The loud banging brought Takeshi from his thoughts as he glanced at his door. He smirked. Didn't take her long at all, he thought.
He stood from his place on the floor, as he was trying to pass the time by attempting to study when Ami had left. But his mind had wandered after speaking with Makoto. And now the amazon was attempting to break in his door. Sighing he unlocked and opened his door and peeked out, one eyebrow raised.
"My door isn't a damn punching bag, kid."
Makoto's emerald eyes narrowed as she growled, "Where is she?"
"Not here," Takeshi said flatly. "I told you that when you called."
Makoto glared at him for a moment and made to turn away but quickly turned back toward the door. Putting all of her weight into it, she shoved the door open and stormed past Takeshi, who calmly stood aside.
"Ami!"
Takeshi said as she slammed his door shut, "I told you she wasn't here."
Makoto turned to face the man who continued to stand beside the door. "Where is she," she demanded.
Takeshi leaned against the door, crossing his arms. "And why," he asked, "Would I tell you such a thing?"
"Where is she," Makoto growled again, taking a step toward him. Takeshi simply shook his head, pushing away from the door, his hands hanging loosely at his sides.
"Kami-sama, you're so damn dense," he said. "What in the hell Ami sees in you, I'll never know or understand." He looked up Makoto, a challenge in his viridian eyes. He smirked. He wanted to push her the brink with his goading. He wanted to hurt this girl as much as she had hurt Ami. "Must be why she came to me instead."
Makoto startled at his words. "What does that mean?"
"Oh, didn't she tell you," he asked coolly. He smiled. "Did you honestly think you were her first?" Takeshi laughed darkly. "You are not so lucky."
"You're lying," Makoto growled out, subconsciously taking a fighting stance.
"You're right," he replied, sensing the change in Makoto's demeanor. "I am lying. I'm such a liar that I don't know about the line of freckles that run down Ami's right hip, going down between her thi-"
Makoto screamed and charged Takeshi, swinging her right fist at his face. Unlike at the arcade when they had first met, he was ready for the attack and had been waiting for it since their phone conversation. Takeshi deflected Makoto's hand with his right palm, guiding her fist away from him before he gripped her wrist, pulling her arm out to the side. With his left hand, he quickly reached out and, as Makoto passed him, grabbed the back of her neck, pushing her down at her waist.
"Did you think you were the only one who knew martial arts," he taunted her.
"Let me go you son of a bitch!"
Takeshi sighed and shook his head. "You have so many silly requests today. I don't know what Ami-chan sees in you."
"Sees in me," Makoto asked, turning her head so she could see him better. "What does she see in you?! You're so cruel!"
Takeshi growled, his grip on the back of Makoto's neck tightening. "I'm cruel?! I didn't just fuck my best friend and leave her the next morning without so much as a Dear John letter! And then not to come back to the apartment," he asked, in disbelief. "And you call me cruel?"
Makoto twisted against Takeshi's hold, pain shooting up her back from being bent at the waist, but his grip tightened further.
"Do you really want to know what she sees in me," he asked, before dragging Makoto to his bathroom. He kicked the door open and flipped on the light with his elbow. He pulled Makoto up into a standing position before the mirror. She tried to turn against him but his hands moved to clench at her shirt, holding her in place once again.
"No, look in the mirror, God dammit," Takeshi demanded through clenched teeth. Through the mirror, masculine green eyes locked with feminine ones, both owners breathing heavily from the scuffle and anger.
"You want to know what she sees in me," Takeshi growled. "Gee, I wonder. Could it be that I'm tan? I'm athletic? Or, could it be my long, auburn hair and green eyes?" His eyes narrowed at the woman he held. "Who the hell do I look like, Makoto? Answer me that and you'll see what it is Ami sees in me." He released Makoto roughly and backed away as much as the small room would allow. Makoto made no move to follow him, her eyes still locked onto the mirror as the realization hit her like a ton of bricks.
A short while later found the auburn haired duo still in Takeshi's bathroom. Neither could say why exactly they hadn't left the small room. Takeshi sat on the floor, leaning against the tub with his long legs stretched out before him. Makoto sat perched on the sink, one knee raised while the other leg hung over the side. She rubbed her right shoulder. They had been sitting in silence for some time, though neither knew exactly how long. It was Makoto who broke the silence.
"So the two of you...really...," Makoto asked, finding she couldn't bring herself to actually ask the question she wasn't sure she wanted answered.
"Yeah," Takeshi replied, his face pointed toward the ceiling, eyes closed. "Just a week before school let out for summer." He sighed heavily before bringing his face down to look at Makoto. "She was...really confused."
"Confused," Makoto asked.
Takeshi nodded. "She said she didn't want to be any more of an outcast than she already was," he replied, shrugging, not fully understanding Ami's answer himself. He brought his legs up and leaned forward, holding his hands between his legs, staring down at the floor. "She said that she didn't want to be any more different than she needed to be."
"So you had sex with her," Makoto asked, unbelieving.
Takeshi chuckled. "Sounds like I took advantage of the situation, just to get off, doesn't it?" He looked up at Makoto, smiling lightly. She nodded. He sighed. "Believe it or not, having sex was her idea and I tried to talk her out of it. Her reasoning was she had never slept with a man so how could she really know if she was truly gay or not." He laughed wryly. "Ya know, I love Ami and she's possibly the smartest person I know, but she can be really dense sometimes."
Makoto fidgeted. "So, what happened after?"
Takeshi smirked. "Do you want a play-by-play description?" Makoto's face flushed and she shook her head quickly. Takeshi laughed. "Good, 'cause I was joking. Nothing happened, really. She apologized a few times," he laughed. "That was kinda cute." He sighed and began to fidget with his nails. "She felt confused by it, I think. I think she even got a little sick to her stomach. Thankfully she didn't puke on me."
"Why do you think she got sick," Makoto asked.
"I have a few other lady friends who are gay," Takeshi replied. "A couple of them have had sex with a man, for the same reason Ami did. They said it felt so wrong to them that they became physically ill. Just the sensation of being with a man like that was so wrong to them that was how their body reacted." Takeshi shrugged. "I've never had that problem."
Makoto's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Takeshi looked up at Makoto and a slow smile crossed his face. He dug his wallet out of his back pocket and took from it a photo booth picture strip, folded in half. He stood and handed the pictures to Makoto, who unfolded the strip. In the worn pictures was Takeshi and another young man, around the age of sixteen or so. The other young man was slightly over weight, with shaggy, dark hair and square glasses. In the photos, the two young men made faces, head locked each other, and bunny-eared the other. But in the fourth picture they were embraced like lovers, sharing a soft kiss. Makoto's jaw hit the floor.
"You're gay," she asked, snapping her head back up to look at Takeshi, who was blushing.
"I'm a people person," he replied, giggling at his own joke. "And while I'm typically more attracted to women than men, there's just something about him that makes me extremely happy." Takeshi shrugged, blushing again. "We've been dating since I was fifteen, and him sixteen."
Makoto, still stunned, looked down at the photo before glancing back to Takeshi. "Does he know...," Makoto asked, trailing off.
"About Ami," Takeshi asked. Makoto nodded. "Yeah, he knows and he was cool with it. He understood completely. In a way, he helped me much the same way I helped Ami. I found myself attracted to him and it, frankly, scared the hell out of me." Takeshi smiled, a faraway look in his eyes. "Not so much anymore. Though I do think he'll realize he got the short end of the stick eventually."
Makoto smiled, handing the photo back to Takeshi who looked at it a moment before folding the photo in half and replacing it into his wallet.
"What's his name," Makoto asked.
"Yukia," he replied, smiling warmly at the mention of his lover's name. Takeshi's smile faded, however, as his gaze settled firmly onto Makoto.
"So, what are you going to do about Ami?"
As Ami exited the elevator and turned the corner, she saw Takeshi leaning against the wall opposite of his apartment door, his messenger bag strung over his shoulder. He had his hands shoved deep into his jean pockets, one foot against the wall. He looked up at her as she approached, and Ami smiled at him.
"Forget your key inside," she teased.
"Someone's in a good mood," he replied, smiling warmly at the bluenette. "Do you feel better?"
Ami nodded. "I do, thank you." She looked around the hall then back to the tall young man. "Why are you out in the hall?"
"I had a visitor today," he said simply.
The color drained from Ami's face. "Mako-chan?"
Takeshi nodded. "She's still here. We had a...talk."
Ami's eyes grew concerned. "Do I need to call an ambulance," she asked seriously.
Takeshi chuckled deeply, pushing away from the wall. "No, she's up and walking around. I promise." His face grew serious. "You should talk to her."
Ami looked at the door. Her heart was thundering in her chest. She wasn't sure how her ribs were still containing it there. "I can't," she whispered, her eyes beginning to shimmer with tears.
"You can," Takeshi replied. "And you will." He laid a warm, gentle hand on her shoulder. "She panicked, Ami-chan. Hear her out. Please. Besides, you need to explain some things to her, too." He smiled gently. "While it was my idea, kissing her out of the blue only confused her more."
Ami sighed but finally nodded. "You're right. The sooner we talk, the better."
"Good girl," he said. He took Ami's phone from his pocket and offered it to Ami. Ami took it and returned Takeshi's back to him.
"Yukia-kun has texted you a few times," Ami said, blushing. "Please tell him to stop sending naughty pictures."
Takeshi laughed and bent down, hugging Ami tightly, which she returned. "I'll be across the street at the noodle joint if you need me." He kissed her cheek, and made his way to the elevator. "Ja!"
Ami stood in the hallway several long moments, her gaze fixed firmly on the door. Finally, as she took a shaky breath, she opened the apartment door and walked inside.
