[drabble] I'd Catch a Grenade
Title: I'd Catch a Grenade
Author: Luna (dreamweavernyx )
Pairing: implied Yabuhika
Genre: Angst/Tragedy
Summary: It's not much of a secret that you've been crushing on him.
Notes: Inspired by Grenade (Bruno Mars).
Character death.
~
Easy come, easy go, that’s just how you live
He smiles ruefully, and those eyes of his snap open, piercing.
They crinkle at the edges as they cause another crack to open up, another thread in a spiderweb of fissures encroaching over your entire heart.
“I’m sorry,” he tells you, “I already have plans for tonight.”
The words with Yabu hang in the air, unspoken, unwritten, unnecessary.
“Alright,” you manage to croak, and walk away slowly.
It’s not as if this is the first time he’s rejected you in favour of Yabu. It’s no secret that he likes Yabu and that Yabu likes him back.
But then again, it’s also not much of a secret that you’ve been crushing on him since forever.
Give up, you remember Daiki telling you, in what has gradually become a daily habit. There’s no need to chase after Hikaru if he only has eyes for Yabu. You’ll find someone else.
You smile softly as you finish packing your bag, throwing it over your shoulder as you pull your cap down over your curly hair.
“Someday,” you murmur to yourself, “maybe someday. But for now…”
Boots click as you leave the dressing room.
~
Gave you all I had, and you tossed it in the trash
How many years has it been?
You still remember those days when, as Juniors, you would spend so much time with him on the set of Ya-Ya-Yah. Back then, when he and Yabu were still just friends, and when he was much more open around you.
“Inoo and I went to eat yakiniku yesterday,” he would boast on set, and grin happily.
“You and Inoo-kun seem to go out a lot, don’t you?” Koyama would laugh, and Hikaru’s eyes would sparkle.
“Inoo knows all the places with good food. He’s awesome!”
Inoo would just smile as Kohei yelled his agreement and Yabu smiled ruefully and asked if he could tag along next time.
But then things had to go downhill.
Kohei left, for reasons unknown, and you would spend days on end being miserable, plastering on plastic smiles for the camera then running to the dressing room to cry some more, leaving a distraught J.J.Express to swarm around you, attempting in their own little ways to make you feel better.
Hikaru threw himself fully into his own group, and by the time Hey! Say! JUMP was announced communication between you and he had become non-existent.
“Hey,” you had said awkwardly to him after they had been given time to digest the news and Johnny had left the room, “would you like to go out for dinner? Since we’re in a group and all now.”
His eyes flickered to you, and in that brief instant you had an epiphany: He’s no longer the person you once knew. He’s become a stranger.
“I’ve already made plans with Yabu,” he said, in a strange-and-yet-familiar voice, and you nodded slowly, biting your lip.
“Okay,” you whispered, and watch him walk away.
Tossed it in the trash, yes you did
The words I think I like you dissipated away on the tip of your tongue as you watched his silhouette disappear.
~
Several years on, and you have finally regained your lost friendship. But it is too late, he likes Yabu, and there is nothing you can do about it except watch on silently and let your heart crack bit by bit, day by day.
You’ve confessed once before.
“Of course I love you too!” he had laughed, “We’re best friends!”
Needless to say, you’d never tried to confess again.
It did not, however, do anything much to get rid of your feelings, and when he suddenly calls you up and asks if you want to go shopping, your heart flutters like a trapped butterfly and you immediately stutter out a yes.
It doesn’t matter if Yabu is going to be there too. For a brief moment, all you feel is pure happiness at the fact that he even thought of asking you to come along.
You end up in a guitar store, browsing through guitar picks with them, and somehow you feel strangely disappointed.
I’d catch a grenade for you
Finally, the three of you step out of the store, and back onto the busy streets of Tokyo.
“Let’s go look for a café,” Yabu suggests, and without even consulting you Hikaru nods and begins to drag you in whichever direction Yabu is walking in.
The crowd is strangely huge today, and as you walk you think you hear a scream somewhere in the throng of people.
Throw my hand on a blade for you
But soon enough, you hear another shrill scream, and then yet another, and suddenly the fourth scream stops abruptly midway.
You dig in your heels and whirl around, and the sudden movement prompts Yabu and Hikaru turn to look as well.
“What are they screaming about-” Hikaru begins to say, and then abruptly stops short as a small geyser of red shoots up for a couple of seconds before falling to the concrete pavement, dark crimson drops slowly turning brown.
Yabu’s soft exclamation falls on deaf ears as you stare in horror at the lone young man all clothed in black standing in the crowd with a wide berth all around him.
You have heard horror stories about these people, like that guy in Virginia Tech, but you’d always thought it only happened in America. But now, you realize you’re looking at Japan’s very own mad gunman, running around on the streets of Tokyo.
Most of the crowd is composed of young teenage couples and middle-aged women, and they begin running around like headless chickens in search of escape.
The black figure raises his head, and suddenly the gun hand comes up and points at its next target. You follow the direction the gun points at, and dread claims you as you realize who the next victim is to be.
I’d jump in front of a train for you
“Hikaru,” a strangled voice tears itself from your throat, “move!”
Hikaru is rooted still to the ground, eyes wide, still not quite comprehending the situation.
You know I’d do anything for you
The finger tenses, and there is a sharp crack as the bullet comes flying, swift and sure.
There is no time to think.
Thump-thump-thump, you can hear your heart pound, and your body acts on impulse.
I would go through all this pain
Your body pulls off a feat you’d thought was too much for your sorry state of flexibility. You do a half-backflip, and push away Hikaru in midair.
Take a bullet straight through my brain
The pellet makes its impact, and a small explosion of crimson red stains the white of your loose cotton shirt.
Thump-thump-thump.
It must have hit the heart, you dimly think.
Except, of course, your heart has already broken long ago.
“Why did you do that for?” he hears a distraught whisper to his left, even as police sirens begin to wail in the distance.
You choke a little, and smile.
Even through blurry eyes, you see Yabu crouch down beside Hikaru, and entwine his fingers gently in those of the younger boy. And somehow, you feel another tiny pang of pain.
Thump-thump.
“I guess,” your voice cracks, “it’s because I love you.”
Yes, I would die for you baby
“…Even after all this time?”
You hum noncommittally, eyes fluttering shut.
“Be happy,” you manage to whisper, despite the growing pain, “Stay happy.”
You can hear police cars, the murmurs of the crowd, and Hikaru holding your hand - just like you’ve always dreamed - whispering for you to hold on.
I’m tired of holding on, you feel like saying, but now your lips are like marble, too heavy to open.
Thump.
“Inoo-”
Yabu’s voice.
Thump.
“Hang on!”
“Get him on the stretcher now.”
Thu-
“Oxygen mask!”
“Stop the bleeding.”
-mp.
And suddenly all is black and painless.
But you won’t do the same…