It seems to be changing from where I thought it was going. Hope it works out okay. The chapter's a little longer this time, mostly due to dialogue. Tomo comes back into it.
Tomo wasn't actually too hard to track down, even without knowing his real name. Even on a college campus, there weren't too many people like Tomo. And Taka really didn't care if people thought he was a bit on the weird side himself, looking for Tomo, so the search was pretty quick. The hard part was in approaching Tomo.
When he found Tomo, at an off-campus dive that he'd never been to before and was certain he'd never go to again, Tomo wasn't alone. He was with someone, a young man with short, sandy brown hair and muscles that can only come from regular weight training. Not someone Taka wanted to just interrupt. Instead he waited. Waited while they sat down, while they got drinks. Waited until the other man left. Moving quickly so as not to lose his nerve, he sat down directly across from Tomo.
"I thought that was you cowering in the corner, Tama-chan." Tomo's smile was pleasant, though it didn't match his eyes. The eyes weren't malicious, as Taka had expected; they were irritated with the unwelcome intrusion.
"Don't call me that." Taka snapped. Tomo shrugged.
"Would you prefer Brad? In any case, if you've finally decided to fall head-over-heels in love with me, you're too late. Get lost, asshole."
"Be polite and listen to me--"
"You're the one interrupting my date and you lecture me on manners." Tomo hissed.
"Is everything okay here?" The man Tomo'd been sitting with had returned to the table and he was standing right over Taka. Tomo smiled up at him, his eyes as active as his lips. Taka was surprised to see so genuine and pleasant an emotion coming from Tomo.
"Everything's fine." Tomo looked back at Taka and dropped the smile. "Brad was just leaving, weren't you?"
"Not quite yet." Taka didn't want to piss off Tomo's boyfriend, but he wanted even less to have to start another conversation with Tomo-the-homo. The boyfriend sighed.
"Listen, Brad-"
"My name's Taka."
"-that doesn't matter. This is not your date. You are leaving now."
"No." He took a step towards Taka, but Tomo caught his arm.
"Don't make a fuss. Sit down. I'm sure he'll leave as soon as he gets what he wanted, right?" Taka nodded.
"Of course." Tomo's smile slid easily to his lips but his eyes showed the strain.
"And since you're so keen on formalities…Taka, this is Jake. Jake, Taka. Shake hands and pretend to be friends." They shook, but the pretense was lacking. "Now what do you want?"
"Truthful answers to two questions."
"And then you're gone?"
"Like I was never here."
"Deal."
"First, why do you call me Brad?"
"Because you're the physical manifestation of a perfect asshole. Second?"
"What did you do to my roommate?" Tomo blinked in obvious surprise.
"Nothing." Taka shook his head. "Now that we're done-"
"I don't believe you." Tomo shrugged.
"You asked for the truthful answers, not believable ones."
"He's seeing things." Tomo bit his lip and leaned forward.
"He's crazy," he whispered. Forcibly, Tomo relaxed and turned to Jake. "Sorry, Hon. I think this conversation's going to need a bit more time. And privacy."
"Secrets again." Jake's voice was regretful, and Tomo's smile was weak as he broke eye contact. Taka felt a slight twinge of guilt as Jake left the table. Tomo glared at him.
"If you screw him up for me, Tamahome…"
"I'm not the one keeping secrets. Hardly the best foundation for a relationship, secrets and lies. Just like always."
"People change. And what do you know about 'always?'"
"I know what you're doing now."
"I was trying to go on a simple date."
"You're giving Shun hallucinations. "
"He's crazy. Always has been."
"And you were the one talking about change."
"Why do you care about him, anyway? You certainly didn't dump your Miko for him." Taka ignored the snide remark.
"He's different than I remembered. He seems so scared and alone, I feel bad for him." Tomo snorted.
"Scared and alone is exactly how I remember him. He hasn't changed at all. The only difference is now he can't blame you for the loss of his aniki. It's only a matter of time; he can't survive without his brother."
"Than stop making it worse."
"I'm not. Listen, he killed me. It's over. I'm never going to love him for it, but nothings going to change it and I'm better off now. Driving a lunatic crazy is not something I want to do."
"Did he ever see things that weren't there? In the book, I mean." Tomo shook his head.
"No. He felt things that happened to his brother, but he never saw anything. At least not in my memory."
Taka stood to leave. If it wasn't Tomo, which he still wasn't sure about, and it wasn't Suboshi's insanity, then Amiboshi was around. Well, Miaka would be pleased; she'd always liked the older twin. As for his roommate, who knew? Shun wasn't entirely irrational, he didn't think. Taka turned suddenly as Tomo called him back.
"Tama, if Amiboshi's here, I can help you find him. Then, when they see each other, it won't be so random." He handed Taka a napkin with his number on it. "Call me tomorrow afternoon. We'll look for him."
"Thanks…Chuin." Taka read the name off the napkin. Tomo shrugged, watching Jake walk back over.
"Being alone and scared sucks." He turned back to Taka and smiled. "Do you want to know something ironic? I'm deathly allergic to shellfish. Me of all people."
