"It's the way he says my name."
Hiro blinked then glanced over at his best friend. The vocalist was sprawled across his couch, violet eyes on the ceiling. Shuichi appeared to be completely at ease, almost asleep.
"Hmmm?"
The singer turned his head.
"It's the way he says my name."
"I don't . . ."
"You asked me why I'm with him. I didn't answer right away. Remember?"
Hiro paused for a moment, trying to recollect his thoughts. The two had discussed many things in the course of an hour, mostly because of Shuichi constantly changing the subject. They had fallen silent about ten minutes ago, each becoming lost in his own world.
Finally, the question came back to him, and he nodded. He did remember asking Shuichi about his relationship with Tohma Seguchi, and why the singer now dated their boss and what he saw in the blonde. As usual, the singer evaded the question and chose to talk about something else after a momentary pause in the discussion. Hiro had simply let it be, figuring Shuichi probably wasn't entirely sure why he was seeing Tohma in the first place. His best friend often thought through situations with his heart rather than his mind.
"Yeah, I remember. It's the way he says your name?"
It was Shuichi's turn to nod his head.
"Mm-hmm."
Hiro found himself frowning. The explanation didn't make much sense.
"There really isn't anyway I can describe it," Shuichi began, sitting up some and folding his hands in his lap. "It's just something that's there . . . everytime he says my name, I feel so . . . so . . . loved and cared about. It's like my name is safe with him."
"Safe?"
That wasn't a word Hiro would have associated with Tohma and Shuichi's relationship. The former Grasper, at one point, had been quite jealous of Shuichi's relationship with novelist Eiri Yuki, or so he had said. Hiro felt it had gone much deeper than just jealousy, but he'd never been able to call Tohma out on it. The blonde had kept a slight distance between himself and Shucihi after that. If anything, the new relationship between Tohma and Shuichi had Hiro more worried than he thought he'd ever be. He didn't think Shuichi was safe where their boss was concerned.
"Yeah. I know, it doesn't make much sense," Shuichi paused then sighed. "But it's the truth. There's just something about the way he says my name that makes me feel safe and loved."
"And you didn't have that with Yuki-san?"
"I did . . . I don't know. It's just very hard for me to explain. Eiri hardly ever called me by my name, but Tohma does almost all the time. They're two completely different people, Hiro. They show things in their own way. I just wish I could explain it better."
Hiro watched his best friend for a few moments, thinking about what the singer had said. Shuichi's name was safe when Tohma Seguchi spoke it. Was there really a different way one person said the same name as compared to another? He supposed it was possible. Then he thought of how his mother said his and his brother's names, and how it had made him feel to hear her say it. She had always said them with such love and reverence. Even when she'd been angry with them, their names had always been spoken with that love and reverence. The situations were vastly different, his mother's love for her sons, and the love that Shuichi and Tohma shared, but he could understand the connection.
Slowly, Shuichi's words came together. He felt there was more to it than how Tohma said Shuichi's name, but it had probably been the first thing the vocalist had been able to clearly decipher. After all, Shuichi tended to think with his heart in most matters, and not his mind. Hiro flashed Shuichi a warm smile.
"Don't worry. You just did."