066 – Hard
"Jesus, Takeru."
The blue eyes of the boy in question are darker than usual, glowering via the mirror at the other boy in the room. Takeru's pale fingers are fumbling with his black tie, wrapping and tangling till the tie is more crinkled and creased than Daisuke's.
"What now, Dais? Seriously. I am not in the mood for this sort of bullshit."
"Well done, Takeru, mature. Push it all back on me, for fucks sake."
Daisuke's polished shoes are resting by the door, and he stalls hesitantly on his way to make a grab for them. "Takeru…" And he really has grown up over the last few years, or at least he's tried to. "If you don't want to go, or…you don't want me to go-"
"It's my mother's funeral, Daisuke."
"I know."
The silence slaughters them both, and Daisuke does his laces so slowly, so as not to have to wait, not to have to stand there and watch Takeru fumble in this slow-motion agony.
"What do you want me to say?" Takeru murmurs, fingers still toying with the skinny part of his tie.
"I…" Daisuke's red eyes are blurry, tearing up a little, and he feels ridiculous standing here, 32-years-old, complete with untied shoelaces.
"Why is it always so hard for me to get through to you?"
Takeru looks him straight in the eye for what feels like the first time that night, "Because it's so hard for you to just listen."
Next up: 067 - cool