Tokyo Boys

General notes:
I'm sorry, this story now goes on a month long hiatus until NaNoWriMo 2009 is over, in December. I hope you'll still follow it when I resume posting!


TOKYO BOYS
Chapter 39


Yuuto dipped himself in the hot tub and curled into a ball, hugging his knees tight. The tears have long dried out. He no longer had the strength to cry. His chest was aching. Daisuke must have found out by now… he probably knows… The thoughts wouldn’t leave Yuuto’s frenetic brain.

He stayed in the tiny bath until the water had gone lukewarm and his skin shriveled. He felt so numb. His mother was working late again, and this time he was grateful for it. Maybe if he wished long enough he could disappear. Everyone would be so far better without him.

The lukewarm water turned cold and he still sat in the tub, unwilling to move. Unable to move.

“Yuu-chan!” Daisuke suddenly appeared before of him.

His voice barely registered in Yuuto’s mind, but suddenly he felt strong arms around him, pulling him out of the bath. He was still shivering when a big towel was wrapped around him.

“You’re freezing…” Daisuke said quietly and hugged the smaller boy tightly, as if attempting to lend him his body heat.

“Daisuke…?” Yuuto asked, his teeth chattered as he continued to shudder.

Daisuke picked up another towel and started drying Yuuto’s hair. He left the towel on the boy’s head and held it in place, looking directly at the boy’s face. He wanted to speak, but the words were caught in his throat.

“Daisuke…” Yuuto mumbled as he raised his eyes to his friend. He suddenly noticed the bandages on Daisuke’s face.

“You’re injured…” he said quietly and lifted a shaking hand from under the towel to touch Daisuke’s face. “What happened?”

“It doesn’t matter…” Daisuke smiled lightly. “Let’s get you dressed, okay?”

He picked up Yuuto’s dirty school uniform from the floor on his way out, deciding to do laundry before Chika-san returned from work.

Yuuto felt better after putting on a sweatshirt and getting warmed up. Daisuke was usually a big buffoon but he really had older brother qualities in him. That’s how they have always been. Maybe that was all there was to their relationship, he thought briefly. It didn’t matter, it still felt good.

“Are you hungry?” Daisuke asked and handed him a hot mug of tea.

Yuuto shook his head, but accepted the tea.

Daisuke remained quiet, shoving his hands in his pockets. He felt so awkward. He didn’t know how to bring up the subject, what should he be saying, and what was he supposed to do. Moriyama-sensei told him to just go and see Yuuto, but didn’t offer any other advice.

“I…” they started saying together, then stopped to look at each other and laughed briefly.

“Thank you…” Yuuto smiled softly at Daisuke. “I’m sorry for being a burden…”

Daisuke shook his head. “You’re not, silly. I…” He stopped and lowered his eyes. “Well, what are friends for?”

An awkward silence fell between them again and the tension in the room grew palpable. Yuuto knew he had to bring up the subject. It was painfully obvious Daisuke already knew everything.

“I’m sorry… it’s my fault for being so stupid…” he said quietly, dropping his eyes to the floor. “I wanted to be more like you and I didn’t think things through…”

“It’s not your fault!” Daisue hurried to say. He felt irritated Yuuto was the one who stole the momentum to apologize when it should’ve been him, but his anger wasn’t turned at Yuuto. “I know these guys…” he hissed. “Damn, that bastard Yoshimura wanted to put his hands on you all along…” He clenched his fists, feeling the rage flushing through his body again. “I’m so sorry Yuu-chan…” he hurried to soften his tone, lowering his fists to the sides of his body. He then bowed in front of his friend. “Please forgive me somehow. I beg you.”

Yuuto smiled through the tears. It felt nice to be loved, even if just an illusion. If only he could turn back the time, if only he had the knowledge and the courage to touch Daisuke’s heart, if only.

He reached out his hand and touched Daisuke’s arm. “Please raise your head… I already told you, I can’t hate you even if I wanted to.”

“Yuu-chan…” Daisuke started saying but then realized he didn’t know what to say. He closed his mouth and just looked at his friend quietly. “Will it be all right if I stayed here tonight?”

~*~

That night they curled next to each other on the futon. Daisuke was afraid to touch Yuuto and rested his head on his arms. He was afraid of what he might do, lying so close, knowing his body had a mind of his own. Yuuto moved closer to him and rested a hand on his arm.

“Thank you for staying…” He smiled warmly, without knowing how the simple, innocent touch evoked greater turmoil in his friend’s body.

Daisuke felt completely rigid. Yuuto snuggled closer, oblivious to his friend’s inner struggle. He looked up at Daisuke and smiled at him. “Are you feeling okay? Your face looks so painful…” He reached out to touch the blood-stained white bandage over Daisuke’s eyebrow.

“I’m fine…” Daisuke said, resisting the urge to crush his injured lips on Yuuto’s mouth.

But just being able to stay so close, to watch the peaceful, childlike face, it was enough for him. How could he ever take Yuu-chan for granted? There was no one else that made him feel so much at home.

Strangely, Daisuke came there with the intention of comforting Yuuto and found himself being comforted instead.

Slowly the fatigue had taken over him. He felt his lids getting heavier. Yuuto’s hand was still on his arm, touching softly, when his consciousness started to fade away. If he dreamed that night, he didn’t remember any of it.

~*~

“How’s Kaname-kun doing?” Shouji asked once Daisuke stormed into the apartment early the next morning. He took one glance at the boy’s face and rephrased, “how are you doing?”

“Terrible…” Daisuke muttered. “I… I…” He stopped when he realized his thread of thought was lost.

He covered the distance between them and straddled his teacher. “Can we do it now? I feel so horny… my morning wood just wouldn’t go down…”

“We need to leave for school in less than an hour…” Shouji said quietly and raised his hand to caress Daisuke’s wounded face.

“It’s more than enough time… What do you think I came back here for…” Daisuke whispered and continued to unzip Shouji’s fly.

~*~

Daisuke felt better once they left to catch their train ride to school.

“I didn’t have time to talk to you,” Shouji started. “I’m going to visit my family during winter vacation.”

“Oh…” Daisuke reacted quietly. “I guess we won’t have a date on Christmas then…”

“No…” Shouji quickly looked around to make sure none of the people around was overhearing them. Fortunately, everyone was hurrying up on their own business in the morning.

“You can come with me if you want,” he said quietly.

“Oh, I don’t know…” Daisuke said quietly. The truth was he wanted to stay around for Yuuto. He was sure Moriyama-sensei was aware of that too.

“Well, think about it, if you want.” The teacher touched his arm lightly.

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