WHEN THE MASTER’S AWAY…

Kenren sat under the shade of the only tree in the backyard, avoiding the late afternoon sun, and watched Gojyo and Hakkai spar. Sanzo and Kougaiji sat on either side of the scientist, drinking lemonade from their glasses, as they a break from practice. After the four children ruined the living room last week with their rough-housing, Nii had deemed it important that they find a way for them to burn off excess energy. Thus, the martial arts training. Nowadays, the four were too tired to cause too much mayhem.

Gojyo evaded a kick from Hakkai, his hair flying out behind him as he moved to the right. Kenren watched the red locks as they stuck to Gojyo’s temples and cheeks, drenched in sweat. The black-haired scientist shifted a bit where he was sitting on the grass and leaned back against the tree, crossing his arms behind his head and closing his eyes. Maybe if he ignored the redhead, his body would stop reacting like a hormone-driven teenager’s.

The scientist wished that Tenpou was with him instead of helping Nii and Komyou out at the labs. Before he could follow that train of thought even further, he noticed that the sun was setting. Standing up, Kenren said, “Oi! Time to get back in the house. All of you go take baths or something before dinner.”

Sanzo and Kougaiji quickly ran into the house by means of the back door while Gojyo and Hakkai followed at a more sedate pace. Kenren trailed behind them, eyes watching the way the setting sun lit up Gojyo’s hair. It looked even better in this light and the scientist wondered how he ever thought that Scarlet’s hair could compare with the teen’s. A dye job just wasn’t going to cut it when it came to Gojyo’s hair color.

They entered the house, the sounds of the TV coming from the living room. As the two teens followed the younger kids, Kenren made a detour and went into the kitchen and started to prepare dinner.

He was waiting for the vegetables to boil when Gojyo entered the room, one hand rubbing his shoulder, and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. Kenren looked up from where he was staring intently into the pot, concern in his midnight blue eyes. “What’s wrong, kid?”

“I dunno,” the redhead replied. “I think I might’ve pulled a muscle or something when ‘Kai and I were sparring.”

Knowing that Komyou would probably kill him if anything happened to the kids, Kenren approached the teen. “Let me see.”

Gojyo placed his bottle on the counter and took off his shirt, turning his back towards the scientist. There wasn’t any swelling or anything else alarming. Kenren ran his fingers over bronzed skin and couldn’t feel anything wrong. “Hmm…Probably just muscle strain. A good massage should make it feel better.”

Kenren turned back to the stove to check on dinner as Gojyo pulled his shirt back on. “Will you give me one after we eat?” the redhead asked.

The black-haired man blinked. He had been about to suggest that Gojyo ask Hakkai but he supposed that he could be the one to do it. Kenren shrugged. “Sure.” He turned to the cabinet where the dinnerware was kept and began pulling out plates and glasses. “Just let me set the table and dinner’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

The teen nodded and walked back into the living room. Kenren tried not to check out Gojyo’s ass and tried to think about other things. Like work. But work connected with Tenpou and that most definitely wasn’t helping. Kenren tried thinking about Chin Iisou. That did the trick and the scientist quickly set the table in the dining room, making several trips to and from the kitchen to do so. Less than a minute later, the kids had smelled the food, entered the dining room, and had consumed everything.

Kenren was busy piling dirty dishes to bring them to the kitchen when Gojyo smiled and said, “I’ll wait for you upstairs.” The redhead quickly left the room and Kenren wondered what he had gotten himself into. Hakkai, the only other person in the dining room, looked at him, eyebrow raised in a silent question.

“There’s something wrong with Gojyo’s shoulder. I’m just going to help him with it,” Kenren said, annoyed that his voice sounded more than a little defensive. If Hakkai and Tenpou were going around the house making out, then by God, the little brunet had no right to look at Kenren like he was about to go molest his friend.

Because even though he’d been thinking about it lately, he hadn’t gone around doing it. Unlike a certain someone with cat ears who molested older men that could have been their older brother.

“Is he alright?” Hakkai asked, worry evident in his green eyes and Kenren found it hard to stay annoyed at the teen. Especially since he looked a lot like Tenpou.

“Nothing a good massage won’t fix. Can you look after Kougaiji and Sanzo while I’m busy?”

“No problem,” the brunet replied, helping Kenren bring everything that needed to be washed into the kitchen before going off to watch over the two younger children.

The black-haired scientist made quick work of washing the dishes before he dried his hands and went upstairs and into Hakkai and Gojyo’s bedroom. The redhead was laying face-down and shirtless on his bed, hair spread out on the pillow he was resting on.

Kenren wiped his suddenly sweaty palms against his slacks before walking over to the bed. “I don’t have any massage oil or anything,” he said, kneeling down on the bed and straddling the backs of Gojyo’s thighs.

“I don’t mind doing it dry,” the teen replied cheekily.

This is going to be harder than I thought. Kenren took a deep breath to steel himself then placed his hands on Gojyo’s shoulders. He tried to ignore how the redhead’s skin felt beneath his palms and dug his thumbs into his muscles. “Is this where it hurts?”

“A little more to the left.”

The scientist moved his hands and swallowed thickly when Gojyo moaned, “There. Right there.” Kenren could imagine the teen saying those exact same words under very different circumstances. The dark-haired scientist tried to clear his head but the small sounds of pleasure coming out from Gojyo’s throat weren’t helping him at all.

Kenren’s fingers worked on the sore spot until Gojyo was almost continuously groaning underneath him. “That feels really good, Kenren,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Glad I could help,” the scientist replied, shifting so that his erection wouldn’t come in contact with any part of Gojyo’s body. As Kenren decided that it was time to stop things before they got out of hand, the redhead’s back arched and his ass brushed against the hardness inside the scientist’s slacks.

Kenren froze, fingers digging into Gojyo’s shoulders as he tried to stifle the groan the contact produced. His attempt to get off the bed was thwarted when Gojyo suddenly grabbed his wrists and arched his back again, pressing his ass against the bulge in Kenren’s slacks. He grinned at the older male over his shoulder. “Guess I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed that.”

“Damn you,” Kenren growled before he pinned the teen to the bed using his body. He ground his erection against Gojyo’s ass and bit down on the redhead’s neck, yanking his hands free so he could use them to hold the teen’s hips in place. He muffled his groan against Gojyo’s flesh as the teen whimpered underneath him.

The scientist knew that he was probably crushing the redhead but he couldn’t stop himself from thrusting his hard-on against the delicious curve of Gojyo’s ass. And from the half-moaned words of encouragement coming from the teen’s mouth, it seemed like the redhead didn’t mind at all.

“Kenreeen,” Gojyo panted. He gripped the sheets in his hands as he thrust his hips back, and at the sound of that voice, Kenren just had to reach up with one hand and turn the teen’s face towards him so he could kiss him. The dark-haired man thrust his tongue into the open mouth beneath him. Kenren pulled back and nipped at Gojyo’s lower lip before sucking on it.

“Gojyo, Doku-niisan is here.”

Kenren jerked back at the sound of Hakkai’s voice and soon found himself on the floor. Gojyo was on the wall, his cockroach-like abilities letting him cling to the surface. “What the Hell, ‘Kai! Don’t you know how to knock?”

The brunet stood in the doorway and smiled at his friend. “I’m sorry,” he replied. “But Doku-niisan is downstairs waiting.”

Muttering curses, Gojyo detached himself from the wall and stalked past his best friend and down the stairs. Kenren stood up, smoothing down his clothes and ignoring the amused look on Hakkai’s face. Little brat.

He followed the brunet into the living room where a tall black-haired man had Gojyo in a headlock. “You get ruder every time I see you, squirt.”

“And you get smellier!”

“Hey. You must be Sha-san,” Kenren said as he approached the couch where the two brothers were rough-housing. Sanzo, Kougaiji, and Hakkai were busy watching something exploding on the TV.

The older Sha laughed as he stood up and extended a hand, releasing his brother. “Don’t call me that; makes me feel like my dad. Name’s Jien. And you are?”

The scientist grasped the offered hand and gave it a shake. “Taisho Kenren; full-time scientist, part-time babysitter.”