"I'm sorry Tora. I don't feel the same." Torahiko's shoulder slumped and he stared at the ground for a second before looking up with tears in his eyes. "There's someone else, isn't there?" Silently, Hiroyuki nodded. Torahiko stood completely still for a moment, then stomped off and slammed the door. For a moment, he stood at the door to Hiroyuki's house, wondering if he should go back in, if there was more he could've said or done. Then, he realized there was nothing he could've done differently. Hiroyuki didn't love him, and that wouldn't change. As this realization sank in, he started running without a clear destination in mind, tears streaming down his face all the while.
Torahiko was vaguely aware of his surroundings, and he thought he heard someone call out to him, but he didn't stop. He ran and ran, until it felt like his legs were about to give out. Without any thought to where he was, he collapsed on the ground. He lay there, eyes closed, not caring about the world around him. After what felt like hours, he opened his eyes and looked around him. In his haste to get away from Hiroyuki, he had run to the river. "The place where he and Hiroyuki had always played together" he thought bitterly. Memories of childhood splashed across his mind. Memories of playing in the river, of water fights to cool off, of the time they got scolded for going in to deep. Tears began to stream down his face once more. He collapsed on the ground once more, wishing for everything to just disappear.
Suddenly, a booming voice startled Torahiko out of his thoughts. "Torahiko, what are ya doing laying on the ground, ya idiot?" Composing himself as best he could, he turned and saw Tatsuki standing behind him, a bit red faced. Barely able to form words, he managed to stutter out, "What are you doing here Tatsuki? Don't you have work?" An expression of terror crossed Tatsuki's face, but it was quickly replaced by a happy smile. "Dad's on the warpath again. Tetsuya san thought it best that I stay out of his way for the time being. Thought I'd come here to cool off a bit" Unable to hold back his emotions, Torahiko turned away so that Tatsuki wouldn't see his tears. "I see." He said in a flat emotionless voice. "Could you go somewhere and just leave me alone?" For the first time, a worried expression crossed Tatsuki's face. "Hey, Tora? Are you ok? You seem different than normal." Something about Tatsuki's words caused anger to erupt within Torahiko. He turned around, no longer caring about concealing his tears, and shouted "I'm fine! What the hell do you know anyway?!" Before Tatsuki could say anything more, he ran off, his feet unconsciously taking him home. When he arrived, he was somewhat calmer, but the tears were still streaming down his face. Ignoring his surroundings and his father's greeting, he trudged up to his room, slammed the door, collapsed onto his bed, and full into a restless sleep, filled with dreams of Hiroyuki.
