Progression
D . Gregory
10/2000

Disclaimers: I don't own the characters from Ruroni Kenshin in any way, shape or form. Not that this isn't so A/U, that it almost becomes pointless...
^.^;;; nonetheless.. I'm not attempting to infringe on ANYones rights! Don't sue me!
Notes: Sequel to the Promotion. Yet more PWP smut. Blame Pluto and Narcissus. Enjoy.
Warnings: bd, n/c, lemon ^.~

"Shinomori-sempai! Shinomoriiiii-sempaaaaaai!" Aoshi scowled and winced slightly at the youthful voice hollering after him in Miburo's quiet, grey and burgundy corridor.

The voice belonged to his department's new intern.. Sagara, he thought the boy's name might be. Sanosuke?

Slowly he turned, holding one finger to his lips. "Shh. Sano-kun, please. People are working." The youth rocked on his feet and grinned, his chocolate eyes bright with something Aoshi could only assume to be no good. His suit fit him badly, but, for 17 years old, he was trying very hard to be professional. And he was enthusiastic. There was no questioning that Sano was enthusiastic, whether it was getting coffee or making copies.

"Shinomori-sempai…" The boy took Aoshi's hand. "I want to show you something.. come with me, please? Please?" Aoshi gave him a thin little smile. Saying no to the intern was like saying no to a puppy. "Alright, Sano-kun.. but remember, quiet, ne?"

Sano led him to a supply closet off a side corridor. "Sano-kun…." Aoshi started, questioning, as the boy opened the door. "Inside, c'mon!"

The closet was small, dark, and cramped, and Sano pressed close against him after closing the door with a click. "Shinomori-sempai.." The boy's hands immediately reached out to Aoshi, stroking down his arm.

"Sano-kun!" Aoshi hissed, startled. He took a backward step into the boxes stacked inside the closet. Soft, yielding lips sought his out, taking Aoshi's breath away. "Shinomori-sempai….." The intern pressed closer against him, and Aoshi could feel the hard muscles beneath the ill-fitting suit. "Hear me out.. I can't think of anybody but you… since I've started working here…" He rubbed against Aoshi, catlike, his erection pressing against Aoshi's thigh as he did. "I'm in love with you, sempai…"

"Sano.. this is inappropriate…" Aoshi breathed, even as the boy's mouth cut him off again. Surprisingly strong hands sliding down the flat of his stomach, and between Aoshi's legs to stroke him. Enthusiastic…the word popped into Aoshi's mind as the intern slid to his knees, those same hands quickly undoing Aoshi's trousers. "Sano-kun…" Long, pale fingers tangled in the boy's thick, unruly hair as a warm tongue darted wetly around the quickly hardening shaft of his penis.

Enthusiastic and talented, Aoshi thought dumbly as Sano took him fully into his mouth. A soft moan caught in his throat. It was not the first time some co-worker, male or female, had made advances towards him, especially in the months since his recent rise in the company. None quite so aggressively.. or effectively as the young intern currently taking Aoshi's shaft down the back of his throat. He let his head tip back against the stacked boxes of paper as Sano's hands slid down his waist, and down the back of his trousers to grip the taut muscles of his rear.

The urge to come rose in him, coiling in the lowest reaches of his belly like a rousing snake. "Ahh.. Sano-kun…." It spiked gloriously and he felt himself release into the suckling mouth wrapped around him.

Just as the door opened.

The sudden click and the stream of yellow light surrounding a silhouetted figure, caused both young men to nearly jump out of their skins. Sano fell on his behind on the concrete floor, and Aoshi's green eyes widened with a combination of surprise, terror, and secret delight.

"Shinomori…. Sagara, isn't it?" The section chief's yellow eyes took them both in and he closed the door behind him, clicking on the single bare bulb in the center of the ceiling.

A faint flush came, unbidden to Aoshi's face, and it only deepened as Sano jumped to his feet and began some insane, rambling explanation. The section chief held up a hand, and Sano's mouth closed with an audible click.

"You appreciate Shinomori's finer points, eh, boy?" He drawled slowly, taking a cigarette out of his jacket pocket. Sano turned an impossibly dark shade of red and nodded.

Saitoh laughed. "Take off his belt, Sagara." Sano and Aoshi both blinked. Aoshi would've protested, but the suddenly stern yellow gaze kept him silent as the boy yanked his belt off. His face burned almost as red as Sano's as the Section Chief directed the boy, pulling Aoshi's arms up and fixing them to the metal shelving with a deft tie of belt. "Taicho…" he whispered.

"You're very good at this, Sagara.. " The chief took a long smoke. "come here for a moment.." The boy approached him warily, and Saitoh's hand shot out to capture his chin, taking the boy in a sudden, harsh kiss. "Tasty." He said with a snort, shoving Sano back.

At the sight of the kiss, Aoshi's own tongue had darted absently over his lips, something aching for the Section Chief's mouth to be on his again. Saitoh was speaking again, and Sano was undressing, revealing the hard, fine body that Aoshi had only just felt pressed against him.

At the chief's direction, Sano rubbed against Aoshi, delivering the same delicious kiss as before, now spiked with Aoshi's own taste, and the faint hint of the chief's cigarettes. The strong hands undid his shirt, removed his pants as they kissed, Aoshi's arms straining against the unnatural position Sano had fixed them in.

"That's very good Sagara…" The Chief drawled again, looking evilly pleased as Sano parted Aoshi's lean white thighs and slipped one hand between them, fingers searching, even as the boy's mouth found one hard pink nipple and began to nurse it.

"Don't close your eyes, Shinomori.." The growl snapped Aoshi's eyes open before he'd realized he'd closed them. The yellow gaze bored into him, holding him tighter than the belt at his wrists, forcing his gaze to stay, even as Sano's fingers began to probe him, dry, causing a twitch of pleasure-pain across his face. Some small bit of mercy must have risen in the section chief, because he handed the boy a bottle of dishwashing gel destined for one of Miburo's coffee rooms. "use this.."

The soapy liquid was cool and stinging all at once, easing the way for Sano's fingers, all three now, to thrust inside Aoshi. The boy, beautiful and naked, still sucked at Aoshi's hard nipples. The scrape of teeth, and the thrust of his fingers elicited a series of whimpering sounds from the other young man's throat.

The three fingers inside Aoshi spread at Saitoh's request, sending a shiver of pain up Aoshi's spine, only intensifying as Sano's other hand closed tightly over Aoshi's quickly rehardening shaft.

"Take him" was the only other thing Saitoh would say, smiling ferally as Sano moved between Aoshi's legs, lifting his hips, and plunging himself in to the hilt. The dark eyes glittered, fixed on Aoshi's green ones, full of desire, and .. something else, sweeter. Sano's mouth moved against Aoshi' throat. "Sempai… I love you." He murmured again, his soft voice almost hidden by the uncontrolled sounds rising in Aoshi's chest.

Saitoh's smoke curled upwards, hazing around the flickering yellow bulb, it's soft hum the only other sound than the rhythmic thump of Aoshi's back against the paper boxes, and the soft, animal groans he and Sano were making.

Sano's pace increased, driving harder into Aoshi until he buried himself in one final, hard stroke, flooding the tight passage with his seed. He seemed prepared to continue, but Saitoh's hand on the boy's shoulder stopped him. "Clean yourself up, and get back to work, Sagara.." the wolfish smile widened. "We'll discuss this further later.."

The boy frowned, but nodded, giving Aoshi one final longing glance before quickly redressing and hurrying out of the cramped little closet.

They were alone, then, Aoshi and the Taicho.

"Shinomori. You know the rules…" Saitoh's rough hand caressed Aoshi's cheek gently. "If you want the boy, we can make arrangements.. but you belong to the Board now…"

Aoshi shivered, feeling the tattoo on his back burn.

"Taicho…." Aoshi whispered, Saitoh's lips brushing his. "Gomen ne….." The green eyes dropped to the floor, the soft wool of Saitoh's suit passing over him like torture to his sensitive skin now, his hips moving of their own volition to find some stimulation and gain a second release.

After a torturous long moment, Saitoh reached up and freed Aoshi's wrists, holding one fine boned hand in his for a moment, examining it. "straighten yourself up." He said simply. "Your infraction needs to be brought to light."

Aoshi's gaze flew back up to meet Saitoh's. "T..aicho.. I didn't.."

"It doesn't matter, Aoshi-kun…" Saitoh roughly ran the pad of one thumb over the soft swell of his subordinate's lower lip. "This is the price you pay for your success…" He released Aoshi with a cool, yellow gaze, watching the younger man grimace as he fixed his clothing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The boardroom was spacious, one end dominated by a fountain and lush greenery. The gleaming cherrywood table, sleek and simple, hid the latest in high tech conferencing equipment. Light shone down from narrow, high windows, heightening the effect of being more in some exotic forest than in a corporate board room high above the Shinjuku streets.

The old men of the board sat, waiting like wolves in the woods. Grim-faced Makimachi Tetsyua, Kashiwazaki Nenji, Kurasuhime Takanori… Behind them, a stunning woman in white.. the company's chief pharmaceutical researcher, not to mention the Board's personal doctor, Takani-sensei.

A little chill shivered up his spine at the sight of them, in remembrance of his first meeting with them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
("Such a pretty face, and a sturdy heart… an excellent choice, Hajime…" the dry old voice rasped as dry old hands caressed him. Dry old eyes fixed on him as they bade him stand in the fountain, the surprisingly warm water cascading on his naked skin.

"Touch yourself, pretty one" one of them commanded, and the dry old eyes watched with bright interest as Aoshi stroked himself, white hand gliding his over water-sheened shaft. He braced himself against the carvings of the fountain with the other. "Ne.. Takani-sensei.." one of the men called the doctor over. "I believe the boy is still shy" Makimachi… the Chief Financial Officer said. "I think he needs some assistance."

Aoshi paused, looking to Saitoh's stoic face for assistance, and finding none.

She gave the older man a quick smile, and produced a syringe from her neat leather bag. "Ne, Aoshi-kun…" she whispered as the needle pricked his jugular "enjoy…" The room almost immediately became too warm, something akin to liquid fire surging painfully in his veins to his groin. There was soft, dry laughter. "Much better. Takani-sensei, you truly are an asset."

The rasp of carved stone provided a sensuous thrill against his still-tender back, and he licked his lips. He could feel a fevered flush crossing his face, and Aoshi couldn't help the cries that started to build in his throat as he resumed the smooth strokes on now-hard flesh. "Quite possibly the most effective dosage levels yet, if I do say so myself." The doctor murmured appreciatively. "This is much more entertaining than those dull clinical trials, eh, Sensei?" A withered voice rejoined.

The glittering eyes bored into him, watching the water bead on flushed white skin, sparkling in the light as his chest heaved with growing, desperate breaths.

Release wouldn't come, the need urging higher with each stroke. Aoshi realized he was whimpering and through the haze of narrowed eye, he could see the lascivious expressions on the old men's faces. Kurasuhime spoke, then. "Hajime.. finish the boy" he made a little offhand gesture and Saitoh strode to the fountain, his face unreadable.

One rough motion and he hauled Aoshi out of the water, throwing him against the desk with a painful crack to Aoshi's head. Saitoh took him with an unblinking ferocity, the old eyes watching with intense interest as the section chief brought him to release, silent as Aoshi choked on his own screams.)
~~~~~~~~
Saitoh cleared his throat and the soft noise snapped Aoshi back to attention. Makimachi had been speaking, and had fortunately taken Aoshi's downcast gaze for respect and not a wandering mind. "…..be shy, boy… come here.." he rasped in a withered old voice.

A gentle shove on his back pushed him forward and he approached the CFO. "Sir…." He started, Makimachi's bony hand stopping him.

"You breached our trust, boy… you didn't go through all the pain of your…decoration, just to throw it away on some intern, did you?"

(I love you sempai..) Aoshi colored faintly at the remembrance of the boy's bright-eyed confession. "…no sir… But I hope there'll be no… repercussions for him? He's just a boy..." The old man laughed at his audacity for asking, even as Aoshi felt Saitoh's yellow gaze burning into him from behind.

"…spirited. Protective of the younger ones.. like your sister, Shinomori?" the old man's dark eyes glittered. "She's a pretty child.." the words oozed out. "perhaps she'll choose to work here when she graduates."

Aoshi's hands twitched into fists. "She is planning on going to America." He said softly, closing his eyes even as the old man's hands skittered over him like spiders, baring his skin with their passing. "Take it all off, Shinomori, lad…" the old rasped, even as the others nodded and murmured.

There was a curious sort of look in Saitoh's eyes when Aoshi glanced over at him. Not pity. The old wolf held no pity for him, and Aoshi was well aware of that fact. Understanding, though? They had never discussed the elaborate tattoo that ornamented the older man's back.

But still…. Understanding…..And something else as well. Calculating. A similar expression lingered in the good doctor's bright brown eyes.

The thought dissolved into the gooseflesh the breath of the air conditioning across his skin brought, and he bent over the table at the doctor's request, wondering idly as he pressed against the cool lacquer of the table, what his own tattoo looked like in the room's softly glowing light.

With a sharp, sudden prick, it was the last coherent thought he was to have for several hours.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aoshi awoke, nauseous and disoriented, something cold and damp on his forehead. Every joint ached, and his back burned as if the crimson petals inked into his skin had been each lit afire.

"…Hai.. Taicho… D-doumo..Doumo Arigato Gozaimasu!"

Someone was talking. Too loud. It rang in his ears and he pressed a hand against the wet cloth on his forehead. Someone..

Aoshi sat bolt upright, then, spooked like a deer. (Taicho) The apartment was not the one he shared with his sister, orderly, neat and filled with the flowers she loved. THIS apartment was messy, cramped, and smelled vaguely like old socks. Sagara was still holding the phone, staring at him like a bunny. "Shinomori-sempai!"

"Sagara.." Aoshi's voice sounded funny to him. Rough. Had he been screaming? "what am I doing here?"

The boy set the phone down on his kitchen counter and bounded over a TV and playstation set on a milk crate to his side. "Shinomori-sempai…. Saitoh told me I should look after you. He said he'd call your sister…."

Brief snatches of memory came back to him and Aoshi shivered at the remembrance of spidery hands on him. "What…Saitoh…?" It came out wrong, disjointed. Saitoh had carried him…brought him here - gently. He remembered that, or did he imagine it?

Sagara examined the cloth, made a tsking sound and got up to refresh it. "He said you were sick.. that you should rest here." When he turned back to Aoshi, the boy was blushing. "I thought for sure I would've been fired.. for.. this afternoon…" He slapped the cloth back against Aoshi's forehead. "I'm sorry.. sempai…" The deep brown eyes were full of remorse.

Aoshi plucked the cloth away, fine black hair clinging to his damp face and he shook his head, the effort sending little flashes of white across his vision. Sagara reminded him of Misao. He couldn't stay angry at her for any length of time, nor, he found now, at the boy in front of him.

"Don't apologize, Sano-kun." He said with a weak trace of a smile and looked around. "Do you live here alone?"

The boy nodded. "My family lives in the country. I hate it." He said, kneeling down next to Aoshi. "I thought the city would have all my dreams in it." He looked significantly at his "sempai" and took the cloth from him, gently smoothing the cool, damp terrycloth against his face. "I.. uh.. would you like something to eat? Some tea? Uh…" He nattered on, patting the cloth until Aoshi pulled the washcloth out of Sano's hand and fixed him with the same emerald glare that he'd perfected on his sister. "Sano-kun. Quit it." The boy silenced, and Aoshi gave him a reassuring pat on the arm. "I just want to get myself in order and go home."

Sano shook his head vigorously, mussing his already unkempt mane. "Sempai… Taicho.. Saitoh.. He.. said you should stay here. He was.. ah.. " Sano twiddled his fingers trying to think of the word he was looking for. "…er.. adamant.. about it. He said .." Sano's face suddenly took on a stern expression and his voice dropped to an uneven gravelly growl. "I don't care if you have to sit on Shinomori to keep him there, just do it, Sagara."

Sano's face relaxed into an expression that indicated he'd be more than willing to do just that.

Aoshi twitched an eyebrow at him, and lowered himself gingerly back down onto the futon, glancing up at the darkened skies beyond the glass. How long HAD he been here already? "A cup of tea would be really nice, then, Sano-kun. Did Saitoh indicate just how long you were supposed to sit on me?"

The youth blushed as he rose and went to put a kettle on the stove. "He.. said he would be over later to check on you." Aoshi couldn't help but laugh softly, staring up at the stuccoed ceiling of Sagara's apartment. (Be careful what you wish for, Shinomori. You might just get it.) Something darted through the scattered memories of the afternoon as Sano babbled in the background. Something Saitoh had said to him.. in a cab smelling of foreign spices, on the way to Sagara's rabbit-hole, and Aoshi frowned.

"You need to be brave for just a little bit longer, Aoshi-kun." The low growling voice slightly more sympathetic than stone. "Everyone will get what they deserve in the end." The scent of Saitoh's tobacco curled around his words, and Aoshi wondered just what exactly the old wolf meant by that.

Sano was sitting, staring at him with a cup of tea in his hand, and Aoshi blinked, not realizing he'd gotten so lost in his own thoughts. "Sempai…" The dark eyes were soft, almost adoring. "I meant what I said today, sempai… I love you…" The tea splattered in amber-green droplets as Sano set the cup down too quickly, as if he were afraid Aoshi would somehow get away from him. "I love you…"

The rest of Sano's words disappeared as the boy lowered himself over Aoshi, their lips brushing as Sano murmured, capturing Aoshi's mouth in a repeat of the kiss earlier in the day that had led him to his current state of affairs. Aoshi pushed him back with a gentle firmness that only seemed to heighten the boy's interest. "Sa..sano-kun.." It only came out as a whisper, not the reprimand it was supposed to have been.

Sano obviously took it as encouragement, pushing aside the quilt that had been covering Aoshi. His suit had been replaced during his bout with unconsciousness with a yukata, soft and worn, and carrying the boy's scent as indelibly as its pattern. Sano's soft mouth worked down Aoshi's throat, and he couldn't help but close his eyes with a long sigh. The youth's lips and hands traced the outlines of his chest, reverential and cautious, Sano had the mien of someone handling something precious. Any complaint Aoshi might have had died with that realization, and a small smile came to his lips as Sano continued his worship.

The intern's thick, wild hair was tickling against the plane of Aoshi's stomach when something, a passing scent or a faint sound, caused him to open his eyes and look up.

Up into Saitoh's cool yellow gaze. The older man smirked and held a finger to Aoshi's mouth, even as Sano's tongue began to circle Aoshi's sex. Green eyes fixed on Saitoh's face as Sano took Aoshi into the back of his throat, slender hands tightening in Sano's hair. Aoshi quirked a small smile at the Section Chief, under the press of the roughened, tobacco-scented finger, tasting it with a quick feline tongue, trying to control the whimper rising in his throat as Sano brought him increasingly closer to the edge.

The Section Chief's smirk grew into something too feral to properly be called a smile and he didn't pull his hand back, allowing Aoshi to suck on it, in time with Sagara's rhythm, Aoshi's eyes finally rolled shut with a strangled sound as Sano finished him, his teeth closing brief and sharp on Saitoh's finger.

"Every time I leave the two of you alone…" Saitoh drawled, withdrawing his finger to look at the droplet of red from the tiny bite. Sano looked up at the voice and shrieked, scrambling backwards. "TAI..TAI..TAICHO!!!"

Saitoh's glare was enough to silence Sano to a tiny squeak before he returned his attention to Aoshi. "Do you remember what I told you earlier, Shinomori?" he growled, wiping the spot of blood on Aoshi's cheek. The younger man nodded, giving the feral smile on the Section Chief's face reason to widen just a bit further. "Get up, then. We have one last meeting with the board.. a special session. We can't keep them waiting."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The lights were dim in the boardroom, the artificial woodland shadowed with an equally artificial twilight to match the evening outside.

"Hajime.. this is most irregular" Kashiwazaki rasped in his papery voice, taking a long drag on the pipe in his spotted hands. Takani-sensei sat on the edge of the table in an immaculate white suit, her long legs crossed as she watched Saitoh and Aoshi approach with the smallest of smiles.

Makimachi's laugh rustled like old leaves. "But, your protégé has proven to be…uncontrollable, hasn't he? Enjoying further flirtations with that intern?" The predatory gleam in his dark, waxy eyes spoke volumes about how he hoped that was true.

Aoshi swallowed, looking about. A panic rising with cold fingers up his spine to twinge at the base of his skull. Saitoh was talking to the old men, betraying him? "Taicho…." He started.

(Be brave for just a little longer, Aoshi-kun)

(Misao's face lighting up when he told her they could afford to send her to college in America)

"…..Takani-sensei's new drug.. Ishtarin… it will no doubt make us a market leader" Kurasuhime chuckled. "Do you remember the effects from earlier, Shinomori? No?" He rolled up a sleeve, and the other two board members did the same. "She's really quite good, Shinomori-kun. With her assistance, we'll tame you like Hajime was apparently unable… make you a proper young executive."

Aoshi looked wildly to Saitoh, but the stern face and amber eyes were impassive. "I'm sure Takani-sensei is most talented in her field." He drawled blandly as she flicked a syringe with her finger and murmured to one of the old men, giving him an injection. Aoshi's skin crawled at the thought of those hands on him again. He wanted to be back in his featureless cubicle again, doing pointless, menial tasks.

"It brings the fire of youth back into this old blood!" Kashiwazaki chortled, his desiccated companions joining him as they prowled towards the horrified Aoshi like ghostly spiders from under a rotting log.

But the blossoms etched onto his back assured his pact with these devils. With the yellow-eyed wolf-demon who was pushing him down with an impassive face. They were clawing at his clothes, the old men, skittering like beetles across his skin, cackling as the Section Chief and the Doctor watched with clinical expressions.

There was a peculiar sound, then, from one of the dry old throats, a rattling high sound. Makimachi's fever-bright eyes widened hugely as his withered hands clawed at the young man's white thighs. Aoshi watched in morbid, horrified fascination as Makimachi Tetsuya fell over, dead as a rock.

It took several moments for the other two old men, full in the flush of chemically-induced arousal, to notice that Makimachi was dead. By the time they did, it was too late. Kurasuhime and Kashiwazaki died with outraged expressions on their faces.

"Their hearts.. couldn't take the strain. " The doctor said simply. "Old men shouldn't exert themselves so."

Aoshi drew himself up on the desk, looking around mutely. "Taicho…" he finally whispered. "You…."

"Let's just say my own promotion has been long in coming, Shinomori." He replied dryly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sanosuke Sagara, Data Management Specialist I, employee number 822-J41117 of the Miburo Corporation of Tokyo (ltd.), sank, bored and fidgeting, into the seat in his featureless grey cubicle as the last of the day's light streamed in through his department's windows, some five cubes over. Unlike the others in the Data Acquisition and Management Department, however, he wasn't eagerly awaiting Section Chief Shinomori's departure so he could go home for the evening.

He was very excited, in fact. Shinomori-sempai.. no Taicho, now… wanted to take him out after work to discuss his promotion.

Sano was very excited, indeed.