NOTES: Future timeline. Akaya x Yanagi through a John Doe's third person POV. Continuation of the previous piece?

Warning: Rantings.

Eclipsed

He didn't know because he never considered the possibility of it.

…

He didn't know if he was being overly sensitive or not.

Ever since the approval of same-gender marriage in Japan, he began noticing more same-gender couples in his neighborhood.

Women with women. Men with men. Walking with shoulders brushing together intimately. Holding hands. Whispering tender secrets into each other's ears.

He rarely saw women with men now. Or maybe, it was just a matter of selective attention: he focused more on the same-gender couples as an attempt to adjust himself to their existence, to the change that is taking place now.

He was just ambivalent about such a change.

Part of him was willing to accept the new law. Of course, since it did not pertain to him. He simply thought, if he was allowed to marry and start a family, then why couldn't others as well?

Then, there was also that part of him that was traditional and conservative. That part of him didn't understand homosexuality. Wasn't it better if men and women just got married and procreated? If he loved his wife and had children with her, why couldn't other men just be like him? If his wife loved him and bore children for him, why couldn't other women be just like her?

He sighed. Maybe he was asking for too much. Maybe it wasn't fair to ask everyone to be just like him, or be just like his wife.

Or maybe, he was just feeling lonely. For, he was one of the few remaining men in his neighborhood with a normal family.

It was then, as he mourned his isolation, that he remembered his neighbor, that college professor who lived alone. The thought of the other became the single thread he held onto to stay connected to the world he came to know.

He recalled the numerous visits an attractive woman paid to their small neighborhood. He considered the air of intimacy between her and his college professor neighbor: the comfort they shared in their natural contacts, the subtle affections embedded in their conversations. They reminded him of his own youth, when he first began a romantic relationship with the girl who is presently his wife.

He also noted their similar appeal: tall and slender with well-toned skin and fine facial features. People always said that one always ended up looking like the one he loved most.

It was through their closeness that he realized the meaning of such a saying.

…

That evening, while on his way home after work, he encountered a familiar face in his path.

It was his college professor neighbor. When he greeted the other, he noticed the youth beside him with a head full of messy dark hair carrying an oversized tennis bag over one shoulder. The two of them were the same height.

He sighed inwardly. Nowadays, children were growing up to be so tall and strong that made an aging man like him feel weak and old.

Outwardly, he smiled at them politely and asked. "And might this be one of your students, Yanagi-kun?"

The other returned his answer respectfully. "He is my kouhai from high school."

He nodded, comprehending. The youth flashed him a bright and open grin when he looked at him again.

There was a sense of familiarity rising within him, but he could not recall where he had seen this youth previously.

After a short period of small talk, they bid each other farewell and returned to their houses.

The entire time as he went through the range of motion of pulling out his keys, of unlocking the door, of entering and greeting his waiting wife, he thought of the cheerful youth with the familiar face.

There was no doubt he knew the other: his daredevil eyes, his cocky smile, the rippling of muscles in his arms and sweat running down his face.

He saw it then, the image that solved his mystery.

The youth's image was printed on the poster hanging on the wall in his daughter's room.

The other's name was printed across the bottom in bold black letters.

"Kirihara Akaya." The youth was a pro-tennis player.

And, as if meeting the athlete in person and having his image hung up on the wall was not enough, he saw the other on the television as he flipped through the channels that night.

The athlete was being interviewed by a reporter.

"Rumor has it that you were married recently."

The subject the reporter brought up interested him enough for him to stay tuned. He dropped the remote and picked up his tea cup, sipping carefully.

On the screen, the youth scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed.

"I guess it's not a secret anymore." With a strong tug, he pulled someone from behind him into the camera's focus. "This is my newlywed…partner…"

The youth chose his term carefully after a slight hesitation.

It was another familiar face.

It was the face of his calm, polite, soft-spoken college professor neighbor.

Surprised, he dropped his cup of hot tea.

"Ack!"

Explanation:

If there is a theme to this piece, then it is superficiality vs the deeper truth.

Ironically, the woman who he saw Yanagi with is actually Yanagi's sister. Also, Akaya is referred to as "the youth" because he just appears to be a lot younger than Yanagi (while in reality, their age is merely a year apart).

This was inspired by an article I read revealing all the famous Asian BL writers' occupations in reality. Some were teachers and doctors. Man, was I surprised. That just proves that you can't really judge something from its appearance.

And no, same-gender marriages have not been approved in Japan. Yet.