12 random drabbles for Cease!
It hurts every time Kame pulls his heart back to himself whenever things start looking serious; sometimes he wonders if heartbreak wouldn’t hurt less in the long run, when every time he lends his heart and takes it back it cracks a bit.
Akira looks a little dumb most of the time, so it takes Shuji a while to realize how much he can learn from his self-proclaimed friend, if he can only stop caring about what the others will say.
Most people think that Natsu is slowly going crazy, wasting his youth again in a haze of alcohol and drugs, that his music is but the reflection of the demons in his head. Only Asako sees the truth when she looks at him, singing at the top of his lungs with his eyes tightly closed, chasing monsters away note by note.
Shuji has heard before that love’s like the wind in that you can feel it, but not see it. He wonders if that’s why the sea breeze feels better when he’s with Akira.
Ryu wanders from fight to fight, from warehouse to the riverside, runs into trouble again and again, and his father says that he’s just young and naïve and lost, led astray by unadvisable friends. Ryu doesn’t think it’s worth trying to explain that he’s not lost, but that all the points of his compass have Hayato’s name on them.
Bemu thinks he knows everything about humans’ cruelty and all the ways they can hurt you with words and weapons; but when Natsume covers him from the rain with his own umbrella so Bemu doesn’t catch a cold Natsume doesn’t know Bemu can’t catch anyway, Bemu realizes it’s the first time a human has made him cry with happiness.
Reality says that Hiroto’s poor, that he has an alcoholic mother and a little brother in a wheelchair to look after and a lifetime of harsh work to look forward to; reality says that Hiroto has no time or money or energy left to dream.
Reality says that Nao is rich but sick and too naïve, with an overprotective family that doesn’t let her out of their sight and don’t approve of her love; reality says that Nao’s dreams are caught in a golden cage.
Reality, Hiroto thinks, doesn’t matter anymore, because a single dream is stronger, and their dream isn’t single anymore.
Hayato’s not scared of fights no matter who he’s up against, and he most definitely is not scared of scrawny Ryu; if he does an effort to keep on his best behavior when Ryu’s in a bad mood, it’s only because, well, he likes to be a good friend. Or that’s what he tells himself - and anyone who cares to listen.
Hayato’s only twenty and his body already shows the scars of wounds collected during one too many fights. Bem’s wounds heal within second and his skin is as unmarred as porcelain, but with the way Hayato’s eyes bore into him Bemu wonders if he can see the scars that Natsume left inside.
Shuji takes it into his hands to produce Nobuta and, maybe in the process, Akira too because they’re special cases after all. It takes him way too long to realize that the special case is him - his friends are just exceptional.
Hayato misses being eleven, because back then Ryu leaning against him only meant that Ryu was tired and Hayato was nearby, a comfortable weight against his shoulder and a reassuring warmth. Now Hayato’s seventeen and he doesn’t know what it means any longer, because the touch sends his heart trying to beat out of his chest and the hint of cologne ties knots in his guts.
Shuji remembers the crazy things Koji would do when he was younger, and sometimes he thinks Akira’s behavior is about as mature as Koji’s. Most of the time Shuji thinks he can’t be much more mature himself, because every crazy idea only makes him fall faster for Akira.