Silhouette: Chapter 03
Takaki watched as Yabu embraced Hikaru in a long hug. Yabu had said something, but what exactly, Takaki wouldn’t know. But it must’ve been something brave, because the tears that stained Yabu’s clear face were real enough and apparent enough to see. He hoped that Hikaru would be smart enough to not question Yabu any further. The situation there was awkward enough.
To save them from an even more uncomfortable atmosphere, Takaki waited until Yabu wiped his tears away.
“You guys are early!” Takaki piped brightly, sitting down beside Hikaru. Yabu grinned, and Hikaru managed a smile, although Takaki could see the perplexity clearly reflected in Hikaru’s eyes.
“Hey, Takaki,” Yabu said, standing up. “Hikaru here’s waiting for Inoo, and I’m kind of hungry. Could you follow me to the convenience store to grab a snack or something?” He turned to Hikaru. “We’ll meet you at the entrance later; call us when everybody’s there already, okay? We won’t take long!”
Yabu patted Takaki on the shoulder, beckoning him to follow him. Takaki stood up, nodded at Hikaru and followed Yabu, leaving a still-very-confused Hikaru behind.
Yabu waited for them to walk a distance before he spoke.
“I didn’t want to see how Inoochan will greet Hikaru,” he said, biting his lip. “Sorry I had to drag you along.”
“Nah, it’s all good, I feel like getting a drink anyway,” Takaki shrugged. “Are you all right? Your eyes look disgusting. Seriously. I say this from the bottom of my heart.”
Yabu punched him on the shoulder. “Will there ever be a day when you say something pleasant to me, Takaki?”
They continued walking.
“I asked Hikaru just now, if he liked Inoo.”
Takaki stared at him.
“I know, I know, it sounds as if I’m really dim or something because it’s pretty obvious to me already, but I needed to hear it from him. He said he did, and I asked why.”
“He told me why, and it seemed like he really was in love with Inoo, so much that I felt that Inoo deserved Hikaru so much better than I do. Then I told him I wished him all the best.”
Takaki opened the door of the convenience store, thinking for a second. “You needed closure?”
“Something like that,” Yabu said, as they walked towards the shelves of snacks. He picked out a strawberry granola bar. He looked at it for a while, then up at Takaki again.
“Well, I think you’re very brave,” Takaki said, walking to Yabu with a bottled drink in his hand. “Stop looking so grumpy, you look terrible as you are already. C’mon, let’s pay up and go back. I promise you a great day today, okay? I’ll help you cheer up, help you take your mind off things.”
Yabu looked at him, chortling. He held his palm out towards Takaki.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Takaki held Yabu’s hands and clenched it tight, wishing silently that he wouldn’t let go.
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Takaki and Yabu were walking back to the entrance of the amusement park where the rest of JUMP were.
“I really wished Daiki could come,” Chinen was saying, pouting as he stuffed cotton candy into his small mouth. “It’s not the same if he wasn’t here to finish up this fluff for me.”
“They’re back! They’re back!” Keito shouted. “Yabu-kun, where were you guys?”
“We went to get a bit of food,” Yabu said. He fished out the granola bar from his pocket and tapped it on Yamada’s shoulders. “This is for you.”
“Strawberry!” Yamada shrieked. “Oh, Yabu-kun, thank you!”
“But... but Yama-chan, you told me you didn’t want any food just now!” Yuto looked at Yamada, baffled. “I could’ve bought it for you if you wanted some.”
“Don’t be so petty, Yuto,” Yamada said, with a giggle, as he tore open the packet.
“Shall we go then?” Hikaru said, with Inoo standing close behind him. He seemed to be resting his chin on Hikaru’s shoulder.
“Inoochan, we’re in public!” Ryutaro said, putting on a stern tone. “You don’t need your junior to tell you how to behave in public!”
Hikaru laughed at Ryutaro. He seemed to have forgotten the little incident earlier in the morning, and proceeded to hold Inoo’s hand as they strode into the amusement park. “Let’s not waste anymore time, guys.”
“Then... Keito,” Ryutaro looked up to the boy. “May I hold your hand? Some of the rides scare me.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The cool breeze in the air was forgiving. Some of the rides were too exhilarating (“Why do people even build these things?!” Ryutaro cried.) and the members of Seven were forced to sit on them with the Best members (“Because we’re thrill-seekers, you know? スリル!” Hikaru exclaimed.)
It wasn’t long until the Seven members wanted to cease all activities in the amusement park with the Best members.
“If I have to take another ride that makes me feel as if I left my heart at the starting point, I will seriously get my hamster to bite your butt, Hikaru,” Ryutaro snarled.
“Oh you guys are no fun,” Inoo said, dismissing the Seven members with a careless wave of his hand. The Seven members all had their hands on their knees - they had just came back from a ride that turned their stomachs upside down and left their hair in a mess.
“I can’t take it anymore, I think the granola is coming out,” Yamada’s hand flew to his mouth. A split second later, he took off for the toilet in the opposite direction. Yuto chased after him.
“I feel the candy floss churning about in my...” Chinen rubbed his belly.
Keito looked at Chinen, then back at Ryutaro, who was still panting. “Ryutaro, let’s wait for Yamada and Yuto at the cafe over there. Plus I think Chinen will need the toilet any moment now.”
Chinen nodded. He turned to the Best members. “I’m sorry but, we don’t have a song that reflects our thrill for any of these rides like you guys do. I think you guys should go ahead first, when Yama-chan feels a little better we’ll go sit on a train or something.”
Inoo laughed. “Okay, then, see all of you later. Call us if there’s any emergency!”
Keito, Chinen and Ryutaro nodded, and walked towards the direction that Yamada and Yuto went to.
Chinen waited until they were a safe distance away from the Best members until he whispered, “I can’t stand being around Hikaru and Inoo anymore!”
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“Seems like it’s just us left!” Inoo said, looking at Yabu and Takaki. “To be honest, I feel a little woozy. Should we go sit on the Ferris wheel before we sit on anything else that will throw our heads about?”
Hikaru nodded.
The four of them walked to the Ferris wheel together. Inoo and Hikaru took the lead, with Yabu and Takaki following them behind. Yabu tried to look anywhere but in front, because the pair was laughing gaily and Inoo had his arm hooked around Hikaru’s.
“You all right with this, Yabu?” Takaki asked, looking at him. “We can pretend you’ve got a weak stomach or something.”
Yabu shook his head. “I need to live with it, we’re in the same group and I can’t hide forever. Just... just be there for me when I need you, okay?”
Takaki nodded.
Always.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The sight here is amazing!” Inoo said. “Hang on, isn’t that the Seven kids queuing up for the rollercoaster we just sat in?”
“No way,” Hikaru bent over. “It is! Those sneaky little-”
The rest laughed. Silence fell upon them as they absorbed the view. The Ferris wheel compartment had a bench right in the middle and could sit exactly four of them. Hikaru and Inoo were facing one side, with Takaki and Yabu seated back-to-back to them, facing the other side.
Hikaru and Inoo were whispering to each other, almost too audibly.
“You were holding my hand so tightly just now...”
“I was scared! And you said you’d let me hold your hands if I got scared...”
“Yeah, but I didn’t expect you to keep holding it for all of the rides, did I? You just want to hold my hands, admit it... look, you’re hugging my arm right now, aren’t you?”
“Okay, so I do. You can’t do anything about it!”
“I’ll hold your hand so tight and never let you go, that’s what I’ll do...”
“Not so tight! You’re hurting me!”
Yabu was looking down at his feet.
“Give me a kiss... give me a kiss and I’ll loosen my grip.”
From the corner of his eye, Yabu could see Inoo bend closer to Hikaru to plant a kiss on his lips. Hikaru had his eyes closed, and the brief kiss had developed into a long smooch, albeit shamelessly noisy, and Hikaru’s hands were travelling up and down Inoo’s back.
The wheel came to a stop.
Yabu turned to them. “Thrilling. I need the toilet now; the Ferris wheel didn’t go well with me.” He began to walk briskly away from them.
“You guys go ahead first,” Takaki said, jogging towards Yabu’s retreating back as he spoke. “You guys go ahead first, okay? I’ll catch up with you later!”
Inoo looked at Hikaru, shrugging. “Was the Ferris wheel that bad?”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yabu walked as fast as he could. He wished he could just drop dead.
Takaki jogged to catch up with Yabu, but he didn't say anything. He just walked next to Yabu. He knew that at times like this, it was best not to say anything. He awkwardly put a hand over Yabu's shoulders and continued walking. To his surprise, Yabu moved a little closer to Takaki.
They reached the exact same bench where they met earlier. Both of them sat down. Takaki looked at Yabu, whose tears were rolling down his face. He wasn't sobbing. He was allowing the tears to drop down silently, and suddenly Takaki couldn't hear anything else anymore, except for the sound of his teardrops falling onto his shirt. It was so soft, he couldn't have heard it, but he did, and he was still.
“I know I said I needed closure. But I couldn't give up, Takaki," Yabu spoke softly, all the while looking straight in front.
"It's okay, take your time. You don't need to be in a hurry, you know?" Takaki patted Yabu's head.
"But I can't do this. Not only for me, but also for Inoochan. And Hikaru. It's not fair for Inoochan if I keep dreaming about having dates with Hikaru, or if I keep wishing that Hikaru would contact me first or if I keep wondering whether Hikaru cares about me. And I don't want Hikaru to be at an inconvenience because of me. If Hikaru ever broke up with Inoochan and got together with me, I doubt he'd be happy because I'm not Inoochan, you see? And love is when you want that person to be happy," Yabu said, all this while as his tears continued to drop down noiselessly, his mind so empty, his eyes so hollow.
Takaki suddenly grabbed Yabu close to him, and held him tight.
"I want you to be happy too."
The sun shone brightly. It wasn't a cold day, but the wind was strong. A few leaves dropped to the ground softly, and the trees rustled gently. Yabu sat on the bench under the shade of an oak tree. He was still looking at the same few children playing soccer. Everything was the same as just now.
Except that now he had Takaki.
We only started on this chapter after
likeyesterdays had finished her Literature homework, so in the future, if the chapters come in a little later than usual, it means that either one of us ( likeyesterdays or
15thminute) are struggling (distractedly, if we may add) with our homework. Thank you guys for reading, and thank you guys for commenting. Your comments are our motivation, truly, and we're really glad you guys enjoy Silhouette so far!
(Edit: Omg, first
15thminute locked the entry to "private", causing a bit of a scare to
likeyesterdays, now the former just realised the indent on some of the paragraphs look amazingly wonky. Sorry about that! ><)
To save them from an even more uncomfortable atmosphere, Takaki waited until Yabu wiped his tears away.
“You guys are early!” Takaki piped brightly, sitting down beside Hikaru. Yabu grinned, and Hikaru managed a smile, although Takaki could see the perplexity clearly reflected in Hikaru’s eyes.
“Hey, Takaki,” Yabu said, standing up. “Hikaru here’s waiting for Inoo, and I’m kind of hungry. Could you follow me to the convenience store to grab a snack or something?” He turned to Hikaru. “We’ll meet you at the entrance later; call us when everybody’s there already, okay? We won’t take long!”
Yabu patted Takaki on the shoulder, beckoning him to follow him. Takaki stood up, nodded at Hikaru and followed Yabu, leaving a still-very-confused Hikaru behind.
Yabu waited for them to walk a distance before he spoke.
“I didn’t want to see how Inoochan will greet Hikaru,” he said, biting his lip. “Sorry I had to drag you along.”
“Nah, it’s all good, I feel like getting a drink anyway,” Takaki shrugged. “Are you all right? Your eyes look disgusting. Seriously. I say this from the bottom of my heart.”
Yabu punched him on the shoulder. “Will there ever be a day when you say something pleasant to me, Takaki?”
They continued walking.
“I asked Hikaru just now, if he liked Inoo.”
Takaki stared at him.
“I know, I know, it sounds as if I’m really dim or something because it’s pretty obvious to me already, but I needed to hear it from him. He said he did, and I asked why.”
“He told me why, and it seemed like he really was in love with Inoo, so much that I felt that Inoo deserved Hikaru so much better than I do. Then I told him I wished him all the best.”
Takaki opened the door of the convenience store, thinking for a second. “You needed closure?”
“Something like that,” Yabu said, as they walked towards the shelves of snacks. He picked out a strawberry granola bar. He looked at it for a while, then up at Takaki again.
“Well, I think you’re very brave,” Takaki said, walking to Yabu with a bottled drink in his hand. “Stop looking so grumpy, you look terrible as you are already. C’mon, let’s pay up and go back. I promise you a great day today, okay? I’ll help you cheer up, help you take your mind off things.”
Yabu looked at him, chortling. He held his palm out towards Takaki.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Takaki held Yabu’s hands and clenched it tight, wishing silently that he wouldn’t let go.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Takaki and Yabu were walking back to the entrance of the amusement park where the rest of JUMP were.
“I really wished Daiki could come,” Chinen was saying, pouting as he stuffed cotton candy into his small mouth. “It’s not the same if he wasn’t here to finish up this fluff for me.”
“They’re back! They’re back!” Keito shouted. “Yabu-kun, where were you guys?”
“We went to get a bit of food,” Yabu said. He fished out the granola bar from his pocket and tapped it on Yamada’s shoulders. “This is for you.”
“Strawberry!” Yamada shrieked. “Oh, Yabu-kun, thank you!”
“But... but Yama-chan, you told me you didn’t want any food just now!” Yuto looked at Yamada, baffled. “I could’ve bought it for you if you wanted some.”
“Don’t be so petty, Yuto,” Yamada said, with a giggle, as he tore open the packet.
“Shall we go then?” Hikaru said, with Inoo standing close behind him. He seemed to be resting his chin on Hikaru’s shoulder.
“Inoochan, we’re in public!” Ryutaro said, putting on a stern tone. “You don’t need your junior to tell you how to behave in public!”
Hikaru laughed at Ryutaro. He seemed to have forgotten the little incident earlier in the morning, and proceeded to hold Inoo’s hand as they strode into the amusement park. “Let’s not waste anymore time, guys.”
“Then... Keito,” Ryutaro looked up to the boy. “May I hold your hand? Some of the rides scare me.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The cool breeze in the air was forgiving. Some of the rides were too exhilarating (“Why do people even build these things?!” Ryutaro cried.) and the members of Seven were forced to sit on them with the Best members (“Because we’re thrill-seekers, you know? スリル!” Hikaru exclaimed.)
It wasn’t long until the Seven members wanted to cease all activities in the amusement park with the Best members.
“If I have to take another ride that makes me feel as if I left my heart at the starting point, I will seriously get my hamster to bite your butt, Hikaru,” Ryutaro snarled.
“Oh you guys are no fun,” Inoo said, dismissing the Seven members with a careless wave of his hand. The Seven members all had their hands on their knees - they had just came back from a ride that turned their stomachs upside down and left their hair in a mess.
“I can’t take it anymore, I think the granola is coming out,” Yamada’s hand flew to his mouth. A split second later, he took off for the toilet in the opposite direction. Yuto chased after him.
“I feel the candy floss churning about in my...” Chinen rubbed his belly.
Keito looked at Chinen, then back at Ryutaro, who was still panting. “Ryutaro, let’s wait for Yamada and Yuto at the cafe over there. Plus I think Chinen will need the toilet any moment now.”
Chinen nodded. He turned to the Best members. “I’m sorry but, we don’t have a song that reflects our thrill for any of these rides like you guys do. I think you guys should go ahead first, when Yama-chan feels a little better we’ll go sit on a train or something.”
Inoo laughed. “Okay, then, see all of you later. Call us if there’s any emergency!”
Keito, Chinen and Ryutaro nodded, and walked towards the direction that Yamada and Yuto went to.
Chinen waited until they were a safe distance away from the Best members until he whispered, “I can’t stand being around Hikaru and Inoo anymore!”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Seems like it’s just us left!” Inoo said, looking at Yabu and Takaki. “To be honest, I feel a little woozy. Should we go sit on the Ferris wheel before we sit on anything else that will throw our heads about?”
Hikaru nodded.
The four of them walked to the Ferris wheel together. Inoo and Hikaru took the lead, with Yabu and Takaki following them behind. Yabu tried to look anywhere but in front, because the pair was laughing gaily and Inoo had his arm hooked around Hikaru’s.
“You all right with this, Yabu?” Takaki asked, looking at him. “We can pretend you’ve got a weak stomach or something.”
Yabu shook his head. “I need to live with it, we’re in the same group and I can’t hide forever. Just... just be there for me when I need you, okay?”
Takaki nodded.
Always.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The sight here is amazing!” Inoo said. “Hang on, isn’t that the Seven kids queuing up for the rollercoaster we just sat in?”
“No way,” Hikaru bent over. “It is! Those sneaky little-”
The rest laughed. Silence fell upon them as they absorbed the view. The Ferris wheel compartment had a bench right in the middle and could sit exactly four of them. Hikaru and Inoo were facing one side, with Takaki and Yabu seated back-to-back to them, facing the other side.
Hikaru and Inoo were whispering to each other, almost too audibly.
“You were holding my hand so tightly just now...”
“I was scared! And you said you’d let me hold your hands if I got scared...”
“Yeah, but I didn’t expect you to keep holding it for all of the rides, did I? You just want to hold my hands, admit it... look, you’re hugging my arm right now, aren’t you?”
“Okay, so I do. You can’t do anything about it!”
“I’ll hold your hand so tight and never let you go, that’s what I’ll do...”
“Not so tight! You’re hurting me!”
Yabu was looking down at his feet.
“Give me a kiss... give me a kiss and I’ll loosen my grip.”
From the corner of his eye, Yabu could see Inoo bend closer to Hikaru to plant a kiss on his lips. Hikaru had his eyes closed, and the brief kiss had developed into a long smooch, albeit shamelessly noisy, and Hikaru’s hands were travelling up and down Inoo’s back.
The wheel came to a stop.
Yabu turned to them. “Thrilling. I need the toilet now; the Ferris wheel didn’t go well with me.” He began to walk briskly away from them.
“You guys go ahead first,” Takaki said, jogging towards Yabu’s retreating back as he spoke. “You guys go ahead first, okay? I’ll catch up with you later!”
Inoo looked at Hikaru, shrugging. “Was the Ferris wheel that bad?”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yabu walked as fast as he could. He wished he could just drop dead.
Takaki jogged to catch up with Yabu, but he didn't say anything. He just walked next to Yabu. He knew that at times like this, it was best not to say anything. He awkwardly put a hand over Yabu's shoulders and continued walking. To his surprise, Yabu moved a little closer to Takaki.
They reached the exact same bench where they met earlier. Both of them sat down. Takaki looked at Yabu, whose tears were rolling down his face. He wasn't sobbing. He was allowing the tears to drop down silently, and suddenly Takaki couldn't hear anything else anymore, except for the sound of his teardrops falling onto his shirt. It was so soft, he couldn't have heard it, but he did, and he was still.
“I know I said I needed closure. But I couldn't give up, Takaki," Yabu spoke softly, all the while looking straight in front.
"It's okay, take your time. You don't need to be in a hurry, you know?" Takaki patted Yabu's head.
"But I can't do this. Not only for me, but also for Inoochan. And Hikaru. It's not fair for Inoochan if I keep dreaming about having dates with Hikaru, or if I keep wishing that Hikaru would contact me first or if I keep wondering whether Hikaru cares about me. And I don't want Hikaru to be at an inconvenience because of me. If Hikaru ever broke up with Inoochan and got together with me, I doubt he'd be happy because I'm not Inoochan, you see? And love is when you want that person to be happy," Yabu said, all this while as his tears continued to drop down noiselessly, his mind so empty, his eyes so hollow.
Takaki suddenly grabbed Yabu close to him, and held him tight.
"I want you to be happy too."
The sun shone brightly. It wasn't a cold day, but the wind was strong. A few leaves dropped to the ground softly, and the trees rustled gently. Yabu sat on the bench under the shade of an oak tree. He was still looking at the same few children playing soccer. Everything was the same as just now.
Except that now he had Takaki.
We only started on this chapter after
likeyesterdays had finished her Literature homework, so in the future, if the chapters come in a little later than usual, it means that either one of us ( likeyesterdays or
15thminute) are struggling (distractedly, if we may add) with our homework. Thank you guys for reading, and thank you guys for commenting. Your comments are our motivation, truly, and we're really glad you guys enjoy Silhouette so far!
(Edit: Omg, first
15thminute locked the entry to "private", causing a bit of a scare to
likeyesterdays, now the former just realised the indent on some of the paragraphs look amazingly wonky. Sorry about that! ><)