Many apologies! It has been a whirlwind these past few months, but I've gotten such nice reviews in the past few days that I felt I must update something. Stay healthy, everyone.

Paradigm Shift
Chapter 7: Close Call

Tai leaned back in his chair, letting out a groan as he rubbed his stomach with one hand. "I feel sick."

From across the small table, Sora laughed at him, taking a last sip of her bellini. "Then why did you eat so much?"

He closed his eyes, groaning again.

"Because it was there," he answered simply, eyes still shut. "I don't have self-control. Don't you know that about me yet?"

She shook her head, amused by his dramatics. "But wasn't it good?"

He nodded as he struggled to sit up once more, feeling lightheaded from the day drinking. "Yeah, it was. It was worth it. I think."

He had only been to brunch one other time in his life, and it wasn't the fondest of memories. It was right after his sister had gotten engaged, and the two families went out to gush about their future. It had been his parents, Matt's parents, Matt and Megumi, Kari and TK, and him. He had been the odd one out, and his mother had not failed to seize every opportunity to remind him of that fact.

He blinked hard in an attempt to revive his heavy eyelids. "I could pass out on top of this table right now. I'm in need of a serious nap."

"We can take a nap."

His ears perked, looking at her with hopeful eyes. "What? Like on the same bed?" he asked with feigned shock. He almost expected her to get offended by his teasing tone, but she merely gave him a playful glare.

"You can take a nap," she revised.

He sighed, taking the last bit of his drink before standing up, extending a hand to help her too. "Well, it's something. I get to be in your bed at least, even if you aren't there next to me."

As she put on her jacket, she suggested, "Actually, why don't we go to your flat? It's closer to here than mine, isn't it?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, but I have a flatmate. Let's just go to yours."

She noticed his change in attitude but played dumb, linking her arm around his as she led him out of the restaurant. "I don't understand why that matters," she countered.

"It doesn't matter."

"Then why can't we go to your place?"

"Because it's awkward."

"Why is it awkward?"

"Because I have a flatmate."

"You just said that doesn't matter, Tai."

He sighed, knowing he wasn't making any sense. "It's not that I have a flatmate. It's that he's Matt, and he's… sensitive."

"I don't follow."

He wished she would just drop it. "He'll just take it the wrong way if he finds out you and I have a thing."

"A 'thing'?" she repeated with a slight frown.

He laughed to dismiss his wording, rubbing the back of her hand. "You know what I mean. Anyway, believe me, I know the guy, and it's better to avoid him for now."

"I don't understand why Matt would care."

"Because he's Matt, and he finds reasons to get upset at every little thing," he said dismissively. "Can we drop it? Let's just go to your place."

It took him several steps to realise she had stopped walking alongside him.

"What?" he asked, walking back to where she was. There was a trace of a disturbing emotion on her face that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"I feel like you're trying to hide something from me."

He grew puzzled. "What?"

"You never let me come over. It's peculiar."

"It's not peculiar. You're just paranoid."

She frowned. "Tai, I'm serious. I've never even stepped foot in there. Why won't you let me come over?"

"It's nothing. It's just more convenient to go to your place because you live alone, and I already told you that Matt's sensitive."

"I understand that, but why can't I go to my boyfriend's place at least once?"

He hadn't known her very long, but already she knew how to sway him. She was quite adamant when she wanted to be. He used to be like that, but with age he had become less so.

"Fine," he gave in with a sigh to let her know he wasn't pleased.

She giggled at his grumpiness, kissing him once on the cheek, instantly uplifting his mood.

He sighed again, putting an arm over her shoulders. "Prepare to be underwhelmed."

They walked another block before he let his arm fall off her shoulder and into his pocket, reaching for his mobile and casually turning it on.

'I'm bringing someone over. Leave.'

He sent that to Matt, who was actually rather good at disappearing on command.

'Not home,' came Matt's response.

For a moment, he wondered what on earth Matt could be doing. Matt never went out anymore, but he let the thought drift away, pocketing his phone with the relief that a meeting between his flatmate and girlfriend would be avoided a bit longer.

He almost didn't recognise his brother when he walked into the restaurant.

For as long as he could remember, TK had kept his hair on the longer side of short. It was kind of like his, though without ever making an attempt to style it, it was always more of a floppy mess.

"You cut your hair," Matt greeted as his brother met him at their table.

"Do I look weird?" TK asked self-consciously, touching his newly cropped hair as he sat down.

"No, you look twelve."

TK had definitely come a long way from the small child he had once been, but in the eyes of their father, their mother, and him, TK was still the baby of the family.

"Kari said the same thing." TK frowned a little in disappointment. "I was trying to look older."

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "I'm going to be a father. I didn't want to look like a teenager anymore, but apparently I now look like a child."

"It'll grow back," Matt told him unhelpfully. He handed his brother a menu. "Order what you want. It's on me."

"Aren't I a little too old to still be getting free meals from you?" TK asked with a smile.

"You're still younger than me. Besides, you'll have better things to spend your money on soon."

"I guess that's true," he agreed with a shrug. "I'm not complaining. Thanks Matt!"

They looked over the menu, TK giving recommendations in a place Matt already knew very well. His brother and his wife still lived in their hometown of Odaiba, a district of Tokyo that Matt now saw as too out of the way from his everyday life. He rarely came here anymore other than to see his brother or father, but he too had grown up here. He could still remember everything about it, even though it was no longer his home.

"So how have you been?" TK asked, once they had ordered.

"Fine," Matt said nonchalantly, not really wanting to focus any attention on himself. "I'm sure my life hasn't been nearly as eventful as yours."

A direct contrast, he could tell TK was trying his hardest not to look so pleased.

Jealousy was unfortunately a quality he harboured, but he rarely felt it against his own kin. He didn't want to start now either.

"How's Kari?" he asked. TK loved talking about his wife.

"She's doing well," he initially replied with a nod before frowning slightly. "She gets a bit of morning sickness sometimes, but I get the impression that it's worse than she leads on. You know how she is."

Matt nodded knowingly, and TK continued, counting all of the differences he noticed between Kari's first and second trimester. He explained how excited she was to decorate the baby room, but they were waiting to know the sex of the baby before starting. TK's job allowed him to work from home if he wanted. He was looking into doing that for an extended period of time during Kari's maternity leave so she wouldn't have to be alone, though he thought Kari actually wanted to leave work for a little bit to focus on being a mother. He didn't mind either way.

TK was obviously very excited, so Matt let him talk throughout the majority of their lunch. Each time TK asked him about his own life, Matt would succinctly answer and deflect the topic back to him.

The more TK continued to talk about his life, however, the more Matt felt that awful green envy creep up again. Perhaps it was nostalgia, as he once had that too.

He too used to think he and Megumi were so special, that they only needed each other.

As he felt his attention drift from TK's stories to his own thoughts, he forced himself to snap back and not be so selfish, as this wasn't about him.

Nevertheless, he couldn't help but have some bitter thoughts remain in his mind. He wanted nothing less for his brother, but it was so unfair. TK's Megumi was still with him, bearing him a child. Where was his?

Avoiding talking only worked for so long, as TK eventually forced him to talk about his life too. Matt pretended to be excited about the new project he had taken on at work. TK, who knew almost nothing about astrophysics, listened intently as Matt explained it, looking both excited and impressed by his feat.

It made him feel worse, as he hadn't shown the same amount of emotion when TK was explaining a much bigger accomplishment and future.

After he was done talking about work, TK asked him about his friends, about Tai, about the last time Matt spoke to their mother. He was purposely avoiding Megumi, for which Matt found himself feeling both thankful and awkward as he knew TK wanted to ask.

He never got to, however, as a ring from TK's mobile abruptly ended their meeting. Kari needed him for some reason—nothing serious, TK assured—and they both decided it was a good point to leave.

Matt had just paid when TK suddenly took out some notes and asked the waiter for a hot tea to go, explaining to Matt that he wanted to buy it for Kari. She was apparently fond of a mint chamomile tea that they only sold here.

TK leaned back in his seat, subconsciously bringing his hands to chest-level and, as he often did, began twisting the wedding band on his finger.

This was a curious habit Matt had noticed about his brother ever since he had gotten married. At first, he had thought TK simply wasn't used to wearing something on his finger, but enough time had passed that he should have been used to it by now. He wasn't exactly sure why TK did it or whether his brother even knew that he did, as Matt himself had never pointed it out to him.

TK and Kari had dated for ages before they decided to get married. They had a clean record, inseparable from the beginning with no detectible blemishes in their relationship. Virtually nobody had been surprised when they first announced their engagement—except Matt.

TK was definitely not as expressive as he was about their parents' divorce, but Matt knew that deep down, it was something that had greatly affected TK too. In a moment of insensitivity, Matt had asked his brother why he was even getting married at his engagement party. His answer? Just because it didn't work out for his parents didn't mean it wouldn't work out for him.

It was a classic example of his brother's optimism contrasting against his own pessimism. Matt knew that TK loved his wife very much, but a part of him wondered if he was actually scared, if only subconsciously.

His father had once admitted it was marriage that had sparked a change in their parents' relationship and parenthood that had broken them apart. Matt wasn't sure if TK knew this, but he certainly wasn't going to be the one to tell him.

He used to think TK and Kari would never break up. He hated himself for the change of heart, but he could see it now. If he and Megumi, who dated for longer than TK and Kari had, could end, then so could they.

It killed him that he was thinking such things as TK smiled happily across from him, probably thinking about his wife waiting for him at home.

"I should have gotten an egg tart," TK said suddenly, sitting up to see if he could catch the waiter's attention again. "Kari loves egg tarts."

One tea and egg tart later, they were outside of the restaurant to say their farewells. TK asked Matt if he wanted to come over, which he declined. He then suggested Matt visit their parents, which he also declined. Matt dropped his brother off at home, then started his drive back to Shibuya, his mind once again being his distractor.

People feared age. Tai had a quarter-life crisis every now and again, and Megumi had dreaded her birthday each year since she turned twenty. He had always been apathetic towards it, but today, he saw his little brother as a husband and a soon-to-be father—very much the embodiment of an adult.

Tai in particular dreaded getting older because at a certain point, he felt his younger sibling was doing a better job than him at growing up. Matt disregarded it as stupidity because it was obvious to everyone that his parents were obsessed with him, but now he could understand it a little more. In every way, TK had always been the ideal son. He was obedient and thoughtful, followed the family's literary roots, married someone extraordinary, moved forward in life the way parents wanted their children to go. He liked to believe his parents didn't play favourites, but he knew that TK was his mother's. He was always okay with that, for he had a favourite too.

Still, it was a reminder that somewhere along the way, TK had overtaken him, and it was now his turn to catch up.

One arm around Sora's shoulders, he led her to his flat they exited the lift to his floor.

"Why do you live in such a fancy building?" she asked him.

"Because I can. The inside is a bit of a mess, but it's all Matt."

"I'm sure it is," Sora said with a roll of her eyes.

He chuckled. "Fine, fine. I'm messier, but Matt's dirtier. So, something out of place? Probably me. Dirty dish lying around? Definitely Matt."

Sora frowned. "I'm sad for both of your mums."

"My mum is sad enough for herself over me, trust me," he assured. "And as for Matt's mum, she has his little brother instead. Kid's a neat freak."

In actuality, Matt never really disclosed anything about his family, aside from the basics. His father worked in television journalism. His mother worked in newspaper journalism. They divorced when Matt was young, and he and his brother had been raised separately. Tai found that strange, but he had never asked about it. Matt never spoke about his relatives aside from his brother, so everything he knew about them came from Kari. From what Tai could tell, TK was close with both of his parents, but Kari said Matt was always a little more distant with them.

He could definitely see that. Matt was distant with everyone.

Just as they walked past, his neighbour Urara's door opened, and she popped out, bright eyes twinkling with curiosity. Tai subconsciously withdrew his arm from Sora's shoulder in an instant, slightly taken aback, though not for any particular reason.

"Hello," he greeted, knowing that he looked surprised, making Sora look at him questioningly.

"Hi Tai!" Urara greeted cheerily. She smiled at Sora too. "Hello."

"This is Sora," Tai introduced. "Sora, this is Urara. She's my neighbour."

"Tai's never mentioned a girlfriend," Urara said, reaching out to shake Sora's hand.

"That's because she's my co-worker," Tai said quickly, making Sora knit her eyebrows in confusion.

Urara brightened suddenly. "Wow! Seriously?! It's so nice to meet another Mitsubishi employee! Do you work in his same department as him? It's my dream to—"

Tai quickly intervened, knowing Sora would not be unwilling to correct him. "Anyway, we have to go. We've business things to tend to. I'll talk to you later!"

Quickly unlocking his flat, he opened it and ushered Sora inside before walking in himself and closing it. It was only when they were inside that he noticed how irritated Sora actually looked.

"What was that about?" she hissed, her eyes dangerously narrow. "Who is she?"

"She's my neighbour," Tai explained with a wave of a hand. "That was nothing. She just talks to Matt sometimes, and I don't want Matt to find out about us through Urara's big mouth."

"You do realise that you sound like you're lying, right?"

He didn't think he had done anything wrong, but Sora's expression said otherwise.

"I swear," he tried. "Sor, she just graduated uni."

"So?"

"So I'm not interested in her."

He flinched as her expression hardened. "I wasn't even thinking about it like that, Tai."

He smiled nervously. "Come on, let me show you around. Didn't you want to see my place?"

"Yes, but first I want to know why you lied to her about me."

"Because she's a loudmouth, and she comes out whenever Matt and I come home. I swear. She's nobody."

He tried to smile again, though he fixed his expression when she glared.

"You two haven't got any history?" she asked suspiciously.

Did a snog session when pissed drunk at his 27th birthday party count as "history"?

He didn't think so.

"Of course not."

Her expression didn't change.

"I don't!" he insisted, growing offended. "She's younger than my sister! Don't you trust me?"

She didn't answer him, offending him further. Maybe she saw that in his expression, as she gave in only a few seconds later.

"Fine," she huffed, obviously still annoyed at him.

He carefully took her by the hand, sneaking a peek to make sure she didn't look ready to kill him. "Come on, stop being angry, and let me show you around."

"I'm not angry," she said sharply.

He shook her hand lightly. "Then stop looking so angry. Urara's just some kid who lives next door. I can barely stand her, Sor."

She ignored him, looking around his home instead. He waited for her to speak first, afraid that she'd snap at him if he tried talking to her.

"Your place is really nice," she commented finally.

"Right?" Tai agreed, grinning.

"It's cleaner than you led on too."

Indeed it was. Evidently, Matt had cleaned since that morning. This was very strange. Ever since Tai had hired a cleaner to come every week, neither of them ever went out of their way to tidy their general living space.

He gave her a tour, briefly mentioning what each room's purpose was, leaving his room for last.

"And this is where I'm going to take my afternoon nap," he explained as they walked inside, diving headfirst onto his bed, his comfortable sheets reminding him just how sleepy he actually was. He turned around and looked at his girlfriend, stretching out an arm. "Want to join?"

She ignored him, instead taking in everything about his room in a way she hadn't with the sitting room or the kitchen. He let her do as she wanted, watching as her eyes scanned his football posters—"How old are you?" she quipped—, his desk with a small pile of work he had brought home for the weekend, his DVD collection that Megumi had alphabetised one day, and old trophies from his school and uni days. When she had finished, she sat on the foot of his bed.

"I've got the bigger room, so I get the balcony," he bragged, pointing to the glass door.

"I see."

"Are you satisfied that I'm not some creep leading a double life?" he joked. "Do you want me to leave so you can look through my drawers and computer too?"

"That isn't what I thought," she protested, "but thank you for showing me around."

"What'll you do for me now that I did something for you?"

She ignored his question, standing up again. She walked to him, taking one hand in both of hers, trying to tug him out of bed. "Get up. It's too early to sleep."

"But I'm drunk and tired."

"No, you aren't. You won't be able to sleep tonight if you sleep now. Come on, let's go."

She sounded like his mother. Groaning, however, he complied, forcing himself out of bed. She offered to make tea, so he allowed her to do so as he spread out on his couch, shutting his eyes for a quick nap before she would inevitably wake him up.

She did just that a few minutes later, though he was surprised to find that she had chosen instead to straddle him, leaning down to wake him with a kiss.

"I should have shown you my place earlier," he joked with her lips still over his.

She ignored him, intensifying the kiss, for once not breaking it when he pulled her down even more. One hand on her thigh and feeling lucky, he slipped it under her shirt, and she didn't make any concerted effort to bring attention to it—or to stop him for that matter. He couldn't believe it, and he almost wanted to pull away to ask her if she was drunk, but his desire overtook his manners, and he pulled it over her head in a swift motion. He sat up, letting her tug on his as well, and just when it was getting more interesting, he heard a familiar click of the door being unlocked and the door opening.

Swearing under his breath, he scrambled for Sora's shirt to cover her up just as Matt walked inside, giving him a clear view of the sitting room and what the two were doing.

He felt panic set in as Matt glared at them, Sora scrambling behind him for cover. He had been caught red-handed, and Matt was going to want to know why Sora from the bar was in their flat, on top of him.

"Jesus Christ," Matt muttered irritably, slamming the door. "That's my couch, Tai."

Without another word, he went straight to his room, slamming that door too. Tai stared at the direction of Matt's room, dumbfounded.

"I'm so embarrassed," Sora said quietly.

"Why?" he asked distractedly, his mind too preoccupied with the fact that he would now have to explain everything to Matt. It was just like Matt to come in at the most inopportune time.

The bastard.

"Because he just walked in on us, obviously!" she hissed, pinching him for not catching on earlier.

After some assurance, they decided it would be best for Sora to leave. He walked her down to the lobby before heading back upstairs to deal with his flatmate's temper.

Matt got angry often, so it wasn't anything Tai had never had to deal with before, but he found himself panicking as he made his way to Matt's room, trying to figure out how to justify why the girl from the bar was in their flat. It had been nearly two months since Tai first met her, which, given his track record, was two months too long for her to still be around.

He knocked.

"What."

That was Matt's way of telling him that he would rather Tai not bother him, but it wouldn't be the end of the world either. Only silence would indicate that he should go away.

He opened the door a crack, finding Matt lying in his bed, still in the clothes he had been wearing when he came in.

"Hey."

Matt opened his eyes, a cold glare shooting out of them as he sat up.

"I can explain," Tai started.

"Yeah, so can I," Matt snapped back. "Look, I understand that you have no self-control, so you can't stop yourself from bringing random girls here, but this is my flat too. The least you could do is hook up in your room. That's what your room is for, not my couch. Those cushions better get dry-cleaned tomorrow."

Tai blinked, taken aback by Matt's response.

That was it? No questioning about the fact that the "random girl" was Sora, the once-random girl he had picked up in an attempt to heal Matt?

He was hit with the realisation that his flatmate had not recognised her.

He supposed it wasn't uncalled for. It wasn't like Matt had been paying the most attention to anything else that night aside from his mobile, and he supposed two months was longer than he had originally thought.

If that was the only thing Matt was being grouchy about, he could definitely handle that. This was a spiel they had every once and again, even though he never said anything when Matt's ex had practically lived here. Matt said it was different, though he failed to see how.

"I'm serious about the dry cleaning."

"Er, yeah," he agreed with relief. "Sorry about that. I'll drop them off before work tomorrow."

Matt didn't respond, simply lying back down again, closing his eyes to tell Tai to leave.

He didn't, wanting instead to pry. "Where were you?"

No response.

"You weren't doing anything stupid, were you?"

No response.

"You know I'm going to keep talking to you until you answer me."

Matt opened his eyes, shooting a glare but still not responding.

Tai pretended not to notice. "You cleaned."

"Somebody had to," Matt grunted, just loud enough so Tai could make it out.

Tai held in the urge to remind him that most of the mess had been his, as he was the only one who was ever home.

"Bad day?"

"No," Matt answered tartly, turning over so his back was now facing him. "I'm taking a nap. Good night."

"Fine," Tai said, giving up, also cranky and sleepy. "See you later."

"Clean those cushions tomorrow."

"Fine," Tai repeated irritably, closing the door and heading for his own room.

They were such good mates now that he sometimes forgot how different they truly were. Matt found a way to get upset at everything, whether it was directly related to it or not. If Matt was angry with his boss, and Tai happened to be watching telly a notch too loudly, suddenly nobody in the universe was as treacherous to live with as he.

He was, in short, a drama queen, and with time Tai had learned to grow used to it. It was the complete opposite of him, and perhaps for a good reason, as he was quick to let things go and not let annoyances bother him too much—including Matt's mood swings.

Sora didn't know Matt, so she wouldn't understand. Matt finding out that he had a girlfriend wouldn't upset him because Tai had a girlfriend. It'd upset him because it would remind him of his ex-girlfriend, and as far as Tai was concerned, any reason to not remind Matt of that horrible girl was reason good enough for anything.

27 October 2013