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Shattered
Continuity: 070/100
Prompt: 017 – Brown
Summary: A close encounter brings up bad memories.
Author's Notes: It can't go away, just like that, even if it's been...13 years. Oh. And where I checked, it said Yuushi has gold-brown eyes. It can be wrong (as I have seen Eiji's eyes pictured as brown, and I know they're blue), so if it is wrong, I apologize - in the rest of this, Yuushi has brown eyes.
Disclaimer: Characters are owned by Konomi Takeshi, and whoever did the anime. At any rate, it's not me.
A Negative Reaction
It was strange, Eiji had thought in a moment alone, how much he'd changed.
Except that he hadn't, he discovered two nights later, when Yuushi cornered him outside his apartment door. It wasn't even as if the situation was similar; most of the time, Fuji had already pinned him to the bed, teased and….
"Eiji."
He looked up into brown-gold eyes, looking down at him in concern. "Wh-what?"
"What's wrong?"
"I… I don't…"
Yuushi reached up to stroke his hair, and Eiji cringed back into the door, shaking so hard he could barely see. "Do you want to talk about it? We could go inside…." Yuushi's hand dropped back to his side.
"No!" Frantically, he pushed against Yuushi's chest to make him move. Not in the apartment, no where near his bedroom, that was too dangerous. "Not… not there."
"Then where?" The taller man backed off, brown eyes still calm.
"There's a c-coffee shop n-not far from here."
Yuushi nodded. "I think I know the one." He gestured for Eiji to precede him, but it was almost too much; he cringed again, then got hold of himself and forced himself to take a step. After the first step it was easier, and they walked, side by side, to the elevator.
Yuushi stayed away from Eiji, didn't touch him, although his eyes never left him, worried, calm, quiet – or so Eiji guessed. Every time he looked, Yuushi was watching, but Eiji didn't feel threatened, like he had with Fuji, and that helped him to calm down again. Out on the street, it was cool, but they walked, again side by side, down to the small shop, where Yuushi bought them something to drink, and then slid into a booth in the back, patting the seat beside him. "It'll be quieter, and no one will be able to hear us," he said quietly when Eiji balked at the idea. "I won't hold you here."
Eiji had no reason to doubt him, so he slid in, still shaking. "I'm sorry," he said miserably.
"What happened?"
Eiji took a deep breath. "It always started that way," he said softly, and Yuushi bent his head down to hear him better. "It was good, at first, but…." He took a deep breath, hearing it tremble. "I don't – didn't – understand. I'm not stupid, but I don't think I ever understood. He wanted to hurt me, as if… as if he didn't believe me. And I know… I know you won't…." He trailed off as Yuushi slipped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer gently, and Eiji fell against him.
"I know this will take a while, Eiji," he said gently, and Eiji just shook, unable to do more. "I'm a patient person; if I wasn't before I started playing doubles with Gakuto, I am by now."
Eiji managed a smile, at least, but Yuushi couldn't see it.
"If you don't like something, just tell me to stop. But I'm willing to wait, okay?"
"Why?" It came out a whisper.
"Because," Yuushi said, and there was a teasing note to his tone, "in spite of the too short hair, you're cute. And I like you. So far, you haven't done anything to make me think you aren't the one I want to spoil rotten."
This time Eiji nearly laughed, and Yuushi chuckled. "I heard that. Well, I felt it."
"I…" Eiji wasn't even sure what he wanted to say, so he sat up, pushing away from Yuushi, to take a sip of his drink. Yuushi let him go, but as soon as Eiji set his cup back down, the taller man reached out and gripped his chin, turning Eiji to look at him.
"I will do my best not to scare you. Besides," he added almost wryly, "Atobe threatened me if I did."
Eiji's eyes widened. "What?"
To his surprise, Yuushi smiled. "That's better. He suggested I ask you how he found out you worked for him."
"Oh." Eiji looked down.
"You don't have to tell me now," Yuushi said. "In fact, it's getting late for that. But I do want to know, because he has some weird interest in you."
"I do good work," Eiji said, and looked up at him. It was so nice to see the gold-brown of Yuushi's eyes, instead of Fuji's cold blue ones, and he leaned against Yuushi's arm. "He values that."
"Oh, yes," Yuushi said, shifting a little so he could wrap his arm around Eiji's shoulders again. "He does that." Then, after a moment, he leaned down to rest his cheek on Eiji's head. "Feel better?"
He'd stopped trembling. "Yes," he said softly. "I am sorry. I'm pretty sure it'll happen again," he added softly.
"We'll get through it," Yuushi said. "One of these days, I'm going to get a better look at the inside of your apartment – and then after that, I'm going to put you to bed."
Eiji started, looking up at him, eyes wide in disbelief. "What?"
Yuushi's smirk was positively… charming. "One of these nights, I'm going to put you to bed."
It was so ridiculous, the idea of someone putting him to bed – he was over 30 by now! – that Eiji laughed. "You're what?" he repeated.
"How long has it been since you laughed?" Yuushi asked, looking pleasantly surprised. "Because I haven't seen you look that happy since… well, since before we graduated from High School."
"Probably about that long," Eiji admitted, and sighed, resting his head on Yuushi's shoulder. "I thought I'd forgotten how to. I don't think I did even with the children."
"You'll have to introduce me to these children," Yuushi said. "I'd like to meet them."
"I will. Along with the rest of my family," Eiji told him, surprising himself with the comment. Apparently, he was planning on a serious relationship here. "Eventually. I don't know if my brothers and sisters know… My mom does; I had to tell her why I was running away to school when I went to University."
"Eiji," Yuushi said after a moment. "Will you tell me what happened? Not tonight, but… sometime?"
"If you really want to know, then yes," Eiji said. "I think you should know."
They were quiet then, and Eiji was glad to note that he was no longer shaking, and felt quite comfortable.
That was a refreshing feeling.
