Eleven Thirty-seven.  It was already eleven thiry-seven, and there was still no sign of him.  With a tired sigh, Maki Shinichi tapped gently against the glass face of his watch.  Maybe there was something wrong with the damn thing?  But no, an overpriced platinum Rolex wouldn't be wrong.  And he couldn't deny the fact that this situation was becoming increasingly more familiar to him.  Fujima Kenji had stood him up again.  He wondered what his excuse would be this time...

" This is not good for a relationship, Kenji-kun..." Maki muttered to himself as he eased off the tie from around his neck.  He had finally come to terms with the fact that if the guy hadn't shown up until now, then it wasn't very likely that he would bother to anymore.  He had waited some four and a half hours for the damn prima donna, had gone through the trouble of securing a booking for them at the hottest restaurant in town, and what happened?  Kenji stood him up.  Kenji forget about everything and was now, at this moment, most probably out there somewhere getting his pretty little self as wasted as one possibly could.  He should be out there looking for him by now, but after countless frantic nights of doing just that, he had gotten pretty sick of it already, and had no intention of getting his ass off the nice sofa where it was comfortably parked.  Besides, he didn't think Kenji even wanted to be found.  He had been trying to call him up on his mobile but, it had been turned off...

Maki's eyes fell on a magazine lying on the coffee table.  He scowled down at Fujima's flawless face smiling up at him from the cover.  Dammit.  These days, it seemed as though he saw more of Fujima on magazines, billboards and T.V than he did personally!  What the hell was going on?  Each and every one of their dates for the past week had either been canceled by Fujima due to some business obligations, or had been completely forgotten by him.  He didn't have to take this sort of crap from his so called boyfriend!  Maki was perfectly aware of the fact that he was an exceptionally handsome guy, he was well off, and liked to think that he had a pleasing personality.  He would be able to snap up another boyfriend in an instant if he broke it off with Fujima.  But he had never liked to admit defeat.  And breaking things up with Fujima would mean that he was doing that.  That he had been wrong in thinking that the brown haired young man was the right one for him...He wasn't wrong.  He couldn't be wrong.

" Stubborn fool..." He berated himself, as he pulled his laptop towards him just so that he could occupy himself with something.  He was settling himself in for a long wait.  Fujima wouldn't be coming home until the break of dawn, he was sure.  That was, if he even bothered to go home at all, but Maki wanted to be there when the guy stumbled into the living room stoned out of his mind.  Fujima would need him then, and he was always there for Fujima.  He wished that the same thing could be said for him...

Maki smiled to himself, momentarily forgetting his woes as he opened his mail and noticed one message in particular.
 

From: "Nobunaga Kiyota" <nobu_chan@hotmail.com>
To:  " Shinichi Maki" <shinmaki@hotmail.com>, Soichiro Jin <jinsoichiro@hotmail.com>
Subject:  Great News Guys! ^_________^

Hey guys ^______^

Bet you're really psyched to hear from old Nobu-kun again, huh? ^_^  It's been a long time!  Bet you all missed me! 

So, how are things there at Kanagawa?  You keep on complaining that everything is still exactly the same there, Soi-chan, but I bet that things aren't as boring as you claim they are!  How can they be with the new Mrs.  around, hey? ^_~.  Bet she makes life real, interesting, huh?  Speaking of her, is she all right?  Can I expect to hear the pitter patter of little feet around the Jin household once I get back there to Kanagawa???

^_____^ Yup!  That's right!  You read right!  Nobunaga Kiyota is finally coming back to good old Japan!  Great news for you guys, hey?  Bad news for Sakuragi...Heehee...I'm gonna whoop his ass on the court first chance that I get.  Show him who the real Super Rookie is once and for all!  I still can't believe that they actually let him become a coach...Someone should lodge a complaint to the National Basketball association about that Red Monkey corrupting the young talent of Japan with his stupidity.  I mean, how the hell can an amateur be expected to be able to coach a team properly???  Now if I was the coach, my team would shoot straight up to the Number One spot in the Nation for sure!  Heehee...

Anyways, that's beside the point ^_^  I'll have plenty of time to insult the Red Monkey later on once I see him!  And I'm sure that I'll be able to catch up with all of the old gang once I'm back there, since I'm pretty certain that the two of you decided to welcome me back to Kanagawa with a nice little get together the very moment that you found out that I was coming back ^___________^ Right, Maki-Sempai?  Soi-chan???  Suggested invitation list would be the guys from Shohoku ( Yup, even the Red Monkey ), The Ryonan players and of course, our old team mates ^___^  I might even allow the old Shoyo players to tag along...For you, Maki-san ^_^  Heeheee...You can invite Fujima-san if you like ^___^ But, really. The planning of the Surprise Welcome Home Party is all up to the two of you ^__________^

How is Fujima-san, Maki?  I've been hearing a lot of things about the two of you ^_^  Even here in America, the famous Japanese model is known!  I can't wait to see the guy again!  He looks even more gorgeous in the photos that I see of him than he did back then.  ( No need to be jealous about that comment, Maki-san.  Just being appreciative of beauty when I see it ^_^ ) When I tell the people here that I used to play basketball against Fujima-san and that I beat him, they don't believe me until I show them that picture after one of the Shoyo Kainan games.

Ahh...Kainan.  I can't wait to see the glorious old Alma Mater again!!!  How is the Kainan Basketball Club doing these days anyways?  I hope the reputation that we had all worked so hard on has not been tarnished by the players now...^_^

Anyways, that is all for now ^____^

Nobu-kun!!!

P.S.  Er...Wait.  I seem to have forgotten to mention that I will be arriving there by next week on Wednesday.  By the way, about the Surprise Party, It isn't *necessary* to bring gifts...Though you know what, I've noticed that my Trainers collection has been lacking some vital samples lately...Like the new Nike Shocks.  You know, the light blue and white ones?  *sighs*  It would be real nice if I could somehow get my hands on those...^______^
 

Smiling slightly, Maki proceeded to type out a short reply to Kiyota's email, telling him how much he was looking forward to seeing him again and how Sakuragi was actually doing all right coaching.  He didn't say anything about Fujima, though.  What could he say about him after all?  My boyfriend is a druggie who gets himself as stoned as he possibly can before photo shoots so that he can be more relaxed.  How's that for the harsh reality of the modeling world, Kiyota-kun?  He didn't think that the bubbly, ever cheerful younger man would want to hear about something like that, so he carefully steered clear of the subject, instead filling the email with news of his job and the people that they had known.  It was quite long by the time he hit the send button a few minutes later.

Finding nothing else interesting in his inbox, he sat back on the sofa and wondered about Kiyota.  He remembered the guy from back in High School and College.  In fact, he was the one that stood out most vividly in his memories.  Kiyota had been the  Kainan hotshot Rookie who had helped the team so much on Maki's final year as the Kainan captain,  Kiyota had been the outrageous loudmouth who had caused chaos in the College Basketball team with Sakuragi Hanamichi, though it had eventually turned out that the two idiots worked well together.  Then right on the younger boy's second year in College, his father had been transferred to America by the company that he worked for and he had been forced to go along with his family.  It wasn't until then that Maki had come to realize just how close he had gotten to the younger boy, and they had kept in touch through telephone calls and email.

He wondered what the guy would be like when he saw him again.  Had he stayed the same, old cheerful Kiyota Nobunaga, the one that he had known and loved, or would he be like Fujima, who had changed so much over the course of the last few years, that it was as though he was a different person?  Maki hoped that wasn't the case.
 

~**~

Kiyota Nobunaga hummed cheerfully to himself as he stuffed the last CD in his collection into the box that his mother had provided for him.  Everything in the house was in chaos, especially downstairs.  His mother was almost hyperventilating from the stress, so he chose to remain inside his room instead of attempting to sneak outside for a friendly one on one with some of the friends that he had made in his stay at America.  He turned and contemplated his window thoughtfully.  It was only three floors up.  That wouldn't be too much of a fall...

But no.  Still too risky.  He had to be in top shape for once he got back to Japan.  He had to be at his very best form when he finally played against Sakuragi, Jin and Maki.  He was planning on showing them just how much he had improved after all of these years.

He spun around and glared at the smiling face of the dammed redhead staring out at him from a Photograph of their old College team that he had been presented with before he had left.  " We'll settle this whole Super Rookie thing once and for all now, Sakuragi-kun!  Too bad that I had to leave before I could show the whole of Japan the greatness of Kiyota Nobunaga!  But then, there'll be plenty of time to do so now!"  Throwing back his head, Kiyota let out a few peals of maniacal laughter until his elder brother started pounding on the wall, demanding that he shut up.  " And you too, Rukawa Kaede...." Kiyota vowed, looking down at the Japanese basketball magazine that Jin had sent him featuring Rukawa right smack on the cover doing a dunk.  " I can't wait to beat you guys.  But most of all, I can't wait to see Maki-san again to show him how great I've gotten!" 

Maki-san...Grinning stupidly at the thought of the Senior that he had idolized so much to the point of obsession back in High School and College, Kiyota hoped that he would be able to impress him with his new found skills.  " Not that you have any hope of catching Maki-Sempai's attention away from his precious Kenji..." Kiyota muttered to himself, not understanding the sudden wave of irrational bitterness that went over him at this thought.