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Chifuyu loved Takemichi.
He didn’t care much for him at the beginning. He was a means to an end, an extra set of hands to help him get Baji back. Baji wasn’t supposed to die, Takemichi wasn’t supposed to replace him. But he did, and he fell out of love with a past memory and in love with a present feeling.
Takemichi was just so loveable. It was just so easy to love him. He had cute quirks, bad fashion, unruly hair, nervous habits, but it all made him so perfectly imperfect. So painfully human that Chifuyu couldn’t help but want to place the boy in his palm and shield him from the world of hurt Takemichi was so accustomed to.
He’s grown to know Takemichi far more than he knows himself. He knows that his favorite color was red, he liked sweet crepes and choco mint icecream, he preferred cats over dogs, enjoyed long puzzles to keep his mind off things, classical music when he felt calm, punk rock when he was upset, and that Takemichi’s heart was so big.
As the days went by, Takemichi grew more and more fascinating to him. He was something so special, something he couldn’t ever bear to lose. Takemichi was his partner, another half of his own whole. Like a key to a keyhole, a combination to a lockbox, a lover for the unloved.
It was sad when Takemichi had to leave. The real Takemichi, twenty-six and suffering far more existential crisis’ than any other adult in the damn world. He would miss him, but Chifuyu was good at waiting. He was fine with waiting for a little while with lingering touches of dainty, suntanned fingers tracing along his face and every contour of his body. Soft and sweet smiles and chaste and bashful kisses.
It was fine.
Chifuyu could wait.
Really, it didn’t take long for Chifuyu to also love his present Takemichi. He was an awkward and anxious teenager just trying to find his place in the world. Nimble fingers that would shake and tremble in Chifuyu’s palm when the sea of students proved to be far too large.
His present Takemichi was…different.
Not in a bad way nor in a longing way. Just, objectively different.
He was easily coerced and peer pressured. God knows how many times Chifuyu has beaten up men and glared at women who tried to get Takemichi to do things he simply didn’t want to do. Takemichi wanted to fit in, of course. He was a teenager that just wanted validation. It’s how he was programmed and it was something he simply had to follow.
But he was so absurdly cute too.
Clueless and lost most of the time, stuck in his own head unintentionally, and often walks into walls or trips over his own feet and careens straight to the floor. Takemichi was good at math but bad at classical Japanese, good at pole vaulting but the worst runner in the world. He was a shitty baker and always overcooked the cake but was a damn good cook and never failed to make the best tonkatsu there was.
He was a nervous little thing but joyful and youthful. Innocent and sweet, easily riled up and impatient, soft and fragile. He was just so different.
Chifuyu loved relearning a new Takemichi. He never really saw them as two different people. It was more so, a different version of Takemichi. His Takemichi was one more innocent, more oblivious whilst the adult Takemichi has seen tragedy after tragedy, more mature than anyone in the world, so determined yet so sad.
They were both stupid, of course.
But so incredibly loveable.
It was honestly harder to not love them.
It took a lot longer for present Takemichi to figure himself out. It wasn’t until the beginning of their last year in high school did Takemichi talk it out with Hina and explained that he just might not be into women that way. They still stayed as friends- no, best friends, of course, and Hina was always around them no matter the circumstances. It was nice, really nice to have someone like Hina around (even if Hakkai fizzed up and popped whenever she attempted to converse with the shy brute).
It wasn’t more than a month after that Takemichi fell into Chifuyu’s arms. Despite haven hold him before, he felt objectively smaller. Fragile, vulnerable, soft. He would reach out shyly to kiss Chifuyu before a squeak escapes his lips and he’d hide his face moments after. He would always ask permission if he could hold Chifuyu’s hand and would always second guess himself.
He was cute, really cute.
They made a lot of memories in their last year of high school. Just endless hopeful love, totally sappy pickup lines that Takemichi was not a fan of, and stupidly adorable gestures that just wanted to keep Chifuyu close by.
They went to the same university as well. They worked smalltime jobs together throughout senior high and racked up enough money to go to Kokugakuin University right in Shibuya. They shared a dorm together, their textbooks, took most of the same electives, the same bed, the same money.
University was certainly an experience and they majored in entrepreneurship because Chifuyu wanted to start his own pet shop and possibly a chain. Not anything big. Just one or two if he ever got to that point.
Takemichi wanted to open his own restaurant. They had the whole thing planned out, they would have the buildings right next to each other and connect them by an open wall. And yeah, maybe those were more suited for bookshops and coffee stops but they could do whatever the hell they wanted with their dreams.
It was really hard to motivate Takemichi through school and work. They leeched off each other for motivation and comfort and often they balanced each other out. Takemichi was often burnt out and Chifuyu didn’t mind a single bit if his boyfriend crashed and burned into his arms.
It was going so well. So, so well.
They graduated together, opened their businesses together, thrived together, helped Kazutora get back on his feet together, all of it.
They did anything possible together.
The perfect high school sweethearts that you’d see in movies. Sweet little things that cling onto each other in the sea of a crowd, go on dates, adopt pets, everything.
Takemichi had promised Chifuyu his forever. They swore that they would stay together forever and they would share everything together.
So, when the other Takemichi came back, why did that change?
It was a subtle change, small and slow. He asked about Mikey once while Chifuyu was starting up the coffee machine and he elided the topic completely by ‘accidentally’ knocking his least favorite mug off the counter and watching it fall to the ground and shatter.
Then Takemichi would say that he wanted to meet some friends after he would lock up the restaurant. Say that, “I went to Hina’s flower shop during lunch and forgot my jacket there” or “I went to Draken’s to see Inui and misplaced my phone” and that he would “be back before you know it,
don’t wait for me
.”
Chifuyu waited for him at home regardless. He’d get a little restless when Takemichi was gone too long.
Then Takemichi would start to come home with hidden bruises and scrapes hidden underneath clothes. He would just bashfully grin and say, “I tripped!” or the occasional “hit myself in the face while putting a pot away” but usually the “ah, kitchen accident. Don’t worry about it too much!”
Then Kazutora started to avoid him ever so slightly. Like he was guilty of something.
It finally clicked when he realized that Takemichi always, without fail , always had the news channel on.
He was looking for Mikey.
Of course, he was.
For Chifuyu, he got the closure he needed long ago. Mikey had been cut out of the picture for a damn long time and Chifuyu barely ever thinks of him. But for Takemichi, god- he must’ve seen him no more than two weeks ago.
And Chifuyu, as always, understood. It wasn’t hard to understand where Takemichi was coming from and why he was doing what he was doing.
It didn’t stop him from wanting to kill Mikey, of course.
It had gone way too far when he found Takemichi in a back alley, beaten and bruised, from trying to get information about Bonten. It had gone way too fucking far and Chifuyu wasn’t about to let Takemichi back himself into a corner and die.
He didn’t save Baji before.
So he’ll save Takemichi now.
Talking to him served uselessly. It was foolish of him to think that Takemichi would be persuaded by words. It made Takemichi feel guilty, yes, but not persuaded.
It hurt a lot, actually.
“Baji died for Kazutora but couldn’t live for me. Will you do that too?” It was a dirty card to play, but Chifuyu couldn’t just let Takemichi scurry into a bear trap willingly.
Takemichi, expectedly, even if it hurt, had replied with a pained expression, “I can’t stand by and watch Mikey do this to himself.”
It hurt. It objectively, indescribably hurt. Chifuyu wanted to scream and cry and punch him, slam him into the wall and throw the keys to their apartment in his face and room with Kazutora for a bit. He didn’t, of course. Because his feelings didn’t matter.
What mattered was that Takemichi wouldn’t run off and get himself killed.
…
Chifuyu wasn’t exactly known for having the best plans in the world.
However, it would get the job done. Takemichi was absolutely incorrigible, he’d never give up on saving Mikey when there wasn’t any possible way to save him without getting himself or other people in the equation killed. Takemichi didn’t want anyone to die, even at the risk of himself, right? So this was fine. At this Mikey should finally swan dive off a rooftop and everything would…eventually be okay.
As a precaution though, Chifuyu did send a text to Draken to take care of Kazutora.
Chifuyu led the two of them here, in a car and riding along the coast. I’ll help you then, he lied, I have an informant we can meet at the bay.
There was no informant. Takemichi, of course, didn’t know that. He sat happily albeit a little perturbed, and stared out the window and watched the waves in the distance as Chifuyu drove to find a place where they could park. This part of the beach was closed so no one was around. They were clearly trespassing, but that didn’t really matter.
“It’s beautiful,” Takemichi mumbled when they stepped out of the car. It was a warm day, nothing close to hot, but comfortably warm. The waves would pull back just to slam forward repeatedly and the smell of salt was calming.
“Let’s go,” Chifuyu smiled, resting a hand on Takemichi’s waist and guiding him to the wooden pier. It was still early morning and just about sunrise. Dark blue was being pushed back by splotches of pink, yellow, and deep orange at the line of the horizon.
“We’re a little early,” Chifuyu lied again, “-so let’s watch the sunrise.”
Takemichi lowered himself down to sit at the edge of the pier. It was probably fifteen feet deep where they were so Chifuyu took his shoes off and sat beside Takemichi, letting his bare feet into the water.
“It’s beautiful here,” Takemichi hummed, looking around to a beach just for themselves. A gradient sunrise painted over the sky, ocean waves rippling back and forth, a clear green able to see all the way to the bottom of the floor despite the fifteen-foot drop. Seashells blue and pink alike littered the sand below as Chifuyu tucked a strand of black hair behind Takemichi’s ear.
He patted his lap, “Come here.”
Without missing a beat, Takemichi responds, “Absolutely not.”
“What? Why not?!” Chifuyu whined, bringing up one of his hands and pulling on Takemichi’s arm.
A soft pink and peachy tone fell over Takemichi’s face as he fights with no real strength to pry Chifuyu off of him, “No. No . What if the informant comes??”
“I’ll drown him if he sees anything you don’t like, now come here .”
“Chifuyu, no.”
Green eyes peered at him before laughing and tugging Takemichi over, “Chifuyu, yes .”
A shriek is played through the wind as Chifuyu wraps his hands around Takemichi’s waist and practically manhandles him to sit comfortably over his thighs. A triumphant grin plays on his lips, a pout on another.
“You’re insatiable,” Takemichi sighed, pouting even harder when Chifuyu cups his face with his hands.
“And you’re lovely,” He hums, kissing the pout on his boyfriend’s lips, then to his forehead, then to his cheek, and finally on his nose.
“So pretty, you’re so handsome,” Takemichi lets out a delighted giggle when lips brush over a ticklish spot underneath his ear.
“What are you being so sappy for?” He hummed, sliding his hands underneath Chifuyu’s jaw to kiss him sweetly.
“No reason,” He lies, “You deserve being treated with all the sappy shit in the universe.” There, he does not lie.
“I don’t know about that .”
“Takemichi,” Gently, Chifuyu brushes a strand of hair out of Takemichi’s eye to kiss him on the forehead, “-you deserve everything good in the god damn world.”
“Chifuyu,” Takemichi whines, opting to shift his eyes to the side and look at the waves crashing against the sand as he slips his hand into Chifuyu’s bashfully.
“I love you,” He sighs against Takemichi’s cheeks, bringing their intertwined hands up to caress the other’s face. “Love you so much.”
“I love you too?” Takemichi chuckles, pretty ocean blue staring at him confused but content before pressing a kiss to Chifuyu’s wrist.
The sun finally shows fully, just a few inches above the ocean line as Chifuyu kisses Takemichi slowly, reaches into his back pocket, sticks a syringe into Takemichi’s neck, and pushes down.
The drug is almost instant and Takemichi’s muscles relax. Shock and unease spread across his features as Chifuyu quickly lets go of Takemichi’s hand to instead wrap around his back so he doesn’t fall into the ocean. It must hurt. Takemichi has always had a fear of needles. Hesitant but thought-through, he throws the syringe into the ocean and hugs his boyfriend tight.
“Chifuyu?” He sounds tired and sleepy, languidly trying to move his limbs and faintly tug on the front of the other’s shirt.
“I love you,” Chifuyu repeats, “-love you more than anything.”
He shifts the boy in his lap to hold Takemichi’s face sweetly. Despite the situation and despite what he just did, Takemichi looks so concerned for him when he sees tears track down his cheeks. “I lost Baji-san once, I can’t lose you too. I’m sorry .”
With all the strength left in him, much too tired, Chifuyu stands up and lifts Takemichi with him. He holds him tenderly like an injured princess and moves to let them both look at the sun rising slowly one last time.
The drug must’ve hit full force by now because Takemichi’s eyes flutter closed and his head falls limp against Chifuyu’s shoulder, soft and slow breathing hums in his right ear.
“Sorry,” He repeats as he takes a step towards the edge of the pier, “Please forgive me.”
It didn’t take that much.
It wasn’t scary like the movies and books said it was. More so, if anything, it was tranquil. Content. It felt like finishing a really good book, closing it with a fond sigh, and taking the bookmark out knowing that you’d reread it all over again.
Takemichi felt warm in his arms when he turned around and tipped backward into the ocean.
The water sploshed above him and Chifuyu watched as the warm bright sun reflected over the surface above as he and Takemichi sank lower and lower. He felt bad for whoever would find them when they washed up on the beach. Would Kazutora be okay without them? Would they make sure to take care of their two cats?
Chunky bits of greenish seafoam congregate around the wood of the pillars that keep up the pier. There’s a fish that hurries to swim away to his left, a blue-green conch is embedded and buried halfway underneath the sand at his right.
The water is warm, like soaking in a bath that you’ve been in for too long that your skin has gotten used to the hot feeling. Instead, something warm and comforting is left behind to hug you tight and ease any tense feelings from your body. The salt in the water burns at Chifuyu’s eyes but he fights to keep them open anyway.
Small to big bubbles pass through Takemichi’s lips and nostrils, slipping and floating up to the surface in an unsteady and jiggly motion. His hair looks objectively softer underneath the surface as they sink deeper and deeper and the reflection of pretty yellow light gets farther and farther away. Rays of the sun break through the water’s barrier, instead, they come down in little slanted pillars and hit the sandy floor.
It starts to get a little hard to breathe. Chifuyu has always been bad at holding his breath.
Takemichi is pliant underneath him. Soft. Pretty. Almost like a doll when the last bubbles of air leave his lungs and flutter to the surface never to be returned again.
I love you , Chifuyu thinks. I’m sorry and I love you.
Even underneath the water, Takemichi looks nothing short of an angel. His skin is smooth and he feels small as Chifuyu holds him tight, his lips are soft when he kisses him one last time, and when he pulls back he’s still so pretty.
When Chifuyu closes his eyes and inhales water he holds Takemichi close by the head and lets out all the air left in his lungs. The water feels suffocating and it feels heavy in his throat, salty as it goes down, drowning.
Chifuyu was drowning.
And within the sea on a normal morning, two souls disappear underneath the surface and never make it back up.
It becomes a local story, something to tell tourists and risky teenagers. Nothing short of a fairy tale, a myth even; that if you break into the beach far too early before it opens just to swim, skinny dip, or whatever it is you think is important enough to do, just as the sun begins to rise to start a new day—
A couple, one short with unruly hair, one taller with a smooth undercut, both sit on the edge of the pier content and happy as they point out the fish and kick water at each other with their feet.
Blink, and you may miss them.
“Do you think they were happy when they did it?” Kazutora asked, taking his shoes off to sit beside him and letting his feet dip into the water.
“That’s something only they will know,” Mitsuya sighed, watching as the sun began to rise slowly and they’d have to go before someone would come and open up the beach to the public.
Kazutora bit his lip and looked to the edge of the sea. If he swam far enough, deep enough, would they find him? Would they come back? “Do you think they’re happy now?”
“Yeah,” Draken nods as he sits on the side opposite to Mitsuya and pats Kazutora’s head, “-as long as they’re together, god knows those sappy sons of bitches will be just fine in their own world.”
“Yeah,” Kazutora huffs with a smile, looking into the water and seeing his reflection smile back, “-you’re right.”
“Somewhere, they’re happy.”