[JExStardust] Look up the stars are fading
Title: Look up the stars are fading
Pairing: Nishikido Ryo and Sawajiri Erika
Rating: PG
Summary: It is the New Year, and she will be married soon after.
He'd already known she is getting married before she tells him. He'd seen the papers, headlines in large, bold font that jumped out at him, making his breakfast suddenly hard to swallow and stomach. He'd been sure it was another rumor. Rumors had always followed her around like her own shadow. It was nothing new.
Now hear she is, standing in front of his bed, fully clothed and eyes looking more guarded than he'd ever seen them, telling him something he already knows.
"Am I invited to the wedding?" The words pop out of his mouth before he could stop them, sounding nonchalantly cruel, but there it was, and he manages to stretch his lips into a small smile. To show her--what? It's okay. I'm okay.
He pretends he doesn't see the pained look that briefly crosses her face before she says, "Would you even want to come?"
He doesn't see her again after that; there seems to be no point in them meeting ever again. He doesn't call, neither does she. Work keeps him busy like it always does. He hears she is busy with preparations for her wedding, learns that the date is set in mid-January, that her engagement ring is a unique jewelry that man made himself. That the venue will be on the shrine where her father and brother's graves lie. He wonders why he knows all these things even as he keeps telling himself that he doesn't care, anymore, he shouldn't.
He tries not to remember the time she twined her fingers with his as they stood together in front of the graves, how he talked to her father, imagining Sawajiri-san staring at him appraisingly, eyes serious, as if wondering if he could be the right man for his daughter. He remembers babbling a lot, the smooth touch of her fingertips on his cheek slowing his words to a halt and he looked at her, looked at her--
"Ryo!" Uchi is peering into his face, startling him out of his reverie. Suddenly the sounds come rushing back in--they are in Tokyo Dome, welcoming the New Year. Working. "Hey," his best friend says. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he says, yells back, to be heard over the singing. "I'm okay!"
Uchi doesn't look convinced. Ryo smiles widely, teeth bared, giving Uchi an almost playful shove towards the center of the stage, he's okay, really--it is the New Year, all his friends are here, they are singing and laughing, it is the New Year and she will be married soon after.
She looks thunderstruck as she sees him upon opening her door. It was nearly six in the morning, of the first day of the year, and she probably wasn't expecting anyone at this time, much less him. He feels as surprised as she looks, hardly believing or knowing what he is doing, exactly.
"Nishikido-- what the hell are you doing here?" she asks, as if echoing his thoughts, looking as if she had been up all night, much like him.
"I..." he blinks, gathering his wits--there had been some alcohol involved after the Countdown, and he had downed a few shots in rapid succession like a man finding water in the middle of the desert. "I just... wanted to say--"
Don't marry him.
He smiles, even managing to force out a laugh this time. "Happy New Year, Sawajiri."
What he really comes for is to say goodbye, he thinks, as they're somehow stumbling into her room together, fall into her bed together. His hands come up, spanning her waist like they belong there, thumbs drawing circles over her hip bones and he feels her breath hitch, feels her arms go around his neck, pulling him closer.
It doesn't feel like it's the last time, though the taste of her skin is bittersweet.
It is late in the afternoon and still he lies with her, pretending there is no other world but the haven that is under her sheets, pretending she is still his, would be his, forever.
He can't bring himself to say goodbye.
Her eyes open, and she looks at him, and he looks at her. Her fingers, white and bare and lovely, touch his cheek softly, and he closes his hand over them and decides he is never letting go.
Pairing: Nishikido Ryo and Sawajiri Erika
Rating: PG
Summary: It is the New Year, and she will be married soon after.
He'd already known she is getting married before she tells him. He'd seen the papers, headlines in large, bold font that jumped out at him, making his breakfast suddenly hard to swallow and stomach. He'd been sure it was another rumor. Rumors had always followed her around like her own shadow. It was nothing new.
Now hear she is, standing in front of his bed, fully clothed and eyes looking more guarded than he'd ever seen them, telling him something he already knows.
"Am I invited to the wedding?" The words pop out of his mouth before he could stop them, sounding nonchalantly cruel, but there it was, and he manages to stretch his lips into a small smile. To show her--what? It's okay. I'm okay.
He pretends he doesn't see the pained look that briefly crosses her face before she says, "Would you even want to come?"
He doesn't see her again after that; there seems to be no point in them meeting ever again. He doesn't call, neither does she. Work keeps him busy like it always does. He hears she is busy with preparations for her wedding, learns that the date is set in mid-January, that her engagement ring is a unique jewelry that man made himself. That the venue will be on the shrine where her father and brother's graves lie. He wonders why he knows all these things even as he keeps telling himself that he doesn't care, anymore, he shouldn't.
He tries not to remember the time she twined her fingers with his as they stood together in front of the graves, how he talked to her father, imagining Sawajiri-san staring at him appraisingly, eyes serious, as if wondering if he could be the right man for his daughter. He remembers babbling a lot, the smooth touch of her fingertips on his cheek slowing his words to a halt and he looked at her, looked at her--
"Ryo!" Uchi is peering into his face, startling him out of his reverie. Suddenly the sounds come rushing back in--they are in Tokyo Dome, welcoming the New Year. Working. "Hey," his best friend says. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he says, yells back, to be heard over the singing. "I'm okay!"
Uchi doesn't look convinced. Ryo smiles widely, teeth bared, giving Uchi an almost playful shove towards the center of the stage, he's okay, really--it is the New Year, all his friends are here, they are singing and laughing, it is the New Year and she will be married soon after.
She looks thunderstruck as she sees him upon opening her door. It was nearly six in the morning, of the first day of the year, and she probably wasn't expecting anyone at this time, much less him. He feels as surprised as she looks, hardly believing or knowing what he is doing, exactly.
"Nishikido-- what the hell are you doing here?" she asks, as if echoing his thoughts, looking as if she had been up all night, much like him.
"I..." he blinks, gathering his wits--there had been some alcohol involved after the Countdown, and he had downed a few shots in rapid succession like a man finding water in the middle of the desert. "I just... wanted to say--"
Don't marry him.
He smiles, even managing to force out a laugh this time. "Happy New Year, Sawajiri."
What he really comes for is to say goodbye, he thinks, as they're somehow stumbling into her room together, fall into her bed together. His hands come up, spanning her waist like they belong there, thumbs drawing circles over her hip bones and he feels her breath hitch, feels her arms go around his neck, pulling him closer.
It doesn't feel like it's the last time, though the taste of her skin is bittersweet.
It is late in the afternoon and still he lies with her, pretending there is no other world but the haven that is under her sheets, pretending she is still his, would be his, forever.
He can't bring himself to say goodbye.
Her eyes open, and she looks at him, and he looks at her. Her fingers, white and bare and lovely, touch his cheek softly, and he closes his hand over them and decides he is never letting go.