Author's note: First of all, I am deeply sorry about being on hiatus. It is freaking 2016 now.. (Happy New Year to you guys!) One thing really is that, I have no excuse to why I didn't update aside from the fact that I spent the last years enjoying way too much in University (I study graphic design in London and I absolutely love it!), working and travelling, interning, finding money and now finally, it's my last year in University! I still love this story and time to time, I get favourites, comments and reviews from you lovely people on asking me to update it. AND YES. I have really tried to but I just keep getting distracted with work (really horrible excuse but true) And finally, I think…I'm going to just post this chapter because it's been sitting around and I really want to post something again. (itchy fingers)
So here's my update after 3 years! I am so pathetic, this is not even funny.
(Just so you know, I don't know where Onodera studied in England, all the information I have is the fact that he studied abroad in England.)
Takano and Onodera are on their way towards their destination much to Onodera's distress. Despite the lost time of hauling an unwilling Onodera out of bed, they manage to leave the hotel with little time to spare and hit the road with their rental car.
The drive so far was indeed fascinating. As Takano cruises, he can't help but notice how relaxing it was and how it's been a while since he last cruise alongside with the picturesque landscapes passing by. It was a grand panoramic pleasure and he enjoys every bit of it. What more, he gets to spend it with Onodera. Onodera on the other hand, though he was displeased at first but after cruising out of the city, he was entranced by the magnificent views. He drinks in the colours of the blue skies and the gorgeous horizons of green landscapes that blends so well together. It felt as if the skies, clouds and hills are singing to him.
"Wow, to be honest, I live in the UK during the time I studied here but this is quite a sight."
"Aren't you glad I brought you out here?" Takano beams proudly only to earn a dismay groan from Onodera but deep down, he knew that Onodera was enjoying it.
Upon glancing at Onodera's happy expression, the image of Quintus May flashes through his mind. That alone, is enough to make Takano throw up.
The nerve of that man.
Who does he think he is?
But what's more is that it pains Takano to think that, Onodera never once mention to him about Quintus May. Heck, he knows nothing about Onodera's life abroad. Yes, they had a relationship, it was brief but within that brief period, it meant a lot to Takano. He knows how he forces himself on Onodera at every chance he gets but in translation, it was his way of showing affection towards him.
He loves him. But it's not being translated or conveyed to the person he loves, which is the most painful part of the whole love process. It hurts a lot to think that the person will never admit in falling in love with you let alone, rekindle their lost love in the process but Takano is willing to take that first stepping stone. It's like swimming in the vast ocean. The waves are hitting him hard and there's nothing but a single thin thread that's holding him together. That tiny hope that one day, Onodera will return his feelings.
"So where are we going?" Onodera asks, interrupting Takano's thoughts.
"We're going to Cornwall."
"Cornwall?! Isn't that like South of United Kingdom?! Why are we going all the way down there?" Onodera exclaims, surprise at the Takano's answer.
"Yeah, Serena recommended the place. She went camping last summer with her friends at Cornwall and she loves it. She told me to experience the camping life there." Takano replies.
"Wait..I'm sorry. We're camping?" Onodera questions in disbelief.
"Aww, sorry your Royal Majesty, you must not be used to the outdoors."
"T-T-T-That's not what I meant! I tell you, I'm pretty athletic myself!" Onodera stammers, trying to sound confident.
"Yeah right, the only exercise you ever do is when you fuck with me." Taken smirka, only to get glared by Onodera.
"THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? I did camp a while back when I was here.. but ah..that was quite a long time ago." Onodera hesitates, but shortly, he halts his words, not wanting to continue further.
Takano senses the hesitation but he wasn't sure whether he wanted to pursue any further. Then again, it has been so long since they last were able to go on a vacation. He had always wanted to travel overseas..and travelling with this first love, is definitely a given.
He doesn't want to ruin the mood, but every time he looks at Onodera, the image of Quintus flashes through his mind.
Darn it, that asshole again. He curse the man, hoping he could somehow telepathically hear him.
"Are you feeling better?"
"Hah?"
"Yesterday, you excused yourself from dinner and you never came out after that till the next morning when you gave me a rude wake up call. Are you feeling okay?"
Is Takano hearing right? Did Onodera just ask him how he was doing? Is he worried about him?
"Ah..yeah I'm alright. It's the jet lag you know. I've never travelled this far before so the timezones is fucking up my biological clock."
"Ah right. I forgot about that. Well..yeah." he muttera, not knowing how to continue the conversation.
"What's that? You're worried about me?"
"WHAT?-N-N-N-NOOO! I-I-I-I I mean, S-Serena asked me last night whether everything was okay. She's worried about you. She's hoping you're well." Onodera stammers on.
Oh yes he remembered. He feels sorry for Serena for the trouble. It was a bad time last night and putting her through that kind of awkwardness must be terrible. He made a mental note to give her a call when they reach their next pit stop.
"By the way, it seems that I need to redirect the question to you."
"Heh? W-what do you mean?" Onodera asks, confused.
"You didn't seem to well, last night during dinner. Everything okay with you?"
Upon hearing the words 'last night' sends a shiver down Onodera's spine. For a second, Onodera couldn't answer Takano back. Takano, being taken aback by this, glances at Onodera's way. What happened?
"…."
"Onodera." Takano knows he step on a land mine, but Onodera's response after this, came to him as a shock.
"I'm sorry, Takano san. But could you never, ask me that question again?"
The hell? Takano could slam the brakes now and pull over to question Onodera. But from the corners of his eyes, he could see Onodera, trembling, looking absolutely troubled.
Shit, I really did it this time. But I'm gonna press on and see.
"Hah, what the fuck? I'm your boss, you need to answer me." Takano replies bluntly.
"No…it's not that." Onodera meekly answers.
Still not satisfied with his answer, he keeps pushing further.
"Come on, Onodera, what the hell? Just tell me, I don't understand what's so hard to…"
"JUST STOP IT!"
There's a deafening abrupt raise that jilted the car a little. Takano is taken aback by his tone of voice. He wants to get mad but he could hint in his voice, that…there was a pang of guilt, riding in it. Immediately, Onodera responds
"…I'm sorry, Takano san. But I beg of you. Please, let's never talk about this ever again."
And there it is again. He n't sure if he felt it at first but Takano was definitely sure that Onodera felt guilty about something. About what happened between him and Quintus.
Takano feels bad for pressing him like this, as he only meant to give him a little push to answer.
"I understand…." he replies solemnly as they continued cruising down the road, which now seems like a never-ending perpetual loop.
—
After 3 hours of pin drop and awkward silence, they soon stopped at a small gas station to recover. Onodera proceeded to the bathroom while Takano took a quick cigarette break. He looks at his phone and realised that he had received three missed calls from Serena. Surprised at the fact that there is abit of signal. While waiting for Onodera, he decides to call Serena for more information about yesterday night since she was the poor middle victim between all the commotion, and of course to let her know on his current whereabouts.
The receiver rings a few times long before he could hear Serena's tired but excited voice on other line.
"Hi Takano san!" she chirps
"Hi Serena." he coos.
"How are you feeling today? I do apologise about yesterday! I hope everything is fine? Are you on your way towards Cornwall? Are you lost? I can send directions to-" she rambles on before Takano cut her off.
"Serena, I am fine no worries. We're at a pit stop now, taking a break. It's all good. I just want to let you know thank you for everything yesterday. I apologise for the abrupt exit. I wasn't feeling too good. I made things very difficult for you so I deeply am sorry."
It is true he feels horrible for leaving so early. He feels it was a childish thing to do to leave after all the effort Serena had put in to plan the trip and make them comfortable.
"Oh no! Takano san it's fine! I should be apologising. I should have considered that maybe you were feeling very jet lag and I feel so inconsiderate! Forgive me! Everything has been taken care of so no worries! I hope things are well on your end! Is the drive okay for you?" she replies.
"It's perfect, just like you said, it's a scenic route. I am enjoying it very much. Thank you for planning this." Aside from the awkward silence, he really did enjoy cruising through the English countryside for once. It is peaceful and lovely just like how she describes. He could see a hint of Stonehenge as well which was a magnificent site to see despite the micro scale of it as he was driving from a distance.
Upon hearing his statement, Serena sighs in relief.
"No worries, Takano! You should definitely visit other places as well! I am glad you're doing well!"
There was a small pause before she continues.
"How is Onodera san doing?" she slowly replies after an interval.
"He's alright, he just went to the bathroom for a while."
"Ah, okay. It's just yesterday, he was quite shaken up after you left."
Shaken up? What?
"I'm sorry?" he couldn't help but let that slip out.
"The whole dinner felt really awkward you know, not like it wasn't in the beginning. I'm not sure what happened but I hope that he's doing okay. I kept asking him whether he was doing alright but he kept insisting on wanting to leave the place as soon as possible. My boss was quite irritated by that." she softly spoke, carefully choosing her words.
This intrigued Takano, even more. So something did happen! He knows he was right, but for Serena to confirm his suspicions, had him on edge, wanting to know more.
"What happened?" he presses on.
"After you left, Onodera san wanted to excuse himself as well but my boss kept inviting him out for drinks. But he ended up just running away from the dinner table and went straight up to his room."
"My boss was pretty damn furious. He's been in a bad mood all day and venting his frustration, irritation on everyone. He's refusing to go for meetings and I'm really at a bind here." she seethes. He could feel her tapping on her table, flipping through the pages roughly. She groans and lets out an exasperated sigh.
"I hope he'll get over it soon. There's so much paperwork, I'm getting paper cuts just filling all these documents for him to sign which he is not willing to do so." she once again vents out.
Out of the corner of his mind, he decides to press on some questions regarding about this Mr. Madmen and Onodera. Takano has a strange presumption that Serena might know something about it.
"I would like to ask you something, Serena..if you don't mind."
"Ah sure, no problem. What is it?" she asks.
Here we go.
"Do you know anything about Quintus May and Onodera's relationship? Like, did he mention anything to you?"
He could feel Serena thinking hard about the question he poses but it doesn't take her very long to give her reply.
"Hmm, to be honest..when he first heard Onodera and you were coming down, he was really excited. Like way excited than anything. As his assistant, I don't really pry on his matters but he did slipped out than he and Onodera used to go to the same college in England."
…college buddies? Right, Onodera did went to England for studies. Takano is starting to feel in the dark with Onodera's life over the years. Of course, he wouldn't know about this since he never really pry on it before. But hearing it from Serena, who barely knew Onodera and to find out she knows about it, it hits him right in the heart.
"College? So they have been college buddies." he slowly replies, not sure what else to say.
"They were roommates as it was an all boys' college. Heard as well that they were pretty close."
Another hit right in the target. Roommates?! Don't tell me..oh fuck, don't overthink this Masamune. And what does she mean by close..ah shit there you go you, IDIOT.
"Close huh..?" he wants to slap himself or perhaps even kick himself for that pathetic one and half word answer.
Is that all you need to contribute, Masamune!? He thinks furiously to himself. This monologue battle of his is really starting to show through his frowns and glares. Several other strangers around the pit stop could feel his menacing aura radiating from him.
"…There's this creepy asian man glaring really hard at the ground. I feel like he's going to bite off his cigarette and breathe fire." a passer by comments.
Of course, Takano, gives no two fucks about what others are thinking or whispering around him. All he knows is that Onodera is withholding all this information from him and he's mad at himself for it.
"That's all I really heard from. But judging by yesterday, college reunion didn't go too well for both of them. But it bothers me a little though." she replies.
"What's that?"
"Mr. May normally is a very calm, collected and composed man. Even at tight binds, he will never slip up with his expression. He usually comes off as quite condescending at a first glance."
That is damn right. Takano thought.
"But yesterday, he was absolutely furious. Even a kid could tell he was about to throw a fit. He stormed off from the restaurant, and that never happened before in my entire time working with him."
This is going somewhere. He feels like Onodera pretty much overreacted over this matter.
"I don't know what to tell you, Serena..but I was trying to ask Onodera about whether he was alright and he snapped back at me. Not that it was a first time, but there was something about it that made me uneasy to press on."
"Like what?"
"Like he felt guilty about it."
"….that makes a lot of sense."
What?
"What do you mean?" Takano presses on.
"I have a feeling that the reason why Mr. May was so very adamant on seeing Onodera was because he wanted to confront Onodera about something that happened maybe in the past but Onodera ran away from it and from the looks of it, Mr. May really needed answers from him." she deduces.
"Answers?"
"I wasn't sure whether I heard this right, but when Onodera left, Mr. May muttered something." Serena recalls, still trying to remember the events of yesterday.
"What is it?"
"I think he said something along the lines of 'Still running away from me..' .."
…
It couldn't be…
He really doesn't know Onodera all that well at all. Or did he even know him?
Takano, doesn't know how to respond to this except for the fact that, he could definitely establish a hypothesis about this. He could faintly hear Serena in the background calling for him but his thoughts are block with this alarming hypothesis he just made in his head.
Was he running away from a failed relationship back in England?
—