Thinking of You - Chapter Sixteen
I knew it… I knew I could trust him… Kei smiled softly as he heard his friend’s regret pouring from Daiki’s heartfelt words. Content with his friend’s admission, Kei decided to leave before Daiki discovered him outside. I’m glad… this means everything can finally return to normal… as long as everyone does forgive him…
***
“Chinen!” Ryosuke called happily to his friend whom he caught walking ahead of him on their way to the Jimusho the next day. Upon hearing Ryosuke’s voice, Chinen’s cheeks flushed a light crimson as he recalled how his last meeting with the older boy had ended with Ryosuke’s arms wrapped around his frail body, and his friend’s confession of his love for him.
“Hi, R-Ryosuke,” Chinen smiled shyly.
Ryosuke’s heart fluttered hearing his friend say his name so adorably, and his face began to redden slightly as well. “H-Hi,” he replied. “H-How are you feeling, Chinen?”
Realizing the concern that was hidden in the question, Chinen blushed even deeper, making Ryosuke’s heart begin to pound furiously in his chest, as he couldn’t help but feel himself falling for his friend’s cuteness.
“I-I’m feeling much better now… Thanks to you,” Chinen murmured timidly. “Thank you… R-Ryosuke, for protecting me… from myself…”
“It’s alright, I-I can only thank you for allowing me to do so…” Ryosuke smiled softly.
The two then turned away from each other, both hearts too shy to continue forming words. Walking side-by-side, their arms hung limply at their sides. But suddenly, Ryosuke’s hand gently brushed against Chinen’s. At the touch of their fingers, the two friends’ eyes met once more. Without a word, Ryosuke summoned up the courage to take Chinen’s small, delicate hand into his own, the warmth of his touch delving its way into the younger boy’s heart.
“R-Ryosuke?” Chinen stammered as he pulled his eyes away to stare down at his shoes.
“Y-Yeah, Chinen?”
“Thank you,” the little boy murmured as a soft smile crept over his face once more.
***
“Daiki!” Yuto gasped, pointing at the entrance to the rehearsal room, where the familiar figure of their friend stood timidly in the shadows.
“Daiki?!” Hikaru shouted happily.
“Daiki!” Keito waved, a smile breaking across his face.
“Daiki, you’re back!” Ryutaro greeted with a similar smile.
“Welcome back, Daiki!” Kota nodded.
“Daiki, you’re here!” Kei grinned happily. But although most of the members had greeted Daiki welcomingly, none of them had the courage to actually approach him.
“Hey guys,” Daiki smiled sheepishly. “I came back… I came back because I wanted to say that I’m sorry for what I’ve done… I really hope that you can forgive me… I’m willing to do my best to prove that I really am really sorry…” Without receiving an answer from his friends, Daiki furrowed his brow, praying his worst fears were not to be realized. His gaze turned forlornly to the rest of JUMP, who were all sitting at the opposite side of the room, in silence.
Taking a deep breath, Daiki finally voiced the question the answer from which he was silently dreading. “Will you ever forgive me?”
To his surprise, the silence persisted. Then, as if breaking a spell that had been cast over the group, Kei spoke up quietly. “Of course I forgive you, Daiki.”
“Already?” Ryosuke asked, surprised to hear the one who had committed so much wrong being so easily forgiven.
“Guys, you might not realize this, but Daiki is telling the truth. He is really sorry.” Kei turned to face Daiki as he smiled. “Unbeknownst to us, Daiki went to visit Yuya yesterday, and I, on our day off from these JUMP rehearsals, followed him and overheard his sincere apology to our beloved hospitalized group member.”
Daiki stared, dumbfounded, back at the older boy. “You h-heard what I said?”
Kei nodded. “And I even heard your sobbing and heartfelt cries.”
“Daiki cried?” Ryutaro smirked.
Daiki scrunched his nose. “Well… it’s true. But I didn’t mean for anyone else to hear that…”
Kei merely laughed blithely as he stood up and walked over to Daiki. Putting his hands on the shorter boy’s shoulders, he pushed him gently towards the rest of the group. “Come on, guys. Didn’t we agree that Daiki’s still one of us, even now?”
Daiki uncomfortably shifted his gaze from one member to the next, their eyes clouded in shadows of doubt.
“Ryutaro, you were the one that was worried whether Daiki was alright the other day, remember? You admitted it yourself,” Kei grinned slyly.
“Yeah, I suppose…” Ryutaro avoided his gaze.
“And Yuto, you were the one that kept pushing us forward, even when we were all feeling dragged down without Daiki here. I’m sure you want, even more than the rest of us, for everything to return back to normal, right? And now that Daiki is right here before us, asking us for exactly that, are you going to refuse him?”
“Well, I guess not…” Yuto lowered his eyes.
Kei continued, “And also-”
“Stop, Kei, please.” Daiki interjected, with a look of defeat evident on his face. “I don’t want any of you guys to feel like I’m forcing you to let me back into JUMP. I don’t want our friendship to be rebuilt upon lies and false promises. If you all aren’t ready to forgive me yet, I completely understand. What I did… it was unforgivable. There is nothing in the world that could possibly justify my actions with any ounce of right. But still… even if it takes an eternity, I just hope that one day, you will forgive me. If not now, then later. If not in this lifetime, then the next. Someday, I just wish we can all be friends again… But until then, I will respect your wishes and leave you be.
“I am sorry…” he apologized once more.
“Daiki…” Kei breathed, watching as his friend walked dismally towards the exit.
“Wait, Daiki!”
Eyes widening at the sound of Kota’s voice calling through the stillness, Daiki immediately turned to face his friends.
“Don’t leave,” Kota sighed. “Seeing where we all stand now, I forgive you. As a part of JUMP, we must always stand together, and as a person, you will always be my friend, and as a friend, I would never think to not forgive you.”
“Kota…” A smile began to form on Daiki’s expression.
“Kota’s right,” Ryutaro agreed solemnly. “We’re friends, Daiki. Of course I’ll forgive you. For as long as I can remember, you’ve always been here supporting us, encouraging us to do our best and strive for our goals. Even with you changing, I still missed the old you, but as long as that’s who you are now, I don’t see why things can’t go back to the way they were before… especially since you even cried, seeing Yuya,” Ryutaro snickered.
“Hey, don’t be so heartless, Ryutaro! Besides, you’re making it sound like any kind of change is just so terrible!” Yuto laughed. “Of course, in this case, the changed Daiki was not as great as the original you, Daiki,” he continued in a more serious manner. “But still, I could feel the genuine remorse in your words, and that tells me that you are ready to be forgiven. So yes, I will forgive you, Daiki.”
Keito nodded and added, “I forgive you, too, Daiki. From what you’ve said and what Kei told us, it really seems like you’re regretting your actions. Although I hope that nothing like this will ever happen again, I’m still going to be willing to offer my friendship to you again, anytime!”
After seconds of silence passed and everyone’s spirits began to lift from their dampened state, Hikaru nodded as well. “No matter what, JUMP stays together, right? We’ve always said this, and from the beginning, Daiki, you’ve been a good friend to everyone. I mean, everyone has their little mess-ups, right?” Hikaru laughed lightly.
“Thanks, guys,” Daiki smiled, tears shining in his eyes as he couldn’t believe his own ears, hearing his friends were accepting him back made his heart fill with happiness and gratitude, overjoyed.
“Ryosuke, what about you?” Ryutaro asked, nudging his friend gently to urge him to say something.
“I… I don’t know,” Ryosuke admitted sadly. “Daiki, you’ve been one of my best friends, even from the years back when we were juniors. No matter what happened between us, we would always be able to sort out of differences and reconcile easily. But this… what you did… I-I just don’t know.” Ryosuke took a deep breath and continued, as he finally made up his mind. “As a friend, I will forgive you, but you better promise to never hurt any of us ever again,” Ryosuke glared at Daiki for a second, menace glinting from his eyes. But soon after, a smile began to break out on his face as Daiki began to nod fervently at his words.
“I promise,” Daiki added quickly. “I promise I’ll never hurt anyone ever again. Anyone.” He insisted. “But in regards to those I have already hurt… Chinen, I’ve hurt you more than any of us here…” Daiki turned to face his little friend, who tensed upon being directly addressed by the older boy.
“In no way am I even expecting you to forgive me already… But I truly am sorry for what I did. Chinen, you are one of my most treasured friends. Through all the years, you’ve stood by me, trusted me, and I can’t even believe I would ever betray your trust. But I must face the truth. I know now that what I did was horribly wrong. And I can only beg for your forgiveness.” Getting down on his knees before Chinen, Daiki bowed his head to the floor and pleaded, tears of remorse falling from his eyes. “Please, accept my apology; I am truly sorry for what I did!”
Chinen bit his lip, silence shrouding the air around them.
At last, Chinen made his decision. “Please, lift your head… I-I’ll forgive you, Daiki. B-But I can’t say if we can still be friends after this…”
Looking up at the younger boy, Daiki smiled gently. “I understand. But I still have to thank you for your forgiveness. It means a lot to me to hear you say this, Chinen.”
The little boy sniffed in return, feeling on the edge of tears himself.
“Alright, guys, now that Daiki’s back, how’s about we try practicing his solo piece once more?” Kota grinned, announcing his plan to the group.
“Wait!” Daiki stopped him from continuing. “I… I don’t want to do this anymore. Please, Kota, let me step down. I don’t want the spotlight. I don’t want this solo.”
“But Daiki-”
“Please! This is the last thing I’ll ever ask of you, Kota. Please, just let me escape from this, please…” Daiki persisted, holding his gaze firm with the older boy’s.
“I don’t think it’s in my control…” Kota began, frowning as he saw Daiki’s expression fall sadly. “But I can probably get Johnny-san to allow you to switch spots with Ryosuke, since he does seem to be the main attraction these days anyway…” Kota laughed as Ryosuke made a face at him.
“Besides,” Kei added, cutting in. “If we all fight against this for you, I’m sure he’ll have to agree!”
From behind Kei, Hikaru agreed, and Ryutaro smiled happily. Yuto gave Daiki his brightest grin, and Keito nodded his assent.
“Thanks, guys. Thank you for everything,” Daiki murmured humbly.
“Of course,” Ryosuke nodded, coming up to his friend to give him an encouraging pat on the back. “I’ll be glad to take this solo off your hands, if it’s really bothering you so much.”
Daiki nodded back timidly.
“Alright then!” Kota declared triumphantly. “Daiki, so why don’t you take Ryosuke’s place on the left, and we’ll put Ryosuke in the middle. The steps aren’t that different, so I’m sure the two of you will be able to patch things up in no time!
“So then, if everyone’s ready, let’s go!”
~~~
A/N: I finished!! (well, not really.. there's still the epilogue left.. XD) I hope I didn't disappoint anyone with my ending.. the emotions were kind of hard to describe... and I think it ended up being kind of cliched =____= but nonetheless, thank you for supporting me all the way through to the end! ^^