The song for the title of this chapter has some connection to the chapter's contents. Plus, not a lotta humor in this chapter. Anyhow, onto the good stuff.
CH2: m-flo loves Yoshika – Let Go (I highly recommend this song…so much, in fact, that I'd be willing to send you it)
Kaoru stood outside the
Kendo practice room, seemingly lost in the flood of buff and
well-built students. But try as hard as he may, he could not
find Mori.
"Christ…he's at
least half a foot taller than everyone here and I can't find him!"
he muttered aloud. Seeing as he would have to wait a bit longer, he
went and sat on a bench across the Kendo room. Minutes passed by
without any signs of Mori: just a continual flood of students walking
into the room and walking out. But the students didn't stomp their
feet or slam the door. Rather, they made almost no noise at all, save
for the pitter patter of their quick steps. It reminded Kaoru of a
rainy day. A long and rainy day, where Kaoru would eventually fall
asleep listening to the rhythm of the rain.
"I guess…I guess I
can take a little nap…" muttered Kaoru as he began to doze off.
Normally, Kaoru would
have awakened of his own accord. Today, however, a sharp pungent
smell awoke him. He sat straight up, trying to locate the origin of
the foul odor. That was when he noticed that he was no longer on the
bench. He was in the men's locker room. The odor was most likely
sweat.
"What kind of a joke
is this?" grumbled Kaoru as he got up to get out.
"Oh. You're awake."
Kaoru spun around to see whose voice it was. There, in front of him,
stood a half-naked Mori. He had one towel wrapped around his waist
and one towel slung over his shoulders. But other than that, it was
all bare skin. Kaoru could feel blood rushing for his nose(1).
He quickly pinched his nose.
"Oh, Mori-sempai,
there you are. I've been looking all over for you" said Kaoru
through his squeezed nose. Mori looked at him questioningly.
"…Do I smell that
bad?"
"Ah…well, uh…heh"
stuttered Kaoru. No way in hell was he telling Mori about the
waterfall of blood ready to escape his nose that very moment. "Yeah
you kinda do" he lied. Mori chuckled and started to head for the
showers.
"…I'll be done
soon." Taking his cue, Kaoru ran for the sink and let the blood run
from his nose.
Kaoru walked alongside
Mori as they headed for the Third Music Room. There was no particular
theme planned for the day, so they could take their time. But once
again, the silence between them bothered Kaoru. He tried to quicken
his pace and hoped Mori would too. Sure enough, Mori began to take
larger strides to keep up with Kaoru. They stopped at the doors to
the Third Music Room, only to find a note on the door.
"Oye, you two are
LATE! The rest of us have already headed on over to the BBQ. Do us a
favor and bring the two coolers in the room will ya? Thanks! Hikaru."
Kaoru had completely forgotten about the BBQ for today.
"Ah damn, Tamaki's
gonna bitch at us later…" sighed Kaoru.
"…It's my fault"
said Mori in a regretful tone.
"No worries
Mori-sempai" chuckled Kaoru nervously. "Me and Hikaru will team
up on him if he starts up." Mori's stoic face did not change
however. 'He sure can get worked up over nothin' thought Kaoru to
himself.
The two made the long
journey from the Third Music Room all the way to the front courtyard.
Well…technically it was a short journey, but carrying the heavy
coolers slowed Kaoru down considerably. At first, he tried holding
the cooler by the handles on its side. But that started to tire his
arms out. So he switched to pulling the cooler around on its corner.
That made it difficult to walk up and down stairs. Finally, he
settled with pushing the cooler around. He didn't care if the
cooler fell down the stairs. He was damn tired.
"…You really
shouldn't do that, Kaoru" sighed Mori. He leaned over and picked
the cooler up in one hand and hoisted it onto his shoulder. The other
cooler he held against his hip.
"Damn, Mori-sempai,
ya got some big guns there" joked Kaoru. Mori actually began
looking around, as if searching for guns.
"…muscles, Mori. I
meant muscles." Kaoru chuckled a little as he thought of the famous
saying: "All brawns and no brains".
It really wasn't
their lucky day. It really wasn't. All doors leading outside were
sealed off because they were either being repaired or repainted.
"How the hell do we
get out then" grumbled Kaoru, annoyed. They had come to the 15th
exit, only to find it sealed off too (apparently, Hunny had knocked
down this door during one of his rampages). The two continued their
search for an exit when the silence started to settle in again.
"So Mori…" said
Kaoru as he tried to start up a conversation. "What'd you do
today?"
"…wake
up…eat…drink…go to school…"
"I meant something
interesting."
"…I had natto for
breakfast…"
"That's…that's
nice…" Talking to Mori was virtually impossible. Kaoru kept
silent for a moment as he tried to think of something else to talk
about.
"…Do you feel
uncomfortable around me?" asked Mori suddenly.
"What? What makes you
think that?" asked Kaoru, trying to sound as surprised as possible.
"You…you normally
do not talk so much to anyone…unless out of necessity…or because
of Hikaru." Kaoru stopped in his tracks.
"Well…well I don't
always depend on Hikaru" said Kaoru indignantly.
"…Well I didn't
say that" said Mori without even looking at him.
"And…why can't I
try and have a decent conversation? Is that so wrong?" he asked
angrily.
"I didn't say that
either…" Mori turned around now. He looked Kaoru straight in the
eye with his serious expression on. "I was merely trying…to get
to know you. If you can get to know me, then why can't I get to
know you?" Kaoru didn't answer. He didn't exactly know why he
had responded so defensively. He also didn't know why he had to
lie…especially to Mori of all people. He continued past Mori but
ignored him. But just as he started to descend the stairs…he
slipped on a banana peel. He lost consciousness as he rolled down the
stairs.
"I'm not desperate"
Kaoru muttered aloud. He was floating in darkness. But he seemed to
have regained consciousness.
"Are you really?"
asked a voice he didn't recognize.
"I'm…I'm not."
"Seems like you are…"
"I'm not!"
"Then…who do you
depend on?"
"Well, Hikaru of
course."
"…But you just said
that you don't depend on him."
"So I lied. Bite me."
"He's not always
there with you."
"Uh…yeah he is."
"…He's not always
there to listen to you."
"Yeah he is!"
"…He's not always
there to help you when you need it most."
"Yeah―"
"Look, just shut up
and listen to me goddammit. The point is, Hikaru's not always there
for you. But you, on the other hand, need someone to always be there
for you." Kaoru had no idea who the voice was…but the voice
stirred a feeling of guilt within him.(2)
"I…I know that.
But…I try―"
"You try what?"
"…I try my hardest.
To not depend on him."
"Doesn't seem to be
working. No matter what you say, at the end of the day you hafta run
back to him."
"Well, duh. We live
in the same house after all" replied Kaoru sarcastically.
"You think he's the
only one you can trust…the only one you can believe in. You on the
other hand have sealed yourself off from others. But Hikaru, he
doesn't depend on you. Look at him. He's got Haruhi."
"Stop it" commanded
Kaoru.
"He doesn't need
you. He's got Haruhi."
"Stop it!" yelled
Kaoru.
"In fact, he doesn't
even want you as a brother. Aren't you just another burden to him,
clinging to his shirt every moment of his life?"
"…stop it"
pleaded Kaoru. He felt weak. Like his energy was leaking out of him.
"He'll leave you
one day."
"…stop…" begged
Kaoru now. Even though he was floating in mid-air, he felt like he
was curled up into the fetal position. He felt completely sapped of
energy…not even enough energy to shed a tear.
"Kaoru?" This voice
was different.
"Wake up, Kaoru."
It was a gruff but gentle voice.
"…wake up. Please…"
Kaoru opened his eyes. He sat up and immediately noticed that he was
in the nurse's office. There by his bed was Mori. His face was
buried into the covers and he seemed to be brooding over something.
"Oye Mori-sempai,
what happened?" Mori jolted upright. His eyes seemed to be glazed
over.
"Kaoru…" uttered
Mori in a low voice. "…Are you alright?"
"Yeah…" Of
course, Kaoru wasn't all right, there were some bruises on
his body. That was when he realized that he was shirtless.
"…I'm sorry"
apologized Mori. He bowed his head as if there was something to be
ashamed of.
"Hey now, it's all
good. Nothin' serious right?"
"But…you fell…"
continued Mori.
"Because I wasn't
looking where I was going."
"…Because you felt
uncomfortable around me." Kaoru started to chuckle. Mori really did
take everything too seriously.
"And you carried me
all the way here right? And…I'm alive…and my bruises hurt…and
I'm shirtless…" Kaoru said slowly, clearly imitating Mori's
style of speech. Mori's face was still hardened.
"Oh come on. I'm
really alright" sighed Kaoru. He closed his eyes and tried to lay
back…only to realize too late what was happening…again. His body
willed him to lean forward, just as it did yesterday. He couldn't
stop it. Well, he didn't want to stop it. His face began to slowly
inch towards Mori. But again, he had no idea if Mori was preparing
for a kiss either. 'Why can't I open my damn eyes?' he mumbled
to his inner self.
Seconds passed by, but
to Kaoru, it felt like hours. He imagined how awkward he looked. He
imagined how awkward Mori must've felt if the feeling wasn't
mutual. He imagined how awkward it would've been to walk in and see
them both like so. He imagined…and his imagination was fulfilled.
Warms arms wrapped around his bare flesh and drew him into an even
warmer body. Kaoru braced himself for the kiss…only to find his
mouth nuzzled against Mori's shoulder. So, his imagination was only
half-fulfilled…better than nothing. Mori held his hug over Kaoru
for a moment or two and then released him from his embrace suddenly.
"Heh…what was that
for?" asked Kaoru nonchalantly. In truth, his heart was beating
rapidly and sweat was pouring down his back.
"…To say I'm
sorry."
"Well I already said
it's alright and all…"
"…Well I mean sorry
in more ways than one…" Mori stood up and started to head for the
door.
"What's that
supposed to mean?"
"…Some things are
better left unsaid."
TBC
A source of enlightenment for the enlightened reader:
1) don't know if this note is necessary but: bloody nose thinking naughty thoughts/getting horny or turned on
2) voice of his conscience if you haven't figured it out
R&R plz, cuz reviews to a fanfic writer are like cake to a fat kid.
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