Open Your Heart - Chapter Two
Yuto Nakajima awoke later that afternoon and found himself still in Kei’s living room. He smiled, seeing Kei gently sleeping beside him.
“Kei,” he murmured softly, running his fingers through the older boy’s dark curls. Yuto sighed as he brought his thoughts back to the sleeping figure beside him. I really hope Kei’s okay. I really do just want to help him someway, but I don’t know how… Yuto’s thoughts trailed off as Kei started stirring in his sleep. Slowly, he blinked his eyes open; rubbing them gently, he murmured,
“Yuto…?”
Yuto smiled. “Yes, I’m still here.”
A sleepy smile formed on Kei’s face as well.
Yuto noted that Kei’s eyes were still red and puffy from all the crying he had been doing before. All of a sudden, Yuto remembered, “Oh Kei, I was wondering…” he stopped himself. “Never mind, it’s not important now, anyway.”
“What?” Kei questioned, yawning as he sat up. “It’s okay, I still want to know.”
“Well, um, I was just wondering why you never answered my text.” Yuto said sheepishly. The question just seemed so irrelevant and insignificant now.
“What text?” Kei asked inquisitively, cocking his head to one side. “I don’t think I felt my phone vibrate.” He reached a hand into his pocket and widened his eyes as he felt around the emptiness. “It’s not here…” he whispered.
“Hmm?” Yuto asked, unsure of what he had said.
“I must’ve dropped my phone…” Kei groaned, holding his head in his hands.
“Aw, it’ll be okay,” Yuto patted Kei on the back. “Try calling it, maybe someone picked it up for you.”
Kei nodded and got up, walking over to his home phone. As he dialed, Kei silently wished that Yuto was right, that someone had even bothered to pick up his phone.
“Hello?” he heard an unfamiliar voice ask.
“Oh, hi, um, this is the owner of the cell phone…” he began awkwardly.
“Ah yes, I could tell because the caller ID read ‘Home’,” the voice replied in an amused tone.
“Thank you for picking up my phone,” Kei said meekly.
“Yeah, sure, no problem. Thanks for calling, I was wondering about how I would be able to get in contact with you, but I guess you beat me to it.”
“Yeah…” Kei thought for a moment before continuing. “If you’re not busy right now, could you meet me at…?”
Yuto smiled as Kei’s expression grew relieved while speaking into the receiver of the telephone.
“So are you going to go get your phone back now?” Yuto asked as soon as Kei had hung up.
Kei nodded. “I’ve got to go meet the guy at the park across the street now… do you want to stay here and wait for me to get back?” Kei asked hopefully. “Unless you’re busy, of course,” he added quickly.
“No, it’s no problem. I’ll be right here when you get back. Now hurry up and get a move on, or else you might miss him!” Yuto grinned and ushered Kei out the door, gently closing it behind him.
~~~
Kei Inoo felt a light tap on his shoulder and heard a voice say, “Hey, you were that guy on the bus who dropped his phone, right?”
He started to answer, “Yea-“, but when Kei turned, his eyes once again rested upon the boy who had caught him in his arms when he had stumbled earlier. “Thanks… again,” he finished, averting the taller boy’s gaze. Kei was too embarrassed.
“I’m Kota Yabu, by the way,” the boy introduced himself while handing Kei his phone back. As their hands brushed against one another’s, Kei felt his heart racing feverishly. Why is this happening? Kei asked himself desperately.
The boy smiled slightly and Kei hurriedly replied, “Oh, right, um, my name’s Kei Inoo.” Looking up to observe Kota Yabu’s face once more, Kei could feel his cheeks growing warmer as Kota’s gaze locked onto his.
“Nice to meet you,” Kota grinned widely and extended his hand.
As Kei shook it, he felt his heart pounding furiously in his ears as he tried hopelessly to control it. “Nice to meet you, too,” Kei replied, his voice wavering a little.
“So, Kei, do you live around here? You got here pretty fast,” Kota laughed. “Not that I’m trying to be a stalker or anything,” he added casually.
Kei felt the mood lighten as he said this, and so he smiled, “No, it’s fine; I don’t mind you asking. And yes, I live around here, but you got here pretty quick, too, so do you live around here as well?” he guessed.
Kota nodded. There was a bit of an awkward silence before Kota spoke again. “If you don’t mind me asking,” he began softly. “Have you been crying recently?”
It was now Kota’s turn to avoid Kei’s glance.
After another long pause, Kei answered, just as softly, “Yes. But how did you know?” Kei wondered.
“Your eyes,” Kota stated simply. They’re still a little red and puffy. I hope you weren’t crying over losing your phone…”
“No, that wasn’t it,” Kei managed to squeeze out a little laugh. “It’s just that…” he paused and bit his lip, unsure of how to answer. “I just lost my job…” Kei muttered slowly. Of course, that wasn’t the real reason why he had been so heartbroken, but Kei didn’t want to bother a complete stranger with his personal troubles.
“I’m sorry,” Kota answered gently. “I understand that times can get really tough sometimes, we just recently lost an employee…” he murmured so softly that Kei just barely heard him.
Feeling bad for ruining the slightly cheerful mood from before, Kei tried to laugh again. “Wait, so you have a job opening?” he joked.
Kota smiled, apparently taking his question seriously, “You want to apply?”
“Could I, really?” Kei asked, his expression brightened at the prospect of finding another job do quickly.
Kota stifled a laugh, which Kei conveniently failed to notice.
“If you want to… How old are you, exactly?” Kota asked.
“Nineteen,” Kei replied honestly. “So I really need a summer job in order to earn money to pay for my college tuition,” he admitted.
Kota nodded. “I understand, after all, I’m nineteen years old, too.”
“Cool,” Kei smiled. “So what exactly is the job?” Kei inquired curiously.
“It’s, um, like a housekeeping job. You’d probably have to just help the homeowners out with some chores here and there, maybe some cooking and cleaning, even,” Kota explained.
Hmm, I’m not too bad of a cook, actually, and cleaning isn’t exactly the hardest thing in the world. Kei pondered to himself.
“You’ll get paid in advance,” Kota continued, “and the salary is…” he leaned in and whispered a number in Kei’s ear. Kei’s eyes widened as he heard the number.