Eternity

"I challenge you."

"Again?"

"Yes."

"Why? You keep losing, and you will continue to keep losing." His patronizing tone enrages me and I rein in the impulse to kick him. It wouldn't be very dignified, and knowing Touga, he'd probably avoid it somehow, and make me look like an idiot. As always.

"I'll challenge you again and again until I defeat you. I will not let you defeat me." This time, I will win.

Touga's gray eyes light with amusement, and I see his lips twitch as he holds back a chuckle. The bastard. Probably didn't care that I saw that twitch, and knew what it meant. I know every nuance of his expression and voice. As he does mine. Not surprising since we've known each other for more than ten years.

"Same penalties?" Touga asks as he walks towards me. He moves languidly, like a lion stalking its prey. Resisting the urge to retreat, I stand my ground and nod. Touga smiles. He lifts a hand to run his fingers along my jaw, "It's been a while since we've dueled, my friend." Leaning forward, he brushes his lips against my cheek and breathes into my ear, "I've missed you, my dear Saionji."

I clench my teeth and raise my hand to catch Touga's wrist and throw his hand away. "Don't touch me."

Touga feints a pout, "Oh, don't be like that, Saionji."

"Today. After school. Here." The urge to slap his face is so strong, that I can feel my body shaking with it.

Touga flips his hair back and smiles again, turning his back. "I'll be there. Be ready for me."

I snarl at his back. I'm going to wipe that smile off of his face.

* * * * * *

Touga Kiryu. Student body president. Biggest playboy on campus. My closest friend for over ten years. My greatest rival for the past few years. He is the most manipulative bastard that I know.

Word of our duel has spread through the campus like wildfire, and already we have quite a sizeable audience. A few more minutes, and we wouldn't have room for our duel. I ignore the distraction of the whispering, and concentrate on the motionless figure in front of me.

A beam of light cuts across his figure and washes his skin a honey-gold. His fiery hair almost seems alive, the color's so vibrant. I give myself a mental shake. This is no time to be thinking about Touga's natural beauty.

His gray eyes are cold as stone, and give nothing away. I already know from experience, that he's more likely to use his eyes as a distraction, rather than as a lead to his movements. It's useless watching his shoulders and chest, as well. He stands in perfect zen stillness, his practice sword held firmly in front of him. When he moves, it will be a commitment of his entire body. I, myself, stand with my practice sword above my head. His stance is more effective as a defense, while mine is a more offensive stance. Damn his arrogance. I give myself another mental shake and stamp down on my rising anger.

We remain in our frozen tableau for several minutes. The crowd is getting restless. The whispering is getting louder. I wish there was a way to keep our duels more private, but it's almost impossible to keep any secret in our school, the gossip network's just too well established. Anything but the secrets of the Student Council, that is.

I keep my eyes on Touga's still figure and empty my mind, feeling my body relax into that distinct calmness before movement. When we make our move, it is simultaneous. I bring my sword down in a diagonal strike, as he lunges his sword towards my heart. The seconds contract and slow and Touga executes a fluid, barely noticeable pivot to the side. Barely noticeable except for the fact that it's just enough to avoid my strike, and his sword touches me in the chest a split second before mine has a chance to touch the juncture of his neck and shoulder.

We stay frozen in our final movement for several seconds, as applause erupts around us. Dammit. He won. Again! His lips quirk into a smirk and I almost throw my sword at him, the arrogant bastard, but I manage to restrain myself. Have to remember my image to the student body, after all. Besides, I wouldn't want to damage my sword.

"It's always a pleasure to duel with you, dear friend." His chameleon eyes change slowly from stone gray to a more bluish tint, moving languidly to track down my body. "Where shall I collect my penalty? Here? Now?" There's laughter in his voice.

My eyes narrow despite my efforts to keep my face expressionless. "No."

"Why ever not? Surely you don't want to prolong the wait?"

I grit my teeth and grind out, "There are too many eyes on us right now, in case you haven't noticed."

Touga raises an eyebrow, "Why Saionji, I never knew you were so shy." His eyes move to focus on something behind me, and a smile touches his lips. I shiver. I know that smile. Intimately. It's the one that should be patented as his 'Someone's about to be fucked' smile. Against my will, I feel my body start to tighten. Touga is never more sexy than when he's tormenting someone. In this case, me.

Touga's smile widens as he catches the flare of arousal in my eyes. I quickly turn and walk over to the sword stands to put away my sword. Automatically, I run a check to make sure that it is still undamaged before putting it away.

I freeze as I feel him come up behind me. Fingers lift and turn my chin. I scowl at Touga.

"What?" His eyes focus on my mouth as I lick suddenly dry lips. Touga runs his thumb across my now moistened lips and raises his eyes to take in the still lingering crowd.

My eyes widen as I realize his intent. Before I can open my mouth to protest, he strikes, swooping down to capture my lips with his. Keeping one hand on my chin, so that I can't move away, he reaches his other arm around me to grip the sword stand, trapping me. He leans forward, pressing his length along my back and I moan into his mouth as I feel a familiar hardness against the small of my back. Touga, the opportunistic bastard that he is, takes advantage of my open mouth to snake his tongue into my mouth.

With a whimper, my eyes flutter shut, blocking out the shocked faces of the other students still in the room with us. Damn him. No matter how hard I try, how hard I resist, one touch of his lips and I'm gone, lost in the sensations of his soft lips over mine. Of how his tongue traces the contours of my mouth. How his teeth delicately nibble on my lower lip.

Touga moves the arm trapping me against the stands to wrap around my waist and pulls me in tighter against him. One of my own hands grip the stands to regain some semblance of balance while my other reaches up to wind around his neck, pulling him deeper into our kiss.

One moment we're in a complete lip-lock, and the next, I find myself staggering at its absence. I open my eyes to see Touga's back as he walks away. I can't see his face, but I know that he's got to be wearing a smirk and acting as though nothing happened. The damned arrogant, *smug* bastard!

I accidentally catch the widened eyes of the Tenjou girl. Normally I'd be chortling in glee at the shocked look on that girl's face, but this isn't a normal situation. I glare at her and raise my eyebrow in challenge. She flushes and lowers her eyes. With a snort I turn back to the swords and straighten them before walking out of the salle myself. I know where Touga's going, and I'll be damned if I let him just walk away and get away with this.

* * * * * *

As student body president, Touga is entitled to an office on school campus. Touga, being Touga, uses an entire suite in an unused wing of the school. He's got a sparsely furnished reception room, where all supplicants got to wait for his pleasure, a comfortable office with an oak desk, stained a rich dark brown. The other door in his office leads to a renovated bedroom, where Touga could rest from his 'work'. The largest, and central, piece of furniture in the bedroom is a large, canopied bed. If you were lucky, or Touga really liked you, you even got to see the ensuite bathroom.

I've been in his 'office' many times in the past, though my visits have gotten less frequent in the past months. Ever since- No, I am not going to think about that.

The door to his true office makes a satisfyingly resounding crash as I fling it open, ignoring his protesting secretary. Stupid girl, she should know better than to interfere with a member of the student council. Apparently, being chosen as Touga's secretary has gone to the stupid girl's head.

I slam the door in the lackwit's face. Touga is lounging in his chair, with his feet crossed and resting on his desk. He raises an eyebrow.

"My dear Saionji. You seem upset."

"Whatever gave you that idea?" I keep my voice as flippant as his as I stalk to his desk.

"Really, Saionji. You shouldn't get so upset over losing our duel."

"You think this is about the duel?" I ask evenly as I shove his feet off his desk. Childish, I know, but it still gives me much satisfaction to see the flare of anger enter his eyes. Good. Anger is never as enjoyable as when you share it with someone. Needless to say, I like to share my anger. "What was the point of humiliating me in front of the other students?"

Touga leans back and crosses his legs, leaning his chin in one hand. "What makes you think I had a point?"

My lip curls in anger, "You never do anything without reason, Touga. I should kill you for the humiliation."

Touga looks genuinely surprised, "I didn't think you'd be so shy, dear friend."

"Will you stop with the 'dears'? You make me sound like some simpering school maid!"

"Saionji, I do believe you're quite upset." His gray eyes have widened, and he looks at me with a puzzled expression on his face.

I snort, "What was your first clue?"

Touga stands up and steps toward me, and I realize how stupid I was not to move away from the desk. With one stride, he has me crowded against the edge of his desk. He brushes the back of his hand against my cheek and I draw in a quick breath as I see fires ignite in his eyes, turning them into the color of smoke.

His hand continues from its caress of my cheek to move to the back of my neck, playing with the few strands of hair that have come out of the high tail that I tied it in for the duel.

"You have beautiful hair. You really shouldn't be tying it up like this. Though the effect is nice. It accentuates the lines of your face."

I bat his hand away. "Tying it up keeps it from distracting me during practice. You're changing the subject. Why do you persist in tormenting me? Especially in front of an audience?"

Touga grins, "Because you're so cute when you get all flushed with anger. I like seeing you in that state. It's utterly captivating."

I blink. That was one answer I wasn't expecting. He takes advantage of my lapse in concentration to move closer. He leans over me and places his hands on the desk on either side of my hips. I don't really want to have him touching me right now, so I'm forced to lean back, bracing myself on my arms.

I narrow my eyes. I do not like being in such a helpless position.

Touga smirks, reading my anger at my position, and heat flares up in his eyes as he looks down at me. His smile turns downright predatory as he leans in further. I end up leaning on my elbows. I don't have enough leverage to push him away. This is *not* good.

He raises a hand to undo the tie holding my hair up, and I feel the familiar weight of my hair tumble around my shoulders.

"Much better," he murmurs.

He watches me through half-lidded eyes, still smiling his predatory smile. I feel the heat and arousal from earlier burn through me again. Again, not good. Touga hasn't even touched me yet, and already I can feel my mind wanting to just shut down in a fog of desire.

I shake my head to clear it, instead. "What do you think you're doing?"

I hide a wince. That was a stupid question. It's rather obvious what Touga has in mind right now.

Touga lowers his gaze to my lips and he answers, "There's still the matter of our duel. You lost. You owe me a penalty."

Then with the speed of a hawk, he swoops down and plants his lips on mine. I swallow a whimper as he nudges my lips apart with his tongue. When his tongue enters my mouth, my senses reel. My eyes flutter shut of their own accord. Like I said, every time he starts touching me, really *touching* me, I lose my mind. The only thought running through my brain right now is on how soft his lips are.

My tongue moves to twine with his, and I hear him moan. With a sudden sweep of his arm, his desk is clear behind me, and he presses me down onto the desk with his body. Touga runs his hands down the outsides of my thighs and under my knees. He guides my legs around his hips, pulling me firmly against his hard arousal. With a gasp, my head falls back as I feel his heat even through all the layers of clothing.

Touga moves his lips to nuzzle at the pulse in my neck, licking and biting at it until I'm basically a puddle of nerves and sensation. I bury my fingers in the soft curtain of his hair and pull his head back up for another kiss. His fingers dance along the expanse of my chest that is exposed from my shirt. He's lucky he doesn't have to deal with my school uniform. Or would that be me that's lucky? Either way, his hand slips under the edge of my shirt to caress my nipple. My back arches off the desk and he swallows my moan with his mouth.

With a sharp pull, he has my shirt untucked and spread open. Touga's head bends to my chest and I bite my lip to keep from yelling as I feel his tongue lave first one nipple, then the other. His fingers start working on the ties to my pants, and what's left of my wits flies straight out the window.

Touga runs his tongue up the middle of my chest and then hovers, with his lips above mine. I open my eyes to see him watching me intently.

"Ah, Saionji. I *have* missed you."

His voice is low and husky with arousal. This time, I believe him. There is no way to fake that tone of want and need. With that, I can admit how much I've missed him, myself.

Back before we were ever involved with the Student council and End of the World, this had been one of our favorite games. Challenging each other to duels, in order to determine the course of our love-making for that night. In the beginning, it had been about equality. Lately, it had been about dominance and control. Each time, I promised myself afterwards that I'd never try it again. And each time, I came back for more. Always hoping that I'd find a trace of the Touga Kiryu that I'd fallen in love with.

It's become more and more difficult to hide how obsessed I still am with the manipulative sonuvabitch. He must've seen something of what I've been feeling in my eyes because I see him rear back in surprise, his eyes going wide. Then, his eyes narrow and start burning with a fire that I haven't seen in almost a year.

Touga becomes wild, demanding responses for each of his caresses, driving me crazy with his hands and his tongue. I become shameless, begging for his touch with harsh cries and helpless moans. By the time he finally stops teasing and enters me, I feel whole for the first time in ages.

I know it's probably self-delusion, but for that short time, it feels like the Touga I was still in love with loved me back in return. I don't realize that I'm weeping until I feel him lick away the tears trailing from my eyes. It's at times like this that I know why I still challenge him, and will continue challenging him, even knowing I'll lose. I am his. For eternity.

End