Authors Note: Thank you so much for the reviews and remaining patient with the fic. I have recently been studying in Italy for a month so have been a little distracted by beautiful things (Michelangelo-I'm looking at you kid). All reviews are appreciated.
The doorway seemed to loom above them. If Yoyo had thought visiting Gum had been nerve-wracking then this was fucking terrifying. He could see Gum from the corner of his eye shuffling restlessly behind him, moving from one unstable foot to the other. It makes him feel a little better to know he's not the only one who is scared but seeing the older girl so uncomfortable makes him question his decision to bring her along. As if prompted by his thoughts, Gum swiftly turns to him and sighs deeply.
"I don't think I can do this. Coming here was a bad idea..."
"Gum". He whispers softly, placing a hand on her shaking shoulder. "You promised". He is worried for a moment that she will leave, but his words seem to calm her.
"Okay". She replies, turning back to the door, defeated. "But you take the poems".
Yoyo nods as he rings the doorbell, his own hand shaking slightly as he takes a step back, unsure of what to expect when the door opens. It takes a few minutes, and the tension on the doorstep seems to grow with every passing second. He sees Gum staring desperately at the ground and feels that pang of regret once again when the door opens onto a tall figure. It occurs to Yoyo immediately that Corn, like Gum, has suffered a hard few years; he looks older, more mature, his hair slightly longer and spouting a few-day beard. He doesn't say anything for a few seconds but when he does it makes Yoyo jump.
"Yoyo..." He says quietly. "What a pleasant surprise". The younger man could not believe it. He had gone unrecognised for so long, and now Corn, of all people, had pinpointed him almost immediately. "What are you doing here?" He continues, all the while looking straight past the smaller youth, focussing his gaze on the woman stood behind him. Yoyo couldn't be sure if Gum had noticed; her eyes remained fixed on her battered shoes.
It takes him a few seconds to answer, his nerves replaced by a deep uncomfortable feeling in his gut. "I'm sorry for troubling you like this". He begins, Corn finally looks him in the eye. "I know you are probably really busy. I just had a few things I wanted to ask you..." He trails off as Corn smiles slightly.
"Of course". He replies. "Come in, please". He widens the doorway to let in the two figures. "We are in the basement". Two sets of stairs in the dimly-lit corridor lead both up and down, and they follow the older man down into a large sitting room, illuminated by two glowing lamps. Yoyo is impressed, the space, although unquestionably budget, is well furnished; two leather sofas and an armchair are spaced around a glass coffee table and a large bookcase fills the entire back wall, Yoyo looks curiously for the Zola as he sits on one of the sofas. The room leads to a kitchen on the second wall and on the third is a door.
"Sit down, please". Corn waves briefly at Gum who hovers awkwardly in the doorway, she reluctantly chooses the armchair, seeming distracted. "Do you want a drink?" He asks Yoyo. "Are you even legal?"
Yoyo grins. "Hardly". Corn smiles back. "I wont tell. Do you drink spirits? I have bourbon". Yoyo nods briefly, his mind wandering back to what Beat had told him about Corn's addiction. He notices a glass cabinet of spirits and liqueurs in the corner of the room as the older man walks past him.
"You drink Jack Daniels don't you?" He mutters to Gum as he passes her. She doesn't reply but he pours two drinks all the same in little glass tumblers, their sound tinkling together as he hands them back to his guests. His hand accidentally touches Gum's for a second and Yoyo notices her tremble a little.
"I hope you don't mind me not joining you". Corn smiles, filling his own glass with bottled water. "I've been teetotal for two years and don't fancy picking up the habit again". Yoyo finds himself impressed by Corn's will-power of being able to keep alcohol in the house as the older man sits opposite him on the spare sofa. He takes a sip of his alcohol and relishes the warmth of the liquid as it moves down his throat, heating his stomach comfortingly. "Did you want that signed." He jokes, pointing at the book In Yoyo's hand. The GG smiles, embarrassed, and places it on the glass table.
"Did it sell well?" He asks, feeling a blush in his cheeks.
Corn grins. "Yeah. It's out of print now but at the time... I think every ex-Rudie in town bought a copy. Wanted to see what the old leader of the GGs had to say for himself...although now, of course, the title is yours".
Yoyo freezes, caught off guard. "You...you've been told?" He asks nervously, amazed.
Corn smiles. "I've seen your tags on the walls. They are pretty good. Amazing, in fact. I could never paint worth shit, but you seem to be a little Leonardo". Yoyo finds once again, the reference going over his head. He remembers how he had felt when he found out Corn read French and feels the familiar pang of jealousy despite the compliment. Perhaps he would visit the Dogenzaka library sometime and read up on art.
"Thank you". He replies belatedly, his thoughts off-track. "I've had a lot of time to practice, I guess. I'm still no good at teaching the others...that was always Gum's thing". He pauses as he watches Corn's eyes briefly flicker to the girl in the corner who had, so far, remained completely silent. "I bet your daughter can paint real good". He continues, but immediately regrets his words when he sees Corn flinch violently, as though the air had been sucked from his lungs. He recovered intermediately, as though he wanted to pretend that slight but noticeable move hadn't happened. Luckily, Gum was still staring into space and if she had noticed at all she did not show it.
"Well, I'm glad you carried on the name". Corn swiftly continued, changing the subject, but the tension remained. Yoyo felt as though there was electricity buzzing through the air in the space between the other two figures and he had the sudden urge to leave the room. Whatever was remaining unsaid was not good, and he felt mentally exhausted by the atmosphere in the dark room.
"Can I use your rest-room?" Yoyo asked, feeling guilty for not replying properly.
A moment passed. "Sure". Corn shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "It's through that door, down the hall and to the left". He pointed towards the single door behind Yoyo, and the younger man rose to his feet, walking past Gum and leaving the room quietly. He did need a piss, he hadn't gone since he left the Garage and it had been a long fucking day either way.
The rest-room was small, about the size of a public cubicle, with a small hand basin in one corner. He figured Corn must have another bathroom with a shower somewhere else in the basement apartment. He pissed for what felt like an age, noticing a quiet buzz of sound coming from down the hall. He could not make out the words but he felt incredibly nervous at the thought of Gum and Corn finally talking after the long and agonising stretch of silence. He flushed the toilet and turned to the basin. The taps were a little rusty and took some force to turn on full. As the strangely refreshing sound of water hitting porcelain filled his ears, the conversation in the room down the hall increased in volume and Yoyo began to recognise words: Hate, love, why? They sounded desperate and as he turned off the water he realised that Gum was sobbing violently and shouting words at Corn. He caught the gist of the conversation and realised that he couldn't stay any longer, he didn't even want to have to walk past them as they swore and screamed at each other. He didn't think he could take it.
Leaving the bathroom quietly, trying not to draw attention to himself, he looked down the corridor for another way out of the flat. Surely there had to be two sets of stairs...what if there was a fire? He turned in the opposite direction, opening the first door he found and stepping into what was clearly Corn's bedroom. Stacks of papers littered his unmade bed, an old battered Underwood typewriter stood on a desk in the far corner of the room. Was he writing again? He didn't have time to find out as he heard the voices increase dramatically in volume once again. He had to leave, now. He felt a little disappointed at not having asked Corn what he came here to do, but right now he knew that even if he did manage to make it back into the sitting room, Corn would not be in the right state of mind to answer any serious questions. Whatever was going on with Gum was much bigger than the worries of a stupid pathetic GG.
Yoyo closed the door behind him and tried the next one. A bathroom. A bigger one, with an actual bath. He hadn't seen one in years. The final door, surely this was the one? Bingo! A set of stairs. A loud crash knocked him out of his daze of thoughts; something had smashed in the living room and he began to panic as he ran quickly up the staircase and fumbled with the lock on the back door. It opened onto a small fenced garden and Yoyo climbed over the fence and landed heavily in a back-alley. He looked both ways and, finding it was deserted, sunk to his knees and began to cry.