Night air, face to face...
Ken looked out the dusty window of the bus.
The whole city was in the motion as he felt his visions blur into nothingness of white.
The lights of the city blurred into straight lines of orange, and the boy bit back a sigh as
he felt a knot in his stomach. With his eyes red due to lack of sleep, the boy leaned his head
against the window as the motion sickness kicked in.
...This was going to be a lousy evening.
Iori was slightly overloaded tonight. He'd been busying himself with Hiroyuki again (poor guy could only watch hovering doom as Michiko sewed away) and it had put him a bit late on his studying. He hardly noticed the time slipping by, with the exception of an occasional guffaw from Armadimon.
Apparently Daisuke thought it a good idea to show him YouTube. In the other room, his grandfather cheered awya at some samurai movie.
This was going to be a long evening.
Arriving at the familar apartment, Ken braced himself before pressing the button "Hida".
The grandfather's voice answered and the teen apologized for his late visit as the time was nearing 10pm.
The door opened with a dry click sound, and Ken dragged his feet as the pain in his gut was worsening.
Finally getting to the Hida resident, the he knocked hesitantly.
Iori jerked up when his grandfather called for him to come because a friend was there. He hurried across the appartment not to make his guest wait and opened the door to see Ken.
"Oh, hi there, Ken-san," he greeted him with bow before inviting him to enter. "Get in."
"Actually, if it's not too much trouble, I would like us to get out..." The older boy suggested, giving a sideway glance to senior an apologatic look.
Iori's grand father just nodded. The blue haired boy bowed to thank him.
Iori's eyebrows raised at the unexpected request.
"Ah, uh, sure," he nodded.
He turned to put on his shoes, then considered his coat.
"How much 'out' do you want us to go?" he asked.
"Not too far. Don't worry about it. I don't plan on staying long myself."
Ken eyed the stair case. "That park nearby... What do you say?"
"Sounds okay," iori nodded.
He threw on his coat and a scarf, then turned in the direction of his room.
"Armadimon! I'm going out!" he called to his partner, who didn't seem to hear him.
Being all set, the pair exited the apartment.
Two walked in silence, and arrived at the cold park.
Ken lifted a seat of the dew laced swing. Sitting himself down in one, he started swinging, and eyed Iori, motioning that he do the same.
Somehow, Iori didn't find the setting much reassuring. The last talk he'd had on these same swings hadn' turned out to be very constructive at any rates. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and sat himself down.
After more than a cuple swing, Ken started.
"It's been ages since we've done this right?" He swallowed, trying to hide his uneasiness.
"The last time I've done this I think I was 6..."
Feeling the cold air brushing against his hair, Ken stared blankly into the scenary.
Iori gave a weak smile.
"Actually, I was sitting in these same swings two weeks ago," he chuckled.
Then his tone turned more serious.
"It's about Miyako, isn't it?"
Blue haired boy stopped swinging.
"Yeah." He nodded, his tone somewhat indiffererent.
"I don't know what exactly happened, but she seemed affected. She only told me that she'd told you everything and that you two had broken up," Iori explained.
"I'm really sorry. I did something stupid and if it wasn't for it, nothing would have happened."
Ken just sighed. "No I'm not upset at you really. I'm just trying to figure my feelings out."
The blue haired boy stood up, and approached the junior.
Standing right in front of Iori, he looked into Iori's green eyes.
"Hida san." Ken's voice turned serious. "How do you, feel about her?"
Iori did not maintain eye contact very long.
"I care deeply for her. She is my best friend.
I won't deny I probably develloped something a bit beyond friendship toward her recently,"
he said contemplatively.
"Our relationship's been... ambiguous these last few weeks, and I told her I had feelings."
"I... don't blame you." Ken sat back down to the swing, feeling the throb in his heart. He swallowed hard as he felt like his throat is getting dry.
"She said you two were over... but I don't think she's over you yet," Iori felt compelled to add. "Ken-san?" he asked, feeling it was his turn to ask a question.
Sitting down, Ken pushed himself back and forth with his arms draping down on both his sides.
He stared hard into the sky. Feeling the knot in his stomach is growing larger and larger, he braced burning pain in his chest.
He wondered why he felt so sad... If you really thought about it, it was him who had pushed her away.
He missed her, but he didn't wanted to see her.
His mind was in jumbles, and Ken didn't know what he wanted anymore. Only half listening to what Iori had said last, Ken replied. "Yeah?"
"Please don't try to come back in her heart," Iori stated plainly, even though it pained him greatly to request that. "I don't mean to deny your feelings, but Miyako is... fragile right now. And I wouldn't want either of you to get hurt like that again. Especially if it's because of me."
Even though he did believe in these words, it feltterribly hypocrite and selfish to say that. Iori could feel himself tear up.
"Please... For the sake of all three of us?"
Ken smiled weakly, reached and wiped Iori's tears. "I wonder what went wrong." He spat out the word, his voice trembling. He felt himself chocking up, and he looked up to hide his own tears. An awkward silence fall on two male, the thick air suffocating them both.
"...Hida san." With his emotion supressed, Ken started again.
"I...respect you... and your request." He sighed and looked down.
"I...Miss her though." He brought a hand to his mouth, then brought both hands together and sqeezed his temples.
I'm sorry," Iori choked.
"I know she meant a lot to you. Probably still does. I tried to ignore her. I didn't want to be in your way. Especially when you two were already..." Iori didn't dare to finish his sentence.
Ken smiled sadly.
"I...understand. Perhaps next time we talk, hopefully we'll be able to talk about much lighter subject."
Feeling like his whole heart being ripped away from him, he extended a hand to pet Iori, then withdrew it.
Instead, he reached his hand out, offering a handshake.