Tobirama

The black car purred beneath me like a panther.

I loved it. I absolutely loved it.

I didn't drive it from the parking lot to the entrance directly but took a few turns, trying at least to hold the speed limit seeing I was the police chief. But wow, this car.

I let it roar beneath me through the streets while my mind played up the show over and over.

But it wasn't the show that was shown in my mind's eye; it was him. Only him. His strong legs, his bendy body, his beautiful face. I felt I was blushing just thinking about him. I never blushed. Ever.

When I stopped outside the theatre, I expected Hashirama to be waiting already; I had been driving for quite some time. But he wasn't there. I was just about to call him when he showed his ugly face in the door and came down the stairs like he owned the place. Wait, did he own the place?

"You like it?" he asked as he sat down in the passenger seat. "My car?"

"Love him. Please, let me keep him."

"On one condition."

I frowned and turned to him. I had said it as a joke, but Hashirama seemed dead serious.

"I was just kidding", I said.

"Well, I'm not", Hashirama said. "On one condition", he repeated.

And then, I immediately knew what he was going to ask of me.

"No", I said. "I'm absolutely not coming to your party tomorrow."

"The car is worth a million dollars."

"I don't doubt it", I said. "I'm still not coming."

Then, Hashirama leaned over towards me and put his arm around my shoulders. I hated physical contact so I felt myself stiffen. Hashirama didn't care but only looked at me smugly.

"But what if I told you I invited the entire ballet company?" he asked triumphantly. "All of them", he added meaningfully and wiggled his eyebrows in a way that would have made me laugh if I wasn't just so shocked at what he had done. "And that all of them said yes?"

I felt my hands whiten as I grabbed the steering wheel and bit my lip.

"Guess I have a new car", I said. "You'll pay the insurance", I added.

"I'll pay the insurance", Hashirama repeated.

"And the gas."

"Not the gas, no."

I shrugged.

"Worth a try."

Seemed like I was going to a party. 

Izuna

It was lovely out. Cold and dark yet full of lights and snow. I turned my face up, captures some snowflakes on my cheeks as I was walking.

"Hi!"

Martin was waiting for me at the stairs to the theatre wearing a brown coat that matched his hair.

"Hi", I said.

He hugged me to him, and I smiled and hugged him back. A friend to hug!

We went together into the theatre, to the biggest backstage room we had. It was lovely, golden and velvet with big, round mirrors and row after row of stage clothes. We were alone in there, which made me incredibly pleased with myself seeing it meant nobody else in the company had gotten the idea of using what we had there to get ready.

"How should we dress?" I asked. "And do makeup?"

"I don't know. I thought you were better at those things."

I crossed my arms.

"Because I'm gay?"

Martin laughed.

"No, silly!" He poked my nose. I didn't hate it. "Because you always look so stylish coming to work!" I looked up at him, glassy-eyed. "What?" he asked.

"I've never received a compliment from another ballerina before."

Martin stopped dead and stared at me.

"What? Never?"

I shook my head.

"No. I'm too heavy to receive compliments. I don't have the ordinary ballerina body."

I expected Martin to go against me, but he didn't.

"It might be true that you don't have the ordinary ballerina body", he said and it didn't upset me. On the contrary, it made me feel relief because it meant he understood. "But you know that's not why they avoid complimenting you, right?"

I frowned.

"Why else could it be?"

"Are you kidding me?" he asked, looking genuinely surprised.

"No."

Martin looked away, and something dark came over his face then, something I hadn't seen before.

"You're dangerous to them."

I gaped. Whatever I had expected, it wasn't this.

"What do you mean?" I whispered.

But Martin didn't answer.

"I need your help getting ready."

I got to work, still incredibly flattered by his compliment but wondering what he meant.

We did ourselves fucking dirty, in the hottest way.

I was dressed in white, wearing white flared trousers and a white tailcoat with golden details. I used a lot of black smoky eye makeup but a clean base and only some gloss on my lips. I put my hair up in a messy ponytail to have it out of the way and felt done. Martin found a purple silk shirt he wore with straight black trousers. He didn't want any makeup but I tousled his hair and put glitter in it. He looked incredibly hot, and he said I looked cute, so I was happy we would be fine going to a millionaire's party.

We walked arm-in-arm to the skyscraper on top of which the bar lay, laughing. In the elevator up, looking out at the splendid view over the city, we became silent.

"We're really doing this", Martin said. "Just going to some billionaire's party."

I took his arm.

"Guess we are."

"Look out for me, will ya?"

We grinned at one another.

The elevator doors opened to the most amazing place. The area was large, spanning the entire floor meaning there was floor-to-ceiling windows on all sides. In the corners dark couches lit from beneath by violet lights. In the ceiling hung orbs lit up in blue and jade green and purple. There was a square bar in the middle from which hung crystal glasses that glittered and reflected the lights a thousandfold.

And it was crowded. Full of people dressed to the teeth, clearly rich. And, lo and behold, we even saw some of our colleagues.

Despite the amount of people, we were still cast glances as we walked in, our clothes getting attention. I loved it.

"Izuna! Martin!"

We turned round. It was Henry.

"Fuck", I said.

"I'd rather kill", Martin said and I shoved him.

"My friends." Henry put his arms around us from behind. He smelled of alcohol. "Or..." He turned to Martin and grabbed him with his elbow around the neck in a way I guessed was supposed to be playful. "You and me are enemies now, are we not? Because we are both desiring the main role for the next show. Come to think of it..." He turned to me and I shivered. "We both seem to desire the same things in general."

"You know where the host is?" I asked more to interrupt the man than anything else, and moved away from him and pulling Martin with me.

Henry shrugged.

"He's a billionaire. He will probably not be here until midnight. Stay tight."

He left. Martin leaned in towards me.

"Billionaire?" he whispered. "I thought he was only a millionaire! And what does 'stay tight' mean?

"No clue. Let's dance."

"I don't dance", he said.

"Martin, you're literally a professional ballet dancer."

"Oh right", he said, looking over my head, a dreamy expression on his face. "I forgot. But not before a shot!"

I laughed and pulled him with me to the open bar, where we did a raspberry liquorice shot each. Then, I pulled him to the dance floor.

He laughed as he moved with me and started dancing. I laughed as well, my face turned to the ceiling, and he took my hands, moving his hips while waggling his eyebrows at me in a way that made me laugh even more.

And then, suddenly, our dancing slowed a little, became more serious, more sensual. I played him with my eyes, turned to him. Suddenly, my hands were around his shoulders, and his hands were on my waist, and he put his chin on my shoulder and leaned in to murmur in my ear. 

"Your range of movement. Your flexibility, I mean. The way you move your body." I didn't understand what he was going on about at first. Then, I realised he was answering my question from earlier. "Izuna, you're incredibly sexual. You don't understand just how much. It provokes people. It provokes people because it makes them jealous. They don't know what to do with you and that's why they don't compliment you."

I looked at him. He looked at me.

"I could fall for you", I breathed.

"Trust me, if I become bi, you'll be the first to know."

I felt a pang in my heart then. But then, it was exchanged for pure happiness.

"I love having a new friend."

He laughed and hugged me. We kept dancing for a while, bumping into the others. Once again, he came close, but this time to say something to me over the loud music and screaming crowd.

"Don't turn around", he murmured into my ear. "But there's a man staring at you."

I turned round anyway because of course I did.

And came face-to-face with the most beautiful man I had ever seen, and he was glaring at me.

Tobirama

I felt his hand on my shoulder. Hashirama's.

"How do you feel?"

I looked out at the view from the elevator as it ascended into the sky. It was already midnight, two hours after the start of the party. If the ballerina had planned on coming, he should already be there.

"I know I'm ridiculous", I said. "I don't know him."

"Sometimes, you just know these things."

I smiled a little.

"I don't know if I believe that. But it's good to be nervous about something other than work."

"Tough week?"

I laughed a little.

"You could say. Even you can't have missed the news. The missing people."

"So you're on that case", Hashirama said.

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"It's so fucking frustrating. But since the show yesterday, I have been able to let it go for a bit." I turned to Hashi as the elevator came to a halt. "I was at work today and I'm going in tomorrow. So I won't stay late."

"I don't expect you to", Hashirama said with a kind smile, and for the first time it struck me that he might feel he was doing me a favour by convincing me to go to his party, rather than the other way around.

"I know you've manipulated the shit out of me, by the way", I said.

Hashirama just laughed.

Then, the elevator doors opened, and the floor was so crowded, I had to give it my all not to press the down button on the elevator and go back all the way down and flee.

Shit.

Hashirama grabbed a glass of champagne from a nearby tray and gave it to me.

"Liquid bravery."

"Knowing you, this costs more than my apartment", I said.

Hashirama laughed but didn't deny it. I didn't like champagne, but I liked liquid bravery, so I downed it all in one go, hoping for it to go straight to my fucked-up brain.

It didn't.

I walked around for a bit, happy that my albinism what somewhat covered up by my simple outfit; black trousers, an oversized off-white linen shirt. I looked all over the place, tensed up in preparation for catching sight of him, yet nervous because what if he wasn't here?

I looked and looked, even in the bathrooms even if I would never admit that was the reason I went, and slowly felt the tension and nerves ebb away. He wasn't here...

Then, I came to the dance floor and, completely unprepared as I was, I almost died when I saw him there.

Shit.

He looked incredibly hot in a white costume that somehow didn't look tacky on him, but as fashion. It hugged his curves that made my hands clench un desire to run my hands down his side. And his face was beautiful, with eye-catching makeup glistening with sweat from the dancing.

And he was dancing with a brown-haired boy that, judging by his physique, was also a ballerina.

I gaped over how intimately they were dancing with one another, going hot and cold all over. The brown-haired ballerina leaned forwards and whispered something in Izuna's ear.

And then, Izuna glanced up and caught my eye.

Shit.

I had no idea what to do.

So I did the only reasonable thing and turned and ran away.