6.3 NO MATTER WHAT

He pressed the buzzer five times in quick succession. No answer for three long seconds. He repeats the five buzzes.

"Hai?"

A familiar voice.

"Maya? Could we talk?"

There is a pause, uncertainty.

"You do mean talk, right?"

Miyavi nods. "Yeah."

Another three seconds. Miyavi holds back from pressing the buzzer.

"Why not."

And feet are at the bottom of the stairwell in thirty seconds.

Miyavi follows jean-covered legs up to a brown belt, a faded-to-almost-white yellow dress shirt. He smells like nicotine, and red fingertips tell Miyavi the man had been thinking.

A too-short, too-awkward kiss is their greeting.

"Where should we go?"

Maya pulls out another cig and lights it, shoving his free hand deep into his pocket. "I don't care."

Miyavi can't help but be slightly hurt. "Okay, well…"

A yellow car passes by, all alone, down the narrow street. Maya's voice picks up in the afterthought of the wind's rushing sounds.

"Look, Ki-Ah. I don't understand why you want to try and explain how we are; or maybe you're trying to figure it out, I don't know. But, really – just give up. There is no explaining it. You'll drive yourself crazy trying to."

Miyavi makes a face. "I've got Chuu to explain this to, Maya. What am I supposed to tell my boyfriend? What happens when he asks why? 'Just because'?"

"Ki-Ah." Maya grabs the six-foot rocker by his shoulders. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you love him more than me. Tell me."

Miyavi opens his mouth but no words come out. "I – I… I don't, Maya. I can't."

The dirty blond lets go, knowing in his warm brown eyes. "Okay." He takes a drag. "I don't see what the problem is then. This is how we've always been, why does it have to change just because he's in the picture?"

Biting his lip, Miyavi stares. "What are you talking about? You know how it is! Remember Aiji?"

Maya doesn't look at him for a while, taking an extra long drag of his cigarette.

"You saw how that turned out."

Miyavi shakes his head. "I'm not doing that to Chuu, Maya. He's only been wonderful to me."

Maya snorts but doesn't say a word. Miyavi knows what words are on those lips, and it's only fair.

"I don't know why I came back."

Shaking his head now, Maya frowns. "Yes you do. It's why I came back and why we'll both keep coming back, no matter what." He slides down on the brick wall outside of his apartment building, setting the lighter and carton of cigs next to him. Miyavi follows him down.

"Then why is it, Maya?"

The blond stubs out the thin white drug, and together, in the noon sun with a light breeze, they watch it smother in its own embers.

"Because I will always love you, no matter how far you push me away nor how many times you break my heart. And you'll never stop loving me either. It's just how it always has been and always will be; that's why, Ki-Ah." A wind picks up the ashes and makes them disappear into the sky. "Because I love you and you love me."

Ki-Ah just sits, both of them together in the summer after all their years by each other's sides-- whether it was on a stage or outside an apartment building. They still sit side by side, promised to one another; simply because Maya loves Ki-Ah, and Ki-Ah loves Maya.

"Hungry?"

Ki-Ah smiles, a breeze against his cheek. "Always."

"Come on," Maya picks himself up, adjusting his pockets. "I'll make you some Pad Thai."

Ki-Ah's toe pokes at the cigs as he adjusts his shirt. "You leaving those?

Grinning, Maya takes his hand. They kiss.

"Yeah. I've decided to quit."

They walk inside, hand-in-hand; Together, no matter what.