[drabble] Old Habits Die Hard
Title: Old Habits Die Hard
Author: Luna (dreamweavernyx )
Pairing: Yamabu
Genre: Fluff/slight angst
Notes: Happy birthday, Acchan (hibinoasami )!
~
It’s a habit he just can’t get rid of.
Every morning, he finds himself stopping outside the door of the Yabu residence, waiting and waiting until the door is flung open and his groupmate runs out, sandwich in mouth and hair still messy.
“You know, you don’t have to wait for me,” says Yabu one day, as they walk to the jimusho together after school.
Shoon laughs.
“But it’s on the way, so why not?”
And Yabu finds he cannot argue back.
The years slip by, and Yabu changes from a mushroom-haired chibi to a scrawny awkward teenager with a heart-melting smile. But Shoon’s habit doesn’t change, and he still faithfully waits outside the gate of Yabu’s house every morning.
“Sorry to keep you waiting!”
“It’s okay,” Shoon laughs, as they set out together, day after day, every day.
~
After Yabu’s debut, Shoon expects things to change, but they don’t. The first morning after the announcement, he stops by the Yabu residence again, and smiles in relief to see Yabu running out from the house waving in greeting, just as he’d been doing for years.
Yabu will chatter on and on about his new group, how they’re cool and fun to be with.
“But being with you and Taiyou and Hikaru is definitely much, much better,” he says happily, flashing a peace sign at Shoon and grinning.
Shoon smiles back.
He feels happy that things haven’t changed between them.
~
“How could you?!”
Yabu’s angry shriek echoes in the empty hallway.
“I guess,” says Shoon, smiling ruefully, “I just wasn’t meant for this kind of thing, after all.”
Yabu looks at Shoon with cold, morose eyes.
“So you’re just giving up,” he says softly, in a disgusted tone.
“No-”
“I never want to see you again!”
Yabu whirls around and storms away, leaving Shoon staring at his retreating form, heart cracking in pain.
The next morning, he walks out of the house and into the heavy morning rain. Out of habit, he ends up at the Yabu residence, and he waits there, rain splattering against his umbrella.
The least he can do as a friend is see Yabu to work, after all.
But Yabu never comes out.
Shoon goes day after day, determined to explain himself to Yabu. Day after day he stands outside the house, armed with an umbrella when it rains.
Yabu never comes.
His eyes search hard for a shadow of the gangly teenager, and finally, a week and a half later, he spots Yabu slipping out through the back door.
Shoon runs.
“Kota!”
Yabu stops dead in his tracks, frozen at the sound of Shoon’s voice.
“What are you doing here?”
“Listen-” Shoon attempts to explain himself, but Yabu brushes him off.
“Please let go of my arm.”
“Let me explain-”
“You think I’ll forgive you after you abandoned us, abandoned me so easily? We were best friends, Mayo!”
Shoon’s heart twinges a little at the old nickname.
“We still are,” he says placatingly.
Yabu looks up at him for a while, eyes filled with anger and hurt. Finally, it melts away a little, and his lips curl in a broken, twisted smile that looks more like a grimace than anything else.
“Why,” he breathes softly at last, “why couldn’t you just have stayed? You would have gotten a debut too, eventually.”
Shoon shakes his head.
“It’s not always rainbows and butterflies, Kota,” he says quietly. “I just felt that perhaps…perhaps I was always meant for something else. Can’t we just work around that? We can still be friends even if we don’t work in the same agency anymore. Life’s always about compromises, so just accept this one?”
Yabu’s dead eyes pierce through him.
“It won’t be the same,” he replies dully.
Shoon winces.
“I know,” he says, “but our friendship will still be here, no matter what happens.”
He taps his chest.
“My heart’s always open, no matter what. We’ll still be friends, so isn’t that good enough already?”
Yabu’s eyes stare at him for a while, like black bottomless pits.
“…Yeah, I guess,” he says quietly, after a long silence.
Shoon smiles.
“Well, I’ll walk you to work today, then!”
Yabu laughs a hesitant, nervous laugh.
“Sure,” he says, his smile a little shaky.
Shoon reaches out, and grabs Yabu’s hand firmly.
“Let’s go, then!”
Hand in hand, their silhouettes disappear down the concrete sidewalk into the orange light of the morning sun.
Even rainbows will disappear eventually, and all stars have to die someday.
But friendship…
…will last forever.