[fic] From Broken Wings {2/2} - part 3
[fic] From Broken Wings {2/2} - part 3
pairing: akame, ryouchi (implied XD)
rating: pg-13
Summary: sequel to Concrete Angel. They always knew they were special to each other, that no matter what drove them apart, they'd always have each other in some way or another, but is there more connecting them than just lifelong friendship? What is the meaning behind these haunting dreams that tore them apart in the first place?
part 1-1 | part 1-2 | part 1-3 | part 1-4 | part 1-5 | part 1-6 |
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part 2-1 | part 2-2 |
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Kazuya eyes were closed as he sat at the kitchen table in his home, across from Jin. He had brought his bag and school stuff for the next day with him when he had come over here, so the file was with him. It laid in the middle of the table between them, and he sat there, knowing Jin was watching him, trying to figure out the best way to start this conversation.
“Kazuya?” Jin’s voice broke through his thoughts and he opened his eyes, still not quite sure how to start the conversation, but he knew Jin’s patience couldn’t hold out for much longer.
“You already know what’s in that file…” Kazuya decided to start this way; to be honest, he was just stalling for time as he tried to organize his thoughts, “You know that years ago, there were two children…with the same names and faces as us, who were abused and they died,” he was recounting the facts but it seemed like it was necessary to say all this even though Jin already knew this, “And….the little boy that was named Kazuya, had a friend named Jin, who apparently, greatly resembled the Jin who died, despite the fact that evidence of his existence only started to appear in Kazuya’s life after Jin’s death…”
This was the unbelievable part; well, everything was, but the most unbelievable part was that somehow, those two children had somehow been able to meet, despite the fact that one had already died at the hands of abuse.
“I…” Kazuya took a deep breath as he looked down at the table, “I know, I know how unbelievable it is. I went through all the facts so many times in my head, and I know it shouldn’t make sense, but somehow, Jin, somehow it does.” He looked pleading at Jin, wishing that it could be that easy for Jin to believe him on this. Jin was looking at him with a guarded expression though, not quite willing to accept that it was true.
“I know…” Kazuya started again, shuddering, “I remember everything I see in these dreams we have. They’re like…without this file, these dreams and the condition in which they happen, would just seem like a coincidence; but everything’s like pieces of a puzzle that have been lost, that only we have access to. They make everything make more sense. With this information, it completes the puzzle, Jin…like...” he faltered, “Everything I know about my dreams matches completely with the information here…this Kazuya lived with his uncle, and the scenes of the crime…they match what I know. I know that in my dreams, there’s only one person, a man - always the same man hurting me…Him.”
Jin was looking far away, as though his mind had travelled somewhere out of reach.
“In my dreams…” Jin said quietly, sounding distant, “There’s…sometimes a woman, but no matter how much I plead for help, she just walks out the door. And then…there’s a man - he looks a bit like me…and…” his breathing was growing panicked and Kazuya stared in worry, before getting up to go to Jin…just as the older boy threw his hands up, his mind still lost in the memory of that dream, “I didn’t mean to!” Jin cried out softly, suddenly.
Kazuya felt his heart beat faster in fear of what Jin was seeing - he knew himself how easy it was to get lost in the memories of those dreams…sometimes, no matter how much he tried to repress them, they came to him in the day and it was all he could do to try to separate dream from reality.
“Jin,” he threw an arm around the older boy, trying to get Jin to face him, to look at him, “Jin, it’s me. You know me, right?” he tried to soothe the panicked and scared older teen, “Jin, please…”
It started slowly, but Jin began to lose that scared expression from his face, as he lowered his arm to stop protecting himself from an invisible enemy.
“Kazuya…” Jin breathed, eyes shadowed as he looked around, “I thought…how…”
“It’s happened to me too. When I began to accept that maybe…this was all real at one point, it wasn’t just a terrible nightmare,” Kazuya began with difficulty, “I got them during the day as well, not just when I was asleep. I think…I think we used to be them, Jin. We used to be those children…”
Jin stared in shock at Kazuya; it was one thing to imply it, but it was another to say it outright, “No!” he protested, but his shoulders slumped, “It can’t be…that’s…”
“Impossible?” Kazuya asked softly, “Jin, what happens to us every time we close our eyes in the same house is impossible. What happens every time we get close is impossible!” he said, trying not to let his emotions get the better of him; it wasn’t either of their faults that the only time they had ever been free of those dreams since they were seven and nine years old respectively had been when Jin had tried to distance himself from Kazuya.
“Kazuya…”
“We can’t run away from this Jin…no matter how hard we try,” Kazuya said, burying his head in his hands, “We’ve tried that; it didn’t work. At least in my case, it won’t. You mean too much to me, and…” he let out a frustrated sob, “I…I don’t know if I can deal with this alone anymore.” He admitted, letting all the weight that he had been holding up since he found out crash onto him, “Please believe me…”
Jin felt a bit of his heart break at the sight of Kazuya like that - everything was obviously taking a toll on the younger boy. He could see the exhaustion in the younger boy’s face, the entire ‘please, someone, just help me!’ vibe that his entire body was giving out - he had been dealing with this alone, slowly unable to deny what he knew was true in his mind.
“Kazuya…” he reached over, pulling the younger man to him, “Kazuya…”
“I can’t do this anymore, Jin…if you don’t believe me today, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I can’t take dealing with this alone anymore. I…” Kazuya shook his head as he looked up at Jin, “I’ve told you why I believe it; even though it’s supposed to not make sense, it actually does - everything about that situation and ours. It explains why I dream of a younger you in my dreams, and it explains why the dreams always feel so real…”
“But…” Jin froze, “But what if it’s something else; what if we had heard about it when we were little and just got so scared that we keep having these dreams?”
“Then they should have continued when we grew apart…” Kazuya said slowly, “And the dreams are too real to be made up…not when they seem to connect to each other…”
Jin closed his eyes; he really didn’t want to believe it. He wanted nothing more than for Kazuya to burst into a grin and yell out ‘Gotcha!’ and he could get annoyed for a bit and then laugh, because it would be such a relief if it really was a joke.
“I…I can’t…” Jin said slowly, pushing down that part of his mind that told him that Kazuya had every reason to believe that it was true, and he had every reason in the world to believe Kazuya - because it was Kazuya telling him. If it had been anyone else…
If it had been anyone else, Jin would have just laughed and told them to shut up about it, because there was no way something like that was real.
Kazuya looked at him with a crestfallen expression.
“I…it’s not that I don’t believe in you,” Jin tried to say, not sure why it was suddenly so important to make sure Kazuya knew he wasn’t distrustful of him, “But…but I really don’t want to believe that it’s true.” He finished, looking pleadingly at Kazuya, “Why can’t we just leave it alone and accept it as it is?” he asked as he gripped Kazuya’s arm tightly, “Why do you have to keep trying to find out more? I...I don’t want to find out more.”
“Jin…” Kazuya could only stare at the hand gripping his arm so tightly that it was almost painful. He could see the desperation in Jin’s eyes.
“We can be normal, can’t we, Kazuya? We can just go on like we’ve always been - without finding out more, can’t we?” Jin asked, “That’s…that’s all I want. I don’t want to find out more, I don’t want to put the pieces of that puzzle together; I’d rather just leave it unfinished. I don’t want to find out the entire story, like I know you want to.”
Kazuya looked at Jin with sad eyes; he did want to find out what had happened, but…
How was he supposed to ignore Jin’s wishes like that?
He ducked his head, as he slowly asked, “But you do believe me…that there’s something more going on?” he asked hesitantly.
Jin’s soft answer of, “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be telling you that I don’t want to find out the whole truth…I believe you, Kazuya, but…but this is something I don’t want to know the truth about.” He said fiercely, “I know parts of the truth, and…isn’t that enough? I believe you when you say there’s probably something more going on, but I don’t want to find out the whole truth! I don’t want to find out the whole truth…”
Kazuya sighed heavily as he slowly unhooked Jin’s fingers from his arm, “Then…I guess, that’s all I can ask for. As long as you believe me, and I’m not alone in thinking that…I won’t bother you about it anymore.” He said quietly, “You won’t have to worry, because I won’t bring it up around you anymore.”
Jin’s breath of relief was enough to convince himself he was doing the right thing, even though a part of him, deep inside, was crying at the thought - as he tried to convince himself that it was right to stop searching for the truth about what he knew was a part of him.
Was it really alright to forget the past like it didn’t exist, when he knew it did?
What if…
What if the point of these dreams had always been to find out the truth?
But Jin’s relieved smile, directed at him, made him push those thoughts aside - he couldn’t bring more pain to Jin…
He wouldn’t bother Jin about this issue anymore, even if all his instincts were screaming at him that he was doing the wrong thing.
How was he supposed to choose between what he wanted and what would make someone he cared about happy?
But he just knew…
The past would hurt, and he couldn’t force Jin to go through that, not even if it meant he wouldn’t be alone in the pain.
* * *
Jin woke up the next day in Kazuya’s living room, having fallen asleep on the couch, on the opposite end of the couch from Kazuya, who was lying on the opposite arm of the couch, blankets covering him as he slept on. A sleepy smile graced his lips as he thought about the conversation last night, and the reassurance that he wouldn’t need to worry about whatever the truth behind the dreams were. To him, it just…it just seemed better to be ignorant than to know the truth.
He moved out from under the blankets covering him and moved to sit on his knees next to Kazuya’s end of the couch, poking the younger boy on the arm softly, “Kazuya…” he called out.
The younger boy shifted, but didn’t wake up, burrowing deeper into the back of the couch, unwilling to get up and face the day.
“Kazuya,” Jin tried again, but the younger boy was stubborn and simply slept on, ignoring Jin’s attempts to wake him up. Jin sighed as he moved to sit on what little part of the couch that was available, practically falling off as he propped himself up by placing his hand on the back of the couch, leaning over Kazuya to look at Kazuya’s sleeping face.
“Kazuya…” Jin called, suddenly trailing off as he looked at the peaceful expression on the younger man’s face. He smiled softly; it wasn’t often that he saw Kazuya sleep peacefully. Between their nightmares and the stay in the hospital, Jin had rarely seen Kazuya go through a peaceful night in the past few weeks.
He reached a hand out to brush a strand of hair out of Kazuya’s eyes. The movement made Kazuya shift again, and his lips parted in a complaining groan.
“Sorry…” Jin whispered with a smile; he really had to be grateful to the younger man. Kazuya could have very well forced the issue with finding out everything behind the nightmares, but he didn’t. He had given into Jin’s probably very selfish wishes, and Jin was more relieved than anything.
Jin paused as he continued to stare at Kazuya, for some reason, unable to take his eyes away from the younger man at the moment. He watched as the younger boy’s eyebrows furrow in distress; obviously, whatever Kazuya was dreaming about had turned from good to bad. He felt his heart skip a beat in dread at the distressed look on Kazuya’s face.
He reached a hand forward, putting it on Kazuya’s cheek, and he leaned forward, saying soft, comforting, words to Kazuya’s sleeping form, “It’s alright…it’s just a dream…” Jin said quietly, but he knew there was probably no way Kazuya could hear him.
Despite that, soon after, Kazuya let out a soft sigh in his sleep.
Jin found himself letting out a similar sigh of relief; for some reason, seeing Kazuya in distress made him panic. He wondered why that was.
As he looked at Kazuya again, he froze, suddenly aware of how close he had moved to Kazuya; his face was mere inches from Kazuya’s, his lips hovering just as close to Kazuya’s.
His heart skipped a beat, but not in fear this time; Jin could hear his own heart pounding in his ears as he looked at Kazuya, so close to him, and for some reason, despite how his mind was telling him to just move away, he couldn’t. He just stayed there, so close to Kazuya, but unmoving.
His heart was beating so fast, and for some reason, he just felt like…he should move closer, just a bit closer. Just a bit closer, and his lips would touch Kazuya’s and -
His eyes closed as he felt his lips brush softly upon a pair of soft, yet slightly chapped, lips; their lips were barely touching, but it was enough to make a rush of feeling go through Jin and then his eyes flew open and he jumped back, falling to the ground, and touching his lips in shock. What had he just done? Why did…why did he just do that?!
“Jin?” the sound of Jin crashing onto the polished wooden floorboards had woken Kazuya up when even all his attempts before couldn’t.
He saw Kazuya sit up sleepily, looking at him strangely.
Jin’s eyes were wide as he stared at Kazuya, “Um…I think we have to get ready for school…” he said lamely, just as his phone vibrated. He blinked at the text message that had arrived.
Bakanishi! You’ve missed first AND second period! Are you sick?!
Jin’s eyes widened even more, “We missed first and second period Kazuya!” he blurted out in panic, “We’re so late!”
Kazuya, who had been looking sleepily at Jin, suddenly jumped up, “What?!”
“We - we have to…” Jin was panicking, “I…” He was going to get into so much trouble for missing half a day of school! And he didn’t exactly have a good excuse to explain why he was late either - after all, sleeping in was hardly going to get him out of detention and…and…
Kazuya put a hand on Jin’s shoulder to calm the older boy down, “You go back home, get your stuff and get changed. I’ll get ready and meet you at your place.”
“No, I’ll come back here.” Jin said determinedly, “I’m not letting you walk alone in your condition.”
Kazuya opened his mouth to protest, but he stopped himself at the look in Jin’s eyes and nodded hesitantly, “Alright…” he said absently and then he paused, “Jin…”
“Yeah?” Jin asked as he was putting his shoes on.
“…I guess we’re going to go on as though that file doesn’t mean anything right?” Kazuya asked uncertainly.
Jin froze for a moment, before he stood up with a nod, “…if that’s okay with you.” He said hopefully.
Kazuya looked hesitant, but he nodded, “I suppose…yeah, if that’s what you want…” he said, almost sounding sad, “You should go, or we won’t be there in time for afternoon classes.” He said with forced cheer.
Jin stared worriedly at Kazuya, before nodding and leaving with a wave and a call of, “I’ll be back!”.
Kazuya had sounded slightly sad that they were pretending the file didn’t mean anything, but…Jin was sure Kazuya would see why it was better to pretend it wasn’t anything important. In the end, it was better to not know too much about it, he knew.
Jin put his fingers to his lips, suddenly feeling a heat in his cheeks; he had a different problem to worry about now…
Why did I do that?
* * *
“You’re late,” Ryo said blandly when Jin arrived in the cafeteria with messy hair that had a completely ‘slept in’ look, his uniform hastily put on carelessly, and the boy himself looking as though he had just woken up.
“Shut up, I know.” Jin retorted, rolling his eyes at Ryo, “I got your text message. Should you have been texting in class?” he asked pointedly.
“The teacher stepped out for a bit,” Ryo retorted, “And it’s not like he’d notice anyways. I’m at the back of the room.”
Jin grumbled in acknowledgement of that point. He paused when he saw that Kazuya had entered the cafeteria with his friend and was looking around for a table to sit at. Jin suddenly reddened, remembering what happened earlier and forced himself to keep looking around the cafeteria to avoid Ryo’s suddenly piercing look.
But obviously, Ryo wasn’t going to leave it alone.
“Your ears are red,” Ryo stated blandly, and then he spotted Kazuya as well and grinned, “Oh, I see.”
“Shut up Ryo!” Jin snapped before Ryo could say what he knew Ryo was going to say. He glared at the younger boy, but Ryo merely smirked knowingly.
“You seem more agitated than usual when I mention Kamenashi today,” Ryo commented idly, leaning back in his chair.
Jin glared, unable to keep his cheeks from reddening more; so what if he was more annoyed than usual when Ryo made mentions of the ‘relationship’ he had with Kazuya. It didn’t mean anything!
Just like…
Just like this morning didn’t mean anything…right?
But no matter how much he tried to convince himself of that, as he remembered the feel of his lips on Kazuya’s, he couldn’t help but feel a pang.
A sudden wish that Kazuya had been awake at the time, even though Jin told himself that that would have just been disastrous and full of misunderstandings.
A jolt went through him suddenly and Jin jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up, among snickers form his friends, and saw Kazuya standing there, next to his gangster-looking friend.
“Jin?” Kazuya asked in confusion; Jin saw, with another pang, a different sort of pang, that Kazuya still looked hesitant and unsure when looking at him.
“What?” Jin asked, as memories of this morning came back to him, and he began to panic, “What? I didn’t do anything; if you think I did anything, then you’re wrong. You were dreaming or something, I don’t know, but I didn’t do it! You’re imagining things Kazuya. You must be too bored or something and - it wasn’t me, whatever it is you’re thinking of -”
“I just wanted to tell you that Tat-chan’s coming to pick me up after school today, so you don’t need to wait for me unless you want a ride, and that if you want one, I’ll convince Tat-chan to drive you?”
Ignoring Ryo’s muttered insults about Ueda under his breath, Jin blinked, turning red again as he realized that Toma and Pi were staring at him strangely, not sure whether to laugh or to take Jin to a doctor, and that he couldn’t stop staring at Kazuya’s face, which of course, had lips on them. The lips Jin had…
“Um, sure!” Jin agreed quickly, averting his eyes so that he could try to suppress the heat going to his cheeks, “I’ll go bug Ryo after school today!”
Kazuya flashed a smile at Jin, and the older boy waited until Kazuya was out of sight before he stopped trying not to blush and let out a sigh of relief.
“Jin, you’re all red~”
Jin groaned.
* * *
Tatsuya had already had his car parked outside when Kazuya got out of classes and ran out to meet his best friend. Koki and Junno followed not too far behind, eager to see their friend.
“Maru says to tell you that he’ll be by after he gets off his part-time job,” Tatsuya said to Koki, who nodded with a grin, “He also says not to kick and pick on Junno too much.”
Junno grinned in agreement at that, “See? Hear that?”
Koki kicked him.
Tatsuya raised an eyebrow while Kazuya’s lips twitched, “Did you tell Maru that he shouldn’t hold out much hope for that happening?”
Tatsuya nodded, “I did, but he told me to try anyways. I think he underestimates Junno’s ability to annoy Koki, and overestimates Koki’s resilience against Junno.”
Kazuya grinned, “As long as he’s prepared for bad news.”
“Anyways, Koki and Junno aside, you all set to go?” Tatsuya asked, raising an eyebrow at Kazuya, who looked around searchingly for a moment, before nodding.
“Sure,” Kazuya agreed, “I’ll see you tomorrow guys.” He addressed to Koki and Junno. Koki stopped advancing on Junno with a mock glare on his face, and waved with a huge grin, “See you tomorrow Kame-chan!”
“Bye Kame-chan!” Junno echoed with a bright smile, “See you later Tat-chan!” he added, earning a grin from the oldest one there.
As Tatsuya drove off, Kazuya shot a glance over at his best friend, “So why did you want to hang out today?” he asked idly. Tatsuya had called Junno, who had given the phone to Kazuya, to tell Kazuya that he wanted to hang out today, no protests that he had to finish homework allowed.
Tatsuya raised an eyebrow, “Do I need a reason to spend time with my best friend?”
Kazuya copied the motion, “Do you usually give me more than ten minutes’ notice before coming to pick me up and driving me off somewhere?”
Tatsuya paused at that, “…no.” he admitted.
Kazuya grinned, “So,” he said idly, “What’s up?”
“Well, first I want to know exactly what’s going on with you.” Tatsuya said seriously, and glanced at Kazuya briefly before turning his eyes back onto the road.
“What?” Kazuya asked incredulously, “What do you mean by that?”
“Kazuya,” Tatsuya glanced over again, “First of all, I’m your best friend so you can’t hide a lot from me, even if you try. I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me that bastard was threatening you -”
“And like I told you, there wasn’t anything you could have done about it,” Kazuya said, “You really didn’t have to give Koki and Junno such a hard time for not noticing. Nobody did.”
“Except Akanishi, apparently.” Tatsuya said pointedly.
“Because he suspected and forced the truth out of Reio,” Kazuya said defensively, “And what does he have to do with anything anyways?”
Tatsuya raised an eyebrow.
“Maybe,” he replied, “It’s because when I went to pick you up this morning, Akanishi - the younger one - told me ‘Kazuya ran off home last night, and Jin decided to be an overbearing idiot and followed’. So tell me, Kazu-chan, how’s it going with Akanishi?” he asked with a raised eyebrow and a deceivingly bright smile.
Kazuya squirmed, “It’s not what you think.” He said defensively, “Jin was worried because he thought I shouldn’t be left to walk alone with my injuries still healing.”
Tatsuya raised an eyebrow, “And yet, he came after you in the middle of the night.”
Kazuya shot him a look, “You would have done it too. Don’t make it out like it’s some super extreme reaction.”
“But I,” Tatsuya said with a raised eyebrow, “haven’t been ignoring you up to this year, for some odd reason.” He said with a knowing look, “And I also haven’t been your crush.” He added, smothering a laugh at Kazuya’s expression.
“I did not -”
“Kazuya.” Tatsuya said almost sternly, as they came to a traffic light and he looked over at Kazuya, “I know there’s something bothering you lately.” He said in concern, “And I know you want to deal with whatever it is yourself, so I’m just giving you a chance to talk about it, if you need it.”
Kazuya hesitated as he looked at Tatsuya; to be honest, it would be great if he could talk to Tatsuya about this; the older boy had always been good at listening to Kazuya’s problems and giving him advice. Despite appearances though, Tatsuya knew when not to be overprotective and when to back off and let Kazuya do his own thing - until it got to be too much, which was probably why Tatsuya was choosing now to talk about it.
“If…” Kazuya started cautiously, “Just if. If there had been something bothering you since you were a child…and you have the chance to find out the truth behind it…would you take it, even if it meant the truth might hurt?” he asked quietly.
Tatsuya stopped, and as the light changed again, put his foot on the gas pedal, “What’s this about?” he asked in return.
Kazuya’s shrug caused him to frown.
“I guess I would want to know…” Tatsuya said hesitantly, “Maybe not at first, but…I think I’d eventually want to find out. I can’t just ignore something that’s been affecting me for that long…does that answer your question?”
Kazuya let out a sigh, “Yeah. That’s how I felt about it…” he muttered.
“Kazuya…what is it that’s bothering you?” Tatsuya asked in concern.
“I - I can’t tell you about it, Tat-chan,” Kazuya said with a forced smile, “I don’t think you would believe me. But…”
“Does this have to do with Akanishi?” Tatsuya interrupted.
Kazuya hesitated before nodding.
“He…it affects both him and I, you know…” Kazuya said, “But…but he doesn’t want to find out the truth, when I do…and I told him I wouldn’t involve him anymore…but…” he gave a frustrated look at Tatsuya and shrugged, “I just…I just think if I don’t find out the truth, I’ll never be able to let it go.”
Tatsuya was silent.
“I don’t know, Tat-chan; I don’t want to make it more painful for him, but I can’t stop thinking about it. What should I do?” he asked with an almost pleading tone, “I don’t know what I should do. I said I’d stop…but…”
Tatsuya waited a moment, to park the car on the side of the road, before turning to Kazuya. He sighed, “I think I got my question from earlier answered. You still have feelings for him…no matter how many times you’ve denied that you haven’t had feelings for him. You did, Kazuya, even if you didn’t realize it yourself. You were blinded by your past friendship with him; there aren’t many people who hold onto their childhood friends so desperately like you did. He’s special to you, and I think deep inside, you might have known that, but since he was an old friend, you wrote it up as missing what you used to have. But I watched you last year, you know, to make sure nobody messed with you…and I saw the way you acted around him.”
Kazuya was staring at Tatsuya, slack-jawed, “But…”
Tatsuya looked piercingly at Kazuya, “Normally, I’d let you figure it out on your own, but I just want to tell you that before I go on. You can accept it, or ignore it, but think about it…think about the way you and he act together, and the way you and I act together. I can bet your heart doesn’t beat quickly the moment you see me or whatever happens.”
Kazuya was still looking strangely at Tatsuya, trying to ignore that nagging voice in the back of his head that told him that Tatsuya made a few good points. But as much as he tried to ignore that voice, the more it nagged, and the more he thought about previous years, when he would feel his heart leap the moment he saw Jin and would rush over to try to talk to him, and he remembered the intense hurt he would feel when Jin brushed him off - on purpose now, he knew, but it still hurt so much at the time and…
“See,” Tatsuya crowed victoriously; he could see the dawning or realization on his face, “You just wrote it off as eagerness to reconnect with your friend, but it was actually something else.”
Kazuya was still looking stubborn, but he had a slightly dumbfounded look on his face.
“Anyways, my point. If he cares about you as much as you obviously care about him, then he won’t stop you from doing what you think is right. It’s worrying you so much and probably driving you crazy; you need to find out the truth, and if he cared even half as much about you as you do about him, then he’ll let you do what seems right to you. He won’t stop you, and if he tries, then…” Tatsuya trailed off, “If he understands you even a little bit, cares about you even a little bit, then he won’t get angry at you. Besides…” he smirked, “You only said you wouldn’t involve him; you never promised anything about not going about it yourself right?”
Kazuya blinked at Tatsuya.
“Anyways, I’ll leave you think about that,” Tatsuya said with a flash of a grin, “Now how about we go somewhere fun to distract you.”
Kazuya was taken back for a moment at the sudden change of topic, but he quickly recovered, “Alright,” he agreed with a smile, but there was still a pensive look on his face as he thought about what Tatsuya had just told him.
While Tatsuya was technically right, he couldn’t go behind Jin’s back could he?
And what’s more…
He couldn’t like Jin…could he?
And yet, at the thought of it, all he got for an answer was his heartbeat quickening furiously.
Next to Kazuya, Tatsuya smiled a knowing smile.
* * *
----- part 4 -------
pairing: akame, ryouchi (implied XD)
rating: pg-13
Summary: sequel to Concrete Angel. They always knew they were special to each other, that no matter what drove them apart, they'd always have each other in some way or another, but is there more connecting them than just lifelong friendship? What is the meaning behind these haunting dreams that tore them apart in the first place?
part 1-1 | part 1-2 | part 1-3 | part 1-4 | part 1-5 | part 1-6 |
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part 2-1 | part 2-2 |
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Kazuya eyes were closed as he sat at the kitchen table in his home, across from Jin. He had brought his bag and school stuff for the next day with him when he had come over here, so the file was with him. It laid in the middle of the table between them, and he sat there, knowing Jin was watching him, trying to figure out the best way to start this conversation.
“Kazuya?” Jin’s voice broke through his thoughts and he opened his eyes, still not quite sure how to start the conversation, but he knew Jin’s patience couldn’t hold out for much longer.
“You already know what’s in that file…” Kazuya decided to start this way; to be honest, he was just stalling for time as he tried to organize his thoughts, “You know that years ago, there were two children…with the same names and faces as us, who were abused and they died,” he was recounting the facts but it seemed like it was necessary to say all this even though Jin already knew this, “And….the little boy that was named Kazuya, had a friend named Jin, who apparently, greatly resembled the Jin who died, despite the fact that evidence of his existence only started to appear in Kazuya’s life after Jin’s death…”
This was the unbelievable part; well, everything was, but the most unbelievable part was that somehow, those two children had somehow been able to meet, despite the fact that one had already died at the hands of abuse.
“I…” Kazuya took a deep breath as he looked down at the table, “I know, I know how unbelievable it is. I went through all the facts so many times in my head, and I know it shouldn’t make sense, but somehow, Jin, somehow it does.” He looked pleading at Jin, wishing that it could be that easy for Jin to believe him on this. Jin was looking at him with a guarded expression though, not quite willing to accept that it was true.
“I know…” Kazuya started again, shuddering, “I remember everything I see in these dreams we have. They’re like…without this file, these dreams and the condition in which they happen, would just seem like a coincidence; but everything’s like pieces of a puzzle that have been lost, that only we have access to. They make everything make more sense. With this information, it completes the puzzle, Jin…like...” he faltered, “Everything I know about my dreams matches completely with the information here…this Kazuya lived with his uncle, and the scenes of the crime…they match what I know. I know that in my dreams, there’s only one person, a man - always the same man hurting me…Him.”
Jin was looking far away, as though his mind had travelled somewhere out of reach.
“In my dreams…” Jin said quietly, sounding distant, “There’s…sometimes a woman, but no matter how much I plead for help, she just walks out the door. And then…there’s a man - he looks a bit like me…and…” his breathing was growing panicked and Kazuya stared in worry, before getting up to go to Jin…just as the older boy threw his hands up, his mind still lost in the memory of that dream, “I didn’t mean to!” Jin cried out softly, suddenly.
Kazuya felt his heart beat faster in fear of what Jin was seeing - he knew himself how easy it was to get lost in the memories of those dreams…sometimes, no matter how much he tried to repress them, they came to him in the day and it was all he could do to try to separate dream from reality.
“Jin,” he threw an arm around the older boy, trying to get Jin to face him, to look at him, “Jin, it’s me. You know me, right?” he tried to soothe the panicked and scared older teen, “Jin, please…”
It started slowly, but Jin began to lose that scared expression from his face, as he lowered his arm to stop protecting himself from an invisible enemy.
“Kazuya…” Jin breathed, eyes shadowed as he looked around, “I thought…how…”
“It’s happened to me too. When I began to accept that maybe…this was all real at one point, it wasn’t just a terrible nightmare,” Kazuya began with difficulty, “I got them during the day as well, not just when I was asleep. I think…I think we used to be them, Jin. We used to be those children…”
Jin stared in shock at Kazuya; it was one thing to imply it, but it was another to say it outright, “No!” he protested, but his shoulders slumped, “It can’t be…that’s…”
“Impossible?” Kazuya asked softly, “Jin, what happens to us every time we close our eyes in the same house is impossible. What happens every time we get close is impossible!” he said, trying not to let his emotions get the better of him; it wasn’t either of their faults that the only time they had ever been free of those dreams since they were seven and nine years old respectively had been when Jin had tried to distance himself from Kazuya.
“Kazuya…”
“We can’t run away from this Jin…no matter how hard we try,” Kazuya said, burying his head in his hands, “We’ve tried that; it didn’t work. At least in my case, it won’t. You mean too much to me, and…” he let out a frustrated sob, “I…I don’t know if I can deal with this alone anymore.” He admitted, letting all the weight that he had been holding up since he found out crash onto him, “Please believe me…”
Jin felt a bit of his heart break at the sight of Kazuya like that - everything was obviously taking a toll on the younger boy. He could see the exhaustion in the younger boy’s face, the entire ‘please, someone, just help me!’ vibe that his entire body was giving out - he had been dealing with this alone, slowly unable to deny what he knew was true in his mind.
“Kazuya…” he reached over, pulling the younger man to him, “Kazuya…”
“I can’t do this anymore, Jin…if you don’t believe me today, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I can’t take dealing with this alone anymore. I…” Kazuya shook his head as he looked up at Jin, “I’ve told you why I believe it; even though it’s supposed to not make sense, it actually does - everything about that situation and ours. It explains why I dream of a younger you in my dreams, and it explains why the dreams always feel so real…”
“But…” Jin froze, “But what if it’s something else; what if we had heard about it when we were little and just got so scared that we keep having these dreams?”
“Then they should have continued when we grew apart…” Kazuya said slowly, “And the dreams are too real to be made up…not when they seem to connect to each other…”
Jin closed his eyes; he really didn’t want to believe it. He wanted nothing more than for Kazuya to burst into a grin and yell out ‘Gotcha!’ and he could get annoyed for a bit and then laugh, because it would be such a relief if it really was a joke.
“I…I can’t…” Jin said slowly, pushing down that part of his mind that told him that Kazuya had every reason to believe that it was true, and he had every reason in the world to believe Kazuya - because it was Kazuya telling him. If it had been anyone else…
If it had been anyone else, Jin would have just laughed and told them to shut up about it, because there was no way something like that was real.
Kazuya looked at him with a crestfallen expression.
“I…it’s not that I don’t believe in you,” Jin tried to say, not sure why it was suddenly so important to make sure Kazuya knew he wasn’t distrustful of him, “But…but I really don’t want to believe that it’s true.” He finished, looking pleadingly at Kazuya, “Why can’t we just leave it alone and accept it as it is?” he asked as he gripped Kazuya’s arm tightly, “Why do you have to keep trying to find out more? I...I don’t want to find out more.”
“Jin…” Kazuya could only stare at the hand gripping his arm so tightly that it was almost painful. He could see the desperation in Jin’s eyes.
“We can be normal, can’t we, Kazuya? We can just go on like we’ve always been - without finding out more, can’t we?” Jin asked, “That’s…that’s all I want. I don’t want to find out more, I don’t want to put the pieces of that puzzle together; I’d rather just leave it unfinished. I don’t want to find out the entire story, like I know you want to.”
Kazuya looked at Jin with sad eyes; he did want to find out what had happened, but…
How was he supposed to ignore Jin’s wishes like that?
He ducked his head, as he slowly asked, “But you do believe me…that there’s something more going on?” he asked hesitantly.
Jin’s soft answer of, “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be telling you that I don’t want to find out the whole truth…I believe you, Kazuya, but…but this is something I don’t want to know the truth about.” He said fiercely, “I know parts of the truth, and…isn’t that enough? I believe you when you say there’s probably something more going on, but I don’t want to find out the whole truth! I don’t want to find out the whole truth…”
Kazuya sighed heavily as he slowly unhooked Jin’s fingers from his arm, “Then…I guess, that’s all I can ask for. As long as you believe me, and I’m not alone in thinking that…I won’t bother you about it anymore.” He said quietly, “You won’t have to worry, because I won’t bring it up around you anymore.”
Jin’s breath of relief was enough to convince himself he was doing the right thing, even though a part of him, deep inside, was crying at the thought - as he tried to convince himself that it was right to stop searching for the truth about what he knew was a part of him.
Was it really alright to forget the past like it didn’t exist, when he knew it did?
What if…
What if the point of these dreams had always been to find out the truth?
But Jin’s relieved smile, directed at him, made him push those thoughts aside - he couldn’t bring more pain to Jin…
He wouldn’t bother Jin about this issue anymore, even if all his instincts were screaming at him that he was doing the wrong thing.
How was he supposed to choose between what he wanted and what would make someone he cared about happy?
But he just knew…
The past would hurt, and he couldn’t force Jin to go through that, not even if it meant he wouldn’t be alone in the pain.
* * *
Jin woke up the next day in Kazuya’s living room, having fallen asleep on the couch, on the opposite end of the couch from Kazuya, who was lying on the opposite arm of the couch, blankets covering him as he slept on. A sleepy smile graced his lips as he thought about the conversation last night, and the reassurance that he wouldn’t need to worry about whatever the truth behind the dreams were. To him, it just…it just seemed better to be ignorant than to know the truth.
He moved out from under the blankets covering him and moved to sit on his knees next to Kazuya’s end of the couch, poking the younger boy on the arm softly, “Kazuya…” he called out.
The younger boy shifted, but didn’t wake up, burrowing deeper into the back of the couch, unwilling to get up and face the day.
“Kazuya,” Jin tried again, but the younger boy was stubborn and simply slept on, ignoring Jin’s attempts to wake him up. Jin sighed as he moved to sit on what little part of the couch that was available, practically falling off as he propped himself up by placing his hand on the back of the couch, leaning over Kazuya to look at Kazuya’s sleeping face.
“Kazuya…” Jin called, suddenly trailing off as he looked at the peaceful expression on the younger man’s face. He smiled softly; it wasn’t often that he saw Kazuya sleep peacefully. Between their nightmares and the stay in the hospital, Jin had rarely seen Kazuya go through a peaceful night in the past few weeks.
He reached a hand out to brush a strand of hair out of Kazuya’s eyes. The movement made Kazuya shift again, and his lips parted in a complaining groan.
“Sorry…” Jin whispered with a smile; he really had to be grateful to the younger man. Kazuya could have very well forced the issue with finding out everything behind the nightmares, but he didn’t. He had given into Jin’s probably very selfish wishes, and Jin was more relieved than anything.
Jin paused as he continued to stare at Kazuya, for some reason, unable to take his eyes away from the younger man at the moment. He watched as the younger boy’s eyebrows furrow in distress; obviously, whatever Kazuya was dreaming about had turned from good to bad. He felt his heart skip a beat in dread at the distressed look on Kazuya’s face.
He reached a hand forward, putting it on Kazuya’s cheek, and he leaned forward, saying soft, comforting, words to Kazuya’s sleeping form, “It’s alright…it’s just a dream…” Jin said quietly, but he knew there was probably no way Kazuya could hear him.
Despite that, soon after, Kazuya let out a soft sigh in his sleep.
Jin found himself letting out a similar sigh of relief; for some reason, seeing Kazuya in distress made him panic. He wondered why that was.
As he looked at Kazuya again, he froze, suddenly aware of how close he had moved to Kazuya; his face was mere inches from Kazuya’s, his lips hovering just as close to Kazuya’s.
His heart skipped a beat, but not in fear this time; Jin could hear his own heart pounding in his ears as he looked at Kazuya, so close to him, and for some reason, despite how his mind was telling him to just move away, he couldn’t. He just stayed there, so close to Kazuya, but unmoving.
His heart was beating so fast, and for some reason, he just felt like…he should move closer, just a bit closer. Just a bit closer, and his lips would touch Kazuya’s and -
His eyes closed as he felt his lips brush softly upon a pair of soft, yet slightly chapped, lips; their lips were barely touching, but it was enough to make a rush of feeling go through Jin and then his eyes flew open and he jumped back, falling to the ground, and touching his lips in shock. What had he just done? Why did…why did he just do that?!
“Jin?” the sound of Jin crashing onto the polished wooden floorboards had woken Kazuya up when even all his attempts before couldn’t.
He saw Kazuya sit up sleepily, looking at him strangely.
Jin’s eyes were wide as he stared at Kazuya, “Um…I think we have to get ready for school…” he said lamely, just as his phone vibrated. He blinked at the text message that had arrived.
Bakanishi! You’ve missed first AND second period! Are you sick?!
Jin’s eyes widened even more, “We missed first and second period Kazuya!” he blurted out in panic, “We’re so late!”
Kazuya, who had been looking sleepily at Jin, suddenly jumped up, “What?!”
“We - we have to…” Jin was panicking, “I…” He was going to get into so much trouble for missing half a day of school! And he didn’t exactly have a good excuse to explain why he was late either - after all, sleeping in was hardly going to get him out of detention and…and…
Kazuya put a hand on Jin’s shoulder to calm the older boy down, “You go back home, get your stuff and get changed. I’ll get ready and meet you at your place.”
“No, I’ll come back here.” Jin said determinedly, “I’m not letting you walk alone in your condition.”
Kazuya opened his mouth to protest, but he stopped himself at the look in Jin’s eyes and nodded hesitantly, “Alright…” he said absently and then he paused, “Jin…”
“Yeah?” Jin asked as he was putting his shoes on.
“…I guess we’re going to go on as though that file doesn’t mean anything right?” Kazuya asked uncertainly.
Jin froze for a moment, before he stood up with a nod, “…if that’s okay with you.” He said hopefully.
Kazuya looked hesitant, but he nodded, “I suppose…yeah, if that’s what you want…” he said, almost sounding sad, “You should go, or we won’t be there in time for afternoon classes.” He said with forced cheer.
Jin stared worriedly at Kazuya, before nodding and leaving with a wave and a call of, “I’ll be back!”.
Kazuya had sounded slightly sad that they were pretending the file didn’t mean anything, but…Jin was sure Kazuya would see why it was better to pretend it wasn’t anything important. In the end, it was better to not know too much about it, he knew.
Jin put his fingers to his lips, suddenly feeling a heat in his cheeks; he had a different problem to worry about now…
Why did I do that?
* * *
“You’re late,” Ryo said blandly when Jin arrived in the cafeteria with messy hair that had a completely ‘slept in’ look, his uniform hastily put on carelessly, and the boy himself looking as though he had just woken up.
“Shut up, I know.” Jin retorted, rolling his eyes at Ryo, “I got your text message. Should you have been texting in class?” he asked pointedly.
“The teacher stepped out for a bit,” Ryo retorted, “And it’s not like he’d notice anyways. I’m at the back of the room.”
Jin grumbled in acknowledgement of that point. He paused when he saw that Kazuya had entered the cafeteria with his friend and was looking around for a table to sit at. Jin suddenly reddened, remembering what happened earlier and forced himself to keep looking around the cafeteria to avoid Ryo’s suddenly piercing look.
But obviously, Ryo wasn’t going to leave it alone.
“Your ears are red,” Ryo stated blandly, and then he spotted Kazuya as well and grinned, “Oh, I see.”
“Shut up Ryo!” Jin snapped before Ryo could say what he knew Ryo was going to say. He glared at the younger boy, but Ryo merely smirked knowingly.
“You seem more agitated than usual when I mention Kamenashi today,” Ryo commented idly, leaning back in his chair.
Jin glared, unable to keep his cheeks from reddening more; so what if he was more annoyed than usual when Ryo made mentions of the ‘relationship’ he had with Kazuya. It didn’t mean anything!
Just like…
Just like this morning didn’t mean anything…right?
But no matter how much he tried to convince himself of that, as he remembered the feel of his lips on Kazuya’s, he couldn’t help but feel a pang.
A sudden wish that Kazuya had been awake at the time, even though Jin told himself that that would have just been disastrous and full of misunderstandings.
A jolt went through him suddenly and Jin jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up, among snickers form his friends, and saw Kazuya standing there, next to his gangster-looking friend.
“Jin?” Kazuya asked in confusion; Jin saw, with another pang, a different sort of pang, that Kazuya still looked hesitant and unsure when looking at him.
“What?” Jin asked, as memories of this morning came back to him, and he began to panic, “What? I didn’t do anything; if you think I did anything, then you’re wrong. You were dreaming or something, I don’t know, but I didn’t do it! You’re imagining things Kazuya. You must be too bored or something and - it wasn’t me, whatever it is you’re thinking of -”
“I just wanted to tell you that Tat-chan’s coming to pick me up after school today, so you don’t need to wait for me unless you want a ride, and that if you want one, I’ll convince Tat-chan to drive you?”
Ignoring Ryo’s muttered insults about Ueda under his breath, Jin blinked, turning red again as he realized that Toma and Pi were staring at him strangely, not sure whether to laugh or to take Jin to a doctor, and that he couldn’t stop staring at Kazuya’s face, which of course, had lips on them. The lips Jin had…
“Um, sure!” Jin agreed quickly, averting his eyes so that he could try to suppress the heat going to his cheeks, “I’ll go bug Ryo after school today!”
Kazuya flashed a smile at Jin, and the older boy waited until Kazuya was out of sight before he stopped trying not to blush and let out a sigh of relief.
“Jin, you’re all red~”
Jin groaned.
* * *
Tatsuya had already had his car parked outside when Kazuya got out of classes and ran out to meet his best friend. Koki and Junno followed not too far behind, eager to see their friend.
“Maru says to tell you that he’ll be by after he gets off his part-time job,” Tatsuya said to Koki, who nodded with a grin, “He also says not to kick and pick on Junno too much.”
Junno grinned in agreement at that, “See? Hear that?”
Koki kicked him.
Tatsuya raised an eyebrow while Kazuya’s lips twitched, “Did you tell Maru that he shouldn’t hold out much hope for that happening?”
Tatsuya nodded, “I did, but he told me to try anyways. I think he underestimates Junno’s ability to annoy Koki, and overestimates Koki’s resilience against Junno.”
Kazuya grinned, “As long as he’s prepared for bad news.”
“Anyways, Koki and Junno aside, you all set to go?” Tatsuya asked, raising an eyebrow at Kazuya, who looked around searchingly for a moment, before nodding.
“Sure,” Kazuya agreed, “I’ll see you tomorrow guys.” He addressed to Koki and Junno. Koki stopped advancing on Junno with a mock glare on his face, and waved with a huge grin, “See you tomorrow Kame-chan!”
“Bye Kame-chan!” Junno echoed with a bright smile, “See you later Tat-chan!” he added, earning a grin from the oldest one there.
As Tatsuya drove off, Kazuya shot a glance over at his best friend, “So why did you want to hang out today?” he asked idly. Tatsuya had called Junno, who had given the phone to Kazuya, to tell Kazuya that he wanted to hang out today, no protests that he had to finish homework allowed.
Tatsuya raised an eyebrow, “Do I need a reason to spend time with my best friend?”
Kazuya copied the motion, “Do you usually give me more than ten minutes’ notice before coming to pick me up and driving me off somewhere?”
Tatsuya paused at that, “…no.” he admitted.
Kazuya grinned, “So,” he said idly, “What’s up?”
“Well, first I want to know exactly what’s going on with you.” Tatsuya said seriously, and glanced at Kazuya briefly before turning his eyes back onto the road.
“What?” Kazuya asked incredulously, “What do you mean by that?”
“Kazuya,” Tatsuya glanced over again, “First of all, I’m your best friend so you can’t hide a lot from me, even if you try. I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me that bastard was threatening you -”
“And like I told you, there wasn’t anything you could have done about it,” Kazuya said, “You really didn’t have to give Koki and Junno such a hard time for not noticing. Nobody did.”
“Except Akanishi, apparently.” Tatsuya said pointedly.
“Because he suspected and forced the truth out of Reio,” Kazuya said defensively, “And what does he have to do with anything anyways?”
Tatsuya raised an eyebrow.
“Maybe,” he replied, “It’s because when I went to pick you up this morning, Akanishi - the younger one - told me ‘Kazuya ran off home last night, and Jin decided to be an overbearing idiot and followed’. So tell me, Kazu-chan, how’s it going with Akanishi?” he asked with a raised eyebrow and a deceivingly bright smile.
Kazuya squirmed, “It’s not what you think.” He said defensively, “Jin was worried because he thought I shouldn’t be left to walk alone with my injuries still healing.”
Tatsuya raised an eyebrow, “And yet, he came after you in the middle of the night.”
Kazuya shot him a look, “You would have done it too. Don’t make it out like it’s some super extreme reaction.”
“But I,” Tatsuya said with a raised eyebrow, “haven’t been ignoring you up to this year, for some odd reason.” He said with a knowing look, “And I also haven’t been your crush.” He added, smothering a laugh at Kazuya’s expression.
“I did not -”
“Kazuya.” Tatsuya said almost sternly, as they came to a traffic light and he looked over at Kazuya, “I know there’s something bothering you lately.” He said in concern, “And I know you want to deal with whatever it is yourself, so I’m just giving you a chance to talk about it, if you need it.”
Kazuya hesitated as he looked at Tatsuya; to be honest, it would be great if he could talk to Tatsuya about this; the older boy had always been good at listening to Kazuya’s problems and giving him advice. Despite appearances though, Tatsuya knew when not to be overprotective and when to back off and let Kazuya do his own thing - until it got to be too much, which was probably why Tatsuya was choosing now to talk about it.
“If…” Kazuya started cautiously, “Just if. If there had been something bothering you since you were a child…and you have the chance to find out the truth behind it…would you take it, even if it meant the truth might hurt?” he asked quietly.
Tatsuya stopped, and as the light changed again, put his foot on the gas pedal, “What’s this about?” he asked in return.
Kazuya’s shrug caused him to frown.
“I guess I would want to know…” Tatsuya said hesitantly, “Maybe not at first, but…I think I’d eventually want to find out. I can’t just ignore something that’s been affecting me for that long…does that answer your question?”
Kazuya let out a sigh, “Yeah. That’s how I felt about it…” he muttered.
“Kazuya…what is it that’s bothering you?” Tatsuya asked in concern.
“I - I can’t tell you about it, Tat-chan,” Kazuya said with a forced smile, “I don’t think you would believe me. But…”
“Does this have to do with Akanishi?” Tatsuya interrupted.
Kazuya hesitated before nodding.
“He…it affects both him and I, you know…” Kazuya said, “But…but he doesn’t want to find out the truth, when I do…and I told him I wouldn’t involve him anymore…but…” he gave a frustrated look at Tatsuya and shrugged, “I just…I just think if I don’t find out the truth, I’ll never be able to let it go.”
Tatsuya was silent.
“I don’t know, Tat-chan; I don’t want to make it more painful for him, but I can’t stop thinking about it. What should I do?” he asked with an almost pleading tone, “I don’t know what I should do. I said I’d stop…but…”
Tatsuya waited a moment, to park the car on the side of the road, before turning to Kazuya. He sighed, “I think I got my question from earlier answered. You still have feelings for him…no matter how many times you’ve denied that you haven’t had feelings for him. You did, Kazuya, even if you didn’t realize it yourself. You were blinded by your past friendship with him; there aren’t many people who hold onto their childhood friends so desperately like you did. He’s special to you, and I think deep inside, you might have known that, but since he was an old friend, you wrote it up as missing what you used to have. But I watched you last year, you know, to make sure nobody messed with you…and I saw the way you acted around him.”
Kazuya was staring at Tatsuya, slack-jawed, “But…”
Tatsuya looked piercingly at Kazuya, “Normally, I’d let you figure it out on your own, but I just want to tell you that before I go on. You can accept it, or ignore it, but think about it…think about the way you and he act together, and the way you and I act together. I can bet your heart doesn’t beat quickly the moment you see me or whatever happens.”
Kazuya was still looking strangely at Tatsuya, trying to ignore that nagging voice in the back of his head that told him that Tatsuya made a few good points. But as much as he tried to ignore that voice, the more it nagged, and the more he thought about previous years, when he would feel his heart leap the moment he saw Jin and would rush over to try to talk to him, and he remembered the intense hurt he would feel when Jin brushed him off - on purpose now, he knew, but it still hurt so much at the time and…
“See,” Tatsuya crowed victoriously; he could see the dawning or realization on his face, “You just wrote it off as eagerness to reconnect with your friend, but it was actually something else.”
Kazuya was still looking stubborn, but he had a slightly dumbfounded look on his face.
“Anyways, my point. If he cares about you as much as you obviously care about him, then he won’t stop you from doing what you think is right. It’s worrying you so much and probably driving you crazy; you need to find out the truth, and if he cared even half as much about you as you do about him, then he’ll let you do what seems right to you. He won’t stop you, and if he tries, then…” Tatsuya trailed off, “If he understands you even a little bit, cares about you even a little bit, then he won’t get angry at you. Besides…” he smirked, “You only said you wouldn’t involve him; you never promised anything about not going about it yourself right?”
Kazuya blinked at Tatsuya.
“Anyways, I’ll leave you think about that,” Tatsuya said with a flash of a grin, “Now how about we go somewhere fun to distract you.”
Kazuya was taken back for a moment at the sudden change of topic, but he quickly recovered, “Alright,” he agreed with a smile, but there was still a pensive look on his face as he thought about what Tatsuya had just told him.
While Tatsuya was technically right, he couldn’t go behind Jin’s back could he?
And what’s more…
He couldn’t like Jin…could he?
And yet, at the thought of it, all he got for an answer was his heartbeat quickening furiously.
Next to Kazuya, Tatsuya smiled a knowing smile.
* * *
----- part 4 -------