suddenlybees | || IC INBOX

I thought you did! [It takes a minute to get that out amongst his weeping, but he finds his words again. But he doesn't let go.]

Wh... what kind of thing is that to ask, not to exist. What if they'd made it permanent!

[He had been so afraid it was going to be permanent.] Stupid. Welcome back.

[Kano knew what he asked for, right.]

[ Uh— ]

What?

[ Again, his mind stops and reels, casting around for what he asked and when and yes he's stupid but that's still uncalled for and where exactly is Yuya welcoming him back from? ]

Hm... Well... "It's good to be back"?

[ He recites the words stiffly, because that's the proper response, even though all it really was- to him- was a nap. There, there. He pats Yuya's head. Don't cry. ]

[Yuya wants it to be. Selfishly, he wants Kano to see this as a horrible mistake that he won't repeat.

The patting on his head doesn't really make him feel better. But it does dampen his crying enough that he can open his eyes and stare across the room.]

I read it. What you said to that fey over text.

[ ...Ah. That makes a little more sense, although Kano can't help but wonder why nobody would answer his call for hitmen, while reading public threads between him and somebody else. No way their banter could have been that interesting— and to him, it was and still is just banter, not a real contract or request or anything of the sort. If he thought his life was worth enough of a bargaining chip, he would have requested something seriously. ]

So you read that, huh? Well, you can go ahead and wipe it from your memory! It didn't work, after all~ Aren't I still here?

[Ah.

Yuya's fingers dig into his hoodie.] You've been gone for a month. They said... that fey said they didn't make it permanent, but they could have.

['We'll see next time whose wish I want to grant', and Yuya hopes they never come back at to disappear like that isn't even an offer again.]

[ It's hard to believe Yuya's claims that he'd missed an entire month, much less the idea that his restful little nap could have been permanent, because... deep down inside, the wishes that he holds close, he never expects any of them to come true.

He wishes Yuya would let go of his hoodie, because it's feeling more suffocating and hot than comforting. ]

And why didn't they?

I don't know. I didn't ask. [He didn't care at the time, so long as Kano was coming back.]

I guess so Shuuya could go back to you. [However that work.] They're gone, now.

[ So the kid is gone. That's a relief, and answers the question about the whispers of memory floating around Kano's head trying to find a place to settle, easy enough to ignore and not dwell on, like trying to shake off fragments of dreams.

He lifts an arm to rub at the back of his head, hoping the movement is awkward enough to dislodge Yuya and give him a little more space. ]

What a pity!! It was good talking to that fey, troublemaker that they were~ Are you sure they're gone? Did I miss my chance to become a lizard??

[Is that a joke? It does more to dislodge Yuya, his hands dropping limp to his side as he slowly leans back and lifts his tear-stained face to look at Kano.]

Is that what you want?

[If it's a joke, it's not very funny right now.]

[ ...Maybe this was a bad idea. At least he couldn't see Yuya's face when he was crying on him, but now he gets the full brunt of it, wet eyes and all, and Kano can't bring himself to return the stare.

He can become a lizard any time he wants; he's stared long enough at the one sharing his room these past few months. But this doesn't feel like the right thing to say, either. ]

Hm~ If I were to become any animal in the world... I think I would want to become a rhinoceros? What about you?

[ That's probably not the right thing either, but he's stalling, trying to find a way out of a conversation that's much too heavy and centered around him for his tastes. ]

[It's not what he means, and now they're at a standstill. Yuya ducks his his to buy himself time, wiping his face.]

I... [He looks down at his hands as he draws them back.] I'm sorry.

[That he can't bring himself to play the game right now, and yet it's hard to be harsh to Kano in an attempt to pry out all his pain and secrets, like it'll really help. He's never helped anyone like that, not even Gongenzaka. What makes him think he can do so now?

He looks up slowly, his expression cracking with a small smile.] Wouldn't the coolest think be a dragon?

[ The apology twists at him, unexpected and uncomfortable— undeserved, probably, though he's not sure what Yuya is even apologizing for. But the smile settles his nerves again, and he's reminded of why he likes Yuya so much. Because he's always backed off and played along, he lets Kano lead the conversation and set the pace and take it wherever he wants. Which is far away from anything serious. ]

Haha, no way, no way! Something flashy like a dragon, how could that be any fun?

You don't think being like Odd-Eyes would be fun? [He grins, stressed in a way that almost seems to be ripping his face with how he forces it up.

What was he thinking, "I'll make Kano happier", "I'll make existing worth it to him". Like he could really do that much to make him smile, but he wants to. Even without saying it, suddenly it seems silly when there are people who it would mean more from. Like Nana, like Ellie.]

[ Yuya really is bad at that, fake smiles that come so naturally to Kano that Yuya really shouldn't have to do anything special to bring a smile to his face. ]

Pft— no way! If I were Odd-Eyes, I'd have to play babysitter all the time, right?

[ Taking care of Yuya, which wouldn't be too bad, but also catching numbskulls who fall off the rooftops and that sounds like a pain. ]

[He doesn't want to fake it, doesn't want to hold the veneer between them when that conversation, when Shuuya still sits in the back of his thoughts.]

You think he's my babysitter? [Normally he'd wear mock offense, but his expression hardly shifts.]

[ Hmm, yeah, he was like that when he was a kid too. Shuuya would smile that same bland smile, nothing that ever reached his eyes, because he didn't know any better. Kano, at least, grew up to be a better actor. ]

Am I wrong~?

[Yuya's shoulders sink. He opens his eyes to look at Kano, his gaze level and still wet with masked pain.]

I guess I make a lot of trouble. [He says it duly.] Just like you.

[ Hmm, no, he doesn't like the conversation being turned back upon him, though a light jab like this one he can weather for a bit, leaning to nudge his shoulder against Yuya's. ]

Hey, now! It's not "just," you know? I'd like to think I make a lot more trouble than you do! I put a lot of effort into that sorta stuff, you know?

[ Being a disaster takes a lot of time and effort, and it's tiring!! But he does it for a reason, one he won't ever disclose, but there's some difference between always messing up no matter how hard he tried as a kid, and always messing around and not trying hard at all when he'd grown up. There's a difference. ]

I noticed. [Yuya ducks his head as Kano nudges his shoulder. And he doesn't have any retort of a moment, before he peeks up at Kano.]

Even then... I'm glad that Kano lived, and that I got to meet you.

[Despite the shyness, Yuya's gaze is fixed to Kano. He made Shuuya cry saying a thing like that. He wonders what it means to Kano.]

[ He takes it badly, with as much disbelief as he did that earlier apology, echoes of the same words said to Shuuya once upon a time and he had cried. Kano, at least, has the ability to hide whatever tears threaten to breach, and can fabricate whatever expression he wants, speak in whatever voice he wants.

He can cast his eyes to the corner of the room and rub at the back of his head in feigned embarrassment, even as his chest burns and tightens and squeezes. ]

Is that so? Hmm, you're sure putting me on the spot here, Yu~ya! But I'm glad I met you too~

[ And he really is. He's just also not saying anything about the living thing. ]

Is that a bad thing? [A little attention, that someone's invested in him the same way. And Yuya cared, so much when he was gone. Kano couldn't just leave without there being traces behind.] I just...

[ He likes it when Yuya plays along, but he hates it when Yuya asks earnest questions like this, ones that invite earnest in return and Kano does not do earnest. It's a hole he dug himself, where saying what's on his mind isn't what he wants other people to hear, and if he says what he thinks other people want to hear, it all comes out sounding like a lie. ]

It's not a bad thing, but... Hmm, how to say this? It's unexpected?

[Unexpected. Well, it's not something people usually just go around saying, it's true.

Yuya blinks rapidly as he lifts his head, and then straightens up further as he leans in.]

Did you think nobody would miss you if you were gone?

[ That's right, nobody says it and that's why it's weird!! It's something you say to somebody who almost died or meant to die and this isn't— he doesn't think of it the same thing, a disappearance he wasn't even aware of and didn't get to enjoy the peace and quiet of oblivion.

It wouldn't be the first time he disappeared, anyways. He does that a lot- just gets up out of bed in the middle of the night and takes a walk- and nobody used to care. There was that brief stent back at the beginning of the month where he'd pulled himself away from all things to cool his head after almost murdering Toki, but Imelda had hunted him down and he got chewed out by Ellie when he came back to their room, and rather than missing him, they were angry. He couldn't really understand it then, either. ]

Hmm, well, that's also difficult! If I'm missed, it wouldn't be for very long. You've all got so much bigger things to worry about, after all!

[Maybe if he connected the dots that they were angry because they missed him.

It isn't that Kano thinks so little of himself that he suspects they could move on that quickly. But there's, strangely, a little bit of hope that surprises him instead, to have Kano admit to even that much, that way.

Yuya bites his lip, bringing a hand up until it hovers limply in the air closer to himself like he doesn't know what to do with it.]

No way. [His head tips sideways, and he hurts so much for what Kano's had to live through that he can call Ellie his sun and still insist that he wouldn't be missed for long.]

You're my friend, so you being gone was the biggest thing on my mind all month. I missed you, Kano.

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