TITLE: Painful Interjections
PART: Side Story 3 to Who Says College is Easy?
PAIRING: Akutsu Jin x Shishido Ryou
GENRE: Shounen-ai (Humour/ Continuation/ Angst / Romance)
DISCLAIMERS: The series I'm referring to does not belong to me… only this weird story does.
NOTES: Blah or Blah is for emphasis. /Blah/ is for conversations over the phone or flashbacks (if any). /Blah/ is for the conscience or whatever inner voice there is talking. Blah is for thoughts or random Japanese words. Some of these words are footnoted at the end of every page (I'm beginning to understand the need for footnotes in fiction. Thank you dear friend, you know who you are. XD).
Side Story 3 (Part Five A): AKUTSU JIN - BANZAI!
Akutsu plopped down his bed in an effort to clean his mind and take a nice, long rest. He had been staying up really late for the past few weeks, and frankly; it was depleting his 'supposedly' endless amounts of energy.
What irked him now was the fact that he couldn't forget the image of the irritating Shishido guy the day he returned the stuff he and his friend owned that they forgot in Kawamura's sushi shop. Somehow, he looked...
Okay.
Well, fine. So he looked kind of pretty for a guy, but that was beside the point. He was not huffy at all back then, and it disappointed Akutsu to no end. He was hoping for another verbal tussle, to say the least, and he did not get it. That was what was bothering him until now, as shallow as it may sound.
He sighed.
Why was he always asking for pain anyway? Like with Sengoku. The overly cheerful guy with now inhibitions at all was starting to tag along with him everywhere he went, acting like his mother would back when he was still in elementary school. It was annoying him to hell, and yet, he couldn't seem to take the offensive. It was unusual for him to be like this, but apart of him was hesitating at the thought of confrontation. He did not want to lose Sengoku as a friend. Ever. However, it seemed as if fate had other plans for both of them because he the relationship they had between them was starting to get more cloying with each passing day.
Why was Sengoku being such a leech anyway? Well, it wasn't as if he was being parasitic, because, the company was not exactly bad for him. However, given the circumstance, he was not entirely sure whether or not to label him as such. Akutsu would never understand why he couldn't remember his science at all when it came to these types of things. Now he was second-guessing himself for the right term.
He grimaced. I'm starting to sound like a loon. Science doesn't have anything to do with this anyway! Cheeks flushed in embarrassment, he slouched even further, slanting a hand across his eyes in an effort to calm down.
Why was the idea of his friend doting on him made him wan to run as far away as he could go? It wasn't that he hated Sengoku, but...
I don't want him to be the one... he's a friend, and that's it. That is all he will ever be. Deep in his gut he knew. He did not have to think about it too much because he absolutely knew that having some sort of love-love thing with him was too unbearable. Too suffocating.
Without any warning, a too-familiar picture flashed in his mind.
This is all Takashi's fault.
X o X o X
"Look, Kiyosumi, stop following me around!" He roared, finally having enough after three weeks.
Sengoku only grinned. "Why shouldn't I? We're friends, right?"
Akutsu's temples throbbed painfully, his heart pounding in his ears. "Kiyosumi." He began tiredly. "You're becoming all too annoying when you're being stubborn. Just stop following me around all the time."
There was something he could only label as pain that crossed through Sengoku's face before it was schooled back to its familiar devil-may-care features. "What will you do if I don't agree to what you're saying?"
He sighed. "Kiyosumi, damn you. Are you trying to make everything harder for me? This thing we have is becoming even weirder than it was when it started. Just... stop acting like a fairy god mother with me all the time and spend some time with yourself so I can also spend time with myself as well!"
Yes, there definitely was pain.
Sengoku's face was now pockmarked with it and he couldn't take the words back, no matter how strong the urge was. He was doing this for his own sanity above everything else. One irritating person at a time, and he already got his hands full of the girly guy. He groaned inwardly. Great, now he was remembering him again.
"There's something you're not telling me." Sengoku said quietly, smile gone. "Is it because you don't want to be seen with me anymore?"
Akutsu wanted to tear out his hair. Why is he acting like I dumped him? Okay, so maybe I did... in away, but seriously now, why did it seem as if I'm dumping someone I have a love-love relationship with? How dramatic could he possibly get? Is this a product of his obsession with his horoscopes? "That's not it." He growled, irritated. "Stop acting like we're married, okay? All I'm saying is that I need space – a lot of it, and I'm sure you also do. Tagging along after me all the time will not accomplish that, and you know it. Don't you even get tired of being with people all the time? You have that fraternity thing going on too, so why are you being so... gluey?"
There was a moment of tense silence before Sengoku's features relaxed. His smile was there again, and for that single moment, Akutsu was relieved. "Fine then." He allowed with ease. Too much ease that it made him all too uneasy. There was something lurking behind that smile, he knew, because it was the sort he saw plastered on Seigaku's former prodigy. There was nothing he could do at this point but be wary. "But"
He raised both eyebrows in question. "You're going to continue fetching me from tennis club practice every afternoon. That way we'll still be able to see each other! That's all I ask!"
Akutsu sighed. Sengoku truly was acting as if he was his boyfriend, which he wasn't. Back in senior high, he might have considered it, but now, the idea repulsed him. When did all of this start anyway? Why was he starting to veer away from the familiar and towards the unknown? Was friendship unimportant to him after all?
He should try recollecting his scattered thoughts tonight.
"Keigo, damn you, don't make fun of me!"
It was the ridiculously familiar voice that made him turn his head involuntarily, eyes seeking the source as if hungry for the image of the guy he was currently obsessing on. Why was he obsessing in the first place? All worries concerning his all-too-recent row with his friend vanished, replaced by something he couldn't quite name. Amusement maybe? Interest?
There he was. Shishido Ryo as he soon learned, was being dragged by his former captain by back of his shirt. What happened? Came the wayward thought.
Too focused was he that he did not see the look of anger shadowing Sengoku's unusually grim face.
X o X o X
Kawamura was preparing celebratory sushi platters for both him and Akutsu when the door chimes tinkled merrily. The sound sent shivers up Akutsu's spine, and with eyes narrowed, he turned, only to have his tongue tied.
It was Shishido.
With the narcissistic bastard and a tall guy he barely recognised. He had seen the blonde before – that he was sure, but it seemed so long ago...
Akutsu watched in fascination as Shishido herded the blonde to one of the cushions encircling a low-rise table.
"It is amazing Choutarou! You even got a higher score than what I had when I took the qualifying exams!" Shishido crowed happily. "Now you're gonna be a shoo-in to this university!"
"Shishido-san..."
"Anyone could get higher scores than you do Ryo." Atobe the Great quipped, taking much amusement over the narrowing of Shishido's eyes.
"Atobe-san..."
"Look who's talking!" Shishido growled. "I scored higher than you did in Geometry yesterday!"
"Ahn? That's just a fluke of course. Ore-sama just wasn't feeling all too well yesterday." As if to prove his point, he coughed.
So, he could get sick like us mortals after all. Akutsu snickered inwardly. He couldn't help his eyes from straying to where the gaggling group was; he actually forgot that he was supposed to be eating from the sushi platter before him. It took the prodding of Kawamura's index finger before he realised that he was supposed to be eating his dinner. Sushi – again.
He grimaced, turning back to his food, but not before seeing the look of amusement on his best friend's face. Yes, Kawamura knew too much. He sighed, shaking his head.
Kawamura-san, the shop owner, catered to the newcomers' orders, it seemed. He was still trying not to look at them; focusing on his plate more... and to what Kawamura was saying... or, not saying. There was tense silence between them, as if both were straining to hear the conversation emanating from the other table.
"I'm glad I have a chance to get in here." The newcomer's voice was dripping with quite pride and sincerity. "If I do pass the entrance exam, I would be the happiest person in the whole world."
"Of course you'll pass Choutarou! You're excellent in academics!" Shishido crowed excitedly, soundly slapping his best friend at the back. "And tennis too! We'll be unbeatable!"
"Uh... Shishido-san..."
"Ah, let's stop all this nonsense and eat! Kawamura-san's sushis are the best!"
Akutsu could hear Kawamura's father chuckle as he served them their food. It irked him somewhat that he shared such opinion from someone who got on his nerves almost all the time.
However, what really irked him the most was that...
He couldn't bear look at such closeness that the Choutarou guy and Shishido shared.
Strangely, it hurt.
TSUZUKU
A/N: Decided to split this chapter to two... sorry for the wait guys... been busy for a long while since the last update. ;
