Chapter 4 – Closer II

It was a sunny, but quite cold Saturday afternoon. Kisa, in the end, agreed to get a coffee with Yukina – strictly just for the sake of helping him with his English. Which, in Kisa's opinion was almost perfect.

He was nervous – as nervous as he hadn't felt for a long time. The last time he felt like this was when he had a date with Yoshida.

Kisa knew he had to stop feeling like this. It's not a date with Yukina, and Yukina is nothing like Yoshida. But the problem was, that Yukina, in fact, was a lot like Yoshida. And Kisa couldn't help, but notice this fact every single time he had seen the brunet.

The café they agreed on meeting in was nice and quiet. When Kisa arrived, a waitress, a maiden-looking young girl greeted him with a warm smile.

"Table for one?"

"For two, actually," Kisa replied, smiling back at her.

The waitress nodded and led Kisa to a table in the farthest corner of the place. The table was right next to a huge window. Between the tables were huge plants standing, a long leaf was tickling Kisa's face as he sat down. But with the plants around the table, he felt like nobody could see him, and he couldn't see the rest of the place.

He crossed his legs as he reached for his phone, scrolling through some news, when he noticed Yukina entering the café from the corner of his eyes. Yukina seemed to catch his glance, because he turned his look towards Kisa, and smiled widely.

"Good afternoon, professor," he greeted Kisa when he finally reached the table.

"Good afternoon," Kisa nodded his head. He wanted to ask if the table was okay with Yukina, but then he decided not to. It didn't matter at all. Why would have it mattered? "So..."

Kisa was waiting for Yukina to say something, anything that could start a conversation about anything he wanted to learn that day. What could have it been? Grammar structures? Pronunciation?

"Oh, so…" Yukina seemed a little uneasy and confused for a second, then he reached for a small notebook in his bag. "So here's this text here that I don't quite understand."

He flipped the pages until he found what he was looking for in the notebook. It was a short paragraph of some sort of text or story, and Kisa assumed Yukina printed it just so he can show him and ask for help.

Kisa slowly reached for the notebook, and read the text. It was indeed some kind of fiction. It was about someone who ended all their relationships with their family and friends, because they were diagnosed with some deadly disease.

"What is this?" Kisa asked with a frown. "It's pretty dark."

"I got that much," Yukina sighed. "I mean, I could understand the first few chapters, but it's gotten quite difficult from here."

Kisa took another glance at the text before beginning to explain what it said.

"So, I guess the author is trying to tell the reader, how the main character is suffering from a deadly disease. And before the character's family and friends could get the chance to watch him slowly die, the main character breaks every relationship of theirs, and moves somewhere where no one can reach them."

Yukina stayed silent for a long minute before putting the notebook away.

"And now I ruined the mood, didn't I?" he chuckled shyly.

"No, you didn't." Kisa's voice was so toneless that it surprised even him. "It was just a fragment, and it's just a fiction. Real life is worse, trust me."

As soon as he said it, Kisa wanted to hit himself in the face. Yukina seemed puzzled for a second, and he was going to ask something, but before he could, a waitress reached their table.

"What can I get for you?" she asked with a wide smile.

As if both of them forgot that they were in a café, they quickly opened the menu to see what they could choose of.

"Can I have a caramel macchiato?" Yukina pointed at the name in the menu.

"Sure," the waitress said. "And you, sir?"

"Just an americano," Kisa shrugged.

The girl smiled at them before she walked to the counter. Kisa and Yukina both watched her for a while before turning to each other. Yukina smiled, and Kisa smiled back, but none of them said anything. Was it because of what Kisa said? Or did they just lose track of their conversation? Kisa couldn't tell.

"So," Kisa finally broke the silence, "any other questions?"

Yukina bit his lip.

"None, actually..."

"Well, I'm glad I could help," Kisa sighed. He didn't understand why Yukina, a skilled and talented student, would need help to understand a five sentence paragraph.

And for some reason, it bothered Kisa. But at this point, he just went with the flow. It couldn't have been possible that things would take a weird turn, right?

No, Kisa was sure it was just his delusion. Why would Yukina want anything from him? And why would Kisa be thinking about Yukina wanting anything? He was confused, so confused that it almost made him dizzy. He was staring at the dark brown table, he was obviously miles away. For a minute that felt like ages, everything around him was sucked up, and his thoughts took over him.

Yukina didn't want anything. He just needed someone who understood English on a higher level than him, and Kisa was professor with English major. Nothing more.

But for some reason, it felt like it was way more than that.

He was dragged back to reality by a touch that he couldn't identify for a second. He glanced to the side, and noticed that it was Yukina's gently touch on his shoulder. Now, it was clearly a mistake to come and meet Yukina, Kisa thought.

But why didn't it feel like a mistake? It was right and wrong at the same time, and Kisa just wanted to stand up and go straight home.

"Everything okay?" Yukina asked slowly, pulling his hand back.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I tend to space out a lot," Kisa replied. It wasn't technically a lie. He just avoided the fact that the reason of him zoning out and being confused was sitting right next to him.

Yukina nodded.

"I've noticed it."

"You might not be the only one," Kisa shrugged. He thought for a moment. He wanted to change the topic real bad, but he couldn't thing of one. Then something crossed his mind, and he spoke without thinking. "You play piano, don't you?"

Asking this question felt like a knife cutting through his chest. Of all the things they could have been talking about, Kisa brought up the one that hurt him. He wanted to punch himself in the face. But Yukina's face lit up, and Kisa's heart was about beat out of his chest.

"Yeah, I do. I love playing piano," he replies with child-like enthusiasm. "Wanna hear it? I can show you."

And to Kisa, it felt like Yukina had just broken down a wall between them. A wall that was meant to be between a teacher and a student. Because Yukina was talking to him as if they had been friends for ages. Or something else.

"Come on, I just happened to ask," Kisa said, but now Yukina was elbowing on the table, seemingly in a daydream. Kisa was sure he couldn't even hear him.

"I especially love challenging songs. Like, Chopin had written some," he chuckled, his eyes were closed as he stirred his coffee slowly.

"Oh yeah, right."

Kisa honestly didn't know what else to say. He didn't know much about pianists, he just adored Yoshida playing that thing. And ever since they had broken up, Kisa tried his hardest to avoid pianos, piano songs, and anything that was connected to it.

"Do you have a favourite?"

"Not really," Kisa stuttered. "What's yours?"

He was seriously questioning his own intentions. Why was he even here? Why was he asking Yukina about piano stuff? Why was he so flirty and friendly with the boy who he tried to avoid? He confused the hell out of his own self, but as it seemed, Yukina enjoyed the time they spent together.

And Yukina started to list his favourite pianists and songs. Although it sounded like total gibberish to Kisa, he recognised a few names.

Some names were familiar to him from school. And some were familiar because back then, Yoshida couldn't shut up about them, but still, Kisa had always enjoyed listening to him. He wanted to run away.

And now, it was painful to listen to Yukina's cheerful talk. Yet, Kisa didn't stop him. As Yukina talked, Kisa remembered.

"I live nearby, by the way," Yukina suddenly said, and Kisa glanced at him in confusion.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I mean, you could come over and listen to my piano play."

Kisa was a hundred percent sure Yukina had forgotten that he was talking to his university lecturer. And it bothered Kisa to the core, but at the same time, he went with the flow. He didn't say anything. He let Yukina treat him like a friend.


Kisa ended up having some fun with Yukina. As soon as they stopped talking about pianos, they crossed some interesting topics. Kisa knew that Yukina was highly intelligent, and now it was proven once again.

Hours had passed, and it got darker outside. There was a storm coming. They agreed on leaving the café before the storm hit, and now they were walking home, deep in a conversation. It didn't take long until the rain came down, soaking them in no time.

And they ran together, quite shocked from the sudden rain.

"My god, it's cold!" Kisa stated as soon as they stopped under the eaves of a building.

"Yeah, it is," Yukina agreed, laughing. "I don't even know, where you live, Kisa-san."

"Not too far. Just half an hour with bus."

Yukina frowned.

"You're going to get even more soaked by the time you get home."

"It's fine, it's not that bad-"

"Maybe you should really come over."

Kisa glanced at Yukina's face. He was staring into space, avoiding Kisa's glance. He had a soft, small smile on his face.

"No, Yukina, we're going too far."

The brunet sighed.

"Why? We're literally outside of school, and..."

"Yukina, I could still lose my job!"

They were standing under the eaves, while it was raining hard, and people around them were running away from the upcoming storm. Yet, Kisa and Yukina were staring into each other's eyes, not giving a damn about the world around them. Kisa was aware of what the thing he had just said might have sounded like. However, no matter how he looked at it, it was risky to hang out like this with a student of his.

Yukina seemed to accept it, and let out a long, heavy sigh. He leaned against the wall, shoving his hands into his jacket's pockets.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "That was very weird and embarrassing of me."

Kisa shrugged as he wasn't very sure what to say.

"It happens to the best of us."

His heart had gone crazy. He hardly managed to breath, and he had to hide his trembling hands. Just what the hell did Yukina want from him?

Loud thunder. Kisa flinched. Yukina didn't move, just stare into nothing.

"Yukina, look, it's…"

"Can I ask you a question?" the brunet suddenly spoke.

"Yeah, go ahead."

Yukina took a deep breath, and turned towards Kisa, looking straight into his eyes. Kisa could hardly stand his stare.

"You know, when I played the piano the other day in school. You barged into the music room. Just who were you thinking about when you heard the song?"

Kisa felt like he was punched in the face.

How? How did Yukina know that Kisa had someone in mind when he heard that familiar music?

He took a step back, but he still couldn't escape Yukina's glance. A glance that seemed to see and know everything – Kisa's every thought, every memory. And Kisa hated it. Those memories he kept in the back of his mind, safe from the world, safe from everyone else, seemed to get exposed by one of his students.

The one that was the reason Kisa remembered again.

"Yukina, I- I gotta go," Kisa stuttered. He didn't want to talk about it, especially not to Yukina.

"Kisa-san…"

"My bus is here…"

Before he could take a step, Yukina grabbed his arm.

"Can I possibly… see you again?"

Kisa let out a shaky breath. His face was flustered, his body trembling.

"Maybe."

Yukina gave a soft, innocent smile. Kisa glanced at him, then turned his glance, but still smiled back. As he pulled his arm away from Yukina's grasp, their fingers touched for a minute, and just that moment, the sun shone through the dark clouds.


A/N:

Heyhey! Woo, a new chapter, finally. It was quite fun writing this chapter. And I hope you guys liked it. :)

Thank you for reading, reviewing, and following/favouriting.

Until next time. ^^

Ricchan