Gift fic for imifumei!
Gift fic for imifumei!
Title: I Would Wait an Eternity for You
Pairings/Members: Yokoo/Fujigaya and Tamamori/Miyata, cameos of Nikaido and Kawai
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mentions of the supernatural and not so child-friendly language
Summary: A ghostly encounter helps Fujigaya and Yokoo sort out their emotions.
Notes: When I found out that I was writing for you, imifumei, I was all "BUT A;OWINE;ALSKDNF *O* *sparkly eyes*" because I really like your stuff~ I hope you like this, that it fulfilled any of your requests /(>.<)\ Many thanks to my beta S and hand-holder R, without whom I… may not have been able to make it through writing this and my exams at sort-of the same time/one after the other. Thank you, and I hope you like this!
When Kawai sat down with a lecherous grin on his face one Friday lunchtime, arms crossed and resting on the back of his chair, Fujigaya knew nothing good could possibly come from whatever conversation they were about to have.
"So~" began his friend with a trill in his voice, "how are things going in not-quite-friends land?"
Fujigaya spared a moment to direct a withering look at his friend before turning his concentration back to his food.
"I know I've asked you loads of times before," Kawai continued, leaning forward, "but doesn't it bother you that the two of you are best friends but you actually want more than that?"
"Why do you have to keep bringing it up?" asked the other with a raised eyebrow.
"Because you never give me a straight answer, and I want to know," replied Kawai with a grin. "As your other best friend, it's my duty to make sure your sanity is intact, and if it means pestering you about the same topic twenty million times a day until I get an answer out of you, so be it."
With a resigned sigh, Fujigaya put his chopsticks down and pushed his lunch away from him, crossing his arms and resting his chin on them instead. He wore a rather forlorn expression, his eyes fixed at some point on the edge of his desk.
Kawai waited, wondering if he needed to prompt the other or if Fujigaya would start talking himself. He looked like he was in the mood to talk, but it was sometimes hard to tell, even when they were so close.
He didn't have to wait long though - in the end, it was Fujigaya who started the conversation.
"Would it make things awkward if I confessed to him?" he asked quietly, his words slightly muffled by the sleeve of his sweater. "We've been friends for a really long time and I value his friendship, so I'm scared that if I said anything I would ruin everything. I do that sometimes even without meaning to."
Kawai cast his friend a sympathetic look and patted him on the shoulder a few times.
"This is Yokoo we're talking about, though," he said after a moment. "If anything, I think he already knows; you're not exactly the most subtle person we know, after all."
"Shut it, you," Fujigaya retorted, pouting a little in annoyance.
His reply sent Kawai into a wave of laughter, and Fujigaya sat up to slap him in the shoulder, making the other laugh even harder.
"Urgh," Fujigaya puffed, deflating and slumping back down on his desk, "you're so annoying. Why am I best friends with you again?"
"Because I offer you all sorts of wonderful advice you wouldn't get from anyone else," Kawai cackled.
Fujigaya wrinkled his nose and looked away, pointedly ignoring the other.
"Okay," said Kawai when he had calmed down, "I'll stop pestering you about your crush."
His statement piqued Fujigaya's attention, but this was Kawai and he knew better than to trust his best friend so easily, so he fixed his friend with a pointed look. "What's the catch?" he asked, cautiously.
"I dare you to spend a night in the abandoned mansion on the edge of town," challenged Kawai, smirking when Fujigaya stiffened. "What, scared?"
"No," answered Fujigaya quickly. "The supposedly haunted mansion, right?"
"That's the one," replied his friend. "Who knows, maybe you'll get to meet the ghosts that are said to inhibit that house?"
Fujigaya bit his lips, wondering if it would be worth potentially being scared out of his wits just to have his best friend stop pestering him about this one topic. He didn't want to seem like a coward, however, so he steeled his nerves and looked Kawai in the eye.
"Fine," he said, "I'll spend a night in the mansion. I'll see you on Monday morning and tell you all about it too. Happy?"
Kawai grinned. "Please do~" he trilled happily, pushing himself out of his seat. "I'll look forward to your stories on Monday morning~"
Before Fujigaya could say anything in return, Kawai quickly ran out of the classroom, calling out his goodbye to the rest of the class as he went.
Fujigaya heaved a heavy sigh and slumped back onto his desk.
Out in the corridor, the bell signaling the end of lunch rang and Fujigaya packed up the remainder of his lunch, making a mental note to finish eating it in the short break between the end of school and the start of after school activities.
As he was putting the lunchbox away, something on the edge of the book he had been reading caught his eyes and he squinted to work out what it was.
That ass! he thought, glaring at the tiny scribbles of Yokoo and hearts Kawai had somehow doodled when he wasn't looking.
"What was that about?" asked a voice from behind him, causing him to whip around in surprise and his hand to slam down on the edge of the book.
Yokoo had returned from his lunchtime activity, and he was looking at Fujigaya with a look of curiosity mixed with incredulity.
"What were you and Kawai talking about just now?" he asked again, when his friend made a questioning noise.
"Oh, nothing much," answered Fujigaya with a shrug, turning back to face the front of the classroom. "Kawai was just being a brat, and he dared me to spend a night this weekend in the mansion at the edge of town," he explained as he pulled out his textbooks from the drawer under his desk.
"I see."
The tone of Yokoo's reply caught his attention, and he looked up to see his friend's lips pressed together.
"What?"
"Well," Yokoo dragged out, stalling a little, "you know what they say about that place. You know what Nika-chan says about that place."
Fujigaya opened his mouth to reply, wanting say something about how Nikaido couldn't exactly be called reliable, but thought better of it. Although Nikaido was a brat - there was no doubt about it - he was also uncharacteristically serious when it came to the mansion on the edge of town, and whilst Fujigaya wasn't inclined to believe in the supernatural, if their friend was so adamant about it, maybe there really was something strange going on inside.
All the same, a dare was a dare, and he had promised Kawai.
"I'm still going," Fujigaya insisted. "I was dared to - I can't back out of it now."
Yokoo looked Fujigaya in the eye, just looked, and then sighed long-sufferingly. "Well, if you insist on going, I guess there's nothing for it," he said.
Fujigaya tilted his head to the side, a questioning sound escaping him, and Yokoo chuckled.
"I'll go with you," Yokoo added in amusement. "Lord knows, someone needs to be there to make sure you take care of yourself, even if it's just for one night."
Fujigaya opened his mouth to protest - to tell the other that it really wasn't necessary, that he could take care of himself just fine, thank you very much, and that maybe it wouldn't be a smart idea for the two of them to be alone, considering the circumstances - but Yokoo poked him in the shoulder and nodded towards the front of the classroom.
His complaints could wait, he supposed, as afternoon classes began.
- - -
Try as he might, Fujigaya hadn't been able to get Yokoo to un-agree to accompany him on his dare, which is how he found himself walking side by side with his best friend towards the mansion on a sunny Saturday afternoon. But for all his antagonizing, he was secretly glad, because it was rare that they could spend time together alone. Even though he harbored feelings beyond friendship for Yokoo, they were first and foremost friends, and he treasured any time he could spend with the taller boy - even if it could end up an emotional rollercoaster ride for him.
He had little time to think about it, though, because they soon arrived at the gates of the mansion house and Yokoo was pushing the iron bars apart.
"It's strange," said Fujigaya, as he and Yokoo walked up the driveway, "but I don't feel as though this place is haunted at all."
Yokoo chuckled. "I think someone's been watching too many horror movies without me again."
But despite his teasing, Yokoo couldn't help but notice that Fujigaya had a point. For all the rumors of hauntings and ghosts, the house didn't look or feel strange at all. The plants were unkempt and running wild from neglect, and the windows were murky with dust, but otherwise the building looked just like any other house on the road: large and stately. There were no collapsing roofs, no broken windows, nothing that movies had taught him were the signs of a house filled with supernatural presence.
"I know what you mean, though," said Yokoo. "It seems peaceful - just a quiet, lonely house."
Fujigaya hummed in agreement as he strode forward, trying the door handle. To their surprise and relief, they found the front door unlocked and they quickly went in, closing the ornate door behind them carefully.
"Right then," began Fujigaya, putting down his duffle bag, "what should we do first?"
"I guess we should find a place for us to sleep," suggested Yokoo. "We shouldn't stay too far from the entrance, though, just in case."
"That sounds like a smart idea," agreed the other. "Let's try the living room, then."
They shared a look and nodded in unison. Then they headed further into the house in search of a room they could occupy.
- - -
That evening, over a dinner of pot noodles Yokoo had packed, they talked about their mutual acquaintances, upcoming social events and school.
"You know, I've always wondered about this house," said Fujigaya, when the other topics were exhausted.
"What about this house?" prompted Yokoo as he tidied away the rubbish from their dinner.
"Well, the story goes that two boys were killed in this house in an accidental house fire," explained Fujigaya, looking around the room. "The Tamamori family was spending their summer vacation in this house - it being their family vacation home and everything - and the eldest son Yuta had invited his best friend Toshiya along. They had been staying in the house for three weeks when the fire broke out. No-one's sure how it started, but it started in the kitchen, and then spread through the bottom floor of the building before making its way upstairs. The household staff all got out, as did most of the family, but they didn't realize that Yuta and Toshiya hadn't made it out until it was too late."
"What I've always wanted to know is why there are little to no evidence of a fire having taken place," he finished, now looking at his best friend. "You would think that a fire so big would have broken the house, but every time I walk past this house, I can't help but notice how undamaged the house is."
"Actually, I asked my dad about the same thing before," said Yokoo. "He said that Mr. Tamamori was heartbroken by the death of his eldest son, but because Yuta had loved this house and because of all the memories they had made, he had the house restored. He and his wife made sure every detail - the floorboards, the wallpapers, the placement of this and that piece of furniture, everything - were exactly the same as before the fire took place. In the end, though, they couldn't bear the pain and they just stopped coming; they didn't even sell the house, they just stopped coming here on vacation altogether."
Fujigaya let out a long breath. "All the same, those parents were so thoughtful to have restored the house," he whispered. "I wonder if my parents would do that."
"Don't think about that kind of thing," said Yokoo, patting Fujigaya on the shoulder. Then, he got up from the sofa and set out his sleeping bag on the floor beside the sofa. "It's late and we've been up since the crack of dawn - we should sleep."
Fujigaya hadn't noticed just how late it had grown until Yokoo had mentioned it, and suddenly, the few hours of sleep he had gotten the previous night and the hectic schedule of his morning all caught up with him. He let out a loud yawn and stretched upwards.
"That sounds like a very good idea actually," he mumbled, shuffling off the sofa to grab his pajamas.
Soon, both of them were ready for bed, and Fujigaya bade his best friend a sleepy good night before quickly falling sleep. Yokoo smiled fondly before turning off the lights.
- - -
In the middle of the night, Fujigaya woke up to the feeling of the room temperature dropping significantly. He sat up, shivering and rubbing his arms to get his blood circulating again.
Looking around, he could see nothing unusual - the curtains were still drawn over the windows, the torch Yokoo had insisted on keeping lit in case one of them needed the toilet was still lit, and Yokoo was still sound asleep in his sleeping bag on the floor beside the sofa. Since nothing seemed to be out of place, he chalked it up to the sudden drop in temperature as the reason he had suddenly awoken.
Heaving a heavy sigh, he settled back into the comfortable cushions of the sofa and…
He could see his breath.
Blinking in surprise, he crossed his eyes and focused his gaze on the space just in front of him. He breathed out once more, and again he saw his breath.
"Why did it have to get to cold all of a sudden?" he grumbled under his breath, curling up into himself.
In the twilight zone between awake and asleep, Fujigaya felt a tingling in his fingers. He would have shaken his hand to rid himself of the feeling but his limbs felt so heavy and he couldn't control them anymore.
The next thing he knew, the world turned black around him.
- - -
The next morning, Fujigaya awoke first, blinking as he slowly returned to consciousness.
The first thing he noticed was that everything felt the same but different all at the same time. He was still curled up on the sofa, his head resting on the makeshift pillow Yokoo had made from his sweater, and his best friend was still in his sleeping bag, sleeping quietly, but something about the air around them had changed.
Something about their relationship had changed.
- - -
They were halfway down the driveway when Yokoo suddenly stopped and looked back at the mansion house.
"What is it?" asked Fujigaya.
"I think I had a really strange dream last night."
Fujigaya's breath hitched. "What about?" he tried to ask as casually as he could.
Fujigaya watched as Yokoo pursed his lips in thought, a somewhat wistful, faraway expression crossing his face.
"I dreamt that we had been possessed by the ghosts of Yuta and Toshiya," said the taller boy. "I saw the entire dream through my own eyes, but it wasn't me who was in control of my body; instead Yuta's ghost possessed me and Toshiya's ghost possessed you. Toshiya confessed to Yuta, saying something about having wanted to confess for a very long time, that he refused to pass into the afterlife without doing this one thing. Then Yuta used my hand to grasp yours tightly and said that he had always known. He was frustrated that Toshiya took so long, but that he was also very happy that his feelings weren't unrequited. Then they kissed through us and the passed on to the afterlife."
"That does sound like a strange dream," commented Fujigaya with a forced lightness of voice, trying not to betray the way his heart was pounding at the revelation that what he had thought was a dream wasn't really a dream.
"Except…" started Yokoo, before trailing off.
Fujigaya made a questioning sound in the back of his throat. "Except…?"
There was a faraway look on the Yokoo's face, a wistful look accompanied by the faintest hint of a smile dancing on the edge of his lips.
"What is it, Wataru?" Fujigaya prompted when the other didn't respond. He couldn't help the clenching of his fists in nervousness as he waited impatiently for the answer.
"Except," Yokoo continued, "as I was watching the dream, it felt like you were confessing to me rather than Toshiya confessing to Yuta. And I could feel Yuta's emotions too - his frustration and his elation - like they were my own emotions. It felt… nice, it felt right."
Fujigaya felt the sudden urge to say something - anything - to take the chance that Toshiya had taken the previous night and confess, but he bit his lips, biting back the words that were forming on the tip of his tongue.
"But you know," continued Yokoo, turning back towards the gates and taking a few steps forward, "maybe I understand how Yuta felt." There was a jesting, teasing tone in his voice, and he turned back to face Fujigaya when he had one hand on the gate. "After all, their situation isn't so different from ours, am I right? Isn't there something you've been meaning to say to me?"
It took a moment for Fujigaya to fully understand that Yokoo meant, and by the time he did the other had already slipped through the gate and was strolling casually down the road.
Fujigaya hastily caught up and grabbed Yokoo by the elbow, halting the other in his step.
"It's okay, though," said Yokoo, cutting in before Fujigaya could say anything. "I already knew, Taisuke. You're not Toshiya - you find it hard to express things closest to your heart - but that's okay because I always knew."
"That doesn't mean I don't want to say it, though," protested Fujigaya with a pout. "You deserve to hear it as much as I want to say it, so don't stop me."
Yokoo looked him straight in the eye, taking in the serious look in his eyes, and he nodded. Fujigaya tightened his grip on Yokoo's elbow marginally and took a deep breath.
"I like you, Wataru," he finally whispered. "I have for a very long time, in more than a best friend way."
"And I gladly accept your feelings," answered Yokoo, just as quietly, "just as I gladly return them."
Yokoo's declaration caused a warm, fuzzy feeling to spread through Fujigaya, and on impulse, he pulled the taller boy into a hug.
"You're right," he laughed when they pulled apart, "it does feel right."
Title: I Would Wait an Eternity for You
Pairings/Members: Yokoo/Fujigaya and Tamamori/Miyata, cameos of Nikaido and Kawai
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mentions of the supernatural and not so child-friendly language
Summary: A ghostly encounter helps Fujigaya and Yokoo sort out their emotions.
Notes: When I found out that I was writing for you, imifumei, I was all "BUT A;OWINE;ALSKDNF *O* *sparkly eyes*" because I really like your stuff~ I hope you like this, that it fulfilled any of your requests /(>.<)\ Many thanks to my beta S and hand-holder R, without whom I… may not have been able to make it through writing this and my exams at sort-of the same time/one after the other. Thank you, and I hope you like this!
When Kawai sat down with a lecherous grin on his face one Friday lunchtime, arms crossed and resting on the back of his chair, Fujigaya knew nothing good could possibly come from whatever conversation they were about to have.
"So~" began his friend with a trill in his voice, "how are things going in not-quite-friends land?"
Fujigaya spared a moment to direct a withering look at his friend before turning his concentration back to his food.
"I know I've asked you loads of times before," Kawai continued, leaning forward, "but doesn't it bother you that the two of you are best friends but you actually want more than that?"
"Why do you have to keep bringing it up?" asked the other with a raised eyebrow.
"Because you never give me a straight answer, and I want to know," replied Kawai with a grin. "As your other best friend, it's my duty to make sure your sanity is intact, and if it means pestering you about the same topic twenty million times a day until I get an answer out of you, so be it."
With a resigned sigh, Fujigaya put his chopsticks down and pushed his lunch away from him, crossing his arms and resting his chin on them instead. He wore a rather forlorn expression, his eyes fixed at some point on the edge of his desk.
Kawai waited, wondering if he needed to prompt the other or if Fujigaya would start talking himself. He looked like he was in the mood to talk, but it was sometimes hard to tell, even when they were so close.
He didn't have to wait long though - in the end, it was Fujigaya who started the conversation.
"Would it make things awkward if I confessed to him?" he asked quietly, his words slightly muffled by the sleeve of his sweater. "We've been friends for a really long time and I value his friendship, so I'm scared that if I said anything I would ruin everything. I do that sometimes even without meaning to."
Kawai cast his friend a sympathetic look and patted him on the shoulder a few times.
"This is Yokoo we're talking about, though," he said after a moment. "If anything, I think he already knows; you're not exactly the most subtle person we know, after all."
"Shut it, you," Fujigaya retorted, pouting a little in annoyance.
His reply sent Kawai into a wave of laughter, and Fujigaya sat up to slap him in the shoulder, making the other laugh even harder.
"Urgh," Fujigaya puffed, deflating and slumping back down on his desk, "you're so annoying. Why am I best friends with you again?"
"Because I offer you all sorts of wonderful advice you wouldn't get from anyone else," Kawai cackled.
Fujigaya wrinkled his nose and looked away, pointedly ignoring the other.
"Okay," said Kawai when he had calmed down, "I'll stop pestering you about your crush."
His statement piqued Fujigaya's attention, but this was Kawai and he knew better than to trust his best friend so easily, so he fixed his friend with a pointed look. "What's the catch?" he asked, cautiously.
"I dare you to spend a night in the abandoned mansion on the edge of town," challenged Kawai, smirking when Fujigaya stiffened. "What, scared?"
"No," answered Fujigaya quickly. "The supposedly haunted mansion, right?"
"That's the one," replied his friend. "Who knows, maybe you'll get to meet the ghosts that are said to inhibit that house?"
Fujigaya bit his lips, wondering if it would be worth potentially being scared out of his wits just to have his best friend stop pestering him about this one topic. He didn't want to seem like a coward, however, so he steeled his nerves and looked Kawai in the eye.
"Fine," he said, "I'll spend a night in the mansion. I'll see you on Monday morning and tell you all about it too. Happy?"
Kawai grinned. "Please do~" he trilled happily, pushing himself out of his seat. "I'll look forward to your stories on Monday morning~"
Before Fujigaya could say anything in return, Kawai quickly ran out of the classroom, calling out his goodbye to the rest of the class as he went.
Fujigaya heaved a heavy sigh and slumped back onto his desk.
Out in the corridor, the bell signaling the end of lunch rang and Fujigaya packed up the remainder of his lunch, making a mental note to finish eating it in the short break between the end of school and the start of after school activities.
As he was putting the lunchbox away, something on the edge of the book he had been reading caught his eyes and he squinted to work out what it was.
That ass! he thought, glaring at the tiny scribbles of Yokoo and hearts Kawai had somehow doodled when he wasn't looking.
"What was that about?" asked a voice from behind him, causing him to whip around in surprise and his hand to slam down on the edge of the book.
Yokoo had returned from his lunchtime activity, and he was looking at Fujigaya with a look of curiosity mixed with incredulity.
"What were you and Kawai talking about just now?" he asked again, when his friend made a questioning noise.
"Oh, nothing much," answered Fujigaya with a shrug, turning back to face the front of the classroom. "Kawai was just being a brat, and he dared me to spend a night this weekend in the mansion at the edge of town," he explained as he pulled out his textbooks from the drawer under his desk.
"I see."
The tone of Yokoo's reply caught his attention, and he looked up to see his friend's lips pressed together.
"What?"
"Well," Yokoo dragged out, stalling a little, "you know what they say about that place. You know what Nika-chan says about that place."
Fujigaya opened his mouth to reply, wanting say something about how Nikaido couldn't exactly be called reliable, but thought better of it. Although Nikaido was a brat - there was no doubt about it - he was also uncharacteristically serious when it came to the mansion on the edge of town, and whilst Fujigaya wasn't inclined to believe in the supernatural, if their friend was so adamant about it, maybe there really was something strange going on inside.
All the same, a dare was a dare, and he had promised Kawai.
"I'm still going," Fujigaya insisted. "I was dared to - I can't back out of it now."
Yokoo looked Fujigaya in the eye, just looked, and then sighed long-sufferingly. "Well, if you insist on going, I guess there's nothing for it," he said.
Fujigaya tilted his head to the side, a questioning sound escaping him, and Yokoo chuckled.
"I'll go with you," Yokoo added in amusement. "Lord knows, someone needs to be there to make sure you take care of yourself, even if it's just for one night."
Fujigaya opened his mouth to protest - to tell the other that it really wasn't necessary, that he could take care of himself just fine, thank you very much, and that maybe it wouldn't be a smart idea for the two of them to be alone, considering the circumstances - but Yokoo poked him in the shoulder and nodded towards the front of the classroom.
His complaints could wait, he supposed, as afternoon classes began.
- - -
Try as he might, Fujigaya hadn't been able to get Yokoo to un-agree to accompany him on his dare, which is how he found himself walking side by side with his best friend towards the mansion on a sunny Saturday afternoon. But for all his antagonizing, he was secretly glad, because it was rare that they could spend time together alone. Even though he harbored feelings beyond friendship for Yokoo, they were first and foremost friends, and he treasured any time he could spend with the taller boy - even if it could end up an emotional rollercoaster ride for him.
He had little time to think about it, though, because they soon arrived at the gates of the mansion house and Yokoo was pushing the iron bars apart.
"It's strange," said Fujigaya, as he and Yokoo walked up the driveway, "but I don't feel as though this place is haunted at all."
Yokoo chuckled. "I think someone's been watching too many horror movies without me again."
But despite his teasing, Yokoo couldn't help but notice that Fujigaya had a point. For all the rumors of hauntings and ghosts, the house didn't look or feel strange at all. The plants were unkempt and running wild from neglect, and the windows were murky with dust, but otherwise the building looked just like any other house on the road: large and stately. There were no collapsing roofs, no broken windows, nothing that movies had taught him were the signs of a house filled with supernatural presence.
"I know what you mean, though," said Yokoo. "It seems peaceful - just a quiet, lonely house."
Fujigaya hummed in agreement as he strode forward, trying the door handle. To their surprise and relief, they found the front door unlocked and they quickly went in, closing the ornate door behind them carefully.
"Right then," began Fujigaya, putting down his duffle bag, "what should we do first?"
"I guess we should find a place for us to sleep," suggested Yokoo. "We shouldn't stay too far from the entrance, though, just in case."
"That sounds like a smart idea," agreed the other. "Let's try the living room, then."
They shared a look and nodded in unison. Then they headed further into the house in search of a room they could occupy.
- - -
That evening, over a dinner of pot noodles Yokoo had packed, they talked about their mutual acquaintances, upcoming social events and school.
"You know, I've always wondered about this house," said Fujigaya, when the other topics were exhausted.
"What about this house?" prompted Yokoo as he tidied away the rubbish from their dinner.
"Well, the story goes that two boys were killed in this house in an accidental house fire," explained Fujigaya, looking around the room. "The Tamamori family was spending their summer vacation in this house - it being their family vacation home and everything - and the eldest son Yuta had invited his best friend Toshiya along. They had been staying in the house for three weeks when the fire broke out. No-one's sure how it started, but it started in the kitchen, and then spread through the bottom floor of the building before making its way upstairs. The household staff all got out, as did most of the family, but they didn't realize that Yuta and Toshiya hadn't made it out until it was too late."
"What I've always wanted to know is why there are little to no evidence of a fire having taken place," he finished, now looking at his best friend. "You would think that a fire so big would have broken the house, but every time I walk past this house, I can't help but notice how undamaged the house is."
"Actually, I asked my dad about the same thing before," said Yokoo. "He said that Mr. Tamamori was heartbroken by the death of his eldest son, but because Yuta had loved this house and because of all the memories they had made, he had the house restored. He and his wife made sure every detail - the floorboards, the wallpapers, the placement of this and that piece of furniture, everything - were exactly the same as before the fire took place. In the end, though, they couldn't bear the pain and they just stopped coming; they didn't even sell the house, they just stopped coming here on vacation altogether."
Fujigaya let out a long breath. "All the same, those parents were so thoughtful to have restored the house," he whispered. "I wonder if my parents would do that."
"Don't think about that kind of thing," said Yokoo, patting Fujigaya on the shoulder. Then, he got up from the sofa and set out his sleeping bag on the floor beside the sofa. "It's late and we've been up since the crack of dawn - we should sleep."
Fujigaya hadn't noticed just how late it had grown until Yokoo had mentioned it, and suddenly, the few hours of sleep he had gotten the previous night and the hectic schedule of his morning all caught up with him. He let out a loud yawn and stretched upwards.
"That sounds like a very good idea actually," he mumbled, shuffling off the sofa to grab his pajamas.
Soon, both of them were ready for bed, and Fujigaya bade his best friend a sleepy good night before quickly falling sleep. Yokoo smiled fondly before turning off the lights.
- - -
In the middle of the night, Fujigaya woke up to the feeling of the room temperature dropping significantly. He sat up, shivering and rubbing his arms to get his blood circulating again.
Looking around, he could see nothing unusual - the curtains were still drawn over the windows, the torch Yokoo had insisted on keeping lit in case one of them needed the toilet was still lit, and Yokoo was still sound asleep in his sleeping bag on the floor beside the sofa. Since nothing seemed to be out of place, he chalked it up to the sudden drop in temperature as the reason he had suddenly awoken.
Heaving a heavy sigh, he settled back into the comfortable cushions of the sofa and…
He could see his breath.
Blinking in surprise, he crossed his eyes and focused his gaze on the space just in front of him. He breathed out once more, and again he saw his breath.
"Why did it have to get to cold all of a sudden?" he grumbled under his breath, curling up into himself.
In the twilight zone between awake and asleep, Fujigaya felt a tingling in his fingers. He would have shaken his hand to rid himself of the feeling but his limbs felt so heavy and he couldn't control them anymore.
The next thing he knew, the world turned black around him.
- - -
The next morning, Fujigaya awoke first, blinking as he slowly returned to consciousness.
The first thing he noticed was that everything felt the same but different all at the same time. He was still curled up on the sofa, his head resting on the makeshift pillow Yokoo had made from his sweater, and his best friend was still in his sleeping bag, sleeping quietly, but something about the air around them had changed.
Something about their relationship had changed.
- - -
They were halfway down the driveway when Yokoo suddenly stopped and looked back at the mansion house.
"What is it?" asked Fujigaya.
"I think I had a really strange dream last night."
Fujigaya's breath hitched. "What about?" he tried to ask as casually as he could.
Fujigaya watched as Yokoo pursed his lips in thought, a somewhat wistful, faraway expression crossing his face.
"I dreamt that we had been possessed by the ghosts of Yuta and Toshiya," said the taller boy. "I saw the entire dream through my own eyes, but it wasn't me who was in control of my body; instead Yuta's ghost possessed me and Toshiya's ghost possessed you. Toshiya confessed to Yuta, saying something about having wanted to confess for a very long time, that he refused to pass into the afterlife without doing this one thing. Then Yuta used my hand to grasp yours tightly and said that he had always known. He was frustrated that Toshiya took so long, but that he was also very happy that his feelings weren't unrequited. Then they kissed through us and the passed on to the afterlife."
"That does sound like a strange dream," commented Fujigaya with a forced lightness of voice, trying not to betray the way his heart was pounding at the revelation that what he had thought was a dream wasn't really a dream.
"Except…" started Yokoo, before trailing off.
Fujigaya made a questioning sound in the back of his throat. "Except…?"
There was a faraway look on the Yokoo's face, a wistful look accompanied by the faintest hint of a smile dancing on the edge of his lips.
"What is it, Wataru?" Fujigaya prompted when the other didn't respond. He couldn't help the clenching of his fists in nervousness as he waited impatiently for the answer.
"Except," Yokoo continued, "as I was watching the dream, it felt like you were confessing to me rather than Toshiya confessing to Yuta. And I could feel Yuta's emotions too - his frustration and his elation - like they were my own emotions. It felt… nice, it felt right."
Fujigaya felt the sudden urge to say something - anything - to take the chance that Toshiya had taken the previous night and confess, but he bit his lips, biting back the words that were forming on the tip of his tongue.
"But you know," continued Yokoo, turning back towards the gates and taking a few steps forward, "maybe I understand how Yuta felt." There was a jesting, teasing tone in his voice, and he turned back to face Fujigaya when he had one hand on the gate. "After all, their situation isn't so different from ours, am I right? Isn't there something you've been meaning to say to me?"
It took a moment for Fujigaya to fully understand that Yokoo meant, and by the time he did the other had already slipped through the gate and was strolling casually down the road.
Fujigaya hastily caught up and grabbed Yokoo by the elbow, halting the other in his step.
"It's okay, though," said Yokoo, cutting in before Fujigaya could say anything. "I already knew, Taisuke. You're not Toshiya - you find it hard to express things closest to your heart - but that's okay because I always knew."
"That doesn't mean I don't want to say it, though," protested Fujigaya with a pout. "You deserve to hear it as much as I want to say it, so don't stop me."
Yokoo looked him straight in the eye, taking in the serious look in his eyes, and he nodded. Fujigaya tightened his grip on Yokoo's elbow marginally and took a deep breath.
"I like you, Wataru," he finally whispered. "I have for a very long time, in more than a best friend way."
"And I gladly accept your feelings," answered Yokoo, just as quietly, "just as I gladly return them."
Yokoo's declaration caused a warm, fuzzy feeling to spread through Fujigaya, and on impulse, he pulled the taller boy into a hug.
"You're right," he laughed when they pulled apart, "it does feel right."