He sat in the large and silent apartment, typing away at his laptop. Not a thing in it could distract him, not even the dozens of teddy bears and other various toys occupying the bedroom. His lilac eyes were fixated on the kanji on the screen, but even so, he paid no mind to them.
To him, this was only a hobby, a side job. Although he put his hands to work to make what others would call masterpieces, he never saw them as such. This was just a hobby and nothing more.
After hitting the space key, his hands suddenly stopped. The man leaned back on his chair, closing his eyes for a moment of rest. Sitting close to a brightly lit screen in a dark room without windows put a large strain on his sight, but still he did not care.
Usually, the man would be typing away to get in a manuscript before a deadline without problems, but not tonight. Something was terribly wrong. As he sat back, he remembered the terrible event.
"Usagi! I'm glad you're here!"
"What is it?"
"I'm sorry to have made you come down here when you're so busy, but it's really important."
"Don't worry about it, Takahiro. Is something wrong?"
"No. There's someone I want you to meet," Takahiro said. He opened a door in his small apartment and a woman with long curly brown hair entered the hallway where the two men stood.
"This is Manami Kajiwara. Manami, this is my best friend, Usami Akihiko." The girl bowed and smiled. Akihiko smiled on the outside, but on the inside, he was filled to the brim with overwhelming jealousy. "She and I are getting married."
Those six words stabbed into his heart like thousands of knives. He couldn't believe what he just heard. But even so, he had to smile.
"You finally decided to tie the knot. Congratulations," he said.
Takahiro's eyes lit up. "I'm so glad you approve of it!"
But he didn't.
The love of his live was marrying someone that wasn't him. Now it was all over. There had been nothing romantic between them, so this was to be expected. Even so, Akihiko hoped he could keep him to himself, even if just for a moment. Now even that was out of his grasp.
Akihiko sighed and closed the laptop, making sure to save his work before he did so. He exited the toy filled bedroom and went downstairs of the empty apartment to fetch his coat and scarf. Even though it was snowing in the middle of December, a walk was probably the best healthy way to clear his head.
Putting a pack of cigarettes he'd surely need in his pocket, he walked to the door. Akihiko put a hand on the handle, but stopped. It was faint, but there was some kind of knocking on the door. It was weak and it sounded like whoever was on the other side was knocking with their fingertips rather than their knuckles. Akihiko opened the door to see who was there.
"A-ah! That was easier than I thought."
A boy with brown hair and shiny emerald eyes bumped into the author unexpectedly. Akihiko took a step back, leaving the boy with nothing to fall into but the floor or the apartment.
"O-ow," he mumbled. He stood back up and rubbed the developing bump on his forehead.
"Who are you?" Akihiko asked. This boy seemed a bit happy-go-lucky from the way he fell and got back up like it was normal. This somehow helped build his already pissed off mood.
"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Misaki Takahashi. I came to see you," the boy said, bowing slightly.
Akihiko stared intently at the boy. Maybe he had seen him before? No, that wasn't it. He would remember someone that had his address. A psycho fan? Probably.
"Are you a fan? I don't sign autographs," he mumbled.
"Eh? What do you mean? What do you do?" Misaki asked.
Akihiko's eye twitched at the boy's ignorance. If he came to see him, shouldn't he have at least known what he did?
"I'm a writer," he said through clenched teeth.
"Oh. I don't read much, so I wouldn't know," Misaki said, scratching the back of his head and laughing awkwardly.
Akihiko was almost at his limit of patience with this kid. "So what do you want?" he practically growled.
Misaki looked at the lilac eyes and smiled. "The question is more of what do you want than what I want."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"I sensed there was some bad energy here, so here I am. What's wrong?" Misaki asked.
Akihiko was of course confused beyond belief. He had no idea what this kid was even talking about. "Are you some kind of shrink?" Akihiko asked.
Misaki laughed at the remark and shook his head. "Nothing of the sort. I'm just a regular guy."
"What do you want kid?"
"I want to help you."
"There's nothing you can help me with."
"Liar."
Misaki reached out a hand and placed it on Akihiko's chest. He felt the faint tapping through the thick layers of cloth. Akihiko slapped the hand away. "Your heart hurts, doesn't it?" the brunette asked.
"That doesn't concern you," Akihiko growled.
"Then talk to whoever it does."
Akihiko was about to retaliate, but it was futile. The only people it really concerned was Takahiro and Manami. There was no way in hell he could tell them.
"How can you help me then? How do you know about it?" the author asked.
"I can't say that I know the whole situation, but I can say I know a lot. Just ask me some questions," Misaki said.
"What?"
"Just ask me something. Anything."
After a short silence, the author spoke. "What's one plus one?"
"Are you serious right now?"
"You said I could ask anything," Akihiko said emotionlessly.
"Ugh, fine. Two, now can you ask something regarding the situation please?" Misaki said.
Akihiko stared at the young boy, pondering whether or not he should ask him something. How can the great lord Usami talk about his problems to a boy who just randomly appeared at his doorstep? Didn't that seem weak of him? Perhaps a simple question couldn't hurt.
"If I were to tell them, do you think they would still want to be around me?" he asked.
"A simple yet deep question," Misaki thought to himself. "I would say yes."
"I completely doubt that. He would probably hate me if I forced my feelings on him," Akihiko said. He turned his saddening face away from the brunette.
Misaki was taken aback by the change in expression. "Even though I don't know whoever you're talking about personally, I don't think they'd hate you. Of course it'd shock them, but if they truly are your friend, they can learn to accept that. Your friend is a kind person, right?" Misaki said.
Akihiko nodded and thought a little about how nice and dense his crush was. Memories of him flooded his mind until he remembered the engagement announcement. He remembered how happy Takahiro looked and how nicely he seemed to fit next to Manami. They did seem like a happy couple. Akihiko didn't want to and knew he couldn't destroy something that made his beloved happy.
"Hey, will I ever forget him?" Akihiko asked after a long silence.
Misaki tilted his head at the question and Akihiko turned to face him again. The younger male looked down at the floor slightly. "No," he mumbled sadly himself.
"I see." Akihiko let out a small chuckle for asking such a stupid question.
"But is that what you want to do?"
"Not at all. I just don't want to feel this…heartache forever."
"Is there anything else you want to ask?" Misaki asked. The atmosphere was suffocating and sad. He didn't want the silverette to hurt anymore. Without even knowing the full story, he could tell it weighed a heavy burden on his mind.
"Will he ever love me?" Akihiko asked.
Emerald eyes shot up to meet saddened lilac. The answer was obvious and people men knew. There was no way Misaki could tell him, but he had to. "His love and your love aren't the same," he said.
"I thought so."
Hearing it was a lot tougher to take in than realizing it yourself. It just proved this pain was his reality, something he couldn't change or imagine otherwise. Akihiko had dealt with worse things in the past and knew he would get over this someday. When that day would be, nobody knew.
"Misaki, I have one last question."
Said boy felt a pang of sadness in his chest when he heard the melancholy filled words. This talk had done nothing but depress the author further and he felt as though his presence was completely unneeded. Misaki had no idea what the older male would ask next and knew it couldn't be that good.
"Will I ever be happy? I mean truly happy."
These words left the brunette speechless. No words came to mind as to how to respond. Not even a petty yes would make way to his quivering lips. Taking a deep breath, Misaki forced words together.
"Of course you will be. It may not be tomorrow or the next day, but you will be happy, truly happy someday. Maybe you'll find someone other than Takahiro or you'll learn to forgive and forget. Maybe you'll find something else to keep you occupied. Things will get better here on out. I can't really explain why, but I just feel like things will."
Akihiko stared at the boy. No one had ever said something that deep to him, not even Takahiro. Misaki did have a point in that whole speech. One day, Akihiko would learn to accept the one sided love and move onto a mutual romance with someone else he held dear.
That was exactly what he did.
"Usagi-san! Wake up! Usagi-san!"
"Hm?"
Akihiko groaned as he lifted his stiff body away from his desk. "What?"
"You fell asleep at the laptop again. At this rate, you're posture will be that of a gorillas," Misaki scolded.
"Gorillas are interesting creatures," Akihiko said, thinking about where to get some gorilla stuffed animals to add to his ever growing collection of toys.
"Usagi-san, stop it. Hey, what is this?" Misaki asked. He crouched down to the floor and picked up a large red book. "Edgu, Edga, what?" He tried and failed miserably at reading the cover.
"It says Edgar Allan Poe," Akihiko corrected as he stole the book from his lover's hands.
"Who is that?"
"He's a famous English poet. I was having a dream about one of his poems just now."
"Huh?"
"Never mind, Misaki. I'll explain later."
Author's Note
Finally finished this TTwTT I think this was a weird but cool idea. I just finished my Edgar Allan Poe unit in my English class and while sitting in silence (as usual) I started to think about incorporating his poems into fanfics and this came to mind...it's strange how it fits right?...minus the insanity of course XD Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed it!
Until next time, sayonara~!
