Operation: Takari PI
Since I believe that this is actually adequately long (and this has been two updates in a week, -proud-), I'll go update next week after this. I have my periodical tests next week and will be… sufficiently distracted to make other chapters incoherent… -sweatdrop- Wish me luck!
Phase 03: Takeru's Heart
"Takeru, wait up!"
The blonde looked up, a little quizzically, a towel hanging lopsidedly on his head. "Daisuke?"
"Hey, hey... Takeru, you can spare me a few minutes?"
"Sure," was his response. A small grin on his face. It looked fake. Not-real, and Daisuke wished they could take a video, too. But this had to be enough.
"Takeru... I've decided," he started, pausing dramatically, inwardly grinning at the fact that he had covered all the bases with this plan.
"What?"
"I've... decided to move on." At Takeru's confused look, he elaborated. "I'm getting over Hikari, she's yours, man."
It had been true for a while now; Daisuke just never said it out loud.
Takeru looked surprised. He hadn't noticed. That was something strange in itself, and Daisuke filed it away for future reference.
"But you're so... persistent," the blond boy managed to say. Daisuke was surprised that Takeru didn't choke on his own words from the understatement, but he needed data. Solid evidence.
Get him to say what you expect him to. Corner him.
Daisuke gave a short, sharp laugh. "Pigheaded is more fitting, Takeru."
Takeru smiled, but his eyes flickered evasively. Daisuke took note of that, too. "You admit it?"
Daisuke suddenly turned serious. Takeru was messing around, and he wasn't going to stand for it.
"Don't change the subject, Takaishi. What are you going to do about it? Hikari can be yours, now. Heck, I'll give you my blessing, even. What's to stop you? What. Are. You. Going. To. Do?"
Takeru smiled, a small, sad, smile, as he looked up at the sky, the towel gripped tightly in his clenched fists. "Nothing."
"What?" Daisuke asked in disbelief. "What do you mean nothing."
"Exactly what I said." Takeru exhaled. "Daisuke, I appreciate you telling me, but... But for one thing, Hikari's not an object you can just give. Hikari is... special."
"You sound like you love her," Daisuke observed, loving every minute of the conversation. "You sound like you really, really do love Hikari, you know."
"Hikari... doesn't deserve someone like me. She could do so much better. Me?" he barked a laugh. It sounded bitter, something Daisuke never knew Takeru could be. "Me, I hurt her. I hurt her… and I'm probably hurting her now, and I probably will again. It's probably better that she ends up happy with someone. Someone else. Someone who'll make her happy."
"And you?" this was good. There would be no mistaking the message should it be played… say… to the entire student body. But, you know, Daisuke was thinking of the possibilities.
"I'll support her, what else? I'll probably grow up into some old man with twenty-seven cats who will watch other people live their lives and watching my own days run out. Always watching out for her. What else can I do? I can't bear to hurt her, and I might do something I'll deeply regret."
They have an ideal relationship, Miyako had said at the briefing. Something that neither would dare risk for fear of losing.
Which was exactly why they were in this predicament. They love each other but couldn't take the risk. And they couldn't handle this for long. And their friends couldn't take it anymore, which was the entire reason they cam up with the operation in the first place.
"You're incapable of jealousy, aren't you, Takeru?" was what he asked instead. Takeru did seem to be the epitome of selfless giving.
Daisuke looked surprised when Takeru turned to him and he saw the raw emotion in the blond boy's eyes.
Anguish.
Pure, silent anguish lurked beneath the surface of happy smiles and casual relationships.
"What makes you say that?" was Takeru's response.
His eyes were full of something Daisuke couldn't identify. His eyes almost glowed a bright blue. He seemed full of quiet conviction. Like he was resolved to it despite his own wants.
"No, I wouldn't say that I'm incapable of jealousy. I'm human, Daisuke. I can be selfish, too."
"Why aren't you about Hikari, then?" Daisuke wanted to shake him. And maybe kick him. They were perfect for each other, but they don't want to risk anything.
"Hikari... is someone I can never afford to be selfish about, or with."
"You're... too nice, Takeru," Daisuke says instead.
"Heh," Takeru smiled, a real smile, and he seemed young, all of a sudden. "People tell me that. Sometimes, I'm not sure it's true."
Daisuke smiled back at him. "Yeah, well, I'm sure it is," he said, giving the bush behind them a big thumbs-up.
