Author's Notes: I know I said I won't be writing for TeniPuri for a while but I guess I really can't stray from something I love. So, I present to you my birthday special for our one and only sushi boy, Taka-san!

Disclaimers: Belongs to the great Konomi-sensei. Only the story is mine.

More than Words

He never felt that he belonged anywhere. He remembered being stronger than the usual kids. His skin was too pale. He was talented in more than one sport and yet he never found anything that made him really stay.

That was, until he met him.

He wasn't extraordinary or something, that was one thing he was sure about. He was an ordinary boy who studied martial arts in the dojo he decided to challenge that day. He had a weird hairstyle but so had he, so he didn't actually stand out that much. But the moment he came in contact with those eyes, he knew couldn't stay away.

For in those eyes, he saw acceptance. In those eyes, he saw a person who didn't judge him right away. In those eyes, he saw someone who would listen to him. In those eyes, he found someone who never pushed him to do anything, to be anyone. In those eyes, he had found a place where he could belong.

And even after all those years, he still saw the same look in those eyes. They were now in college, he thought as he waited outside the campus gates, and yet, it never disappeared. The same one that made him stay in the way no sport – or anyone, for that matter – had ever done before.

Chocolate eyes blinked. "Akutsu?"

There was a small smile that graced his lips, not the usual one, but a softer one. A softer smile for the one who had changed his life so much.

"Jin," he said.

The other boy blinked again. He didn't know what was happening. No, he couldn't understand what was happening.

"Uh, Akutsu..."

The pale faced boy raised his eyes and met those confused coffee-tinted eyes, the smile still in place. He didn't know how to say what he really wanted to say, but he knew he would understand. He always did.

"It's Jin, Taka."

Those russet eyes widened for a second, realization coming at full blast. Then it softened and a smile curved his lips. A smile just as soft as the other was giving him.

"Aa."

-Owari-

::10:38a:: ::19Nov2k4::

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