Forget-Me-Not
By: AtomicKokoro
Storyline
A question is brought up around the table at the Russian Sushi restaurant. Mikado and Masaomi gladly answer Anri and Saki's question, only to trail deep down into Memory Lane.
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Before You Read
Last chapter was pretty cool, but nothing happened as I wanted it to. (frown) Oh, well! Still cool! Let's go!
On with the story!
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Chapter 11
White Rose – Secrecy and Silence
No, I should be the one who is sorry.
Do you remember that promise? A lot of things happened when we made that promise. I know it's weird, but... I just can't explain it. I really can't. But, I should be sorry. I broke your promise.
I tried to make it up to you...
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There was silence at the table.
Then, "Oh, so you've been crazy this whole time, then?"
Mikado glared at Masaomi with a joking intent, but it was stronger than needed. Masaomi instantly took it back with a brief apology and Mikado frowned. Then, Masaomi laughed. "Guess this means I shouldn't break another promise, huh?"
"Here we go," Saki muttered. It was getting dark out. Lunch had extended to dinner, and she was getting hungry again. She ordered a third round of sushi for them all. No one objected.
"What promise?" Anri asked. "Did you break one already?"
Masaomi smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. I still feel terrible for it."
"Don't worry, Masaomi," Mikado smiled. "You made up for it as best you could."
"But I don't know if that was enough..."
…
The promise was made on the cliff.
"Masaomi," Mikado whispered. The wind almost carry his voice away, but Masaomi caught it before it could escape. The boys stared up at the sky, watching the clouds take forms and shapes unnameable. "Do you think..."
Masaomi looked at Mikado. The pepper sounded hesitant (although Masaomi had dyed his hair black only a few weeks ago, therefore they were now both peppers) and distant. Masaomi watched Mikado for a long time. Mikado finally turned to Masaomi and smiled. "Do you think one day, we could travel the world together?"
Masaomi's eyes widen.
…
Masaomi had locked himself in his room for once. His knees close to his chest as he sat on the bed, staring at the crumbled, wrinkled sheets. The storm was heavy and loud, but he knew Mikado was no longer afraid of storms.
"Do you think one day, we could travel the world together?"
Masaomi buried his face into his knees. He didn't know what he could say. He didn't know. All he knew was that Mikado was his best friend. He wanted to stay with Mikado forever. So, if that was true, then...
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Mikado leaned against the wall, his back cold against the door even with the shirt on. He was smiling. Sadly.
"Do you think one, we could travel the world together?"
That was what he wanted more than anything in the world. To be with Masaomi. To travel all the world. To have adventure after adventure. Real ones. Not the imaginary ones in Masaomi's barn. One hundred percent real adventure.
And there was no one more that he wanted to have by his side than Masaomi.
…
No one came near Mikado and Masaomi. Not since Mikado threw Akihiro out the second story window. "Whoever fucks with Masaomi fucks with me! Stay away from us!"
The warning was headed. No one came near them. And Mikado had realized how much he loved Masaomi (in a friend sense) and didn't want him to get hurt again. He stayed by Masaomi's side, always, whether Masaomi was sick or hurt or if Mikado was the one ill or wounded. He remained by Masaomi's side, because he never wanted to be away from his best friend.
It was always just him and Masaomi. They would sit, backs against the school. Masaomi would pull grass out of the cracks in the pavement and Mikado would watch the clouds. It seemed so contradicting that Mikado looked up while Masaomi looked down. So ironic.
Yet, it was true.
…
"Do you think one day, we could travel the world together?"
Masaomi was shocked by the words. He hadn't been expecting them yet...he had. As though he was thinking of it himself. He looked back up at the sky. He wanted to make Mikado happy. He wanted to be with him. To see him smile. To watch him laugh and explore and enjoy every day like his last.
He wanted that more than anything.
…
"Mikado! I finally decided!"
The azure-eyed boy blinked. There had been no sense in yelling. Mikado had been standing behind Masaomi, looking over his shoulder. They had been searching each others names on Google, finding interesting things about them (Mikado was a pocky, Masaomi (Yasuoka Masaomi) the name of a lieutenant general in the Japanese Army during World War II).
"What did you decide?" Mikado asked, leaning closer to the screen, hoping that he could figure it out before Masaomi told him, but he was without luck.
"Do you remember how I never had a favorite color?" Masaomi asked, typing something down on Google and pulling up another Wikipedia site. "I finally decided what my favorite color is." The page loaded and Mikado noticed yellow on the screen. "Yellow."
"Why?" Mikado asked, looking through all the shades of yellow. "What made you decide?"
Masaomi smiled and scrolled down to a specific shade, circling the pointer around the shade and highlighting the name. "Mikado," he said. "Mikado is a shade of yellow." Masaomi turned to Mikado and smiled.
Mikado sighed and smiled as well. "Alright."
…
"What do you think, Masaomi?" Mikado chirped, urging an answer from his friend. "Can we? Please?"
Masaomi continued to stare up at the sky. Then, slowly, he smiled. He turned back to Mikado. It was almost a picture perfect scene; Mikado was smiling, eyes shining perfectly in the sun, any loose clothing and stray strands of hair flowing in the wind. Masaomi grabbed Mikado's hand (for the first time, it was him grabbing the natural pepper's hand) and held tight. "Of course," he said. "We'll travel the world together."
Mikado glanced down at their hands, then back up at Masaomi and smiled. He firmed the grip on their hands and relaxed. "Do you promise?" he asked.
Masaomi smiled.
"I promise."
…
The had spent weeks planning. Where would they go first? What would they do there? Would the buy any souvenirs? What would they explore? How much money would they need?
Everything down to the final detail. Their first trip was planned. All that came now was figuring out how to make the money. "I'll get a job," Masaomi said, writing it down in a new note book he bought the first day of planning. "I'll make sure it's a good one, too. We'll have enough to pay for an apartment, food, clothes, and enough to invest in a trip."
Mikado smiled and nodded to whatever Masaomi said. It seemed to make sense. Mikado would stay home and take care of the house while Masaomi worked. It almost seemed like they were getting married or something...
Almost as though he had read Mikado's mind, Masaomi stopped writing. There was a pause, and Masaomi looked up. "I know that we're excited all to travel the world," he said. "but what if...we fall in love?"
Mikado paused and looked at Masaomi. He thought about it for a moment, then replied, "Well, we'll take them with us."
"But, you know, once you find the perfect girl, there is almost no one in the world you would rather spend time with, right?"
Mikado blinked. "What are you getting at?"
Masaomi sighed and closed the book. "I'm saying...What if they don't want to travel?"
"Then they can say home."
Masaomi stared at Mikado for a long time. Then he burst into laughter. Mikado blinked. "What's so funny?" he asked. Masaomi continued to laugh. "What is it? What did I say?"
In all honesty, Masaomi couldn't believe his friend was so naïve. So innocent. So... It was hilarious. It was so funny. Masaomi couldn't stop laughing. Although, deep inside, he was almost crying because his best friend didn't understand that falling in love screwed up all one's life plans.
…
Later on, that became true.
Mikado's plan for the future – traveling, seeing the world, being with Masaomi, and never having to worry about a thing – suddenly seemed unreachable. His world almost came crashing down. He had never felt so alone. For a long time, it felt he had nothing.
It all happened on a stormy night.