Valentine's Day Sukeru
Long-distance relationships are very hard to maintain. They generally go wrong somewhere or fade away over time. Same goes for affection and friendship. When you don't see a certain person all that often anymore, your mind tends to forget them and sooner or later, before you know it, you're already nothing more than familiar strangers.
Kakeru is sleeping. He is on his bed, tossing and turning. His mother in the other room listening in on this commotion. She doesn't disturb him, however. She knows that it is a bad dream.
Subaru…?
Kakeru is at some kind of bar. He can tell because of the heavy smell of alcohol in the air and the loud (in more than one way) music blaring over the speakers. The people are drunk and half naked. The performers are even worse.
He pushes through the crowd. It's smelly and he can barely breathe, but he continues squeezing himself through anyway. He just keeps on searching for Subaru.
Where oh where could he be? He said he'd just take a minute…
Kakeru grows increasingly worried with each passing second. A fire starts to burn in his stomach, probably from the stench, but he uses that heat and pushes forward. He's determined to find his friend.
After a while, the determination he harboured faded a little. He can feel the bile rise in him in place of the fire that pushed him on, so, to save himself from throwing up, he starts to swim back the way he came through the sea of people. Just as he reaches the shores, however, he sees Subaru and a girl in a bikini sit under an umbrella.
Suddenly he feels sand under his feet. His clothes and hair are wet from seawater and he feels quite gross. He doesn't realise that now, instead of a strip club, it's a beach he's at. It doesn't really matter anyway.
"Subaru, I've been looking everywhere for you!" he exclaims.
It's a pity that the latter can't hear him.
"Subaru…?" he tries again, but he gets the same result. If Subaru can hear him, however, and isn't answering, then Kakeru feels like saying "It's not funny anymore."
He just hopes that Subaru really can't hear him.
"Ne, Subaru…" he says, taking cautious steps towards the dark-haired boy. As he walks, however, he feels as if the pair are moving further and further away from him. In a desperate attempt, he picks up the pace, hoping he can somehow outrun the constantly moving figures.
All that he runs into is an invisible wall.
He smacks his head hard on it. He can feel blood trickling down from his nostrils. He tastes his own blood. He pounds his fists on the unseen wall. Kicks it even.
It doesn't even make a dent.
Suddenly, he looks up and sees something. It makes his heart race. It makes his blood boil. It makes his body weak. It makes his eyes wet.
They kissed.
Why it bothers him this much he does not understand, but he pounds on the surface before him twice as hard. Two tears mix with his blood as they stream down his chin. He wasn't the best sight to see either. For a second, he wonders if he actually wants Subaru to see him.
When he looks right overhead, he sees a strange spectacle. The seagulls and other birds fly high above him, as they would when there is a great disturbance somewhere. They seem to be fleeing something.
Kakeru looks behind him and sees that the water has retreated far towards the ocean. He recognises this symptom. Retreating water always comes back in a much more powerful form. Kids call it a big wave. Teens and adults call it a tsunami.
He looks back at the pair. They have packed up their belongings, it seems. Subaru has the umbrella over his shoulder and is using his free hand to hold the mat they sat on. The girl smiles at him. He smiles back.
They leave.
Kakeru, knowing that a tsunami will hit soon, desperately bangs on the barrier between him and the dry sands of the beach. He knows that he can't swim, so he has to find a way to escape it. He's fully aware that he'll die if he doesn't.
"This… this is a sick joke…" he murmurs, pausing to breathe just for a second before starting up the drums again. After a while, a young boy clad in white walks up to him and presses his petite hands on the barrier. Afterwards, he pushes one through the barrier.
"Onii-san, wake up. You're having a bad dream," the kid says, reaching up and out to ruffle Kakeru's head. When the pale-skinned boy realises that Kakeru couldn't break through the barrier nor was he anywhere near to calming down, he says, "Hey, listen to me. Always bring a flashlight with you wherever you go, okay? Just for today." He then pats Kakeru's head before retracting his hand. It seems to shock the hyperventilating boy for a bit. "Well then, I'll snap my fingers, the tsunami will come, and you'll wake up. Sound okay?" he asks, raising his fingers and ready to call the wave.
"Wait, one question… What's your name?" Kakeru asks quickly.
"You know me. I'm the archer in love." He snaps his fingers. Kakeru feels water envelope his entire body. It was a strong but warm push.
Kakeru wakes up a little tired. He isn't surprised as he just had a weird dream last night. He sits up feeling a little groggy, so he cups his forehead with his right hand. He turns his body to the left and swings his legs over the bedside.
I transferred schools this year.
He stands up from his sleeping haven. Taking small steps to the bathroom, he opens the door and steps inside. He looks in the mirror. He finds that his hair has grown.
I used to go to the same school as Subaru.
He washes up. Later today, he has agreed to go visiting with his friends from his old school. It's been a while since he's seen them.
I had feelings for him. I still do.
Kakeru is done showering. The plan for the day is to meet up at Naoya's house. It'll be a nice get-together, they told him.
I don't care. I'm only there to see him.
Kakeru waits around until it is time to go. The appointment time is 6pm. Before this, he has no plans. He just stays at home and waits it out.
I haven't told him that I like him.
He remembers his dream right before he heads out. He grabs a pocket flashlight, heeding Cupid's advice. He feels like he needs luck on his side.
I want to tell him as soon as possible.
He has a friend who also transferred. Due to lack of communication prior to leaving, however, he soon became torn apart from that friend. They can hardly call themselves that anymore either. They're more like acquaintances.
Before he forgets me.
He doesn't want that to happen between him and Subaru, who already doesn't talk much on a regular basis.
Before I forget these feelings for him.
Naoya's house is lively, just as Kakeru had imagined it. He is currently a few blocks away, and is wondering if he should go in yet. He messages Subaru to see if he is there yet.
When Subaru says that he will be late, he stays outside the house on the street, against his better judgement. He waits patiently for Subaru to arrive.
I don't think I can be around them right now. It'll be too awkward without Subaru there with me.
When Subaru says that he will be there in 5 minutes, he is overjoyed. He replies with an "I'll be there in 5 too" and a smiley face to go along with it. He then proceeds to walk towards the house. By now, the sun is almost setting past the horizon. It is getting dark.
It is fortunate that he reaches the house without incident. He arrives at the doorbell and presses it just as Subaru's ride halts and he hops off. Kakeru puts on a cute smile. His hands are clenching items tight in his pockets, however. Flashlight and cell phone.
Naoya greets them cheerily from the doorstep and opens the gate for them to enter. The house itself is nothing extravagant on the outside, but the inside looks pretty well made-over. The gang greets him merrily and he returns their well-wishes, awkward he may feel. Subaru is right behind him the whole time.
Naoya later invites them to eat. He pulls out pizza and some fried chicken. Kakeru has never been fond of pizza, so he looks at Subaru for help. The dark-blue haired boy says nothing and works on cutting the slice of pizza he grabbed into half, giving some to Kakeru. They've done this before, with the exception that last time, one of the half-slices had Subaru's saliva on it as he used a used fork of his to cut the slice. Kakeru remembers licking the edge secretly.
After the food, Naoya leads the two of them and one other friend to see his pet cat. The three of them follow him outside his house and behind it, where Naoya brings them to one of the windows where they can see the furball. The friend spots the cat. Subaru spots the cat.
When Kakeru leans in to the window, he doesn't see it.
"Dang it, I'm too short," he says, not knowing that he was looking at the wrong spot. Beside him, he can feel Subaru shift his weight a little. Kakeru senses the ball of impatience enveloping Subaru, so he quickly backs off from the window. It seems that Naoya was too far away from him to hear his complaint too.
"Come on, let's go inside," the silverhead suggests and Kakeru doesn't object. When they return inside, however, Kakeru asks Naoya if he can see the cat from the inside.
"It's right in that room," Naoya replies with a smile. Kakeru nods and is about to enter the room, but decides to turn around and tap Subaru's arm. When Subaru responds, he motions for the dark-haired boy to follow him. He knows that he is pulling Subaru into a room alone with him. He doesn't look back to see if Subaru is following him after that realization.
When he enters to what looks to be the storage room, he starts to look around for the cat. He sees Subaru coming from the corner of his eye. He returns to looking for the feline.
"Oh, there it is!" he exclaims. The cat is sitting under the sink, studying the two of them carefully with its eyes. Kakeru doesn't get close to the animal as Naoya has spoken of it scratching strangers before. He coos over the animal's puffy fur, glancing over to look at Subaru.
Suddenly, the lights go out.
"Eh?!" he cries out, taken by surprise. "The lights!" He feels scared suddenly as he has never dealt well with the dark. His heart palpitates and his hands sweat profusely.
Suddenly, he feels another body press up against his. Two arms then wrap around his body and hug him protectively. It takes his panic-stricken mind a while to realise that the person is Subaru.
"Don't worry. It's just the dark," the person hugging him says. Kakeru takes a few deep breaths to calm himself down and relaxes a little into Subaru's arms. It is then that he remembers that he has a flashlight. He pulls the small device out and turns it on.
"A flashlight?" Subaru asks.
"Well, I just felt like bringing it along today," he replies as he realises that it is an item people wouldn't normally bring around. That dream is pretty accurate, though.
He shines the light on Subaru's face. He sees the pale skin and sapphire eyes that he loves so much. For a moment, he feels as if the strong but warm tsunami wave is giving him courage.
I want to tell him as soon as possible.
"Subaru-kun, can I be honest about something?" he asks.
"What is it?" Subaru answers him, prodding him on.
Kakeru is about to say it; the words are right there in his throat. But that's it. Those pesky words stay in his throat. So instead, he does what he is best at doing.
He takes out his phone. He starts to type the words in his head. When he sees that Subaru is watching him type, he nudges Subaru's head so that his line of sight is elsewhere. Subaru gets the message and turns away until he is done.
Gingerly, he types out "I love you."
He nudges Subaru again when he is done. Subaru looks over, so he just shoves the phone in his face, not wanting him to see the wildfire blush across his cheeks. Once he has given Subaru enough time, he quickly takes back the phone and hangs his head low. He doesn't want Subaru to see him right now.
To his surprise, Subaru's grip on him becomes tighter. At that, he turns his head around to see Subaru's face. It is a faint shade of pink across his pale skin, and the colour looks wonderful on him.
"Read that message again yourself," the boy says. Kakeru thinks of it in his head and realises that Subaru is talking about him.
"Really?" he asks, his heart starting to fill with joy now. When he feels a feeble nod, he throws his arms around Subaru and hugs him back. He doesn't realise that he had thrown the flashlight onto the ground in the process.
"You didn't need to wait for Valentine's to tell me, though," Subaru said to him. Kakeru simply chuckled and hugged him tighter.
"I love you, Subaru." This time, he says it out loud, feeling the confidence to say these words now. When Subaru finally pulls back a little from the hug, Kakeru rides that wave of confidence of his and plants a kiss on Subaru's lips.
That's my super rushed story for Valentine's. (I did not check it after writing. Please forgive mistakes.) Hope you enjoyed!
~PhoenixFireBlade~