Notes: For the gx_100. Set post-GX, by several years judging how Rei is old enough to drive. Also I don't own a mobile phone or know much about them, so any inaccuracies about them are due to that.
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Everything that can go wrong will go wrong.
That statement applied very much to Fubuki as he ran through the crowds of bumbling tourists.
He shouldn't even ibe/i in an airport in the first place. He'd had months to prevent it coming to this. In retrospect he'd had years even, but he didn't want to think that far back.
Why had he not waited a day longer to let Fubuki see the signs?
He turned a corner and past various members of staff, thankful that his Hawaiian clothes made him look so much like he'd just returned from another country that it didn't cause question.
It was as much Asuka's fault as it was his, though she wasn't to know that. It wasn't as if Ryo had even talked to her about it for her to know at all. And when Fubuki had phoned her that morning it turned out she was at work. Other countries have different time zones apparently.
The one thing he could count on was that the planes were always running late. He'd used them often enough to know that. So he still had some time to reach the terminal before it was due to take off.
A quick scan around the waiting room showed that Ryo had boarded. A further scan showed that – as Murphy's Law would have it – the flight chose this one chance to run on time.
The doors were shut and it was moving. There would be no dramatic moment of shouting down the terminal to see if he would come back. Even banging on the window would be pointless. He was gone.
He made do with standing by the window anyway. If the most he could do was watch the plane take off than he was going to do that.
Behind him was the sound of slower footsteps, and then Rei was standing besides him.
What an odd pair the two of them must have looked.
He had to admit that they weren't close. He'd known her from the academia, she was there and had a car, he didn't have a car – the math was simple. So she'd given him a lift to the airport and he'd told her the details on the way. She'd taken it much better than he'd expected, but then she hadn't pursued Ryo for years now so she had no reason to hold his feelings against him.
He'd left her at the car park but it made sense that she'd wanted to see the end of it.
After looking at the moving plane for a few moments she said, "There's always mobile phones you know."
"You can't have those on when you're on a plane…" he muttered, caught up in his own grief to the extent that he considered everything he might try would fail.
"Then go home," she said, looking at him sternly, giving him a second's notice of how much she'd grown up, "Don't try to talk to him and live knowing that you iprobably/i couldn't have got in touch with him."
His eyes showed that he was uncertain, but he understood what she meant.
"Text him and I won't charge you the gas money," she said, trying to sound cheerful.
The two of them weren't to know for sure, but as the plane was taking off Ryo did have his phone on. He knew that he shouldn't but he also knew enough about the technology in his phone to be sure that it wouldn't get in the way of the plane regardless.
He probably should have sent the message to her while he was waiting for the flight anyway but he found himself composing and recomposing the message so much that before he knew it he was on the plane.
Right now the white screen of the phone displayed the following:
iI know that you wouldn't want to see me after so many years.
You've been let down by me so many times before.
And at one point I wanted to pretend you never existed.
You probably wanted to pretend I didn't either.
Though you have a new life now, I want to try to be part of it.
Without messing it all up for you.
Because I still love you, Asuka./i
It was… pathetic. He knew. But all the times he'd wrote it down it just came down to that message. And now he was on the plane to America, going to see her regardless, so he might as well give her a notice.
He hit the send button – he'd muted the phone earlier as to avoid getting into trouble for using it.
Within a few seconds the screen flashed to show that he'd received a message. It couldn't be possible for her to reply that quickly.
Looking at the phone he saw the name 'Fubuki' appear. That made more sense. Fubuki hadn't spoken to him for months and would probably choose the time he was going away to suddenly act nice. Might as well see what he wanted.
The message was opened and Ryo's hand started to sweat as the message he'd just sent appeared in front of him, save for one word.
iI know that you wouldn't want to see me after so many years.
You've been let down by me so many times before.
And at one point I wanted to pretend you never existed.
You probably wanted to pretend I didn't either.
Though you have a new life now, I want to try to be part of it.
Without messing it all up for you.
Because I still love you, Ryo./i
How could he? Why would he choose now, after Ryo had worked so hard to admit to himself that Fubuki didn't love him and that Asuka would be the most sensible option? Did he want him to suffer that much?
There was another flash from the phone, and after spending a few more seconds taking in Fubuki's message he turned it off, seeing that Asuka had replied to him now.
His hand was shaking now. He'd made his choice but…
As his thumb hit the keypad the message opened and displayed itself on screen.
iGo to Fubuki, Ryo.
You two are going to hurt forever without each other. And I've found my peace in this new life. You know he's not perfect but then neither are you./i
His eyes widened. There was no way she could have known about Fubuki's message, he wasn't that lucky.
But somehow she had. And now he had the option to make things right in his life without worrying about how much he was hurting her…
iI don't know if I love you as much as I do her.
But if you're willing to live with that thought until I've decided,
then I will come back.
You have one more chance Fubuki.
Don't let either of us destroy it./i
He didn't hesitate as he sent that one, he didn't even have to spend more than a few seconds thinking about what to write. And then he sat back to take the relaxing trip there just to come back. For once the world didn't seem to be against him.
On the ground Fubuki received his response.
"No way… but why would he give me a chance if he was already on his way over?" he chocked out.
Rei put her own phone away, considering how irrational these supposedly serious boys could be sometimes. If only they had the sense to talk things through like she had done with Asuka as Fubuki had run after the plane.