Ok... this is the workings of a seriously whacked out mind- during the 1st part, I was totally in need of sleep, and during the second, I was in the middle of my LOGH marathon- 34 eps and the 1st movie in 2 days... ^_^ So- take that as you will. Also, yaoi- ie guy guy love! OK? If you don't like it, don't read it!

"Ken, it's good to see you..." Ryu looked at his old friend and was surprised at exactly how little, and yet how much had changed about him. He was still as wild as ever, but now... Ryu shook his head a little as he looked around the opulent room with its incredibly expensive looking furniture and huge dimensions. "I never knew that you were so rich."

Ken looked around at his room and shrugged. "It's ok- I never thought that it was very important. After all, being rich doesn't make any difference in fights. Even though the fights I've been in are really pathetic..." Ken had to smile at the skeptical look that Ryu threw at his direction. "What? It's true! Nothing here can match the practice bouts I had with you while I was training." Ken gestured to the trophies on the mantle. "Look at those! They were just too easy to get! There was no challenge at all!"

Ryu turned from his friend and looked out the large window overlooking the estate. Ken looked at his quiet friend's back for a moment, and then said, "That's why I was so glad that you accepted my plane ticket to visit me here." Ryu didn't turn around, and so didn't see the slightly desperate expression that crossed Ken's face as he searched for something to say.

Finally, Ken said in a teasing tone, "So... Ryu. What have you been doing all these years? Found anyone special?" The teasing tone was usual, a common way of speaking between good friends, but the undertone was not. Ryu couldn't get himself to look at his friend as he said in a quiet, almost reluctant tone, "Maybe- I'm not sure. There's this girl..."

Ryu raised his arm, letting his friend look upon the good-luck charm on his arm, not turning around to face Ken. As he stared out the window, he said, "This is from her." Ryu's expression was one of almost pained as he said those words, and yet, was one of anticipation. Anticipation of something... anything that Ken would say...

Ken stared at the blue beads on his friend's wrist for a moment, his heart racing, hurting. *He's fine without me... I knew that. Why did I-* Striving to cover up the hurt, he said in a brightly cheery voice, "I see! That's great!" Ryu turned to face his friend, feeling just a little surprised and hurt. *He really doesn't care... Why should I care about that?*

Ken went on without seeing the slightly hurt expression on Ryu's face, trying to cover up his own hurt. "You know me! I've been chasing my fair share of women, and they've been chasing back, you know? But I was a little worried about you- you never seemed to be interested in anything but eating and fighting before."

Ryu forced out a smile. "Yeah, I guess..." To him, his voice sounded hollow, but he saw that Ken didn't notice at all. They both looked at each other for a moment, before looking away. Finally, Ken tried to revive the conversation, asking, "So, what do you want to do?" Ryu looked around the incredible room until his eyes fell upon the bed. "Well, I'm actually kind of tired. Jet lag, I guess. Where am I going to-"

Ken smiled and replied, "There's a guest room waiting, but I thought that you wouldn't mind staying here, like old times, you know? That way, we can catch up and see what we've missed... I was planning on showing you the town, but maybe tomorrow..." He pointed to a door. "Want to wash up first, or should I?"

"I think I should go first." Ken nodded in agreement. "All right. You should be able to find everything that you need. If you don't, just yell out, ok?" Ryu grabbed his bag, and went inside the large bathroom. What he saw inside made him gape. A bathtub the size of a small pool, a separate shower, a mirror bigger than the door- even little golden faucets!

Ryu shook his head in disbelief, and then yelled out, "I can't believe how rich you are! This bathroom is bigger than my bedroom back home!" He heard Ken laugh and grinned too. He was gonna have fun kicking Ken around during practice... after all, living like this, how much could he train?

Looking at the bathroom, Ryu debated whether he should just take a quick shower, or have a bath, too. He thought for a moment, and decided that a bath would probably make him feel human... "Hey Ken! Do you mind if I take a bath?" He heard Ken as if from a great distance. "No, go right ahead. I'm going to be back in a second, ok?"

Ryu started the bath, wondering how long it would take for this huge tub to fill up. He took a quick shower, taking off all of the grime and dust that had been on his body with a sigh of relief. After coming out of the shower, he stepped into the tub, letting the hot water relax him. Giving him time to think...

Ryu looked up at the high ceiling, his mind wandering. *You really don't care at all, huh? Why should you? After all, we're just good friends, right? What else could we be? That's what we were when we stopped training together, no matter how much...* He couldn't complete the thought, and instead submerged himself into the large bath.

Ryu stayed under until he could feel himself almost pass out, trying not to think about his friend, or his confusion. Finally, he threw his head out of the water, gasping for air. He rested against a side of the bath, letting his worries go for a moment. He let himself almost float as he rested with his eyes closed, until he was almost unconscious.

Even with his eyes closed, Ryu could hear the door open. He decided against opening his eyes, liking the way he was drifting into lazy sleep- that was a luxury that he had not had for a long time. Then, when he heard the whisper of clothing being removed, the tell-tale zip of jeans being undone, he wouldn't have opened his eyes for anything. There was still too much confusion...

"Mind if I join you?" Ken's soft voice echoed in the bathroom, ringing against the clean porcelain and the glass of the large mirror. Ken took Ryu's silence as a yes, and stretched out in the tub at the opposite end from where Ryu was sitting. Even with both of them in the tub, there was more than enough room for each to stretch out, with only their legs touching.

Ryu closed his eyes stubbornly, for no reason at all... *Why am I acting like this? Why am I so embarrassed? It's not as if we haven't shared a bath before! But... this isn't a public bath, and only he and I are here...* Finally, he couldn't help it- he opened his eyes, looking across the water at his friend...

At his friend who was staring intently back at him. Ryu flushed, somehow becoming even more confused than before. He looked around desperately, seeking anything that they could talk about, but could say nothing... nothing at all. He could feel Ken's eyes on him, watching. *What's wrong with me? Ken's my friend! Don't act like this...*

"My mom told me to bring you some stuff to wear while the maid cleans your things. I think we're still the same size." Ryu nodded in thanks. Ken looked around for a moment, and then asked in a nonchalant voice, "So, what's this girl's name? Is she cute?"

Ryu smiled a little, and said, "Well, she seems to want me to be her boyfriend. Rinko is a bit direct at times... Actually, she was worried because of your letter." When he met Ken's questioning gaze, Ryu couldn't help but to start to laugh. "She- she thought that it was from a girlfriend from America. When I said that you were a guy, she was so worried that I had a boyfriend-"

Ryu stood up quickly, going for the clothes that Ken had tossed carelessly onto the floor. "Tell your mom thanks, ok?" He grabbed a handy towel and didn't look back at his friend who was still in the tub. He closed the door behind him, knowing that Ken must be thinking he was so strange... *Geez! What the hell is wrong with me?*

Ken looked up at the ceiling just as his friend had done just a few moments ago. "Worried that he had a boyfriend, huh?" A small, pained smile crept onto his face as he wished for a moment... "Not that it could ever happen. All we are... all he wants to be is friends. I mean, he's got a girl. So do I- lots of them. Not that they mean anything to me..."

He sighed. "All I wanted was a friend who I could practice with... I was feeling so lonely- everyone was so easy to beat. But now that he's here, somehow..." He got up from the bath, wondering what was wrong with him, and wrong with Ryu, too. *He's been acting weird ever since he got here...* He grabbed a towel on his way out, wrapping it around his waist.

"Hey Ryu!" Ken saw his friend sleeping in his bed. "Wow... I guess you really were tired, huh? Well, all right. We can go to the dojo tomorrow." Ken smiled down at his friend, who was currently covering the whole bed. "Just like before- you always were a little hog." Shaking his head, he shoved his friend over until Ryu was only stretched over half of the bed.

Then, as if Ken couldn't help himself, he reached down to brush an errant lock from Ryu's face. "Why? Why am I feeling this way? I never felt this way before... except... except I've missed him so much. I hadn't realized it until that last fight, when I beat this one kid that looked so much like you- he and his friend seemed happy, even after I beat both of them..."

He looked down at Ryu with a resigned expression. "Not that you'd care. For you, I'm just a friend from childhood- you probably didn't miss me at all." Looking down at the guileless face, he couldn't be anything more than happy that his feckless friend was here. "Tomorrow, I'll show you the dojo, and we'll see who's gotten better." Ken climbed into bed, disregarding the towel- after all, he was used to sleeping nude. As he went to sleep under the covers, he whispered, "I'm somehow jealous of your girlfriend, though..."

Ken stiffened as an arm went around his chest. He looked down to see Ryu trying to stretch over the bed again. Ryu's face was right next to Ken's shoulder, and he was breathing softly. Ken smiled, relaxing, and let Ryu take over the bed. "I don't mind us like this... forever friends, right?"

A whisper rose from the bed. "Right..." An eye peeked out from under unruly hair, as Ryu stopped pretending to be asleep. "You-you're awake? You heard..." A nod, as Ryu and Ken both tried to understand what had happened to their friendship. "I heard. I was going to jump up and tell you how badly out of practice you were, except..." Ryu stopped speaking for a moment, struggling with his newly discovered knowledge. "You started to talk, and I didn't want to stop you. Somehow... somehow, I wanted to know what you felt. I wanted to know if you felt like I did..."

Ryu sat up from the bed, looking at his friend. "Now what? We both know that we aren't just friends anymore. We never were." Ken looked at the good-luck charm on Ryu's wrist. "What about her?" Ryu reached down to the simple beads, given to him by a loving heart. "Her? As much as she may have wanted... we aren't anything." He took those off, placing them onto the bed. "What about your friends?"

Ken smiled. "They aren't anything either. They never were." His smile disappeared as he gazed down at his friend. Suddenly, he got out of bed. Not noticing Ryu's shock over his state of undress, he went over to the lights, dimming them until both were wrapped in shadows.

Going back to the bed, Ken sat down facing his friend on that enormous bed. "What about us?" Ryu, who had been blushing, looked at Ken with a serious expression. He asked, "Us? How should I know? All I know is that before I came here, I had thought that you had only been a friend while we were training. But now, it's different... I know that you missed me as much as I'd missed you."

That quiet confession rang throughout the quiet room. Ken reached over and put a hand on Ryu's shoulder. Ryu looked up, his usually joking face reflecting nothing put confusion and pain. "I missed you... I couldn't help but to think of you. I tried to laugh it off, say that it was just me wanting a strong sparring partner again, but I always knew better, deep inside."

Ken started to laugh a little. "What's wrong with us? We're acting as if this was some big thing... so we missed each other a little! Big deal-" He stopped talking as Ryu reached over and kissed him. It was a quick kiss, rough and fast. As the kiss broke off, Ken could feel his heart starting to beat a little faster.

"You idiot! It is a big deal, and you know it!" Ken started into Ryu's angry face, and did the only thing he could. He kissed Ryu back, his mouth touching his friend's with an urgency that he know both must feel. When Ryu started to accept the kiss, he knew that he had been right. This kiss was longer, quieter. It was a search for why this had happened to them...

Quieter laughter came from Ryu. As Ken looked at him in confusion, Ryu waved his hands, gesturing that it wasn't his fault. "I-I'm just thinking of how horrified Rinko's gonna be to find out that she was right. Even thought I didn't know it, I did have a boyfriend in America..." Ken's laughter joined his as both of them tried to get over the shock that those two kisses had put over their hearts. "Man, my girlfriends going to be surprised to find out that I'm dating a guy..."

Their laughter died quickly as it has started. Finally, it was just the two of them looking at the other through the darkness, their bodies washed pale in the moonlight. Ryu reached over to his friend, putting one hand on his chest. "So, I guess you have been training... rich boy." Ken grinned, and then challenged, "I bet you that I can beat you at anything! Trust me, being rich doesn't mean that I'm not going to beat you at sparring."

"Oh yeah?" That quiet question was followed by Ryu's sudden move, one that Ken didn't bother to block. Suddenly, Ryu was atop of Ken, and Ryu's face was over Ken's. "Want to try to get me off?" Ken looked up at his friend's teasing eyes, and replied quietly, "No."

Those teasing eyes turned serious as Ryu's mouth went over Ken's claiming a length of time from both of them. Ken's mouth opened, letting Ryu's tongue enter for a sparring match that neither could win. Finally, Ryu lifted his head, gasping for breath, and that was when Ken seized the advantage.

A quick flip made it so that Ken was the one on the offensive. "Now who's the one that needs practice?" Ryu didn't try to escape, and started to tickle Ken instead. As Ken started to laugh helplessly, Ryu gave him a superior smile. "You, of course!" Then, letting Ken's convulsing body fall to the bed, Ryu stood up.

He walked over to the window, gazing out at the grassy "front lawn" of the Masters' estate. "What are your parents going to think?" The rustle from the bed told Ryu exactly where Ken was, but he chose to ignore it. Instead, he looked out at the moonlit night, awaiting the answer.

"What are they going to think? I don't know... they liked you, but they thought that you were just my friend. It doesn't matter though. It's not like I'm going to let you go. Friends forever, right?" Ken crept up behind Ryu as he spoke, and let his arms go around Ryu's waist. An intimate position, made more so by the fact that Ken wasn't wearing anything at all.

Ryu leaned back against him. "Just friends?" As Ken's hands went up to pull off Ryu's shirt, Ken whispered back, "No, not just- but friends too, no matter what else we become. Friends forever." Ryu put his hands over his friends as they went back to caressing his stomach. "Always, Ken. Always."

They stood at that window for a time that seemed like eternity for both... only it wasn't. How could it be? A quiet time, where they caught up on news, on what they'd been doing while they had been separated. Both of them scared of what may happen, what had already happened. Finally, Ken pulled Ryu into the large bed.

"Do-do you..." Ken's hesitant question made Ryu smile a little. After all that they had been through, all the fights they had been in, was this what made Ken so shy? Ryu reached up and answered him by pulling him down into the bed. They looked at each other for a moment- the other was so familiar, and yet so different.

"I hadn't realized how much older you look now, Ken... almost like another person." Ryu tossed a half-hearted punch at Ken's direction, which Ken blocked. Ken's hand tightened around Ryu's fist, and then relaxed, letting the hand fall onto the bed. They could both sense a gulf that was stretched out in front of them, that if they fell into, they could never get out of...

"Good night, Ken..." He looked up at his friend, who had a look of shock on his face. The protest came at once, almost incoherent in its delivery. "Good night?" A firm nod was followed by Ryu's turning away, to settle on the far left of the bed. Ken looked wordlessly at his friend, and then shook his head. "Right. Good night." He took the far right, turning away from the center.

The morning came, and Ken awoke to feel Ryu draped over him again. *Bed hog...* That incoherent thought had another following on its heels. *Oh man- what the hell am I supposed to say to him...* Ken opened one eye tentatively, closing it as he saw the sunlight streaming down. *No... gotta get up...*

Ken got himself out of bed, letting his jet-lagged friend sleep a little longer on his bed. As he got himself cleaned up, he heard Ryu start to stir. "Oi! Ryu! Get yourself up- I've got something to show you!" He took the muffled mumble as an affirmative, and finished washing up. He tossed a towel to the figure still in bed. "Get up, you idiot! It's already past time when I usually practice, you know! Come on!"

As he dragged his half-unconscious friend into the bathroom, he knew he was being unnecessarily harsh- but still... *Good night? That's all you could say?* He couldn't help be a little annoyed at his friend- but he wasn't really. He was just... *Damned confused- that's what I am.* Still, it felt good to get a little revenge- "Maybe some cold water will wake you up!"

"Hey! You idiot! What the-" Ryu's mouth was filled with the freezing water as the shower rained cold water on him and on his head. "So, you're finally up, huh? Well, come on, already!" Retrieving the towel from the bed, he tossed it at Ryu's direction, and said, "I've got a good place for us to practice at."

Ryu didn't stop grumbling, but he did towel off. He followed Ken as his friend led him down a side road on his huge estate, and then stopped cold as he saw what Ken had been leading him toward. "Wow! This looks exactly like-" Ken nodded, and led him inside the building. "Yup, I had this replicated exactly- it's nice to practice in, too."

Ryu looked at him in surprise as Ken threw a white gi at him. "It's just missing one thing- right, Ryu?" His smile was matched by Ryu's who had already started to strip, and put on the gi. *Watching never hurts...* He gazed surreptitiously at his friend, who was quickly putting on his practice clothes. *He really has grown up...*

Ryu threw his jeans and shirt into the corner, and then stood in a ready stance with a cocky smile. "Hey, Ken! I promised myself that I would make sure that America hadn't softened you up too much- are you ready?" Ken's smirk was answer enough- that and the punch that he threw in Ryu's direction. Soon, they were trading blows and blocking hits.

"So, America hasn't made you too soft- but you're still gonna lose, man!" Ken's answer was followed by a roundhouse aimed at Ryu's head. "Oh yeah? I don't see you doing anything!" The roundhouse was blocked, as was the countering punch. Finally, Ken got in a lucky punch that floored Ryu- a punch that also overbalanced Ken so that he fell on top of the panting Ryu.

Looking down at his sweating, huffing friend, Ken grinned. Breathing heavily himself, he said, "Ha! I told you-" There was only the sound of heavy breathing as Ken continued to look down, struck strangely silent. "Wha-" Ryu's question was cut off by Ken's mouth as he crushed his mouth on top of Ryu's.

After Ken let up the kiss, Ryu started to push him away. Ken wouldn't let him up, and said in a bitter tone, "Good night? Was that all you could say?" The honest anger and desire in Ken's voice made Ryu stop resisting for a moment. "What did you expect me to say? Oh, wonderful Masters-sama! Take me now? Cut the crap! I'm not like one of your *many* girlfriends, you know. I'm not going to just..."

Ryu's tirade trailed off as he looked into Ken's burning eyes and saw the same need that he felt. "You're right! You're not like one of my girlfriends because I actually care about you! Did you really think that last night meant nothing to me?" Ryu's quiet voice made last night come back at him even faster. It was the same tone that he had used... the one that had pulled at his heart, the one that had made him think...

"I wasn't sure... I was so close to just letting you- but I just wasn't sure, ok? We're good as friends, partners. Why screw that up because we couldn't control ourselves for one lousy night? Remember? Friends forever- always. But what if this doesn't work out?" Ken looked down at Ryu's eyes- eyes that revealed more anguish that he could visibly discern. "Don't you realize that you're my only real friend? I'm not going to lose that because I wanted to sleep with you- no matter how badly I wanted to-"

Ken's lips stopped that outburst with its intensity and passion. Ryu's mouth parted unconsciously as Ken renewed his interrupted assault with his tongue. The silence stretched on as Ryu sat up, the kiss finally broken after a long moment. Finally, Ryu stood up and started to walk away. "Don't make this harder on me than it is. Can't we just be friends?"

Ken's strangely bitter laughter made him turn around. Ryu saw Ken sitting on the dojo floor, his hands resting on the floor. Ken was reclining and looking up at him with joking eyes... joking eyes that were somehow too painful to look into. "You know, if it had been anyone else who had just told me she wanted to be friends, I would be ok with it. After all, there are lots of women around, right?"

Ken put one hand up to his eyes, covering them. "But when you say something like that to me... man, what the hell! It's like you want to hurt me... do you know what it felt like when you just turned away last night? Good night- do you know how many times that has rang in my mind? More than I want to really say- and now, what? You're afraid I'll screw this up, right? You probably expect me to go chasing after some girl, so that you can go back to your girl back home and tell her what a stupid friend you ha-"

This time, it was Ken who was under assault from hungry lips, as Ryu used his mouth to silence the pain that Ken had been letting out. Ken was unresponsive for only a moment- soon, he got over the shock and started to participate, putting his arms around Ryu's neck and forcing him to sit alongside him.

Finally, that kiss stopped too, and Ken let out a shaky laugh- this one not at all bitter. "Well, I guess that clears up whatever question we may have about-" Ryu's smiling face came up right next to his, as he asked Ken in a teasing tone, "Weren't you the one that wanted me to shut up?" Ken's response was the mouth he put to Ryu's still-speaking lips, and the silence that was only broken by the sound of a body being pushed to the wooden floor.

It was almost a fight, another competition as each struggled out of their gis with relative ease. Lips were exploring flesh and hands were moving, touching, eliciting groans and sighs. Ken started down Ryu's chiseled chest, each touch of the lip making his friend shiver. As Ken got to Ryu's nipple, Ryu involuntarily stiffened. Ken's tongue sneaked out and flicked the already-sensitive area, making Ryu groan, and grasp Ken's hair.

His speech, a mere whisper, played across Ryu's chest. "So, you like this..." Ken's tongue lavished more attention on his other nipple, eliciting more moans from his friend. Ken looked up and smiled, before letting his lips touch, feather-light, onto Ryu's hard stomach. As he drifted lower down, Ryu started to struggle.

"What is it?" Ryu blushed a bit. "Nothing- it's just-" Ken sat up, his hand on Ryu's knee, calming him. "You've never had sex?" Ryu gazed at his hands, and shook his head. Ken stood up and knelt behind him. Putting his arms around Ryu's neck, he whispered into Ryu's ear, "Don't worry..." Then, slowly, those lips touched his ear, then started its journey down.

A kiss on his shoulder, his chest, and then another, until he was where he had been. Ken looked up, and then smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry-" His lips went onto Ryu's penis, a light touch, but one that made Ryu jump. Ken's mouth went around the already-erect penis, and started to suck gently. His tongue traced circles around the head, making Ryu cry out.

"Don't stop..." Ken answered by sucking harder. Ryu started to groan even louder, until he came. Ken tried to take it all in, and managed pretty well- only a few drops came out of his mouth. Ryu looked at the liquid in a curious manner, and put a finger to the drops. He put it to his lips, and made a face at the salty taste.

"Are you all right?" Ryu smiled at the suddenly hesitant Ken, and then stood up. Ken looked up at his friend, and asked, "Where are you going?" Ryu didn't answer, and Ken was about to follow when suddenly, Ryu turned suddenly and tackled him. "Wha-"

Ryu's whisper shocked Ken, as he said in a provocatively teasing tone, "Did you really think that you were just going to have your way with me?" Ryu imitated his teacher as he put lips to Ken's mouth, and started to work his way down. Ken groaned as Ryu started to suck almost a little too vigorously at his nipple...

"Ah!" Ken started as Ryu suddenly jabbed a finger into his most ticklish point. He howled, helplessly laughing while he glared up at his laughing friend. "What the-" His laughter was cut off by a moan, as Ryu used his distraction to lick Ken's penis gently, and then more roughly.

Ryu gauged his effect on Ken with each lick, and then started to experiment. A suck, and then a twirl of the tongue- testing and hearing the response from his friend. *Is he feeling like I felt? So helpless and yet-* Finally, he was tired of playing, and started to suck harder. Ken started to thrust involuntarily, and then climaxed.

*Yeck-* Ryu made a face at the taste of his friend's semen, but tried to do what his friend had done for him. Still, most of it left his mouth, liberally splashing both of them. "Ah... sorry-" Ken smiled up at Ryu, and then used his tongue to wipe up Ryu's mouth. "It's ok-"

Ken looked at Ryu in a questioning manner. "So, now what?" Ryu got up and retrieved both of their gis, tossing the red one to Ken. "Well, I think that I'm going to be staying for a while... if you don't mind-" Ken laughed, and made a punching motion at Ryu. Ryu caught the fist and looked at his friend for a moment before giving the knuckle a kiss.

"I guess you don't mind- but I do think that we should be practicing, don't you?" Ken nodded, and then put on his gi. He watched his friend put on his as well, not looking away. "Do we have to worry about our friendship?" Ryu shook his head. "Why? Friends forever, right? Nothing's gonna change that."

---Finis---