NOTES: Continues from previous chapter. Yukimura x Yanagi. Analytical conversation. May be confusing.

Shadowing Moon

Renji sat on his futon. His friend, Seiichi, sat beside him, watching him.

Renji ate breakfast from the tray on his lap slowly in silence. It has been days since his last meal.

His friend broke through his silent denial.

"Why did you run away?"

Renji stopped eating. The spoon he picked up stopped before his mouth. He froze.

"We were here for you. We treasured you for everything you were. We gave you plenty of space without suffocating you. So, tell me, what was it that made you still want to run away?"

"...Do not tell me that you did not know, Seiichi." Renji sighed, putting the spoon back into the bowl. "Love can be a burden. Your consideration, your company were getting to be too much."

He was pushing the other back. Back from his deeper self, back from his vulnerability. They were too close. He felt almost uncomfortable with that closeness.

The image of his former doubles partner from elementary school crossed his mind. And he decided, yes, the three of them now, were definitely getting too close.

"As careful as you are with your feelings, you cannot help but burden someone with them."

"But I also know," Seiichi shot in, refusing to back down and accept the other's claim, "someone who says such a thing is insecure about his relationship."

He drew close to him, looking at him as if staring through the shield of concealing eyelids and directly into his eyes.

"You would only say that we're giving you too much because you're afraid our affections are illusions. You claim that we are too close because you are afraid that this closeness between us will one day hinder you and make it harder for you to leave us behind, should you become the one to depart."

The other's words reminded him just how much they were really alike sometimes. They both had physical appeal which contradicted their inner natures.

Completely contradictory to the other's fragile and innocuous appearance was the other's keen insight that saw to the psychology of the human mind. While, Renji appeared aloof and rational, he had a secret part of himself who was sensitive and vulnerable.

And perhaps, it was in that single similarity that they could see past each other's outer presentation so easily.

Perhaps, that was why they were so close.

"Your departure in the past from your former best friend was out of your control. You had no choice but to leave him, leave your partnership with him, because at that age, your parents were your primary decision makers. Your escape from reality was from your fear that such a separation would repeat itself."

As the other verbalized his observations, the other did not seek for him to confirm his analysis. The other was not hypothesizing. The other was telling him what he knew about him.

The rare disquiet shifting within him confirmed the other's words.

Perhaps this was the reason Yukimura Seiichi was Rikkai's team captain. This was the reason behind the other's tennis excellence. The other was able to observe and analyze not only his opponents' moves, but also the motives behind their actions.

"But do you realize how different the time is now? You are grown and mature. At such an age, your parents are no longer your decision makers. Therefore, who you part with and who you remain with are not up to them any longer. You are no longer the victim of situation. If the three of us want to remain together, then we have to make the most effort to remain together."

The other's hand reached out to touch his cheek.

"That's why, you can't back down now, Renji. When we agreed to attend the same university together, there is no going back, even when you're having doubts about such a decision last minute."

The other closed the distance between them until his lips brushed against his lightly.

"Your future is ours. And our future is yours."

Seiichi pressed firmly against his lips this time.

And he thought, with the other's reassurance, perhaps there really isn't anything to worry about.