Chapter 12: Beneath the Pouring Rain
Shusei ran after Hotsuma but was not fast enough to catch up with him. Hotsuma's hurt expression and his cold voice cut his heart. Shusei was out of breath after running for about half an hour non-stop but still continued to run towards the direction of where Hotsuma ran.
Soon he came to a forked end. 'Shoot. I lost him! Hotsuma where did you go?' Shusei thought miserably. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened his again. He scanned through his surroundings and found Hotsuma's footsteps on the track. In normal human eyes, it would be impossible to trace the footsteps but in Shusei's vision, the footsteps were crystal clear. He followed and ran as fast as he could.
Shusei ran for around five kilometers. It was getting further and further away from school. He was catching his breath again when he suddenly saw the hurricane of fire shoot above the sky a few blocks away from him.
"HOTSUMA!" he screamed and ran as fast as he could towards the direction of the flames. A few minutes later he heard Hotsuma's God's Voice.
"SHUSEIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
"HOTSUMA!" Shusei screamed and ran even faster.
He ran until he was finally a few meters from Hotsuma. Hotsuma's back was facing him and the rain was pouring very heavily now. Immediately, Shusei could tell there were Duras in this area. He saw demon blood and burned marks around the area.
"HOTSUMA!"
Hotsuma turned his head. His eyes were red from crying.
"Shusei….." Hotsuma said in a blank expression which immediately turned into a furious expression.
He stood himself up, took big steps to Shusei and pushed him against a pillar. He slammed his fists hard against the pillar. Shusei was in between both his fists, leaning against the pillar.
"Hotsuma….." the God's Eyes whispered.
"WHY? WHY? WHY THE HECK DID YOU KISS HER WHEN YOU KNOW HOW JEALOUS I COULD GET? WHY?" Hotsuma yelled.
"Hotsuma…it's not like that." Shusei stammered.
"YOU WERE KISSING HER! I SAW IT WITH MY OWN EYES! YOU WILLINGLY KISSED HER! AND YOU STILL SAY IT'S NOT LIKE THAT! QUIT SCREWING AROUND!" Hotsuma yelled again.
Without waiting for Shusei to react, Hotsuma gripped Shusei's arms and crushed his lips against his. Shusei struggled but Hotsuma, being the stronger one gripped onto his hands against the pillar and continued to kiss him furiously.
Shusei's strength weakened beneath the kiss. His legs gave way and he slided down the pillar. Hotsuma loosen his grip and finally broke away from his lips.
"You jerk. Did you have any idea how I felt when I saw you kissing another person?" Hotsuma said in a choked voice.
Shusei's lips were still tingling from the kiss. He felt cold and tired from running, but he had to clear up this misunderstanding.
"Hotsuma…listen…. It's a misunderstanding." Shusei said shakily.
"How is it a misunderstanding?" Hotsuma mumbled.
"The Pres confessed to me. I politely rejected her feelings, saying that I don't feel that way about her and she cried when I said that. I apologized to her but she said that she will only forgive me if I gave her a kiss."
"What? WHATTTT? So you just kissed her like that?" Hotsuma said.
Shusei gave a guilty look. Hotsuma shook his shoulders.
"YOU BIG IDIOT! TREASURE YOURSELF MORE! HOW CAN YOU JUST FORCE YOURSELF TO KISS SOMEONE THAT YOU DON'T EVEN LOVE? YOU IDIOT! ARE YOU THAT USED TO KISSING OTHER PEOPLE TILL IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO YOU KISS ANYMORE?"
"No.. its not that…" Shusei mumbled.
"Tchh. You Baka!" Hotsuma scolded.
"Are you mad?" Shusei asked.
"Damn right I am! I'm so mad right now that I can even punch you!" Hotsuma said.
"You are right. I was indeed an idiot for doing that. Punch me, Hotsuma. I totally deserve it," Shusei said guiltily.
Shusei closed his eyes and was waiting for the punch. Instead, he felt Hotsuma putting his arms around him and embracing him.
"You idiot. I can never do that. How can I possibly beat up the person that I love the most?" Hotsuma whispered into his drenched brown hair.
"Hotsuma….I'm so sorry…. I'm so sorry…." Shusei said, loving the feeling of hearing Hotsuma's heartbeat.
"Apology accepted….. Just…just promise you will never ever do that again,"
"I promise…."
Hotsuma then told Shusei about the fight he had against the Duras. Both of them were still in each other's arms, ignorant of the pouring rain above them.
"Did you get hurt anywhere?" Shusei asked gently.
"No…. I'm fine…. How about you? Are you hurt anywhere from all the running?"
"I'm fine as well. I'm more worried about you!" Shusei said.
Hotsuma let go of Shusei, gently pushing Shusei's long fringe away from his eyes and looked at him.
"The only place in my body that hurts is my heart. Bah! I still can't forget that kissing scene in the classroom. I'm going to have nightmares for the rest of my life thanks to you." Hotsuma sighed, looking down onto the ground.
Shusei grabbed Hotsuma by the cheeks to lift up his face. He then kissed Hotsuma on the lips. After what feels like hours later, they finally broke apart.
"I love you, Hotsuma." Shusei confessed.
"Wha…" Hotsuma gaped.
"Didn't I already tell you that you are my only special someone? That I'll always be by your side no matter what happens? I wasn't joking around when I said those cheesy lines to you, you know. Sheesh… for you to still not have noticed my feelings when it's so obvious? You really are dense at times, Hotsuma."
"Wha….well sorryyyyyy…. I thought you said those phrases because we are best friends. I didn't think you would mean it in THAT way."
"You dense idiot." Shusei smiled.
Hotsuma leaned on his shoulders.
"Yeah I really am an idiot. I should have known better. Sorry…. And I love you too, Shusei," Hotsuma added.
Both stared at each other and kissed again under the pouring rain.
Suddenly, Shusei's mobile rang loudly. He looked at the caller ID and saw that it was from the Twilight Mansion.
"Shoot… we totally lost track of time. It's nearly 7pm now." Shusei said.
He flipped open his phone and answered.
"WHATTTTTT THE HELLLLLL HAPPENEDDD TO YOU BOTHHHHH?" Tachibana's loud voice came from the phone.
Shusei held the phone in about an arm's length away from him, his eyes still ringing from the Tachibana's scream.
"WOIIIII. PIPE DOWN TACHIBANA!" Hotsuma yelled back.
"WHERE ARE YOU BOTH NOW? QUICKLY COME BACK THIS INSTANCE!" Tachibana yelled again.
Shusei looked around.
"Near a rundown factory about 10 km north from the Twilight Mansion. If you don't mind would you mind getting someone to come pick us up?"
"FINE! WE SHALL TALK LATER! IN THE MEANTIME JUST STAY PUT. WE WILL COME GET YOU IMMEDIATELY." Tachibana hung up after that.
"Oh boy.. we are in for a bit of trouble aren't we?" Shusei glanced at his partner.
"Whatever. I don't care what kind of trouble or punishment I'm getting now that I know about your feelings,"
Shusei smiled. "Me too I guess. But what are we going to tell them if they asked us how we got here?"
"Just tell them that we chased Duras all the way till here and you and me got into a bit of a fight and then we lost track of time." Hotsuma said.
"You think they will buy that?" Shusei asked.
"Who cares? Unless you can think of something better. I hate lying to them but how can we possibly tell them about us?" Hotsuma sighed.
"You are right, anyway, we will see how it goes, partner." Shusei stood up and helped Hotsuma up.
They walked to the main road and waited for their ride in the bus stop. Then, a long black car stopped in front of them. Luka was driving while Tsukumo was in the front seat and Toko was at one of the back seats. She unlocked the door and the pair went in.
"That was pretty fast." Shusei said.
"Tsukumo guided Luka using his God's Ears to sense your presences." Toko said. "And what in the world happened to you two?"
Hotsuma and Shusei smiled to each other. This is going to be a long night. Everyone is going to interrogate them and demand for explanations.
