Open Your Heart - Chapter One
~心ひろげて~
~Kokoro Hirogete~
Chapter 1: Lost
“Public transportation sucks…” Kei Inoo muttered, trying rather unsuccessfully to keep from tumbling forward as the bus drove over another bump in the road. At least I’ve almost reached my stop. Then when I get home, he’ll be there, waiting for me. Kei sighed. He was the only one he could ever vent to, the only person who would be able to comfort him now.
“Ah!” Kei cried out as his bus suddenly halted to a stop, his stop. Unfortunately, Kei was unable to balance himself, and unable to stop himself, as he pitched forward, loosing his footing. But before he crashed down onto the cold, hard floor, he felt his thin frame being caught into a strong hold by an arm clutched around his waist.
“You okay?”
Kei looked up into the eyes of his savior and found himself staring at a tall, rather slender boy, seemingly around the same age as him, with dyed brown hair styled fashionably and thin eyebrows furrowed with worry above his dark, piercing eyes.
“Y-Yeah,” Kei answered, embarrassed to have fallen. He quickly muttered, “Thanks,” before hurriedly rushing off the bus. Behind him, the boy raised an eyebrow questioningly, but then got distracted by a faint buzzing sound vibrating beside his foot.
“Hmm? What’s this?” He bent down, significantly due to his height, and picked up what appeared to be the cell phone belonging to the boy who had just tripped and fallen into him. It must’ve dropped out of his pocket, the boy thought to himself. He flipped the phone open, to check why it had buzzed, and noticed a flashing message that read, 1 Text Message. I shouldn’t open it, he told himself. Looking at who the sender was, he read <3 YUTO NAKAJIMA <3, and the boy smiled. Is this like his brother or his lover?
The bus screeched to a halt at the next stop. Stuffing he phone into his pocket, the boy decided he would somehow find a way to return it to its owner.
~~~
“Yuto,” Kei breathed, seeing a boy sitting on the steps, waiting, outside his front door.
“Kei!” Yuto Nakajima called out, greeting Kei with a warm smile. “What took you so long? I rushed here as soon as you called and said you needed to talk to me! Your voice sounded so feeble and hurt, I was so worried! I knew something bad must’ve happened! Thank goodness you’re alright!” Yuto pulled Kei gently into a warm embrace.
Kei’s eyes began to water as he hugged Yuto tighter. He knew it. He knew he could always count on Yuto to be there for him, no matter what.
As he pulled away, Yuto noticed the streams running down Kei’s cheeks. “Don’t cry,” Yuto murmured softly, as he gently wiped away Kei’s tears. “Seeing you hurt makes me hurt, too.” Yuto smiled again, and this time, Kei managed to smile back weakly. “Tell me what happened; I’ll do whatever I can to listen and to help. Don’t worry, we’ll get through this together.” Yuto nodded encouragingly.
Kei nodded back, slipping his hand into Yuto’s before leading him into his house.
~~~
Kei sighed as he sat down next to Yuto on the living room floor. “How should I begin?” he muttered bitterly, pulling his legs up close to his chest and wrapped his arms around his knees.
Yuto imagined Kei as a vulnerable and defenseless child, and instinctively placed his arm around Kei protectively. “However you wish,” Yuto whispered, letting Kei’s head rest on his shoulder.
“Well… to put it simply… I got fired from my job at the restaurant,” Kei sighed. Yuto’s large eyes widened as he turned his head to look at Kei.
“Why?”
“Because… because of the manager’s daughter. She… she had apparently fallen in love with me… but when she confessed, I told her the truth, that I was already seeing someone, and when asked, I said I would never be able to return her love… I meant I wouldn’t be able to return her love because she was a girl… and also because I have you… but she took it as an insult, telling her father that I had… offended her and broken her heart… and the manager loves his daughter so much that he actually f-fired m-me..” Tears began welling up again as Kei spoke.
“What b-bothered me the m-most was that when she came and y-yelled at me, and she a-asked, ‘W-What? Am I-I not g-good enough f-for you?’” Kei stuttered; he was having an even harder time keeping his composure now.
“Those w-were the exact w-words I heard m-my mom y-yell at my d-dad the day she l-left.” Kei clutched his head in his hands. “I c-can’t s-stop hearing her v-voice in my mind; it keeps r-ringing in my h-head… her v-voice m-muddles with my m-mom’s, and I keep r-replaying images of m-my mom in my m-mind… It m-makes my f-feel so g-guilty, like I-I was t-the one who d-drove her a-away.”
“At t-times, I h-hate my mom, for l-leaving, for h-hardly ever c-calling, and for c-calling, when she d-does, but f-for the w-wrong reasons. I-I’ve worked s-so hard, t-trying to f-forget the p-past, b-but in the end, I-I still can’t s-seem to f-force myself t-to erase the m-memories… and this l-last incident j-just f-forced them all to c-come crashing b-back to me…” Kei’s voice trailed off as he turned away, covering his face with his hands, shameful of the tears that were now flooding out.
“Kei…” Yuto breathed his name softly. Turning him around gently, Yuto pulled the older boy into another warm embrace. He could feel tears beginning to form in his eyes as well, but he blinked them back. I must stay strong for Kei in his greatest time of need.
Kei buried his face into Yuto’s chest, now sobbing uncontrollably. Yuto couldn’t take it, seeing Kei like this was ripping his heart straight out of his chest. He had to do something to comfort him.
“I’m sorry, Kei,” he whispered in his ear. “I wish I could do something more for you, I feel like I’m such a-“
Kei cut him off by softly brushing his lips against Yuto’s.
“No, don’t say that,” Kei whispered back. “You’re doing so much for me already, you don’t even realize. I need you here.”
“And I want to be here for you.” Yuto answered. “I promise, Kei, whenever you feel lost, I will always, always try my best to help you find your way.” Taking a deep breath, he continued, “You have no idea how much it hurts me to see you cry like this, but I want you to let all your tears out, don’t hold back, and that way, all your sorrows will follow.”
Kei smiled weakly once more, “Thank you, Yuto. I don’t know what I would do without you.”