[a9; ToraxSaga, SagaxNao] "Ceasing in the Sun", chapter#07
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"CEASING IN THE SUN"
a fan art inspired chaptered story
rating throughout the story: PG-13 - PG-16
Tora and Saga, one of those love stories that should have never happened -or, to be frank, one that never did happen. Or how does a love story without love sound? Not much of a story worth telling. Unless... unless it was love after all.
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CHAPTER#07/14
Rating: PG
Warnings: none. Silly drunken Sagacchi.
Genre: drama, fluff, sex (as a theme, not so much about the act itself)
Characters/pairings: ToraxSaga, SagaxNao; occasional cameos
Disclaimer: The writer has no connections whatsoever to the respective artists. This is a pure work of fiction.
A/N: I think Broken by Lifehouse summarizes perfectly my little story. At first I considered it as a theme song for Nao but now I'm prone to say there are verses for each character in it. Check the song out, it's one of my favourites from the band. The video is beautiful as well.
Summary: "...And I'm still here waiting/ Though I still have my doubts/ I am damaged at best/ Like you've already figured out"
-LIFEHOUSE: BROKEN-
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Chapter#07: Damaged at Best
"Saa~ga?"
"In the bathroom!"
Nao threw his bag onto the floor and kicked his shoes off. As passing a mirror his reflection captured his attention; surprised, he noticed the blatantly joyful expression on his face. Thoughtfully, he scratched his chin and watched how a radiant smile sparkled on the corners of his mouth. Yes, he was happy.
Saga had brought the first boxes to Nao's apartment the day before. Finally what they had been talking about so long was about to come true. Soon there wouldn't be a day when another pair of shoes weren't waiting for the drummer in the hall. After the band rehearsal the two of them could walk home together without having to stop in the halfway to debate at which man's apartment they'd spend the night. From now on, they would wake up in the same bed every morning, they would toast bread and share the newspaper. In the evenings the last thing Nao would see would be a pair of brown eyes still dry because of the contacts Saga used daily. Those eyes would monitor Nao falling asleep safely after the owner of them had kissed Nao's tip of nose goodnight.
Never should the drummer watch miserably again his washing machine rolling laundry in tremendous speed, washing away the sweet fragrance of Saga from sheets and Nao's shirts the bassist so liked to use. Never again would the drummer feel sad as hanging those garments on a clothesline; now he had the entire man to himself. Anymore, he didn't have to settle for quickly stolen hasty kisses and gentle looks in the office before both of them hurrying to take care of personal interviews and paper work.
If their paths remained uncrossed during the daytime, at least they had evenings and nights. They would play Playstation till the wee hours of the day, finally falling asleep on the fluffy white carpet Nao had bought years ago. When a bad day would stumble across Nao, all Saga should do was to croon a little and tell everything would become all good again. Nao would believe; the bassist by his side, he'd be able to overcome anything.
Nao opened the bathroom door. Nearly burningly hot steam and shower gel's fragrance blended into it surged to greet him. Nao took of his socks and stepped in. Admiring the figure he could dimly see through the partly translucent walls of the shower stall, Nao sat down on the bowl.
"Would you like me to cook something? Or have you eaten already today?" Nao swayed back and forth, appearing as the embodiment of excited.
The roaring of the shower paused. Nao listened to how Saga started to lather his hair with shampoo.
"Mm, let's go out tonight. We could ask if Shou wanted to join us. He eats out every day anyway, so we could go together as well." The shower was turned on again, accompanied by Saga's voice beginning to sing some silly commercial tune that had infiltrated into his head in a supermarket he had visited before coming home.
Nao nodded to himself, agreeing jovially.
Saga's clothes had been sprinkled around the room. Nao got up and started to pick them up, simultaneously recalling the eateries nearby. There were many restaurants close he liked but because Shou was preparing for a new tour by having a strict diet, the options were limited.
When Nao was trying to choose between traditional Japanese cuisine and Italian delicacies, something slipped out from a pocket of Saga's trousers.
Nao frowned -of course the item was small enough to get lost in between the bowl and the washing machine. Nao crouched down swiftly, hoping Saga wouldn't notice, and began to grope for the tiny item. Complacence got mixed with relief as his fingers brushed over something metallic. He pulled his hand in sight and realized his thumb and index finger were squishing a silver plate belonging to Saga's necklace. Nao smiled warmly. The piece of jewelry held an irreplaceable importance for the bassist -it was always under his shirt, hanging close to the heart. This was the first time Nao saw it this closely. The silver of the butterfly's wings had gotten darker on the edges but that being the only exception, the necklace was still as new.
Saga turned the shower's tap off. A bit startled, Nao shoved the item into his pocket right as Saga's water-trickling, reddish face took a peek from the shower stall. "Could you give me a towel?"
Nao beamed. He grabbed the closest towel and when handing it to the bassist, received happily a little kiss on the cheek as a reward.
"Get dressed, I'll call Shou. I love you."
Nao left Saga into the bathroom. Saga always took his time in there; even though there were just the three of them going casually out, the bassist had to blow-dry his hair and fix the bangs arcing over his forehead. Then a few painful minutes would follow, as the man would contemplate if he could make it without his contacts. If so, the next thing was to decide would he swallow his vanity and go public wearing his glasses, or would he fumble around shortsightedly. After these important decisions, such profound tasks as applying hand lotion and brushing teeth needed to be accomplished. When all was done and finished, Saga usually spent a moment or few to admire his appearance in the mirror.
When the entire process called 'taking a shower' was completed, from the bathroom door would step out a fresh, beaming young man with love for the whole wide world, especially for a certain drummer whose existence always got awarded with a million little kisses and hugs.
Nao thought everyone should take a shower more often; definitely, it was a thing to benefit world peace.
Nao plopped himself down into a sofa. He heard the doors of the bathroom's cabinet banging, some rustling and then sooth hurling as the blow-dryer was switched on. Smirking to himself, Nao tucked a hand into his pocket. When he pulled out his cell phone, the familiar piece of jewelry came out as well, softly landing onto his lap.
The afternoon's sunlight was beautifully refracted on the itsy-bitsy diamonds; small dots of light spread across the detailed wings of the metal insect and the cross piercing it. Nao was in deep adoration as he took in the dance of light on the gleaming metal. The necklace was perfect.
Abruptly, Nao's brows furrowed. The drummer lifted the necklace closer to his eyes. On the wings of the butterfly, on the both sides of the cross, there were small marks that were dissimilar to the patterning around them. They were characters, Nao figured soon, and they were worn, as if fingers had often absent-mindedly wandered on the cross, sometimes halting to touch the engraving.
Nao tipped the item a little, wanting the sunlight to illuminate the words better. Now he was able to see clearly how the characters on the left side formed Saga's name. On the right side, then again... Nao squinted intently, not hearing how the blow-dryer quieted in the bathroom.
"Ti-" The fair chain began to run through his fingers in accelerating speed. The chain twitched fiercely as the plate got stuck in between his fingers but soon it too slipped through them, falling onto the floor.
All those restless nights.
All those quiet mornings spent by lugubriously staring out of the kitchen's window.
All that sudden kindness, openness, candor, eagerness to commit...
...All those coolly business-like words to Ryuuji...
"Tiger..."
To Saga, from Tora.
The bathroom's door opened and Saga stepped out, still congenially crooning random melodies.
"Nao, is Shou on the way? Or are we going to pick him up?" First, Saga peeked into the living room and then into the kitchen. He frowned: the apartment replied with silence.
"Nao..?"
Something sharp pricked his bare toes.
"Ouch..." The bassist bent down and picked up his necklace from the floor. Finding it strange, his free hand checked the pocket where he had assumed the necklace had been. He shrugged to himself and slipped the chain around his neck, not giving the incident more thought. Saga continued calling Nao, in vain. Excluding him, the apartment was empty.
"Nao~chan." Saga clinked two empty bottles together and demanded attention persistently. Nao rolled his eyes and tried to focus on the manga he was reading. "Saga-kun?"
"I'm just thinking... that... I've had one bottle of wine too much."
"Really?" Nao mumbled dryly.
"There's no need to be mean. I have a perfectly good reason to drink."
"Mmmh?"
"You know how, at first, you have lots, I mean lots, of fun with someone, and then suddenly you don't really have any fun at all? That's how I'm feeling now."
Nao's ears pricked up. "Go on."
"Yeah. I feel kind of odd. With Torachu. We're having so a good time and he's really good-looking, yet every now and then... He looks at me funnily. Mmm. And then I realize I'm looking at him funnily as well and then the atmosphere goes wonky, because in my mind, I'm just turning things over: 'Do I dare to do this and that? What's on his mind? Why doesn't he smile?' And I become sad. Because he should smile more often." Saga reeled for a minute and then, in his drunken fit, he collapsed onto his stomach on the couch he was sitting on.
"Sounds like love to me," Nao offered as he turned a new page.
The bassist snorted and fell from the couch onto the floor. "In the entire world there's not enough love for me. I'd need so much love that... That..." A drunken giggle arose from somewhere near the coffee table's feet. "I'd need heaps of love. Mountain-sized heaps. And Torachu... He doesn't even know how to spell 'love', that insensitive jerk. But it's okay. He's very entertaining. The stuff he does with his tongue... Very impressive."
Nao made a face and pretended he had not heard the last comment.
"But," tinges of childish wonderment crept into Saga's voice, "I just don't get it. When did having fun turn into something this... onerous?"
For a moment, pensive silence conquered the room. Then Nao felt a yank on his leg.
"Come here."
Nao burst into unbelieving laughter. "What?"
"Come down here. Plea~se?"
Nao sighed amusedly and closed his book. Slowly, he kneeled down and crawled under the table where Saga was waiting for him.
"What is it?"
Saga towed himself closer to Nao and looked him in the eye with the utmost confidence. "Nao-chan can keep a secret?"
Nao nodded.
Saga yawned. "It might be nice... I might like it... But it's too difficult. Me and..." Saga's eyelids began closing. "And Torachu... Together forever... He smells lovely... Good night, Nao-chan. I think I'm going to pass out now."
Nao tapped the bassist on the crown of his head. "Sleep well."
But Saga didn't hear; he was already firmly asleep, having dreamless dreams, as people under the influence usually had.
Nao allowed his hand to linger on the curls of the other man for a moment longer than it was necessary before he got up and returned to his book.
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[ next chapter]
*I'm really waiting for the chapters 8 to 10 where the drama fully unfolds. The both of the men are reluctant to admit what they're really feeling, and thus the things are about to go perfectly wrong. But, sometimes you need to learn by trial and error. Nao's importance will grow; he's actually a very complex guy.
*Although Alice Nine is my biggest source of inspiration when it comes to writing, I would love to return to Kagrra, and other bands and artists. Writing Kiyoharu could be extremely challenging. I was thinking about a pairing drabble challenge; a meme type of post where people could give me any pairing they like and then I'd write a drabble or a short one-shot based on them? Comment if you're interest in the idea.
*And of course, if you liked the chapter, feel free to drop a line or two as well~ Thanks for reading, everybody, more to come sometimes later. I'm already so behind with my Japanese studies that I can't believe it XD I've been in the University a week now and I'm already phailing a big time. Lol. MUST WORK HARDER!\,,/