Kokana Romansu - Chapter 3
Title: Kokana Romansu.
Author: shou_ni
Pairing: SagaxShou, ToraxShou
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Romance, Angst, Fluff, Smut-ish
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, just the story.
Summary: Shou wasn't exactly sure what to say or even what to think as the male blabbed on, walking further into his apartment.
Anger, upset, betrayal... many emotions stirred erratically in Shou's chest. He wasn't sure which was the dominant one but he knew that it was tearing him apart.
How could Tora do that to him?
He turned on his heel and stormed off in the direction they had come from, Saga hot on his tail running across the road.
Neither of them said a word until the car doors were closed, the Shou's head hit the steering wheel with a dull thud.
"God, I'm so fucking stupid" He groaned "How could I not see what he was doing?"
Saga looked at him and let out an exasperated sigh, rubbing the space between his shoulder blades softly.
"You aren't stupid, if anything he's the stupid one. If he couldn't see just how good he had it with you then he's a fucking idiot" he said, trying to soothe the other, but it didn't seem to work as Shou's fingers gripped the steering wheel.
"Is there something wrong with me? Did I not satisfy him?"
"I don't think it's because of you, I just think it's because he's a slime ball"
In the end Saga had driven them back to the apartment, refusing to let Shou drive in his state of mind.
The blonde had seated himself on the couch upon entering the room, fingers tangling in his hair. Saga decided that it would probably be best to give him some space, only approaching him to place a mug of tea in front of him. It lay untouched.
It was no less than four hours later that Tora returned, a faint smile on his lips.
"Hey babe" he beamed spotting Shou glaring at him from the couch "Good day?"
Shou had spent the past four hours brooding, thinking about what exactly he wanted to say. Coming up with a script in his mind. However.. all of those thoughts vanished as soon as he saw the Tigers smug face. Raising to his feet and storming over to him.
A sharp slap echoed through the apartment.
"You bastard!"
"What the fuck?" Tora gasped "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with me?.. I saw you with your fucking hussy, that's what!" The younger yelled "I saw you going into a love hotel with him. It all makes sense now, all of the texting, the shifty glances, late night phone calls... it was all because of him"
That was it, how could Tora argue? His hands were well and truly tied, caught wedged so far into the cookie jar that there was no possible way of denying it.
"Shou, look.. I'm sorry, really I am" He began, stroking his hands up the shorter male's sides
"Don't give me that" Shou snapped, wriggling away from him with an angered expression. "What's his name?"
"What does it matter?"
"I said, what's his name!"
There was a sigh, a shuffling of feet before an uttered word escaped the tigers pierced lips.
"Speak up, I couldn't quite hear you" Shou demanded.
"Reno, His name is Reno"
Raised voices could be heard through the walls of Saga's room. It reminded him of when his parents used to argue during his childhood. He'd sit on his bed hugging his knees to his chest while humming a soft comforting melody. Much like he was doing at that moment.
He was wracked with guilt, hearing Shou's voice crack with anger and hurt made his stomach churn.
He wasn't naive enough to blame himself, but he couldn't help but feel terrible. It was only when he heard the loud slam of a door in the distance did he snap out of his thoughts.
"Shou.."
He slowly crept out from his room, making his way down the hall until he reached the kitchen. Finding Shou huddled up infront of one of the cupboards, knees to his chest and fingers fisted in his hair so tightly that Saga was sure it would rip out at any second.
"Shou, are you okay?" He asked quietly. Approaching the other with an air of caution, he didn't wan't to startle him.
"He's gone" He spoke softly "I kicked him out. Looking at his lying cheating face made me sick." Saga seated himself beside him, leaning back against the cupboard.
"I'm really sorry Shou"
"Don't be, It's my fault. I should have seen this coming, I was just so blinkered. I thought he was perfect... guess I was wrong"
Two weeks past, Tora had come for the rest of his stuff, causing another fight to break out and half of the crockery to be thrown across rooms. Saga had decided to step in when things were getting tricky, making sure that Tora left without any more trouble.
Life seemed to go back to normal.. or as normal as you could get living with a prostitute and finding out you boyfriend of four years was cheating on you. He'd tried to distract himself with uni and work, but little thoughts kept festering in his mind.
This Reno guy, had Tora imagined that Shou was him every time they had sex? How long had he been fucking him, and was it only about the sex or was it deeper?
From the short encounter Shou had of him, Reno was much sexier, well dressed and far far more confident than Shou could ever hope to be.
No wonder Tora chose him.
He started to find comfort in the bottom of a vodka bottle. He'd pour a small shot in the evening when he got home from work just to warm his insides but then quickly he began to blur the lines of sadness and numbness. Waking up every morning with a hang over, smelling of stale alcohol and unwashed clothes.
Naturally, Saga began to worry. He'd often found the other sprawled out on the kitchen table, cradling a half empty bottle with dried tears on his pale cheeks.
But if Shou was still doing well in class and getting his job done at work.. who was he to judge?
The brunette was enjoying a bowl of lemon pudding when the door swung open revealing a drenched roommate who dropped his bags on the floor the second he stepped through the threshold.
"Hey, you okay?" Saga asked through a mouthful of pudding.
"Not really" He paused, seeming to struggle finding the words as he ran his finger through his wet hair. "I've been kicked out of university"
Saga's mouth dropped open.
"Are you fucking kidding me? Why?" He pulled Shou down onto the couch and sat opposite him, listening intently.
"Well, I failed some of my assignments and the exam we had last week. Apparently I've been pulling the class average down and giving the department a bad name, so they told me not to come back"
The brunette stared at him with disbelief, How could someone as smart and hard working as Shou fail?
"Are you okay man?"
"I guess so, It could be worse" The elder sighed "I suppose I should go and get ready for work"
Eyes followed him as he slunk into the bedroom, Poor guy.
His shift turned out to be far more stressful than Shou was prepared for. He'd arrived half an hour late due to his train being canceled, he'd been given twice the amount of mail to sort and the cherry on top of the cake, there was no chance of him catching a five minute break and his head was pounding harder than an African drumming tribe.
"Hey, you look like shit" His co-worker and friend Kai said as he threw another letter into a pigeon hole.
Shou scoffed "Gee, thanks"
"Are you alright? Have you been sleeping and eating okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine.. it's just been a long day" The blonde dismissed, continuing his work. Sorting letter after letter until Kai grabbed his wrist.
"Shou, seriously, if something's wrong you can tell me"
"As I said, I'm fine"
Of course, he wasn't exactly telling the truth. His body was beginning to feel sore and heavy and he had to blink extra hard to clear his vision. He really didn't feel so great.
Kai couldn't even react as his body went limp and crashed to the floor .
Lights burned his eyes as Shou came around with a groan. His head was still pounding and his limbs ached. Lifting his head he looked around, he was in his bosses office.
"You're awake" The man infront of him said bluntly "About time. There's something we need to talk about"
The boss looked at him sternly making his stomach churn, whatever it was... it most certainly wasn't going to be good.
"Look, I'm just going to say it. I can't have you working here anymore. You're always late, you always mess up when sorting the mail which gives other people more work to do and recently you've been turning up smelling of alcohol. I don't have the time to keep repairing your mistakes" The elder male sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with exasperation "I'm sorry but as of today, You no longer work here."
What? Shou couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was being fired?
"Are you serious?"
"I'm sorry. Please collect your things on your way out. You'll be paid for the work you've done up until today. You can go once your head feels better"
With that, the boss left. Leaving Shou to just stare and blink at the door in shock. This was not good.
It was well past midnight when Saga rolled back into the apartment. He'd had a fantastic night, sleeping with some damn good looking men and reaping a huge wad of cash from each one. With a smile on his face he flicked a stray strand of hair from his eyes and made his way into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of wine to congratulate himself on his successful evening, his mood only wavering slightly at the sight of yet another empty vodka bottle. He shrugged, Shou'd probably taken a drink to bed with him to help him sleep.
He didn't agree with it, but he'd deal with it when the blonde woke up.
Saga was about to go to his own room when he noticed light creeping from under the door of Shou's room.
With a gentle knock he entered, shoulders slumping as he saw Shou curled up on his bed cradling a glass of whiskey in his hand.
"Shou, are you okay?" Saga asked, slowly closing the door behind him.
"Not really.."
The brunette perched himself on the desk chair, crossing one leg over the other "What's up?"
"I got fired today"
Second bombshell of the day.
"What? Why?"
Shou heaved a sigh and took a sip from his glass "A number of things, but basically I was shit at my job so they got rid of me"
Saga was pretty much at a loss for words. Losing your education and your job all in the same day? This guy did not have luck on his side.
"It'll be alright" He said reassuringly "It's no big deal, we'll just look for another job for you. I'm sure I saw a help wanted sign at the grocery store around the corner"
Shou simply shook his head, running fingers through his scruffy hair.
"No, it's not okay. You never knew but Tora was paying half of the rent on this place. I could barely afford to pay for rent and food anyway. But now we're through he isn't paying and now I don't have a job." Another chug of whiskey "You better start looking for somewhere else to live because we're going to homeless by the end of next week"
Saga frowned, they were in trouble and clearly Shou wasn't going to be able to pull them out of it in a hurry. Just looking at how distressed the elder clearly was made his heart sink. It was down to him and he had an idea.
Getting to his feet he grabbed the glass from Shou's hand, causing a whine of protest from the other.
"Right, tomorrow I want you to get up and get dressed smartly. I have a plan to get us out of this. Alright? Be ready by 10 and I won't take no for an answer"
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Authors Notes - It's been a month since I updated this, wow. Poor Shou, he's not having a good day is he?
Let's hope Saga's plan works, what could be up his sleeve?
All comments are more than happily received.