Chaper 13-Two lives at once

"Hikaruuuuuuuuu~ wake uuuup!"

A gentle hand pulls on the large mass of blankets covered over one Hikaru Shindou. "mrngmmmh, five more," Hikaru sighs, rotating in his bed to find a comfortable posture and lulls himself to sleep once more.

"Hikaruuuuu~" Another gentle tug, this time to the mass of blonde hair messily tangled on the pillow. It was a hopeful, slightly irritated, tug on the strands that made Hikaru purr instead of what the tug was initially intended for.

Hikaru sighs in his half-asleep state, seemingly contented with his rest. "mrnm, ten more," he mumbles incoherently and buries his face to the mass of blankets.

Finally, the ghost pouts and stomps his feet indignantly. painfully aware of how dull the sound he made was. "Hikaru!" Sai tugs on the blankets and throws them to the floor. "It's your first day being an insei! You're going to be late!" he whines and waves his arms frantically like he always does. Screeching at the top of his lungs in a cry to wake his teen host up.

'No point in manly screams, only Hikaru would hear it anyway.'

And his plan definitely succeeded. "Waaaaah! That's right!" Hikaru snaps his eyes open and manages to stand up, trip from the bulk of blankets that failed to get off of him from the abrupt movement and kiss the floor in one swoop. With Sai wincing on the side, covering his mouth with both hands.

'This was definitely not what I had intended to do,' Sai thought to himself, for once thankful of not feeling any worldly pain.

"Are you alright Hikaru?" Sai tries and pokes on Hikaru who was currently immobilized due to the pain in his face.

"Uurgh, do I look fine to you?" Hikaru irritably said as he rubs his face, absently thinking that no, being late was better than showing up early with bandages all over. And oh, good, his nose was still there.

Sai dejectedly helps him up, silently admitting to himself that somehow the fall was his fault –a tiny bit of it. He couldn't really blame the boy on his state. Both of them stayed up late. At first playing some go. Then eating some chips they found at the kitchen cabinet. Loitering around the house. Eating some random food they found at the refrigerator. And pinching themselves awake and then each other's when the "pinch yourself" wasn't working anymore, waiting for Haruki to come home and deliver him the news. The good news. Unfortunately for Hikaru though, he didn't have a ghost's immunity to sleep. Sai found him sleeping with his eyes held up by masking tapes while he was halfway into munching some chips; noting how the crumbs scattered on the floor. It was just so creepy he had to let the boy sleep it through.

And yes, Haruki didn't comeback. He hadn't texted either -not that Hikaru had a phone- but you get it. He wasn't even notified of when he'd comeback. Or if he'd come back at all. And once again Sai relished on the fact of how Haruki seemingly told everything about himself but actually told nothing at all. It seemed like he was just another passerby you got to know on the way home.

But somewhere in his mind screamed 'No, he wasn't just another stranger, not to me, and especially not to Hikaru.'

Somehow, being an insei didn't sound that much thrilling anymore. Another thought to ponder on, 'Why did HE matter so much?' but he knew he wasn't going to know anytime soon. It was all an endless series of questions. It always ends that way when it came to Haruki.

Hikaru sighs again and as he catches himself doing so, he holds his breath. He had been sighing pretty much lately hadn't he? And it wasn't hard to tell that Sai felt the same too. After all, he had gotten one more person to know about him. Sai became a secret for three—if you count the ghost in. True, they didn't really talk much but the fact that Haruki knows that someone else is there in the room besides Hikaru and he still stays had him all giddy.

And it was still a mystery why Haruki seemed unfazed at the revelation. He didn't ask anything nor did he feel uncomfortable. At least that was what he looked like to both young Hikaru and Sai.

They just don't know how relieved Haruki felt when he knew that Sai is there. That he was right there, a few inches within his reach, and that his palms were getting a bit sweaty at the time. That he just wanted to know if Sai's hair was still purple or if Sai had known what the TV is yet. Or if he ever asked what Sai's favorite color was. Why he kept his hair long. Why he wore those piercings. Why he liked Go so much..

'Was being with me something you enjoyed?' and it was all suffocating him in his mind that he forgot that he wasn't supposed to know that even now Sai was still a bit taller than him, that his hair was as smooth as silk, that his eyes were a beautiful shade of blue and just that all those things he wasn't supposed to know, he accepted. He was just relieved, pinching on his sides and thinking 'yes I feel pain. Yes, this is real. And no, you can't tell him how much you wanted to see him because he doesn't know you know. he shouldn't know.'

And in all the things he felt in a matter of a few minutes, in his face he wore the smallest of smiles.

"But hey, it doesn't change the fact that you're now an insei Hikaru!" Sai enthusiastically says, receiving a sigh from the other.

"Guess you're right Sai, I could tell him next time anyway" he huffs and heads to the bathroom. Or at least tried to, when he suddenly stops. "What the hell Sai?!" said ghost, offended, shushes his profanities, telling him how 'hell' shouldn't be used in anyway, especially when you're talking to someone else. "Insei games aren't till tomorrow, baka!" Hikaru continues, pointing an accusing finger dangerously close to the ghost's nose.

"Ah, is that so?" Sai dumbly states and a small ding resounded through the room.

"uhh, it's great that you paid for the trip and all but-" Haruki stops as he eyes the obviously overly decorated arc. Squinting as he tried to read past all those over-sized balloons hanging on the sides. "-why an amusement park?" he deadpans just as a mascot of some genetically modified organism –due to its resemblance to a cat with a rather large bat wings— hands him a balloon. A bright red balloon. Was he supposed to feel delighted now?

"I haven't had the time to come here in a while?" Tohru casually says, asks, while grinning a bit nervously while tugging on his hoodie over his jeans. As if he just wanted Haruki's approval.

'Considering that we're both two grown men together in this place, no. That is not an acceptable reason.' Haruki sighs, pulling on his turtle neck in attempt to at least cover his face in the ridiculous place. He was having a hard time believing that the person in front of him was his boss and employer.

Tohru's face twists in dismay and his lips tug down in a frown. He worries his lips, finally feeling uncomfortable, as Haruki just stares at him, probably gauging his reactions. Was it too obvious that this vacation was not planned at all? He inhales deeply but forces himself to even it all out, resulting to him in a fit of coughs, rendering his efforts futile as he brings a hand to his face.

Planned or not it still brought a smile to Haruki's face. "Let's just not try the carousel," Haruki says with his voice raised to be heard over the shouting children from a nearby ride before he gestures himself under the arc and chuckles to his boss. "Shall we?"

"I'm not riding the carousel Tohru, even if you bend on your knees and plead me for it" and this time it was Tohru's turn to stare at Haruki's back, watching as it slowly goes further into the crowds. He barely catches himself stretch out to reach it, before placing it over his eyes instead as he stares, or at least tried to, at the blinding sun peeking through a large mass of clouds. "I just hope it doesn't rain" he chuckles to himself as he brings down the hand and follows the man with ebony black hair. One step over the other. Then his strides get bigger, putting a hesitating foot forward before he breaks into a jog then slowing down and settling into the same pace beside Haruki.

Haruki's head had been hurting after all the questions he asked himself and he decided to not think for a while and just rest. Eventually, thoughts like Why am I here with my boss again? or Were we somehow friends? Turned to When was the last time I went here? or he ponders.. "Where should we go first?" Haruki glances to his right as he felt his boss catch up. Then he looks at his left where those twirling cups were situated. Then into a distance where there was a shooting range –and where you win toys, apparently. Then back to his boss who stood still at his right, and was that amusement in his eyes?

"Haruki is just like a child" Tohru chuckles. "Should we go have fun in those tea cups?" he mocks, leaning over to point a finger to the booth and faking a motherly voice that started a twitch on Haruki's left brow. "Don't worry, I'll let you spin the wheels," he added, patting Hikaru's head and standing straight in a mock –Haruki was sure that was it— display of how he was an inch taller than he was.

If it wasn't for the giggles he heard at the sides, Haruki would've punched the bastard in his face. But yes, he was his boss. His boss couldn't be a bastard. No boss ever is –you'll end up sacked if you told it out loud after all.

Haruki pushes on Tohru's back -because gripping on his hands were definitely a NO- and forces him unto the shooting range while reminding himself to straighten his back all along just to prove that he was tall. And that grown men should do what grown men does.

A few minutes later found Tohru bending over on his knees and holding, clutching, on his stomach as he laughs out loud, bringing attention to a Haruki sporting dusted cheeks and dragging a large pink teddy bear that he apparently won after a very manly shot at the range. "You.. you.." Tohru grips at his stomach further, trying to force more air into his system as he badly wanted to roll off the floor at the image that was just burned into his eyes for the past few minutes "You even blew.. BLEW at the end of the rifle.. Seriously.." he says in between his breaths as he recalled a very manly Haruki, complete with raised brows and smirk, with eyes proudly saying that Yes, I just hit the jackpot.

Only to be presented an over-sized teddy bear. Tohru gives up and kneels on the floor, smacking a hand on the ground repeatedly while supporting himself with the other.

Saying that Haruki was embarrassed was an understatement. He smacks the large teddy bear on his boss' head and is genuinely happy at the loud crack he heard as the throw made Tohru bend over even more and flatten his face on cement, with the bear laying innocently at the top of his head.

"Are they on an LQ?" Haruki heard a passerby ask her equally obvious companion.

Definitely not. Another headache was forming on Haruki's temples as he mentally fought and defended himself against the judgments thrown at him. Tohru decided to groan loud enough for everyone to hear at this moment. And for the third time NO, I am not gay. He glares at the same girl who had, again, asked the question in a not-so-hushed voice.

"Aww, honey, are you mad?" Tohru asks, blinking. Does he ever know how acting cute looks like on a fully grown man? His slouching, probably in another attempt to at least fit his body with the pout he was currently sporting, didn't make him any smaller. Even hugging the pink bear tightly wasn't giving him any of those.

Haruki decided that this man was definitely not worth his respect for the day as he shamefully trots to the roller coaster, wishing he could regain his honor there.

"Wait for me, HONEY!"

Scratch that. He wasn't worth his respect for the whole three days.

They first tried to go to the rollercoaster where they were fortunately ahead of the line since people were scrambling about with their kids. Judging from the length, they assumed they'll be in in a few minutes. But they didn't and it was all because Tohru didn't want to let go of the huge teddy bear and was reprimanded by the guard who was saying that "no, the teddy bear is not allowed to ride with you", even when Tohru promised that he would hold into it and handle it with a death grip and that it was as important as his life itself.

Haruki opted to give it to a crying girl who tripped as she was running though and Tohru had to bribe her a box of assorted candies as "an equal exchange for the pink teddy", which the girl happily agreed upon.

Tohru promptly ignored the suspicious stares sent his way by the child's parents.

Next they went into the haunted house, Tohru excited and Haruki forced. Tohru had said that going there was a must since his friend Eddie –whoever that is- was inside scaring the hell out of everyone and he hadn't seen him since sixth grade. Plus, the operator was kinder and let the teddy bear off with just a warning that the ghosts might pull on an ear or two and that it might get incapacitated during the toilsome process of tugging. It seemed Tohru didn't take it as a threat though and they passed through all the ghosts and monsters with the taller man protectively shielding the bear's button eyes and commenting on how he couldn't let her see such hideous creatures.

Apparently, huge pink teddy bear-san was a "she". By the time they came out, Haruki suggested that they have lunch since it was noon and his stomach had growled three times while they were running in circles searching for Eddie. They didn't really find him.

Later they found themselves in a café, neatly situated in front of the carousel and Tohru was sending him laser beams with his eyes. Haruki shrugs, he didn't know someone other than Ogata could do that. "No carousels," he says adamantly as his sips through his coffee, he didn't really like coffee but Tohru had ordered it for him, telling him it's the usual so Haruki couldn't really object. It took him about four packets of sugar and three of cream before he could gulp it all down.

Tohru just sipped through his coffee and eyed him with calculating eyes through the rim of his cup.

"Why do you like coffee at all? Acting all adult-like when you're just a kid"

Tohru places his cup on the saucer with a clunk, saying all those things when he's a kid himself, he huffs and looks past his barely visible reflection on the see-through window of the café to the carousel.

"Don't give me that look, I told you I don't like carousels. They're for girls Tohru."

"You're looking like a pedophile right now" Haruki stated, cutting through his slice of chocolate cake –and through Tohru's daydreams- and silently craving for ramen that was unfortunately nowhere to be found on the park. His boss was currently shoving him sweets as a pathetic excuse of a lunch while he was off to la-la land, staring at the carousel like a love-struck puppy. Or horse.

Tohru tilts his head towards Haruki and grins "You actually know what pedos look like" he said, mocked, like he had the whole morning, but he noted how the other didn't seem to hold his tongue anymore and how his ears fumed from embarrassment.. or maybe it was annoyance? And it was good. Perfect, because that's what the vacation was for –letting off steam. He brought up his cup to his lips, only to find that it was already empty and promptly asked for another cup. He saw through the corner of his eye how Haruki managed to gulp down his retort in favor of eyeing his second cup of coffee.

"You actually like that stuff?" Haruki says in distaste, asking for vanilla shake instead. At this, Tohru quirked a brow.

"You finished your first one though," Tohru mused and pointed on the empty cup carried away by the waiter.

"The first one." Haruki brought a finger up in emphasis and Tohru found it amusing how he expressed his feelings with his body freely. "I wouldn't take another of it if I could," Haruki continued, leaning his back on his chair, actually forgetting how Haruki was supposed to order coffee as usual and not noticing how Tohru's eyes squinted fairly at him in acknowledgement.

Brr.. brrr..brrr Both men's attention was brought to Tohru's pocket and he flips it open, checking who the caller was before he stands up. "I'll be right back, I need to take this" he spares a glance at Haruki and goes outside to answer the call.

"What? I'm on leave-" Haruki catches before the glass door closes and the conversation tuned out and the same waiter comes with his vanilla shake in hand. He nods his thanks, says no when he was asked if he wanted anything else and sips on his cold drink, staring at the coffee sitting idly in front of him and he wonders who would do both his and his boss' work while they were out there enjoying the park like five year olds.

And again, 'why take me here when I should bury myself in thrice the amount of workload I should have?'

From some faraway land, namely their work office, a blonde man with glasses sneezes as he struggled to finish all the paperwork due for the day while muttering curses to a highly irresponsible boss who decided on an abrupt vacation.

Haruki found himself at a daze when he hears the sound of straw sipping what was left of his shake just when Tohru comes back in and shrugs, claiming that he thinks he caught a cold in the short amount of time he got out and sneezes, rather loudly, not even covering his mouth as he fumbles through his pockets for something. Keys. And hands it over, tosses it, to Haruki –earning him a raised brow.

"Sadly" he sniffs "We couldn't go to the carousel anymore, I have some business to attend to, just for a while" Tohru says in a low voice, dejected but with a hint of mockery.

"I wouldn't go anyway," Haruki interrupts, blowing the straw out of his mouth and into his glass. "What are the keys for?"

Tohru frowns at him but continues "hai, hai, I was kidding. I'm going first, you decide if you want to stay or go wherever you want, just hand me your receipts and they'll be reimbursed since this is a paid vacation. Those keys are for your room-" he says as he checks on a crumpled piece of paper before he hands it over "-located here, hire a cab and show that, they'll know where it is, just check in and tell them your name, oh and don't pay for that I already did," Tohru says, rushed like a mother going outside for grocery and leaving behind her five year old son –Haruki felt as if he was at that age the whole day- He heads out with a wave, almost forgetting to actually open the door before going out of it and shouts out another reminder, "Just don't be out till seven young man! It's a curfew, we'll have dinner later, kay?!" and the door closes yet again.

Haruki faces the window in shame as other occupants of the room turned to him. 'And for the fourth time this day I am not gay!' He slumps on the table, preferring to let its coolness seep through his right cheek and sighs, staying in the same posture as he checks on his own phone and browses his contacts. Hikaru's name wasn't there. He sighs again, letting his phone down on the surface beside his head and stares at it.

"I have a feeling these three days would be very long."

He closes his eyes and just.. breathes. He wasn't used to all of these. Not at all. Especially when some supposed stranger suddenly emits a feeling of nostalgia in him that he knew wasn't his.

"Sir, are you done with this coffee?" Haruki glances up to see the waiter gesturing on the coffee Tohru left, still half-full.

"uhh" he starts, not really wanting to drink coffee anymore but minding the fact that this cafe's coffee was damn expensive. He then stills as his eyes found packets of sugar and cream at Tohru's side of the table. "Leave it," he hears himself say, still eyeing the packets and the waiter backs away, telling him to call him when he needs anything -but he doesn't hear, couldn't do so.

Four packets of sugar, three of cream.

"aaaah, you ruined my date and we were hitting it off too," Tohru mumbles through his phone as he drives.

"Date my ass, you were with Haruki weren't you?" The person on the other end answers and Tohru clicks his tongue. "On a vacation for three days? It'd be very surprising if you two hit it off"

"As harsh as always, Satoru told you didn't he?"

"…"

"Just as I thought, I guess he was pretty pissed off when I left him to do all the paper works." He grunts yet again. "Where are you now?"

"I'm fixing my things, I just need you to prepare the files I need when I get there and reserve me a room, I'll be there by tomorrow."

"Closing the perimeter huh? Are you going to see him?"

"…"

"Silence again? You always do that! And sometimes I don't know if you already hung up on me or-" click "-not..There! Damn, you cut off on me!" Tohru screeches to a stop and bumps his head hard on the steering wheel –on purpose- staying still for a while before mumbling. "aah, I wanted to ride the carousel"