This is my fic for the first round of the YGO fanfiction contest, located in the YGO forums here on . Please stop by to visit and say hello, and to encourage and read the works of the other authors! This round's pairing was Crushshipping - Honda x Otogi x Shizuka! Warning, there is sexual content in this fic.

Step Up to the Punchline

Honda had thought that things would be fine. When Shizuka had first told him about it, he had nodded and said that it wasn't a big deal; he'd gone to work as per usual and Shizuka let him know that she was hanging out with Yuugi and everyone after school. Everything was typical, normal. But as the day stretched on and on, Honda thought of it more and more.

Her news had disturbed him, despite everything that had already happened. It had started off as a petty thought - so what if she'd dreamt of him? So what? - and became a question: Why would she?That turned into a list of things that he had that Honda didn't, transformed into a list of things that she may have wanted to do, mutated into things that they may have done and by the end of the day, the mob of ideas had ganged up on his thoughts and become a war cry. He was not happy. Not at all.

They had never spoken about these things outside of Honda's home; there was nothing from Otogi that could curb his feelings. The would spend the day devouring him instead.

The motions were purely mechanical: that casual stroll to his bike, the angry revving of his engine. He knew where he was going and who was going to be there, and he knew how he was going to deal with the problem. Back to basics.

His steps echoed loudly across the parking lot as he approached the mall. Shizuka would be in the food court, with everyone else. He could feel the frown dragging down his features, and several of people he passed stared as though to ask, What's wrong with him?

Just one thing. And that would be solved very soon.

It didn't take very long to spot everyone - seated in their usual corner of the local burger joint. Honda was rolling up his sleeves as he stalked his way, stomping and marching, in their direction.

Pretty much everyone had gathered there; Shizuka hadn't been lying when she told him that. Even Mai and Rebecca appeared to have shown up, though for what occasion he couldn't really remember. He hadn't devoted a single thought to anything but his growing anger all day.

"Honda!" Shizuka shouted happily. She rose eagerly from her chair to greet him with a hug, though his expression didn't change when it did. From over her shoulder, he could see Yuugi's face contort in confusion.

"You alright, man?" Jounouchi asked. "'Look like somethin's botherin' ya."

Honda took the opportunity to move closer to the table, closer to Jounouchi and subsequently, to Otogi.

"Yeah, what's up?" Otogi asked with a smile. Honda supposed that it was supposed to be encouraging, but it only made his frustration bubble to a head.

"Sorry," he said to Otogi.

It only took three seconds to punch him in the face. One for the brace, one for the follow-through, and then another for the aftermath. It landed square on Otogi's jaw - he went down, and took the chair with him. The connect was hard, and Honda felt the bone abusing his knuckles. Other than the impact itself, there was no other noise until everyone realized that the scene they'd just witnessed was real.

"Oh my god - Honda! What the hell are you doing?" Shizuka shrieked.

But Honda was concerned with other things, like nursing his hand. It stung where it had struck his friend.

We're even.

He nodded to Shizuka, watching her nurse Otogi. It was a strange peace that came over him, and he was okay even with the notion of her holding him.

"Now we can do it," he said to Shizuka.

[A few months prior]

Honda got out of bed three hours early. There was no doubt about it. The day was going to be great. It had to, and if anything even seemed as though it was going to ruin it, he would change it.

He couldn't believe that he and Shizuka had made it to two years.

All things considered, Honda knew that he wasn't the smartest, or the wealthiest. But Shizuka had picked him, and decided that he was good enough to make her happy. There was no way that he was going to forget that day. Not in a million years.

...except that he had, and today he was going to make up for it.

How could he have forgotten? There was just so much work and he had to run errands for the family and before he had known it, the day was through and he was hanging out with Jounouchi. It wasn't until the late evening that he'd gotten a call from her, her voice small but excited.

"I know you were busy today, but do you think you can make time to celebrate our anniversary tomorrow? I needed to talk to you about something ...about a gift I want."

He knew that she knew that he'd forgotten, and he didn't protest. "S-sure. Of course. I'm sorry I didn't have the time."

"I know you have a lot on your plate. It's alright. I'll let you make it up to me."

"Of course," he repeated, "I will."

"What plans did you have?"
Plans? He hadn't made anyplans. "Uh, dinner - yeah. I had reservations..."

Shizuka was kind enough to forgo asking where or when, and Honda made a mental note that he should find a restaurant and make reservations. Jounouchi, behind him, to avoid making faces and laughing aloud.

"I want this to be special, Honda," Shizuka pouted. "Veryspecial. You'll make sure it is, right?"

"O - " Honda caught himself before repeating himself again, "Yeah. Yes. I will. If there's anything else you want, just tell me."

"There is," she said, and her voice sounded so devilish that Honda blanched; he was at her brother's house, after all. It would just be weird. Her voice was slightly muffled, too, like she was biting her lip in that pouty way he liked.

His voice lowered significantly as he offered, "Y-you can spend the night."

She giggled at him. "Are you at Jou's?"

For a moment, her soft laughter reminded him of Jou; it was one of those rare moments where he could spot a familial resemblance. There was something about the ring in their laughter - it was genuine, authentic.

Honda hastily ended the conversation after that, promising that he would make sure everything was taken care of. And he made as many arrangements as he could online, right after throwing a couch cushion at Jou to make him stop laughing.

It hadn't worked.

Shizuka had forgiven him the night before, however, and Honda had come through. He had arranged to have flowers delivered to her job with a special message, he actually pulled out an old suit (that still looked good because it hadn't been used!) for their dinner - at a fancy foreign restaurant in downtown domino he couldn't pronounce the name of.

He'd gotten her a cute necklace, as well - Jounouchi had told him, from his experience with Mai, that gifts were the only thing to help make up a mistake. It was hard picking out gifts for Shizuka, as she was very ...picky about things. Shizuka wasn't a typical woman. The gifts that would have worked with Anzu and Mai weren't as useful. Shizuka didn't prize jewelry and money, and that was a lesson that he had learned early on. They were both older now, than when they'd met, and if anything Shizuka had become more engrained in her personality.

She was smart, strong, intelligent and charismatic in a gentle way. She was never pushy or whiny but knew what she wanted and what words to say to get it. It was difficult to make her angry but if she was, whomever had made her upset had deserved it, no doubt about it. Honda spent the day thinking of the things he loved about her. He was going to tell her every single one of those things once he had picked her up.

All in all, the evening went well. Shizuka blushed as she recounted how her co-workers reacted when the flowers arrived. Many of the older women were jealous, and a few of her friends as well when she told them. It was "nice to see that you can be romantic, after all," she joked, and Honda smiled sheepishly, loosening his collar as they continued to eat. He wasn't too great at being affectionate, but he cared a lot about her, and he was good at following directions. It was what made her a good mechanic, doing what he was told until he learned it, and it apparently made him a very good boyfriend as well.

At least, that was what Shizuka had told him.

She seemed to explode when he presented the necklace. It wasn't often she got jewelry as a gift, mostly because Honda's choices were too flashy for her taste. But he had worked hard, when talking to the girl at the jewelry store after work, to tell her that he wanted something simple and elegant. The design ended up being a sloping loop that resembled a teardrop on a silver chain. The most important thing, though, was that she loved it, and that it looked simply beautiful with her powder blue blouse and black dress pants (she couldn't ride his bike, not in a dress or a skirt). Honda was sure that she could make anything beautiful.

As she promised, she stayed with Honda the entire night. Maybe she shouldn't have.

It had taken a long time for Honda to get over the sex handicap in their relationship; she'd been so young when they'd met. It seemed like such a small difference now that they were together, with their ages, but just coming out of high school Honda barely been allowed to look at her, let alone actually think of her in that way. Jou seemed to always know where he was, even when he was working to sneak a note into her mailbox (which was an hour and a half bus ride, at the time!), or leave a simple voicemail.

Even when they had finally been allowed (with Jou's blessing) to date, after Shizuka had turned sixteen, it had been awkward. He had never taken a virgin before, and the idea was taboo in its entirety until she brought it up. Shizuka had always been sweet, and innocent, and watching her body flush red as she asked whether or not Honda needed sex to be happy brought a smirk to his face whenever he thought of it. He would have been a jerk to say yes, but saying no wouldn't have quite been the truth, either. In all honesty his hunger for it had been a craving brought on by curiosity more than anything else, amplified by television and surrounded by provocatively dressed girls in school and in the city.

Perseverance was on his list of accomplishments - he had managed to wait until she was almost eighteen. It was an accomplishment for him, anyway, and he would have waited longer if necessary. Honda wouldn't deny that it was difficult: a lot of lonely nights, a lot of porn, a lot of going home unsatisfied after sessions of heavy petting, but he had done it.

He would never do it again, if he didn't have to.

They shared a few kisses and rolled around lazily on the bed, and Honda tried his best to make her feel loved - reallyloved, because he was making this up to her. This night should have happened the day before, and it was completely his fault.

"I wanted to ask you for a favor," Shizuka said coyly.

What else could she have asked for? Hadn't he done everything right? Honda was convinced that he must have forgotten something if Shizuka was asking for anything else. It couldn't be any other way. He had screwed something up.

"Yeah," he asked, his breaths coming a bit heavier, and not because they were tossing around. He sighed, and then inhaled a strong dose of her perfume.

"You have to promise you won't be mad, alright?" There was a bit of a devious glint in her eye, and Honda didn't know what she was going to ask for.

"Alright," he said.

She licked her lips, and he couldn't help but watch. "Really? If you don't like it you can say no, but I don't want you to be angry."

"I said I promise. I meant it," Honda said. "Go ahead."

She bit her lip again, the same way he had been sure she'd done it on the phone, and she blushed beet red.

"You are just too cute," he told her, and kissed her on the nose. A peck to her cheeks followed in the wake of her speechlessness, and another kiss on her lips. His hand resting on the top of her hip, he pulled her closer for a few more kisses. Mouth closing over hers, a tongue roughly pushed itself through and a small sigh fell between them.

Shizuka remained pressed against him for a few moments, and then pulled away; Honda arms were digging in lift her and she could feel it. "Wait. I really wanted to ask you."

"Then ask, Shizuka." He stared at her with a look that said, Hurry up. He wanted her, and soon. That was the point of her staying the night, wasn't it?

"It's not an easy thing to ask."

"You've never had trouble telling me what's on your mind. Did something happen?" Honda hoped, desperately, that they weren't going to spend the night talking or - worse - arguing. He just wanted to have sex with his girlfriend; was that too much to ask for?

"That's not true at all! I'm always nervous around you. You make me nervous. Especially right now. I... No, nothing happened, Honda. You don't have to go and kick anyone's ass."

That was Honda's easy solution to everything.

"I want... well, Honda, I'll just be forward..." Shizuka seemed to be working up the courage, slowly. "I... well, I wanted to ask if, as my anniversary gift - I... I wanted to have a threesome."

"What?" He couldn't have heard her right.

Shizuka flinched, as though she had been expecting to be hit.

"What?" Honda repeated. "You want to what?"

When no hand was laid on her, Shizuka cast her eyes down to the sheets beneath them. "I want to have a threesome. I thought..."

"Excuse me?"

"I thought it would be fun. We've been together for two years, right? I thought... well, that it would be okay to do something... exciting." Even as the regret settled in her eyes, there was a sparkle in there, too.

A threesome? Honda had never thought of the idea. With who? For what?

Doesn't that kind of make her the ultimate girlfriend? Who else has a girlfriend that would do something like that?

"With who?" was the first question that slipped out, but he thought about it a bit harder after that. Who, actually, could they ask? He honestly didn't want a stranger having sex with him... or his girlfriend. Maybe they could ask one of Shizuka's friends? It was be too weird with Anzu or Mai...

...was he actually considering the idea?

"But...well," Shizuka said sheepishly, "I want it with a guy."

Too much. Too soon.

"No."

"But Honda..."

"No. Not at all. Never."

"Really Honda? You've never wanted to have one?"

"No with a fucking guy! I can honestly say I've never thought of something like that in my entire life."

"Well, yeah, but I just wanted to try it. Just one time. Please? You might like it."

"No, never."

"Honda!"

"Didn't you say I could say no?" Normally, Honda couldn't recall anything that Shizuka said in a long conversation, unless she had said it before. He was ransacking his mind for anything that she said that could even be possibly related to this. "Am I not good enough for you anymore?"

"No, no. Nothing like that. I just wanted to try something!"

"Not something like that." The mood was ruined. They were never going to have sex now.

"Just think about it? It can be someone we know, to make you feel a bit more comfortable. Or we can do interviews, or something..."

Where had all of this come from? He didn't want to see any of his friends naked! "How long have you been thinking about this?"

"Just a little while. I mean, I just... we already use toys, and..."

Honda blushed red. He didn't like talking about that. That was something she had started. Now that he thought about it, most of their sexual exploits had been initiated by her. Honda himself would have been happy with something traditional: one guy, one girl, making things work. That was how it was supposed to be, right? But she always wanted more. And she would buy those things herself, and Honda, well, he would rather her use the with him than without him. He didn't want to be replaced. And she enjoyed them so much. He had gotten used to the toys, because they made her happy and if there was one thing he wanted to continue to do, it was making her happy.

Why hadn't he seen this coming? Did Shizuka really need this to be happy?

Honda shook his head. "No. I'm not having sex with another guy in the room. It's not happening."
Shizuka sighed, crossing her arms and pouting. "Fine."

And she didn't speak to him for the rest of the evening. She was kind enough to sex him, but not enough to put any feeling into it. She left him feeling dejected and defeated, on an evening where - apparently - he had done everything right.

Before leaving in the morning, she kissed his forehead and let him know that she had a wonderful evening and that she wasn't mad, just a little upset about the fact that her idea had been shot down so easily. He wasn't sure if he believed her, not after the protest she put up yesterday.

No one else could know about that conversation; there was no one else that he could talk to about this problem. It was an awkward subject, and Honda wasn't sure that he would have discussed it with anyone regardless. Who wouldn't laugh at him? His girlfriend wanted to have sex with another man. How was he supposed to feel about it? Was he supposed to be forgiving? Was he supposed to allow her to do that?

There was no escaping from it. The question, the idea of a threesome, floated in his mind throughout the following day. He had planned on needing to go into work late because of Shizuka's company, but she left so early and that could only mean that she was disappointed. Honda barely got any work done, and nearly cut off his own hand helping a customer with a restoration project so he was relegated to office work.

He hated office work.

Calling Shizuka as soon as he got off work and settled into his apartment made him feel a bit better. He needed to make sure that she wasn't upset with him. Women were good at lying, and his paranoia at the idea of losing her after a successful second year was tugging at him.

"I told you, I'm not mad. Maybe a little upset. I was really hoping that I could convince you to say yes. I already had someone in mind, and, I dunno. It's kind of a fantasy of mine. I really wanted to see it happen. I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable, though. I've done some research on it online, and..."

"How long have you been thinking about this, again?"

Shizuka paused, and he could tell that she was biting her lip again. "Maybe a month, or so." But it wasn't cute.

A whole month?"A whole month?"

"I might be an idiot, but I think there's something wrong with you hiding an idea like that from me for a month."

"I wasn't sure about it at first. I wanted to make sure that I was ready. And I wanted to be able to answer all of your questions."

"And I'm supposed to stand here while you tell me I'm supposed to be happy about you wanting to sleep with another guy?"

"I don't want to sleep with another guy! I knew you were going to be like this!" Was that a whine he heard? Was Shizuka whining? "I love you, Honda. I love you. I wouldn't want to do this if you're not involved. I'm sorry. It was a stupid idea. I shouldn't have brought it up."

Everything fell quiet, and Honda actually began to feel bad. He still didn't want to be involved with a man, hell no. On the other hand, he didn't want Shizuka to feel as though her opinion, or wants, or anything, wasn't important.

Honda knew he was going to regret his next question. "...what do you mean, 'you wouldn't want to do this if I'm not involved'?"

Shizuka was defensive. "You know what I meant. I love you. I'm not trying to replace you. It's like, with..." her voice became a whisper, and he thought that perhaps she wasn't at home yet, or still at the office, "with the toys. I just want the feeling, is all. I just want to say I've done it. I just want to try it. I've never done it before - what if it's too weird for me? What if Idon't like it? I've thought about it. If neither of us likes it, then we can stop and we won't do it again. And there are rules. I don't want anything that would make you feel weird."

"This whole thing is weird. Why do you want to do this?"

"I just... well, it's just something I've always wondered about. Honda, you're making me blush."
Honda's frown couldn't be heard through the phone, but he wished it could. "Don't blush over this. This isn't funny. This is serious."

"...does that mean you'll try it?" Shizuka's voice was so hopeful, Honda nearly said yes.

He fought the urge. "No. But I will listen to you. I need to understand why you want this." I need to know why I'm not enough.

"Why do you want ice cream? Why do you like fixing cars and bikes?"

Honda would try to follow her logic. "Because it tastes good. And it's fun and I'm good at it."

"You never know. Maybe we'll have fun."

"I'm not agreeing to anything."

"You don't have to. I just want you to hear me out. Listen to how it would go."

"How do you even do interviews for that sort of thing?"

Shizuka paused. "...interviews would be difficult. Maybe we should find someone we know? Wait - I'll come over tonight. We can talk about it later, and in person, okay?"

This woman was determined to have her opinion heard, and heard it he did over the next week. The conversation was open nearly as soon as she stepped into the apartment that day and didn't seem to cease. She went on and on about safe practices and how it was important to be honest and open so that everyone involved would know how everyone felt. She couldn't contain herself about the fact that it could be a good experience, and she reinforced it by letting him know every five minutes that she would stop if he ever felt uncomfortable. But he felt uncomfortable the moment the idea was mentioned, and her reaction at his first refusal wasn't reassuring him that she would be alright with leaving the idea where it lay. Shizuka had apparently thought of everything, including every excuse as to why Honda should let her have what she wanted.

It had almost seemed manipulative, and that was something that scared him. Shizuka had never tried to take advantage of him during the course of their entire relationship, and she insisted that his opinion was just as important.

She wanted this. Badly.

"I have someone in mind," was a phrase she kept repeating, but she never suggested who until he asked her directly.

"Uhm," she coughed. "I'm not sure if you would be alright with it."

"I'm not alright with any of this. But since I'm listening," he told her one night, over the phone.

"I've already talked to him about it. I wanted his opinion on it, and he's done a few things like this before - his experience would help a lot."

"You talk to this guy regularly?"

"I... yeah," she said. "Well, first, I want you to know that I did ask Anzu. I did. I thought of you first. I thought a woman would be better." She sighed. " - she won't say anything about it, I promise. I thought about asking Mai, but she's with Jou right now and that would be too... weird. I personallycan't do that."

Then maybe she was thinking logically. Maybe. At the very least, she could understand the 'weird'ness he felt about the idea in general. "What did she say? Anzu?" Honda didn't really have a desire to do anything with Anzu, as attractive as she may have been. He had eyes only for Shizuka, which is why the idea of bringing in someone else was so strange to him. Honda didn't need anyone other than the woman that he had been with for the last two years.

It would be interesting to know what Anzu's answer was, though.

"She didn't like it. She's not really ...that kind of person. It was too strange for her. And Rebecca's younger than I am, and that would make me feel like I was taking advantage of her."

Shizuka was avoiding giving her the answer, and Honda had stopped listening two sentences ago. "So who did you ask? I already know it's a guy. So it's either Yuugi or Otogi. No to either of them, by the way." Mentioning his two friends in reference to a threesome was a little less awkward than it would have been the previous week, since they were openly discussing it.

"It's Otogi."

Of all things that Honda hadn't expected, it hadn't been for Otogi to welcomethe idea of a threesome. It took nearly another week for Honda to even mention speaking to Otogi while they were in the same room together, but knowing that the two of them has spoken about it privately was slowly driving Honda insane. Any time the two of them were together, Honda was glancing around at their faces for knowing glances and secret messages. Weren't those situations what those romance books were based on, anyway? Two people cheating behind someone's back and then making the one being cheated on think they were all friendly? What if Shizuka was already sleeping with Otogi? What if he was the only one who didn't know about it?

Jounouchi was oblivious to all of the underground conversation and activity. The two of them still hung out after work, when he wasn't with Mai and Honda wasn't being forced into meetings about the ideawith Shizuka. Jou still made the same jokes that he had always made, about his sister being innocent when he knew otherwise - but it was clear that he didn't know just how much Shizuka thought about. Hell, Honda didn't even know what she was thinking about most of the time, what with toys and threesomes and everything else.

"So," Honda asked Jou randomly for a night, "are you a nympho if you like having threesomes?"

Jou nearly dropped his beer on the couch. "Waddya talkin' about?"

"I was just asking..." Honda needed to think of a quick context, "...of something I watched. This chick - she always does threesome vids. Does that make her a nympho?" Smooth.

"What the fuck? You think about that shit, man?" Jou took a long sip. "Nah. A nympho is a person who wants to have sex all the time, dumbass. Don't you read?"

Honda didn't think either of them had the right to be talking about education, considering that they were both working jobs just too make the ends meet. Jou worked two, actually, and he was saving up to go to school - but Honda knew that school wasn't for him. It was never really an issue. Thoughts of education aside, it was good to know that his girlfriend wasn't insatiable. There was a line that couldn't be crossed with Jou, and that line specifically was Shizuka.

It was the day after that conversation that Honda spoke to Otogi. It was over the phone, of course (he wasn't about to talk to another man in person about even the idea of having sex with his girlfriend), and organized by Shizuka ("It'll be fine, he already knows about the idea," she had told him).

Honda shook his head. "This is too much. You want me to be honest? I'm uncomfortable. I don't want to have sex with a friend of mine. Otogi's saved my life on occasion! You can't possibly want to ruin that image?"

But she called anyway. His protests, now that he had listened to her intently, seemed to no longer matter.

"Yeah?" Otogi said aloud. "Shizuka? Honda?"

"Yes," Shizuka said, her voice peeking in anxiety, "he's here too."

Honda said nothing.

"I know that this is weird, Honda," were Otogi's first words. "Just try not to think about it - I know that sounds like bullshit, but Shizuka's kind of putting herself out there for you, too."

"What are you, a marriage counselor?" Honda spat. "Don't tell me what to do."

"You two aren't married, if you want to get into that detail."

"Ryuuji..." Shizuka growled.

"You're on first name basis?" Honda sputtered in surprised. "I'm done. I'm through this this." He rose from the bed and busied himself in the kitchen, making tea or anything else that would take up time. He wasn't going back in there. The two of them could talk to their hearts' content.

It took fifteen minutes of yelling for Shizuka to get him back into the den.

"Dude," Otogi chided, "stop freaking out. Freaking out won't help. It won't make things better."

"Easy for you to say."

"Look, I've done this before. I'm the best chance that you've got to make this happen and keep it quiet. I'm clean, I have records, you know me, and I follow directions well. And I don't hate you or Shizuka. Would you rather try to recruit a stranger?"

"I don't want anyone at all."

"Shizuka, are you doing this or not?"

Otogi addressed her, and Honda's mouth gaped open as if to say, So you make all the decisions now?

Shizuka didn't answer right away, and he would have picked another fight with her if she had. She gestured at Honda and frowned. "Are we?" she asked quietly.

Honda shook his head. "Like I said before, I'm willing to hear you out. I'm not saying yes to anything."

"That's a start," Otogi said. "When do you want me to come over? Being on the phone won't cut it. I'm not going to get hung up on when you two start going at it."

Otogi had been over to his place a couple times, and Honda wanted to tell him not to come over at all, but the smile on Shizuka face led him to simply stall instead, and they decided to meet a few days later.

When Otogi arrived, Honda still thinking about what on earth he was letting his girlfriend talk him into, he was surprisingly normal - nothing jumped out at him as extraordinary about Otogi. For some reason, Honda had been expecting his friend to be dressed strangely, carrying weird equipment or something. He didn't think he was going to meet with plain old Otogi, hands in his pockets and single earring hanging, as usual.

It was on the weekend, one of the few days where they could discuss things during the day and not through hurried texts or phone calls.

Once the conversation got going, though, Shizuka was clearly in charge. She wanted to discuss rules, something that she felt would make Honda feel more comfortable. It did, in a way, although he didn't want to admit it.

As soon as the list began it seemed as though there were a million of them. "You're not allowed to touch me," was the first one, "without an okay from Honda."
And Otogi nodded his agreement! Who would agree to something like that? Wouldn't that defeat the whole point? "Well, yeah. If he's not feeling it, then..."

Feeling what? "Look," Honda said, "If you're waiting for me to get used to the idea, it's not going to happen. I'm just here to listen. I promised Shizuka I would. Why are you up for this, anyway? This is just... this is just so gay." There. He'd said it.The word was out there in the open. "Why doesn't this bother you?"

"I've done it before. Was curious about it. I'm mostly just doing it because Shizuka asked and she didn't know where else to go. You're both clean, I know there's nothing to worry about. Why not do her a favor? Your anniversary passed not too long ago, right? I mean, let's be honest. It was me or nothin'. Anzu wasn't about to do it. From what you're saying it might not happen anyway. I own a company. I can pay myself for the time I have off for this. Who else do you think you know who's got the time to spare and flip-flop back and forth with you about it?"

The rest of the list ranged from everything including Otogi's removal at any time to his inability to leave even if he wasn't doing anything. Honda was a bit squeamish about anything that involved technical terminology - it just wasn't natural to discuss sex like this. And between three people?

"None of this means anything," Otogi said after the rules had been finished, "if you don't actually do it. At this point, you've heard everything. You know the idea, you know what she wants, you know I'm in and I'm pretty much your only shot. Get over your cockphobia and say yes or no."

So far as Honda was concerned, "cockphobia" was a perfectly legitimate fear.

He didn't quite say yes, he didn't quite say no. Honda agreed that at some point in the near future, they were going to meet up and decide if they were going to do anything.

The first time they met up, nearly three weeks later (after a lot of nagging from Shizuka), Honda chickened out. Just seeing Otogi remove his shirt made him feel too awkward. He couldn't even get it up. Shizuka was quiet and understanding, and didn't tell Otogi anything about it.

"It's just too weird. He can't do it," she told him. She held him after Otogi left, and told him that they could try again, or call it off.

At the point that another man was removing clothes in his home, Honda felt as though he needed to make some significant progress. He didn't want Shizuka to think that he was just pretending.

The second time, Otogi got his shirt off and Shizuka started to undress herself.

"What are you doing?" Honda asked her.

Otogi raised an eyebrow, but seemed to catch himself before he said anything.

"I'm getting undressed," Shizuka said. "I figured you didn't want to go second."

Honda couldn't wrap his head around the idea of the two of them being undressed in front of each other, and he sent Otogi home. Their third partner was clearly unhappy with the progress that he made, but he kept his word and left silently without another word.

"What are you going to do, Honda, when you have to get undressed in front of him?"

"Why are you okay with undressing in front of a stranger?"

"I'm not, but it's got to be done if we're going to do this!"

They fought that evening, and didn't talk about trying again for another two weeks.

On the third attempt, Shizuka didn't hide her shyness at all. She insisted on wearing one of Honda's larger T-shirts over herself. It stretched down to her upper thigh, and hid most of the intimate parts of her body.

"I'm just going to turn around while you... do that," Honda said to Otogi. It still unsettled him that Otogi was ready to pull his clothes off at any given moment - it literally took less than a minute. Maybe that was why he always got girls in class when they were younger, but if that was the case Honda didn't envy him.

"Maybe you should talk a little," Shizuka suggested. "It's harder to get over the nervousness if you're doing nothing but paying attention to it."

"Actually," Otogi said, "Why don't you two just start? And I'll... wait. You're the couple - rather than undressing and everything first just... go ahead. You've been with each other the last couple years; it shouldn't be hard if I'm just watching."

"That's actually a good idea."

The last couple months had been filled with nothing but bad ones, in Honda's opinion. And he had allowed everyone involved to make most of them. This was his fault.

Honda wasn't sure where exactly in the room Otogi retreated to, but once Shizuka was in front of him and wearing his shirt, things became quite a bit easier. His jacket fell from his shoulders with ease, and there was no way that he couldn't be turned on with Shizuka's shape pressed against his. He was paranoid at first, eyes glancing around for Otogi, but couldn't see anything. Otogi might have been hiding in the kitchen. Was he willing to part from Shizuka to find out? No.

After the first few checks for another person watching Honda felt more relaxed about it. Even if Otogi was there, he was in control. They could have sex right there and make Otogi watch, and he wouldn't be able to do a thing about it other than agree. The idea rather turned him on, and he whispered it to Shizuka in a breathy voice while she was removing the rest of his clothes. Why not flaunt what he had? He wasn'tsharing them. He wasn't. It was a one time experience, and they would be done.

So that was just what they did. They made him watch.

Shizuka seemed to enjoy it, the extra presence. Honda had hoped that it would be enough, but she still her fantasy - the threesome. It was embarrassing to think that another one of his friends had watched him have sex with his girlfriend, but Otogi said nothing about it, not even to Honda himself.

The three of them still met up with old friends like usual, and Honda still spent the evenings wasting away at Jou's apartment when they weren't working too hard. Amazingly, no one knew anything. At all. If Jou had known what they were doing, he would have killed them. All three of them.

But he didn't.

None of them did. Anzu, Shizuka reported, asked whether or not they found another person. Her answer was no, and that they would wait a while before trying again because Honda didn't like the idea. It seemed to be enough, and no one else bothered with any questions, either. Yuugi, as usual, was oblivious...

Honda didn't make Shizuka wait as long as he did the last time for another "visit from Otogi", as she called them. The fourth time was going to be the charm. He was going to do it, for Shizuka. This time. Even if he had to puke and brush his teeth and come back after seeing Otogi naked.

It actually didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. It did, of course - and Shizuka stroked his hair to help calm him - but it was no worse than being in a locker room (he'd shared an awkward experience with Jou once in high school, and they would never speak of it). He was on edge - it just wasn't natural for another naked man to be near him, or his girl.

"Relax," Shizuka said, leaning over him. Otogi was standing on the side of the room, near the front door, and Honda was glad that Otogi couldn't see his skin crawl. He didn't mean offense, really.

It had been awkward, that first time, and it took nearly three hours for things to actually get going. Otogi being naked wasn't something that Honda could shake easily, even if Shizuka was being persistent. Things were slow, and by the time anyone orgasmed Otogi had done very little besides massage Shizuka's back. He was allowed to come on their sheets or bodies, either, and Otogi rubbed one out in the bathroom (silently, thank god) before leaving.

She had been proud of him, that evening, and made him breakfast in the morning and gave him a special treat the next evening, too.

More than anything else, Honda became used to Otogi's presence; used to the extra hands caressing her skin, scratching a place he couldn't reach, fondling her chest while he was busy elsewhere. If he didn't like it or it was unsettling, Honda could simply say, "No," and those hands withdrew without a moment's wait. Otogi was very patient, and only interfered when Shizuka asked for him, and if Honda didn't protest.

The two of them, Otogi and Honda, never touched anything besides maybe hands. Thatwas not something that was ever going to happen, and Otogi seemed to feel somewhat the same way. It made things a bit more difficult to work around, but not impossible. Considering that Honda's first answer had been "never", the scenario seemed increasingly like a dream.

It had never made sense to Honda, in idle moments, how his friend could just... let them boss him around like that. But they never discussed their meetings outside of Honda's apartment, not even when the three of them were alone. No matter how Shizuka felt it would help with the shyness of things, Honda didn't want to be reminded of a gift, one that had spanned over four months and was still weird no matter how anyone argued it. He would never even risk the possibility of anyone finding out about it. The less they spoke about it, the less awkward it would be. Honda didn't need pep talks or reassurance from a man who was... well, touching Shizuka.

Soon enough, they were meeting once a week, to try, to push. Otogi had grown to be allowed to touch Shizuka at any time so long as Honda didn't object, and the three of them were content with that arrangement. He could kiss her, too, but not for too long. If Honda was tired, after sex, or he had a long day and wasn't in the mood, he was allowed to finger her. They had used the toys at first, because it didn't mean that he was actually touchingher.

Honda had found a small thrill, finally, in sex between the three of them: He loved watching her moan underneath another person's touch, from a third point of view. So long as too much of Otogi wasn't in view, it was like watching a specially made porn featuring the woman she loved. He hadn't realized before exactly how her back arched and how sexy it looked, heard the sounds she made without shouting it directly into his ear drums. She was elegant at sex, he realized from a few feet away, regardless of who it was with. Red hair splayed beneath her, toes curling and knees bending, watching her for only a few minutes was enough for Honda to tell Otogi to stand aside.

They were working their way up.

One evening after a session between the three of them, Honda had been so exhausted (Almost four times! In a row!), he nearly sank into sleep. But Shizuka shook him, and pleaded,

"One more?"

He didn't have it in him. He shook his head. "I'm done for the night."

"Could I?" Otogi interjected. He was standing in the corner - he hadn't done much with them that evening, and was actually still wearing pants.

Honda's body seized.

Shizuka's hair was falling into her eyes, disheveled and sexy; he wanted to say "No." Every fiber of his being said, no. But he couldn't. He was exhausted and raw, and he knew he wasn't going to get it up again. And he couldn't stall Shizuka forever. It was what she wanted, in the end.

"I... I don't want to say yes," he said, feeling a moment of honesty.

"No?" Shizuka asked. "It's okay, Honda. It's okay if your answer's no."

Otogi's sigh echoed from the corner, but he didn't say anything else.

Honda felt like an insecure idiot. "No. Not without me. You don't have to leave. You can still sleep on the futon. But no." And he turned over to embrace sleep.

"Okay," Shizuka said, her hand caressing his side. "It's fine."

He was going to have to get his shit together, then. That was the last step. That was the actual gift.

Otogi was gone the next morning, as usual, and Shizuka took the opportunity to cuddle a bit with Honda. It was something that they enjoyed, something that the two of them always did together once Otogi had left. It was Honda's consolation, the way that he knew that things were fine between them. Sometimes they had sex by their lonesome, just the two of the, intimate and tame and normal, just the way that Honda liked it. It made him feel good, and needed. And appreciated. Shizuka knew he was stretching himself over this issue.

"I want to tell you about something," Shizuka said. "It's a little weird, actually. I guess. I think."

"Mm?" Honda said, to let her know that she had his attention. She planted a few kisses on his lips.

"Are you okay, dear?"

He couldn't help from thinking about the night before. About how disappointed they had looked. Not just Shizuka's frown, but Otogi's sigh weighed on him as well. Regardless of how uncomfortable he had felt about anything, Otogi hadn't done anything wrong. He had always listened, followed the rules. There were many weeks where Otogi had walked away with nothing for many weeks on end, and he did nothing but be encouraging - and even then, only when he was allowed to speak. Honda wouldn't have been able to do that for anyone else, friend or foe, gift or no gift, and he felt like a piece of shit boyfriend and a piece of shit, progress be damned. He should have just swallowed his pride, grew some balls and did it when Shizuka had asked the first time, months ago, and saved them all of this trouble.

"Next week," Honda said, frowning, "We're gonna do it next week. A real threesome. No holds barred. I promise." Well, he didn't really mean that Otogi could do anything, but the point had been made.

Shizuka's mood, however, matched his, "Honda, if you're not ready it's fine. I don't mind waiting. You're doing a lot already."

"Not enough. I promised you that gift a million days ago, Shizuka."

She giggled. "It wasn't a million."

"I'm dragging this out. I know I'm annoying Otogi."

"He agreed to do it. I mean it, do what you can."

"I can do it. I just need to stop being a sissy about it. I can do it."

Shizuka didn't press the issue, but she smiled softly and said, "I'll tell you something interesting. I had a dream last night about Otogi. I normally don't remember my dreams, but, I remember this one."

An erotic, dream, she explained. It wasn't the first time she'd had one, but the first that one featured a face beside Honda himself, or anyone she knew personally, for that matter.

It wasn't a big deal, and he told her so. It would be fine.

{FIN}

I was rushing to finish this, and I wasn't able to put as much detail as I wanted into this fic. But I suppose it's good enough. Hooray for the first entries!