"Kaito? Kaito? Wake up, please." someone begs.
Kaito feels himself being shaken awake, which is something else to add to his 'rude ways I've been woken up with since I moved here' list. He gives himself a few moments to be annoyed by that, then his brain catches up and he scrambles to open his eyes, "What the heck?!"
He blinks in pure fear, trying to figure out who could even be waking him up…only to sigh when he realizes that it's Yuma. Yes, he let the boy sleep over, this makes sense, "Didn't I tell you not to come into my room? Just because we got cozy last night, doesn't mean you have free rein over my house. Don't push your luck."
Yuma shrugs at that, "Sorry, I didn't have plans to come in, but…you were making an awful lot of noise. I got worried you were having some sort of heart attack, or puking. Turns out, you were just having a really nasty nightmare and moving all over the place, so I still think it's a good thing I woke you up." he explains.
After thinking for a bit, the memory he was dreaming about comes to him…very, very vaguely. He's incredibly embarrassed that his body was affected in such a way, but given all the stress, perhaps he should give himself a break. From Yuma's body language and words, it seems he didn't hear enough to find out what Kaito was dreaming about…nothing to be ashamed of here.
And then he realizes something, "Wait, how did you get in here without me hear—"
He stops abruptly when he looks at the door, and the giraffe is nowhere to be found. Not even broken on the ground, as he was expecting. Instead, it's perfectly placed next to his desk, where it usually is when not being used as a trap.
Kaito feels enraged all of a sudden, "If you were that worried about me, how come you made sure to put the statue back into place?" he whispers through gritted teeth, "And it better not be broken anywhere. I told you to not come into my room!"
Shocked at the change in attitude, Yuma can only blink at him, "Statue? What?"
Still angry, Kaito turns to him with a raised brow, "Don't play stupid. The statue I left by the door, precisely because I was expecting you to do something like this." he says as he points at said statue.
Yuma's eyes follow the direction, and then he turns to him with an even more confused look, "Dude, there was nothing blocking the door when I came in. Are you sure you're totally awake? And…wait, you've been barricading your room all this time still?" he whines as realization comes to him, "You trust me that little?"
"Well, you did invade my home. What did you expect?" he grunts back at the other.
Of course Yuma pouts at that, "That hurts…" but, perhaps proof of how much of a simple person he is, he immediately lets go, and moves on with the conversation, "Well, glad to see you're fine now. And regardless of what you say, I will come check on you if you make that much noise again." he assures as he gets up to leave the room, "It's still really late. You should sleep some more."
Kaito remains in his bed, waiting until Yuma's footsteps down the stairs can no longer be heard. Frankly, he's surprised Yuma let the issue to the trust thing go so easily…not how he's used to his fights going at all. Briefly, he ponders on making sure he sets up the giraffe trap this time…only to decide that it's pointless, and goes back to sleep.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Why are you packing?" his room-mate asks, because at this point, it's better if Kaito puts as much distance between them as possible.
Don't think of him as his former boyfriend of eight years. Don't even look at him, and see the other's pain and disappointment that surely matches his voice.
Doing this would make Kaito falter and change his decision, and not matter how much pain his heart is in…his mind knows that this is the right decision.
So he keeps packing, keeping his voice neutral and outright refusing to turn around, "You know why. And no, I do not want to talk about this. Please leave me be."
He hears the other whine, and after a long stretch of silence, turn around and slam the door on his way out.
The only question is…if he's so sure he's made the right choice, why does he wish they could have at least split up amicably? He's so had it with the utter mess his life is right now…
And then he hears sobbing coming from the other room.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
When Kaito wakes up with his breathing all messed up, he clutches his aching heart. That memory…why? Why now? When he had finally begun to feel like himself yesterday night, as he was talking to Yuma…
Heck, perhaps it was because of that, that he was haunted by that dream. When he's asleep, there are no headaches to keep him from thinking about the past…
By reflex, he paws around for his cellphone. He turns the internet on (the last time he connected was around three days ago), and briefly notes it's much later today. Either the motorcycle did not come by today, or he was so deep into his nightmare, that not even that terrible noise was enough to rouse him from his sleep.
Finally, there are some notifications on his message app. One being from Chris:
"I will forever miss you."
At that, Kaito's lips curl into a smile. It's not usual for Chris to be this emotive, but then again, he and Kaito hadn't gone without contact for so long since the day they had met at his father's lab. His first friend besides his brother…and while Kaito isn't ready to call anyone from his previous life yet, he does take the time to reply, "Me too."
Briefly, he thinks that Mizael always being low key jealous of Chris wasn't that irrational. Which is why he always put up with it. But it was foolish too, because if Kaito wanted Chris, there was a good chance he could have him…why bother going with anyone else? Mizael's inability to understand that, while perfectly human, was yet another reason they weren't suited for each other.
Looking around the room, taking a look at the calendar, the giraffe statue, the dream catcher over his bed…all of those were decorations Mizael had bought for their house. He honestly just brought them along to send the message to Mizael that that dream was never going to be a reality anymore, but it still hurt when he put them all here when he first brought most of his crates along, back when he didn't have an exact date to move in.
Looking at them now, the feeling has dulled. Which is surely a good sign.
And yet, he still fires up his social media app, takes a brief look at his profile that currently says 'single'…and then wanders over to Haruto's profile, from which he finds Mizael's own profile.
Oddly enough, both of their pages are messed up; the last few posts are jangled messes of code that don't mean anything, the formatting of it all out of place. Must be a new glitch on the site or something, because his last post (months old) is fine.
But what matters is that Mizael's profile still has the same status: 'in a relationship'.
With a sigh, Kaito turns the internet off again. So many issues in his life that need dealing with, and not enough time or motivation to deal with them all.
After taking a quick shower, he's actually disappointed to find that Yuma is gone. After the way the boy wanted to stick around even longer, he was hoping he would have stuck around for breakfast or something. It was so sad, eating alone, that he always forgot the taste of whatever he ate. He must be eating dreadfully little as well, because his pantry is still well stocked despite it being weeks since he came here.
Oh, well, no need to even order online groceries after all. Though weakness from hunger might be the reason his mind falls into a daze so often now…
As he quickly cleans the place up, happy to see the house has surprisingly little amounts of dust (though maybe the fact most of his stuff is still in boxes helps), he realizes he really can't blame Yuma for leaving after all. Kaito got up late today, and who knew what Yuma's family already thought of him spending every night away…perhaps they thought he was spending those nights at a friend's house, and just wanted to see him safely for breakfast every morning?
Either way, he finds himself missing the other boy…and as soon as he realizes that, he falls into another daze.
Thankfully, he didn't turn off his afternoon alarm from yesterday. So when it fires off, he gets an idea, and walks out the house, ready to (hopefully) meet Yuma once again.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Thankfully, fate has mercy on him for once, and just like always, there is Yuma, sitting near the edge of the cliff.
Clutching the warm container in his hands, Kaito comes closer, hating the way the ground beneath him feels ever weaker as he nears the cliff's edge. He doesn't get why Yuma likes the darn spot so much, "You know, there are much safer places to sit. More comfortable too…how the heck do you not melt in this heat?" he complains as he wipes sweat from his forehead.
Startling by pure reflect at this point, Yuma turns around with a smile, "Oh, Kaito! Did you come to see me?" he asks, eyes sparkling cutely once more, "And if you think this is dangerous, then wait until you find out about cliff diving!" he laughs, and it's such a nice sound.
Swallowing a knot in his throat, Kaito raises an eyebrow, "With a name like that…please don't tell me it's what I think it is." he half beg, half grunts, "And here. It's not that hot now, and since you refuse to eat dinner with me, eat up." he says as he hands over the cup of ramen he had prepared before he left the house.
Yuma blinks at him stupidly several times, but Kaito keeps shoving the cup into his hand until he's forced to take it, "Huuh, thanks." he says rather awkwardly.
Kaito wonders if Yuma is such a homemade food snob to the point he refuses even one cup of ramen...which given his rather nicely muscled arms and chest just peeking under that tank top, maybe that's actually a good—
As Kaito inwardly slaps himself for such horrifying thoughts, Yuma deems that the perfect time to answer his silent question, "And yep, it's exactly as it sounds. You jump from the cliff and into the ocean below. It's a rather popular pass time around here since…you know, not much else to do, and even surfing gets boring sometimes."
Frowning, Kaito looks at the ocean beneath them, so far away and ravaged by the wind like always, "Seems like a foolishly dangerous thing to do." he points out.
Yuma just shrugs, "Most cliffs aren't like this one. Unless you get a cramp, you'll be fine. But this one…" his voice drops to a hushed whisper as his eyes seem to go completely void, "There's a reason almost everyone avoids this place."
His voice sounds so strange…almost like when he admitted he was afraid of the moonlight. Kaito is rather taken aback by it, since he doesn't think there's a reason for the sudden mood switch, "Seems you're not one of them, then. Why am I not surprised you're not that smart?" he teases, then slaps himself because that sounds mean to anyone who isn't used to his sense of humour.
But surprisingly, Yuma laughs at the insult, "Yeah, people have been calling me an idiot since forever." he admits as he scratches the back of his hair. And then his face turns serious, looking at the waves beneath him, his red bangs competently messed up by the strong wind, "But even I knew to not come here."
Kaito gives him a pensive look, trying to get what Yuma was actually implying. Because it's obvious there's more to that than what he's saying…but no matter how much he waits, Yuma remains quiet.
With a sigh, he points to the ramen Yuma seems to have forgotten about, "Well, eat that, and please sit a bit further away. For my own peace of mind." he admits.
Because Yuma is still a brat, of course, and he makes Kaito's older brother instincts flare up. Nothing else…
"In the meantime, I feel absolutely disgusting due to all this heat…I'm going to wipe my face at the beach, and then we can go home together." he informs, not waiting around to hear an answer before starting to walk down the path to the beach.
He half expects Yuma to follow him, but all he gets is a shout of, "Salt water is really bad for your hair, you know?"
For a brief moment, he stops dead in his tracks and chuckles, "Heh, you sound like my—"
But mercifully, he doesn't get to finish that before his brain kicks into gear and shuts his mouth for him. With that, he digs his fingers into the sides of his hips, wishing he had pockets to shove his hands into. Or anything to keep himself from twitching so much, because…
'You sound like my ex.' is what he was about to say.
And the mere thought of doing such a thing, even as a joke, even as a slip up…makes him feel extremely weird.
Thankfully, it seems Yuma didn't even turn back to look at him, so he missed Kaito's untoward actions completely.
Lost in a literal fog of confusion, he pretty much makes a run for the pathway down to the beach. There, he kneels into the edge of the water, uncaring of how it wets his pants, and splashes water all over his face. Desperately wishing that doing so would erase everything weird that has been going on with him this past few weeks.
At first, it's almost like he doesn't feel anything. Which is doubly strange…he can't be that numb to the word around him, can he? Wouldn't that be a sign of extreme depression? Now a bit scared, he outright submerges his head into the water…
And then the cold hits him.
Along with deep instinctual fear.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
He can feel his entire being growing weaker as he tries to fight against the waves. He thinks he should hear something around him; the sound of the wind, the water getting into his hears, *** calling for him.
But instead, all he can feel is the unending cold. Cold that freezes him and seeps all his energy until he's unable to move any longer.
Briefly, he can see an arm reach out for him, but he's far too weak to even try to grab it anymore. Slowly, he can feel his surroundings become darker, as the cold consumes him, and with one last bubble of air escaping his mouth, his lungs take in yet more cold water…
The complete panic fades eventually. And with it, so does his fear, the darkness, and even the cold.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"_ito?! Kaito, wake up!" someone shrieks as he finds himself being rudely shaken awake…opening his eyes to find himself covered in cold, wet sand.
Panicking, he shoots up, only to feel his lungs clench with pain as he does so. By reflex, he begins to cough, and the person next to him wraps an arm around his back in a small attempt at comfort, but no matter how much Kaito coughs…nothing comes out.
But why should it? What was he expecting there?
He's so cold…
But wait, it's still sunny out, so even with the wind…what's he doing here anyway.
Completely lost, he finally gives his rescuer a good look, "Yuma?" he whispers as his brain slowly begins to piece together the scene around him, "Just…just what is going on?"
"You tell me!" Yuma yells, making Kaito flinch back. But the kid is so clearly concerned, that Kaito can't even grunt back at him, "You took so long, I came here to check on you, despite the fact I hate this place, and found you fainted like this! What did you do, go for a swim? Dressed like that?!" he points, completely baffled.
Kaito supposes he can't blame him…and as he shakes his head, he finally remembers why he even came here in the first place, "No, I…my hair was so sweaty, I dove my head into the water. Don't come at me with it being salt water or whatever." he complains, trying to lie convincingly, before slipping into the truth, "And then…a sensation of cold completely overwhelmed me, and next I knew it, you were waking me up."
No, that's not quite. He tries to think back to what his mind was going through before Yuma woke him, but try as he might, he can't remember anything concrete. Only the most extreme cold he ever felt, darkness, and fear, "I think I was having a nightmare when you woke me up…did you seriously just find me like this?" he asks, glancing at the water near them.
If Kaito had fainted after submerging his head, he would have drowned on the spot, but he's a little ways back. As if he fell backwards instead…"Perhaps the shock in temperature made me pull out far too quickly, and I tripped and hit my head…" he posits, because at this point, he needs to make sense of things too.
Yuma just glances at him in concern, "Well, be more careful! If you had fallen the wrong way, you could have drowned!" he says, and given that Kaito was just thinking the same thing not two seconds ago, he can't even say anything in return, "Why did you even come here anyway? We could have just gotten home and waited for you to wipe your face! You might be an outsider, but trust me, there is a reason nobody comes to this place!" he scolds.
And while Yuma has all the reasons to act in this manner with him, there's something behind his voice that betrays the fact that this is more than mere concern. The fear in his eyes looks like…
Sympathy.
"Don't ever do that again!" he pleads, closing his eyes as if he's imagining Kaito drowning right in front of his eyes. He's almost hyperventilating and Kaito, being the kind of person he is…has no idea how to even comfort the other.
The only person he was ever able to that with, was Haruto, and even then, only when he was a child.
So he settles for some light scolding himself, "Need I remind you that I am older than you?" he points out, turning his head around as if he has any right to even pretend to be indignant in this situation. As he does so, he takes note of the beach around them; nothing but a few pathetic feet of sand and sharp rocks, "Though I suppose there is no need to come here alone…" he ponders out loud.
But Yuma hears him nonetheless, and nods in agreement, "Right, unless I'm with you, don't come here!" he insists, pointing an accusing finger at him. Kaito fights off the urge to roll his eyes, and Yuma's eyes get lost in the raging water behind them. Once again, his shoulders drop, his eyes go void, "And like I said…I don't like this place much." he admits in a trembling tone.
Again, Kaito both wonders why that is, and feels like he should do something comforting here.
But much like when Mizael left their last argument completely defeated, Kaito has no idea how to be gentle. He settles once more, this time with a distraction, "Anyway, what happened to the cup of ramen I gave you? I don't see it anywhere." he says, pointing to Yuma's empty hands and then looking at the beach around them.
At that, Yuma's eyes widen, "Ah, I ate it. I was holding it, but when I saw you fainted, I ran all the way here. Must have dropped it on my way, haha!"
But that laugh sounds too awkward even for Kaito's ears. He gives Yuma a pointed look, but despite biting his lip, the boy stands firm…and fine. Not like Kaito cared anyway. All that mattered is that he had successfully distracted Yuma from the weird mood he had fallen into, "Littering is bad." he finished with a slight huff, trying to get up.
Yuma just shrugs, getting up much faster than Kaito, "Heh, if we see it on the way, we'll pick it up. For now, we should hurry, before the sunset comes." he says as he offers a hand to Kaito.
Momentarily panicking, Kaito takes it without much thought. Only for Yuma to pull him up far too quickly, and Kaito steps forwards a bit too much…ending up clashing right into Yuma's chest, "Oops, sorry about that." the other offers with a smile, but remains rooted on the spot.
It's at that moment, head resting right on Yuma's chest, that he realizes the other is quite a bit taller than him. Like Chris, but the two of them had never gotten this close before; he can pretty much smell Yuma's hair, though he can't quite discern what it reminds him of. Something quite pleasing, suddenly overwhelmed by something far nastier. Sweat, maybe?
Either way, this is a new experience for him. He hadn't hugged his father for many years before the man ultimately died, and Mizael was almost the same height and built as him. Whereas Yuma's chest feels much harder than—
Realizing where his thoughts are heading, again, he pulls, no, pushes, the other away as if he had been shocked. Which, of course, makes Yuma blink at him, "Hey, you okay?"
Kaito almost grunts to keep his distance, but realizes at the last second Yuma was only trying to help him, and most people aren't sicko—…touch adverse weirdos like he is. So he chooses to lie, "I'm fine. Just got a bit of whiplash from you pulling me up too fast." he states as he rubs his eyes in an exaggerated manner.
"Oh, you must still be reeling from your fainting spell! I'm so sorry." Yuma apologizes profusely, and before Kaito can shake his head, Yuma hooks his arm around Kaito's, "Come on, we can't have you faint on the path up, so hold on to me. I'll walk slow…or as slow as we can, considering our lack of time…" he trails off, looking at the sky with a worried expression.
Well, it seems he only went and made things worse, and despite opening his mouth, he can't think of a way to get out of this on the spot. Besides, he did just faint not five minutes ago, so Yuma is likely right in that it's better if they take precautions.
He tries not to think of the way Yuma's arm feels rather nice and strong around his own. How he could lean his head against the other's shoulder as they made their way back. Ignores the fact that they don't let go once they're by the cliff side, and instead go back to the house linked like that.
He excuses himself with the fact that the reality he's broken up with Mizael (regardless of what the other insists) means he's completely alone now, and with his personality, is unlikely to find anyone ever again. That the loneliness of that and the lost dreams of having his own family one day, are leading to act in this abnormal, and frankly abhorrent way…
(Though it only just comes to him, he doesn't know exactly how old Yuma is. Only that he was in school break, but for all he knew, he could be a college student…after all, didn't Kaito look far too young for a man in his early thirties as well?)
For some reason, when they get home and Yuma breaks apart from him, so he can proceed to dutifully close every window, it comes to Kaito what part of Yuma's scent is. More specifically, the nasty part.
Salt water.
Oddly enough, he can't smell it on himself, despite the fact he literally dunked his head into the water. Not even on his clothes once he takes them off to shower as Yuma heats up something for him to eat.
But he supposed it's natural, to not be able to smell yourself most of the time, and lets it go.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
As Kaito eagerly counts down the days until the new moon comes, he spends an increasing amount of time with Yuma.
The kid is never around when morning comes, but he would spend all night awake conversing with Kaito, if Kaito's old age fatigue allowed him to pull off such a thing. They talk mostly about Duel Monsters at first, even duel several times (Kaito always wins, but both are out of practice, and Yuma's Hope Ace certainly could be a threat eventually). But as the days go on, it switches over to other topics: family, their pasts, other hobbies, and general views on life.
He finds that his assertions that Yuma is actually the extroverted, cheery type, were actually on the nose, despite the conflicting first impressions. Seems like he was bullied for being an 'idiot' a lot when he was younger, especially for his weird philosophy of 'Kattobingu', but things got better as he grew up and gathered a small group of friends that found that endearing.
It's quite telling that Yuma's friend group consisted of varied people. From the loyal childhood friend who didn't seem to have much in common with him, but always choose to be by his side, to the friend who fuelled his competitive side with more than just dueling (though he has no clue how the heck can one ride a skateboard on such dinky roads, and is darkly amused when Yuma tells him of the many times he fell over due to wildlife getting in his path), and always believed in him despite the mocking. To the class president who took a liking to him after Yuma did him a solid, to the short kid who covered up how much he wanted friends with mischief, to the girl that had a lot of cats and, for some reason, always noticed what Yuma did…
It showed that Yuma didn't just attract a specific type of people, but rather just people who wanted an honest friendship. Honestly, that's what Kaito feels like when he's with Yuma; despite their age difference and short time knowing each other, he does feel rather close to him already. Likely because Yuma is so warm, you feel like you can trust him far quicker than you would most people. Even if some of his odd quirks do lead Kaito to see why most would just throw all kinds of 'idiot' accusations at him. And of course people with an honest nature are always targets for mockery. Thankfully, Yuma doesn't seem to hold any grudges for it, though it does make Kaito want to keep an eye out for him.
(It is also during those conversations that Kaito gets to find out that Yuma is…sixteen. A senior in high school. His birthday is due very soon, on September 19th, but that doesn't help Kaito any.)
His last, and perhaps 'closest' friend, is the one that stands out the most though; Ryouga 'Shark' Kamishiro. Seemingly a former delinquent who could never get over his entire family dying off in a car crash, and responded by closing himself off to others and becoming a bully. Until some complicated set of circumstances made Yuma break through his defences, and eventually, he had begrudgingly become part of Yuma's friend circle.
A beautiful story of redemption, right?
Only it turns out, some of 'Shark's' delinquent traits were just his normal personality; his tendency to wander off and leave friendly outings without a moment's notice, how he covered up his feelings and especially weakness by insulting others (which Kaito hated to admit he could sort of relate to), and, most worrying of all, his love for 'dangerous' things.
Apparently, he was the friend that had a motorcycle, even before he had a license to ride one legally. Kaito isn't that surprised that people don't care about such matters in a remote place like this, especially if the brat was smart and didn't use it to get to the city…but to think of Yuma getting along with someone like that, makes his stomach twist slightly.
"Nah, he never gave me a ride. Said I would ruin his 'baby' somehow, can you believe it?" he whines with a pout, but Kaito is far too relieved to even sympathize, "My sister had one too, left by my dad, and she never let ride it either. Though in that case, I get why…" his voice lowers as he looks to the side.
Kaito winces just a bit at that. From what he gathered of the situation, Yuma's parents were loving, but quite absent due to their jobs (another thing Kaito could relate to, though his bitterness over having to raise Haruto on his own after their mother died in childbirth made it so he had a far less positive view on his father than Yuma did his own). There was a sadness in his eyes when it came to that, but also understanding. And if Kaito was getting things quite right here, it seems Yuma understood exactly why his sister would want to keep a gift from her father just for herself.
"I used to have a Key pendant that he found on his explorations. Never took it off, and yet…" he paws at his chest, "I somehow lost it, and I don't even remember how…isn't that awful?" he laments
But Kaito just grunts, "Not any more awful than the fact you so clearly clung to the darn thing as a substitute for your parents, as does your sister to her vehicle." he points out, crossing his arms in the process, "If parents are going to love their jobs that much, then don't have kids in the first place. If it were me, I—"
He stops abruptly, his breakup with Mizael making him remember that his dream is not not possible at all. Which is all the more heart-breaking, considering Haruto…
Seemingly having noticed his shift in mood, Yuma tries to distract him, "Oh, I'm sure you'd be a great dad! Didn't you say you wanted to work at home or something? All the more time to spend with your kids." he offers, but little does he know, it just makes Kaito feel all the worse. Defeated, Yuma settles for switching the topic entirely, "I honestly don't even have any idea what to do once school is done, haha."
And that's what they spend the rest of that conversation doing; Kaito trying to help Yuma decide if he should go to college or not, what he should study if he did, or what job he could procure in this place with no transportation of his own.
It doesn't end up amounting to much, as Kaito of course can't know what's best for Yuma. Especially not when Yuma seems to deflect every suggestion anyway, "I honestly never saw myself do anything but remain with my family and friends…" he scratches his head helplessly, "Maybe a family of my own would be the right answer?"
"For which you still require money to support, unless you marry someone wealthy or who works for you." Kaito points out with a shrug. It's at that moment that he recalls that Mizael was quite into his work as well, and could have quite a temper, so maybe he wouldn't be such a good father. Whereas Yuma, given all he talked about helping his family with chores and carefree attitude, already seemed suitable to be a house husband and a cheerful father.
Come to think of it, he and Mizael had never discussed kids at all. Kaito had just assumed…"Do you even have a girlfriend?" he asks when he tries to think of anything to keep the conversation going, only to almost kick himself when he realizes what a terrible thing just slipped out.
He doesn't care about that at all. Has no right to care about that at all.
And yet, naive Yuma answers honestly as always, though his confused expression would give away some of his answer anyway, "No? To be honest, not that much into girls…I mean, not that I can't love them just…" he looks away awkwardly as he tries to find some sort of explanation, "The average girl just isn't my type?"
He says that in a manner that denotes some guilt for it, but not shame. Which means he's likely fine with liking the same gender, he just feels 'mean' for not liking girls as well…Kaito hates how that thought makes his breathing get out of shape.
"So you're bisexual with a preference for men. Quite an unusual combination, to be honest." he blurts out, specifically not revealing that it's the same for him as well. He knew in his heart he could love women, it's just he never happened to grow close to one. Not even the surprisingly tolerable and beautiful Droite. Even now that he was broken up with Mizael, he couldn't bring himself to wish he could go back and give her a chance all those years ago, before she got married to Gauche.
Life is what it is, and he also does not want to think about it any more. Having already dug his hole, he continues the conversation, "I assume you had no boyfriend either, so…worry about getting that step over with before you even start to think of a family."
Yuma seems to think on his words as he scratches his chin, "I guess you are right." he eventually whispers. Then he sighs and throws his head back, looking at the roof longingly, "Though if you and your boyfriend can break up so easily after eight years, what chance does an idiot like me have?"
"Don't say that." Kaito blurts out right away. That last argument flashes back to him over and over, and he too is then looking at the roof, "Being an idiot might just be what you need."
Yuma is so deep into his thoughts, he doesn't even ask. And Kaito continues to sulk.
It is enjoyable to be so in sync with one another, though. Just another moment that would help Kaito become more vulnerable with Yuma.
And as it turns out, because Kaito is Kaito, such things always lead to disaster.