[ShouxHiroto] RUMWOLF [Epilogue]
TITLE: RUMWOLF
CHAPTER: Epilogue
RATING: R (Overall Story)
GENRE: AU; Romance (BL), Drama&Comedy, Action/Adventure, slight Supernatural/Paranormal
PAIRINGS: ShouxHiroto, previous/mentions of Hirotox??, implied/hinted ToraxSaga
BAND: Alice Nine
SIDE BANDS: the GazettE, Danger Gang, SuG, Dir en Grey
SUMMARY: Four years ago, there was an accident affecting two entirely different worlds of two individuals. This accident led Ogata Hiroto to grow into a jaded young adult who becomes entangled in the dark, cold world of a nightlife he never expected to lead in order to fulfill his personal ambitions. One fateful day, on a morning walk with his pet Pomeranian, Mogu, he meets a young man who calls himself Shou. Will Hiroto's four years of hard work and effort to reach his goal be thrown away to waste or will it finally be rewarded through this meeting?
WARNINGS: Intimate actions between men, sexual references, language, violence, racing, mentions of heavy chain-smoking and alcohol abuse...err, I don't think that's the end.
PREVIOUS CHAPTERS: Prologue // 01 // 02 // 03 // 04 // 05 // 06 // 07 // 08 // 09 // 10 // 11 // 12 // 13 // 14 // 15 // Interlude // 16 // 17 // 18 // 19 // 20 // 21 // 22 // 23 // 24 // 25 // 26 // 27 // 28
Epilogue: The Warm Spring Wind
"It's pretty," Hiroto stated as he, his pet, and his lover loitered in the park where they first met. Pink petals floated around them, carried by the wind, before dancing down to the concrete. It was like the world around them was being dyed a soft pink of innocent love, of pure love, of true love, and so on and so forth. At any rate, nearly the whole entire ground was covered by the pink petals of the cherry blossoms. It was like the white blanket that everyone wished for on Christmas day but warmer. The blonde held onto Mogu's leash tightly before a larger hand fell over his clenched fingers, loosening his death grip on the leash. The three of them settled down at a bench.
"It is," his lover agreed beside him, "very pretty, indeed."
"Isn't it time you start your shift?" Hiroto inquired curiously as he rested his head against a firm shoulder.
"It is," his lover answered beside him, "but that doesn't matter."
"I don't want Aoi to get mad at you," Hiroto argued.
"He won't," his lover assured him, "because he knows I've wanted to do this--" Hiroto watched as his lover pulled out a velvet box and slipped it into Hiroto's hands "--for some time now. I don't think he minds."
Hiroto cautiously opened up the box before he merely gaped at his lover. "W-W-What is this?" he spluttered, causing Mogu to look up at him in bewilderment.
"It's a wedding ring, what else?" his lover remarked lightheartedly. An amused smile was hanging onto his lips. "I'm proposing to you. Isn't it obvious?"
"It's not legal in Japan, you know," Hiroto pointed out. "There are places in America and some other countries where it's legal, but it's not legal in Japan."
His lover shrugged. "Doesn't mean I can't give you a wedding ring or engagement ring of some sort. Look," he raised his left hand and -- sure enough -- there was a wedding band of white gold and diamonds resting on his ring finger. "It's simply a promise of an eternal bond to have and to hold -- from this day forward -- for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish till death do us part. We've had our wedding ceremony a long time ago anyways, with the elopement and all--"
Hiroto rolled his eyes. "It was helping you escape, not an elopement, and it wasn't 'a long time ago' either -- only a few weeks. I think you and Aniki are the only ones who see it that way," Hiroto commented before he continued admiring the wedding ring in the velvet box. It was beautifully carved, and he didn't even want to know how much his lover had spent on it.
"The point is that I do want to spend the rest of my life with you," his lover retorted. "Think of it as a consequence for helping me 'escape.' Do you want to spend the rest of your life with me?"
Hiroto grinned and punched his lover playfully. "It's hardly been two months!" he exclaimed, holding the ring up to the sunlight. "I'll have to think about it!" He giggled upon seeing the pout on his lover's face.
"Even though it's been two months in a more literal sense, it feels like four years!" he cried just as vivaciously. "At least wear the ring like this." With that, he took the ring from undergoing further inspection between Hiroto's forefinger and thumb before slipping it onto the ring finger of his left hand. The taller man beamed. "Perfect fit! Now please continue to think about this purposal while I return to the restaurant."
His lover stood up on his feet, kissed his forehead goodbye, and pivoted on his heel. Hiroto stared at the ring around his ring finger before smiling. He jumped onto his feet and called out for Kazumasa. The brunet paused and turned around. Hiroto's smile morphed into a grin stretching ear to ear. "I think it might be a yes!" because he truly did love his lover with all of his heart. Kazumasa smiled and waved at him a few feet away before leaving for his job. His casual strides transformed into giddy dancing and wild jumping of joy, causing Hiroto to burst into tears laughing a distance away.
That reminded Hiroto, he needed to go job-hunting soon before Uruha decided it would be okay to call him out for a race.
Once the form of his lover faded into the distance, Hiroto plopped back down onto the bench and hummed a tune to himself as he helped Mogu onto his lap. After a moment, a woman of petite stature with dark brown hair highlighted with dark mahogany accents sat down right beside him. She kind of gave off the air of a mother, Hiroto thought to himself. Moreover, her equally brown eyes showed a softness that only a mother had.
The stranger wore a white blazer over a pastel pinstriped blouse with a white pencil skirt and suede heels. She carried a white coin purse with her, and expensive jewelry decorated her ears, lined her fingers, and hung around her neck.
She must be a housewife... he assumed, ...of one of those wealthy elite businessmen.
"Are you...Ogata-kun?" she inquired skeptically. "Ogata Hiroto-kun?"
Hiroto nodded his head politely. "That would be me... May I ask who you are?" Hiroto responded.
"I am...acquainted with your mother, Ogata-san," she answered him. The way she responded was rather vague though, and it made Hiroto wonder if there was an underlying message. The stranger hadn't even given him her name. "How is she?"
"She's still breathing," Hiroto answered somberly as his features darkened. "I don't know what state she -- as in, her mind -- is in," he continued drearily, "so I cannot say if she's doing well or not. Sometimes, when I talk to her, I don't know if she's hearing my words."
He noticed how the features of his mother's acquaintance softened in sympathy. "Ah, I have heard about that," she murmured, "about how people in a comatose state may or may not be able to hear the words being spoken around them or even to them. I don't think it's been scientifically proven, but it's a sort of miracle if they did hear everything, isn't it? Maybe -- if she heard the right words -- she would know where to go. Perhaps you can take me to her. I would like to apologize for everything that's happened in the past."
Hiroto nodded politely. He didn't know who this stranger was, but it seemed she didn't mean any harm. He returned onto his feet and placed Mogu into his shoulder bag. He had been meaning to visit his mother anyways. He helped the stranger onto her feet before leading the way to the hospital. The stranger didn't seem appalled by Hiroto's actions -- sneaking his pet into the hospital -- but, rather, more on the amused side.
"You love your pet, don't you?" she mused.
Hiroto nodded his head. "I do, very much so, he's been with me throughout everything," he answered honestly and genuinely.
She smiled at his response before entering the opened door leading to his mother's hospital room. The smile quickly faded away into a sort of soberness and sorrow and even regret. She kneeled beside his mother's side, and Hiroto had to admit that sight was strange to behold. This was a high class woman of evident elegance and sophistication after all, and his mother was only a working middle class woman.
Just as Hiroto was about to leave, a rather high and mighty attitude appeared when she demanded that Hiroto was to stay in the room with them.
"Ogata-san, I'm terribly sorry for what had happened four years ago," she began. "The accident occurred only because of the Kohara Company's negligance with its security. Its quality had severely dropped ever since your husband passed away protecting me and my son. I'm terribly sorry for that as well. If only I was more careful, he would be alive and healthy and with his family. He was a good man with a wonderful heart of gold."
Hiroto could feel his jaw drop. He could feel his heart stop beating and his lungs constrict. He could feel a breath getting hitched in his throat, and he could feel his entire being becoming petrified. Eh? This woman was Kazumasa's mother?
She didn't stop there. "I'm terribly sorry about the trouble your sons went through because of my stubborn husband. I'm terribly sorry about the worries I've caused you while you are still like this. I assure you that I've raised Kazumasa to be a fine young man though, and I can promise you that he will take good care of Hiroto-kun," she insisted. "I will also take the loss of your eldest's son occupation into my hands as my own responsibility. Because of my husband's pride, I fear he may not be able to return to his position in the company, but I will take care of him and make sure he will definitely receive an income. I hope you can rest well now and wake up warm and cozy. I am truly sorry, and I apologize from the bottom of my heart."
Kohara-san got off of her knees and stood up straight -- retaining the posture of a sophisticated lady. She faced Hiroto with an unexpected warmness. "I've only wanted Kazumasa to succeed," she told him. "I wanted people to hear his voice and love him. I became so absorbed with the idea that I've forgotten his own happiness, wishes, dreams, and desires. I now entrust him to you, Hiroto-kun. You'll do a better job than I ever did, I'm sure."
With that, she left Hiroto behind.
Eh?
Only a few days later, Hiroto's mother had a change in her state. Her stability had fallen, and she was declared dead only a quarter past nine. Hiroto's grandfather had the funeral arranged immediately.
"I'm glad she's resting peacefully now," Hiroto thought aloud as he exited the funeral hall dressed in a black suit. Beside him, Kazumasa was silent just like the dead. Hiroto's hold on Mogu tightened ever-so-slightly as his shoulders trembled. A few drops of tears spilled from his eyes, rolling down his cheeks like glass marbles, before crashing onto the floor below their feet. "I'm glad she's in a better place now," Hiroto croaked out before being enveloped by Kazumasa's arms. "I'm glad she's relieved by your mother's words. I'm glad she's relaxed now. I'm glad she can sleep without any worries now. I'm glad she's reunited with Dad now."
Kazumasa cradled him tenderly, giving Hiroto the comfort he needed to compose himself.
"She'll watch over you with your father," he whispered, "and they'll assist me in protecting you. You're not alone, Hiroto. You never were. Let's go home, okay? You're worrying Mogu."
Hiroto wiped away his tears and smiled at his lover. "Okay," he agreed. "Do you have the day off tomorrow?"
"I'll be working later in the day, why?" Kazumasa inquired curiously.
Hiroto pursed his lips before pulling off a devilish smirk. "I'll be needing your comfort all night, that's why." He set Mogu on the floor after attaching the Pomeranian's leash and began to stroll out of the building, out of the hall of heavy loss, side-by-side with Kazumasa.
An outsider might have thought Hiroto's change of moods after a funeral might have been despicable, loathesome, and even disrespectful, but there was no point in dwelling about the past. Looking back on the past four years made him realize that there was no point to cry about the lost time because it wouldn't bring back his parents, and it definitely wouldn't make him move forward. It only let sorrow and misery escape physically through salty fluids. It only kept him at a standstill, yearning for the past, as time continued to move forward by itself.
Now he had to walk with time because -- no matter whether it was good or bad -- what happens in the past will stay in the past.
Now Hiroto still had a reason to live, but even if he didn't have a reason to continue living, he could find it while he was still alive. Fortunately, his raison d'être was right in front of him this time.
He really did have the devil's luck, didn't he?
"What about Mogu?" Kazumasa pointed out. "Have you finally agreed that he needs a room of his own?"
Hiroto grinned sheepishly. "My baby is still a baby! Maybe next year," Hiroto argued. "Anyways, he's a deep sleeper, you know? He wouldn't notice if he was on the sofa or his bed. We'll let him in afterwards like we always do."
However, as Kazumasa's hand cradled the side of Hiroto's face, fingers caressing his cheek gently, the grin on Hiroto's lips faltered. His brown eyes glazed over with anguish upon staring into Kazumasa's concerned gaze. Tears of grief flowed from his eyes silently like the steps of Death. Misery and woe painted over his visage slowly -- stroke by stroke -- before he buried it into the dark fabric of Kazumasa's shirt. As always, Kazumasa found the crack in his shield.
"You two would have gotten along well," Hiroto mumbled under his breath as his shoulders shuddered and trembled. "I miss her... I miss her, Kazumasa."
A melody began to form, and then a harmony came along -- entwining the two of them together -- creating a tune, a song. Hiroto listened quietly to Kazumasa's composition. Eventually, his shuddering ceased to an end, and gradually, his breathing slowed to calmness.
"I want to see you
even if it's just in a memory
Before it fades into the snow.
Your warmth is still felt from our entwined fingers,
So to never let it fade away,
I alone will sing with my worn-out voice
"You... You...
You're not here
In this pure white world
One, one...
Let's take one step firmly,
and the snow will turn into a rainbow."
Spring has come about, and it's time for a new beginning.
Hiroto's fingers toyed with the white gold ring around his finger as the diamonds glittered underneath the sun's light. The cool silver of his star necklace burned into his chest. The heaviness of the star-shaped earring dangled from his ear. All the while, Kazumasa hadn't let go of Hiroto, and Mogu hadn't stopped nuzzling his owner in comfort and reassurance.
This was all he needed to turn things around.
&&
A/N: It's finally done! I've started and finished writing this in December and made a number of tweaks to it in January and February during my free time. However, the project originally started about two years ago, when I wanted to write about racing, and -- at the time -- I was thinking of making it an Aoi and Uruha story -- although with a more underground, and a much more darker story. The more I did research and the more I practiced drifting (legally, of course, through the use of race tracks and Mario Karts and arcade games XD), the more the story changed. Somehow, it shifted from Aoi and Uruha to a ShouPon fic that wasn't as dark. I certainly didn't expect this story to finish in July though, much less on Friday the 13th, since it was written for spring. I'm also not sure if this is the happy ending several readers wanted, but at least it's hopeful. I've had this written for a while, and I didn't really edit and revise the epilogue thoroughly because I didn't know what more I could do with it. It seemed fine as it is since it wrapped up everything nicely. Unfortunately, that means there won't be a sequel.
Compared to the start of the story, the boys have matured, haven't they? Well, I suppose it's only natural. Everyone matures through rough times; it normally always happens in stories. I'm not very good at writing Author's Notes either. I always forget what I wanted to say.
On the characters, I didn't focus much on the support since the story was mainly about Shou and Hiroto. I just really wanted to develop their relationship and show how they grow. The supporting characters, however, are really meant to show and improve their growth as well. If you haven't noticed, Shou's father was really the only person acting as the obstacle since he pulled all of the strings. I tried to make Shou's mother look -- at least -- decent. After all, in the previous chapter (Track 27) she didn't try to make him stay. She might have been a busy person though. Kuroto, as well, was meant to show Hiroto's acceptance of himself, of who he is, and wasn't meant for any intentional harm. Kyo, as well, was a measure of Hiroto's abilities.
That's in my opinion as the author though. You guys have your own, right? This may be the last time you get to express it on this story! It's been fun, and I hope you, the reader, enjoyed it, too.