Ch.2: Cloudy Midday
"Yama...?"
A few seconds sped by,dancing to the sound of my muffled,sobbing breaths.
"Yeah,Taichi?"
"Promise me...that when the sun rises..you'll watch it,Like we used to sit by my window,everyday..remember?"
I heard a light chuckle from the distant blonde.
"Of course..."
My fingers found the coiled phone wire,fumbling with the eccentric design for a moment.
"And Taichi?"
"Y-yes Yama?"
I tightened my grip around the evil snake,keeping my Yama away from me.
"Promise me..that whenever you see the sunrise..you'll think of me"
The second lapse of tears flowed freely from my eyes,hearing the automated voice remind me to enter more money for our conversation-which i did not have.
"Yamato,I love you!"I blurted out. This boy could play composed no more.
"I love you too,Taichi..see you when I come home"
The snake hissed,as i dropped the dead phone. I wondered if goodbye would be the hardest thing about this..this..fuck,i don't even know what to call it.
Tragedy.
Yeah,thats it...a tragedy.
Realizing i had been standing by the pay phone for the past 10 minutes,I began toward the end of the street,softly pressing the crosswalk button. I found my eyes wondering up to the sky.
It looked as if clouds were about to eat the world,and everything in it.
There was no sun in the sky today.
Damn,this was going to be an extremely long couple of months...
-----
It must be true,that when you stare at a clock,the hand moves slower. Because the past hour of room 365 felt like I had wasted the whole day away between those four stuffy walls. I listened intently for the sound that would save my soul-the bell. When it finally rang,even I was surprised at how my legs worked in unison to spring up from the chair.
Lunch-time.
Lunch-time was the most exciting time of the day.
Key word-was.
As I settled myself in at my usual comfortable steel table,I realized that my seat was unusually cold.
Cold. What the hell?I remember specifically on many occasions,That Yamato comes a few minutes early to save my spot,for he knows how much I cant stand being cold.
Oh,thats right...
Yamato...
That boy would do anything for me,as vice versa. I suppose,though,that now I would have to get used to cold seats .dammit .Upon my hard thinking,i also realized how many eyes were set in my direction. Sure,our table was in the middle of the cafeteria,but i never noticed how many eyes were glued to it. I mean,yeah,sure Yamato and i were the only yaoi couple in school.(publicly)
but,I guess..I'm so used to being wrapped up in our conversation..
sweet nothings in my ear..how soft his voice was...
I never really had a reason to pay attention to anyone else. Oh well,as hungry as i was,nothing would stop me,not even hundred of staring eyes.
I poked and prodded with my plastic fork,at what was supposed to be a meal. I could swear the meatloaf was still half frozen,and the other items on that plate...who knows what was still alive.
"There is no way in FUCK i am eating this!" And there really wasn't.
"Mr.Kamiya,such language coming from you?"
My head swiveled back,almost completing a 180 degree turn,when i spotted the authority before me. "S-Sorry,Sensei.." The words sputtered out,clumsily.
"Don't beat yourself up on it. Well,i did come to this God forsaken hell-hole, poor excuse for a cafeteria..." I raised a brow as his words trailed off into his own thoughts i wasn't interested in.
"Um..?"
"Oh,right." He stood almost at attention. "The counselor has called for you."
Great. Just great.
In a matter of seconds we were on our merry-little-way to the dreadful counselor. An obese American who tried to push his way past all your defense mechanisms,and force you to admit to some sort of "underlying emotional problem" you had somehow acquired through tramatization. In his eyes,no one didn't have a problem.
It only took two soft knocks on the wooden frame,before his voice was ringing in my ears.
"Mr.Kamiya! Do come in,Ive been expecting you."
Oh yes,he was always expecting someone. I took my seat across the desk,facing him. Of course i didn't sit all the way,my ass only occupied the very tip of the chair.
My ass was planning on getting out of there as soon as possible.
"So,lets get down to business."
Business?You sit on your lazy ass eating donuts and telling people they have problems all day. Just what the fuck do you know about business?You've probably never carried a suitcase in your life!you know why?Because you'd run out of breath...
"R-right."
Dammit Taichi. Whatever happened to speak your mind?
"I heard about Ishada-kun...And i just wanted to remind you that me,along with the rest of the staff are here to support you. You know you can come to me whenever you need to talk.."
bull-fucking-shit.
As soon as he mentioned Yamato my mind was in a place all its own. However,i was in such close proximity to the hot air of his breath,I wasn't able to focus on my day-dream-fantasy for too long. Patience,running on empty. Once he got started,he never stopped. My right hand found the top of the desk,running across the cold counter-top,back and forth for a while..But as his mouth moved and the clock ticked,the marble wasn't that cold anymore. It wasn't calming me in any way. So then i dropped my hand to my jeans..ah beloved jeans. The rips and hole on my knee kept my attention span for about,id say..30 seconds?
"Um..Orchiru-san?I-I'm really s-sorry to interrupt you,but I'm not feeling to well..w-would it be alright if i went to the nurse?"
"Oh.." He stopped,mid sentence,and a face full of defeat. I suppose he wasn't through with his lecture on how this would affect my mid-life crises down the road.
Not like i cared.
"Of course Taichi,I think you know what I'm trying to get at"
Yeah. Those donuts behind you.
Before my exit was complete,I turned to him and smiled. "Thanks for taking the time t-to talk with me."
"No,thank you Taichi...well if you need me,I'm always here!"
Of course you're always here. Where the hell else are you going to go?The gym?Haha. Fat chance.
Closing the door behind me,i was finally free. Until the point where i had to pass through the cafeteria to get to the nurses' office.
Time to tweaker walk.
5 minutes later,i was passing through that dreadful place again. Since when did you have to have a fever to be sent home?
I suppose tweaker walking this time wasn't such a good idea. Because out of all the eyes following me,a dozen sets belonged to them. The Druggy kids. And i don't blame them for their suspicion.
Whenever a person was caught or suspected of carrying drugs they were sent to the counselor's office(maybe the principal) after that they were sent to the nurse for a pee test. Damn. How suspicious was i looking right about now?
"Tai?"
I sighed,relieved when i recognized the voice. It was no DK.
"H-hey Kari." I didn't have to force a smile. There were only two people my smile was genuine for.
"You alright,bro?" I felt her fragile little hand on my arm,pleading with me silently. "People were-"
"L-Let them talk Kari,I'm fine."I rested my hand on her head,ruffling her short mocha strands of hair. "H-He just w-wanted to talk to me about Yamato..." "Oh.."She said,quietly. I don't know if she saw the something in my eyes,or it was just sisterly instinct. But at that moment she latched her arms around me.
"You know I worry about you,big bro"She said,smiling up at me. I smiled back,returning the embrace. It was then that i felt those two hazelnut eyes,glaring at me from the group of Dks. Those eyes that always glared when I simply gave my own sister a hug.
"H-Hey kari,you're gonna choke me!" "Sorry!" She let go then,and in the flash of a smile i was out of the cafeteria.
Since when did i develop a damn stuttering problem?
Maybe it was just the lack of sleep.
Either way,all I could think about was the end of school. Which surprisingly came quicker than i thought.
On most days,I would walk home with Yamato. The rate we walked,by the time we got home we were right on schedual to watch the sunset.However,on account of it being so damn windy (And the lack of Yamato) I walked home alone,and quickly from the cold. I was turning the alley to my apartments,just about to place my hand on the stair-rail when i was shot by those eyes again. Thin frame leaning up against the wall,blocking the stairs,he crossed his arms in annoyance,or from wearing no shirt in this damn wind. The wind blew amber strains of hair all over the place. It had been a little over a year,and had grown past shoulder length,but I could never forget who's hair that belonged to.
"Hey,Kamiya hows it going,babe?" He snickered. The fact that i was gay was enough for him to give me trouble and to call me babe. But the fact that he was dating my sister,and she still showed more affection towards me,set him off even more. So what if shed grown to not like him as much?
"H-hey,Daisuke..Kari's probably up s-stairs already if you wanna-"
"I came here to talk to you."
Shit.
Daisuke?The #1 pusher in Odaiba high came to talk to me?
I needed surfaces,I needed them bad.
I ran my fingers over the rips in the side of my jeans again.
"Y-Yeah?" I anticipated his laugh and slap on the back,then swift exit up the stairs.
"Yeah." It wasn't happening.
"I was just worried about you,ya know?You look a little down lately...Just thinkin' you might be wantin' something a little up,ya know what I'm sayin'?" He sniffled after saying this,quickly running his hand across his nose. But I knew he wasn't catching a cold,it was just a habit he had formed the past few months.
In addition to another habit.
"..Well?" His voice had lost the cool-guy tone,as i could tell he was becoming a bit impatient.
Yeah,i was no DK but i wasn't stupid either.I was well aware of what chemicals were being carelessly thrown around at school and parties,but that didn't mean i was going to try anything. Anything that i hadn't done before.
I plastered a smile onto my lips. "I-I think I'll stick to my Vodka.I-if i need something."I said,shakily. That was enough to make him go away,right?
"Oh,cool..."He sounded un-interested. Until i heard a pop of idea in his mind.
"Well,I bet pushin' would get you up too,ya know?"He paused to sniff and wipe again. faint dots of white powder still apparent to the human eye on the tip of his nose.
"You could get money..and get some more of that,Vodka shit. If you' re not down for nothin else,yeah?Sounds good,yeah?"
It didn't sound good. But i know this wasn't really a question towards me.
Daisuke Motomiya doesn't take no for an answer. Ever.
Fuck.