A.N. Okay, this is the second random part of this one-shot. I randomly got this idea yesterday and HAD to write it. It's a passive one shot I guess? I hope you enjoy this fic. It's probably more easy to understand than 'Strings' XD. I'm sorry for those who didn't understand 'Strings' one bit... ^^; It's meant to be really weird and surreal. So you can come away with some explanation to none depending on whether we're on the same page or not.
They were pathetic… All of them… Every single one of them.
Coming and going, looking at him with those eyes filled with sympathy with their plastic eyes and plastic expressions. All of them sending their so-called condolences to him.
"Poor boy, not just one parent but both."
"I heard it was a car crash, what a terrible way to go."
"I wonder who will take him in, I would but I have enough on my plate to feed."
"He was always quite a dangerous driver… It's not really a surprise."
All of them, speaking as if he wasn't even there. He was no fool. In fact, he knew how the world functioned, he remembered the looks on his teachers' faces whenever he corrected them or answered without any problems. He was always bored, eventually he was pulled out of kindergarten, tried at primary school, but it was still way too simple. So instead his parents had private tutors come in and tutor him. He was currently doing university courses at home. He didn't worry about his money running out as his parents had left him enough money to live for the next ten years.
He watched them, one by one walking through, paying respects, giving condolences. Many quickly shied away from him, feeling fright from a boy who held no emotion at his parents' death. He simply didn't need emotion, his bond with his parents was always mixtures of ice. His heart was winter itself. He had no room for love.
Tears fell from the heavens, moistening the earth all around them. Everyone fled the place to find shelter. He watched the droplets, not feeling anything when they hit him, then the rain picked up and poured down even more heavy than before. He didn't care if he was wet, he rather liked rain in fact. He looked around the empty area. He closed his eyes, he enjoyed this. Just how quiet it was made him enjoy it. Suddenly he stopped getting wet, his vision of the sky was blocked by a red umbrella. He looked to his right and saw a mirror version of him, but the doppelganger had chocolate eyes and wore a wide smile on his face. Childish innocence hung around him.
"You look like you needed colour in your life!" the child beamed at him. Taken aback by the child's remark, Haou said nothing, only observed him. Something about the child's smile really warmed him. He didn't know what, it just sparked something inside of him. However, before Haou had time to react. The child put the umbrella handle into his hand.
"My name is Judai!" he said before turning around and running off. Haou who had never had someone show this kind of affection to him before decided on a split second to run after the boy.
"Do you like hot chocolate?" he asked the first thing that came to his mind. He hated self introduction, it was stupid. You only tell people your name if they were interested. Other than that there was no point, there were words like 'you' and 'stranger' that covered names. Many were taken aback by how he would address them, but he didn't care. That was how he functioned. The boy who was getting drenched in the rain beamed at him.
"I love hot chocolate!" he chirped, the golden eyed male could have sworn he saw the sun in those eyes. "Follow me then." He said without a second word. The boy beamed at him and followed behind him. For some reason Haou felt a dull pang of guilt in his system seeing the boy being hit by heavy rain while he was using the boy's red umbrella. With one swift move he grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him so that he was under the umbrella as well. The boy beamed at him, not caring that he was just roughly handled by the other. He observed the boy, his shoes were worn out, so were his trousers and t-shirt. Why was a child out by himself with an umbrella and not a raincoat? The only thing new on the boy was the umbrella.
When they arrived at his, he set the umbrella down, locked the door and started peeling off the drenched layers. He looked at the boy who was dripping wet and even though he tried desperately to hide the fact he was shivering, Haou easily saw it. Without bothering with words, he grabbed the boy's arm and led him up the stairs and to the bathroom. He started the taps and submerged the bathtub with warm water. After turning off the taps he turned over to the boy and looked at him.
"You're taking a bath, you'll catch a cold if you stay in those." He said, starting to peel the layers off the boy who looked a bit confused but let him do so anyway. He picked the boy up and placed him in the warm tub of water, before taking off his remaining layers and climbing into the tub himself shortly after that. He watched the boy who was having fun dunking himself in the tub. He found it both odd and intriguing how one could get amused by such simple things such as a bath. He grabbed the shampoo near him and started lathering his own hair with it, then saw the boy staring at him. Not knowing what he was doing, he squeezed some shampoo into his hand and started lathering the boy's hair as well. The boy giggled and laughed at the action, then moved closer to him. Feeling awkward, Haou took a bar of soap from the side and handed it to the boy, the boy took it happily and started to lather himself with soap. After he was done he went back to dunking himself into the tub again. While he was having fun in the tub, Haou had finished off cleaning himself and had washed all the soap off of his body and hair and was already dressed. Seeing the boy enjoying himself, he let him play in there for a bit longer, deciding to go and search for some clothes for the boy.
When he returned the boy was still splashing in the tub. He took the shower head and cleaned the boy off thoroughly, then picked him up and lifted him from the bathtub and onto the ground, quickly wrapping a piping hot towel freshly heated from the radiator around the boy, who beamed at him. He handed the boy his clothes and let him put them on before taking another towel and drying his hair off, then he led the boy to the kitchen and made him a hot chocolate without another word. He watched the boy happily drink the warm beverage down.
"What's your name?" the boy asked, beaming at Haou.
"Haou."
"Nice to meet you Haou!" the boy cried happily. "Thanks for the bath and drink… I have to go now." The boy said, getting up from his seat.
"Judai, how old are you?" he asked, feeling odd how he had decided to use the brunette's name for the first time. The brunette looked at him. "Five."
"Where do you live?"
The brunette scrunched up a face and his lips turned into a pout, then the smile returned.
"Uh… I forgot… but I know it's called an orphanage!" he said, his smile never once leaving his face.
"Do you like it there?"
"Not really… but I that's where I live… It's not like your house so big and bright, the halls are ugly and grey, the place smells, but I guess it's nice to have somewhere instead of nowhere." The boy said beaming.
"You're staying with me then."
The boy looked at him confused, slightly taken aback.
"You don't need to go back there if you don't want to."
There was another silence. "You did say you like my house didn't you?"
The brunette blushed, looking a bit bashful and shy. He started fiddling with his fingers. "I guess so…" he said quietly, looking at Haou.
"Then you can stay here."
"But wouldn't your parents mind?"
"They died."
"Oh…" was all the boy said. No words of sympathy were said, but Haou liked it. It was the most honest reply he had had all day, all week even. It was funny how a simple "oh" was better than the thousands of "I'm sorry"s that sounded like a synthetically put together chorus and nothing more.
The older male said nothing and made another hot chocolate and set it down in front of the boy. The boy beamed at him and took it, then started drinking it.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++Rain++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Judai, come back here!" Haou yelled chasing after a stark naked boy who was running down the hallways. "If you don't dry yourself off you'll catch a cold!"
A year had passed and the five year old boy who was now six was still staying with Haou. Oddly enough, no one had come by to find the boy that had supposedly come from some orphanage that the boy had forgotten the name to. Haou had found out later that the boy had been given an umbrella by someone who pitied him since he was running in the rain, completely drenched.
Nothing had really changed in the space of a year except that Haou and Judai were now slightly closer than before. Haou found out that Judai really enjoyed spending evenings just cuddled up with him and sitting by the fireplace. He also found out that the boy had taken a strange liking to him to the point where if he went for a walk, the boy would follow him, never once leaving him. The brunette was always filled with energy, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes it left Haou irritated, for example, the current situation. The boy had just finished his bath, something had made Judai not want to be dried off, making Haou chase him around the house with a towel. The golden eyed male sighed when he finally caught the boy and was drying him off.
"What was that for, Judai? You could have gotten a cold." the older male said, suddenly feeling fiercely protective over the boy.
"I just wanted to see if you would actually run after me with the towel…" the boy chirped, smiling at him again.
"What a stupid thought you had there…" the older male said coldly as he continued with the task of wiping the brunette dry. He watched the boy's chocolate eyes turn a bit dull, a sad pout on his face now.
"Haou… do you like me?" the brunette asked, sounding close to tears. This shocked the older male as a moment ago the boy was beaming and laughing.
"Of course I do, why would you ask that?"
"You looked so mad at me… and you called me 'stupid'…" the boy said. "Please don't kick me out… I won't make you mad ever again! I promise!" the brunette said, tears now springing to his eyes.
Haou stared at the boy with a rare small smile on his lips. He leaned forward and kissed the boy on the forehead. "I wasn't calling you stupid, Judai. I was just irritated with you, but I'm not mad at you anymore, so don't cry. I won't throw you out, nothing will make me leave you Judai."
"Haou… what does irritated mean?"
"It just means that I'm angry at you but I don't hate you."
The boy stopped crying and looked up at the golden eyed male with wide eyes. "Promise you won't ever leave me."
"I promise." Haou said, kissing the boy on the forehead again.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++Rain++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Happy birthday Haou!" the boy chimed happily as he ran in holding a birthday cake that was a bit too big for him. Seeing this, Haou quickly helped the boy set it on the table before the boy fell over with it.
"How did you even carry this home?" Haou asked in his usual monotonic voice. However Judai could sense the amusement and curiosity from him. "I don't know." The boy replied honestly. "Uhh… Haou… you'll have to light your candles…" he said meekly.
"So I'm lighting my own candles for my own birthday?" the golden eyed male asked, eyeing the boy. He was only teasing the boy, he found it incredibly cute whenever Judai would flush up and apologise when it wasn't even a big deal. Today was no different.
"I… I'm sorry… I'm scared of lighting candles…" the boy said meekly, looking away and blushing.
"It's okay Judai, I appreciate the cake." he replied patting the boy on the head.
"Uh Haou?"
"Hmmm?"
The boy ran up to him and stood on his tiptoes, then kissed Haou on the cheek.
"Ha…Happy birthday Haou… I kinda… sorta um… have a present for you…" the brunette said nervously.
"Okay, so where is it then?" Haou asked, straight to the point. He grew curious when the boy looked worried and scared, then started walking out of the room, which he took as a cue to follow him. He followed the boy out until he was outside in the hallway. While it was a white wall before hand, it was now covered with drawings and doodles with crayons. Judai looked back at the older male nervously. Haou was rather silent, was he mad at him?
"Judai…"
"Y…yes?" the boy was almost afraid to respond. He didn't dare to meet his gaze. Suddenly he was embraced then kissed on the forehead again.
"Thank you, Judai. I love it."
"Really?" the brunette replied beaming.
"Yes."
The boy smiled happily, but suddenly his expression got sullen.
"Haou… you won't ever leave me right?"
Haou leaned forward and kissed the boy on the forehead. "I will never leave you, Judai. Even if I'm not physically there, I haven't left you." He said patting the child on the head. "Now let's go cut the cake, I bet you really want some of that."
"Yes of course!" laughed the child happily.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++Rain++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It was raining… red and blue lights flashing… they were horrible people… they didn't know anything…
All of them, staring at him with sympathy because he had lost everyone… All of them staring at the other with sympathy because he was too young…
"Poor kid, he was only fifteen, who would want to kill a fifteen year old?"
"That poor child that was living with him… I heard he's an orphan…"
Judai stared at the body in front of him, his gaze was cold. He hated it… he hated this so much, why were people so blind? He clenched up his fists.
"But he's not Haou!" he cried loudly, earning nervous glances from everyone around him. He walked over to an officer. "He's not the one that looked after me! Haou doesn't look like this!" he cried again.
"I'm sorry kid, but that's what it says on his ID, his photo and fingerprints match the system completely. People that have died usually look really different from when they are alive."
"I know, but Haou doesn't look like this! It's not him!" the brunette cried desperately, trying to get someone to believe him. But he knew, oh he knew. All those looks around him, every single one of them. They thought he was crazy. But he didn't care. "Haou… he promised that we will never be separated by death."
"Oh that poor boy! He must be so distraught that he can't even accept the fact that his friend is dead."
They didn't understand…
They didn't understand one bit… But how could they?
Haou was more than just a friend to him…
He loved Haou.
Judai took a deep breath and ran out of the area to the home him and Haou had shared for the past five years. He walked into the house that looked lonely now, he walked through the halls, the picture he had drawn for Haou, still on the wall. Next to his picture was Haou's own drawing. It was only last year when Haou had turned fourteen and he had turned nine. It was a week after Haou's birthday, Judai had come home to see Haou looking at his drawing. He noted that there was something new next to it. He remember how Haou had remarked that he understood why Judai liked drawing on the wall. His heart felt so heavy. Haou was gone, but not dead. Haou had promised him that they would never be apart. This was what the brunette told himself as he cuddled up in his bed sheets while he sobbed his heart out.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++Rain++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It was raining again. It always rained on this day, maybe it was because someone out there understood his pain. It had been five years, five years since Haou had 'died' and ten years ever since they had met. He still refused to believe that Haou had died. That body was not Haou's. He also refused to discuss it, he hated how he would always get some person that was there to reopen the case of Haou's 'death'. Many a time they come up to him saying they believed him, but after a while they would come back with the same feedback. Instead of waiting around, the brunette was studying forensics science himself in his own spare time. He didn't go to school, because Haou didn't go to school and Haou had never forced him to go to school, he had always tutored Judai.
He stood there on the platform waiting for his train. A whole sea of people swept through the platform, then suddenly it was empty again. He entered the train and took a seat. He sighed, staring straight ahead when something or rather… someone caught his eye.
Golden orbs…
Chocolate locks…
His reflection…
Haou…
However… his triumph was short lived when the train stopped and the other got up and exited the cargo. He didn't know whether to cry or laugh… Haou was alive… but he was out of reach.
He got home, disappointed and drenched, he didn't bother using an umbrella. He couldn't, umbrellas reminded him of Haou. Especially red ones. Seeing Haou on the train made him happy and sad. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall.
"Why so sad, Judai?"
The brunette's eyes widened at the voice, before he knew it, he found himself pinned against the wall by his wrists. His surprised cries were muffled by a rough kiss to his lips. He found himself kissing the other back, they started kissing slowly, then the passion between them started building up, very soon Judai found himself granting entrance to Haou. They carried on kissing for a bit before Haou pulled away leaving a string of saliva between them. Judai blushed as he felt Haou stroke his face.
"I've been dying to do that for a while, Judai."
Judai refused to say a word to the other. He looked away, he felt tears stinging at the side of his cheeks. Eventually the sting of tears turned into big fat tears.
"H... how could you joke about dying Haou when you faked your own death?" the brunette cried out, tears sliding down his cheeks. "How could you Haou? Why did you leave me behind?" he sobbed. He found himself sobbing more as the other embraced him.
Seeing the boy in such a state after five years of separation made the usually cold hearted brunette feel a tiny bit of guilt. He picked up the crying boy in his arms and carried him to the bathroom and set him down on the ground. He started drawing a bath again. He said nothing as he watched the brunette make a mess of himself by sobbing his heart out. He had missed Judai, but he knew he had done it for good reasons. He turned the taps off and turned to the brunette, who had calmed down a bit by now, he was now hiccupping as he stared at the older male who had started peeling off the wet layers on the chocolate eyed teen's body.
"I'm sure you can climb into the tub by yourself." Haou said teasingly at the brunette who flushed red in the. "Ha.. Haou… is it possible that you could carry me in? For old time's sake?" he said quietly, blushing and feeling extremely bashful. Haou said nothing and picked up the boy and set him in the bathtub.
"You really grew in these five years." He said, giving the brunette a rare smile. He took off his layers and kissed the boy on the forehead, then got into the bathtub next to him. He realised how badly he missed the boy.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++Rain++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"You know Haou… I can't believe it was ten years this day that we had met…" Judai said, stirring his hot chocolate.
"Not to mention that if you hadn't approached me with the umbrella, we would have never met."
There was a comfortable silence that hung in the air.
"Judai… I apologise for causing you so much despair for leaving like that… Even going to the extent of faking my own death… Don't think I didn't hear how you kept claiming the dead body wasn't mine."
He paused for a while before continuing, making sure he had the full attention of the boy. "Judai, I have a confession to make. I'm not exactly doing legal business… I started when I was fourteen. I realised that by getting into this sort of shady business posed danger for you, so when you turned ten, I decided to fake my murder so that no one would come after you. I guess in a way it worked as you're alive before me, however I also lost someone in the process…"
Judai sat there staring at Haou. It took a while to take in what the other had just said to him. "No… Haou, you didn't lose anyone in the process… I'm still here…" he said before kissing the other on the lips.
"But it doesn't mean I won't be fighting against you whenever you go off to do that shady business of yours." He replied back with a confident smile on his face.
Outside the rain was pouring, but the two brunettes didn't care. They had each other.
Five years ago Haou had died and ten years ago they had just met. What accompanied their memories was the rain that had fallen, ushering them closer together.
A.N. I hope you enjoyed this :333 X333 and Angel, this fic is for you, because I know how much you love the cute sweet romance that blossoms then that bump in the road to fracture it and finally that romance coming back together!~ I hope you loved this! ;ω; Coz I love you!~ 3333
~BleedingStrawberries