Petals of a Cherry Blossom - Chapter 3B - KazukixManabu
Title: Petals of a Cherry Blossom
Chapter: 3b/??
Author: atmosphere_zero
Beta-Reader: misfitmisfit (Thanks a lot! <3)
Genre: Angst, Comedy, Drama, Romance, School life, AU
Rating: R
Warnings: Abuse, Strong Language, Some Violence
Band(s): Alice Nine, Ayabie, Sadie, ScReW, the GazettE
Pairing(s)/Character(s): KazukixManabu, MizukixManabu, KazukixUruha, ToraxByou, KenzoxRui
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with the bands, people, artists, and musicians mentioned in the story. The story is a work of pure fiction and is in no way meant to represent or reflect the real bands, people, artists, and musicians mentioned in any way. Any similarities are pure coincidences. I do not make anything off of the story as this is simply meant for pure entertainment. No harm or disrespect in any way is intended.
Summary: Behind the fading color of the cherry blossom petals, the truth unveils itself.
Comments: Yay, another chapter to this story ( ＾∇＾) This chapter is broken into two parts due to LJ's text limit so please read both parts（＾_＾）More in the author's note at the end of this part. Enjoy!
Previous Chapters: Chapter 1a/ Chapter 1b || Chapter 2a/ Chapter 2b || Chapter 3a/ Chapter 3b || Chapter 4a/ Chapter 4b
Inside of Tora’s office, Kazuki sat down in a chair in front of Tora’s big desk. This was the one who got him into a whole ton of trouble with his father. The fact Tora, a national police officer, was here meant the police must have had a break in the case against the mafia. But how? And what? The last spy they sent was killed in silence. What kind of dirt did Tora manage to dig up?
“Just to let you know that I don’t like the way you look at Manabu-kun.” Kazuki broke the silence.
“Hmm?” Tora pretended to play dumb.
“The way you look at him… I can see it. Well, don’t even think for a second you can get close to Manabu-kun. If you try to get close to him, then I will make sure that you receive a reprimand worse than getting fired.” Kazuki threatened in a menacing tone.
If Tora was an inexperienced officer, then he might have shaken in his shoes and been scared shitless, but he had dealt with worse criminals. Compare with some criminals he met, Kazuki wasn’t bad at all. At least he had manners and a decency to speak coherently. He knew Kazuki had the skills to read and bother him to the core, but he couldn’t let it get to him.
“Haha, young student, I only have interest in Manabu-san as a student and nothing else. You can rest assured.” Tora played the part of a stupid academic advisor.
“Humph. Well. I’m warning you. Don’t get close to him. Or you’ll regret it.” Kazuki glared at him with icy eyes. “Don’t even think about trying to advance and get close to him.”
The scene of Kazuki being close to Manabu made Tora ponder if Manabu befriended Kazuki. Oh, no… Could it be Manabu became good friends with the mafia?
“I’m sorry. I don’t think I understand the implication, but I can tell you for sure that I only care for Manabu-san as an academic advisor.” Tora purposely repeated himself as if to paint himself as an egghead.
“Whatever. As long as you understand my message. I’m done.” Kazuki got up from his chair and hastily headed for the door.
Kazuki didn’t like Tora’s presence. He must have been here for something, but for what? Damn. He loathed not knowing. It irritated him badly. Usually, he knew everything about his enemy. But not Tora. Tora was the only guy who proved to be quite troublesome. He had to find out what it was before Tora won a second time.
To further intimidate, to let Tora know who was boss of this game, Kazuki smiled and said, “Oh. I almost forgot. Say hello to Byou-san for me.”
He flung the door open and exited the room without waiting for a response from Tora. Tora’s heart skipped a beat. What? What? Oh, shit! He should have known that Kazuki would discover Byou’s presence. Oh, shit! Oh, shit! Byou should have not come along. He knew it! He knew it! Goddammit! Byou could be in serious danger and here he was sitting in a dinky office unable to do anything.
Goddamn, Kazuki! He was only the mafia boss’s kid. Shit. He couldn’t imagine what the actual mafia boss actually looked like.
When Kazuki arrived back to where he originally was, he found Manabu still there, but no Mizuki was in sight. Kazuki already liked the sight of this although he had to pretend, at least for five seconds, to care about Mizuki.
“Oh. Where did Mizuki-san go?” Kazuki inquired hiding his excitement.
“He had to take a phone call.” Manabu replied to Kazuki’s inquiry.
“Great! More time for us.” Kazuki immediately broke out into his jubilant face. “Let’s go!”
Before Manabu responded, Kazuki wrapped his arm around Manabu’s shoulders and dragged him along.
“See you later, Uruha.” Kazuki waved goodbye as he left.
Uruha didn’t bother responding and it seemed Kazuki didn’t even notice his silence. He had to devise a plan to get Manabu away. Manabu was too close for Uruha’s taste. Grr, anything to get the vermin away. A light bulb lit up in Uruha’s mind. He knew exactly how to battle this problem.
“Ah, so what do you want to do today, honey?” Kazuki cutely asked him.
“What? Don’t call me by that name!” Manabu tried to pry off Kazuki’s arm.
“Why not? Shows our close relationship!” Kazuki merrily chuckled. “So what do you want to do today?”
Manabu was puzzled by his question. “What are you talking about? Don’t we have to go to class?”
“No, we don’t. We have the rest of the day to ourselves.” Kazuki nonchalantly said.
“What? When did that happen?” Manabu was shocked to hear.
Kazuki widely grinned. “Because I told them all so.”
“What? B-but how can you-?” Manabu was about to question him further.
“Oh! I know what we can do! We can… make out!” Kazuki deviously suggested.
Manabu’s face grew tomato red within an instance. “No! I don’t do those things!”
“Oh, in your room?”
“No.”
“Oh, at my place?”
“No. Kazuki.”
“Fine. Fine. I know where we can go.” Kazuki finally gave in.
It was strange. This was the first time in his life he ever bent down for someone else. He wasn’t sure why and he couldn’t even comprehend as to why, but he felt it was right.
“Where are we going?” Manabu suspiciously asked him.
“You’ll see!” Kazuki winked his eye.
Back inside the school, it was Kenzo’s turn to see Tora. He hoped he could trust this Tora. The last time, he couldn’t trust that other police officer. He was simply too stupid to survive.
“Kenzo!” Tora called on him.
He knew Kenzo was Kazuki’s right hand man so he had to be careful around him as well. There was no telling what these people were up to.
Kenzo quietly came in as Tora closed the door behind him.
As Tora sat down, Kenzo cut to the chase.
“Are you a police officer from the National Headquarters?”
Tora shouldn’t have been surprised, but he was stunned as to why Kenzo was blunt about the matter.
“Excuse me?” Tora blinked his eyes.
“I haven’t told everything about you to my boss such as where you live, Byou’s family, and anything else in your personal file.” Kenzo listed out exactly what he knew.
The information fucking scared Tora that he found himself shaking in his shoes. Fuck. Kenzo knew everything about him. And Byou, too! Goddammit. He knew Byou shouldn’t have come.
“What do you want?” Tora transformed into a serious mode. He knew dealing with Kenzo would be no easy cakewalk in the park.
“Can I trust you?”
“Trust me?”
Kenzo surreptitiously slid something underneath Tora’s paper files. “I hope so.”
Just like Kazuki, Kenzo abruptly stood up from his chair and made his way to the door. He looked back and threatened Tora, “I’m sure Byou-san is very important to you, right?”
Tora, with a stone face, continued to stare at him. What the fuck was he supposed to say?!
“Goodbye.”
Kenzo opened the door leaving the room.
Oh, fucking shit! He had to go straight home after work today and tell Byou never to leave the fucking house. Fuck this. He knew Byou shouldn’t have fucking come!
Tora slipped out the piece of paper Kenzo furtively handed to him. He opened up the tiny piece of paper. He peered up at the opened doorway. Was this the leak his boss told him about?
XOXOXOXO
Surprisingly, Kazuki brought Manabu to a nice bookstore filled with tons and tons of books. Manabu was amazed that Kazuki would come to such a place. He wondered if Kazuki came here during his downtime.
“You read?” Manabu let the thought out unconsciously.
“Despite your thoughts, I do read quite often.” Kazuki pouted with a playful frown on his face.
They headed down the various aisles and aisles of books. Manabu spotted a whole bunch of books that were quite difficult to read. This was way beyond college level. If he had never seen this place, he would have never pegged Kazuki to be an avid reader. How come Kazuki portrayed himself at school to be such an idiot when he was anything but?
Unexpectedly, they stopped in the middle of a random aisle. The sight of Kazuki picking up those complicated books to read astonished Manabu.
“If you read a lot, then how come you never read in school?” Manabu inquired.
“School is a bore. The books at school are boring and I’m very much above it.” Kazuki spoke in a haughty manner.
It was true. Any time he was in school, he slept through class because he knew the material already. He only attended school for records and his father demanded him so. He might have skipped class, but he knew better than to disobey his father. Disobeying his father would be a trip to hell itself.
“Then why do you even come to school?” Manabu curiously wondered.
“Because… then we would have never met and I would have never got to see your cute face!” Kazuki admiringly gazed at him on purpose.
He knew Manabu was easily irked, which brought upon a Manabu who wore a cute, but slightly upset expression. Kazuki enjoyed spending time with him no matter the time length. He figured he could waste hours and hours with Manabu and not feel bored or uninterested. In fact, his heart yearned to be at Manabu’s side no matter what. Nothing could stop him being next to Manabu.
“Yeah, right! You can’t predict me coming to this school!” Manabu narrowed his eyes.
“Oh, Manabu-kun, you have yet to see my true powers! I can predict lots of things. Like your deepest desires!” Kazuki dramatically said.
Manabu couldn’t believe Kazuki was playing such a silly and childish game.
“Oh, yeah? What is it?” Manabu rolled his eyes.
“You… want… to…” Kazuki pretended to stretch out each word to put Manabu in suspense. “Kiss me, right? Because you love me!”
Manabu’s entire face flushed a bright red at Kazuki’s statement. How could Kazuki be fucking vulgar about it?!
“Shut up, you pervert!” Manabu punched Kazuki in the face.
“Ahh!” Kazuki slightly lost his balance, but luckily caught his footing. “What? Manabu-kun doesn’t love me? He doesn’t love me?”
Kazuki pretended to break down and cry a river of tears in order to get Manabu to feel guilty. “Waah! Manabu-kun doesn’t love me! Waah!”
Manabu lightly smacked him over the head. “Stop being stupid, you idiot.”
“Ow… That hurts…” Kazuki rubbed his head. “Geez. Can’t even cry for a bit.”
Manabu wasn’t sure how Kazuki could act like a complete child around him. That one flashing image of Kazuki beating up those thugs reminded him that Kazuki probably put on a façade around him. He couldn’t seriously have been this silly since he was a mafia’s kid.
“What are we doing here anyway?” Manabu changed the subject.
That was a good question. What were they doing here? Unconsciously, Kazuki wished to expose more of himself to Manabu knowing he would never backstab him.
“Hmm… I wanted to show you where I come to read. I come here from time to time.” Kazuki waved some books in the air.
“But those books are in English… You know how to read them?” Manabu wore a contorted face.
Kazuki grinned and took this as an opportunity to not only be Manabu’s sensei, but also to become closer to him.
“Oooh, I can teach you! I’m very good in English! Hmm… Hmm! Haha!” Kazuki sang a silly made up tune at the end of his sentence.
Kazuki ended up grabbing a bunch of books off the shelf and led Manabu to a table in a secluded part of the bookstore where they could read without any distractions. Kazuki sat down next to Manabu instructing him how to read some of the complicated material. Most of the time, Manabu had no idea what he was saying or reading. But Kazuki didn’t mind and helped explain the meanings to the frustrated, but patient Manabu. This warm emotion entering his heart… It had to be…
When Manabu was busy reading off sentences, Kazuki studied Manabu’s beautiful features. He couldn’t ever get enough of it. He wished he could sit here all day and gaze at Manabu.
Impulsively, Kazuki reached for Manabu’s bangs and brushed it out of the way to receive a better view of Manabu’s face. Manabu paused at the sense of Kazuki’s fingers. His heart raced and beat faster than before. What was Kazuki doing?
“Did anyone ever tell you…?” Kazuki started his sentence as he leaned in closer to Manabu’s face. “That you’re too pretty to resist?”
Manabu’s breathing became irregular due to Kazuki’s body being in close proximity to his. What joke was Kazuki trying to pull off?
“Kazuki-senpai-”
“Just call me Kazuki. You don’t have to be so formal.” Kazuki unexpectedly said.
Manabu couldn’t help, but be sucked into Kazuki’s seductive gaze. God! He knew Kazuki was handsome, but still…! Why was he acting weird?! Why couldn’t he be himself?
“But Kazuki-”
Before Manabu had the chance to finish, Kazuki placed his lips on Manabu’s and deeply kissed him without warning. Manabu was dazed by the fact that Kazuki willingly kissed him. It wasn’t some accident like last time. He received such joy from Kazuki’s kiss, but why? It couldn’t be… Was Kazuki being for real? Or playing with his feelings for fun?
Kazuki could no longer resist and gave in to his dark temptation. Ah, yes. Manabu’s lips were sweet. They were irresistible and wonderful. What was even better was Manabu returned his kiss. He wanted more…. He wanted more…
When he parted his lips, Manabu heavily breathed trying to catch his breath while Kazuki licked his lips as if to taste the spot of where Manabu’s lips were.
“Kazuki-sen-”
“Ah!” Kazuki stopped him by touching Manabu’s lips with his finger and inched his face right next to his. “Just Kazuki.”
He lightly sucked on Manabu’s lips and entered Manabu’s mouth with his tongue. Manabu felt Kazuki’s tongue touch against his. Manabu’s stomach tingled as his heart thumped hard at the sensation of it. What was this mysterious feeling entering his body? He wasn’t sure what Kazuki’s kiss was doing to him, but he almost didn’t mind.
Kazuki slowly parted his lips from Manabu’s and lightly placed his lips on Manabu’s nose.
“Manabu…” Kazuki whispered under his breath.
Manabu jerked at the touch of Kazuki’s hands sliding underneath his shirt. Manabu immediately attempted to pry Kazuki’s hands off, but Kazuki slid further up. Manabu’s bare skin was smooth and soft. He never expected it to feel this way. He wondered if Manabu’s entire body was like this.
Manabu softly gasped as Kazuki’s fingers traveled upward. He had to get Kazuki to stop. Manabu fiercely stepped on Kazuki’s foot in order to stop him. “Stop it, you pervert!”
“Ouch! Manabuuu…” Kazuki winced in pain.
He was forced to take his hands away due to the sudden pain. He rubbed his foot to ease the stinging pain. Okay, so he was thoroughly enjoying himself by touching Manabu… and being slightly perverted. Not to mention that he was satisfying his deepest, but darkest desires. But what did it matter? As long as he could be with Manabu, he didn’t mind.
“Stop doing such inappropriate things in public.” Manabu sternly told him.
Kazuki mischievously smiled. He swiftly grabbed Manabu’s chair bringing it closer to himself and wrapped his arm around Manabu’s waist making sure that Manabu was close to him.
“You mean… you don’t mind?” Kazuki caressed Manabu’s sleek, black hair with his other hand and licked his ear.
Manabu softly gasped and slightly pushed Kazuki away. “I didn’t say that! Stop interpreting everything wrong and being inappropriate!”
Kazuki deviously grinned. He never had this uncontrollable zealousness to ever kiss someone. In fact, he wouldn’t mind passionately making out with Manabu right now. It was the first time in his life that he ever wanted to do it so badly with someone. He never possessed such incomprehensible, lustful feelings for anyone.
People might call him crazy, but he would rather call it… love.
“Want to come over my house this weekend?” Kazuki coursed his fingers through Manabu’s hair.
It was awkward for Manabu that Kazuki was treating him affectionately in the open. Manabu didn’t understand why.
“What are you planning?” Manabu doubtfully questioned him.
Kazuki was inviting him over his house? What the hell was he scheming?
Manabu tried to squirm his way out of Kazuki’s grip, but Kazuki was much stronger than him. He made sure Manabu couldn’t escape.
“Nothing! Just merely suggesting. But now that I think about it, I think it’s a great idea!” Kazuki placed a chaste kiss on Manabu’s cheek.
“I didn’t even consent yet!” Manabu vehemently protested.
“Your beautiful eyes tell me that you want to, hehe.” Kazuki teased him as he mesmerized Manabu with his gorgeous eyes.
Manabu immediately blushed a fiery red. “What?! Stop making up shit!”
Kazuki held Manabu’s chin and turned Manabu’s face toward his. “I’m not making it up. It’s the truth, right?”
Kazuki pressed his lips against Manabu’s lips, but this time with a much deeper force. His tongue collided against Manabu’s and touched against each other. He tightly held onto Manabu never wanting to let go. His veins were pulsating with euphoria. His heart was racing at the speed of light. His insides were strongly tingling.
When he parted his lips away from Manabu, they were both catching their breaths. Kazuki had held onto the kiss for so long Manabu almost lost his breath. What had gotten into Kazuki? He was… zealous and ardent. Something had taken over him.
Unexpectedly, Kazuki landed another kiss on Manabu’s lips with those same powerful emotions. Kazuki had done this several times on Manabu who did his best to resist Kazuki, but was sucked in due to his alluring gaze.
“Kazuki… stop… it.” Manabu pleaded with him when Kazuki released his lips.
“Why, Manabu?” Kazuki lightly scratched his fingernails against Manabu’s throat as he sniffed his neck.
The scent Manabu carried on his neck was irresistible. Kazuki dabbed his tongue on Manabu’s neck in which he sensed Manabu shiver a little.
“Because this isn’t the place to be doing such indecent things.” Manabu gripped onto Kazuki’s shoulders trying to push him away.
Kazuki raised his head and faced eye-to-eye with Manabu. He softly brushed over Manabu’s brow and lightly kissed his nose. He then handsomely curved his lips upward. “Okay, Manabu. You win this time.”
For the first time in his life, he listened to someone else. He… submitted to someone else’s request. But he didn’t mind. He would gladly do anything for Manabu… Although, he couldn’t wait for this weekend to roll around again and this time they would be at his house.
XOXOXOXO
Mizuki couldn’t believe Manabu would ditch him to hang out with Kazuki. He was away for one minute to talk to his mother on the phone. Grr! He despised… Okay, despised was too strong of a word. He disliked Kazuki getting all touchy feely with Manabu! Kazuki was no good and probably up to nothing good either.
He decided to head back to his dorm in a depressed state. He didn’t understand why Manabu pushed him away. He wasn’t trying to be impeding or anything. He simply was trying to protect him…
As he passed by the courtyard, he spotted that same sly guy, Uruha sitting out on the bench gazing at the pond. He wondered what Uruha was doing by himself. For that split moment, Mizuki noticed a sad composure with a melancholy countenance. Mizuki wondered why this was so.
He discovered himself heading over toward Uruha. “Hey, what’s up with you?”
Uruha shifted his eye over and sighed. Goddammit. Why was this annoying toad coming over to speak with him?
“Humph. What does ugly toad want with me?” Uruha snobbishly turned his head away.
Mizuki frowned at Uruha’s insensitive comment. He would rather be with Manabu right now, but Manabu was gone with Kazuki. Damn. Where was he taken away?
“Aren’t you a second year? What’s someone such as you acting like a first year?” Uruha surprisingly brought up. “Don’t tell me you got held back a year because you’re too stupid?”
“Excuse me! Credits didn’t exactly transfer from France to Japan.” Mizuki justified himself. He was anything, but stupid! “And for your information, I’m not stupid.”
“Humph! Whatever. You ugly toad. I have better things to do than to talk to you. Goodbye.” Uruha snootily stood up from the bench and left Mizuki alone.
Goddammit. He was supposed to be a second year, but credits didn’t get transferred right. Bah! Why was he completely irked by Uruha’s statement? Dammit. Where was Manabu?
XOXOXOXO
Tora sped on the highway back home. He thought about his day at work. He interacted with the other academic advisors and everyone inquired how the meetings with his students were. He played it off like it was nothing, but everyone else muttered how he received the pile of bad kids, delinquents, and problem children. Ah, well… Okay, yeah. He did. He got the pretty fucked up pile only because his made-up profile stated that he was a specialist in dealing with problem children.
Not only was he an academic advisor, but he also dealt with children who needed special attention and care. Goddammit. In reality, his worst nightmares… were children. Why did this have to be his pretend occupation? He could have been anything else… seriously. He supposed he couldn’t complain since he got to his little brother, Manabu, though.
Tora hastily parked in the parking lot and hastily hopped out of his car. He tripped halfway up the stairs and lost his footing on the staircase, but he didn’t care. He had to hurry home to Byou.
He shoved the key inside the hole and dashed inside of the house when he unlocked it. He shut the door behind him, but didn’t find any Byou. Huh! Oh, dear god!! Where was Byou?! Was he already too late?! Did they capture him, leave a ransom note, and demand money for his kidnapping? Ahhhh!!! No! He hadn’t even started this mission and things were already going down south! Shiiiiiiit!
“Tora?” a familiar voice brought him back to reality.
Tora snapped out of his daydream. “By-chan?”
“Is something the matter?” Byou appeared before him wearing some Adidas pajamas.
Tora smelled Byou’s fresh scent of cleanliness. Yes, this was heaven! Ack! Ahem. On a more important thought… Byou was safe and sound!
“Oh, thank god! Thank the Lord, Byou!” Tora threw his hand up in the air and tightly wrapped his arms around Byou.
Byou was utterly bewildered by Tora’s odd behavior. Lately, Byou had been finding Tora’s behavior awkward. He wasn’t sure why Tora was constantly worried about his location. Might it have something to do with Tora’s current mission? “Uh… Tora? Is something the matter?”
“No, By-chan. I just had a super bad day at work. And seeing you just made everything better!” Tora half-lied to Byou.
Byou sensed a lot of stress from Tora, but he wasn’t sure why. He doubted that Tora would tell him anyway. He always wondered when they could go back to those days when Tora didn’t have to hide anything from him. It was as if Tora led another life unknown to him.
“So everything was bad today?” Byou naively inquired.
“Well, actually, no. Something tremendously wonderful did happen today.” Tora remembered Manabu.
Byou rubbed Tora’s back to ease him. “Come sit down and eat first before you pass out.”
Tora ended up telling his whole story to Byou about Manabu and his ‘academic advisor’ meeting with his little brother. Tora couldn’t help, but emphasize the wonderful feeling of seeing his little brother in person. But when Byou asked about revealing the fact, Tora paused in his eating.
“Ah… I don’t know, By-chan. Manabu might have too much of a shock.” Tora reluctantly answered.
“But Manabu has been alone for so long. Doesn’t he have a right to know?” Byou shot at Tora.
Tora stared at the green peas sitting on his plate. Byou had a point, but he knew Manabu. Manabu would call him a liar and think he was making it up to win Manabu’s trust. Manabu was fragile and gentle. The fact their father was a bastard didn’t help mold Manabu to become a stronger person either. Tora had to move slowly in order to let things move smoothly.
Lately, Tora had become more silent than usual. He was lost in thoughts and never said as much. No doubt Tora chatted a lot, but Byou sensed Tora restraining himself. He would never admit it, but Byou knew. If only somehow, he could comfort and release Tora from the anxiety and stress.
“Tora?” Byou placed his hand on Tora’s hand and squeezed it.
Tora snapped back to reality due to Byou. He immediately squeezed it back to reassure Byou he was still here with him. It was one of those silent moments they had where they quietly bonded only through actions. Tora enjoyed these rare moments he got with Byou. He wished he could be sitting here at the dinner table all day like this with Byou. He wouldn’t mind at all.
Tora grabbed for his cup of water to sip on. His throat was extremely dry. Probably because he jabbed too much. Bah, such a bad tendency of his.
“When you were leaving today, I saw a man wearing a black suit and hat with a heavy trench coat.” Byou informed Tora of his worse fears.
Tora paused in his actions for a moment, but then continued to gulp down his water. He placed the glass down before staring at Byou. Byou was expecting a sort of response from him.
“What?”
Damn. Why was Tora playing a fool? Tora did this to him when he knew the truth behind matters.
“Tora, I don't think that’s normal. People don’t wear such heavy clothing in the summer.” Byou worriedly stated.
“Oh, I wouldn’t put too much thought into it. Just worry about your daily business and carry on.” Tora brushed off the matter.
“Tora, does it-” Byou was about to ask, but Tora cut him off.
“Oh, By-chan! Don’t we have some ice cream in the freezer? Let’s eat some.” Tora headed into the kitchen.
“Wait, Tora! It’s eleven at night! Don’t eat that!” Byou tried to stop him, but there was no use. Tora was headed for the ice cream.
Tora feared the worst was yet to come. He believed this was the prelude of something terrible to come. Thank God he already trained Byou how to protect himself. At first, Byou was against the idea since Byou came from a loving, caring family with a good background. Byou had a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that someone would want to kill him, but Tora knew better. After lots of coercion and persuasion, Tora won the argument. He made Byou carry a pocketknife and how to use it well. He even taught Byou how to hold a gun.
He might have sounded insane and extreme, but it was for Byou’s safety. He loved Byou too much to risk his well-being. Besides… he didn’t know when things would go bad and he would have to disappear for good.
XOXOXOXO
Rui lied down on the grass near the pond located in the cherry blossom garden behind their house. He rested his arm on the ground while propping his head up to gaze over at the water seeing his reflection and starry night. He was nothing compared to his brother, Kazuki. Kazuki was smart, handsome, and intelligent. He was talkative and suave, at times, like his brother, but he couldn’t be as smart. But he wanted to be. He wanted to be just like Kazuki. There wasn’t a single person who wasn’t hypnotized by him.
“Meow.” Maru sprawled out right next to Rui.
Rui sat upright and brought her over to his lap. She lied on his lap like a little crowned princess. He scratched behind her ears hoping to comfort her. He received numerous of birthday gifts from his father and many other people, but this gift made the most impression on him. Unlike most gifts that came in a box wrapped in gift-wraps, she was presented with a simple pink bowtie stuck on one of her ears and a pink tag with a white string hung around her other ear stating her name.
He chuckled when he thought about what he was doing before he discovered Maru. He was grabbing some more cake to eat when something unknown touched up against his leg. He almost freaked out and went ballistic, but noticed that it was a cat. It had come almost randomly. He already received his other gifts. Who could have possibly given him this one?
When he peaked at the tag, he noticed his name written in sloppy katakana. Sloppy handwriting?
It didn’t click to him until Kenzo came up and told him who gave the cat to him. He couldn’t believe it. His older brother was around and he didn’t even notice? Dammit. He cursed at himself. His brother didn’t forget about his birthday. But why didn’t he give it to him in person?
That was when Rui knew Kazuki did care about him. All of these years, he thought he was insignificant to Kazuki’s world, but he was much more important than he realized. That was why Rui held onto this fickle hope that Kazuki held Rui in a special place in his heart.
Kenzo watched Rui from afar. Today, he didn’t want to disturb Rui. He could see Rui in deep thought about something. He wasn’t sure when he would have this wonderful view again so he decided to cherish this moment. When the time came, he might not be around to admire Rui from this distance.
“Meow.”
“Aww, are you hungry, Maru-san?” Rui rubbed in between her ears.
Yes, this was his reason for existing. That was why he was going to meet Tora tonight. Tonight would be the beginning of a new game. Hopefully, the last one.
A/N's
And another chapter finished with this story ヽ(；▽；)ノ I was having trouble deciding who would originally be in Uruha's shoes. I did some experimenting and ended up using Uruha XD I've started on the next chapter and will do my best to finish as soon as possible ;A;
Also, I do apologize for not posting the Byou part to the White Dove story (シ_ _)シ The Cherry Blossom story has kept me preoccupied that I hardly got a chance to touch Byou's part. Please look out for it as I slowly working my way through it ^^;
Constructive criticisms and comments are greatly appreciated (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡
Chapter: 3b/??
Author: atmosphere_zero
Beta-Reader: misfitmisfit (Thanks a lot! <3)
Genre: Angst, Comedy, Drama, Romance, School life, AU
Rating: R
Warnings: Abuse, Strong Language, Some Violence
Band(s): Alice Nine, Ayabie, Sadie, ScReW, the GazettE
Pairing(s)/Character(s): KazukixManabu, MizukixManabu, KazukixUruha, ToraxByou, KenzoxRui
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with the bands, people, artists, and musicians mentioned in the story. The story is a work of pure fiction and is in no way meant to represent or reflect the real bands, people, artists, and musicians mentioned in any way. Any similarities are pure coincidences. I do not make anything off of the story as this is simply meant for pure entertainment. No harm or disrespect in any way is intended.
Summary: Behind the fading color of the cherry blossom petals, the truth unveils itself.
Comments: Yay, another chapter to this story ( ＾∇＾) This chapter is broken into two parts due to LJ's text limit so please read both parts（＾_＾）More in the author's note at the end of this part. Enjoy!
Previous Chapters: Chapter 1a/ Chapter 1b || Chapter 2a/ Chapter 2b || Chapter 3a/ Chapter 3b || Chapter 4a/ Chapter 4b
Inside of Tora’s office, Kazuki sat down in a chair in front of Tora’s big desk. This was the one who got him into a whole ton of trouble with his father. The fact Tora, a national police officer, was here meant the police must have had a break in the case against the mafia. But how? And what? The last spy they sent was killed in silence. What kind of dirt did Tora manage to dig up?
“Just to let you know that I don’t like the way you look at Manabu-kun.” Kazuki broke the silence.
“Hmm?” Tora pretended to play dumb.
“The way you look at him… I can see it. Well, don’t even think for a second you can get close to Manabu-kun. If you try to get close to him, then I will make sure that you receive a reprimand worse than getting fired.” Kazuki threatened in a menacing tone.
If Tora was an inexperienced officer, then he might have shaken in his shoes and been scared shitless, but he had dealt with worse criminals. Compare with some criminals he met, Kazuki wasn’t bad at all. At least he had manners and a decency to speak coherently. He knew Kazuki had the skills to read and bother him to the core, but he couldn’t let it get to him.
“Haha, young student, I only have interest in Manabu-san as a student and nothing else. You can rest assured.” Tora played the part of a stupid academic advisor.
“Humph. Well. I’m warning you. Don’t get close to him. Or you’ll regret it.” Kazuki glared at him with icy eyes. “Don’t even think about trying to advance and get close to him.”
The scene of Kazuki being close to Manabu made Tora ponder if Manabu befriended Kazuki. Oh, no… Could it be Manabu became good friends with the mafia?
“I’m sorry. I don’t think I understand the implication, but I can tell you for sure that I only care for Manabu-san as an academic advisor.” Tora purposely repeated himself as if to paint himself as an egghead.
“Whatever. As long as you understand my message. I’m done.” Kazuki got up from his chair and hastily headed for the door.
Kazuki didn’t like Tora’s presence. He must have been here for something, but for what? Damn. He loathed not knowing. It irritated him badly. Usually, he knew everything about his enemy. But not Tora. Tora was the only guy who proved to be quite troublesome. He had to find out what it was before Tora won a second time.
To further intimidate, to let Tora know who was boss of this game, Kazuki smiled and said, “Oh. I almost forgot. Say hello to Byou-san for me.”
He flung the door open and exited the room without waiting for a response from Tora. Tora’s heart skipped a beat. What? What? Oh, shit! He should have known that Kazuki would discover Byou’s presence. Oh, shit! Oh, shit! Byou should have not come along. He knew it! He knew it! Goddammit! Byou could be in serious danger and here he was sitting in a dinky office unable to do anything.
Goddamn, Kazuki! He was only the mafia boss’s kid. Shit. He couldn’t imagine what the actual mafia boss actually looked like.
When Kazuki arrived back to where he originally was, he found Manabu still there, but no Mizuki was in sight. Kazuki already liked the sight of this although he had to pretend, at least for five seconds, to care about Mizuki.
“Oh. Where did Mizuki-san go?” Kazuki inquired hiding his excitement.
“He had to take a phone call.” Manabu replied to Kazuki’s inquiry.
“Great! More time for us.” Kazuki immediately broke out into his jubilant face. “Let’s go!”
Before Manabu responded, Kazuki wrapped his arm around Manabu’s shoulders and dragged him along.
“See you later, Uruha.” Kazuki waved goodbye as he left.
Uruha didn’t bother responding and it seemed Kazuki didn’t even notice his silence. He had to devise a plan to get Manabu away. Manabu was too close for Uruha’s taste. Grr, anything to get the vermin away. A light bulb lit up in Uruha’s mind. He knew exactly how to battle this problem.
“Ah, so what do you want to do today, honey?” Kazuki cutely asked him.
“What? Don’t call me by that name!” Manabu tried to pry off Kazuki’s arm.
“Why not? Shows our close relationship!” Kazuki merrily chuckled. “So what do you want to do today?”
Manabu was puzzled by his question. “What are you talking about? Don’t we have to go to class?”
“No, we don’t. We have the rest of the day to ourselves.” Kazuki nonchalantly said.
“What? When did that happen?” Manabu was shocked to hear.
Kazuki widely grinned. “Because I told them all so.”
“What? B-but how can you-?” Manabu was about to question him further.
“Oh! I know what we can do! We can… make out!” Kazuki deviously suggested.
Manabu’s face grew tomato red within an instance. “No! I don’t do those things!”
“Oh, in your room?”
“No.”
“Oh, at my place?”
“No. Kazuki.”
“Fine. Fine. I know where we can go.” Kazuki finally gave in.
It was strange. This was the first time in his life he ever bent down for someone else. He wasn’t sure why and he couldn’t even comprehend as to why, but he felt it was right.
“Where are we going?” Manabu suspiciously asked him.
“You’ll see!” Kazuki winked his eye.
Back inside the school, it was Kenzo’s turn to see Tora. He hoped he could trust this Tora. The last time, he couldn’t trust that other police officer. He was simply too stupid to survive.
“Kenzo!” Tora called on him.
He knew Kenzo was Kazuki’s right hand man so he had to be careful around him as well. There was no telling what these people were up to.
Kenzo quietly came in as Tora closed the door behind him.
As Tora sat down, Kenzo cut to the chase.
“Are you a police officer from the National Headquarters?”
Tora shouldn’t have been surprised, but he was stunned as to why Kenzo was blunt about the matter.
“Excuse me?” Tora blinked his eyes.
“I haven’t told everything about you to my boss such as where you live, Byou’s family, and anything else in your personal file.” Kenzo listed out exactly what he knew.
The information fucking scared Tora that he found himself shaking in his shoes. Fuck. Kenzo knew everything about him. And Byou, too! Goddammit. He knew Byou shouldn’t have come.
“What do you want?” Tora transformed into a serious mode. He knew dealing with Kenzo would be no easy cakewalk in the park.
“Can I trust you?”
“Trust me?”
Kenzo surreptitiously slid something underneath Tora’s paper files. “I hope so.”
Just like Kazuki, Kenzo abruptly stood up from his chair and made his way to the door. He looked back and threatened Tora, “I’m sure Byou-san is very important to you, right?”
Tora, with a stone face, continued to stare at him. What the fuck was he supposed to say?!
“Goodbye.”
Kenzo opened the door leaving the room.
Oh, fucking shit! He had to go straight home after work today and tell Byou never to leave the fucking house. Fuck this. He knew Byou shouldn’t have fucking come!
Tora slipped out the piece of paper Kenzo furtively handed to him. He opened up the tiny piece of paper. He peered up at the opened doorway. Was this the leak his boss told him about?
XOXOXOXO
Surprisingly, Kazuki brought Manabu to a nice bookstore filled with tons and tons of books. Manabu was amazed that Kazuki would come to such a place. He wondered if Kazuki came here during his downtime.
“You read?” Manabu let the thought out unconsciously.
“Despite your thoughts, I do read quite often.” Kazuki pouted with a playful frown on his face.
They headed down the various aisles and aisles of books. Manabu spotted a whole bunch of books that were quite difficult to read. This was way beyond college level. If he had never seen this place, he would have never pegged Kazuki to be an avid reader. How come Kazuki portrayed himself at school to be such an idiot when he was anything but?
Unexpectedly, they stopped in the middle of a random aisle. The sight of Kazuki picking up those complicated books to read astonished Manabu.
“If you read a lot, then how come you never read in school?” Manabu inquired.
“School is a bore. The books at school are boring and I’m very much above it.” Kazuki spoke in a haughty manner.
It was true. Any time he was in school, he slept through class because he knew the material already. He only attended school for records and his father demanded him so. He might have skipped class, but he knew better than to disobey his father. Disobeying his father would be a trip to hell itself.
“Then why do you even come to school?” Manabu curiously wondered.
“Because… then we would have never met and I would have never got to see your cute face!” Kazuki admiringly gazed at him on purpose.
He knew Manabu was easily irked, which brought upon a Manabu who wore a cute, but slightly upset expression. Kazuki enjoyed spending time with him no matter the time length. He figured he could waste hours and hours with Manabu and not feel bored or uninterested. In fact, his heart yearned to be at Manabu’s side no matter what. Nothing could stop him being next to Manabu.
“Yeah, right! You can’t predict me coming to this school!” Manabu narrowed his eyes.
“Oh, Manabu-kun, you have yet to see my true powers! I can predict lots of things. Like your deepest desires!” Kazuki dramatically said.
Manabu couldn’t believe Kazuki was playing such a silly and childish game.
“Oh, yeah? What is it?” Manabu rolled his eyes.
“You… want… to…” Kazuki pretended to stretch out each word to put Manabu in suspense. “Kiss me, right? Because you love me!”
Manabu’s entire face flushed a bright red at Kazuki’s statement. How could Kazuki be fucking vulgar about it?!
“Shut up, you pervert!” Manabu punched Kazuki in the face.
“Ahh!” Kazuki slightly lost his balance, but luckily caught his footing. “What? Manabu-kun doesn’t love me? He doesn’t love me?”
Kazuki pretended to break down and cry a river of tears in order to get Manabu to feel guilty. “Waah! Manabu-kun doesn’t love me! Waah!”
Manabu lightly smacked him over the head. “Stop being stupid, you idiot.”
“Ow… That hurts…” Kazuki rubbed his head. “Geez. Can’t even cry for a bit.”
Manabu wasn’t sure how Kazuki could act like a complete child around him. That one flashing image of Kazuki beating up those thugs reminded him that Kazuki probably put on a façade around him. He couldn’t seriously have been this silly since he was a mafia’s kid.
“What are we doing here anyway?” Manabu changed the subject.
That was a good question. What were they doing here? Unconsciously, Kazuki wished to expose more of himself to Manabu knowing he would never backstab him.
“Hmm… I wanted to show you where I come to read. I come here from time to time.” Kazuki waved some books in the air.
“But those books are in English… You know how to read them?” Manabu wore a contorted face.
Kazuki grinned and took this as an opportunity to not only be Manabu’s sensei, but also to become closer to him.
“Oooh, I can teach you! I’m very good in English! Hmm… Hmm! Haha!” Kazuki sang a silly made up tune at the end of his sentence.
Kazuki ended up grabbing a bunch of books off the shelf and led Manabu to a table in a secluded part of the bookstore where they could read without any distractions. Kazuki sat down next to Manabu instructing him how to read some of the complicated material. Most of the time, Manabu had no idea what he was saying or reading. But Kazuki didn’t mind and helped explain the meanings to the frustrated, but patient Manabu. This warm emotion entering his heart… It had to be…
When Manabu was busy reading off sentences, Kazuki studied Manabu’s beautiful features. He couldn’t ever get enough of it. He wished he could sit here all day and gaze at Manabu.
Impulsively, Kazuki reached for Manabu’s bangs and brushed it out of the way to receive a better view of Manabu’s face. Manabu paused at the sense of Kazuki’s fingers. His heart raced and beat faster than before. What was Kazuki doing?
“Did anyone ever tell you…?” Kazuki started his sentence as he leaned in closer to Manabu’s face. “That you’re too pretty to resist?”
Manabu’s breathing became irregular due to Kazuki’s body being in close proximity to his. What joke was Kazuki trying to pull off?
“Kazuki-senpai-”
“Just call me Kazuki. You don’t have to be so formal.” Kazuki unexpectedly said.
Manabu couldn’t help, but be sucked into Kazuki’s seductive gaze. God! He knew Kazuki was handsome, but still…! Why was he acting weird?! Why couldn’t he be himself?
“But Kazuki-”
Before Manabu had the chance to finish, Kazuki placed his lips on Manabu’s and deeply kissed him without warning. Manabu was dazed by the fact that Kazuki willingly kissed him. It wasn’t some accident like last time. He received such joy from Kazuki’s kiss, but why? It couldn’t be… Was Kazuki being for real? Or playing with his feelings for fun?
Kazuki could no longer resist and gave in to his dark temptation. Ah, yes. Manabu’s lips were sweet. They were irresistible and wonderful. What was even better was Manabu returned his kiss. He wanted more…. He wanted more…
When he parted his lips, Manabu heavily breathed trying to catch his breath while Kazuki licked his lips as if to taste the spot of where Manabu’s lips were.
“Kazuki-sen-”
“Ah!” Kazuki stopped him by touching Manabu’s lips with his finger and inched his face right next to his. “Just Kazuki.”
He lightly sucked on Manabu’s lips and entered Manabu’s mouth with his tongue. Manabu felt Kazuki’s tongue touch against his. Manabu’s stomach tingled as his heart thumped hard at the sensation of it. What was this mysterious feeling entering his body? He wasn’t sure what Kazuki’s kiss was doing to him, but he almost didn’t mind.
Kazuki slowly parted his lips from Manabu’s and lightly placed his lips on Manabu’s nose.
“Manabu…” Kazuki whispered under his breath.
Manabu jerked at the touch of Kazuki’s hands sliding underneath his shirt. Manabu immediately attempted to pry Kazuki’s hands off, but Kazuki slid further up. Manabu’s bare skin was smooth and soft. He never expected it to feel this way. He wondered if Manabu’s entire body was like this.
Manabu softly gasped as Kazuki’s fingers traveled upward. He had to get Kazuki to stop. Manabu fiercely stepped on Kazuki’s foot in order to stop him. “Stop it, you pervert!”
“Ouch! Manabuuu…” Kazuki winced in pain.
He was forced to take his hands away due to the sudden pain. He rubbed his foot to ease the stinging pain. Okay, so he was thoroughly enjoying himself by touching Manabu… and being slightly perverted. Not to mention that he was satisfying his deepest, but darkest desires. But what did it matter? As long as he could be with Manabu, he didn’t mind.
“Stop doing such inappropriate things in public.” Manabu sternly told him.
Kazuki mischievously smiled. He swiftly grabbed Manabu’s chair bringing it closer to himself and wrapped his arm around Manabu’s waist making sure that Manabu was close to him.
“You mean… you don’t mind?” Kazuki caressed Manabu’s sleek, black hair with his other hand and licked his ear.
Manabu softly gasped and slightly pushed Kazuki away. “I didn’t say that! Stop interpreting everything wrong and being inappropriate!”
Kazuki deviously grinned. He never had this uncontrollable zealousness to ever kiss someone. In fact, he wouldn’t mind passionately making out with Manabu right now. It was the first time in his life that he ever wanted to do it so badly with someone. He never possessed such incomprehensible, lustful feelings for anyone.
People might call him crazy, but he would rather call it… love.
“Want to come over my house this weekend?” Kazuki coursed his fingers through Manabu’s hair.
It was awkward for Manabu that Kazuki was treating him affectionately in the open. Manabu didn’t understand why.
“What are you planning?” Manabu doubtfully questioned him.
Kazuki was inviting him over his house? What the hell was he scheming?
Manabu tried to squirm his way out of Kazuki’s grip, but Kazuki was much stronger than him. He made sure Manabu couldn’t escape.
“Nothing! Just merely suggesting. But now that I think about it, I think it’s a great idea!” Kazuki placed a chaste kiss on Manabu’s cheek.
“I didn’t even consent yet!” Manabu vehemently protested.
“Your beautiful eyes tell me that you want to, hehe.” Kazuki teased him as he mesmerized Manabu with his gorgeous eyes.
Manabu immediately blushed a fiery red. “What?! Stop making up shit!”
Kazuki held Manabu’s chin and turned Manabu’s face toward his. “I’m not making it up. It’s the truth, right?”
Kazuki pressed his lips against Manabu’s lips, but this time with a much deeper force. His tongue collided against Manabu’s and touched against each other. He tightly held onto Manabu never wanting to let go. His veins were pulsating with euphoria. His heart was racing at the speed of light. His insides were strongly tingling.
When he parted his lips away from Manabu, they were both catching their breaths. Kazuki had held onto the kiss for so long Manabu almost lost his breath. What had gotten into Kazuki? He was… zealous and ardent. Something had taken over him.
Unexpectedly, Kazuki landed another kiss on Manabu’s lips with those same powerful emotions. Kazuki had done this several times on Manabu who did his best to resist Kazuki, but was sucked in due to his alluring gaze.
“Kazuki… stop… it.” Manabu pleaded with him when Kazuki released his lips.
“Why, Manabu?” Kazuki lightly scratched his fingernails against Manabu’s throat as he sniffed his neck.
The scent Manabu carried on his neck was irresistible. Kazuki dabbed his tongue on Manabu’s neck in which he sensed Manabu shiver a little.
“Because this isn’t the place to be doing such indecent things.” Manabu gripped onto Kazuki’s shoulders trying to push him away.
Kazuki raised his head and faced eye-to-eye with Manabu. He softly brushed over Manabu’s brow and lightly kissed his nose. He then handsomely curved his lips upward. “Okay, Manabu. You win this time.”
For the first time in his life, he listened to someone else. He… submitted to someone else’s request. But he didn’t mind. He would gladly do anything for Manabu… Although, he couldn’t wait for this weekend to roll around again and this time they would be at his house.
XOXOXOXO
Mizuki couldn’t believe Manabu would ditch him to hang out with Kazuki. He was away for one minute to talk to his mother on the phone. Grr! He despised… Okay, despised was too strong of a word. He disliked Kazuki getting all touchy feely with Manabu! Kazuki was no good and probably up to nothing good either.
He decided to head back to his dorm in a depressed state. He didn’t understand why Manabu pushed him away. He wasn’t trying to be impeding or anything. He simply was trying to protect him…
As he passed by the courtyard, he spotted that same sly guy, Uruha sitting out on the bench gazing at the pond. He wondered what Uruha was doing by himself. For that split moment, Mizuki noticed a sad composure with a melancholy countenance. Mizuki wondered why this was so.
He discovered himself heading over toward Uruha. “Hey, what’s up with you?”
Uruha shifted his eye over and sighed. Goddammit. Why was this annoying toad coming over to speak with him?
“Humph. What does ugly toad want with me?” Uruha snobbishly turned his head away.
Mizuki frowned at Uruha’s insensitive comment. He would rather be with Manabu right now, but Manabu was gone with Kazuki. Damn. Where was he taken away?
“Aren’t you a second year? What’s someone such as you acting like a first year?” Uruha surprisingly brought up. “Don’t tell me you got held back a year because you’re too stupid?”
“Excuse me! Credits didn’t exactly transfer from France to Japan.” Mizuki justified himself. He was anything, but stupid! “And for your information, I’m not stupid.”
“Humph! Whatever. You ugly toad. I have better things to do than to talk to you. Goodbye.” Uruha snootily stood up from the bench and left Mizuki alone.
Goddammit. He was supposed to be a second year, but credits didn’t get transferred right. Bah! Why was he completely irked by Uruha’s statement? Dammit. Where was Manabu?
XOXOXOXO
Tora sped on the highway back home. He thought about his day at work. He interacted with the other academic advisors and everyone inquired how the meetings with his students were. He played it off like it was nothing, but everyone else muttered how he received the pile of bad kids, delinquents, and problem children. Ah, well… Okay, yeah. He did. He got the pretty fucked up pile only because his made-up profile stated that he was a specialist in dealing with problem children.
Not only was he an academic advisor, but he also dealt with children who needed special attention and care. Goddammit. In reality, his worst nightmares… were children. Why did this have to be his pretend occupation? He could have been anything else… seriously. He supposed he couldn’t complain since he got to his little brother, Manabu, though.
Tora hastily parked in the parking lot and hastily hopped out of his car. He tripped halfway up the stairs and lost his footing on the staircase, but he didn’t care. He had to hurry home to Byou.
He shoved the key inside the hole and dashed inside of the house when he unlocked it. He shut the door behind him, but didn’t find any Byou. Huh! Oh, dear god!! Where was Byou?! Was he already too late?! Did they capture him, leave a ransom note, and demand money for his kidnapping? Ahhhh!!! No! He hadn’t even started this mission and things were already going down south! Shiiiiiiit!
“Tora?” a familiar voice brought him back to reality.
Tora snapped out of his daydream. “By-chan?”
“Is something the matter?” Byou appeared before him wearing some Adidas pajamas.
Tora smelled Byou’s fresh scent of cleanliness. Yes, this was heaven! Ack! Ahem. On a more important thought… Byou was safe and sound!
“Oh, thank god! Thank the Lord, Byou!” Tora threw his hand up in the air and tightly wrapped his arms around Byou.
Byou was utterly bewildered by Tora’s odd behavior. Lately, Byou had been finding Tora’s behavior awkward. He wasn’t sure why Tora was constantly worried about his location. Might it have something to do with Tora’s current mission? “Uh… Tora? Is something the matter?”
“No, By-chan. I just had a super bad day at work. And seeing you just made everything better!” Tora half-lied to Byou.
Byou sensed a lot of stress from Tora, but he wasn’t sure why. He doubted that Tora would tell him anyway. He always wondered when they could go back to those days when Tora didn’t have to hide anything from him. It was as if Tora led another life unknown to him.
“So everything was bad today?” Byou naively inquired.
“Well, actually, no. Something tremendously wonderful did happen today.” Tora remembered Manabu.
Byou rubbed Tora’s back to ease him. “Come sit down and eat first before you pass out.”
Tora ended up telling his whole story to Byou about Manabu and his ‘academic advisor’ meeting with his little brother. Tora couldn’t help, but emphasize the wonderful feeling of seeing his little brother in person. But when Byou asked about revealing the fact, Tora paused in his eating.
“Ah… I don’t know, By-chan. Manabu might have too much of a shock.” Tora reluctantly answered.
“But Manabu has been alone for so long. Doesn’t he have a right to know?” Byou shot at Tora.
Tora stared at the green peas sitting on his plate. Byou had a point, but he knew Manabu. Manabu would call him a liar and think he was making it up to win Manabu’s trust. Manabu was fragile and gentle. The fact their father was a bastard didn’t help mold Manabu to become a stronger person either. Tora had to move slowly in order to let things move smoothly.
Lately, Tora had become more silent than usual. He was lost in thoughts and never said as much. No doubt Tora chatted a lot, but Byou sensed Tora restraining himself. He would never admit it, but Byou knew. If only somehow, he could comfort and release Tora from the anxiety and stress.
“Tora?” Byou placed his hand on Tora’s hand and squeezed it.
Tora snapped back to reality due to Byou. He immediately squeezed it back to reassure Byou he was still here with him. It was one of those silent moments they had where they quietly bonded only through actions. Tora enjoyed these rare moments he got with Byou. He wished he could be sitting here at the dinner table all day like this with Byou. He wouldn’t mind at all.
Tora grabbed for his cup of water to sip on. His throat was extremely dry. Probably because he jabbed too much. Bah, such a bad tendency of his.
“When you were leaving today, I saw a man wearing a black suit and hat with a heavy trench coat.” Byou informed Tora of his worse fears.
Tora paused in his actions for a moment, but then continued to gulp down his water. He placed the glass down before staring at Byou. Byou was expecting a sort of response from him.
“What?”
Damn. Why was Tora playing a fool? Tora did this to him when he knew the truth behind matters.
“Tora, I don't think that’s normal. People don’t wear such heavy clothing in the summer.” Byou worriedly stated.
“Oh, I wouldn’t put too much thought into it. Just worry about your daily business and carry on.” Tora brushed off the matter.
“Tora, does it-” Byou was about to ask, but Tora cut him off.
“Oh, By-chan! Don’t we have some ice cream in the freezer? Let’s eat some.” Tora headed into the kitchen.
“Wait, Tora! It’s eleven at night! Don’t eat that!” Byou tried to stop him, but there was no use. Tora was headed for the ice cream.
Tora feared the worst was yet to come. He believed this was the prelude of something terrible to come. Thank God he already trained Byou how to protect himself. At first, Byou was against the idea since Byou came from a loving, caring family with a good background. Byou had a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that someone would want to kill him, but Tora knew better. After lots of coercion and persuasion, Tora won the argument. He made Byou carry a pocketknife and how to use it well. He even taught Byou how to hold a gun.
He might have sounded insane and extreme, but it was for Byou’s safety. He loved Byou too much to risk his well-being. Besides… he didn’t know when things would go bad and he would have to disappear for good.
XOXOXOXO
Rui lied down on the grass near the pond located in the cherry blossom garden behind their house. He rested his arm on the ground while propping his head up to gaze over at the water seeing his reflection and starry night. He was nothing compared to his brother, Kazuki. Kazuki was smart, handsome, and intelligent. He was talkative and suave, at times, like his brother, but he couldn’t be as smart. But he wanted to be. He wanted to be just like Kazuki. There wasn’t a single person who wasn’t hypnotized by him.
“Meow.” Maru sprawled out right next to Rui.
Rui sat upright and brought her over to his lap. She lied on his lap like a little crowned princess. He scratched behind her ears hoping to comfort her. He received numerous of birthday gifts from his father and many other people, but this gift made the most impression on him. Unlike most gifts that came in a box wrapped in gift-wraps, she was presented with a simple pink bowtie stuck on one of her ears and a pink tag with a white string hung around her other ear stating her name.
He chuckled when he thought about what he was doing before he discovered Maru. He was grabbing some more cake to eat when something unknown touched up against his leg. He almost freaked out and went ballistic, but noticed that it was a cat. It had come almost randomly. He already received his other gifts. Who could have possibly given him this one?
When he peaked at the tag, he noticed his name written in sloppy katakana. Sloppy handwriting?
It didn’t click to him until Kenzo came up and told him who gave the cat to him. He couldn’t believe it. His older brother was around and he didn’t even notice? Dammit. He cursed at himself. His brother didn’t forget about his birthday. But why didn’t he give it to him in person?
That was when Rui knew Kazuki did care about him. All of these years, he thought he was insignificant to Kazuki’s world, but he was much more important than he realized. That was why Rui held onto this fickle hope that Kazuki held Rui in a special place in his heart.
Kenzo watched Rui from afar. Today, he didn’t want to disturb Rui. He could see Rui in deep thought about something. He wasn’t sure when he would have this wonderful view again so he decided to cherish this moment. When the time came, he might not be around to admire Rui from this distance.
“Meow.”
“Aww, are you hungry, Maru-san?” Rui rubbed in between her ears.
Yes, this was his reason for existing. That was why he was going to meet Tora tonight. Tonight would be the beginning of a new game. Hopefully, the last one.
A/N's
And another chapter finished with this story ヽ(；▽；)ノ I was having trouble deciding who would originally be in Uruha's shoes. I did some experimenting and ended up using Uruha XD I've started on the next chapter and will do my best to finish as soon as possible ;A;
Also, I do apologize for not posting the Byou part to the White Dove story (シ_ _)シ The Cherry Blossom story has kept me preoccupied that I hardly got a chance to touch Byou's part. Please look out for it as I slowly working my way through it ^^;
Constructive criticisms and comments are greatly appreciated (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡