GAME OVER.
“Hey man, slow down a bit, okay?” Yoshiki forced a laugh, pulling on Hide’s arm to lower the drink the vocalist had permanently glued to his lips.
Hide consented after a moment, raising his eyes to meet Yoshiki’s as he smiled coyly. The dim background of lights and flashes shone vibrantly against his pink hair, smoke drifting lazily over the setting of the club, a loud environment that was hidden by soft tones, where one could speak and be heard, yet not overheard.
It was Hide’s favourite place, and they came there often together. Hide to enjoy the atmosphere, and Yoshiki to watch the people that did. He actually enjoyed Hide’s company, when he wasn’t concerned so much about the well being of his heath.
“You swallow it before you can taste it,” Yoshiki said with a soft smile, and Hide grinned back at him.
“Ah, I never taste it now,” Hide said comfortably, leaning back against the booth. “Only in the morning,” he laughed, and Yoshiki chuckled along with him, nursing his own drink gingerly.
It had become a habit for them, to come here. Yoshiki had, by now, forgotten the reason they started except to share news and relish in reliving old times, but it didn’t matter now. They were both busy men, each consumed by their own projects and lives, and their nightly drinks together seemed their only getaway from the struggles and pressures.
Hide had been tacked down particularly hard, with his solo work hitting the charts high and his new projects running him dry constantly. Yoshiki often wondered how he managed it all, but the man looked happy, had the same positive outlook he always did, and Yoshiki never questioned it.
He knew Hide was happy. Exhausted, but happy.
“I just don’t want another incident like last time,” Yoshiki mumbled, and Hide smiled, eyes crinkling in their dark outlines beneath his shocking hair. He nudged Yoshiki, urging him to continue. “Yes? And what exactly is it that I did?”
“You locked yourself in your own bathroom!” Yoshiki laughed, “when I finally got there the next night, you had gotten so bored that you had cleaned the whole damn thing! I had never seen a toilet sparkle like yours did, Hide.”
“Aaah, I do remember that now,” Hide said, nodding his head comfortably, the hint of a smile still on his face. “I had never realized how boring a bathroom really is when you’re stuck in it. At least it gave me a chance to perfect my makeup.”
“I’ll say,” Yoshiki replied, “You looked pretty good when I finally opened the door.”
Hide laughed aloud, taking another long gulp of his drink. “Honey,” he said, slipping an arm around Yoshiki’s shoulders, “I always look good.”
“Oh, get lost,” Yoshiki laughed, pushing Hide away, who looked so appalled that the expression couldn’t be anything but fake.
“Why, Yoshiki,” he gasped, “I do say you’ve just rejected the love from the most gorgeous being on earth!”
Yoshiki snorted, but tenderly draped an arm over Hide’s shoulders. “Oh, very smooth,” he muttered. “I don’t know why I keep coming out here with you every evening. You drive me crazy.”
“You and half the population, sweetheart,” Hide said, finally draining his drink and, suddenly remembering the second shot the bartender had brought over, swallowed that down as well, making a low, content humming in the back of his neck.
“Come on, man,” Hide said, “Let’s get out of here. I have a recording I’ve gotta work on when I get home.”
Yoshiki agreed, as it was late and they had been there for what he knew was hours. Time never seemed to pass with Hide, nor did it seem to stop. Time itself cancelled itself out to pure enjoyment, for which Yoshiki was thankful; he knew that the drinks and relaxation weren’t the only reasons he continued to accompany Hide out here. It was the perfection Hide gave off. The contagious optimistic attitude, the honest laughter… the enjoyment of being together, despite living in their own worlds.
“Hey, you’re okay to go home, right?” Yoshiki asked as soon as they had stepped outside of the door and into the darkened streets.
“Ah, you worry too much, Yoshiki,” Hide said, waving him off. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
Yoshiki laughed. “Hide, you’re drunk. I just don’t want you to do anything stupid like…blow-drying your hair in the bath, or something.”
“Oh, come on,” Hyde laughed, “it’s like a game! ‘How long will I survive my own drunken stupor?’ Placing bets! Come on, now, Yoshiki, what do you give me? Twenty minutes to make it back home? Twelve more to remember where my keys are at?”
Yoshiki grinned and shook his head as Hide laughed to himself.
“You’re insane,” Yoshiki sighed, patting his friend’s back. “But you’re sure you’ll be okay? You don’t want me to call a ride?”
“Yoshiki, I’ll be fine,” Hide said, looking him directly in the eyes. “But remember our game, okay? Five bucks says I don’t make it home tonight,” he laughed.
“Don’t be a moron,” Yoshiki sighed, smiling despite himself. “But put me down for ten that you’ll accidentally do something stupid like climb into the washing machine and sleep there.”
“It’s a deal,” Hide smiled, “We got ourselves a game.”
And with a hug goodbye, Yoshiki turned one way, and Hide went the other, never looking back.
---
“You idiot, go to the left, left!”
Yoshiki did as he was told, or tried to, steering the character on the screen violently with his controller.
His family had paid him a visit early the next morning, and somehow, Yoshiki had gotten stuck “bonding” with his kid cousin while everyone else went out for a quick sight-seeing trip, stating that, of all the family members, little Tetsu knew hardly anything about his big cousin Yoshiki.
And so here he was, playing video games with a kid who was twice as young as him, and four times as better at something Yoshiki had never understood.
Tetsu laughed aloud as Yoshiki ran directly into a wall, crying out, “You’re going to make us lose, Yoshiki!”
“Good!” Yoshiki laughed back, “then maybe you’ll finally believe me when I tell you how horrible I am at these things!”
Just then, his phone danced to life across the room, and he trust the controller into Tetsu’s capable hands. “Here, you take this and finish this round.”
“What?” Tetsu yelled, fumbling over the controls. “You’ve basically already lost, and you’re giving it to me like this?! I can’t come back from this!”
Rolling his eyes and muttering something about having his utmost faith in Tetsu, Yoshiki stumbled across the floor and grabbed his phone, flipping it open to answer the call.
The voice on the other end was tired, sore. Weak. It startled Yoshiki, and he immediately sat up, his back straightening as he suddenly sensed that something was very, very wrong.
“Yoshiki, it’s Heath,” the voice cracked. “It’s about Hide.”
“Heath? What’s wrong? What happened?”
There was a loud groaning noise from Tetsu, who tossed down the controller in defeat, flopping to the floor, but Heath’s voice rang clear.
“He’s dead.”
Yoshiki could almost feel the needles scratching down his throat as his breath was forcibly removed from his lungs. All movement seemed to cease, and his body felt disconnected from the world, from the atmosphere, from his own mind.
“How did…how did…?”
“They found him in his hotel room,” Heath said, unable to hide the choke in his voice as he blurted out, “He had a towel around his neck and he was hanging from the doorknob.”
Yoshiki’s knees gave out, and he would have fallen to the floor if the couch hadn’t been there to hold him up.
“God, Yoshiki, they’re saying it was suicide. Do you think…?”
“No,” Yoshiki replied, his voice blank. “No. It was an… an accident.”
And, unable to hold his grip any longer, the phone slipped from his hands and fell to the floor as Tetsu called to him from across the room.
“Bad news, Yoshiki. You still lost.”
Yoshiki’s eyes went white, and the harsh, tearful cries of his name from Heath were lost in the flashing letters on the television screen.
GAME OVER.