The Sun Scratched in the Stars
A Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS fanfic
Summary: A boy on the run from a dangerous home situation falls asleep at a dojo in the countryside. Discovered and taken in by the owners, he grows to understand what love – and loss of that love – truly means, with the help of a rambunctious, fiery-spirited boy close to his age.
Chapter 22
The floor was more comfortable, after all.
Takeru sank into the soft carpet, the plush white ivory bristles tickling the heated skin on the back of his neck, his hand, and his arms. Yes, this feeling was much better! Baa-baa had told Takeru to stay put in bed, but Takeru was tired of the bed. Covers choked him, burned his body, pillow no more helpful than a box of needles. The floor was the next best thing.
His body still gave him a lot of trouble, but it shocked him when Baa-baa said Takeru and Ryoken had to stay even more days. As much as being with Jii-jii and Baa-baa brought the peace his real home lacked, staying in bed, staying inside all the time drove him nuts! He should go outside!
As if reading his mind, a door opened.
"Firecracker?"
Takeru attempted to sit up, but his arms gave out. Ow.
"Oh, there you are!" Suddenly, Jii-jii's face came into view, his blue-gray eyes staring, eyebrows scrunched. "Whaddaya doin' on the floor, rascal? Didn't Baa-baa tell you to stay in bed?"
"The bed not comfy, Jii-jii. Too hot!"
Jii-jii hummed, scratching his head rapidly, as though he were chasing something in it. "Well, that's not good. Maybe fresh air is what you need."
Yes!
"Gotta ask Baa-baa first though."
Takeru frowned. No! She'll say no! Before he could open his mouth, the door creaked open, Baa-baa appearing with a white bowl with a shiny finish and . . . more towels and face cloths. Towels, face cloths, towels, face cloths, towels, face cloths! Takeru wanted nothing to do with those once he left Jii-jii and Baa-baa's.
Baa-baa stopped short as Takeru and she locked eyes. Her attention then turned to Jii-jii.
"What exactly are you two doing? Takeru, why are you on the floor? You need to be in bed!"
Takeru huffed. He had to explain again?
"Bed. Very uncomfy. Dun wanna!" Takeru said, a whine escaping his throat as he rolled over. Takeru braced for Baa-baa's reply—Mommy or especially Daddy would ignore him and tell him to obey them. Baa-baa had to be the same, right? But the reply Takeru expected stayed in his head. The quiet continued, and Takeru's skin prickled. What was happening? Takeru rolled back over to find Baa-baa not with cloths and towels in her hands, but a brightly colored woven basket. Takeru blinked as Jii-jii stood next to him.
"Takeru," Baa-baa said. Her voice was level, unchanged. "Takeru, can you get up?" Even softer.
As though cast with a magic spell, Takeru immediately sat up, though he instantly grabbed for his head, the walls of the low-lit room spinning. A hand on his back made the walls stand still. He took long breaths.
"Good, good," Baa-baa said, her voice warm, kind. "Can you stand up? Jii-jii can help you."
Jii-jii laughed. "The guy with the cane can help the youngster walk, yeah, sure!" Baa-baa, though, stared at him. He stopped laughing as he turned. "Come on, Takeru, let's get you up!"
Takeru looked at Jii-jii's hand. At a snail's pace, he reached for it, using all the strength he could to get his legs to prop his body up. He wobbled. Then . . . he was up. He was up! For the first time in days! A laugh bubbled out. And out. And out. He was up!
Baa-baa reached for Takeru's hand as Jii-jii let go. "Good for you, Firecracker," Baa-baa said. "Let's get you some fresh air."
Ryoken wasn't sure if the area was off-limits – surely Crow and Aki would've said something if it had? – but he went in, the dusty, aged smell of old pages and even older book covers rushing through his nose. The sensation, his arms relaxing—it reminded him of Father's study, the second safest place. Different from Father's study, more bright, natural light made its way through, giving the books more color. Father's dark study made the books off-limits, but here, the books were inviting, begging Ryoken to take them, peruse them.
Ryoken touched the books as he walked through the shelves, the sensation alternating between rough, sandpaper to smooth, slippery. These books weren't all large textbooks or religious books either. He took a white-spined with blue lettering book from the crammed shelf, blinking as the flashy, vibrant cover registered in his brain. It was similar in size to the fairytale book he brought, but much lighter, much shorter, the pages bent at the corners and a yellow color. The multi-colored, swirl-patterned cover had a smiling young girl with bright, sparkling green eyes in an orange dress. To the girl's sides were two boys, one with short hair, more defined, rugged features wearing a shirt with the number 6, the other with longer hair, wearing green glasses and a green blazer with white trim.
"Oh! This is where you were, Ryoken-chan!"
Ryoken jumped, the book hopping from his hands, falling with a thud to the ground.
"Ah, I'm sorry, I'll pick it up—" Ryoken said as he crouched down to retrieve the book. Once he looked up, he saw the M and dot-shaped marker.
"Ah, Crow," Ryoken said. "Sorry, I'll leave right now—"
"Now hold on a minute," Crow said, a hand on Ryoken's shoulder. "That's a lot of sorrys for nothin' you doin'!"
Ryoken pouted, turning his face, but Crow patting his shoulder made him turn back around. Crow then grabbed the book he had by the spine, stared at it.
"This manga!" Crow said at last, waved the book. "Ryoko loved this one. One of Takeru's favorites too, if I'm not mistaken."
Ryoken raised an eyebrow. "The main character's a girl, right? And Takeru doesn't like reading. Why would he read this?"
"'Why would he read this?' indeed." Crow closed his eyes. "I don't think being a boy or a girl matters much to Takeru. I wish I could tell you, but this is something you hafta ask him."
Ryoken looked at the ground. "Is that so...?"
Takeru, I want to be with you.
Those words kept eating at Ryoken's insides. He hadn't talked with Takeru since that moment—not because of anything Takeru did. No, of course not. But the distance grew again, and it was his fault. Confessing true feelings to someone you care about was supposed to be straightforward, freeing, but Ryoken hadn't felt any of those things. Instead, something inside Ryoken kept screaming at him that he was making a big mistake.
Was that not how Ryoken felt? Did he unknowingly lie to Takeru?
"-ken! Ryoken! Oi!"
Ryoken snapped to attention as Crow patted his shoulder.
"No zoning out now!" Crow said, wagging his finger. "Come on, let's go visit Takeru! He should be outside with Aki right about now."
"But –"
"No buts! Let's go!" Crow lightly poked Ryoken's back with his cane, moving Ryoken a few meters.
Ryoken begrudgingly moved along.
Takeru threaded the last of the yarn into the needle thennnnnn – snap!
He . . . he did it!
"Baa-baa, I did it! I finished it!" Takeru squealed as Baa-baa pulled him into a hug.
"Well done, Firecracker," Baa-baa said, rubbing the top of his head. "You're very good at knitting, aren't you?"
Takeru laughed as he rubbed the bottom of his nose. "Well, ion know 'bout that, Baa-baa. It was fun, though!"
Baa-baa hummed. "Will you give the scarf to someone or are you keeping it?"
Silence. Takeru's face got hot. He said, "I . . . I wanna give this scarf to Ryoken."
"Ryoken?"
Takeru's face got hotter. "Uh-huh! I dun know what I did. Ryoken and me stopped talking. I dun like that."
Baa-baa rubbed circles into Takeru's back, Takeru's eyelids getting heavier. That felt really nice...
"And you hope giving him the scarf will get you two to talk again?"
"Uh-huh." Takeru looked up at the bushes decorated with all kinds of blue, white and red roses as well as purple lilies, shining in the mid-autumn sun. His heart suddenly feeling heavy, he turned to Baa-baa. "Baa-baa?"
"Hmm?"
"What . . ." Takeru swallowed. "What is love?"
Baa-baa laughed. "That's quite a question! Where did you learn that word anyway?"
Takeru frowned. "I . . . I saw it in my favorite manga. The word," he mumbled.
"Ah, the one with the girl in the orange dress?"
"Uh-huh."
Baa-baa smiled. "It depends on the person, so it's not very easy to explain."
"Then how did you fall in love with Jii-jii?"
Baa-baa stared at the roses, a twinkle in her eyes, the lines around her eyes, on her cheeks curving upward. "I took a while . . . a long while before I realized. It was little things—taking time to visit me in Germany or when I was home for holidays in Japan, whenever his pro dueling career took him, checking in on me every so often . . ." Baa-baa sighed, much like the girls did in the romance movies. Takeru blinked, a smile growing on his face. "But then, one day, when I was in Japan, right after the New Year holiday . . . a waterfall of emotions hit me. He didn't do anything unusual. That's the strange part."
"You . . ." Takeru stared at the roses in the bushes as one of the red petals fell to the ground, " . . . fell in love? Just because?"
"Not just because, just not for one thing," Baa-baa shook her head. "Everything he'd done for me . . . everything he is . . . that's how I fell in love with him, you could say. Sometimes, things just happen that reason can't explain."
Takeru stared at the red scarf, the blue crystals glowing in the tiny sunlight beams peeking through the clouds. He lightly rubbed over one of the crystals with his thumb, his heart pounding even faster—but not in a life-threatening way. A hand combed through his hair. He hummed.
"Out of curiosity . . ." Takeru stared up at Baa-baa, " . . . I know you saw the word in the manga, but what was happening when you read that word? What were the characters doing?"
Takeru gripped the scarf by the fistful. "Ayane-san said it to Pretty Boy Hiroki-san. And it was after a loooooooot of pages of Ayane-san thinking about how she feels about him. Is loving someone . . . that big of a deal?"
Baa-baa laughed, her sing-song laugh that Takeru liked listening to. "Only the person—" Baa-baa wiped her eyes, "—who's in love gets to decide how big of a deal it is." Suddenly, Takeru with the red with blue sparkles scarf was in the air before finding himself in Baa-baa's lap. In an instant, he snuggled against her.
Soft . . .
"But it's not an emotion to ignore or play around with. Love . . ." Baa-baa tightened her grip on Takeru's stomach, " . . . can make people think or act different."
"Is it a superpower?" Takeru asked, widening his eyes. Baa-baa laughed.
"Sort of!" Baa-baa smiled. "When we love our parents, our friends, people who we always want in our lives, that helps us live in this world we live in. And it helps them too."
"So loving Mommy and Daddy and Ojii-chan and Obaa-chan can give them powers to do that?"
Baa-baa nodded.
"And Kiku and Benji and Mama and Papa Kamishirakawa?"
"Uh huh."
"And . . ."
Takeru's face was hot. It was scary to admit why he was asking, but if loving someone could help them, like Baa-baa said, then . . .
He grabbed the scarf even tighter.
"And Ryoken?"
Suddenly Baa-baa looked to the side of the rose bush. Takeru followed her eyes and saw Jii-jii and . . .
Ryoken!
Without waiting for Baa-baa to respond, Takeru jumped down from Baa-baa's lap, scarf in hand, running until he and Ryoken were mere meters apart. Everything had a gray hue because of the clouds. Maybe the sickness with its hold on Takeru just made it more so. But the feeling . . . the overpowering feeling to hold on to the prettiest boy, the prettiest anyone he had ever seen. Takeru had no idea how he was standing.
"Ryoken!" "Takeru!"
Takeru stared at Ryoken, Ryoken at him, both blinking. Then the strangest thing happened: Ryoken laughed. Not too long after, Takeru did too. Why? Why . . . Takeru had no idea.
But one thing Takeru did know: things were the same between them. And that made him happy. So happy, his heart could burst.
Maybe . . . maybe this feeling Takeru did have for Ryoken was . . .
Ryoken stared at Takeru's hands. "What's that?"
Takeru's face grew hot. He pouted. "Only if you tell me what you got in your hand first."
"I wanted to ask you about this . . ." Takeru gasped. Ayane-san, Hiroki-san, and Kakeru-san! The first book of The Purple Flower Girl!
"Ryoken, where did you get that?" Takeru asked. He was shaking, like he was about to explode. "I thought you only read those big, hard-to-read, dusty-looking books."
Jii-jii and Baa-baa laughed. Ryoken coughed, his cheeks turning pink.
Cute . . .
"I found it in the library," Ryoken said, not looking at Takeru. "I've never seen any book like it before. I . . ."
"Did you read it?!"
Ryoken swallowed hard and looked to the right at Jii-jii. Takeru smiled. Aha!
"You did read it, right?" Takeru asked, walking closer to Ryoken.
"I . . . did . . . Crow said it was your favorite, and . . . I got curious since you don't like to read . . . so . . ."
"Is that so, Pretty Boy?" Takeru asked. But then Ryoken . . . smiled?
"That's just it. You got the idea to call me Pretty Boy from this, didn't you?" Ryoken asked, waving the book. "Since Kakeru-san calls Hiroki-san that and I sorta look like Hiroki-san."
Ah, Ryoken was too smart!
"I . . ." Takeru turned his face. But he found enough courage to say, "Yeah."
"Ohhhh!" Both Baa-baa and Jii-jii exclaimed. Takeru wanted to go back inside and crawl under the covers.
"Please stop . . ." Takeru whined, his cheeks burning. Ryoken smirked.
"Someone's embarrassed I've figured out their secret, huh?" Ryoken poked the side of Takeru's face, making it even hotter. "Well, now we're even!"
"I-I guess?" Takeru huffed. "Fine! What ya got?"
Ryoken crossed his arms, his face that screamed "I totally won this time." It was weird though. Before, that expression would make Takeru annoyed, mad even. But that time . . .
"Why this book? The main character's a girl, right? So why this series? Why is it your favorite?" Ryoken asked. "There are these kinds of books with boys as the main character, right?"
"Yeah, but those books are boring!" Takeru said, clutching the scarf. "The boys are too mean. I like books like The Purple Flower Girl. The boys are nice!"
"Ehhh? Is that so?" Ryoken said, flipping through the pages.
Jii-jii laughed. "Like mother, like son. Ryoko said the same thing."
Takeru straightened his back. "Mommy did?"
"She sure did," Baa-baa answered. "Just as obsessed with the series when she was a kid as you are now, Firecracker."
"Is your favorite character . . . Ayame-san, then?" Ryoken asked, continuing to look through the book. Takeru snatched it from him. How many questions was Ryoken going to ask?
And why was Takeru . . . actually happy he was asking?
"No, not my favorite character," Takeru shook his head. "My favorite character is . . ." oh no, something else hard to say! ". . . Hiroki-san . . ."
Ryoken blinked. "Wait . . ."
"Well, well, well, aren't ya glad I dragged ya here, Ryoken-chan?" Jii-jii patted Ryoken on the back. "You makin' notes of all this, yeah?"
"Uh . . . huh," Ryoken nodded, staring at Takeru again.
"Takeru, didn't you have something to give Ryoken?" Baa-baa asked.
Takeru gulped. It was too much to give this now! Would Ryoken even like it?
No, Takeru, you got to! You got to do your best! You have to make sure what you have with Ryoken stays!
Takeru shook his head. "Ryoken?"
"Hm?"
"Since . . . since you want to stay . . . and it will get cold soon—" Takeru held the red scarf in front of him. "—I want you to have this."
A gift?
Ryoken widened his eyes, reaching for the dark red scarf. The blue sparkles at the bottom caught his eye. He studied it. It was a bit big, but to keep him warm, since everywhere he went felt cold, it's more than perfect.
"Where did you get this?"
"Well," Aki cleared her throat, "I started knitting it a while ago, but when I knew you, Takeru and Kiku were coming to visit, I put it on hold. But Takeru helped me to finish it."
Ryoken frowned. "So it was for someone else?"
Aki smiled. "It was, for Ryoko . . . but Takeru was determined to give it to you, so it's yours now."
"Is that fine?" Ryoken asked. "I don't want to cause trouble by taking this . . ."
"Mommy wunt mind!" Takeru said, grabbing Ryoken's shoulders. "Baa-baa makes Mommy a scarf every year, so it's okay! Really!"
Ryoken looked at Aki, who nodded. "If you insist . . ." He delicately looped the scarf around his neck. Soft, like a blanket. A sweet, strawberry smell stuck to the soft, cotton fabric. In an instant, not only was his neck warm, but his hands, just by holding on, were also warm.
"Do ya like it?" Takeru's eyes sparkled, much like the crystals on the scarf. A laugh escaped as Takeru blinked. "Ryoken?"
"It's perfect," Ryoken said.
In an instant, Takeru's face changed – a smile much like in the photo back at Kiku's! The pounding in Ryoken's chest got faster. Ryoken hoped Takeru couldn't hear.
"That makes me super, super, suuuuuuuuper happy, Ryoken!" Takeru said, grabbing Ryoken by the arms and shaking him.
"Aaaahh, right, right, stop shaking me, Take-kun, I got it, I got it," Ryoken said, closing his eyes to not get dizzy. The shaking stopped, and Ryoken opened his eyes. In that moment, Takeru had his arms around him in a tight hug. Ryoken blinked, his cheeks on fire. "Takeru?"
A pause. "Dun leave me. Dun leave me, Ryoken."
So that's what this was about . . .
Ryoken slowly put a hand on top of Takeru's head. He caught Aki and Crow's eyes, who were nodding, smiling. To feel this accepted, this cared for . . . Ryoken didn't deserve any of it. But . . .
Let him in. Let them in, Ryoken.
. . . this life, this moment, Takeru. Ryoken wanted all of it. He wanted it so bad, his chest hurt.
He didn't want to go back to Father.
His stay had churned out so many unknowns, but it . . . it was freeing too. Filled with light, laughter, warmth. He felt so stupid for not realizing all along, his place truly was with this family.
With Takeru.
"I'm not going anywhere."
Crow let the black tea lightly touch his lips before he tilted the cup, the liquid racing to the bottom, and set it down. He inhaled and exhaled for several moments, taking in the silence. An inhale.
"Ahhh . . . yes, I still don't like tea, just like I thought," he exhaled.
Aki raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you get a cup in the first place?"
"Well, you made all that tea, didn't you? Can't let it go to waste!"
Aki gave a sly smile. "I could always just give this to Jack—"
"Absolutely not."
Aki laughed. "Right? We can't feed his second addiction."
"Who's 'we'? You just suggested it!" Crow said. "You say really silly things sometimes."
"So do you," Aki said, taking the white with gold trim teacup from Crow as he stared, softening his eyes. Sometimes Aki just existed and that was enough for Crow to fall in love with her all over again.
Love really was a funny thing.
But Crow wouldn't have it any other way.
"By the way . . ."
"Hmm?" Crow raised an eyebrow.
"Takeru had a very interesting question today while he was helping me with the scarf," Aki said, putting the freshly washed dishes back in the cupboards.
Crow laughed. "Was it the baby question again? We never really did properly explain it to those three."
Aki laughed. "No. But . . . he did ask me what love was."
Crow coughed once. Oh.
Oh.
"Five years old and already asking about that! What a kid! Did he say why he was asking?"
"He said he read it in The Purple Flower Girl. It was such a big to-do in one of the chapters and Takeru wanted to know why."
"And that's it?" Crow leaned back on the wooden chair, arms crossed.
Not because he heard it from his parents or other grandparents . . .
Aki only methodically put the last of the dishes and cutlery back in their assigned places in the light brown cupboard and drawers. At first, Aki acted as though she didn't hear, but before he could open his mouth, she turned around.
"That's all he said, but . . ." she stared out the window, ". . . I think he's fumbling through huge feelings of his own."
"For Ryoken?"
Aki sat across from him, closing her eyes. "For Ryoken."
Crow leaned back as he stared at Takeru's drawings when he was three years old, stuck on the bottom refrigerator door. Time was moving way too fast. Takeru was just born, wasn't he? Crow didn't even know the word love existed when he was five. Yet, Takeru's already asking what it was.
That kid's a hell of a lot smarter than that ass of a father was giving him credit for.
"I know we talked about this before . . ."
"Hmm?"
" . . . we really can't let them stay here together, right?"
If Takeru had feelings for Ryoken, sending them back, together, to the Homuras was a big gamble. Ryoko, of all people, would understand. That asshat and his parents? Extremely doubtful. Especially the asshat.
"Ryoko needs the help. If what Takeru said about Hisahito is true, then they both need to be there. That's the reality."
"But," Crow bit his bottom lip, "if Takeru has feelings for Ryoken and that ass figures it out-"
"-then we step in."
Crow blinked. "What about staying out of the Homuras' business?"
"I said that. But . . ." Aki stared deep into Crow's eyes, ". . . protecting Takeru is more important. Takeru's gone through so much already. We need to protect his and Ryoken's happiness and well-being as much as we can." Aki bit her bottom lip. "We can't make the same mistake twice."
Crow stared, letting the words sink in. Was Aki really the one saying this? Aki, the one who insisted on not rocking the Homura boat no matter what? So the asshat didn't fly off the handle and harm Ryoko and Takeru? The same one who insisted "This is the man Ryoko chose"? This same Aki?
A belly laugh escaped.
"Crow?"
"Ah, sorry, sorry," Crow waved a hand in front of his face. "It seems this visit was no ordinary one for either of us."
Aki reached across the roundtable and Crow grabbed her hand. Bringing it to his lips, he lightly kissed the ring finger, the knuckles, the top of the hand. Aki hummed.
"Ever the gentleman," she said, tilting her head.
"Gotta set an example for these youngsters, ya know."
Aki laughed, getting up from the table, wrapping her arms around Crow. "We have an early start tomorrow. We better go now."
Crow grabbed his cane for balance and stood up, cupping Aki's with his other hand. Leaning forward, his lips met hers, feeling hers smile into the kiss. One kiss. Then another. And another one.
"Okay, Loverboy, don't complain to me when you can't get up in the morning," Aki whispered. Crow laughed.
"Aww, c'mon, Aki, just this once-"
Aki kissed his cheek, shutting him up instantly. "Crow."
"Huh?"
"I love you."
Not the first time. Not the fiftieth time. Not even the hundredth time. But hearing Aki say them, say those three words, always, always, always made Crow so soft, his defenses shattering. It was scary the first time—Crow always had his guard up. To protect the kids, he would say, but really, he was scared. Scared letting down his defenses would leave him to be taken advantage of—after all, that had happened in his Satellite days.
But Aki . . . Aki proved then and again, again, again he's worried over nothing. That Aki chose him, that she wanted to do this life thing together . . . it's as dizzying as it was when they were in their twenties and thirties.
Crow hoped from the bottom of his heart Ryoko, Ryoken, and Takeru could experience a love like that someday.
"I love you too."