Souchi POV
"I'm home," Souchi mumbles to himself as he opens the door to his shared apartment. He toed his shoes off and dropped his backpack near the genkan and collapsed on the floor.
School had been hell.
Since Morinaga's departure, Souchi's day to day laboratory duties have at least doubled as well as the many errors he has had to fix from his barely competent lab assistances. A grimace crosses his face; both of them were decent, hard workers but slower learners, still very green. Souchi tried to remember their names but all he could conjure of from his exhausted mind was a vague face of a petite girl and a young man with glasses. Oh well, he was never good with names...or faces for that matter.
Ringgggg!
Souchi's thoughts was disrupted by the shrill cry of his cell phone. "Morinaga" flashed across his iPhone. Debating whether or not he really wanted to put up with Morinaga's antics right now, Souchi ended up accepting the call anyway.
"Hello?"
"Senpai! How are you? What are you doing?"
Morinaga's excited chatter echoed through the empty apartment and bounced off the silent walls.
"God Morinaga, calm down. I'm right here, you don't need to yell in my ear!"
"Oh..sorry senpai. I'm just so excited to talk to you. I can't wait to tell you about how my training's going!"
As Morinaga's chatter continued, Souchi dragged himself off the ground and lugged his backpack into this bedroom. Tossing it on his backpack on his desk chair, he fell back on his bed. His lids felt heavy.
"Senpai…? Are you listen…? Sen-"
"I'm awake, I'm awake."
Souchi tried to blink back his tiredness but it was futile.
"Morinaga, I'm gonna take a short nap. When are you getting back again? Tomorrow?" Souchi attempted to pinpoint the exact date he remembered Morinaga's telling him a while back.
"Tonight! I get back tonight! I can't believe you forgot senpai."
Souchi could already hear the pout forming on his kouhai's lips. ...Damn. The guilt was already setting in. Quickly trying to save himself, he begins, "Oi. Calm do-"
"Go to sleep senpai. I'll just let myself in when I get back. I'm about to board, see you in a bit."
Clicks
...Damn. Why does Morinaga always do that. Make his mind wracked with guilt. Souchi tried redialing but it went straight to voicemail. Souchi sighed. Why did Morinaga make him feel this way. Guilty and anxious and upset and...unsettled. He tried redialing one more time but once again was met with voicemail. Damn, Morinaga must have boarded already.
Souchi sat up in the bed and begin preparing something to eat. No point in sleeping now. He walked to the kitchen to prepare eggs and and what ever else there was in the fridge.
After preparing eggs and toast, he sat down in front of the TV and began nibbling on his food. Souchi flipped through the channels and settled on a some documentary he was vaguely paying attention to.
Souchi half-listened to the special as he checked his notifications on his phone, waiting for a phone call or text from Morinaga…
"...I felt so dirty…" Souchi heard the girl from the documentary say. "I thought that if I stopped thinking about, if I ignored it, then it didn't my life would return to normal."
Souchi turned his full attention to the TV and continued listening, giving his full focus on the words of the young girl.
"Did you know him?" the faceless interviewer asked.
"Yes I did. He was a close friend… It made it that much harder to acknowledge that he hurt me. That he would betray my trust like that."
What are they talking about, Souchi thought. The longer he listened, the faster his heart beated. He didn't know why. It was a creeping sensation. On his skin. He wanted to turn the TV off, but he just couldn't.
Souchi eyes widen and he felt the wind knocked out of his lungs once he realized what the young girl was speaking about. He palmed his eyes hard. Souchi's breath was coming out shallow and labored. With ringing ears, Souchi missed the opening of the front door of his apartment.
"...-pai...Senpai?"
"DON'T TOUCH ME!"
Startled, Morinaga yanked his hand back and clutched it to his chest.
"I-I'm sorry…"
With a startling realization, Souchi regained his senses and blinked away his confusion. He saw the hurt in his kouhai's eyes as he looked down into Souchi's face, his demeanor. With a niggling in the back of his mind, he jolted up and raced to his bedroom.
"Senpai!" Morinaga's shouted after him. Souchi's door slammed and Morinaga's desperately knocked against it.
"Senpai! Are you okay? What happened?!"
Morinaga's frantic shouts were muffled by Souchi's hands pressed tightly against his ears.
"Go to sleep, Morinaga! Leave me alone! Please…!" Souchi's desperate voice was conveyed through the door. Morinaga sighed and stepped back.
"Alright...good night, senpai."
