MM 2
"Bold" English for dialog
"Normal" Japanese when used for dialog
"Italics" Flashback, Important Stuff, Locations, etc.
Masochistic MEMOIRS
By Sweet Obsidian Rain
MEMOIR Two: Noise
Oshitari's Room, 9:13 A.M.
BANG.
The sound of many scurrying feet and shouts could be heard outside of the former tensai's apartment. Stirring groggily, he reluctantly left his warm bed and slammed the door to his bathroom shut.
Oshitari opened the door to his apartment and poked his head outside. A piece of toast was hanging out of his mouth. What he saw surprised him. New furniture was being brought into the empty apartment next to his. Luggage, a crate of food, and decorative objects were also being carried by men inside the apartment.
Honestly, it was just an average size apartment. No one would need that many people to help with moving into such a small place. No one except the idiot that was going to be his new neighbor.
Suddenly, Oshitari caught a familiar flash of red he hadn't seen in years... No... it couldn't be...
The man felt himself unable to move; he stood there for nearly an hour before he could feel his legs again. By that time, the movers had already left, and the apartment next door seemed to be locked.
Oshitari ran up to the railing and looked below him, hoping to catch a glimpse of the red hair he saw earlier this morning.
Of course, it had been nearly an hour since he saw the reminder of his past, and he was probably imagining things. Feeling disappointed and empty, the bluenette entered his apartment, walked to his room, kicked off his slippers, and went to back to sleep. A tear or two trailed down his cheeks.
---
"Well, it's like... a good luck charm. That keeps away evil things."
---
Oshitari skimmed through the spines of the various romance novels on the shelf. None of the titles caught his attention. No, all the ones that did, he had already read.
Sighing, the tensai turned to walk out of he library, seeing as he wasn't going to find any good books to read. Before he could even blink, he found himself trapped under a redhead with books scattered near them.
"Oww..." the redhead groaned and pulled himself up. He didn't seem to notice Oshitari under him.
"Excuse me... Could you get off, please?"
The boy looked down and a look of panic passed his face before he jumped up. Reaching down to help the tensai up, the redhead grinned at him apologetically. "So sorry. I didn't mean to run into you."
Uncomfortable and not knowing what to do, Oshitari nodded and bent down to help the other boy pick up his books.
"What's your name?" the redhead asked. "Oh, thanks..." He took the books from Oshitari's arms and stacked them on a nearby table. "I'm Mukahi Gakuto. Nice to meet you."
Lost of words, the tensai only said his name and shook the outstretched hand. "Oshitari Yuushi."
The boy named Mukahi didn't seem to notice Oshitari's uneasiness. "Hi! I'm new to the district. This is my first year as Hyoutei Gakuen."
The blunette nodded. No wonder he had never seen the boy around before. "I see. Welcome to Hyoutei then."
"Are you looking for a romance novel to read?"
Oshitari reached out to push his glasses up before answering, "Yes, but it seems that all I've read all the interesting ones."
Gakuto looked eager. "Have you read this one yet?" He picked up the book at the top of his stack and showed it to his newfound friend.
The blue haired boy took it and looked at its cover. "It doesn't have a title." He opened it up to find a title page, but found none. "It doesn't look interesting at all."
The redhead shook his head. "'You shouldn't judge a book by its cover.' Haven't you ever heard of that?"
The doorbell rang. Oshitari woke up with a start and took his time to answer the door. From experience, he knew that the impatient knocks and ringing of the bell were only done by one person.
One person named Atobe Keigo.
When he had finally opened the door to let he diva in, Atobe stood by the doorway with an irritated look on his face. "What took you so long?!"
Oshitari blinked, still in a daze. "Atobe... What are you doing here?"
"Hmph. Ore-sama came here to check on you, and that's all you greet Ore-sama with?"
"...If you're here to find someone to pay attention to you, then you've got the wrong place. Go find Jiroh."
The gray-haired man frowned. "Oshitari, did you get enough sleep?"
The former tensai yawned in response.
"Okay. I guess not..." Atobe looked his friend once over. "Well? Aren't you going to let me in?" Without waiting for an answer, he took Oshitari by his shoulder and steered the man inside, closing the door with his foot.
He led the bluenette into the kitchen and left him at the counter. In a few minutes Atobe had the tea brewing. The diva came back with two cups filled with hot green tea and sat in a stool next to his friend.
"So? What did you come here for, Atobe?"
"Well..."
Oshitari raised an eye brow and stared at Atobe, holding his cup to his lips.. "I can't help if you don't tell me."
"One of my sources informed me that a man going by the name Mukahi Gakuto took a plane from New York and arrived here in Japan around 5:30 this morning."
Oshitari's grip on his cup slipped, and the expensive material hit the floor with a sharp shattering sound. The silence that followed was one filled with tension."... What?"
"One of my-"
"He's alive and back for real?! Are you sure?!" Oshitari’s hands shot out and shook the diva. "Answer me! Where is he right now?"
"Yuushi, calm down! I don't know where he is. You have to stop freaking out whenever I tell you something about him." The ex-captain of Hyoutei felt his head swarming as his shoulders were pushed and pulled down none too gently. Where did Yuushi get all this strength?
Slowly, the stunned man let go of Atobe and mumbled, "Sorry."
A sigh. "It's fine. I'm the one that should be sorry. I got you all worked up... And I'm barely able to gather any information for you..."
"No... No. Atobe, you've been a great help." Oshitari closed his eyes and tried to picture a calm lake. He needed to get his emotions under control. "Is there anything else you want to tell me?"
"Actually, yes. Jiroh and I felt that we needed to spend some time alone... With only the two of us before we our summer break is over. So we decided to go and spend a month in Italy," Atobe paused and his expression became concerned, "I won't be able to help you with anything while I'm gone. Will you be alright by yourself?"
Registering the information, Oshitari slowly nodded. "I understand; I'll be fine. Have a nice vacation with Jiroh. When are you going?"
Atobe smiled faintly. "Two days from now."
Park, 6:00 P.M.
Listening to his own quiet footsteps, Oshitari strolled down the path and sat on a swing. Pushing himself gently down the ground with his feet, he swung back and forth, feeling the slight breeze brush against his cheeks.
Atobe had stayed and chatted with him until his lover finally called the diva and ushered the man to go back home. No doubt to pack. And snuggle. And do their daily activities.
Chuckling to himself, he found it ironic how a man like Atobe Keigo could be twisted around the finger of someone who was like his complete opposite.
---
"I guess love does many things to people, ne?"
---
His chuckling subsided and Oshitari found himself listening to the sound of children approaching the park. The screeches and laughter made the blunette smile to himself. It was just like the old times... When things were much more... innocent.
A certain redhead ran across the garden carrying an enormous water gun while giggling madly.
Oshitari stood rooted on the spot, soaked from head to toe. Water dripped down his hair, and the tensai turned to glare at his friend. "You!" With a roar, he picked up the running hose he was using to water the flowers and lunged after Gakuto. He held the hose up, and aimed at his friend.
Gakuto screeched loudly as he felt ice-cold water hit his back. Hiding behind a statue, the stone protected him from the water. Not for long though, for Oshitari somehow took a shortcut and appeared behind him. Once again, Gakuto found himself drenched and shivering afterwards. "Gotcha!" The bespectacled man smirked widely.
Pouting, Gakuto turned away from his friend. "Mou, not fair. You had an advantage."
"It's your fault for being so poorly prepared."
Within a moment, Oshitari was tackled down as the redhead stole his hose and got his payback.
The sound of a violin playing filled the air. The man could tell that whoever was playing it was only an intermediate violinist and was struggling with the piece. Of course he'd know; he was an expert violinist. Was. After that incident, he'd let go of playing the instrument again.
Oshitari's felt his fingers twitching to play. It was odd. He'd been near many violins and heard many musicians for the past few years and he didn't have the sudden urge to play like he did now. Yet, hearing the unknown violinist play the piece (which he or she was definitely struggling with) was making his blood pulse like it did four years ago.
Placing his feet firmly on the ground to stop swinging, Oshitari stood up and followed the music to its source. It took him a few minutes to find his way around the trees and bushes, but finally he reached a clearing.
A willow's branches covered his view from seeing who the violinist was, but he could see the faint outline of a male figure. Reaching out to push the willow's arms aside, what he saw was something that made his head swarm and fly.
It brought on many emotions... Happy and painful ones.
He gasped.
---
"What are you doing with my violin?!"
---
T.C.B.
Done! xD I wrote half of this chapter while listening and re-listening to the Devil's Trill (or is it Devil's Thrill? I've seen many ways to spell it...). xD It's addicting... xD
As always, this chapter is short. I feel like I rushed things a bit, but this story was meant to be fast paced. xD Should I slow down a bit? I know Yuushi’s OOC, but bear with it. He’s shocked, and well… Love does many things to you, ne? This is a future fic as well, so people do change as they mature and grow. Not to mention that anyone would change if what happened to Yuushi happened to them. Don’t worry; he’ll be more in character as the story progresses. Please tell me your opinion about the pace of the story in your reviews, ne?
First Unrevised Version 9.29.07
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