Notes: I already got a couple of good reviews, so here's more of the story! Honestly, I was almost expecting to be flamed off the face of the earth by now… I'm glad I wasn't! XD Thank you so much, DororoXPenana, chickadeeyasee, and melbulma79! I hope the story doesn't disappoint! ^_^
Chapter 1: The Return
Half an hour after leaving Nagoya, Tetsuhiro found himself hesitating in the street outside his brother's house. Kunihiro was definitely home, judging from the glowing windows. He never left the lights on while he was out. The problem was that Tetsuhiro just didn't know what to say. How could he explain that he was now homeless and destitute; furthermore, how could he ever muster up the humility to say that Kunihiro had been right about Souichi?
With a heavy sigh, Tetsuhiro turned and walked down the street. The Celestial sky was beautiful, even when his world was falling apart. The stars sparkled merrily, unheeding of his pain, but it was comforting to him. Even though he felt like he was spiraling into despair, the world kept on going. The stars and swirls of cloud continued in their cosmic rotation. The wind continued to blow, sweet and gentle. His heart continued to beat, though it felt like it was breaking apart with each pulse.
He took in a deep breath. Everything would be OK. There was still hope that his life wouldn't be completely empty. He still had his health, and he knew that soon a spark of life would flare inside of him. It was enough to shore up his courage, and he spun around again and stalked towards Kunihiro's house.
At this hour, not a soul stirred in the street. Kunihiro's house was one of only a few houses showing any sign of occupation. With a trembling hand, he reached up and knocked on the door. Then he waited, nervousness and courage both fighting within him for dominance. After a tense moment, the door opened and Kunihiro stared at him nonchalantly.
"It's about time. Come on in."
Tetsuhiro was taken off guard. He moved past his brother and waited until the door closed and Kunihiro gestured to the living room. Tetsuhiro took a step, but halted when he saw who was sitting on the couch.
"Hello," Masaki said a little sheepishly.
"Um… M- Masaki-san… Hi," Tetsuhiro stammered, unsure of what to do. This meant…
"Masaki told me everything," Kunihiro said, walking past his younger brother to sit in an armchair. "Sit down. I suppose we have some business to discuss."
Tetsuhiro sat down in the chair opposite the couch. Kunihiro sat at an angle, so the three formed a triangle. Kunihiro stared at Tetsuhiro, who kept his eyes lowered to the floor; Masaki stared at Kunihiro. A moment of tense silence dominated the room. Tetsuhiro examined the brownstone tiles on the floor, comparing them to the ivory-and-ebony pattern of the rug. His brother's taste was different from his own, but he still admired it. The furniture was a nice shade of tan, the walls a creamy white. It was a nice look for the room, which had a high ceiling and large, arching windows in the front and back.
"Well, I suppose you need a place to stay," Kunihiro's voice snapped Tetsuhiro back to attention. He lowered his gaze again, blushing under his brother's burning scrutiny. Glancing up again, he caught Masaki's eyes. The blonde gave him a gentle smile, though Tetsuhiro wasn't sure if it reassured him or not. He looked up again in surprise, though, when Kunihiro said, "I have a guest room. You can stay there."
"Um… Thank you…" Tetsuhiro said. "I'll do what I can to get a new place soon, so you won't have to… put up with me for long." He attempted a laugh, but it came out stale. He shifted on the firm cushion, biting his lip nervously.
"You can stay as long as you need to," Kunihiro said. He seemed a little stiff, and Tetsuhiro realized that he was trying to be as nice as he could. He wasn't very good at it, but at least he was trying.
"Thank you," Tetsuhiro managed a small smile. "I still want to find my own place, because…" Here he hesitated. Kunihiro raised an eyebrow, and Masaki cocked his head a little. Could he really tell them? It would be foolish not to. They had to know; there was no way he could keep it a secret for long.
Clearing his throat, he looked up at his brother and former lover. "I'm…"
VVVVV
As Tetsuhiro was reuniting with his brother, Souichi was running up and down the streets frantically. How could Tetsuhiro have disappeared so quickly? He wasn't that fast a runner. Souichi had overtaken him many times before, and this time he'd been running at full force. Yet there was no denying that his kouhai was gone, almost vanished into thin air.
The sky was growing light by the time exhaustion finally claimed him. He schlepped back to the apartment, shoulders slumped and legs feeling like lead. He barely managed to get into bed, not even bothering to kick off his shoes. His mind a whirlwind of emotions, all blurry and incomprehensible to him in his current state, he fell into a deep and troubled sleep.
Souichi didn't wake up until that afternoon. "Ugh…" his mind was still fogged as he pushed himself into a sitting position. He couldn't remember why he was still clothed and why his shoes were still on. Reaching for his glasses, he realized that they were skewed on his head. Hazily, he tried to remember what he'd been doing. He couldn't even recall going to bed.
"You drove Morinaga away," the little voice in his head said.
"Huh?"
"Don't you remember telling him all that? He disappeared. He's gone. You were out looking for him when…"
"Shit!" he bolted out of bed. The previous night's events replayed in his mind; Masaki, being pissed at Tetsuhiro, Masaki again, Tetsuhiro coming back, the kiss, running after him, looking for him until he collapsed… "Dammit, Morinaga!" he shouted. Tearing through his bedroom doorway, he burst into Tetsuhiro's room. It was empty, the bed still made. "Shit!" he cursed again, and grabbed his backpack.
The bus ride to school was torture. His body practically vibrated with pent-up energy. Were his life a cartoon, he knew that he'd have steam coming out of his ears. Finally, finally the bus stopped at Nagoya University, and he jumped out of the vehicle and took off across the school lawn.
His rush was unnecessary; the laboratory was empty.
Panting, shaking with exhaustion, Souichi leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. His worst fears seemed to be confirmed, though he tried not to think about it. "There was a bridge close to where you lost him," the nagging voice said. "He probably jumped."
"No… He wouldn't do something that stupid…" he muttered aloud.
"You know how irrational he is. Or was."
"No!" Souichi forced his protesting body back into a standing position. Furiously, he began getting out supplies in preparation for the day's work. "That idiot's probably sleeping under that bridge!" he said. "Let him! He can do what he wants! He'll come back; he always does, the spineless coward!"
"Yeah. Right."
"Shut up!" he screamed, clutching at his hair and scaring away the two students who had just come into the room. "That bridge wasn't exactly a deadly fall! It's over a ditch, for cryin' out loud! If he did jump he's probably stuck in the mud, and I say he can stay there until he learns his lesson!"
The mental image of Tetsuhiro stuck waist-deep in mud was sufficient to lift his mood a little. He reassured himself with the thought that his kouhai had done this before. He would come back, like last time. He probably just went to stay with a friend. Thus consoled, Souichi was able to continue his work with little distraction, though he gave a start whenever anyone entered the room.
Each time, his heart sank a little more when he realized that it wasn't Tetsuhiro.
VVVVV
That evening, despite his aching limbs, Souichi decided to walk all the way home from the university. It wasn't a terrible distance, but his legs protested sharply. He walked slowly, partly out of necessity and partly so he could scan the area for any sign of a messy mop of black hair. He passed several young men who had similar hair styles and even a few who were just as tall as his kouhai, but none of them was Tetsuhiro.
"Dammit, Morinaga, where are you?" he mumbled under his breath. His steps sped up as he approached their neighborhood. Soon he came to the intersection where Tetsuhiro had disappeared; here he stopped. The bridge loomed just a few yards away. Taking a hard swallow to clear his suddenly clenched throat, Souichi walked towards the structure.
It was just a short overpass, after all. The muddy concrete below wasn't too far from the top of the bridge. There was no way someone could die from jumping off of the walkway, but still Souichi walked around the guardrail and leaned over to take a look underneath. If the moron really had jumped, perhaps in a moment of frenzied desperation, he might have sprained an ankle or even broken a leg if he'd landed just right. To Souichi's relief, there were no marks in the mud. No signs that anyone had fallen in, voluntarily or otherwise.
The blonde pulled himself back over the guardrail and started towards home. He walked apprehensively, finally stopping when he reached their apartment building. He knew that the windows would be dark, but he hesitated to look. A part of him was still hoping that Tetsuhiro was there. He climbed the stairs slowly, then pulled out his keys and unlocked the door. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Nothing happened.
The apartment was dark, as he'd halfway expected. Nobody waited for him. Nobody called to him in welcome. He dropped his backpack and kicked off his shoes. Though his stomach growled, he slumped onto the couch without even looking towards the kitchen. In the silence of the empty apartment, he could hear his heartbeat in his ears. It was more erratic than he'd thought. Had he really expected Tetsuhiro to be there?
"He's gone for good," his inner voice said viciously. "You finally did it. Now you can be alone, like you always wanted, right?"
The thought chilled him. Reaching for a pad of paper on the coffee table, he pulled the pen from his pocked and scribbled a note. Then he packed up some clothes and his laptop, and left for Matsuda's.
TBC
Sorry the chapters are so short! I'm pretty bad about writing too-short chapters… ^^;
