I know it was a long pause again, but for some odd reason people keep expecting me to do things that aren't on the computer.
When Taka returned to his dorm, the room had been cleaned up. The only indications of what had been were a slight redness around Shun's eyes and a bandage covering his left arm. Shun himself sat calmly on his bed, intent on a book. He didn't jump when Taka entered the room. He didn't even look up from the page. Instead he merely whispered the question:
"Were you here earlier?"
"Yes." Taka kept his voice low, cautious. He didn't want to start his roommate up again. Shun sighed.
"Oh. I'm sorry." Shun closed the book but otherwise didn't move, continuing to stare at the cover as though still reading the story. "You'll be rid of me pretty soon, at any rate. I called my aunt and she'll get me in a couple of days."
"Really?" Taka thought about asking why but he knew that would sound ridiculous. He'd seen why. Shun nodded and reopened his book. Taka turned away to get ready for bed.
"Thank you." Taka turned back at the sound of Shun's voice. "You've been very kind to me here. Kinder than I thought possible. So thank you."
"I don't think you were seeing things. I think your brother is here." Taka wasn't quite sure why but he didn't want Shun to leave thinking he was hallucinating. Shun was crazy enough without anything else. Rather than cheer Shun up, the idea that his older brother was around seemed to upset him.
"All the more reason to leave, then." Shun started to work one of his fingers under the bandage on his arm, but noticed what he was doing and stopped. Reading the book seemed more an issue of keeping his body and his mind occupied.
"Don't you want to see him? Even once?"
"No." Shun responded without looking up. Taka jerked the book away from Shun.
"Why?" Suboshi had killed his own ally to protect his brother. Taka couldn't understand why Shun wouldn't want to see him. Shun chewed his lower lip, thinking, before he began his explanation.
"I…I scare him. I never wanted to scare him. I never want him to be scared. But he's scared of me…. So I have to leave him alone. I can't see him again. Even once. When we were little, of course, we were very close. Not…unhealthily, though. Just…unusually close. But then we started remembering things. And feeling things. Little things. I'd get in a fight and he'd come home with bruises. One time, he cut school to go to the beach. I nearly drowned in the middle of English. That was the worst, I think. I couldn't tell how much was what was happening to him then and how much was what had happened…back then, I mean. It freaked him out. And why wouldn't it? It was like he could never get away from me. I couldn't escape him either, but I didn't mind as much. He didn't want anything to do with me. Once he realized he didn't really have a choice…he ran away. I went to stay with my aunt so he could come back. I haven't….haven't seen him since then. My dad and my aunt keep in touch. They know where we are. They just don't understand…that he can't see me. I'm just not good for him. Can I have my book back?" Shun's change of tone was so quick Taka almost missed the question. He glanced down at the book. Death in Venice and other stories. He handed the book over, too tired to deal with a roommate tonight.
******
"Death in Venice" is the ultimate Suboshi short story in that it's about obsession and how it destroys a person. Definitely something to read when you have a spare hour and a half.
