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yui_miyamotofandom: Initial D
title: Invincible.
pairing: Ryousuke x Takumi
rating: pg-13 (we hope for now)
description: Ryousuke suddenly appears at Takumi ‘s house to ask him a favor, but is there something underlying his request? (Note: Shounen-ai)
Disclaimer – Initial D and Parapara Paradise don’t belong to me, but the poem/lyrics do.
Invincible.
By Miyamoto Yui
Chapter 18 - Your bet : My theory
“I’m sorry, but I’ve got to get something before I meet Mika.”
I politely declined their impromptu celebration and I wished sempai well.
They let me go without any opposition, even teasing me about what I was going to do about her return. Was I going to buy a gift? Or was I doing more than that? It occurred to me how fair they were to both Mika and Ryousuke, even if they had their favorites.
If only I was going straight there.
I glanced at the glove compartment with the small package I had carried with me all along. It was there before this whole mess flipped my world off its axis.
What will she do? Knowing how she was, she could either forgive or punish me within a blink of an eye.
Sighing, the anxiousness was taking my confidence away piece by piece.
For the fifth time today, I played the message of the call that had interrupted us last night:
“Hello.
I understand that this is the phone of Fujiwara Takumi. My name is Takahashi Tsuneo, the director of the Takahashi Clinic.
There is some business that I need to discuss with you regarding my son. I would like to meet you tomorrow at 2pm in the L’arc Hotel in front of Takasaki station. I’ll see you in the lobby.
If this is possible, please call back at your earliest convenience.
Thank you.”
Running my fingers through my hair, I knew full well that I was heading to an arena which would subtly showcase their lavishness. The L’arc Hotel was a perfect place for their slaughter. Even then, I couldn’t runaway because a long time ago, I promised myself I wouldn’t ever be intimidated by anyone or cry unnecessarily for anything.
“Ryousuke, this is all I can do, but I’ll protect you with all I have.”
With one hand, I switched my phone screen to my music playlists. I clicked on the new one that I’d made from his eurobeat recommendations.
Pressing on the accelerator, my mind went blank, completely immersed within the music,
“Run it through, my heart's keepin' up
Will I survive to reach you?
Run it through, you shout my name
Aren't you the one keeping time…”
*/*/*/*/*/00000
The automatic glass doors opened and I stepped into the lobby. My head looked from left to right and up and down. It stretched far on either side of me and the tall ceiling made the space seem endless. The wooden boards leading to the concierge changed into carpet with mahogany tables, white-stitched chairs, and tan sofas. Real trees separated the layout of the tables as the sunlight from the wide rectangular windows came through.
The grandeur and stiffness reminded me of Ryousuke and Keisuke’s home.
Because of Project D, I had seen some pretty impressive places, and several people tried to contract me with all they could offer, but I was still an Akina boy. I think I’d always feel uncomfortable in these types of formal situations.
As soon as I turned to go towards the couches, a man escorted me to the hotel restaurant. I followed him into a private dining area.
There I met the same man who had scolded Ryousuke on the phone. He was tall and dignified with a no nonsense air about him, an older version of Ryousuke himself, but with thin silver glasses.
The woman with an off-the shoulder wine red dress wasn’t exactly as Keisuke had described her either. She had short hair with curls at the ends, and though she wasn’t stick thin, she was curvy like a model. Keisuke’s sharp eyes and chin were definitely from this woman.
So it is true that charisma could be inherited.
Ryousuke’s parents remained seated at the wooden table. His father gestured his hand for me to sit in front of them.
“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Takahashi.” I bowed my head and sat down in the silver-lined seat.
“Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice.”
“You’re welcome.”
The waiters poured some water from a bottle and took their orders. We soon had the room to ourselves.
“Let’s get straight to the point. I am not going to deny that I had you investigated.”
I didn’t react, blinking my eyes nonchalantly.
“Your father has a tofu shop and you have no mother.”
“Yes.”
“I hear that you did racing with my son. Afterwards, you were asked to join his team. You accepted and now the year has ended, but your association with him hasn’t. Why is that? Do you still need something more?”
My right hand twitched. “He’s my friend.”
“Is that why you took advantage of his proposal and have him pay for everything?”
Why isn’t she saying anything? Your mom was the one that gave you this love of racing.
“I had no intention of taking advantage of him because I am grateful for all that he has taught me. I am always thinking about how to repay his kindness and effort.”
“How will you do that?”
“I am not sure yet, but I know the time will come.”
“From here, what will you do?”
“I’m leaving Gunma to do professional racing. That is what he had trained me for.”
I am sure you already knew that though.
“So why does he have to take a week off if you’re going to leave soon?”
“His vacation has nothing to do with me.”
“Weren’t you the one with him in his apartment?”
I looked at him with a grave expression.
Don’t imply we did anything dirty.
“We didn’t do anything inappropriate.”
“Then what’s your objective with our son?”
What kind of parents say these kinds of things?
“Excuse me?”
“Surely you know he has lost his mind and threatened not to follow through with becoming the next director because of you.”
“What? I do not know how that is connected to me.”
“Whether or not you are, you’re still a strong factor in it. And that’s why we are here. What do you want so that you will be satisfied and never contact him again?”
I took a deep breath, feeling my blood slowing turning into rage. Clenching my fists under the table, I kept quiet.
Then, she spoke.
“My son has grown up with everything. He learned a lot of things by himself and I’ve seen him create many wonderful things too.” Her voice wasn’t threatening at all. In fact, it sounded regretful behind the fragile firmness. “Idealism doesn’t always coincide with reality. So tell me, Fujiwara-san, what can a boy like you offer Ryousuke? When you grow up, it is certain you’ll leave him out of dissatisfaction. If not, the other way around.”
Her words stung my heart more than his poisonous tone.
“If you called me here for this, I’m afraid you are wasting your time, Mr. and Mrs. Takahashi.” I pushed my chair out and stood up. “I could never betray Ryousuke-san.”
Without him, the person before you wouldn’t exist.
Years ago, I wouldn’t have cared one bit about myself. But I’m not like that anymore. I like who I am now because of him.
As I was politely bowing, Ryousuke himself appeared. He walked next to me with his shirt completely dusty and full of marks. Even his jeans were torn in several places.
“Ryousuke! How dare you show yourself like this?” His father stood up and shouted in disgust. “Don’t embarrass us. We are patrons of this hotel!”
“You’re one to talk after I had to cajole your secretary to tell me where you were.” He looked me over to make sure nothing had happened. Then, he gave the iciest stare I’d ever seen. “I knew you’d pull something like this.”
His father scoffed at him. “It was the only way you’d take our talk into consideration.”
He put his arm out before me. “Don’t drag Fujiwara into this. I will negotiate but you have to listen to my terms. I won’t allow you to have your way this time around.”
“Ryousuke…” His mother got up and put her hands on the table. “Don’t do anything drastic.”
“What is there to negotiate? You refused to meet any of the people in the omiais and then you took a week off at this crucial time. You’re pretty arrogant to think you have anything on the table right now.”
“So I shouldn’t convince the administration that we are still fulfilling our qualifications?”
Mr. Takahashi pursed his lips.
“If it weren’t for me, we wouldn’t have been able to keep operating. I hope you haven’t forgotten.”
“You’re being deceived. Your obsession with racing made you like this.” His dad pointed his head at his wife sternly. He shook his head and then looked back at Ryousuke. “I’m sure that if you are around people of your own status-“
“My own status. The girls who throw themselves at me behind your backs and can’t even carry on a decent conversation? They bore me. I don’t want that kind of partner.”
“So like that girl and now this mere boy? He isn’t even twenty years old. Do you think he would give up his future for you? Do your words have the same weight as his?”
“I don’t know. Nothing is guaranteed.” He put his hand on my arm. “That is exactly why I chose him.”
Ryousuke rose my hand in the air. “I’ve bet everything on him.”
Everything felt like it was in slow motion as I saw his parents’ faces and his determined expression.
“Well, let’s see how far you can last with that delusion of yours.”
He put my hand down. “It’s good sometimes to start from zero, Father. You’ve forgotten that along the way.”
He took my wrist and we left the hotel.
“He wasn’t always like this.”
I didn’t have to look at his face to know the depth of his disappointment.
That’s why you can still forgive him.
*/*/*/*/*/00000
There wasn’t a lot of time so we went over to the river. After parking, we walked down the small green hill and along the dirt road next to the running water.
“When we were young, Keisuke got sick pretty often. Because of that, I seriously thought our clinic was convenient and if I became a doctor, I could work with my parents. I could learn to get close to them because they spent more time at work than at home.” Ryousuke’s eyes watched the sky and he stopped walking. “But they were so focused on their relationship and the hospital, I felt we were pushed to the wayside. We couldn’t ever be a priority to them unless it was on their terms, like being the heir.”
He resumed walking. “I got used to it so I ended up taking care of Keisuke, covering up all the holes that I could. I didn’t want him to think too much about it and one day he told me he appreciated it. I hadn’t known that he saw right through everything I glazed over so that he wouldn’t feel what I had.
“So if he’s a little overboard about our bond, it’s my fault. I made him that way.”
There was a faint smile on his face as he remembered, “He used to do everything without back talking. And then he grew up and found out that while I was right in the end, he’d still want to find everything that was wrong.”
I laughed a bit at his story. “He’s always been this way?”
“Don’t ever tell him I told you that he played Parapara to learn to impress girls when he was in elementary school.”
Bursting out laughing, he watched me again with those observant eyes.
“I always feel better whenever I’m with you.”
We were under the bridge, the river flow echoing around us.
“Back there with your parents, what you said about me-“
“You don’t have to feel obligated. My feelings for you have nothing to do with you.”
I used to say that to myself about you.
“You don’t doubt me.”
“As I told you, I put all my hope and dreams into you and Keisuke so I have no regrets taking over.”
“But were you negotiating like you weren’t.”
He winked at me. “You have to feint to finish the course sometimes, right?”
I was right from the very beginning. He really was that cool.
I took a rock into my hand and threw it into the river. It made two splashes before it fell in.
“When I was in elementary school, people made fun of me because I had no mom and we were poor. My dad even had to come to my school for a conference, but when we left, he told me he was proud of me. He said I was a real man because I protected something important to me.” I threw another rock. “I just couldn’t ever do what other people told me to do. That stubbornness became part of my personality.
“As I grew up, I sometimes thought my father didn’t care about me because he’s so quiet. He was always busy doing something or other so that we could survive. He drank heavily too and I never knew why though we still needed the money. I know now that isn’t true.
“My grades have always been average and I don’t have many friends because I could never understand that word ‘normal’. Most of the time, I kept my thoughts to myself.
“I did my deliveries, was sleepy at school, studied a little, and stayed at home. That was my life before.”
I turned towards him. “Then, one day, I beat you and people treated me differently. A lot of people came to me for challenges. My quiet life was no longer simple.
“For a long time, I was a little resentful. Why had this guy given me these troublesome things? And it was for a fluke. I thought it was all a fluke, you know? My pride wouldn’t let you beat me and then I was punished for it. Driving was just driving. It was no big deal so why are they all going crazy on me for it?
“How could I have beaten the untouchable driver? But your words kept on repeating in my head. You should see beyond Akina. And you kept on coming to me, reminding me that there must be something I wanted more than protecting myself with my indifference.
“I’ve been wondering about it for a long time, Ryousuke.”
He didn’t say a thing as he got a stone and threw it. It skipped over five times and then sank to the bottom.
“About what exactly?”
“I’m not sure. All I knew was that at the end, would you be there long enough to see it with me?”
“Ah…as you were saying in Odaiba…about winning me.”
“I-I guess so.”
We both took another pebble and threw then at the same time. They both skipped on the surface seven times and dove into the river together.
What does it mean to win you anyway? I never really thought about what happened after that.
“To Sudoh-san who looks like a punk, he follows the rules.”
I want to know what’s beyond your mind.
“For you who appears to be a gentleman, you live within the rules so politely, but break them mercilessly.”
I then pulled his arms towards me so that he could really look at me.
I can’t forget that room full of sketches. It still overwhelms me.
He looked very surprised.
“Maybe my theory is to be good enough that it’s justified I’ll never have to follow anyone’s rules.”
And your parents are right. I have no power within this society.
The only thing I can do is drive.
But I want to take a hold of what I really want. Right here, right now.
I pointed my chin upwards.
I must destroy my insecurities so that I can convince myself to go beyond Kaori. Beyond your ideals…even your way of thinking…
Do I have that kind of strength?
Seeing what you did at the hotel, it gives me courage. I know I can. Maybe I’ve always had it in me but never believed in it.
Pulling him in even more, I kissed him under the shade of that bridge.
When I was pushing myself away, he caught my face and pressed his tongue into my mouth, kissing me all over again. He wouldn’t let me pull away just to catch my breath.
I thought it was good to just live quietly, but when things became chaotic after meeting you, when you made me important above everything,
I began to value myself too.
Finally letting go of me, I stepped back and smiled at him.
“Thank you for everything.”
“Takumi…”
The source of my pride now is you.
“I won’t ever be ashamed of you, Ryousuke. That’s my answer.”
I bowed my head a bit and apologized. “I’m sorry, but I really have to go now.”
Behind me, I heard the smile in his voice. “You really are like no one I’ve ever met.”
I ran up the grass hill as fast I could. In my pocket, my phone began to vibrate and ring her melody.
Mika…
Tsuzuku…/To be continued…
--
Author’s note: I never thought about Ryousuke and Keisuke’s parents, but then I got curious. Now, they're here and though it confused me a bit, the challenge made me enjoy writing this chapter.
The rush of it all really makes me happy.
Thanks for reading!
Love,
Yui
8/4/2016 12:52 PM – Los Angeles
8/5/2016 4:52 AM - Tokyo
title: Invincible.
pairing: Ryousuke x Takumi
rating: pg-13 (we hope for now)
description: Ryousuke suddenly appears at Takumi ‘s house to ask him a favor, but is there something underlying his request? (Note: Shounen-ai)
Disclaimer – Initial D and Parapara Paradise don’t belong to me, but the poem/lyrics do.
Invincible.
By Miyamoto Yui
Chapter 18 - Your bet : My theory
“I’m sorry, but I’ve got to get something before I meet Mika.”
I politely declined their impromptu celebration and I wished sempai well.
They let me go without any opposition, even teasing me about what I was going to do about her return. Was I going to buy a gift? Or was I doing more than that? It occurred to me how fair they were to both Mika and Ryousuke, even if they had their favorites.
If only I was going straight there.
I glanced at the glove compartment with the small package I had carried with me all along. It was there before this whole mess flipped my world off its axis.
What will she do? Knowing how she was, she could either forgive or punish me within a blink of an eye.
Sighing, the anxiousness was taking my confidence away piece by piece.
For the fifth time today, I played the message of the call that had interrupted us last night:
“Hello.
I understand that this is the phone of Fujiwara Takumi. My name is Takahashi Tsuneo, the director of the Takahashi Clinic.
There is some business that I need to discuss with you regarding my son. I would like to meet you tomorrow at 2pm in the L’arc Hotel in front of Takasaki station. I’ll see you in the lobby.
If this is possible, please call back at your earliest convenience.
Thank you.”
Running my fingers through my hair, I knew full well that I was heading to an arena which would subtly showcase their lavishness. The L’arc Hotel was a perfect place for their slaughter. Even then, I couldn’t runaway because a long time ago, I promised myself I wouldn’t ever be intimidated by anyone or cry unnecessarily for anything.
“Ryousuke, this is all I can do, but I’ll protect you with all I have.”
With one hand, I switched my phone screen to my music playlists. I clicked on the new one that I’d made from his eurobeat recommendations.
Pressing on the accelerator, my mind went blank, completely immersed within the music,
“Run it through, my heart's keepin' up
Will I survive to reach you?
Run it through, you shout my name
Aren't you the one keeping time…”
*/*/*/*/*/00000
The automatic glass doors opened and I stepped into the lobby. My head looked from left to right and up and down. It stretched far on either side of me and the tall ceiling made the space seem endless. The wooden boards leading to the concierge changed into carpet with mahogany tables, white-stitched chairs, and tan sofas. Real trees separated the layout of the tables as the sunlight from the wide rectangular windows came through.
The grandeur and stiffness reminded me of Ryousuke and Keisuke’s home.
Because of Project D, I had seen some pretty impressive places, and several people tried to contract me with all they could offer, but I was still an Akina boy. I think I’d always feel uncomfortable in these types of formal situations.
As soon as I turned to go towards the couches, a man escorted me to the hotel restaurant. I followed him into a private dining area.
There I met the same man who had scolded Ryousuke on the phone. He was tall and dignified with a no nonsense air about him, an older version of Ryousuke himself, but with thin silver glasses.
The woman with an off-the shoulder wine red dress wasn’t exactly as Keisuke had described her either. She had short hair with curls at the ends, and though she wasn’t stick thin, she was curvy like a model. Keisuke’s sharp eyes and chin were definitely from this woman.
So it is true that charisma could be inherited.
Ryousuke’s parents remained seated at the wooden table. His father gestured his hand for me to sit in front of them.
“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Takahashi.” I bowed my head and sat down in the silver-lined seat.
“Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice.”
“You’re welcome.”
The waiters poured some water from a bottle and took their orders. We soon had the room to ourselves.
“Let’s get straight to the point. I am not going to deny that I had you investigated.”
I didn’t react, blinking my eyes nonchalantly.
“Your father has a tofu shop and you have no mother.”
“Yes.”
“I hear that you did racing with my son. Afterwards, you were asked to join his team. You accepted and now the year has ended, but your association with him hasn’t. Why is that? Do you still need something more?”
My right hand twitched. “He’s my friend.”
“Is that why you took advantage of his proposal and have him pay for everything?”
Why isn’t she saying anything? Your mom was the one that gave you this love of racing.
“I had no intention of taking advantage of him because I am grateful for all that he has taught me. I am always thinking about how to repay his kindness and effort.”
“How will you do that?”
“I am not sure yet, but I know the time will come.”
“From here, what will you do?”
“I’m leaving Gunma to do professional racing. That is what he had trained me for.”
I am sure you already knew that though.
“So why does he have to take a week off if you’re going to leave soon?”
“His vacation has nothing to do with me.”
“Weren’t you the one with him in his apartment?”
I looked at him with a grave expression.
Don’t imply we did anything dirty.
“We didn’t do anything inappropriate.”
“Then what’s your objective with our son?”
What kind of parents say these kinds of things?
“Excuse me?”
“Surely you know he has lost his mind and threatened not to follow through with becoming the next director because of you.”
“What? I do not know how that is connected to me.”
“Whether or not you are, you’re still a strong factor in it. And that’s why we are here. What do you want so that you will be satisfied and never contact him again?”
I took a deep breath, feeling my blood slowing turning into rage. Clenching my fists under the table, I kept quiet.
Then, she spoke.
“My son has grown up with everything. He learned a lot of things by himself and I’ve seen him create many wonderful things too.” Her voice wasn’t threatening at all. In fact, it sounded regretful behind the fragile firmness. “Idealism doesn’t always coincide with reality. So tell me, Fujiwara-san, what can a boy like you offer Ryousuke? When you grow up, it is certain you’ll leave him out of dissatisfaction. If not, the other way around.”
Her words stung my heart more than his poisonous tone.
“If you called me here for this, I’m afraid you are wasting your time, Mr. and Mrs. Takahashi.” I pushed my chair out and stood up. “I could never betray Ryousuke-san.”
Without him, the person before you wouldn’t exist.
Years ago, I wouldn’t have cared one bit about myself. But I’m not like that anymore. I like who I am now because of him.
As I was politely bowing, Ryousuke himself appeared. He walked next to me with his shirt completely dusty and full of marks. Even his jeans were torn in several places.
“Ryousuke! How dare you show yourself like this?” His father stood up and shouted in disgust. “Don’t embarrass us. We are patrons of this hotel!”
“You’re one to talk after I had to cajole your secretary to tell me where you were.” He looked me over to make sure nothing had happened. Then, he gave the iciest stare I’d ever seen. “I knew you’d pull something like this.”
His father scoffed at him. “It was the only way you’d take our talk into consideration.”
He put his arm out before me. “Don’t drag Fujiwara into this. I will negotiate but you have to listen to my terms. I won’t allow you to have your way this time around.”
“Ryousuke…” His mother got up and put her hands on the table. “Don’t do anything drastic.”
“What is there to negotiate? You refused to meet any of the people in the omiais and then you took a week off at this crucial time. You’re pretty arrogant to think you have anything on the table right now.”
“So I shouldn’t convince the administration that we are still fulfilling our qualifications?”
Mr. Takahashi pursed his lips.
“If it weren’t for me, we wouldn’t have been able to keep operating. I hope you haven’t forgotten.”
“You’re being deceived. Your obsession with racing made you like this.” His dad pointed his head at his wife sternly. He shook his head and then looked back at Ryousuke. “I’m sure that if you are around people of your own status-“
“My own status. The girls who throw themselves at me behind your backs and can’t even carry on a decent conversation? They bore me. I don’t want that kind of partner.”
“So like that girl and now this mere boy? He isn’t even twenty years old. Do you think he would give up his future for you? Do your words have the same weight as his?”
“I don’t know. Nothing is guaranteed.” He put his hand on my arm. “That is exactly why I chose him.”
Ryousuke rose my hand in the air. “I’ve bet everything on him.”
Everything felt like it was in slow motion as I saw his parents’ faces and his determined expression.
“Well, let’s see how far you can last with that delusion of yours.”
He put my hand down. “It’s good sometimes to start from zero, Father. You’ve forgotten that along the way.”
He took my wrist and we left the hotel.
“He wasn’t always like this.”
I didn’t have to look at his face to know the depth of his disappointment.
That’s why you can still forgive him.
*/*/*/*/*/00000
There wasn’t a lot of time so we went over to the river. After parking, we walked down the small green hill and along the dirt road next to the running water.
“When we were young, Keisuke got sick pretty often. Because of that, I seriously thought our clinic was convenient and if I became a doctor, I could work with my parents. I could learn to get close to them because they spent more time at work than at home.” Ryousuke’s eyes watched the sky and he stopped walking. “But they were so focused on their relationship and the hospital, I felt we were pushed to the wayside. We couldn’t ever be a priority to them unless it was on their terms, like being the heir.”
He resumed walking. “I got used to it so I ended up taking care of Keisuke, covering up all the holes that I could. I didn’t want him to think too much about it and one day he told me he appreciated it. I hadn’t known that he saw right through everything I glazed over so that he wouldn’t feel what I had.
“So if he’s a little overboard about our bond, it’s my fault. I made him that way.”
There was a faint smile on his face as he remembered, “He used to do everything without back talking. And then he grew up and found out that while I was right in the end, he’d still want to find everything that was wrong.”
I laughed a bit at his story. “He’s always been this way?”
“Don’t ever tell him I told you that he played Parapara to learn to impress girls when he was in elementary school.”
Bursting out laughing, he watched me again with those observant eyes.
“I always feel better whenever I’m with you.”
We were under the bridge, the river flow echoing around us.
“Back there with your parents, what you said about me-“
“You don’t have to feel obligated. My feelings for you have nothing to do with you.”
I used to say that to myself about you.
“You don’t doubt me.”
“As I told you, I put all my hope and dreams into you and Keisuke so I have no regrets taking over.”
“But were you negotiating like you weren’t.”
He winked at me. “You have to feint to finish the course sometimes, right?”
I was right from the very beginning. He really was that cool.
I took a rock into my hand and threw it into the river. It made two splashes before it fell in.
“When I was in elementary school, people made fun of me because I had no mom and we were poor. My dad even had to come to my school for a conference, but when we left, he told me he was proud of me. He said I was a real man because I protected something important to me.” I threw another rock. “I just couldn’t ever do what other people told me to do. That stubbornness became part of my personality.
“As I grew up, I sometimes thought my father didn’t care about me because he’s so quiet. He was always busy doing something or other so that we could survive. He drank heavily too and I never knew why though we still needed the money. I know now that isn’t true.
“My grades have always been average and I don’t have many friends because I could never understand that word ‘normal’. Most of the time, I kept my thoughts to myself.
“I did my deliveries, was sleepy at school, studied a little, and stayed at home. That was my life before.”
I turned towards him. “Then, one day, I beat you and people treated me differently. A lot of people came to me for challenges. My quiet life was no longer simple.
“For a long time, I was a little resentful. Why had this guy given me these troublesome things? And it was for a fluke. I thought it was all a fluke, you know? My pride wouldn’t let you beat me and then I was punished for it. Driving was just driving. It was no big deal so why are they all going crazy on me for it?
“How could I have beaten the untouchable driver? But your words kept on repeating in my head. You should see beyond Akina. And you kept on coming to me, reminding me that there must be something I wanted more than protecting myself with my indifference.
“I’ve been wondering about it for a long time, Ryousuke.”
He didn’t say a thing as he got a stone and threw it. It skipped over five times and then sank to the bottom.
“About what exactly?”
“I’m not sure. All I knew was that at the end, would you be there long enough to see it with me?”
“Ah…as you were saying in Odaiba…about winning me.”
“I-I guess so.”
We both took another pebble and threw then at the same time. They both skipped on the surface seven times and dove into the river together.
What does it mean to win you anyway? I never really thought about what happened after that.
“To Sudoh-san who looks like a punk, he follows the rules.”
I want to know what’s beyond your mind.
“For you who appears to be a gentleman, you live within the rules so politely, but break them mercilessly.”
I then pulled his arms towards me so that he could really look at me.
I can’t forget that room full of sketches. It still overwhelms me.
He looked very surprised.
“Maybe my theory is to be good enough that it’s justified I’ll never have to follow anyone’s rules.”
And your parents are right. I have no power within this society.
The only thing I can do is drive.
But I want to take a hold of what I really want. Right here, right now.
I pointed my chin upwards.
I must destroy my insecurities so that I can convince myself to go beyond Kaori. Beyond your ideals…even your way of thinking…
Do I have that kind of strength?
Seeing what you did at the hotel, it gives me courage. I know I can. Maybe I’ve always had it in me but never believed in it.
Pulling him in even more, I kissed him under the shade of that bridge.
When I was pushing myself away, he caught my face and pressed his tongue into my mouth, kissing me all over again. He wouldn’t let me pull away just to catch my breath.
I thought it was good to just live quietly, but when things became chaotic after meeting you, when you made me important above everything,
I began to value myself too.
Finally letting go of me, I stepped back and smiled at him.
“Thank you for everything.”
“Takumi…”
The source of my pride now is you.
“I won’t ever be ashamed of you, Ryousuke. That’s my answer.”
I bowed my head a bit and apologized. “I’m sorry, but I really have to go now.”
Behind me, I heard the smile in his voice. “You really are like no one I’ve ever met.”
I ran up the grass hill as fast I could. In my pocket, my phone began to vibrate and ring her melody.
Mika…
Tsuzuku…/To be continued…
--
Author’s note: I never thought about Ryousuke and Keisuke’s parents, but then I got curious. Now, they're here and though it confused me a bit, the challenge made me enjoy writing this chapter.
The rush of it all really makes me happy.
Thanks for reading!
Love,
Yui
8/4/2016 12:52 PM – Los Angeles
8/5/2016 4:52 AM - Tokyo
