This was written for the no_true_pair community on Dreamwidth; the prompt was "It turns out Kei is Yuu's biggest fan..."
Yuu thinks December is frankly an uncivilised time to have a birthday, especially if you're expecting your friends to celebrate it with you. He's discussed this with Mafuyu before. Royalty have ceremonial birthdays, after all, so why can't Mafuyu change his to a more convenient time of year? It would be the considerate thing to do.
As he walks down the street, with the winter wind tearing at his coat and raking every inch of exposed skin, he's planning the version of the speech he'll give this year. It's something of a tradition now; Mafuyu will be expecting it.
He quickens his pace as the restaurant comes into view, bright lights shining out into the dark streets. The rush of warm air when he opens the door is bliss; he feels like stopping in the doorway to bask in it.
A quick glance around the restaurant tells him that Mafuyu hasn't arrived yet. He walks a little way in, shrugging warmth back into his bones, and notices a young man sitting alone at a table for four. He's the only person in the place sitting by himself, but more to the point, he has three books spread on the table and is diligently making notes in a memo pad, which seems like something a friend of Mafuyu's might do. Yuu walks over.
"Excuse me, but are you Amakura?"
The man keeps writing, lifting his head to acknowledge Yuu's presence even while his eyes remain on the page. "One second... there." He looks up. "Yes, I'm Amakura. I guess you're Mafuyu's friend?"
"I'm Asou. Nice to meet you." Yuu sits down, feeling a little awkward. He knew Amakura would be coming to the celebration, but he was expecting Mafuyu to be here to introduce them. Amakura looks as if he really wants to keep working, but courtesy compels him to put the books back in his briefcase. He keeps his notepad in his hand, though, as if he's unwilling to put it out of reach, and
"You, uh, you used to work with Mafuyu, right?" Yuu says. "I can't remember, when was that?"
"Six months ago, under Takamine. I was just a researcher. I never even met Takamine myself, I just talked to him on the phone and gave everything to Mafuyu to pass on. We'd work together a lot. I compiled the raw information, Mafuyu wrote it up for Takamine to use."
There's an awkward silence for a few moments. Yuu drums his fingers on the table, and Amakura looks longingly at his briefcase, as if wishing he'd never put the books away.
"I should've remembered that," Yuu offers. "Mafuyu kept borrowing my books for that project. I think he's still got some of them, actually."
"Oh? Oh, yeah, I think he mentioned you're an... anthropologist, right? Or was it history of religion?"
Yuu shrugs. "I'm interested in all that, but anthropology and folklore is what I studied at university."
Amakura frowns at him, as if trying to recall something. "Wait... your first name wouldn't be Yuu, by any chance?"
Yuu nods, surprised. Amakura's face lights up.
"You wrote an article for Modern Legends, didn't you? About urban legends and occult practices?"
Yuu has to think for a moment, but then he remembers the article in question. "How did you know about that? I didn't think anyone remembered that article."
"Are you kidding?" Amakura shakes his head, delighted. "That article was basically the starting point for all the research I did for Takamine. I mean, your bibliography alone was a goldmine, but the way you connected the modern urban legends with the ancient folklore – I mean, folklore isn't my field at all, I much prefer military history, but I have to say, you got me interested." He laughs. "Have you written anything else?" He looks hopefully at Yuu's bag, as if he expects Yuu to carry all his writings around with him.
Yuu spreads his hands, smiling. "Not on me, but I can send you a list if you give me your address. But it's nothing you'll be interested in."
"Oh, I'm interested in everything," Amakura says, scribbling his address down in the memo pad and tearing off the sheet. "And this way, I might understand some of what Mafuyu says."
That reminds Yuu why they're here, and he checks his watch. "That's a point, where is Mafuyu? It's not like him to be late."
"You're right." Frowning, Amakura turns to look at the door. "Maybe he missed the train."
"Mafuyu?"
"Yeah, not likely, I know. I could try calling his house, if there's a pay telephone nearby..."
"No, it's only been fifteen minutes. He'll probably be here soon."
They fall silent again. Now that Amakura has his notebook open and his pen in hand, he can't resist writing down a few more ideas, and Yuu gazes aimlessly over the heads of the other diners. One of the waiters approaches their table.
"We're still waiting for the rest of our party," Yuu says.
"No, sir, there's a telephone call for a Mr. Asou at this table."
"Oh." Yuu glances at Amakura, who looks equally surprised. "Must be him." He gets up and goes to the counter to pick up the phone receiver. "Hello?"
"Yuu, I'm sorry, I have to cancel our plans for tonight." It's Mafuyu, speaking very quietly. Yuu covers his other ear.
"What? But Amakura and I are already here. Is something wrong?"
"I'm sorry," Mafuyu says again. There's a pause. Yuu thinks he hears voices in the background.
"Mafuyu, is everything – ?"
"Something's happened," Mafuyu says abruptly. "My mother, she... my mother's dead, so I have to manage things here."
"Oh," Yuu says, "oh, that's – Mafuyu, I'm so sorry to hear that. Is there anything we can do?"
"No. No." He hears Mafuyu let out his breath. "Thank you, it'll be okay. I'm sorry to let you both down."
"Don't even think about that. Let me know if there's anything... I'll let you go now, all right? Take care of yourself."
Mafuyu doesn't even answer; there's just a click as he hangs up. Yuu stands a moment before putting the phone down and making his way back to the table to explain what's happened. Amakura looks just as shocked as Yuu feels.
"Was she ill?" he wonders allowed. "I don't remember Mafuyu mentioning anything about it."
"I don't know," Yuu says, leaning on the back of his chair; he's not sure whether to sit down again or not.
Amakura runs a hand through his hair. "This is... I feel as if we should go and see him, but we'd just be in the way."
"Yeah," Yuu says unhappily. "But he's got Miku. They'll look after each other."
"I was looking forward to meeting her." Amakura sighs, then puts his hands flat on the table. "Well, I guess that's it. We might as well go."
"How are you getting home? Want to share a taxi?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, that's a good idea."
Yuu hasn't even had the chance to take his coat off, so he goes to call the taxi while Amakura gathers his books and puts on his coat and scarf. In ten minutes, they're on their way home.
"What will you do now?" Amakura asked. "Any back-up plans?"
"No, but my girlfriend's at home, so she'll probably find something for me to do. You?"
"I think I'll go to my sister's. She's not been feeling well, and my niece has just had an operation, so she'd probably like some company. My brother-in-law passed away a few years ago, so she's on her own."
"Oh, well, it's good that you're nearby for her. How old is your niece?"
"There are two of them, actually, twins. They're twelve. My sister's quite a bit older than me," he adds, seeing Yuu's look of surprise.
The taxi pauses to let a pair of drunk salarymen cross the road. Even though Yuu thinks it's much too early to be that intoxicated, it makes him smile to see the way they lean on each other as they weave from side to side.
He glances again at Amakura. Yuu thinks of himself as a bit reserved and quiet, but compared to Mafuyu he's a social butterfly, and in all the years he and Mafuyu have known each other, he's never known Mafuyu to have any other close friends. He thinks he can see what it is about Amakura that made Mafuyu like him, though; it's the way he talks about his family, and the open way he asks people about themselves, as if he doesn't have any pre-formed expectations, as if he's willing to accept every person he meets on their own terms.
"We're nearly at my place," he says, as the taxi turns down a residential street. "It was nice meeting you. We should all try and get together again at a better time."
Amakura agrees at once. "And don't forget you promised to send me that list. Keep in touch, I'd like to hear what you're working on."
The taxi draws to a halt; Yuu pays his portion of the fare and gets out with a parting smile at Amakura. Over the years he's become accustomed to thinking of himself as Mafuyu's only friend, but he's not inclined to be jealous. He thinks it's a good thing that Mafuyu has someone else he can trust, especially now his mother is gone. Tomorrow, Yuu thinks, perhaps he'll call Amakura and they can go and see Mafuyu together.
A gust of wind chills him to the bone, and he turns quickly to go inside. He can feel the piece of paper with Amakura's address at the bottom of his pocket. When he gets in, he knows, Rei will come to meet him and ask, as she always does, half-joking, if he made any new friends today, and this time, he'll be able to say yes.