atmosphere_zero | Unrequited Love, Unspoken Promises

Unrequited Love, Unspoken Promises
Chapter(s): 2/??
Author:

riyusama (Thanks a lot!)
Rating(s): PG-13
Genres: AU, Comedy, Family, Romance, Coffee House/School life
Warning(s): Alcohol, Angst, Partial Graphic Descriptions, Smoking, Strong language
Band(s): Alice Nine/A9, D=OUT, the GazettE, Sadie, SCREW, vistlip
Pairing(s)/Characters(s): AoixManabu, TomoxManabu, ByouxJin, MaoxMizuki, KaixUruha, KazukixRui, Reita (the GazettE), Ruki (the GazettE), Tora (A9), Shou (A9), Kouki (D=OUT), Ibuki (D=OUT), and more
Summary: When an impromptu meeting at a coffee shop becomes more than what they bargained for.
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with the bands, people, artists, and musicians mentioned in the story. The story is a work of pure fiction and is in no way meant to represent or reflect the real bands, people, artists, and musicians mentioned in any way. Any similarities are pure coincidences. I do not make anything off of the story as this is simply meant for pure enjoyment. No harm or disrespect in any way is intended. I do not own anything except the story.
Note: A huge thanks goes out to

riyusama for helping me out big time with this chapter =) More thoughts at the end!

Chapter 1 || Chapter 2

Aoi had woken up early even though he slept late last night. He stayed up that night unable to get a wink of sleep. His usual method of playing the guitar to soothe his worries had no effect on his crazy mind. Even when he tried to lay on his bed, images of Manabu flashed in his head. Regardless if he opened or closed his eyes. Shit. What the hell was wrong with him? His heart pounded against his chest even when he tossed and turned in his bed. He tried so hard to wipe away the memories of that beautiful guy, but it was to no avail. Dammit.

Luckily, he didn’t need to be at work early since he worked the night shift for two nights in a row. He wondered if Uruha would get his ass over to work today after his date last night with Kai. He slipped on a plain dark forest green t-shirt and blue jeans. He traced his finger over his tacky outfit and hung his head in despair.

“Fuck… I need to stop. Or else I’ll go insane.” Aoi muttered to himself.

He exited his bedroom, hearing only the birds chirping outside with an occasional lone car passing by the street. He looked up at the solid white clock hung up on the living room wall. Huh. It was only nine am?

He noticed Rui’s house slippers at the doorway, meaning that he already left. He saw Maru laying on the living room couch and gazing at him.

“Morning, kitty.” Aoi casually greeted Maru even though he knew she couldn’t respond.

When Aoi stepped into the kitchen, he saw that Rui left a note for him on the counter. Rui wrote that he cooked some brunch for him since he made too much for himself. Nice. Aoi wouldn’t have to figure out what to eat before work today.

If there was one perk about Rui, it was that the guy had amazing cooking skills. Aoi could make some easy meals for himself, but Rui was a master chef. Aoi wondered why Rui never pursued culinary school, but he never had that conversation with him.

He opened the plates and spotted fried rice with Chinese sausages, shrimp, onions, eggs, and rice. The succulent aroma wafted up to his nose. He grinned a little. He then wondered if Manabu could cook. He stopped and shook his head. Fuck! Why did that even matter? Goddammit. He must have been spiraling down into insanity to be thinking about one person who he barely knew on a deeper level.

“Did you already eat?” Aoi looked over at Maru before he peeked at her cat food bowl, which had some crumbs of food left.

“Meow.” She walked over and sat on the ground, watching Aoi fixing some food to eat.

“You’re lucky.” Aoi said as he heated the cold food in the microwave and poured himself some juice in a plastic cup.

She merely looked up at him without responding. What was he talking about?

“You don’t have to worry about making a living or finding a stable partner for your life.” Aoi randomly spoke to her as if she could talk to him.

Should he really give up on his music dreams? But he loved his guitar. He could not imagine a life without it. What… what would Manabu think if he knew that he was a failed musician? For some reason, Aoi could imagine that guy snorting at him and telling Aoi that he was a stupid bastard for choosing such an unstable profession. Cold but true.

Aoi chuckled and softly said to himself, “He would, wouldn’t he?”

XOXOXOXO

Manabu twiddled with his fingers as he anxiously waited outside a classroom. He already finished his classes for the day, and he had been studying in the library. However, he could barely pay any attention to those ten-sized fonts in the thick, musty textbooks. He decided to wait outside of Tomo’s classroom since his mind was clearly divided. As he loitered around outside, Manabu slowly breathed out to calm himself down. He kept on adjusting the grip on his book bag as he rolled neck. He was nervous as hell right now, but he needed to erase his fears and anxieties. He told himself, Man up, Manabu!

Then, as if on cue, a rush of students filed out the doorway as all manner of chattering and noises burst out of the classroom. Manabu stood up straight as his fingers carefully curled around the handle of his book bag. Would Tomo be coming out? Manabu anxiously searched the crowd of students coming out, but Tomo was nowhere to be found. Manabu scrunched up his lips to the side with plain disappointment etched on his face.

Manabu tiptoed to the entrance of the classroom and poked his head inside unable to contain himself. He then heard Tomo’s voice coming from the front of the classroom. He spotted Tomo speaking to the professor of the class. Manabu admired the sight of Tomo handsomely conversing with his professor. Tomo never failed to be the studios student, did he? Well, it was one of the reasons Manabu loved him.

Had it been anyone else, Manabu would have left in irritation. But for Tomo, Manabu decided to patiently wait. He hoped Tomo had no other plans later. He had something important to tell Tomo today.

After last night’s meeting at the coffee shop, Manabu carefully pondered on his hesitations that he expressed to Jin. He loved Tomo, and Tomo loved him. Right. Manabu swallowed hard as he steadied himself. He still had some doubts, but he couldn’t let those get in the way. This was his one chance to seize on that rightful opportunity to love someone else other than his family. Yes. Yes. What did he have to fear? He could do this. Besides, Manabu could not even begin to imagine a life without Tomo.

“Thank you, professor. I’ll see you next week.” Tomo politely bowed before he gathered his belongings after asking a few questions.

Tomo started to take out his cigarette box from the inner pocket of his jacket and his black lighter. He needed to take a smoke after the long lecture. Not to mention his neck was sore. Damn. Two hours of lecture could be a pain. Who the heck could seriously sit that long in one spot and not zone out? Luckily, he recorded the lecture because sometimes he dozed off. Well, no one would need to know that part.

Manabu saw Tomo walk out the door and cleared his throat. His eyes darted to the cigarette box in Tomo’s hands. Was he going to take a smoke? Dammit. Manabu gripped onto the leather book bag so tightly that his knuckles transformed into a ghostly pallid color. He had to do this. He had to do this.

“H-h-hwey…” Manabu embarrassingly said, feeling just as stupid when he finished speaking.

Dammit! Why did mess up such a regular greeting? He was simply saying hello. Argh!

Tomo stopped and recognized the deep voice right away. He turned around as a mischievous smile appeared on his face.

“You don’t have to be so quiet.” Tomo poked fun at Manabu for his introverted nature.

How could he have been blessed to meet Manabu? When he had studied his ass off to attend that top tiered, rich college, Tomo believed all the students in that place would be annoying pricks and intolerable snobs. Initially, he thought Manabu belonged to that same unfortunate category when he had been assigned to work with him in their English language classes during freshmen year.

However, he had been proven wrong. Manabu did have that snooty, haughty attitude, but he never meant any malice by it. In fact, he could see a kind and gentle man who wished to make his mark in the world in his own way. He also genuinely cared for others and studied hard in school despite his horrible communication skills. For some reason, Tomo came to cherish that innocent yet industrious quality about Manabu. To him, beauty was too much of a tame word to describe the man’s personality and appearance. In his eyes, Manabu was like the ever glowing radiant sun, which managed to crawl its way into his desolate world and embraced his cold skin even during the chilliest nights.

Manabu playfully frowned despite the dark red cherry color plastered on his flushed cheeks. “Hey… You-you know I’m not a loud person. I prefer to be quiet.”

“I know you do.” Tomo placed his cigarette box and lighter away.

Even when they were foolhardy, naïve college kids, Tomo’s heart had already been stolen by Manabu’s shy yet overflowing warm gentleness. Manabu never looked down on him or laughed at him for his beggar status. In a world where people constantly looked at your family’s background, Tomo’s spirits had been lifted by Manabu’s rose-tinted outlook on life. Manabu believed all people should be treated the same regardless of status.

That alone was why Tomo had fallen hopelessly in love with Manabu. It was why he dedicated to working so hard. Most people strived to study to make more money or to become famous. To him, none of that mattered. To him, he only cared about becoming a better man for Manabu. To be that man who could stand by Manabu’s side through thick and thin.

“You bastard.” Manabu folded his arms as he scowled.

Tomo leaned in and irrationality kissed Manabu’s forehead. He was being impulsive – a quality trait way out of his character. Then again, falling in love with such a stubborn man and confessing to him yesterday was quite unlike himself as well. He didn’t care. People said love made you do wild things. He used to scorn at that cheesy line. Right now, he couldn’t believe in it more.

Manabu gasped as his body somewhat recoiled but his feet managed to stay in place. His heart skipped a beat as he gripped onto his book bag. A sliver of joy tingled within his body as he momentarily sensed the invisible soft air of Tomo’s breath prick against his delicate skin. If Manabu had been anywhere else, he might have been bold enough to kiss him back, but- Shit! His brain could hardly think straight. The mere presence of Tomo made his heart melt and his body evaporate into thin air.

Tomo slowly pulled away and chuckled at Manabu’s burning flushed face. “You did always look cute when you’re embarrassed.”

Manabu contemplated as to what he should do. His face couldn’t get any redder because of how intensely it was penciled in on his face. Goddammit. His pounding heart pumped against his chest so hard that he felt it would shatter his entire soul into pieces. Even his body skyrocketed to an unbearable degree of warmth. The heat emanating from Tomo, who stood so close to him, threatened to make him collapse.

Manabu shyly gazed up at Tomo and softly muttered, “I…”

“I apologize. I said I’d wait for your answer, didn’t I?” Tomo realized he put Manabu in an uncomfortable position.

But how could he restrain himself? He loved Manabu too much to not shower him with some attention.

Manabu bit on his lip and dropped his book bag on the floor. It was now or never.

“Manabu? What are you-?” Tomo worried something happened to Manabu.

However, that was not the case at all.

Manabu had no idea what possessed him, but he hopped up into the air as he grabbed Tomo’s face, to pull him down, and audaciously pressed his lips against those soft ones. Fuck! What was wrong with him? Oh, fuck it. What did it matter? Why did he need to think rational when it came to his emotions?

Tomo had been taken back in pure shock and stood in place stunned by Manabu’s irrationality. Never in a million years did he think Manabu would have the nerve to summon the courage and take the initiative. He would have gladly returned that kiss, but the mere action astounded his mind, rendering his body limp.

Manabu released his lips from Tomo as he stared at him straight in the eyes. He heard himself breathlessly panting for sweet oxygen. Oh, god! He couldn’t believe what he just did! But it felt so right in the moment. He hardly regretted it, but Tomo would never let this moment slide from now on. Dammit. His heart raced so uncomfortably that he almost felt he would pass out from how hard it kept on hitting against his chest.

He should have been worried about being a distraction for Tomo or his overbearing parents. But how could he think about those matters? He could hardly ignore the blooming love that swirled around in his beating heart.

“If you just wanted to respond to my confession, you didn’t have to be so bold, you know?” Tomo teased him as he reached out to slide his fingers through Manabu’s long, chestnut brown hair.

Tomo thought Manabu would make him wait longer before responding to his confession. After all, Tomo realized Manabu’s parents might not accept him for his lowly status. However, Tomo didn’t want to let that get in the way of the relationship the two of them could possibly foster. It was another reason he confessed to Manabu yesterday. He would not let Manabu be taken away by another man if he could help it. They had been through so much together, and he now imagined spending the rest of his life together with Manabu.

Manabu could hardly believe that, even in this supposedly romantic moment, Tomo had the nerve to play around with him. Argh! How dare he?!

“I’m- I’m being serious! I accept! I want to be with you forever!” Manabu squeezed his eyes as he shouted out all his feelings at once.

In that moment, Manabu didn’t care about his parents or the whole world. He just wanted to be with Tomo. He never asked for much in his life since he was aware of his privileged background. But couldn’t he be granted this one selfish request? Just this one? Whatever gods floated up in the sky, Manabu prayed they heard him. For him, he wished to love Tomo with his whole heart without any remorse.

Even though Manabu was thoroughly embarrassed out of his mind by creating such a scene in the middle of the hallway, he had no regrets bravely kissing Tomo. For him, he would sacrifice his title, his status, his name, and anything else he was born with to be with the one man he dearly cherished. Goddammit. To think this all started because they met each other in the one class Manabu despised. Fate truly blessed him.

Tomo stared at Manabu in pure surprise. His body stiffened as the words reverberated in his ears. Unconsciously, he lightly caressed that enticing pale skin with his hand, unable to believe Manabu’s declaration. If he could, he wanted to pause this moment forever in a time capsule and never leave it.

“You tease.” Tomo simply remarked.

Manabu popped his eyes and exasperatedly groaned at him, “What?! I’m being a tease??”

“Of course.” Tomo returned a faint smile and leaned in closer, leaving only centimeters between their lips. “How do you expect me to respond after that sweet kiss and… passionate confession?”

Manabu nervously blinked his eyes. He… Well… He didn’t mean to confess or kiss so haphazardly. He was simply following his high emotions. Dammit!

“If anything, you started it.” Manabu shot back at him even though he could barely hear himself talk due to the ceaseless thumping of his beating heart. Oh, god. Oh, god. Oh, god. Was… Tomo going to kiss him for real?

Tomo could see Manabu’s needy desire for that kiss. He decided not to give into Manabu so easily. He swiftly licked that delectable lips before he grinned at him. Hehe. Manabu would be very upset by that.

Manabu gasped at Tomo’s tease. Argh, tease! Tease! How dare Tomo tease him?! “You! How dare you-”

Tomo took this moment to silence the beautiful man as he softly kissed those luscious lips. He had dreamt so long of this very moment, and now, he would be able to do it all the time. He had never fallen so hard, so deep, and so messily in love with anyone before Manabu. Manabu had his quirks and odd habits, but he adored all of it. He wouldn’t trade Manabu for anything in the world. Nothing.

XOXOXOXO

Aoi sighed as he quietly rode the train to work. He had his earbuds plugged in with rock music blasting into his eardrums. He grabbed onto one of the handlebars as he mindlessly gazed out at the window as the scenery of skyscraper towers and old buildings decorated the way. He had been unable to function or think clearly this morning. When he ate breakfast, he almost spilled the food onto Maru who cried out at him for being rude. When he left the apartment, he tripped on the goddamn fucking stairs and landed flat on the ground, sprawled out like a damn moron. When he tried to enter the train station, he ran into a fucking concrete pole, which slammed against his forehead and gave him a red bruise.

Shit. Why the fuck was he acting this way? It wasn’t his first time at this whole damn love business. If anything, he had plenty of unfortunate experiences. So, why did his body and brain feel out of whack? Goddammit. If he showed up to work like this bag of mess, then Ruki would harp on him to no end.

Aoi stepped out the train when it arrived at his destination and exited along with a group of young people. He then noticed a young couple leaving the train at the same time he did. They stood side-by-side holding hands and leaning against each other. They appeared to be whispering to each other as the woman demurely giggled while the man heartily chuckled. He enviously looked at him, almost imagining himself with-

Fuuuck! Aoi had to mentally stop himself by slapping his face with his hand. He was going fucking nuts over a stranger who probably viewed him on a level even lower than the cesspool on the ground. The sad truth bit at his already fragile heart. How much more needed to be rubbed in his face? Somewhere, in the deep layers of his mind, he figured this would be his pitiful life. He would live alone and die alone without ever having achieved anything worth speaking about.

He silently headed to the coffee shop, which was located near a famous university known for its graduate law program and medical school. None of that stuff really mattered to Aoi. More melancholy matters lingered in his mind.

He sardonically smiled at his own sad fate. How would he be remembered by his family? By his older brother, Tora? Ever since Aoi stepped foot out of that house, declaring that he would become the greatest musician, he never saw Tora or his parents again. Well, not that his parents nor Tora supported his foolish dreams. If anything, Tora agreed with their traditional, old fart parents and gave two shits about his own opinions.

Dammit. Why the hell did his mind keep wandering to such depressing matters?

Aoi pushed the door open to the coffee shop and spotted Uruha at the cashier table, taking someone’s order. He noticed Ruki was preparing drinks.

“You finally made it?” Reita came up from behind him.

Aoi raised one eyebrow and asked, “I showed up on time today. What are you talking about?”

“We had a big catering order come in late last night. Someone has to deliver it to this party.” Reita informed him.

The coffee shop, which Ruki owned, had recently become famous around the city, and many people flocked every day to grab a cup of joe because of the fresh quality of beans. At the same time, the coffee shop had been known as a great place for pastries and desserts. That was because of Uruha’s hidden talent for making desserts. Yeah, Aoi didn’t believe it either when he first met Uruha, however, he only met Uruha through Rui. The two of them were cooking buddies in college.

“Okay, and?” Aoi missed Reita’s implication.

Reita wanted to slap Aoi over the head and cleared his throat, “We were all here early this morning preparing for it.”

They stood in silence as Aoi tried to ponder what Reita meant, then his eyes bugged out when he realized what Reita meant.

“Wait, what?!” Aoi cried out. “When was this decided?!”

“While you were not here.” Reita nonchalantly said.

Aoi rushed over to the counter and hastily asked, “I’m delivering the fucking pastries to some party??”

Luckily, the customers who were there already walked away and allowed Ruki and Uruha to pay attention to him.

“What’s wrong with that?” Ruki saw no problem.

“You’re the only other person who has a driver’s license.” Uruha made the point.

“I haven’t driven a car in ages!” Aoi exclaimed.

He had only obtained a driver’s license to drive to music gigs, which tended to be located all over the country. At that time, he owned a second-hand car, which he could barely maintain to afford, but he had it anyways because he was determined to make his dreams come true at that time. With his current lifestyle, he found his driver’s license to be obsolete and unnecessary since he rode the train and bus to work every single day.

“Besides, can’t you drive, boss?” Aoi looked over at Ruki.

“I have to stay here and man the shop.” Ruki stated as a plain matter-of-fact.

“You should know that Ruki only hired you because you could drive, haha.” Reita chuckled at Aoi, picking on him.

Aoi groaned, dreading on driving. Fuck. He hadn’t drove a real car in ages.

“I’m using your car, boss?” Aoi rubbed his face.

“Unless you’ve got one.” Ruki snorted at Aoi’s stupid question.

Aoi sighed. Oh god. On occasion, he drove in a scooter bike because he took on odd jobs from his neighbors when he wasn’t in the café. However, he usually borrowed someone else’s bike since he couldn’t afford to have one. Goddammit. That wasn’t even the important part. He hadn’t drove a real car in so long. Would he even remember what the functions were?

“You should have more confidence in yourself, Aoi. You’ll do fine.” Uruha didn’t see why Aoi was freaking out about it.

Aoi snidely stated, “As if you’d understand. You have Kai drive you everywhere.”

“Oh yeah? How was your date last night with Kai?” Reita asked as they started to resume their work.

Aoi put his belongings away into the worker’s locker room. He didn’t want to hear about Uruha’s fantastic date. It would only make him depressed about his own love life.

Why did he always have such horrible luck? He was raised as a decent, hardworking guy who treated other people fairly and never judged them on appearance alone. Thus, he reached out to others, hoping to find an equally responsible partner. But that seemed to fall flat on his face. He sighed and headed out after donning on the apron with the coffe shop’s logo on it.

He went about resupplying the napkins and other supplies, ignoring the conversation going on between his co-workers. They could all be assholes, but he knew they never meant any harm by it. When it came down to it, they did care about each other like family. Even when one of them got in trouble with a customer, Ruki never abandoned them and stood by their side because he believed in his employees like good friends and brothers.

Somehow, Aoi wished he had that sort of relationship with his real family.

XOXOXOXO

After the embarrassing, but blissful scene in the hallway, Manabu and Tomo decided to spend the rest of the day together. They ate lunch before they headed out to a couple of shops to browse around for fun. They didn’t buy anything, but they looked at random items and made jokes about anything and everything. Later, they stopped by an arcade store where Tomo tried his hands on some of the rigged game machines several times. To his luck, he was able to win a big black and white spotted Neko Atsume for Manabu.

“You spent a lot of money on it.” Manabu pointed out, feeling somewhat bad that Tomo wasted money spending on coins to play the game.

Despite what he said, he wrapped his arms around it, even squishing it. Dammit. He was a fucking man, but… he couldn’t deny that he liked the cute cat. Fuck!

Tomo smirked and raised one eyebrow at Manabu, “Maybe I should ask them for a refund and return the cat if you don’t like it.”

“W-what?” Manabu cranked his neck and stared at Tomo with big grapefruit eyes.

Tomo snorted at Manabu’s genuine reaction as he covered his mouth. Manabu frowned and glared at Tomo.

“Hmph.” Manabu pretended to be upset at Tomo’s teasing remark.

Tomo shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. He was by no means an introvert, but if Manabu wanted to win the battle, then he didn’t mind. At least in public. In private might be a different matter.

“What do you want to do now? It’s getting late.” Tomo seriously said, pointing at the time on his watch.

“We should probably head back.” Manabu sighed, not liking how fast time flew by.

Manabu felt they had barely done much despite how many hours already passed.

“Let’s stop by the coffee shop close to school and pick something up to eat. What do you say?” Tomo harmlessly suggested.

“Yeah, I’d like that.” Manabu linked his arm with Tomo and smiled with joy.

Manabu could hardly believe it. He had imagined sharing this kind of quiet yet happy moment with Tomo for so long. Now, it was a reality.

As the night went on, customers filed in, and Aoi helped take orders and make drinks alongside Uruha and Reita. Aoi looked at his watch every so often. He would need to go to this party to drop off the desserts. It wasn’t far from the cafe. Aoi crossed his fingers tonight that luck would be on his side tonight, and he wouldn’t run into any trouble.

Aoi heard the doorbell ring, signaling a new customer come in, but he ignored it because he was in the middle of making someone else’s drink.

Uruha saw a handsome man walk through the door with a shorter, but slender man who held that annoyingly cute stuffed cat. Uruha frowned a bit. How could someone else compete with him in the beauty department? Hmph. No fun. Uruha wouldn’t be able to flirt with that taller guy. Boo.

“Hello, and welcome. What would you like to order for tonight?” Uruha kindly greeted them, but he mainly stared at the taller guy.

Tomo thought the cashier guy was being a little strange, but he ignored it. Manabu disliked the cashier, attempting to flirt with Tomo, but he said nothing. Dammit. He would now have to worry about other guys hitting on Tomo.

“What do you want for tonight, Manabu?” Tomo kindly asked Manabu.

Aoi’s body stiffened when he heard someone mention Manabu’s name. He peeked over his shoulder and freaked out. What the fuck?! His body instantly froze when he saw Manabu standing there… right there inside the goddamn café! That-that- that was the Manabu from yesterday! Wait. Who the fuck was he with this time? And what the hell was with that damn stuffed cat in his arm?

“A hot chocolate and chicken sandwich.” Manabu ordered.

Aoi gulped and turned his head away as his forehead broke out in a huge sweat. W-what? This… this was too freaky. Too coincidental. In his three years of working as a barista, he had never come across the same face twice. How come it was Manabu who appeared before his eyes again? Fuck.

Tomo put in their orders as Uruha happily typed it into the computer.

“You two seemed to be close. Are you guys dating?” Uruha asked, being nosy about their business, after Tomo ordered what he wanted.

Manabu blushed at the cashier’s keen question. Tomo chuckled and answered, “Yep.”

“Wow, you two make a cute pairing, hehe.” Uruha giggled.

Aoi quickly cranked his head over and silently gaped at the words. W-what? This…! This was the Tomo who Manabu mentioned to his supposed brother, Jin? But-but-but-but wasn’t Manabu having trouble accepting Tomo’s confession because of other reasons? His parents? What changed overnight? What the fuck?

“Hehe. It’s your crush.” Reita lowly whispered with a smirk on his face.

Aoi immediately turned over and grumpily narrowed his eyes at Reita. Goddammit. Reita witnessed him yesterday being a stupid idiot in front of Manabu yesterday, too.

“Hurry up you two doofus brains. We’ve got orders.” Uruha snapped his fingers at them.

“Yes, yes, Mr. Diva.” Reita sarcastically bowed and went about to fix the customers’ orders.

Manabu recognized one of the employees, specifically that guy with sleek black hair, as they waited for their order. He was that random employee who tried to make small talk with him last night. How odd.

Tomo saw Manabu gazing at one of the employees and nudged his elbow. “What’s wrong?”

Manabu broke his attention away from that random guy and shook his head. “Nothing.”

Aoi made sure to put in the extra chocolate sprinkles even though Manabu didn’t request it tonight. He also put in a little bit of whip cream to add a bit of flavor and fluffiness to the hot chocolate. Manabu’s… boyfriend ordered regular black coffee. Dammit. He hated saying that word. Boyfriend.

When Aoi came to put down the drinks, he noticed Manabu standing by himself. What happened to that lovey dovey boyfriend of his?

“Here are your drinks.” Aoi calmly said despite the throbbing in his heart.

Despite Manabu being with his new boyfriend, Aoi still loved gazing at Manabu’s beauty. Dammit. The thoughts in his mind swirled around like a rollercoaster. He was tempted to ask Manabu what changed from last night to tonight. How was he suddenly going out with that…? What was his name again? Tomo? Probably. Anyways, how come Manabu was going out with that guy when he looked so unsure last night? Despite how much he was dying to inquire about the matter, Aoi zipped his trap to prevent himself from looking like a creepster.

“Thank you.” Manabu politely responded.

Aoi felt awkward, knowing that he tried to instigate a conversation with the guy yesterday. Dammit. Dammit. He had to apologize for being rude. It was now or never.

“Sorry about last night.” Aoi quickly said, knowing he should shut his mouth. But he couldn’t help it. He was afraid that he came off like a weirdo, and he wanted to set the record straight.

Manabu blinked his eyes at the stranger randomly starting up another discussion with him. The guy tried to approach him last night after Jin left. However, Manabu dismissed him because he didn’t trust strangers. However, he didn’t sense any malicious intention or vibe from this guy. Jin always told him to believe in the better people even though he had a hard time doing that himself. Maybe he was being a bit rude last night.

“It’s fine.” Manabu nodded his head.

Aoi’s heart skipped a beat when Manabu forgave him. Whoa. Those words sounded like sweet honey to his ears. Fuck, he wished he could continue the conversation, but he literally knew nothing else about Manabu. He also didn’t want to mention anything he heard anything last night because technically he was rudely eavesdropping. He doubted Manabu would like him being a nosy onlooker.

Nonetheless, there was something different about Manabu’s complexion tonight. There was a peculiar spark ignited within those big, glowing chocolate eyes, which was missing from last night. Could it be because of that Tomo guy?

“Here are your sandwiches.” Reita, conveniently, interrupted their moment together.

Aoi wished he could bash Reita on the head for ruining his alone time with Manabu. God fucking dammit!

“Thanks.” Manabu wondered how he should carry everything.

Dammit. Why did Tomo have to use the restroom at this exact moment? Manabu grimaced as to how he was going to hold everything without dropping something on the ground. He also had to hold onto this cute… stuffed cat. He was a man, but he secretly liked it, too. Dammit!

Aoi took this chance to insert himself back into the scenario, “Do you need help?”

Reita smirked as Uruha inquisitively watched from his station. Uruha wondered who this guy was that could get Aoi to be so attentive.

“I don’t think so.” Manabu stubbornly refused his help.

Manabu would hate to be in debt to some stranger. The stranger didn’t feel like a bad person, per say, but he was hesitant in trusting someone else so readily.

“Don’t worry. Aoi comes off like a creep, but he’s a good guy at heart.” Reita reassured Manabu.

An invisible rock smacked Aoi over the head at Reita’s cruel words. What kind of fucking friend said that about their good friend to another person???

Manabu simply blinked at the two of them. How was he supposed to interrupt the other guy’s statement?

“No worries. Here. Let me help you.” Aoi kindly took the drinks from Manabu’s hands, ignoring Reita. “Where are you going to sit?”

Manabu blinked his eyes at the employee’s kind gestures. Weird.

“Over by the window.” Manabu pointed at his preferred spot.

Aoi happily skipped on over as Manabu quietly followed behind him. Manabu noticed his semi-short black hair that gleaned in the light. This stranger, Aoi, was much taller than him and had such broad shoulders. Did that guy work out?

“Who is that?” Uruha scooted over and whispered to Reita.

“Aoi’s next big crush.” Reita responded.

Uruha couldn’t believe it. Aoi had found another person he liked? This beautiful stranger looked different from the other people Aoi was normally attracted to.

“Here you go.” Aoi gently placed the cups down.

Manabu sarcastically asked, “Are you this kind to all your customers?”

Manabu had no doubt this guy worked hard, but he couldn’t resist from poking fun at how nice this guy was being.

“What? Of course. We’re always here to serve every one of our loyal customers.” Aoi bowed like a humble servant and smiled at Manabu.

Well, maybe not every customer. But if Manabu was going to be his customer every day, then Aoi wouldn’t mind helping him out. Haha… even if he did have a boyfriend… Fuck. He wasn’t really using his brain at all, was he? It didn’t help that Manabu used that same enticing cologne from yesterday. Yikes. If Aoi could, he would totally ask Manabu what brand he was using.

“I see.” Manabu simply said but added nothing.

He took a step forward to take a seat in his chair, however, he slipped on air somehow and loudly gasped. “Ah!”

Aoi gasped and saw Manabu about to fall to his death. Shit! He immediately dived in to save Manabu and grabbed Manabu’s petite wrist. Whoa, it was warm and- Ah, fuck! What was he thinking?!

Manabu found it was strange when he hadn’t smacked his face against the tile floor. But then he realized someone was holding his wrist. He blinked his eyes, only seeing the tile floor in front of him. He then turned around and spotted Aoi holding his wrist.

Instead of panicking that a stranger was touching him, Manabu immediately observed that surprised yet hesitant facial expression on Aoi. He almost expected Aoi to be a huge pervert and give him a lecherous stare, which most guys had when they got remotely close to him. If Aoi was having any salacious thoughts, then none of that appeared on his face. This perplexed Manabu because, to him, most people were like open books. Not this odd guy.

“Are- are you okay?” Aoi cleared his throat to prevent himself from sounding like a damn fool.

He couldn’t deny that he enjoyed this blissful chance of touching Manabu’s smooth skin. It felt like soft silk. He dreamed of holding it forever in his arms. Damn, if only that could be true…

Manabu snapped out of his reverie when he heard Aoi’s voice. Shit! How could he forget about the horrible predicament he got himself into?!

“I-I’m fine. Thank you.” Manabu embarrassingly said as he jerked his hand away from Aoi.

Manabu sensed his own heart racing from almost breaking his head open on the floor. Goddamn. That would have been a horrible way to end the date. Not to mention Aoi had his eyes intensely locked onto him like he was a piece of artwork in a museum gallery.

Aoi flinched a little, but he said nothing. Only a few seconds of heaven. But it was all worth it. Okay, well, not that he wanted Manabu to fall. Nonetheless, he considered this happenstance to be his luckiest moment. Could it be that lady luck smiled upon him for once? He should have torn his eyes away from Manabu, but he was even too afraid to blink for fear of Manabu disappearing right before his eyes. Unfortunately, he had to pull his eyes away when he noticed that damn stuffed cat animal on the floor.

He was tempted to chug the stuffed cat into the garbage can, but how could he be so cold-hearted? He could tell Manabu clearly loved it. Tomo must have won or bought it for him. What a damn lucky bastard.

“Here. I think this is yours.” Aoi picked it up and handed it over to Manabu.

“O-oh. Thanks.” Manabu softly said as he took the cat back and finally looked up at the stranger’s face.

Manabu instantly noticed that silly, but handsome smile on his face as Aoi stared at him. Despite how Aoi looked, Manabu detected a hint of melancholy from his eyes. Was something terrifyingly immense eating away at this man’s heart?

“Are you…?” Manabu curiously stared to ask.

Aoi had been shocked that Manabu continued to interact with him. Fuck! His heart pounded against his chest at the prospect of having a real conversation. Shit! Could he get any luckier tonight?

“Am I what?” Aoi wore the façade of a cool guy.

Tomo came out of the bathroom and noticed one of the employees of the cafe conversing with Manabu. Strangely, it was the one Manabu was staring at earlier. In any case, he would have to worry about other guys hitting on Manabu who could be quite dense at other people’s advances on him.

In most cases, Manabu could tell what were on people’s mind since he grew up in that vicious rich world where being able to decipher people’s emotions was a necessary skill. But this guy… Manabu couldn’t make him out at all. Kind of like Tomo. Manabu could only guess Tomo’s hidden desires because of how long they had known each other.

“You’re-” Manabu began to speak.

“Hey.” Tomo stepped in right as Manabu started to speak.

Aoi silently cursed to himself but he made sure not to react to Tomo’s sudden entrance. Dammit. This was Manabu’s… real boyfriend. Aoi sensed the guy’s aurora, which warned him to back the fuck off. Aoi took that his cue to skedaddle.

“If you’ll excuse me.” Aoi had no choice but to concede.

Dammit. He hoped he could have savored Manabu’s presence for a few seconds more. Now, he was being shooed out like a dog.

That sorrow mien within Aoi’s eyes bothered Manabu for some reason. Oh, whatever. He was contemplating way too much about some random stranger. Manabu dumped the thought away and turned his attention back to Tomo.

“What took you so long? Did you die in the toilet?” Manabu cynically commented after Aoi walked away.

Something about the way Manabu had looked at the stranger bothered Tomo. Was he being considered too clingy or jealous? Tomo contemplated on asking Manabu, but he let the matter go for now. He had no intention of spoiling their first special date tonight.

“How can you die in a toilet?” Tomo incredulously stared at Manabu.

“You know what I meant.” Manabu turned his nose up.

“Sometimes, I don’t know what you mean.” Tomo smirked.

Aoi enviously watched the two of them interact from afar. Dammit. What right did he have to be bitter? Manabu didn’t even know who the fuck he was.

“Too bad he’s dating someone all ready.” Uruha grinned at Aoi.

“Not to mention you got to hold his wrist.” Reita cackled a little.

“Shut up, you two fuckers.” Aoi said in a grouchy tone.

“You need to learn how to reel in the fish earlier with a more enticing bait.” Uruha tsked as he pointed at Aoi with his forefinger.

“Enticing bait? What the hell are you muttering about?” Aoi rolled his eyes.

Before Uruha had a chance to give him another pointless lecture on love and dating, Ruki cleared his throat.

“I think you have a delivery to make tonight.” Ruki gave Aoi his cue to make that delivery tonight.

Goddammit. Why did he have to leave the store? Manabu was here right now! Who knew when he would get the chance to see the beauty’s splendor in person again? Even if that majestic beauty was already taken away from him? Before he even had a fighting chance! Who was he kidding? That Tomo looked much more refined and educated than him. How could he compare himself to that suave man?

“Yes, yes, boss.” Aoi grudgingly went about to carry out his duties.

Before he left the store, he took one last glance at Manabu who broke out into the most dazzling smile Aoi had ever seen. It was like the heavens above graced Manabu with the brightest and prettiest features ever to be born into this wretched place called Earth. If Aoi could, he wanted to capture that smile and feel all of its angelic grace. He wanted to bask in its glow to forget how much his life was in the pits now.

He forced himself to turn away as he clenched his fist. Even when he dated his previous partners, he had never been so crazy, so delusional about them. Why then was he so insane, so senseless, so… stupid… about Manabu who he barely knew? How come his heart couldn’t rest at the mere sight of Manabu? At the mere presence of Manabu?

XOXOXOXO

Another stack of cases. At this rate, he would never get to go home. He rubbed his temples and sighed out loud, sitting back in his black cushioned swivel chair. Dammit. He decided to step out and take a smoke. He was going to go insane if he stared at another document right now. When he opened the door to his office, he saw his secretary, Rui, still sitting at his desk.

“You didn’t leave yet?” He asked Rui, who was sorting out some files, which were spread out on his desk.

Byou couldn’t help, but be suspicious of Rui’s motives. For instance, who liked to stay late at night and show up for work so goddamn early in the morning? It worked out for him, so he never complained, but something about Rui’s personal character didn’t rub him the right way. He should have given Rui the benefit of the doubt since he was extremely nice and helpful around the office, but no one in their rich world was that damn kind. Most everyone in their world was an asshole and a dick.

“Of course not. I leave when you leave.” Rui answered his boss, Byou.

Rui knew better than to leave unfinished paperwork on his desk. Otherwise, Byou would chew him out later. He learned that mistake when he first started to work here. Byou appeared to be a laid-back boss on the surface, but he could be deathly serious and very picky when it came to work.

“Heh.” Byou smirked at Rui’s cunning answer.

Rui was a huge kiss up, but the guy was punctual, organized, and responsible. Unlike the other previous secretaries he hired, Rui could keep up with the fast-paced work and stay late when needed, getting the job done properly. Plus, Rui wasn’t a bad guy once you got to know him. Even if he was a bit of a shady character from his perspective.

“By the way, I received a call from Shou’s law firm.” Rui informed Byou of a call he received earlier when Byou specifically asked not to be disturbed.

When Byou made specific demands like to not be disturbed, he really meant it. Byou did not make those kinds of phrase out of courtesy or politeness. That was another unfortunate error Rui made when he first worked for Byou. In fact, Rui detested working at the law firm at first, but the job paid well and he had no other options at the time. Thus, at the time, Rui sucked it up and dealt with Byou’s demanding requests and harsh orders. Now, Rui couldn’t be any happier to work for a tough, but fair and firm boss. He went through a lot of headache and pain in his early days, and he still sometimes did. But Byou wasn’t half as bad as his other previous nasty bosses. Byou was quite tolerable.

“Oh? What did they want?” Byou already took out his cigarette as he was about to walk out the door.

Byou didn’t expect Shou, another affluent kid, who could be snobby and rude as hell, to give him a call during the middle of a work day. Wasn’t that guy busy all the time?

“They requested to meet with you.” Rui stated as he read off from the note he jotted down when he took their call. “Should I call them back and make an appointment?”

“Why did they want to meet?” Byou curiously asked.

“I asked, but they wouldn’t divulge any details to me. They hinted about doing some charity work.” Rui informed him.

The “charity” event completely slipped his mind until Rui uttered the word, ‘charity’. Fuck. So much work had been thrown at him these past couple of days, and it barely gave him any time to think about the music charity event.

Jin had a huge side hobby of playing music in his spare time, and Byou liked to sing for fun. Thus, they came up with this idea to host a local music festival for the city. The purpose of it was to promote the local arts and to stress the need for more emphasis on music within the community. However, the event would be organized in the form of a contest where anyone with music talent could participate and showcase their abilities.

As such, they had been meeting with a bunch of wealthy people to donate and support their idea for this local music festival. It had been quite an undertaking, and they had been working hard on it for a year. Jin and he were the main sponsors and organizers for the events. However, Shou’s family, one of the biggest backers, was a vital donor for the whole event.

Byou was quite reluctant to ask Shou because he found Shou insufferable. That guy acted like a king or a high-ranking noble. Like the whole world revolved around him. When Byou voiced his complaint on Shou, Jin told him to shut up and deal with it because they needed Shou’s money.

“Don’t worry about it. Leave that to me.” Byou reassured Rui to not fret about the call.

“Okay.” Rui wondered what the secret fuss was about, but he decided to let it go for now.

Rui learned that Byou would tell him when the time was right. Until then, Byou would leave him in the dark. Unlike his good friend, Aoi, who usually blurted out whatever was on his mind. In any case, Rui would be there to support his boss no matter what. After all, Byou was the one paying him.

“Why don’t you leave for the night? I’m going to go home soon.” Byou suggested to Rui.

He could see the purple bags under Rui’s eyes. He should probably let Rui go for the night instead of chaining him down at the office since he would hate to have Rui spreading rumors about him being the Satan of all bosses.

“Are you sure?” Rui didn’t want to look like a bad employee by abandoning his boss this late at night.

Byou could reach out and make a kind gesture, but he would mysteriously forget about it the next day. Rui wondered if that was on purpose or if the workload Byou had fried his brain, causing the circuits in his head to explode and cause a memory loss.

“I’m positive. Get your ass out of here.” Byou sarcastically chuckled.

Quite frankly, Byou was amazed that Rui stayed on as his secretary after dumping piles of workloads and a stressful schedule on his plate. But it wasn’t on purpose. Byou ran the family’s law firm, and he met with many important clients each day. Every client had a very demanding and complicated case. And none of them could be solved with a touch of a button.

Rui might have not liked some of Byou’s personality traits, but Byou overall was a mostly reasonable boss who liked to be perverted sometimes. Those characteristics did not make Rui completely forgive or forget how harsh Byou could be, but what boss was perfect? “Okay. If you say so.”

“See you tomorrow morning then.” Byou waved as he left.

Byou left his office suite and headed towards the designated outdoor smoking area within the building. He would have been home for dinner tonight like he planned yesterday, but his silly parents dumped another important case on him. Dammit. He hated to back out on his plans with Jin, but he had little choice in the matter unfortunately. To think Byou was irked that Jin had to meet up with his little brother, Manabu, last night. Tonight, Jin was probably annoyed at Byou for ditching him.

Byou had met Manabu several times. Despite his condescending attitude on the outside, Manabu had a good heart on the inside. That was a rare quality to truly have. Most of the people in their rich society claimed to care for the poor. In all honesty, they only threw out those words in public for the sake of appearance. Not Manabu.

It took Byou by complete surprise, but Manabu meant what he said. He heard from Jin that Manabu was crazy enough to volunteer at orphanages every weekend. Apparently, Manabu felt sorry for those children who had been abandoned or left behind by their parents. Manabu once said to him that those small kids did not choose to be born in such a miserable situation, and people should do more to help them out. Byou could see the logic, but wasn’t everyone born with their shitty situation? He was all for social justice, but everyone had their own bags of troubles to handle. Who had the time to worry about the whole goddamn world?

He then recalled when Jin came back last night to tell him how Manabu wished to date some guy outside of their upper class bubble. Knowing Jin’s parents, they would most definitely despise that guy. Sometimes, Byou felt their supercilious parents let that wealth get to their damn heads. People were fucking people with their own circumstances.

Just as Byou moved to turn towards another hallway, he ran into one of the senior associates and his longtime, good friend, Kazuki.

“Wah!” Kazuki shouted as he almost bumped into Byou, his friend and the big boss of the law firm. Luckily, he managed to stop himself from colliding into Byou. Phew. That would have been disastrous since he was carrying lots of papers in his hands.

“Whoa, what are you doing here so late?” Byou raised one of his eyebrows.

If there was one thing Byou knew, Kazuki hardly stayed this late at night. Sometimes, he pulled an extra hour or two to finish a heavy caseload. However, it was way past that mark right now. Most of the time, Kazuki would be gone from the office doing whatever the hell he did during his off time. One time, Byou joked how Kazuki should join their co-workers for a drink at the izakaya since Kazuki loved alcohol. Surprisingly, Kazuki told him he had other matters to take care of. Byou had a feeling as to what that matter was, but he never pursued the issue because… It was a dark one.

“I’m making some copies for a meeting with a client tomorrow, Byou.” Kazuki smiled at him.

He and Kazuki had been friends for quite some time. In fact, they had practically grown up together since both of their families were in that high class society. It mirrored the relationship Jin had with Mao and Mizuki.

Early on, Byou learned how stubborn and difficult Kazuki could be despite his friendly appearance on the outside. When they were younger, Kazuki used to be wild and broke every rule possible regardless of the consequences. Byou admired that unruly quality within Kazuki. But that free-spirited attitude disappeared after the tragic and fatal accident, which involved Kazuki and little brother, Ibuki.

To this day, Byou suspected Kazuki never spiritually recovered from the disastrous incident. He wished he could help Kazuki, but who the fuck was he to Kazuki? They were only friends, not family members. Plus, Kazuki would only get infuriated at Byou’s sympathies.

“I see.” Byou looked down at the papers.

“You’re going out to take a smoke?” Kazuki pointed at the cigarette in Byou’s mouth.

Kazuki would have been happy to join Byou for a smoke, but he had been procrastinating on this paperwork, which he needed to desperately finish. He couldn’t let Byou know or the guy would have his head.

He never imagined the friendship Byou and he had would last long because they disputed about every single matter. Nonetheless, they shared many of the same world views and helped each other out through thick and thin. Even when Kazuki almost dumped Byou’s good friendship in high school, Byou still reached out to save him. He deeply appreciated Byou’s understanding, but that kindness vexed Kazuki.

What Byou did for him during the darkest days of his life would forever be a favor he would owe to Byou.

“Yeah. By the way, how is everything going with the music agents and music producers?” Byou asked Kazuki who was lending a hand with the music festival.

Byou enlisted Kazuki’s assistance with this music festival because one part of Kazuki’s family was in the music industry. Hence, Kazuki would be familiar with people who could pull some strings. Not to mention Kazuki persuaded his family to fund their music festival event as another huge donor.

“Oh, yeah. Everything has been going great. The agents and producers are all excited to come.” Kazuki happily informed Byou.

Kazuki agreed to assist Byou in the matter because he, too, loved to play music in his spare time. When Byou and Kazuki had gone to school together as kids, they practiced music as a duo pair for fun. He played the guitar and Byou took on the role as a singer. They knew they wouldn’t be able to become musicians due to their strict societal rules, but it didn’t stop them from pouring out their hearts into dedicating their time to music.

Like Byou and Jin, Kazuki also shared the same opinion on music. He believed music was the key to unlocking people’s inner souls and expressing one’s true selves and desires. It had the ability to tell what words failed to say. To him, good music could be interpreted in many ways and leave you with lots to ponder about. It was like reading a good book. The messages and meanings of the work was left up to the reader’s imagination.

While Kazuki carried these firm beliefs about music, he himself was also guilty for sometimes thinking how useless music could be at times. No matter how happy or sad music made you feel, it could never change the reality of the situation. He was being the usual contradictory human in this case, but how else was he supposed to feel?

If he had remained that immature buffoon from high school, then he would have casted aside these cynical emotions chipping away at his heart. Sadly, his idiotic self no longer existed. Especially with the grave sin he had committed. If he could be blunt, he would go so far as to say that any optimism he ever held about life died and faded away into the never-ending abyss.

“By the way, I received a call from Kouki, one of Manabu’s good friends, who got wind of the event and wanted to participate.” Kazuki remembered the strange call he suddenly received this afternoon.

Kazuki had been in the middle of doing work, and Kouki managed to find his number and rang him up to discuss about the musical festival. Kazuki had known Kouki because both of their families were involved in the music industry, but he never personally interacted with him until today. Kouki’s phone call astounded him because Kouki said he wished to be involved in the whole event somehow.

Byou hadn’t expected to hear that name again. Kouki? Wasn’t that guy busy in America? Kouki was even the one who claimed everything over in the great old America was better.

“He returned?” Byou rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger.

“Yeah, I was surprised, too. His call came out of nowhere.” Kazuki could see the obvious expression on Byou’s face.

That was odd. Byou heard Kouki was dying to make a career in Hollywood. What made that guy come back? He might have deliberated more on his own question, but his mind instantly began listing out the endless advantages of Kouki’s return to Japan. Kouki’s family owned a huge music company and held lots of influence within the music industry. Having Kouki be one of the judges or something might attract even more agents and producers to come to their event. They needed to foster as much hype as possible for this event, and Kouki could be the key.

“Are you going to meet him in person?” Byou wondered out loud what Kazuki’s next step would be.

“Not sure. He said he would look at his schedule and give me a call back for a longer chat. Is there anything I should or shouldn’t tell him?” Kazuki answered Byou.

“We don’t need to tell him too much. Let’s test out the waters to see how he really feels.” Byou responded after contemplating for a few moments.

He would need to update Jin on this latest development in their charity project. After all, his own parents and Jin’s parents set them up with this task to create a successful charity project, and they were under immense pressure to not fail.

“Cool. I’ll let you know what happens with him then.” Kazuki nodded, confirming Byou’s orders.

As Rui left his work desk, he stopped when he spotted Byou and Kazuki, one of the senior associates in the law firm, conversing with each other. Shit. Rui’s heart skipped a beat when he heard Kazuki’s unmistakable voice. He should have dodged behind a wall to conceal his presence, but his body froze in place from seeing Kazuki and Byou standing face-to-face.

Ever since Rui started to work at Byou’s law firm, he admired Kazuki’s handsome looks, intelligence, and ability to make people laugh. They never personally interacted since Rui was mainly cooped up in Byou’s office suite while Kazuki worked in his own office. However, he heard and watched from afar how people laughed at Kazuki’s funny jokes or hilarious stories.

To Rui’s surprise, Kazuki didn’t date around and occasionally spent time with the other employees. Rui would have pegged Kazuki to be more outgoing and adventurous, judging from the way he acted. Even more surprising was when Rui discovered how Kazuki never utilized his appearance to ease through life.

“How’s… everything going with your parents?” Kazuki cautiously asked.

Kazuki knew the relationship between Byou and his own parents was a shaky one. Ever since Byou officially got together with Jin, Byou’s parents had been quite unhappy because they couldn’t believe he would love or date a man. There was a heavy expectation that Byou would marry a woman and produce heirs for the family. Luckily, Kazuki’s family wasn’t so demanding about whom he dated or married. Unfortunately, he had other familial problems. Aye, the troubles never seemed to end for anyone, did it?

“They’re… Well, they… they’re there.” Byou exasperatedly sighed, hating to think about his parents.

It hurt Byou to contemplate about the icy cold relationship with his parents. They treated him as an embarrassment despite being their only son. Why couldn’t they accept him for being himself? Was he that much of an eyesore in loving Jin? He had repeated these despairing questions many times in his head, but he had no real answer for it. Love. What a vague and complicated, but impalpable concept.

Kazuki wished he could have had a more positive answer regarding his own relationship with his parents. To his disappointment, the situation between him and his parents was equally as bad. He then noticed, out of the corner of his eye, Byou’s secretary, Rui, standing there and looking as though he saw a ghost.

“Hey-” Kazuki was about to call out to him, however, Rui immediately dashed away for fear of making himself look like a fool.

Byou slowly turned around, only hearing Rui’s hasty footsteps click against the pristine tile ground. “What was that about?”

Byou figured Rui already left the building. Was that guy peeping in on their conversation?

Kazuki had seen Rui around, but his chance to converse never arose because their paths never crossed. Nonetheless, he had observed Rui bringing in his own homemade lunch, which meant Rui must have liked to cook. Also, Rui was quite amicable and never outwardly made trouble or be a douche like the other people around the office. Rui even presented himself as the innocent one and heard from others how he owned a cat called Maru.

Despite Rui’s façade, Kazuki sensed this was only a mask he wore to work. There had to be another facet to his character. Kazuki couldn’t pinpoint what that was. This unknown aspect of Rui’s personality made Kazuki curious, but he didn’t know if he wanted to become close to anyone after what happened to him a long time ago.

“I don’t know.” Kazuki shrugged his shoulders.

Should he strike up a conversation with Rui? He was afraid Rui might only see him as the handsome man like the rest of the world. Furthermore, what would getting to know Rui accomplish? No one could heal the invisible wounds, which scarred his pitiful heart. He buried himself in his sorrows, but who needed to be aware of that? He certainly never enlightened Byou much less another random co-worker.

Rui squeezed his eyes shut and sprinted out of there. Aoi complained about having love problems. Rui also had one, too. He never told Aoi about it because his good friend would probably crock it up to him being a coward. How could he help it? Kazuki was much richer, smarter, and more attractive than him. Compared to Kazuki, Rui paled in comparison. Plus, everyone in the office adored Kazuki as the goofy lady’s man, and Rui doubted Kazuki cared that much about him. This odd feeling of unrequited love squeezed at his heart so uncomfortably. What could he do to cure it? Was it even possible to heal this unfathomable sickness?

XOXOXOXO

After he reluctantly left the coffee shop, Aoi had silently drove on the road to deliver these pastries. He was baffled as to when their coffee shop made deliveries to parties, but he stopped his mind from digressing. He didn’t bother to question Ruki’s logic. That short man was always finding ways to innovate and expand his business. Aoi wouldn’t be surprised if Ruki created a chain coffee shop one day. For some inexplicable reason, that man lived in his coffee beans.

Thinking about the café had his mind wandering back to Manabu. He loathed this gnawing feeling at his heart especially when he observed how Manabu was so happily together with… with that boyfriend of his. Tomo. Shit. Saying the name, Tomo, or even the word, boyfriend, made him feel disgusted and icky. He should have been wishing Manabu well since he got together with his long time crush. And Aoi wasn’t inherently an evil person. So… why did he feel angry? Even pissed? So pissed that he wanted to run over some poor squirrels even though he would regret it right afterward?

At the same time, his heart gloated with glee as he relished in that soft skin he felt. Fucking hell. Now that he had the chance to feel Manabu’s skin… He wanted to feel even more. Was that too avaricious of him?

He stopped at a red light and ran his hand through his black hair. He looked like a frizzled mess and felt like scrambled eggs. His emotions were scattered all over the place, and he could barely focus on anything. If he could have, he would have asked Manabu: What was so damn attractive about that dude? Didn’t- Okay, okay. Before he began to spew out his long tirade, he realized Manabu and he were pretty much strangers, and who knew how the fuck Manabu viewed him?

But still. Wasn’t he pretty goddamn sexy? He lacked the obvious effeminate beauty. However! However. He was the man of the relationship. He wasn’t the woman. Fuck. Why was he letting his mind dance around issues, which didn’t even matter right now?

It did pique Aoi’s interest when Manabu was about to ask him something. Was Manabu curious about him? What about him made Manabu interested? Goddammit. He wished he could have asked Manabu. Damn, damn, damn.

He noticed the traffic light turned green and pressed on the gas pedal. He sighed, hoping to get back to work as soon as possible. Fuck, fuck. He had to return home to give his mind a rest. He received what probably amounted to zero hours of sleep from the previous night, and he was functioning on his crazy feelings about Manabu. Oh, yes! That was why his mind had been jumping off the walls like a bunny that had eaten too much cubes of sugar. His lack of sleep was driving him up the wazoo and causing him spew out heinous shit. He would make himself get some sleep tonight. Hopefully, he would then be able to delete Manabu’s image, presence, and that sweet precious smell from his hopeless mind.

He turned on the radio in his car to distract himself from his own thoughts. Any more thinking about Manabu, and Aoi knew he would get himself into serious trouble. He couldn’t allow himself to get swept away by these emotions, which would probably fade because… well, it just would. Just like all those he had loved before.

Just as he crossed the road, he swore the coast was clear. Out of what felt like nowhere, though, another pink car came into his purview, almost zooming right in front of him. Aoi gasped and realized he was going to fucking die if he didn’t try to halt his car, which was going at full speed! Goddammit! What the fuck? He couldn’t die! He still had a long life ahead of him!

“Shiiiiit!” Aoi shouted as he stepped hard on the stop pedal as he attempted to swerve the car out of the way by gripping onto the driver’s wheel as fast as he could. “Fuuuck!”

He ended up slamming his head against the driver’s wheel as the air bag ballooned out of the driver’s wheel to soften the blow when the car came to a sudden, screeching halt. He swore he heard a loud, thunderous crash, but he had no time to register what the fuck happened because the back of his head throbbed from being bashed against the seat. At the same time, his back shot up with unbearable stinging pain.

He tried to move when all was quiet, but his body was still registering the shock as to what the hell transpired. Dammit. He couldn’t hear much. All he could register was the pulsating pain that hammered against his head gave him a splitting headache. Fuck… fuck… He slowly reached up to touch his forehead and felt something warm trickle downward. What the fuck was that? The supposed liquid slithered down his arms, but he could barely make out the color. He slowly blinked his eyes a few times, unable to see much of anything.

He cautiously breathed in and out to regain his breath. Shit… Why was his body uncontrollably shaking? He then looked over at his hand and saw a dark red liquid, staining the palm of his hand, arm, and his pants. He had no idea what to think or how to register what the fuck even happened. He was instantly distracted from his own plight when he heard some noises, and he noticed other bystanders crowding around the incident.

He noticed the passenger side of the pink car had been crushed as the front of the car had been smashed in like a pancake. He observed how the pink car’s trunk was squished against the railing. His eyes widened to the size of tennis balls. He surveyed Ruki’s black car and immediately panicked. Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Fuck. He was fucked. He was mortally fucked. He just got into a car accident, and it wasn’t even his car. Shit! Was the driver of the other car okay?

He immediately raced out of Ruki’s car. He should have been attending to his own wounds, but that didn’t matter right now. He was more worried for the other person. He shouted at those stupefied onlookers, “Call the emergency number! Someone! Hurry the fuck up!”

What was everyone else doing? Goddammit. He couldn’t die. He had to live. Or else he wouldn’t ever be able to see Manabu or live up to his failed musician dream. More importantly, he couldn’t let the driver of the other car die either. He would not be able to sleep at night if that driver died because he was being a goddamn fool.

That was what he was. A goddamn fool. A goddamn fool for wanting to be a musician. A goddamn fool for getting into a fucking car accident. And… A goddamn fool for falling in love with a guy who he barely knew. But that last part he didn’t regret. He didn’t regret it at all.

Author's Comments/Thoughts

Note 1: Neko Atsume is a cat collecting game, and they are also cute adorable little stuffed animals that you can buy or win in the arcade stores like Tomo in the story did. For more info, please read here: Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector Official Website.

Note 2: Byou mentioned the place, izakaya, which is the Japanese version of a gastropub. For more information, check out the following links: Izakayas in Japan and How & Why to Visit an Izakaya (Japanese Gastropub).

After completing the first chapter, I struggled in figuring out how to continue with the story. With some brainstorming (and help from

riyusama), I was able to finish this chapter. It came out longer than the first one, but there were some key points in the story that I wanted to include. I apologize for the length!

Also, I know I focused on seemingly random people at certain points in the story, but they will all become important later on down the road. More Aoi (and Manabu) moments will be appearing in the story. So please stay tuned :)

Constructive criticisms and comments are greatly appreciated!