Home Part 5
"We sure bought a lot today!" A girl, Rin, exclaimed to her two friends.
"You wouldn't have expected it from the way it looked on the outside."
"Right! What a surprise! This really is a nice town, isn't it, Sakuya-chan?" The girl turned to the friend in the middle, who had been looking at the ground, distracted. "...Sakuya-chan?" She waited for an answer, but quickly became impatient. She stood in front of her friend, blocking her way and yelling, "Sakuya-chan!"
Sakuya jumped, startled. "Eh? Ah, I'm sorry, I wasn't-"
"You weren't again, were you?"
Sakuya looked at her sheepishly. "Weren't what?"
Rin groaned. "You were! You were thinking about him again!"
"I...Sorry..." She looked away from her friend, biting her lip.
"Sakuya, how many times do we have to tell you? Just forget about that guy! Move on! That guy practically left you at the alter! He knew you two were supposed to get hitched and got cold feet!"
"I know, I know! But it's not entirely my fault! I mean, my parents and his are good friends and all and are pushing for us. So, it's not just me!"
Rin wasn't convinced. "Don't make excuses. We all know you had high hopes. What you were hoping for, I have no clue! He was such an angry guy anyway! What could you see in him?!"
"Well, I was hoping maybe I could change all that."
"Geh, you live on a cloud. Guys like that don't change, no matter what. I mean, really, Sakuya! What's wrong with his head? How could he say no to you?! You're rich, have a wonderful personality, have showed him nothing but kindness, and you're totally beautiful! He had no reason to leave you. And to make things worse, you're still staying in his apartment, aren't you? That's bad, Sakuya."
"My own has been sold already so..."
"Find a new one. Move out of there. Forget about him. Hell, I have! I don't even remember his name!"
"Su-"
"No! Don't you say it! Don't make me remember!" Rin turned quickly on her heels, heading in the other direction.
"She may talk like that, but she's just looking out for you, Sakuya." Her other friend patted her shoulder and ran to catch up. Sakuya paused a moment before walking forward slowly to follow. If she was being honest to her friends, it wasn't because of her parents that she wasn't moving on, or the fact her apartment had been sold that she was still staying in his. Even though she hadn't known him very well, that being his fault for not opening up, she hoped that he would come back for her. That he really didn't hate her as much as he made it seem. She hoped that the reason he left was simply because he wasn't ready yet, and once he was, he would be back. But it had been a while since then, and with her friends telling her to move on, she was starting to lose those hopes.
She sighed heavily, deciding that her friends must be right. It certainly couldn't be healthy to be this way. She thought, she'd definitely give up this time. After many scoldings from her friend, this time she would for sure. As she thought this, she didn't even realize there were other people on the walk way. What had these people thought of her, as she stood there the way she was? She hadn't even been standing still. She must have looked so weird! She hurried forward, trying not to be noticed any further. But when she passed a few people, she stopped. She turned, staring at two people walking away from her.
~*~
Shota sat on the floor, facing the bed and the person still sleeping on it. He had already been awake a while, waiting for this person to wake up, but he realized that that wouldn't be happening if that was all Shota was doing. He looked at the clock on the side table, and it was still a little early, but not as early as they usually have to get up. Shota scootched himself closer to the bed, shaking Subaru's shoulder, to only get an annoyed groan.
"Subaru..." Shota said, rather quietly. The rest of the house was still asleep, and he would probably face a terrible wrath from them if he woke them up. Shota shook him again. "It's time to wake uuup...."
Shota jumped slightly when Subaru moved, anticipating getting hit, but he had only moved to look at the clock, then drop back down. "It's to early."
"It's eight. And it's a day off so-"
"It's a day off, so we sleep in."
"We open late on weekends, so we sleep in then. On days off, we do something fun! Days off are rare, you know that! It's a day off, so lets go on a date!" Shota didn't get an answer. "Well if you don't want to do anything, fine. I'll just go out and have fun by myself then! It's more fun that way anyway!" Shota stood and left the room, slamming the door behind him. He stood by the door and waited. He put his ear to the door so see if he could hear anything, but he couldn't tell. He opened the door a crack, quietly, just to see that that guy hadn't moved an inch. "You're seriously not going to get up?!" Shota flung the door open, having it hit the wall loudly, and as soon as it happened he got a huge, hard smack on the back of the head.
"It's eight in the morning, Yasu!" Hina yelled. "Some people are still trying to sleep!" Shota knelt on the ground, holding his head. Hina looked toward the bed, to the source of Shota's behavior, having heard laughing. "That's funny? It won't be so funny when I come over there and do it to you too! It's half your fault!" Hina stalked away back to his room. Shota was still on the floor, willing the pain to go away, wondering if Hina might've finally given someone a concussion.
"Not fair, not fair at all." Shota mumbled. "Its your fault, all your fault. Then I get hit and you laugh at me. Not nice at all. And you're still sitting there, not even moving to see if I'm alright. I'm not, you know. Have you even been hit by Hina yet? No sympathy, none at all."
By then, Subaru had gotten up, walking to Shota and pulling him up by the arm. "You're so dramatic."
"Am not. It seriously hurts." Shota looked at him and pouted, hoping to get some sympathy, or even pity, from him.
"Did it really hurt that much?" Subaru put his hand on the back of Shota's head, like he was feeling for a bump or something. Shota was happy that he finally realized he wasn't just acting like it hurt. But it didn't last long when Subaru decided to muss his hair there, and hard, too.
"Ow- Subaru! Whats wrong with you!"
"I'm going to get ready." he said while leaving the room, looking over and smirking at Shota.
~*~
"I thought we could do a few things today!" Shota announced as they walked toward town. Because Subaru decided it would be fun to be a jerk this morning, it took them an extra hour to actually leave the house. "First, we could go to this movie that's showing this morning. Then, we could do some shopping, too. I've been saving up money, and if you need some you can borrow. Then, after that, we'll go eat something!"
"Have you been planning this or something?"
"Just since last night. I thought about it when we went to sleep, so I've been sort of excited since then."
"But you've probably been on dates before, haven't you?"
"No. What gave you that idea? You know. Anyway, It doesn't matter if you've been on a thousand dates. If it's with someone new and one you like very much, you still get all excited. But you haven't been on any, right?"
"Just a 'blind date' or whatever you want to call it with that girl. But that doesn't even count."
"Then you should be more excited!" Shota burst out. "Don't make me the only excited one!" It was almost funny how animated Shota got about these things. But Subaru decided not to laugh at him. He'd already made him put up with enough this morning. "Well, unless you really don't want to do anything I chose..." Shota put on a pout.
"Hmm..." He said, pretending to think about it. Shota tensed, wondering if the things he chose were really the wrong things. "No, it sounds fine."
Shota sighed in relief, taking Subaru's hand in his and pulling him into the town.
***
"That movie was too long." Subaru complained. Shota would agree. It was the wrong choice of a movie for the morning. Within the first half hour of the movie, Shota looked over at Subaru, who even so early in the movie was already out. At first he thought it was really rude, until the next thing he saw on screen was the credits. It was already noon before they had gotten out. Even though Shota had also wanted to see the movie, he also thought it might have turned out at least a little romantic, like he had seen in other movies or in things he had read. But it hadn't turned out that way.
"At least we bought some nice stuff." Shota said optimistically. He had fun choosing things for Subaru to try on, even though some got rejected right away. He bought some things for himself too, but spent most of his money on Subaru, since he was the one in need of the new outfits. "You look so much better in these new clothes!"
"I know," he said back. "I could see you checking me out in the mirror."
Shota blushed at the fact he had been caught and tried to deny it. "W-Well, I mean, how else could I find out if it looked good or not? Don't be conceded!" Shota deflated. "Well, anyhow, now you're up-to-date. You won't have to wear your other plain clothes anymore."
"Thank god. You think the rest of the guys would mind if I burn them?" Subaru got a wicked look on his face.
Shota wasn't sure if mixing Subaru with fire would be a good idea. "...Well, lets eat first, okay? I'm really hungry, anyway!" Shota pulled him to start walking again. "There's this really good place that serves-"
"Subaru-kun!" A girls voice called out. Subaru felt his stomach drop. He knew that voice, and there was only one girl he knew that would call him that. He wanted to just keep walking, thinking that if he did, the girl would think she had the wrong person. But Shota had heard too, and turned to see who it was. He looked over his shoulder at her, and she was running over.
"Subaru-kun! What are you doing here?" She asked, almost frantically. "We've been wondering where you went!"
"It's none of your business!" He said back angrily. Why the hell did she have to show up here? Had she actually been looking for him or something?
"But, I mean- it sort of is! I mean, we were supposed to-"
"What do you want with me, anyway?"
She paused, then reached to take his hand. "Let me talk to you for a minute."
She pulled him away from Shota- she hadn't even noticed he was standing there- and brought him a good distance away from other people. Shota watched as Subaru barely put up a fight about being pulled, and took a few steps back to sit on the endge of a bench on the side walk, to wait.
"I thought," Sakuya said. "It might be best to talk over here, where no one can hear us. No one needs to know about peoples dirty laundry."
Not like Shota doesn't already know, Subaru thought. But considering the way Shota could be, he may not want to hear it anyway. "What do you want."
"When are you coming home?" She asked quietly, getting to the point. She didn't have much time to talk, her friends would be wondering where she was. "You just left like that, in the middle of the night, not telling anyone where you were going...What were you thinking?"
"I'm not going to go back." He said to her. "I have no intentions of ever going back there."
"But why?"
He didn't owe any explanation to her. Even if he did, she didn't need to know. She wouldn't get it anyway.
"You haven't given anything a chance. You don't know what things could be like." She leaned in, wrapping her arms around him. "Maybe...Maybe they pushed it too fast. But if we asked them to push the date back, so we can get to know each other better, I'm sure they would allow it. I can leave your place, give you more space. If you would just agree to come back with me, I could make things work between us. We could."
This girl thinks she gets it, Subaru thought. She thinks she understands what he's thinking about all of this, what she thinks the whole problem is. But she doesn't get it at all. He shoved her away, walking away from her.
"Don't you tell anyone that you saw me here. I'm not going back there. Just forget about it." He didn't look back at her, to see if she was hurt or if she left too. He couldn't care less about her. She was the one pushing things. He wasn't going to pretend he cared for her. She'd just keep on him.
He went back to Shota, who was facing the opposite direction, leaning his head in his hand on his knee. Subaru didn't think he had been over there too long, not long enough for Shota to get that bored. "Lets go now, Shota."
Shota looked up at him, and it was obvious he wasn't happy. "Can we just go home?"
Subaru was surprised by Shota's change in mood. Just a little ago he was excited. "I thought we were going to-"
"I don't feel like it anymore. I'm not hungry either, anyway."Shota stood and shoved his hands in his pocket and starting toward the house. Shota didn't look very well, so maybe he was getting sick, Subaru thought. What else could it have been? Maybe he had eaten something funny this morning.
~*~
"Looks like you've come down from your high this morning, Yasu!" Maru said, sitting next to him at the table.
"Did I wake you, too? Sorry." Shota leaned on his arm on the table.
"That's fine. But are you okay? You seem a bit down."
Shota sighed. He wondered if he should really say anything or not. Was it a big deal at all? "...We ran into her."
"Her?"
"The girl Subaru was supposed to marry. Her." Shota sighed again. "She really was pretty..."
"Was she?"
"Yeah. And, I mean really pretty. Model pretty. Eye popping pretty."
Maru knew what Shota was feeling. He must be jealous. "Y-You're pretty too, Yasu!"
The compliment didn't help much. Shota watched the activity going on in to other room, the three oldest glued to the new game system Yoko had bought. Nothing seemed to bother that guy, while everything bothered Shota. "She wanted to talk about something, and she wanted them to be alone. But I could still see them. She kept putting her hands on him. I don't know what was being said, but it didn't look like he was telling her to stop." Shota couldn't watch anymore to find out if he had, not after she hugged him like that.
"What're you thinking about that, then?"
"...What if this whole thing, what if it's a mistake on his part? I mean, he's told me before, he's never liked anyone before, and hasn't been in a relationship or anything. So, what if this is just one big mistake? What if he realizes his feelings were just messed up and directed at the wrong person? Just because I was there?" That old worry started to well up in his stomach. He thought he wouldn't have to deal with it again, but it wouldn't leave him alone.
"As an outsider, I don't think it's that way. I know your worried about it and all, but maybe you're over thinking it a little? But that, I think I'm the wrong person to be talking about this with. Don't you think you should talk with him yourself about it?"
Shota knew Maru was right, but it was a little harder to talk about it with the actual person than Maru makes it seem. Shota felt if he did, he would just make an idiot of himself. He thought maybe thinking that would put him a little at ease because, if he thought just talking about it would be stupid, maybe what he was worried about was stupid too. But it didn't.
~*~
Everyone else was probably already asleep. It was pretty late at night. The two had brought up the small DVD player into Shota's room, propping it on a small table. Their movie earlier had been a bust, but they were both pretty awake now, and this movie was ten times more entertaining. Or, for Subaru it was. Shota hadn't been paying attention to it. He still couldn't shake that weird worried feeling he'd had since earlier. He already thought it was dumb to feel that way. But every time he remembered that girl holding him, it hurt his stomach. Because of that, Shota felt uncomfortable laying there with him. Subaru acted like nothing had happened at all. But for Shota, every time he put a hand on him, it felt like he could feel her hand there too.
Shota looked at Subaru, who wouldn't have noticed. He leaned over and kissed him, just a soft, simple one. He hadn't had the chance to all day, and hoped it dissolved his feelings, at least a little.
"Hmm?" Subaru hummed, looking at him. He hadn't expected Shota to do it, but it wasn't unwelcome. He hoped Shota would give him more. But Shota's face said other wise. "What's wrong?"
"You like me, don't you?" It wasn't what Shota wanted to ask, but it came out either way.
"Yeah, I do. You know that already." He played absentmindedly with some strands of Shota's hair. "Why, don't you?"
"I do, it's just..." Shota didn't know what to say next. He'd been worrying all day, and he had the perfect time to say something, but nothing wanted to come out. "That girl was really pretty."
"Who?" Subaru didn't get at first who Shota was talking about. "Oh. Her. What does it matter?"
"Why would you want someone like me over her? She's...she seems perfect." He was just going by looks, but Shota didn't think hers would be very deceiving.
"I've told you before. I don't care about her. Why are you even comparing yourself to her?"
"I guess, I couldn't help it." Shota said honestly. He leaned into Subaru's hand as he kept playing with his hair. It felt too nice.
"If I liked her at all, if I even had a speck of feeling for her, do you think I would be here right now? That I wouldn't be with her now going back home?" Subaru didn't get Shota's thinking. He thought it would be pretty obvious. "I have no intentions of going back there. I thought you knew that already. There's nothing there for me. You're here, so this's where I want to be." He turned a little red at his last statement, finding it slightly embarrassing and cliche to say, but it was true, and seemed to put Shota at ease. He pulled Shota closer to kiss him again, holding him close, making sure Shota got his point. Shota melted into him, taking it in. He used his hand still in Shota's hair to keep him there, even though Shota wasn't about to pull away. It wasn't meant to be rough or fast. He wanted to show Shota exactly who his feelings were for.
Everything inside Shota melted away. How stupid he was, to doubt him. He had come back to him, hadn't he? He wouldn't have if he didn't like him. "So, I'm safe?" He asked when they pulled away for air. "I don't have to worry about anything?"
"Nothing." Subaru answered, even though, suddenly, he wasn't too sure about it. He knew where his feelings were. Those weren't going to change. And Shota could trust him. He just wondered if he could trust that girl. He warned her not to say anything. He told her he wasn't going back. But who knows if she will say anything or not. He hoped she would listen to him, since she claims to like him so much. But now, he really wondered.
~*~
She had just been dropped off at home, her friends just driving off. Their short vacation was over, and now she stood in front of her parents house. She had promised to visit them when she returned. She walked up the stairs and entered her home. Her parents were in the other room. She wanted to go past them, hoping she wouldn't be noticed. She didn't want to have to talk to them. She loved them very much, but it was hard to hold secrets inside of her for very long, as she had been told she was not allowed to say a word about it.
"Ah, Sakuya-chan!" Her mother called to her before she got far. "You are home!"
"I'm home." She answered back and turned to head to the washroom. She was having a lot of trouble keeping her news to herself. She hid it from her friends when they asked what took her so long to catch up. She had just said she got lost. But she was dyeing to say something to someone. She was sure if she stayed with her parents, she would blab it out. And surely, if she wanted Subaru to get to like her, breaking a promise would definitely push her away from that. He would come back when he wants to, she told herself. Without any of her help. But the secret was right on the end of her tongue.
"Why don't you come sit with us, Sakuya-chan?"
Her mother wouldn't be very happy with her if she disobeyed. She turned on her heels and took a seat next to her parents.
"So, tell us about your trip." Her parents seemed truly interested, for they had only stayed within cities and wouldn't dream of stepping food into a small town unless it was needed.
"Uhm, well it was fun..."
"What kinds of things did you buy? What was the place like?"
"Well, uhm..."
"What things did you see?"
She tried, she really had. But no matter how hard she bit her tongue, she couldn't keep it in any longer.
~*~
A/N- ~So I'll leave it there. It's the 24th, so Merry Christmas and all~.
"You wouldn't have expected it from the way it looked on the outside."
"Right! What a surprise! This really is a nice town, isn't it, Sakuya-chan?" The girl turned to the friend in the middle, who had been looking at the ground, distracted. "...Sakuya-chan?" She waited for an answer, but quickly became impatient. She stood in front of her friend, blocking her way and yelling, "Sakuya-chan!"
Sakuya jumped, startled. "Eh? Ah, I'm sorry, I wasn't-"
"You weren't again, were you?"
Sakuya looked at her sheepishly. "Weren't what?"
Rin groaned. "You were! You were thinking about him again!"
"I...Sorry..." She looked away from her friend, biting her lip.
"Sakuya, how many times do we have to tell you? Just forget about that guy! Move on! That guy practically left you at the alter! He knew you two were supposed to get hitched and got cold feet!"
"I know, I know! But it's not entirely my fault! I mean, my parents and his are good friends and all and are pushing for us. So, it's not just me!"
Rin wasn't convinced. "Don't make excuses. We all know you had high hopes. What you were hoping for, I have no clue! He was such an angry guy anyway! What could you see in him?!"
"Well, I was hoping maybe I could change all that."
"Geh, you live on a cloud. Guys like that don't change, no matter what. I mean, really, Sakuya! What's wrong with his head? How could he say no to you?! You're rich, have a wonderful personality, have showed him nothing but kindness, and you're totally beautiful! He had no reason to leave you. And to make things worse, you're still staying in his apartment, aren't you? That's bad, Sakuya."
"My own has been sold already so..."
"Find a new one. Move out of there. Forget about him. Hell, I have! I don't even remember his name!"
"Su-"
"No! Don't you say it! Don't make me remember!" Rin turned quickly on her heels, heading in the other direction.
"She may talk like that, but she's just looking out for you, Sakuya." Her other friend patted her shoulder and ran to catch up. Sakuya paused a moment before walking forward slowly to follow. If she was being honest to her friends, it wasn't because of her parents that she wasn't moving on, or the fact her apartment had been sold that she was still staying in his. Even though she hadn't known him very well, that being his fault for not opening up, she hoped that he would come back for her. That he really didn't hate her as much as he made it seem. She hoped that the reason he left was simply because he wasn't ready yet, and once he was, he would be back. But it had been a while since then, and with her friends telling her to move on, she was starting to lose those hopes.
She sighed heavily, deciding that her friends must be right. It certainly couldn't be healthy to be this way. She thought, she'd definitely give up this time. After many scoldings from her friend, this time she would for sure. As she thought this, she didn't even realize there were other people on the walk way. What had these people thought of her, as she stood there the way she was? She hadn't even been standing still. She must have looked so weird! She hurried forward, trying not to be noticed any further. But when she passed a few people, she stopped. She turned, staring at two people walking away from her.
~*~
Shota sat on the floor, facing the bed and the person still sleeping on it. He had already been awake a while, waiting for this person to wake up, but he realized that that wouldn't be happening if that was all Shota was doing. He looked at the clock on the side table, and it was still a little early, but not as early as they usually have to get up. Shota scootched himself closer to the bed, shaking Subaru's shoulder, to only get an annoyed groan.
"Subaru..." Shota said, rather quietly. The rest of the house was still asleep, and he would probably face a terrible wrath from them if he woke them up. Shota shook him again. "It's time to wake uuup...."
Shota jumped slightly when Subaru moved, anticipating getting hit, but he had only moved to look at the clock, then drop back down. "It's to early."
"It's eight. And it's a day off so-"
"It's a day off, so we sleep in."
"We open late on weekends, so we sleep in then. On days off, we do something fun! Days off are rare, you know that! It's a day off, so lets go on a date!" Shota didn't get an answer. "Well if you don't want to do anything, fine. I'll just go out and have fun by myself then! It's more fun that way anyway!" Shota stood and left the room, slamming the door behind him. He stood by the door and waited. He put his ear to the door so see if he could hear anything, but he couldn't tell. He opened the door a crack, quietly, just to see that that guy hadn't moved an inch. "You're seriously not going to get up?!" Shota flung the door open, having it hit the wall loudly, and as soon as it happened he got a huge, hard smack on the back of the head.
"It's eight in the morning, Yasu!" Hina yelled. "Some people are still trying to sleep!" Shota knelt on the ground, holding his head. Hina looked toward the bed, to the source of Shota's behavior, having heard laughing. "That's funny? It won't be so funny when I come over there and do it to you too! It's half your fault!" Hina stalked away back to his room. Shota was still on the floor, willing the pain to go away, wondering if Hina might've finally given someone a concussion.
"Not fair, not fair at all." Shota mumbled. "Its your fault, all your fault. Then I get hit and you laugh at me. Not nice at all. And you're still sitting there, not even moving to see if I'm alright. I'm not, you know. Have you even been hit by Hina yet? No sympathy, none at all."
By then, Subaru had gotten up, walking to Shota and pulling him up by the arm. "You're so dramatic."
"Am not. It seriously hurts." Shota looked at him and pouted, hoping to get some sympathy, or even pity, from him.
"Did it really hurt that much?" Subaru put his hand on the back of Shota's head, like he was feeling for a bump or something. Shota was happy that he finally realized he wasn't just acting like it hurt. But it didn't last long when Subaru decided to muss his hair there, and hard, too.
"Ow- Subaru! Whats wrong with you!"
"I'm going to get ready." he said while leaving the room, looking over and smirking at Shota.
~*~
"I thought we could do a few things today!" Shota announced as they walked toward town. Because Subaru decided it would be fun to be a jerk this morning, it took them an extra hour to actually leave the house. "First, we could go to this movie that's showing this morning. Then, we could do some shopping, too. I've been saving up money, and if you need some you can borrow. Then, after that, we'll go eat something!"
"Have you been planning this or something?"
"Just since last night. I thought about it when we went to sleep, so I've been sort of excited since then."
"But you've probably been on dates before, haven't you?"
"No. What gave you that idea? You know. Anyway, It doesn't matter if you've been on a thousand dates. If it's with someone new and one you like very much, you still get all excited. But you haven't been on any, right?"
"Just a 'blind date' or whatever you want to call it with that girl. But that doesn't even count."
"Then you should be more excited!" Shota burst out. "Don't make me the only excited one!" It was almost funny how animated Shota got about these things. But Subaru decided not to laugh at him. He'd already made him put up with enough this morning. "Well, unless you really don't want to do anything I chose..." Shota put on a pout.
"Hmm..." He said, pretending to think about it. Shota tensed, wondering if the things he chose were really the wrong things. "No, it sounds fine."
Shota sighed in relief, taking Subaru's hand in his and pulling him into the town.
***
"That movie was too long." Subaru complained. Shota would agree. It was the wrong choice of a movie for the morning. Within the first half hour of the movie, Shota looked over at Subaru, who even so early in the movie was already out. At first he thought it was really rude, until the next thing he saw on screen was the credits. It was already noon before they had gotten out. Even though Shota had also wanted to see the movie, he also thought it might have turned out at least a little romantic, like he had seen in other movies or in things he had read. But it hadn't turned out that way.
"At least we bought some nice stuff." Shota said optimistically. He had fun choosing things for Subaru to try on, even though some got rejected right away. He bought some things for himself too, but spent most of his money on Subaru, since he was the one in need of the new outfits. "You look so much better in these new clothes!"
"I know," he said back. "I could see you checking me out in the mirror."
Shota blushed at the fact he had been caught and tried to deny it. "W-Well, I mean, how else could I find out if it looked good or not? Don't be conceded!" Shota deflated. "Well, anyhow, now you're up-to-date. You won't have to wear your other plain clothes anymore."
"Thank god. You think the rest of the guys would mind if I burn them?" Subaru got a wicked look on his face.
Shota wasn't sure if mixing Subaru with fire would be a good idea. "...Well, lets eat first, okay? I'm really hungry, anyway!" Shota pulled him to start walking again. "There's this really good place that serves-"
"Subaru-kun!" A girls voice called out. Subaru felt his stomach drop. He knew that voice, and there was only one girl he knew that would call him that. He wanted to just keep walking, thinking that if he did, the girl would think she had the wrong person. But Shota had heard too, and turned to see who it was. He looked over his shoulder at her, and she was running over.
"Subaru-kun! What are you doing here?" She asked, almost frantically. "We've been wondering where you went!"
"It's none of your business!" He said back angrily. Why the hell did she have to show up here? Had she actually been looking for him or something?
"But, I mean- it sort of is! I mean, we were supposed to-"
"What do you want with me, anyway?"
She paused, then reached to take his hand. "Let me talk to you for a minute."
She pulled him away from Shota- she hadn't even noticed he was standing there- and brought him a good distance away from other people. Shota watched as Subaru barely put up a fight about being pulled, and took a few steps back to sit on the endge of a bench on the side walk, to wait.
"I thought," Sakuya said. "It might be best to talk over here, where no one can hear us. No one needs to know about peoples dirty laundry."
Not like Shota doesn't already know, Subaru thought. But considering the way Shota could be, he may not want to hear it anyway. "What do you want."
"When are you coming home?" She asked quietly, getting to the point. She didn't have much time to talk, her friends would be wondering where she was. "You just left like that, in the middle of the night, not telling anyone where you were going...What were you thinking?"
"I'm not going to go back." He said to her. "I have no intentions of ever going back there."
"But why?"
He didn't owe any explanation to her. Even if he did, she didn't need to know. She wouldn't get it anyway.
"You haven't given anything a chance. You don't know what things could be like." She leaned in, wrapping her arms around him. "Maybe...Maybe they pushed it too fast. But if we asked them to push the date back, so we can get to know each other better, I'm sure they would allow it. I can leave your place, give you more space. If you would just agree to come back with me, I could make things work between us. We could."
This girl thinks she gets it, Subaru thought. She thinks she understands what he's thinking about all of this, what she thinks the whole problem is. But she doesn't get it at all. He shoved her away, walking away from her.
"Don't you tell anyone that you saw me here. I'm not going back there. Just forget about it." He didn't look back at her, to see if she was hurt or if she left too. He couldn't care less about her. She was the one pushing things. He wasn't going to pretend he cared for her. She'd just keep on him.
He went back to Shota, who was facing the opposite direction, leaning his head in his hand on his knee. Subaru didn't think he had been over there too long, not long enough for Shota to get that bored. "Lets go now, Shota."
Shota looked up at him, and it was obvious he wasn't happy. "Can we just go home?"
Subaru was surprised by Shota's change in mood. Just a little ago he was excited. "I thought we were going to-"
"I don't feel like it anymore. I'm not hungry either, anyway."Shota stood and shoved his hands in his pocket and starting toward the house. Shota didn't look very well, so maybe he was getting sick, Subaru thought. What else could it have been? Maybe he had eaten something funny this morning.
~*~
"Looks like you've come down from your high this morning, Yasu!" Maru said, sitting next to him at the table.
"Did I wake you, too? Sorry." Shota leaned on his arm on the table.
"That's fine. But are you okay? You seem a bit down."
Shota sighed. He wondered if he should really say anything or not. Was it a big deal at all? "...We ran into her."
"Her?"
"The girl Subaru was supposed to marry. Her." Shota sighed again. "She really was pretty..."
"Was she?"
"Yeah. And, I mean really pretty. Model pretty. Eye popping pretty."
Maru knew what Shota was feeling. He must be jealous. "Y-You're pretty too, Yasu!"
The compliment didn't help much. Shota watched the activity going on in to other room, the three oldest glued to the new game system Yoko had bought. Nothing seemed to bother that guy, while everything bothered Shota. "She wanted to talk about something, and she wanted them to be alone. But I could still see them. She kept putting her hands on him. I don't know what was being said, but it didn't look like he was telling her to stop." Shota couldn't watch anymore to find out if he had, not after she hugged him like that.
"What're you thinking about that, then?"
"...What if this whole thing, what if it's a mistake on his part? I mean, he's told me before, he's never liked anyone before, and hasn't been in a relationship or anything. So, what if this is just one big mistake? What if he realizes his feelings were just messed up and directed at the wrong person? Just because I was there?" That old worry started to well up in his stomach. He thought he wouldn't have to deal with it again, but it wouldn't leave him alone.
"As an outsider, I don't think it's that way. I know your worried about it and all, but maybe you're over thinking it a little? But that, I think I'm the wrong person to be talking about this with. Don't you think you should talk with him yourself about it?"
Shota knew Maru was right, but it was a little harder to talk about it with the actual person than Maru makes it seem. Shota felt if he did, he would just make an idiot of himself. He thought maybe thinking that would put him a little at ease because, if he thought just talking about it would be stupid, maybe what he was worried about was stupid too. But it didn't.
~*~
Everyone else was probably already asleep. It was pretty late at night. The two had brought up the small DVD player into Shota's room, propping it on a small table. Their movie earlier had been a bust, but they were both pretty awake now, and this movie was ten times more entertaining. Or, for Subaru it was. Shota hadn't been paying attention to it. He still couldn't shake that weird worried feeling he'd had since earlier. He already thought it was dumb to feel that way. But every time he remembered that girl holding him, it hurt his stomach. Because of that, Shota felt uncomfortable laying there with him. Subaru acted like nothing had happened at all. But for Shota, every time he put a hand on him, it felt like he could feel her hand there too.
Shota looked at Subaru, who wouldn't have noticed. He leaned over and kissed him, just a soft, simple one. He hadn't had the chance to all day, and hoped it dissolved his feelings, at least a little.
"Hmm?" Subaru hummed, looking at him. He hadn't expected Shota to do it, but it wasn't unwelcome. He hoped Shota would give him more. But Shota's face said other wise. "What's wrong?"
"You like me, don't you?" It wasn't what Shota wanted to ask, but it came out either way.
"Yeah, I do. You know that already." He played absentmindedly with some strands of Shota's hair. "Why, don't you?"
"I do, it's just..." Shota didn't know what to say next. He'd been worrying all day, and he had the perfect time to say something, but nothing wanted to come out. "That girl was really pretty."
"Who?" Subaru didn't get at first who Shota was talking about. "Oh. Her. What does it matter?"
"Why would you want someone like me over her? She's...she seems perfect." He was just going by looks, but Shota didn't think hers would be very deceiving.
"I've told you before. I don't care about her. Why are you even comparing yourself to her?"
"I guess, I couldn't help it." Shota said honestly. He leaned into Subaru's hand as he kept playing with his hair. It felt too nice.
"If I liked her at all, if I even had a speck of feeling for her, do you think I would be here right now? That I wouldn't be with her now going back home?" Subaru didn't get Shota's thinking. He thought it would be pretty obvious. "I have no intentions of going back there. I thought you knew that already. There's nothing there for me. You're here, so this's where I want to be." He turned a little red at his last statement, finding it slightly embarrassing and cliche to say, but it was true, and seemed to put Shota at ease. He pulled Shota closer to kiss him again, holding him close, making sure Shota got his point. Shota melted into him, taking it in. He used his hand still in Shota's hair to keep him there, even though Shota wasn't about to pull away. It wasn't meant to be rough or fast. He wanted to show Shota exactly who his feelings were for.
Everything inside Shota melted away. How stupid he was, to doubt him. He had come back to him, hadn't he? He wouldn't have if he didn't like him. "So, I'm safe?" He asked when they pulled away for air. "I don't have to worry about anything?"
"Nothing." Subaru answered, even though, suddenly, he wasn't too sure about it. He knew where his feelings were. Those weren't going to change. And Shota could trust him. He just wondered if he could trust that girl. He warned her not to say anything. He told her he wasn't going back. But who knows if she will say anything or not. He hoped she would listen to him, since she claims to like him so much. But now, he really wondered.
~*~
She had just been dropped off at home, her friends just driving off. Their short vacation was over, and now she stood in front of her parents house. She had promised to visit them when she returned. She walked up the stairs and entered her home. Her parents were in the other room. She wanted to go past them, hoping she wouldn't be noticed. She didn't want to have to talk to them. She loved them very much, but it was hard to hold secrets inside of her for very long, as she had been told she was not allowed to say a word about it.
"Ah, Sakuya-chan!" Her mother called to her before she got far. "You are home!"
"I'm home." She answered back and turned to head to the washroom. She was having a lot of trouble keeping her news to herself. She hid it from her friends when they asked what took her so long to catch up. She had just said she got lost. But she was dyeing to say something to someone. She was sure if she stayed with her parents, she would blab it out. And surely, if she wanted Subaru to get to like her, breaking a promise would definitely push her away from that. He would come back when he wants to, she told herself. Without any of her help. But the secret was right on the end of her tongue.
"Why don't you come sit with us, Sakuya-chan?"
Her mother wouldn't be very happy with her if she disobeyed. She turned on her heels and took a seat next to her parents.
"So, tell us about your trip." Her parents seemed truly interested, for they had only stayed within cities and wouldn't dream of stepping food into a small town unless it was needed.
"Uhm, well it was fun..."
"What kinds of things did you buy? What was the place like?"
"Well, uhm..."
"What things did you see?"
She tried, she really had. But no matter how hard she bit her tongue, she couldn't keep it in any longer.
~*~
A/N- ~So I'll leave it there. It's the 24th, so Merry Christmas and all~.