Set post-GX with established Ryo/Fubuki.

"I've scheduled your appointment for today at three. Sound okay?" Ryo nodded and Fubuki said goodbye and hung up the phone. "Although it seems like you just went to the doctor."

Ryo shrugged. "They have to make sure my heart doesn't have any more problems."

"Yeah, but it seems like you're there almost every other week. How do you stand it?"

"It's just a check-up, no big deal. They're just making sure everything's okay."

"But your heart hasn't stopped once in over a year," Fubuki grinned proudly. "I'd say you're perfectly healthy."

"And you?" Ryo asked, shifting on the couch to better look Fubuki in the eyes. "Are you perfectly healthy?"

Fubuki waved his hand dismissively. "Of course. I don't eat a lot of junk, I surf and exercise every day, I get plenty of sleep and I'm hardly ever sick. I feel great."

Ryo tilted his head and thought. "When's the last time you went to the doctor?"

"The last time you had an appointment, silly," he answered, playfully whacking the back of Ryo's head with a cushion.

Ryo rolled his eyes and whacked him back. "I meant, when was the last time you went for you?"

Fubuki thought for a moment, sitting beside Ryo. "Well…does that time I spent in the hospital after the whole Darkness thing count? Because I'm pretty sure the last time was before the Academia. Maybe during the health screenings for first-years."

Ryo's eyes widened. "That's several years!"

"Well hey, I didn't see you going to the doctor during that time!" Fubuki retorted. "At least not until the whole thing with your heart happened."

Ryo smiled a little and shook his head. "Fubuki, how many times have I told you, do as I say, not as I do?"

"But Ryo, every time you go to the doctor, they always manage to find something wrong with you."

"If there was something wrong with you it wouldn't surprise me," Ryo joked.

"Please, I'm the healthiest guy I know."

"Then this should be no problem, should it?" Ryo's lips curled into a smirk. Fubuki narrowed his eyes. He should have known this was coming. "Why not call them back and see if they can squeeze you in at the same time as me?" He leaned in. "Unless of course you're too scared."

Fubuki matched his smirk. "Nice try, but I'm not taking that bait." He stood up and folded his arms. "There's nothing wrong with me, so going to the doctor would just be a waste of time."

Ryo sighed, throwing up his hands in mock surrender. "Okay then. I guess I'll just have to be all alone in the doctor's office." He looked off into space and stroked his chin in thought, then smiled. "But I guess it's not all bad. After all, Doctor Kenji is rather… handsome." Fubuki whirled around and Ryo pretended not to notice. "And his hands are soft. Especially when he has me take my shirt off and listens to my heartbeat." Ryo closed his eyes and sighed blissfully. He cracked one eye to a slit and fought back a laugh at seeing how perfectly his trick was working. Fubuki's face was frozen into a death glare scary enough to frighten an army. He snatched up the phone and redialed the number. After a moment's pause, he spoke in a voice as icy as he could make it.

"I'd like to schedule an appointment with Doctor Kenji," he said, spitting the name out like it was poison. Ryo grinned smugly to himself.

Make Fubuki jealous and he'll do anything you want.

Dr. Kenji's office was irritatingly sterile and smelled horrible, like a dentist's only worse. Fubuki didn't think he'd ever sat in a more uncomfortable chair and he didn't like the look of those tools on the counter. He especially didn't like all the posters on the walls of diseases and internal organs; who in their right mind actually wanted to see stuff like that?

Ryo, on the other hand, looked quite at ease. He was lying back on the examination chair, crinkling the sheet of paper beneath him. He kept smirking at Fubuki and chuckling whenever he grunted in response.

"It's been fifteen minutes," Fubuki complained. "Where is this guy?"

"Patience, Bucky," Ryo said, though his voice was so condescending he may as well have sang it. "He should be here any minute."

Right on cue, the door opened and a doctor in his thirties- though he looked more like he should be in his fifties, if Fubuki did say so himself- stepped in and closed it behind him. "Good to see you, Ryo. How have you been feeling? Any changes or problems?"

Ryo shook his head. "No. I've been feeling better every day."

"Excellent. And you must be Fubuki," Dr. Kenji nodded to Fubuki, extending his hand. "Ryo's told me so much about you."

Fubuki gripped the doctor's hand like a vice. "Funny, he never mentioned you," he replied in a frosty tone. Ryo covered his mouth to suppress a giggle. The fact that Fubuki could be so jealous of someone who was only Ryo's doctor was as funny as it was adorable.

Dr. Kenji blinked. Both Ryo and the receptionist had mentioned several times that Fubuki was very friendly and social, but the man in front of him looked like the next person who crossed him would earn a fist in their face.

"Fubuki hasn't had a check-up in several years," Ryo explained. "I dragged him here because I was worried he'd gone too long without one."

"That's a smart decision, Ryo. Everyone should have a check-up at least once a year, even if they're feeling perfectly healthy, just to make sure." He clapped Ryo on the shoulder and could have sworn he heard the other boy growl. "I'll be right back with the scanner. Fubuki, you can just have a seat right there." He pointed to a chair in the corner. "Ryo, you know what to do."

Ryo nodded. He'd been through this enough times that he knew the drill by now. He took off his black T-shirt and lay down on the examining table, crinkling the white sheet that had been placed there. Fubuki slunk over to the corner and sat down, his arms crossed tightly over his chest and his scowl deepening.

"Can't believe I let you talk me into this," he muttered.

"Just looking out for your health," Ryo said innocently. Fubuki let out another growl and slunk further down into the chair.

The door opened and Dr. Kenji returned. Ryo sat up and took deep breaths, smiling deviously and pretending to enjoy the movement of the cold stethoscope over his back. Fubuki gripped the edge of the plastic, uncomfortable chair, not taking his eyes off Dr. Kenji.

"Sounds good. Much more regular than it used to be." Dr. Kenji turned and started pressing buttons on various machines until a screen lit up. Ryo lay back down as Dr. Kenji reached for the blue, gooey gel that would help him look at Ryo's heart. Ryo couldn't help but shiver as the stuff was squirted onto his chest. No matter how much he tried to prepare himself for it, the gel was always cold. Thankfully it warmed up after a few minutes. Some of it slid off and tainted the white sheet.

"What is that stuff?" Fubuki asked, his tone more curious now. "Don't they only use that on pregnant women?"

"It's the same material used for ultrasounds, yes, but it works for this purpose too."

"Which is what exactly?" he asked with a hint of suspicion.

Dr. Kenji smiled nervously. "This is to help me look at his heart. It's very similar to an ultrasound, but instead of the stomach, it goes over the chest. Watch this." He picked up the scanner and slowly ran it over Ryo's chest. It made a loud beeping sound and instantly a picture appeared onscreen. Fubuki craned his neck to get a better look, but he couldn't make sense of the image at all. Anatomy had never been one of his strong points.

"Hmm…let's see here." Dr. Kenji continued moving the scanner to view different angles of Ryo's heart. Ryo purred happily, much to Dr. Kenji's surprise and Fubuki's discontent. Ryo turned his head to look the doctor in the eye and gave him a smile and a flirty wink.

Fubuki gripped the chair so hard it was a wonder it hadn't shattered in his hands.

Dr. Kenji looked at Ryo strangely. It wasn't like him to be so friendly. Usually he said as little as possible and was tense whenever he was touched. Now he seemed relaxed and even looked as though he were enjoying this quite a bit.

After a few minutes he turned the scanner off. "Everything looks good. Keep taking those vitamins, they're doing wonders for you."

"Thank you, Doctor," Ryo replied sweetly, batting his lashes. Funny, he didn't seem to be in any hurry to get off the table as he usually was. "What about the rest of me? How do I look?"

Dr. Kenji shrugged. "Uh…you look great, Ryo. You really do."

"Reeeeaaalllly?" Ryo's widespread grin was so abnormal that the doctor wondered in the back of his mind if a puppy had died somewhere.

"Yes. Rarely do I get patients who look as great as you." A low, guttural noise sounded from the corner of the room. Fubuki was standing up now, fists and teeth clenched. He looked ready to kill someone, certainly unlike the sweet, mild-mannered boy Ryo had described.

"I think it's time for you to examine me now." Fubuki's words were barely understandable since he was speaking through clenched teeth.

"Just a minute, Bucky," Ryo teased. "Dr. Kenji needs to help me get this gel off my chest."

Dr. Kenji's eyes widened. Now this was the biggest surprise of all. Ryo had always insisted on getting it off himself. The doctor scratched his head and shrugged, then wiped the gel off Ryo's chest. If only people were as easy to read as the images on his machine.

"Thank you, Dr. Kenji," Ryo said cutely, still smiling. "I'll see you in three weeks." He sat up and slowly- much too slowly for Fubuki's taste- pulled his shirt back on. He practically shoved Ryo off the table and climbed on, the death glare never leaving his face. The examination was pretty much what he'd expected. The doctor listened to his heartbeats (at which point Fubuki proudly displayed his bare chest to Ryo and felt his blood boil when Ryo faked a yawn), felt around his stomach, looked into his eyes and ears, and weighed him. He was asked several questions about his health, to which he responded coldly and curtly.

"Now that that's out of the way, what about shots?" the doctor asked somewhat nervously, as Fubuki still looked like he would snap at any moment.

"Shots?"

"Yes. You know, like the tetanus? Do you have any shot records?"

Fubuki shook his head. "I can't remember the last time I had a shot. But I was unconscious in the hospital for a while at one point a couple years ago. They might have given me one then."

"Well, if you can't remember ever having one and you don't have any shot records, I think it would be best if I gave you a tetanus shot now. If you did have one while you were in the hospital, another one won't hurt you."

"But…I don't want one," Fubuki said worriedly, his eyes shifting from angry to panicked. Ryo giggled at the childishness of the statement.

"It would really be beneficial for you. Going too long without a tetanus can cause problems down the road."

Fubuki gulped. "Um…okay."

"Just stay here and I'll be right back with the needle." At the word needle, Fubuki made a small noise in his throat and felt his lunch resurface.

"Aw, is the big, strong Bucky scared of a widdle needle?" Ryo teased.

Fubuki flipped him his middle finger. "Am not! I just don't like 'em."

Takahashi returned, a long, sharp needle in his hand. "Okay Fubuki, are you right handed or left handed?"

"L-l-l-left h-h-h-handed," Fubuki stammered, eyes widening at the sight of that needle.

"In that case, I need you to sit up and turn so I can reach your right arm." Fubuki lay there for a moment, breathing heavily. He didn't move.

Ryo sensed his fear and cleared his throat. "You know, it's a good thing Dr. Kenji isn't afraid of needles. Otherwise he couldn't do his wonderfully noble job of helping other people."

Fubuki immediately sat up and extended his right arm. "Stick it to me, doc!" Dr. Kenji obeyed, giving up on trying to understand his two patients.

"OWWWW!" Fubuki moaned, eyes squeezed shut. After a few seconds, the doctor removed the needle and Fubuki looked over pitifully at Ryo. "That really hurt."

Ryo smiled and got up to stand next to Fubuki. He slung an arm around him and gave his good arm a squeeze. "That's my brave Bucky."

Fubuki closed his eyes and smiled, leaning into Ryo's touch. Ryo grinned to himself. Fubuki wasn't the only one who could manipulate people.