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Sep. 10th, 2009 01:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kat8chaGUYS! Check out the picspam post over at the Tenipuri comm. It's just for fun, but post your favorite PoT pics! Join the fun!
Title: SupeSeme 5/?
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kat8cha
Pairing: OISHI/EIJI, past Oshitari/Gakuto, Fuji/Strippers, Kirihara/Hiyoshi
Summary: SuperSeme tries to find out where a trans-dimensional portal could be hidden (context - the assassin uses it to escape) and discovers abnormal energy spikes emanating from Seigakuopolis' only strip club.
A/N: Dedicated to Melly, for her Mellyness, and Jack for saying anything marked 1/6 or 2/3 is terrible. :D FIVE OUT OF WHO KNOWS WHAT!
Oishi stared aghast at the reports in front of him. He had been hunting down any abnormal energy spikes that coincided with the hitman's appearances and disappearances. Oishi had emailed Inui and asked for information on trans-dimensional portals. Inui had sent him an Adobe PDF filled with gibberish Oishi hardly understood, technical jargon and long scientific words and diagrams that made Oishi wonder what was going *on* with these scientists. (He had conveniently forgotten that most of them were 'mad' scientists.) Thankfully Inui's assistant Kaidoh Kaoru had followed up Inui's response with one of his own. A far more mundane explanation for how you powered a trans-dimensional portal, it's effects on the human body, and such.
So Oishi had settled down to investigate strange power spikes near the shootings, and cross-referenced those with timing and…
There was definitely something odd going on. There were power spikes in two places at the exact same time. Two before the shooting and two after, one of these spikes was in the building from which the shooter had aimed which was also the building the shooter had destroyed. The other building…
Satin Laces, Seigakuopolis' ONLY bad with dancers. The kind of dancers who danced for money. It was only topless, which meant they weren't allowed to remove their panties, but Oishi had heard that on *certain nights* they broke that rule. Oishi swallowed. He was uncomfortable with the very *idea* of Satin Laces, much less the idea of investigating Satin Laces. He had landed there once. There had been an apartment fire, and he had been setting residents down and…
The women had touched him, and the men had leered.
Un.com.for.ta.ble.
"Eh? What are you looking at, Egghead?" Taki snatched away Oishi's reports, then hooted when he saw the name. "Satin Laces? Are you planning something?"
Oishi flushed. Oh god. Everyone was turning now to look at him… "It's for a story!"
"Which you weren't going to share with your partner?" Taki leaned against Oishi's desk. "C'mon, we've written a ton of stories together and you weren't going to ask me to go to Satin Laces?" Taki stared at Oishi like he knew something.
Oishi flushed. He couldn't look at Taki. There was something about Taki's eyes. Did Taki know?
"Were you going to ask your new photographer friend?" Taki questioned, although his tone had lost it's teasing joviality. Oishi squirmed. He couldn't!
"Ooooooooooiiiiiiiiiiiiishi!" Eiji bounced over to Oishi, curling his arms tightly around Oishi's head and pushing Oishi forward into his desk. Oishi spluttered, and flailed, but smiled. Neither of them was exerting a tenth of their real strength. "Ny- oh, hey, what's this?"
Taki excused himself, sullenly, and wandered out of the room, leaving Oishi to talk to Eiji. Oishi's 'new friend' in truth, Oishi's lover. Oishi smiled at Eiji, even though the other man was waving around the reports.
"What's Satin Laces?" Eiji asked, "And why are they using so much electricity? Yowza! That's enough to power a giant robot!"
Oishi nodded. "Or more. I was thinking it was more like…" Oishi lowered his voice. "A trans-dimensional portal, like the one the shooter was using."
Eiji let out a small gasp. "Really, Oishi? Do you think so?"
Oishi nodded.
Eiji looked at the sheet, then dropped it onto Oishi's desk and hopped on. "Well then! When are we going to investigate?"
Oishi flushed and glanced down at his desk, then up into Eiji's earnest eyes. "It's… it's a strip club." Eij blinked. "So… I mean."
"So they only have nightly hours?" Eiji asked with a smile. "We should take Fujiko! He loves strippers!"
Something inside of Oishi shriveled. He could only imagine how uncomfortable going to a strip club with Eiji would be, but going with both Eiji and Fuji? Or heck, just going to a strip club with Fuji. Maybe Oishi could convince Eiji not to tell Fuji? But by the time Oishi opened his mouth Eiji was already on the phone, chattering away.
"Strip club! Yeah, they're running – okay so you'll come? Great! We'll go tonight!"
--
The bass beat of the dance music was drowned out by the thick insulation of the walls, but if Gakuto concentrated he could almost hear it. Not when he was running his power tools though. Bending around another delicate piece of robotic material Gakuto checked the circuits. He was not, when it came down to it, a mad scientist. Gakuto had always been the assistant to Oshitari's experiments, so he had picked up a few things. Before Oshitari, Gakuto had been a partner to a terrible twosome that had held Ichiseiton by it's throat. Well, they had made some serious loot anyway. It had funding Gakuto buying out this place ages ago when he moved to Seigakuopolis with Yuushi, which had given Gakuto somewhere to go and sulk when Yuushi was being an ass.
Like now. Except now Yuushi was *moving on*. He was becoming a *good guy*, just like Gakuto's old partner had done. And all of it was for some other guy, of course. First that tall kid, who Gakuto could at least understand the draw, I mean, tall, built, goody-two-shoes…
And now Atobe.
Ick. Atobe.
--
Oishi nervously adjusted his tie. Was a tie the appropriate thing to wear to a strip club? Should Oishi change? He never went clubbing, was going to a strip club like clubbing? Should Oishi dress up? Dress down? Oh god. He knew he should never have let Eiji talk him into doing this during business hours. He should have investigated on his own during the day. Broke a few locks, trespassed a little, it's not like it would matter!
"Oiiiiiiiiiiiiishi." Eiji knocked on his apartment door. Oishi swallowed. This would also be the first time Eiji had been over to his apartment. What would he think? Oishi tripped over a pair of tube socks, then a pashmina, then an ottoman. Making it to the door Oishi took a deep breath before slipping the deadbolt out and pulling the door open.
His breath escaped in one long rush.
Eiji stood dressed in casual clothes. Oishi was pretty sure it was the first time he had seen Eiji dressed like that. At the office they had to dress business casual, it was important that they look presentable. While his outfit as Neko-chan clung quite tightly to his body it was a uniform. Oishi might occasionally have to drag his eyes away from the firm roundness of Eiji's ass or the way the lycra clung to the outline of Eiji's penis but… it was not seeing him in casual clothes. There was something strangely sexy about it. Eiji was dressed in low riding jeans, and a pair of layered shirts. The shirt on bottom was red, while the one on top was black with white writing scrawled over it. Eiji had a black beanie pulled over his distinctive hair, his red hair curling over the edge of the hat.
Oishi breathed in.
"Ready?" Eiji grinned, his eyes glittered and Oishi almost missed the once over Eiji gave him when he turned to close the door behind him. "Nya, you look nice Oishi!" Oishi turned and Eiji was right there, trapping him against his closed door. Oishi dropped his keys. Eiji smoothed down Oishi's pastel striped button up shirt and smiled at him. "It's a nice shirt."
"Th-thank you." Oishi stuttered, hoping Eiji did not feel the sudden part of Oishi that was happy to see Eiji. Maybe Eiji would think it was a stick in his pocket or something.
Eiji's smile widened and then he hopped away. "C'mon and lock up! Fuji's downstairs in the car. He'll drive us!" Eiji licked his lips and looked over his shoulder while Oishi fumbled with his keys. Had it always been so hard to get his keys to fit into the keyhole? Keys. Hole. Keyhole. Oh god. Why was it sexual now? Oishi had no idea. Flushing hotly Oishi tucked his keys into his pocket and started to walk down the hallway. Eiji skipped a few steps ahead of him, keeping him from catching up. Eiji pushed the button for the elevator, which came at a creaking, crawling pace. Oishi stood at Eiji's side and tried to discreetly wipe his sweaty palms against his pants.
Eiji reached out and squeezed his hand as the elevator came. Oishi got to hold Eiji's hand the entire way down, and then out into the parking garage. Fuji was leaning back indolently in the seat of a low blue sporty company car. The car purred when Fuji started it up, yet another thing that Oishi could never afford if he sold all of his blood. (His blood type was, sadly, quite common.) Oishi let go of Eiji's hand and prepared to sit in the back on his own, but Eiji squished in with him, cuddling up against his side.
"Ei-" The car door closed and Fuji peeled out of the garage. Oishi clutched at Eiji like a life preserver while fumbling with his other hand for a seatbelt. "Eep!"
Eiji chuckled and kissed the underside of Oishi's jaw. "Fuji's driving makes a lot of people do that!"
--
The strip club was everything Oishi had feared it would be. It was dark, but at the same time it was well lit. Women danced at the strip in front, and scantily dressed women wandered around serving drinks. It made Oishi sweat. There was all this… female flesh. Oishi was uncomfortable.
And every stripper looked bored out of their mind.
Fuji had talked to the women who came around to serve, and they had left the table with a giggle and a bounce in their step. The strippers kneeled close to where they sat so Eiji could toss bills enthusiastically at them. Oishi just sipped his club soda and half-wished for something stronger.
"I'm going to go use the bathroom." Oishi murmured under his breath, standing and moving off. Finding the bathroom was not hard. The bathroom was well lit, and surprisingly clean. So the strip club was not everything Oishi had feared. Washing his hands in the sink Oishi stared at his reflection. His hair was escaping it's gelled hold, poking out in wisps all over his forehead. Oishi slicked it back.
What did Eiji see in him? Clearly Eiji enjoyed women. Was Eiji bi? Oishi had never asked. He didn't know anything about Eiji, really. He didn't know how Eiji had gotten his super powers, he didn't know about Eiji's childhood. Did Eiji have family? Siblings? Parents? Superheroes had such diverse pasts, but Oishi doubted Eiji was the 'tormented by the death of his parents' type.
But there was still so much Oishi did not know.
Unknown to Oishi, and indeed unknown to it's red haired creator who was outside having a shouting match with Oshitari on his cellphone, a red mechanical eye came on, circuits whirring as the robot turned on.
Oishi jumped backwards when a clawed tentacle shot out of the floor. It burst through ceramic and water pipes, reaching for Oishi. Oishi dodged to the side and the claw flew to the door. "No!" Oishi grabbed at the tentacle, prepared to destroy it to stop it from damaging more of the club.
Then the rest of the robot pulled itself through the floor, and the wall, and some of the alleyway outside. Oishi gaped for just a second, but he quickly stripped off his shirt and pants, glad he had come dressed as Superseme under his clothes.
Sometimes wearing multiple layers could be annoying. Mostly it just came in handy.
Oishi pushed off the ground and flew towards the robot, both hands fisted in front of him.
"KYAAAAAAAA!" Screams from the club proper as the robot thrashed and rolled. Walls came down and the roof cracked before crumbling in. Scantily dressed women ran away from the fight. A smoke alarm was triggered as small fires burst into being.
The robot was equipped with lasers.
Oishi knew this type of robot. Oshitari mass produced them for his evil deeds. Had Oshitari abandoned the road of righteousness and instead turned back to his dastardly deeds? Oishi flew around a fiery beam of red light. No, this did not seem like Oshitari's type of battle. The mad genius had always avoided places where women could be hurt, he was the 'chivalrous' type of villain.
"Superseme!" Suddenly Neko-chan was at his side, bouncing off of bits of cracked plaster and a support beam. The robot's mechanical eye swiveled his way.
"Neko-chan!" Oishi grabbed a mechanical tentacle and ripped, metal screamed as it was ripped forcefully apart, wires sparking, circuitry falling out onto the floor when Oishi dropped the broken machinery. Eiji smiled and gave him a thumbs up before flipping over the robot's main body. The robot tried to keep it's eye on Eiji, but Eiji was too fast for it.
It let out an explosion of sparks and a burst of sound when Oishi slammed his fist into it's optic port and reached inside to rip out handfuls of circuitry.
"Nya!" Neko-chan grabbed OIshi and dragged him back when the robot fell to the ground, a dull sounding explosion resonating from the inside of the robot and a stream of smoke drifting out of the ruined red eye. Bits of glass dropped to the ground. "Good job Super-seme!" Neko-chan gave him a tight hug, pressing up tight against him.
Oishi hugged Eiji back, the realization that the only thing separating skin from skin being two thin layers of material coming too late. After the news crew had showed up.
Fuji was standing at the edge of the fire safety line, still dressed in his civvies. He was speaking to a short redhead who was waving his arms angrily. Oishi frowned. Mukahi Gakuto, Oshitari's lover. He had never actively tried to destroy Seigakuopolis but he had been at the scenes of Oshitari's work more than once. Oishi knew that if anyone had access to the plans to a giant robot it would be Mukahi.
"Don't look now, but I think we found the culprit." Eiji stated, nodding in the direction of Fuji and Mukahi.
Oishi nodded grimly. He walked slowly over to the two men, his footsteps measured and authoritative. The crowd held the breath when he approached them. Eiji bounced at his side, walking without seeming to ever touch the ground for more than a millisecond. "Mukahi."
Gakuto spun angrily, his eyes glaring into the giant S on Oishi's chest before he looked upward. If looks could kill, Oishi would have been set on fire. Not that setting him on fire would kill him, but it stung a little. "What do you want, Superseme?" Gakuto's tone was coated in layers of sarcasm, disgust, and irritation.
"The robot was yours, wasn't it." Oishi let disappointment flavor his voice. Had Oshitari's evil plots always been at Gakuto's urging? Was the man now turning to a life of crime now that Oshitari had become a hard working normal citizen? Gakuto's glare turned from hot to cold.
"Are you going to take me in, sir?"
Oishi took a deep breath. There really wasn't anything he could do without proof, and he wasn't a police officer. All Oishi could do was point the proper authorities in the right direction. Gakuto knew this. It was why Oishi had never been able to get Oshitari put away. A smirk wormed it's way over Gakuto's face, an ugly little smirk.
"Nya, you shouldn't-" Eiji started angrily.
"Oh shut up." Gakuto snapped with an angry stamp of his foot. "Just because you guys are superheroes means you think you can walk all over everyone else!" While Gakuto shouted angrily a black van rolled silently into the parking lot, it's sides opening to disgorge a number of black suited individuals. Oishi knew they were not police, but they were dressed in all black with heavy helmets and bullet proof vests. Atobe's company logo was pasted on the van's side, it glittered in the light from the streetlamps.
Gakuto turned to look in the same direction, a scowl killing his smirk.
A young looking young man with a mop of badly cut blond hair hopped out of the van and walked over in measured steps. Not measured like Oishi's steps, measured in the manner of someone who was very aware of his body. Like a dancer or a martial artist. Military types had that type of stride too. Crisp and clean and fluid all at once.
"Superseme." The blond greeted, coming to a parade rest in front of him. The men in helmets and suits started herding the strippers and customers away, taking their statements of offering coats to the less fortunate girls. Another van pulled up, this time white and filled with medical personnel. "Neko-chan." The blond also nodded at Fuji, though he did not address the man by name.
Then the blond looked at Mukahi. Mukahi glared wordlessly at him.
"We will take care of this, Superseme." The blond looked back at Oishi and tossed an official looking badge at him. Then he turned to Gakuto and brought out a pair of black and silver handcuffs. Cuffs for meta-humans, so Gakuto was a meta-human. Oishi should have known.
"Don't even-" Oishi stepped forward to help, but the blond took care of it with a few crisp clean movements, then kept his hand wrapped tightly around one of Gakuto's cuffed arms. Gakuto stamped his foot down hard on the blonde's, who did not even flinch.
Oishi looked at the badge. Atobe Security, Hiyoshi Wakashi, licensed super hero.
Fighter class.
"I'm sure you're very busy." Hiyoshi said, calmly.
Oishi looked at the blond. Hiyoshi was slightly shorter than him, and obviously younger, but he gave off an air of professionalism. Oishi offered the badge back and turned to Fuji and Eiji.
Fuji had already disappeared, no doubt mingling with the customers and strippers, trying to keep a low profile or working the crowd. Fuji always seemed to be on the job. Oishi smiled at Eiji instead.
"Hiyoshi's good at this stuff." Eiji said, hopping into Oishi's arms. "Let's go, Super Seme!"
Clutching Eiji's warm body to his chest Oishi flew off in the direction of his apartment. He would get to see what Eiji thought of his bed next.
--
Gakuto sat glumly on one of the few seats left from his strip club. Destroyed. And the robot had been stored on his property, so the insurance would not cover it. Not that Gakuto had ever been terribly interested in the strip club. It turned a small profit, yeah, but Gakuto wasn't into girls, and they were always around. Mostly he had used it for the underground lair. Now even that was destroyed. Gakuto had checked Yuushi's stupid blueprints multiple times! Nothing like the robot turning itself on should have happened! Gakuto had not set the damn thing up to contain an A.I.!
"Mukahi." Hiyoshi said, his voice exactly like Gakuto remembered. Slightly gravely, but also boyish. Hiyoshi's face had hardly changed since the last time Gakuto saw him. He even had the same stupid hair cut. Hiyoshi had a blackberry out and was checking something on it, not even bothering to look at Gakuto.
Gakuto kicked him hard in the shin. Hiyoshi did not flinch. Stupid super strength and advanced healing to match. Gakuto missed the Hiyoshi who had no stamina to speak of, who did everything fast and hard and right the first time or screw it all to hell. "Being a super hero has to suck." Gakuto said, frustrated.
Hiyoshi nodded, tapping at his blackberry with a stylus before the phone beeped and Hiyoshi nodded again. "I'm off the clock now." Hiyoshi walked over to Gakuto and then undid the cuffs. "You have successful resisted arrest and escaped."
Gakuto rubbed at his wrists while staring incredulously at Hiyoshi. The black and white vans had driven off, all of Gakuto's former employees and clients being carted off as well. Hiyoshi had been waiting for his time card to clock out for fifteen minutes after that. That was not what made Gakuto incredulous though. "You are STILL moonlighting as a super villain?"
Hiyoshi shrugged. "Mercenary, actually." Which was better at least. Or worse. Gakuto wasn't sure.
"Wakashi…" Gakuto rubbed at his forehead. "What the hell, man?"
"Yeah, we don't know how he manages either." The sound of someone who had not quite stopped moving at super speed sounded like you had three stereos playing, all slightly off. And echo within an echo within an echo, oh, and said through a fan. Shishido vibrated to a stop, a blue and brown blur coalescing into a brown haired scruffy looking man. Shishido must not have shaved, he had at least a day's worth of stubble. Gakuto felt himself choke, his heart thudding to a stop in his chest. First Oshitari dumping him, then Shishido showing up? Gakuto HAD gotten over Shishido.
Or so he had thought.
"I have a blackberry." Hiyoshi said, like this explained everything. Shishido rolled his eyes, and Gakuto's eyes were drawn upward when a large figure dressed in silver dropped down behind Shishido. Ohtori Choutarou, the Silver Angel, and Shishido's partner.
Shishido's *superhero* partner.
"So what is this, some sort of Ghosts of Christmas Past thing?" Gakuto snarked, not bothering to get up from his chair. It wouldn't make him any taller, and he barely came up to Ohtori's hip as it was. "Come to offer me a chance at attending that supervillian version of fat camp?"
"You mean 'Camp Do Good?" Shishido asked. Gakuto glared. Shishido smirked. Shishido had gone into Camp Do Good after a defeat at the hands of Monkman and come out a changed man. Ohtori was the one who had gotten Shishido in and after that the two of them had been joined at the pelvis. Wherever Shishido, as Speedster, went Ohtori was not far behind. "Naw, I don't think Camp Do Good would do you any good."
No one laughed.
Shishido's smirk dropped and he elbowed Hiyoshi in the side. "C'mon Wakashi, you didn't say anything?"
Hiyoshi held up his phone as if, yet again, it explained everything. "I was not off the clock yet." Shishido snatched the phone away, and Hiyoshi snatched it back.
Ohtori sighed.
"Look," Gakuto snapped, he got up and kicked his chair away. It fell backward into the destroyed strip club with a satisfying crunch. "I realize you all are having fun, but can you either fuck off or say whatever it is you came to say?"
Hiyoshi looked at Shishido. Shishido glanced back at Ohtori. Ohtori frowned. Shishido sighed and looked at Gakuto with a serious face.
Which was laughable, really. But Gakuto was too pissed to laugh.
"So, heard that you and Oshitari split." Shishido hurried on when it looked like Gakuto was not going to need a giant robot to rip him to shreds. "I know how badly you do without a partner." Another hurrying sentence. "SoIfiguredIcouldlendyoumysidekick."
Gakuto blinked. He looked at Hiyoshi.
Hiyoshi frowned. "Not a sidekick."
Ohtori solemnly patted Hiyoshi's shoulder.
"I know you prefer to work with someone." Shishido continued at a normal pace. He motioned with his hands at the destruction behind Gakuto. "I mean, you always needed me to help you out before, even though you could have handled the heists yourself." Shishido shrugged. "You've worked with Hiyoshi before and…"
Shishido paused, a vaguely constipated look coming over his face. It was mirrored on Hiyoshi's. Gakuto smirked, then grinned. He knew what that look meant.
"We need your help." Ohtori said, calmly. "Atobe needs someone to go to the E.O.'s meeting next week."
Gakuto scowled. Work for Atobe? "Like hell. I'd rather be the E.O,'s entertainment than work for Atobe. And if I tried to infiltrate them on Atobe's orders I WOULD be their entertainment." The Evil Organization (of Evil SuperVillians Out to Conquer, Maim, or Destroy) did not take kindly to spies. The last superhero to try it was still hanging from a pike in the lobby.
Alive.
"You wouldn't be doing any of the work." Shishido motioned to Hiyoshi. "Really, Wakashi just needs a watchdog."
Hiyoshi's constipated face got worse.
"He's only moonlighting." Gakuto sniffed, like Hiyoshi's actions personally offended him. Not that Gakuto was a good supervillian, he had given up villianing for the most part because of Oshitari. Gakuto was a jewel thief, he was out for the treasures of the world, and Oshitari could buy him what he wanted. Maybe that was why the robot had gone wrong. Gakuto had gone soft.
"Yeah," Shishido shrugged. "But they'll let him in."
"I still pay my dues." Hiyoshi stated, like it mattered. The E.O. did keep your records up to date if you paid up, but there were other things you need to fulfill to be a full time member. Gakuto was, of course, although he might have some back pay on his dues. He tried to keep up with those things but sometimes things got lost in the mail. "Please. I need your help."
This got Gakuto's attention right way. Turning with a swish of maroon hair Gakuto stared incredulously at doubly constipated Hiyoshi. Hiyoshi turned his head away and looked like he would give anything to turn invisible. "Wait. I thought you guys were helping *me*."
Shishido coughed awkwardly, and then held out his hand to Ohtori. Ohtori fished out an IPhone and passed it over. Where Ohtori fished it out from, Gakuto had no idea. The cape maybe? Gakuto had always wanted a cape but they got in the way.
"You see… you know Devil Akaya right?" Gakuto nodded. Who didn't know of Devil Akaya? You would need to be living under a rock… or a superhero. "Well. He and Hiyoshi ran into each other a year ago and…" Shishido accessed a video and flipped the phone around. The youtube video's quality wasn't great, but Gakuto could clearly make out Hiyoshi failing to kick the red skinned seaweed headed brat's ass while the brat kicked buildings to pieces. Other superheroes appeared on the scene and Shishido turned the IPhone away, tapping at it. Then he showed Gakuto another video.
This time it was shot with a fuzzy hand held camera, not a news camera. Devil Akaya and Hiyoshi again, but this time Hiyoshi wasn't fighting Devil Akaya.
Another video.
And another.
And aonther. All of them involving Hiyoshi either fighting or working with Devil Akaya.
"And he wasn't off the clock." Shishido said, having paused the last video and answering Gakuto's unspoken question. Gakuto glanced at Hiyoshi. Hiyoshi glared at Gakuto, and Gakuto grinned. The tips of Hiyoshi's ears were red.
"So is this one of those best friend/nemesis things? Because I thought you were above that Hiyoshi!" The red got worse.
Ohtori coughed, took the phone from Shishido, and tapped it a few more times. The sounds that started up before Ohtori turned the IPhone in Gakuto's direction sounded very little like mayhem and destruction. Looking at the video Gakuto felt his eyes bug out, and a wide grin spread over his face. Oh, too perfect. This would definitely keep him occupied. "Is that legal to put on youtube?"
"It's not even legal to put on porntube." Hiyoshi muttered under his breath.
Title: SupeSeme 5/?
Author:
kat8chaPairing: OISHI/EIJI, past Oshitari/Gakuto, Fuji/Strippers, Kirihara/Hiyoshi
Summary: SuperSeme tries to find out where a trans-dimensional portal could be hidden (context - the assassin uses it to escape) and discovers abnormal energy spikes emanating from Seigakuopolis' only strip club.
A/N: Dedicated to Melly, for her Mellyness, and Jack for saying anything marked 1/6 or 2/3 is terrible. :D FIVE OUT OF WHO KNOWS WHAT!
Oishi stared aghast at the reports in front of him. He had been hunting down any abnormal energy spikes that coincided with the hitman's appearances and disappearances. Oishi had emailed Inui and asked for information on trans-dimensional portals. Inui had sent him an Adobe PDF filled with gibberish Oishi hardly understood, technical jargon and long scientific words and diagrams that made Oishi wonder what was going *on* with these scientists. (He had conveniently forgotten that most of them were 'mad' scientists.) Thankfully Inui's assistant Kaidoh Kaoru had followed up Inui's response with one of his own. A far more mundane explanation for how you powered a trans-dimensional portal, it's effects on the human body, and such.
So Oishi had settled down to investigate strange power spikes near the shootings, and cross-referenced those with timing and…
There was definitely something odd going on. There were power spikes in two places at the exact same time. Two before the shooting and two after, one of these spikes was in the building from which the shooter had aimed which was also the building the shooter had destroyed. The other building…
Satin Laces, Seigakuopolis' ONLY bad with dancers. The kind of dancers who danced for money. It was only topless, which meant they weren't allowed to remove their panties, but Oishi had heard that on *certain nights* they broke that rule. Oishi swallowed. He was uncomfortable with the very *idea* of Satin Laces, much less the idea of investigating Satin Laces. He had landed there once. There had been an apartment fire, and he had been setting residents down and…
The women had touched him, and the men had leered.
Un.com.for.ta.ble.
"Eh? What are you looking at, Egghead?" Taki snatched away Oishi's reports, then hooted when he saw the name. "Satin Laces? Are you planning something?"
Oishi flushed. Oh god. Everyone was turning now to look at him… "It's for a story!"
"Which you weren't going to share with your partner?" Taki leaned against Oishi's desk. "C'mon, we've written a ton of stories together and you weren't going to ask me to go to Satin Laces?" Taki stared at Oishi like he knew something.
Oishi flushed. He couldn't look at Taki. There was something about Taki's eyes. Did Taki know?
"Were you going to ask your new photographer friend?" Taki questioned, although his tone had lost it's teasing joviality. Oishi squirmed. He couldn't!
"Ooooooooooiiiiiiiiiiiiishi!" Eiji bounced over to Oishi, curling his arms tightly around Oishi's head and pushing Oishi forward into his desk. Oishi spluttered, and flailed, but smiled. Neither of them was exerting a tenth of their real strength. "Ny- oh, hey, what's this?"
Taki excused himself, sullenly, and wandered out of the room, leaving Oishi to talk to Eiji. Oishi's 'new friend' in truth, Oishi's lover. Oishi smiled at Eiji, even though the other man was waving around the reports.
"What's Satin Laces?" Eiji asked, "And why are they using so much electricity? Yowza! That's enough to power a giant robot!"
Oishi nodded. "Or more. I was thinking it was more like…" Oishi lowered his voice. "A trans-dimensional portal, like the one the shooter was using."
Eiji let out a small gasp. "Really, Oishi? Do you think so?"
Oishi nodded.
Eiji looked at the sheet, then dropped it onto Oishi's desk and hopped on. "Well then! When are we going to investigate?"
Oishi flushed and glanced down at his desk, then up into Eiji's earnest eyes. "It's… it's a strip club." Eij blinked. "So… I mean."
"So they only have nightly hours?" Eiji asked with a smile. "We should take Fujiko! He loves strippers!"
Something inside of Oishi shriveled. He could only imagine how uncomfortable going to a strip club with Eiji would be, but going with both Eiji and Fuji? Or heck, just going to a strip club with Fuji. Maybe Oishi could convince Eiji not to tell Fuji? But by the time Oishi opened his mouth Eiji was already on the phone, chattering away.
"Strip club! Yeah, they're running – okay so you'll come? Great! We'll go tonight!"
--
The bass beat of the dance music was drowned out by the thick insulation of the walls, but if Gakuto concentrated he could almost hear it. Not when he was running his power tools though. Bending around another delicate piece of robotic material Gakuto checked the circuits. He was not, when it came down to it, a mad scientist. Gakuto had always been the assistant to Oshitari's experiments, so he had picked up a few things. Before Oshitari, Gakuto had been a partner to a terrible twosome that had held Ichiseiton by it's throat. Well, they had made some serious loot anyway. It had funding Gakuto buying out this place ages ago when he moved to Seigakuopolis with Yuushi, which had given Gakuto somewhere to go and sulk when Yuushi was being an ass.
Like now. Except now Yuushi was *moving on*. He was becoming a *good guy*, just like Gakuto's old partner had done. And all of it was for some other guy, of course. First that tall kid, who Gakuto could at least understand the draw, I mean, tall, built, goody-two-shoes…
And now Atobe.
Ick. Atobe.
--
Oishi nervously adjusted his tie. Was a tie the appropriate thing to wear to a strip club? Should Oishi change? He never went clubbing, was going to a strip club like clubbing? Should Oishi dress up? Dress down? Oh god. He knew he should never have let Eiji talk him into doing this during business hours. He should have investigated on his own during the day. Broke a few locks, trespassed a little, it's not like it would matter!
"Oiiiiiiiiiiiiishi." Eiji knocked on his apartment door. Oishi swallowed. This would also be the first time Eiji had been over to his apartment. What would he think? Oishi tripped over a pair of tube socks, then a pashmina, then an ottoman. Making it to the door Oishi took a deep breath before slipping the deadbolt out and pulling the door open.
His breath escaped in one long rush.
Eiji stood dressed in casual clothes. Oishi was pretty sure it was the first time he had seen Eiji dressed like that. At the office they had to dress business casual, it was important that they look presentable. While his outfit as Neko-chan clung quite tightly to his body it was a uniform. Oishi might occasionally have to drag his eyes away from the firm roundness of Eiji's ass or the way the lycra clung to the outline of Eiji's penis but… it was not seeing him in casual clothes. There was something strangely sexy about it. Eiji was dressed in low riding jeans, and a pair of layered shirts. The shirt on bottom was red, while the one on top was black with white writing scrawled over it. Eiji had a black beanie pulled over his distinctive hair, his red hair curling over the edge of the hat.
Oishi breathed in.
"Ready?" Eiji grinned, his eyes glittered and Oishi almost missed the once over Eiji gave him when he turned to close the door behind him. "Nya, you look nice Oishi!" Oishi turned and Eiji was right there, trapping him against his closed door. Oishi dropped his keys. Eiji smoothed down Oishi's pastel striped button up shirt and smiled at him. "It's a nice shirt."
"Th-thank you." Oishi stuttered, hoping Eiji did not feel the sudden part of Oishi that was happy to see Eiji. Maybe Eiji would think it was a stick in his pocket or something.
Eiji's smile widened and then he hopped away. "C'mon and lock up! Fuji's downstairs in the car. He'll drive us!" Eiji licked his lips and looked over his shoulder while Oishi fumbled with his keys. Had it always been so hard to get his keys to fit into the keyhole? Keys. Hole. Keyhole. Oh god. Why was it sexual now? Oishi had no idea. Flushing hotly Oishi tucked his keys into his pocket and started to walk down the hallway. Eiji skipped a few steps ahead of him, keeping him from catching up. Eiji pushed the button for the elevator, which came at a creaking, crawling pace. Oishi stood at Eiji's side and tried to discreetly wipe his sweaty palms against his pants.
Eiji reached out and squeezed his hand as the elevator came. Oishi got to hold Eiji's hand the entire way down, and then out into the parking garage. Fuji was leaning back indolently in the seat of a low blue sporty company car. The car purred when Fuji started it up, yet another thing that Oishi could never afford if he sold all of his blood. (His blood type was, sadly, quite common.) Oishi let go of Eiji's hand and prepared to sit in the back on his own, but Eiji squished in with him, cuddling up against his side.
"Ei-" The car door closed and Fuji peeled out of the garage. Oishi clutched at Eiji like a life preserver while fumbling with his other hand for a seatbelt. "Eep!"
Eiji chuckled and kissed the underside of Oishi's jaw. "Fuji's driving makes a lot of people do that!"
--
The strip club was everything Oishi had feared it would be. It was dark, but at the same time it was well lit. Women danced at the strip in front, and scantily dressed women wandered around serving drinks. It made Oishi sweat. There was all this… female flesh. Oishi was uncomfortable.
And every stripper looked bored out of their mind.
Fuji had talked to the women who came around to serve, and they had left the table with a giggle and a bounce in their step. The strippers kneeled close to where they sat so Eiji could toss bills enthusiastically at them. Oishi just sipped his club soda and half-wished for something stronger.
"I'm going to go use the bathroom." Oishi murmured under his breath, standing and moving off. Finding the bathroom was not hard. The bathroom was well lit, and surprisingly clean. So the strip club was not everything Oishi had feared. Washing his hands in the sink Oishi stared at his reflection. His hair was escaping it's gelled hold, poking out in wisps all over his forehead. Oishi slicked it back.
What did Eiji see in him? Clearly Eiji enjoyed women. Was Eiji bi? Oishi had never asked. He didn't know anything about Eiji, really. He didn't know how Eiji had gotten his super powers, he didn't know about Eiji's childhood. Did Eiji have family? Siblings? Parents? Superheroes had such diverse pasts, but Oishi doubted Eiji was the 'tormented by the death of his parents' type.
But there was still so much Oishi did not know.
Unknown to Oishi, and indeed unknown to it's red haired creator who was outside having a shouting match with Oshitari on his cellphone, a red mechanical eye came on, circuits whirring as the robot turned on.
Oishi jumped backwards when a clawed tentacle shot out of the floor. It burst through ceramic and water pipes, reaching for Oishi. Oishi dodged to the side and the claw flew to the door. "No!" Oishi grabbed at the tentacle, prepared to destroy it to stop it from damaging more of the club.
Then the rest of the robot pulled itself through the floor, and the wall, and some of the alleyway outside. Oishi gaped for just a second, but he quickly stripped off his shirt and pants, glad he had come dressed as Superseme under his clothes.
Sometimes wearing multiple layers could be annoying. Mostly it just came in handy.
Oishi pushed off the ground and flew towards the robot, both hands fisted in front of him.
"KYAAAAAAAA!" Screams from the club proper as the robot thrashed and rolled. Walls came down and the roof cracked before crumbling in. Scantily dressed women ran away from the fight. A smoke alarm was triggered as small fires burst into being.
The robot was equipped with lasers.
Oishi knew this type of robot. Oshitari mass produced them for his evil deeds. Had Oshitari abandoned the road of righteousness and instead turned back to his dastardly deeds? Oishi flew around a fiery beam of red light. No, this did not seem like Oshitari's type of battle. The mad genius had always avoided places where women could be hurt, he was the 'chivalrous' type of villain.
"Superseme!" Suddenly Neko-chan was at his side, bouncing off of bits of cracked plaster and a support beam. The robot's mechanical eye swiveled his way.
"Neko-chan!" Oishi grabbed a mechanical tentacle and ripped, metal screamed as it was ripped forcefully apart, wires sparking, circuitry falling out onto the floor when Oishi dropped the broken machinery. Eiji smiled and gave him a thumbs up before flipping over the robot's main body. The robot tried to keep it's eye on Eiji, but Eiji was too fast for it.
It let out an explosion of sparks and a burst of sound when Oishi slammed his fist into it's optic port and reached inside to rip out handfuls of circuitry.
"Nya!" Neko-chan grabbed OIshi and dragged him back when the robot fell to the ground, a dull sounding explosion resonating from the inside of the robot and a stream of smoke drifting out of the ruined red eye. Bits of glass dropped to the ground. "Good job Super-seme!" Neko-chan gave him a tight hug, pressing up tight against him.
Oishi hugged Eiji back, the realization that the only thing separating skin from skin being two thin layers of material coming too late. After the news crew had showed up.
Fuji was standing at the edge of the fire safety line, still dressed in his civvies. He was speaking to a short redhead who was waving his arms angrily. Oishi frowned. Mukahi Gakuto, Oshitari's lover. He had never actively tried to destroy Seigakuopolis but he had been at the scenes of Oshitari's work more than once. Oishi knew that if anyone had access to the plans to a giant robot it would be Mukahi.
"Don't look now, but I think we found the culprit." Eiji stated, nodding in the direction of Fuji and Mukahi.
Oishi nodded grimly. He walked slowly over to the two men, his footsteps measured and authoritative. The crowd held the breath when he approached them. Eiji bounced at his side, walking without seeming to ever touch the ground for more than a millisecond. "Mukahi."
Gakuto spun angrily, his eyes glaring into the giant S on Oishi's chest before he looked upward. If looks could kill, Oishi would have been set on fire. Not that setting him on fire would kill him, but it stung a little. "What do you want, Superseme?" Gakuto's tone was coated in layers of sarcasm, disgust, and irritation.
"The robot was yours, wasn't it." Oishi let disappointment flavor his voice. Had Oshitari's evil plots always been at Gakuto's urging? Was the man now turning to a life of crime now that Oshitari had become a hard working normal citizen? Gakuto's glare turned from hot to cold.
"Are you going to take me in, sir?"
Oishi took a deep breath. There really wasn't anything he could do without proof, and he wasn't a police officer. All Oishi could do was point the proper authorities in the right direction. Gakuto knew this. It was why Oishi had never been able to get Oshitari put away. A smirk wormed it's way over Gakuto's face, an ugly little smirk.
"Nya, you shouldn't-" Eiji started angrily.
"Oh shut up." Gakuto snapped with an angry stamp of his foot. "Just because you guys are superheroes means you think you can walk all over everyone else!" While Gakuto shouted angrily a black van rolled silently into the parking lot, it's sides opening to disgorge a number of black suited individuals. Oishi knew they were not police, but they were dressed in all black with heavy helmets and bullet proof vests. Atobe's company logo was pasted on the van's side, it glittered in the light from the streetlamps.
Gakuto turned to look in the same direction, a scowl killing his smirk.
A young looking young man with a mop of badly cut blond hair hopped out of the van and walked over in measured steps. Not measured like Oishi's steps, measured in the manner of someone who was very aware of his body. Like a dancer or a martial artist. Military types had that type of stride too. Crisp and clean and fluid all at once.
"Superseme." The blond greeted, coming to a parade rest in front of him. The men in helmets and suits started herding the strippers and customers away, taking their statements of offering coats to the less fortunate girls. Another van pulled up, this time white and filled with medical personnel. "Neko-chan." The blond also nodded at Fuji, though he did not address the man by name.
Then the blond looked at Mukahi. Mukahi glared wordlessly at him.
"We will take care of this, Superseme." The blond looked back at Oishi and tossed an official looking badge at him. Then he turned to Gakuto and brought out a pair of black and silver handcuffs. Cuffs for meta-humans, so Gakuto was a meta-human. Oishi should have known.
"Don't even-" Oishi stepped forward to help, but the blond took care of it with a few crisp clean movements, then kept his hand wrapped tightly around one of Gakuto's cuffed arms. Gakuto stamped his foot down hard on the blonde's, who did not even flinch.
Oishi looked at the badge. Atobe Security, Hiyoshi Wakashi, licensed super hero.
Fighter class.
"I'm sure you're very busy." Hiyoshi said, calmly.
Oishi looked at the blond. Hiyoshi was slightly shorter than him, and obviously younger, but he gave off an air of professionalism. Oishi offered the badge back and turned to Fuji and Eiji.
Fuji had already disappeared, no doubt mingling with the customers and strippers, trying to keep a low profile or working the crowd. Fuji always seemed to be on the job. Oishi smiled at Eiji instead.
"Hiyoshi's good at this stuff." Eiji said, hopping into Oishi's arms. "Let's go, Super Seme!"
Clutching Eiji's warm body to his chest Oishi flew off in the direction of his apartment. He would get to see what Eiji thought of his bed next.
--
Gakuto sat glumly on one of the few seats left from his strip club. Destroyed. And the robot had been stored on his property, so the insurance would not cover it. Not that Gakuto had ever been terribly interested in the strip club. It turned a small profit, yeah, but Gakuto wasn't into girls, and they were always around. Mostly he had used it for the underground lair. Now even that was destroyed. Gakuto had checked Yuushi's stupid blueprints multiple times! Nothing like the robot turning itself on should have happened! Gakuto had not set the damn thing up to contain an A.I.!
"Mukahi." Hiyoshi said, his voice exactly like Gakuto remembered. Slightly gravely, but also boyish. Hiyoshi's face had hardly changed since the last time Gakuto saw him. He even had the same stupid hair cut. Hiyoshi had a blackberry out and was checking something on it, not even bothering to look at Gakuto.
Gakuto kicked him hard in the shin. Hiyoshi did not flinch. Stupid super strength and advanced healing to match. Gakuto missed the Hiyoshi who had no stamina to speak of, who did everything fast and hard and right the first time or screw it all to hell. "Being a super hero has to suck." Gakuto said, frustrated.
Hiyoshi nodded, tapping at his blackberry with a stylus before the phone beeped and Hiyoshi nodded again. "I'm off the clock now." Hiyoshi walked over to Gakuto and then undid the cuffs. "You have successful resisted arrest and escaped."
Gakuto rubbed at his wrists while staring incredulously at Hiyoshi. The black and white vans had driven off, all of Gakuto's former employees and clients being carted off as well. Hiyoshi had been waiting for his time card to clock out for fifteen minutes after that. That was not what made Gakuto incredulous though. "You are STILL moonlighting as a super villain?"
Hiyoshi shrugged. "Mercenary, actually." Which was better at least. Or worse. Gakuto wasn't sure.
"Wakashi…" Gakuto rubbed at his forehead. "What the hell, man?"
"Yeah, we don't know how he manages either." The sound of someone who had not quite stopped moving at super speed sounded like you had three stereos playing, all slightly off. And echo within an echo within an echo, oh, and said through a fan. Shishido vibrated to a stop, a blue and brown blur coalescing into a brown haired scruffy looking man. Shishido must not have shaved, he had at least a day's worth of stubble. Gakuto felt himself choke, his heart thudding to a stop in his chest. First Oshitari dumping him, then Shishido showing up? Gakuto HAD gotten over Shishido.
Or so he had thought.
"I have a blackberry." Hiyoshi said, like this explained everything. Shishido rolled his eyes, and Gakuto's eyes were drawn upward when a large figure dressed in silver dropped down behind Shishido. Ohtori Choutarou, the Silver Angel, and Shishido's partner.
Shishido's *superhero* partner.
"So what is this, some sort of Ghosts of Christmas Past thing?" Gakuto snarked, not bothering to get up from his chair. It wouldn't make him any taller, and he barely came up to Ohtori's hip as it was. "Come to offer me a chance at attending that supervillian version of fat camp?"
"You mean 'Camp Do Good?" Shishido asked. Gakuto glared. Shishido smirked. Shishido had gone into Camp Do Good after a defeat at the hands of Monkman and come out a changed man. Ohtori was the one who had gotten Shishido in and after that the two of them had been joined at the pelvis. Wherever Shishido, as Speedster, went Ohtori was not far behind. "Naw, I don't think Camp Do Good would do you any good."
No one laughed.
Shishido's smirk dropped and he elbowed Hiyoshi in the side. "C'mon Wakashi, you didn't say anything?"
Hiyoshi held up his phone as if, yet again, it explained everything. "I was not off the clock yet." Shishido snatched the phone away, and Hiyoshi snatched it back.
Ohtori sighed.
"Look," Gakuto snapped, he got up and kicked his chair away. It fell backward into the destroyed strip club with a satisfying crunch. "I realize you all are having fun, but can you either fuck off or say whatever it is you came to say?"
Hiyoshi looked at Shishido. Shishido glanced back at Ohtori. Ohtori frowned. Shishido sighed and looked at Gakuto with a serious face.
Which was laughable, really. But Gakuto was too pissed to laugh.
"So, heard that you and Oshitari split." Shishido hurried on when it looked like Gakuto was not going to need a giant robot to rip him to shreds. "I know how badly you do without a partner." Another hurrying sentence. "SoIfiguredIcouldlendyoumysidekick."
Gakuto blinked. He looked at Hiyoshi.
Hiyoshi frowned. "Not a sidekick."
Ohtori solemnly patted Hiyoshi's shoulder.
"I know you prefer to work with someone." Shishido continued at a normal pace. He motioned with his hands at the destruction behind Gakuto. "I mean, you always needed me to help you out before, even though you could have handled the heists yourself." Shishido shrugged. "You've worked with Hiyoshi before and…"
Shishido paused, a vaguely constipated look coming over his face. It was mirrored on Hiyoshi's. Gakuto smirked, then grinned. He knew what that look meant.
"We need your help." Ohtori said, calmly. "Atobe needs someone to go to the E.O.'s meeting next week."
Gakuto scowled. Work for Atobe? "Like hell. I'd rather be the E.O,'s entertainment than work for Atobe. And if I tried to infiltrate them on Atobe's orders I WOULD be their entertainment." The Evil Organization (of Evil SuperVillians Out to Conquer, Maim, or Destroy) did not take kindly to spies. The last superhero to try it was still hanging from a pike in the lobby.
Alive.
"You wouldn't be doing any of the work." Shishido motioned to Hiyoshi. "Really, Wakashi just needs a watchdog."
Hiyoshi's constipated face got worse.
"He's only moonlighting." Gakuto sniffed, like Hiyoshi's actions personally offended him. Not that Gakuto was a good supervillian, he had given up villianing for the most part because of Oshitari. Gakuto was a jewel thief, he was out for the treasures of the world, and Oshitari could buy him what he wanted. Maybe that was why the robot had gone wrong. Gakuto had gone soft.
"Yeah," Shishido shrugged. "But they'll let him in."
"I still pay my dues." Hiyoshi stated, like it mattered. The E.O. did keep your records up to date if you paid up, but there were other things you need to fulfill to be a full time member. Gakuto was, of course, although he might have some back pay on his dues. He tried to keep up with those things but sometimes things got lost in the mail. "Please. I need your help."
This got Gakuto's attention right way. Turning with a swish of maroon hair Gakuto stared incredulously at doubly constipated Hiyoshi. Hiyoshi turned his head away and looked like he would give anything to turn invisible. "Wait. I thought you guys were helping *me*."
Shishido coughed awkwardly, and then held out his hand to Ohtori. Ohtori fished out an IPhone and passed it over. Where Ohtori fished it out from, Gakuto had no idea. The cape maybe? Gakuto had always wanted a cape but they got in the way.
"You see… you know Devil Akaya right?" Gakuto nodded. Who didn't know of Devil Akaya? You would need to be living under a rock… or a superhero. "Well. He and Hiyoshi ran into each other a year ago and…" Shishido accessed a video and flipped the phone around. The youtube video's quality wasn't great, but Gakuto could clearly make out Hiyoshi failing to kick the red skinned seaweed headed brat's ass while the brat kicked buildings to pieces. Other superheroes appeared on the scene and Shishido turned the IPhone away, tapping at it. Then he showed Gakuto another video.
This time it was shot with a fuzzy hand held camera, not a news camera. Devil Akaya and Hiyoshi again, but this time Hiyoshi wasn't fighting Devil Akaya.
Another video.
And another.
And aonther. All of them involving Hiyoshi either fighting or working with Devil Akaya.
"And he wasn't off the clock." Shishido said, having paused the last video and answering Gakuto's unspoken question. Gakuto glanced at Hiyoshi. Hiyoshi glared at Gakuto, and Gakuto grinned. The tips of Hiyoshi's ears were red.
"So is this one of those best friend/nemesis things? Because I thought you were above that Hiyoshi!" The red got worse.
Ohtori coughed, took the phone from Shishido, and tapped it a few more times. The sounds that started up before Ohtori turned the IPhone in Gakuto's direction sounded very little like mayhem and destruction. Looking at the video Gakuto felt his eyes bug out, and a wide grin spread over his face. Oh, too perfect. This would definitely keep him occupied. "Is that legal to put on youtube?"
"It's not even legal to put on porntube." Hiyoshi muttered under his breath.
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