off thinking Seiji would even want to discuss something like this with him?

"Seiji?"

"What?!"

"You do like girls, don't you?"

Seiji briefly tried to hide his panic, but it was so evidently written all over his face, even Shu caught it.

"That's it! Isn't it?"

"That's what?"

"Why you haven't gone out with any of those girls. You like guys!"

"Quit being ridiculous."

But Shu wouldn't let it go. "I'm right, aren't I? You are too busy scoping out guys to bother with any of those girls!"

"Why are you asking me all of this? What do you care if I like guys or girls?"

Now it was Shu's turn to blush. "Um, well, the guys kinda sent me in here to find out what's been bothering you lately…"

"Oh, they did, did they?" Seiji said as he mentally filed this bit of information away for later use.

"We're just worried about you, Seiji. You've…you've been projecting a lot lately, and that's not like you at all."

"Projecting?"

"Yeah. You know, mentally. But it's real general. Just emotions like concern and um…well…dammit, Seiji. You're just so fucking horny that it's enough to drive the rest of us ape shit. Okay?" Shu was very flustered, and his hands were on his hips.

Seiji had to bite his lip to keep from laughing out loud. Leave it to Shu to put it so bluntly. So he'd been telepathically projecting all his feelings for Shu? Normally, he had so much control over his mental link with the others. Had he really let it slip that badly? He glanced up at Shu.

A small smile tugged at the edges of the blonde's lips.

Uneasy, Shu mumbled, "What?" around a mouthful of cake.

"You've got some frosting…" The blonde pointed to Shu's face.

"Where?" Shu wiped off his chin.

"No, it's…"

Shu wiped off his cheek.

"No. Just let me…" Seiji leaned across the table, and suddenly the nearness of the warrior of Kongo hit him full force in the chest, knocking him breathless. The small bit of frosting on Shu's nose was enticing. He could just reach it with his tongue if he tried…

"Nan de…?!"

Seiji sat back abruptly. He'd done it this time. Without even thinking, he'd licked the frosting off Shu's nose. Oh my god. What have I done? Embarrassed, Seiji tried to laugh it off. "Got it." He tried to go back into hiding behind the newspaper.

Several seconds of uneasy silence passed. Every so often, Seiji's hands would shake, and he'd have to take a deep breath to calm himself. Shu hadn't made a sound. Was he even still in the same room? Seiji had never known the warrior of Kongo to sit still or quiet for long. He's probably already left the room, and I'm just being silly. He probably didn't even think anything about it. Several more seconds that felt like agonizing hours passed. Okay, if you're so confident, Mr. Korin no Seiji, look. Look to see if he's gone. It took a minute or so before Seiji had berated himself enough to sneak a peek. A slow easy grin spread across his lips.

Shu was still there. He was sitting back in his chair staring at the newspaper-hidden Seiji. But that wasn't what got the swordsman's attention. The rest of Shu's cake had been plastered to various parts of his face. "Care to repeat that, Blondie?" Shu teased.

"I wouldn't know where to begin," Seiji retorted.

Shu leaned forward in his chair. Seiji stifled a chuckle, until Shu stretched out a frosting coated finger toward the blonde's mouth. "Why not here?" he suggested.

Seiji's stomach did flip-flops, and a nice little jolt of heat twitched in his groin. "Okay…" he breathed.