Day: 2

Challenge: Cuddling Somewhere

Pairing: GaoSuku (Gao x Tasuku)

Characters: Gao, Tasuku and Kuguru.

Word Count: 1699

Author: Merry Christmas. I managed to finish this in time, like 44 minutes before midnight. I'm tired and am going to turn in. Hope Bushi will spoil more screenshots for us tomorrow. If not, just have to painstakingly wait for the episode. I wish Bushi would update two episodes because I heard episode 52 is delayed and will release a week after its original date.

Warning: Un-beta'ed.

If there was one thing in the world where Tasuku found the signs of abnormality was that he was actually phoned. It wasn't the phone itself that made him uncomfortable. It was that someone that mattered.

"Ah, this is Ryuenji-san?" The silky voice from the other line was soft, rendering him powerless to focus on other things. There was only one person he knew that possessed both the speech of persuasiveness and affirmation. It was one of Gao's female friend. Namely the girl with the lamps in her hair. The girl with the tablet, Kuguru.

"Yes..." he replied slowly, picturing the girl smiling. "I prefer it if you call me by my first name. Tasuku is just fine." Tasuku padded across his room to draw back the curtains of the sliding doors, leading to a balcony that oversaw the entire city of Choutokyo. "Can I help you with anything?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. I'm sorry to disturb you on a late evening, but I honestly need your help with something. Are you familiar with a friend, Kiri-chan?"

Tasuku raised an eyebrow at the nickname, but didn't think much of it.

There wasn't a time where Kiri could distance himself from Gao, like he was holding onto him like a lifeline. He constantly trailed after Gao—a tiny cub needing the guidance of its mother. At times when he went grocery shopping, he could spot Kiri clinging onto Gao or hugging him arm during parties.

Merely thinking about the casual way Gao accepted the other's uncanny openness had Tasuku stepped back, disappearing into the crowd, like he didn't feel the right to ruin the atmosphere. Like he couldn't be part of the same space they breathed. He remembered ducking out of sight as soon as Gao's line of vision zeroed in on his path.

It was stupid. The feelings after they left his radius were hollow and dead, almost embarrassment from interrupting their happiness. There was also rage flooding his senses and the way his throat went completely dry. He didn't know what the feeling was. Was it jealousy? Impossible.

"Yeah." Tasuku hoped she couldn't desciple the meaning behind his voice. "I remember him."

He was about to apologize and hang up, because deep down he didn't want anything to do with him. But that was his own personal feelings intercepting his rational brain. It was his job to make sure other's lives were happy. It was his duty to put other's lives before his. That would mean separating his personal life from his job. No strings attached.

Tasuku would help the boy no matter how much it ate him away in the inside.

"See, Kiri-chan transferred a few days ago to new town," Kuguru said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "He hasn't been keeping contact with us. Until a week later, he delivered a letter that was frozen to Gao-chan's desk." Pin prickles started to rise on Tasuku's nape. Somehow, from the way she described the method of sending a letter, he knew he wasn't going to like hearing what came next. "Gao-chan ran straight to Kiri's new school. I don't know much about the details since Baku-chan and I arrived at the end of the match. By the looks of it, Kiri challenged Gao to a buddyfight to test out his new Core Deck Case. Gao won, by the way."

"Wait, a new Core Deck Case?"

"All I know it was black."

Dark Core Deck Case. Wolf. Aragami Rouga. The answers came charging him. It was an opportunity. "You need to go into details in order to report—"

"That isn't important right now!"

The small outburst and the fierce tone that were shouted through the line made him hit his arm at the glass doors. "Sorry?" he startled out.

There was a pause as he listened to Kuguru tried to steady her voice. "You need to come over. It's Gao-chan."

Tasuku wouldn't have seen him if it wasn't for the dim light spilling from the tiny lamp on the nightstand, pushed against the head of the bed. Gao was dressed in a night shirt, sprawled on top of the bed with his shorts-clad legs dangling over the edges, feet resting on the floor.

"I heard what happened to Kiri-kun."

Gao stiffened, then relaxed a second later. The action was fast, that it took Tasuku squinting to make sure it wasn't his imagination. He stepped into the rectangular patch of light. The door swung shut behind him, clicking in response and drowning the room in semi-darkness. He settled himself on the edge of the bed, just beside one of Gao's outstretched arms, noting the hard expression upon the other's face even though people were supposed to look peaceful when they slept. The torn cap he usually wore was off, allowing the red spikes on the left side to return to its original position.

Tasuku sighed when none of them bothered to break the silence. "This is unlike you," he said, unconsicously scooting closer. "Instead of lazying on bed, shouldn't you be thinking about your next move?"

After a moment of stillness with neither of them filling the space, Gao opened his eyes. They were aglow, filled with gems that lit up under the spotlight—a splash of golden paint that affected Tasuku's heartbeat. It went thump thump—stomping footsteps that echoed within his ears, a roll of drums that couldn't stop beating themselves to the point of breaking. Tasuku fisted the sheets underneath his fingers, telling his heart to calm down. His poor, poor cheeks were aflame though. He couldn't bite his bottom lip, drawing out the pain to brush it away, because those set of topazes held him in place.

Tasuku watched as Gao sat upright, holding his gaze. Red and gold collided. He barely had enough time to react before the air was knocked out of his lungs. He was propelled back by the tackle. Back hitting the mattress, Tasuku glanced down at their tangled limbs, his arms trapped in Gao's, a mop of red tresses buried in his gut. "Gao, wait—what are you...?"

Gao mumbled something in his stomach. Ticklish, Tasuku squirmed uncomfortably. "What? I—I can't—hear you."

Gao shook his head, the movement causing Tasuku's shirt to ride up. He shivered at the cold air on his bare skin. He fumbled around for his shirt, trying to pull it back down and struggling against the strong arms.

"Not Kiri..."

Tasuku stopped. The times when Kiri used to initiate hugs with Gao came rushing back to him. He felt it wasn't in his place to take that away. He was ruining everything and confusing the hell out of his one true friend—the friend that thought he was someone he knew but found out he was someone else. But Gao didn't recoil at the awareness. Was he a replacement?

There was a lump in his throat, his bottom lip quivered—disappointment? Why? Why should he feel like this? Why did he feel like he had been rejected when he didn't have feelings for him? Did he?

Tasuku tilted his head back, bangs hiding his eyes that burned from confusion and envy. No matter what, he couldn't reveal any sort of weakness. No matter what, he had to act professional. Like an adult.

What should he say? 'I know' or 'I'm sorry that I'm not him'? Even if he provided an answer, what then? Could he shut the pain away without the other's acknowledgement? Either way seemed to be an excuse, a coward that ran from his mistakes—from himself. But didn't he promise himself that he would protect everyone, after throwing away his childhood and memories that had everything to do with his childhood?

He didn't know what to do. Which one was the right answer?

Is there even a right answer?

Maybe the red-black haired boy would feel better, pretending the person he was hugging was the one he wanted the most. So Tasuku was silent, the pain throbbing at the back of his mind.

The hands on his back and waist were gone, now on either side of his head, Gao looking down on him with an unreadable air that forbade him to dwell in the mind of his predictable mind. "You're not Kiri."

Despite knowing the answer, the dam broke. Fingers tightened on the sheets, Tasuku focused all the emotions to drained away into his hands.

"That's why," warm, calloused fingers from years of martial arts training grappled for his, gaze not leaving, "I won't make the same mistake. I've been thinking about what happened to Kiri was my fault, that I didn't pay much attention and everyone was worried about me." Gao shut his eyes for a moment, as if he could erase the hurt he was feeling. "I wanted to avoid them, because I know I was the reason they were sad. And I was so sure you would sympathize with me, treat me like a kicked puppy." A huge grin broke from those lips. "Yet you're here, straightforward and blunt as usual. I don't sound like an endanger species in your eyes. Instead, you push me back up and you don't know how surprised I was when you directly went to the point."

Tasuku did. But for a different reason.

"That's why," Gao said again, voice firm. "I won't fail again. I'll bring Kiri back." His face drew closer, and Tasuku listened to the pounding of his heart and stared into eyes that were so bright, the sun would burn brighter each day. "I will protect you," he promised, burrying his head into the crook of Tasuku's neck, face pressed into the pillow that cushioned their heads.

Crimson eyes fluttering shut, Tasuku returned the favour. They were cuddling, wrapped in each other's embrace and yet Tasuku thought he would sinfully have that uneasy feeling of hearing Kiri's name. It might be immature of him, but he was way passed that stage. His mind drifted to the feel of his warmth, of those hands that held him in place under him...

Wait, was he bottoming to a sixth grader...?

Oh hell no!