Reunion
The transition from fall to winter was always blurred. Fallen leaves scattered the streets as rainfall came down in heavy sheets. People covered up in warm attire, hiding from the biting cold. The latter months came and pushed people indoors. Fires were lit, hot drinks were made, and gloves were worn. Is there a chance of snow today? Be careful on the road! Make sure to take an extra coat, just in case.
But what about those who didn’t necessarily have a home. Those who were just intruding in other’s houses. Strangers, they had no place; no mothers, no fathers. Whose coat would they wear? Who would make sure they had their mittens on? Who would give them hot cocoa when temperatures got so cold your fingers shivered?
Mika and Yuu were kids like that. Passed from house to house, they didn’t exactly have a place to call theirs. They knew each other from the time they were young. Even when it got so cold that you could get frostbite, they would still go out to the swingset and play. It’s not like they wanted to stay indoors. It didn’t feel…..comfortable. The two of them meandered around town, playing with sticks, looking for anything to do, trying to make a fire perhaps. When they got home, late, they were yelled at, but it didn’t matter too much. Out they went the next day. They were just there, transient. Transparent children in a world that was too big for them. After all, their foster parents had other matters and other children to attend to. Wouldn’t you rather your real children be cared for?
They didn’t exactly call each other friends….Not family, either. But Mika had picked up the scruffy looking thing in a dress one afternoon and said Hi. Why are you yelling? Why won’t you stop crying?
“They won’t stop making me wear girly things!!! I’m not a girl!”
“Then let’s get you some other clothes to wear, okay?”
They were just about the same age, but Mika was definitely more mature. That blonde head of his was full of all sorts of ideas. At first, Yuu would hold his hand, but then he got too shy.
“It’s lame, okay!”
“I’m a big kid, just like you!”
The first time Mika asked for Yuuichiro’s name, Yuu refused. On the third try he relented. “Yuu-chan” became a nickname and Yuu didn’t fight it, even if it sounded kinda girly.
The both of them sat on the swings most days, after school. Yuu would blabber about his day and Mika would listen, giving his most honest opinion.
It was comfortable, Mika thought.
It was comfortable until when the day came when they were both eight years old and a man named Guren Ichinose appeared. Suddenly having an interest in Yuu-chan? Wanting to adopt him? Taking him far away? Why was this happening?
Mika didn’t remember much, but at the same time, he remembered every detail from that day. The tall, broad back of that man. His black hair and deep voice. How he said he was going to care for Yuu-chan from now on. He was approved to take in foster children, apparently, and it was all okay because Yuu’s family didn’t want him anymore.
What?
Wait.
Please.
Please don’t take Yuu-chan away from me.
They were sitting on the swings, just like they always were, and Yuu-chan’s foster mom came up to him. “Go pack your things.” Yuu didn’t put up much of a fight. He was used to it. He turned around to look at Mika one last time.
Please, don’t take Yuu-chan away.
Please.
“I’m sorry, Mika”
He watched Yuu get inside that car with his bags. He watched the car drive away. He didn’t stop looking. He couldn’t.
He never stopped looking that way.
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Eight years later. Mika’s all grown up. He’s never stopped thinking about Yuu-chan. Nobody ever did end up “wanting” him. He has guardians but lives by himself. He’s emancipated. He moves to a new town where he heard a certain Guren Ichinose lives. Is that creepy? To want to find the only person you were ever really close to? Maybe he won’t remember me….. Maybe he doesn’t care…..
But then he remembers. He remembers his past life. Being a vampire, knowing Yuu, loving Yuu. Yuu-chan. Yuu-chan. Yuu-chan. Yuu-chan. Yuu-chan. And he has to find Yuu. It’s killing him. Yuu is his everything. In this life and that past life. But what if Yuu rejects him??
But he needs him. He needs Yuu-chan so badly. It’s like being deprived of air.
Mika will go to the lengths of the Earth to find him.
_________________
“What the fuck are you looking at?” Yuu demands of this blonde boy. “Is my face really that interesting?”
Mika’s heart is burning. Yuu-chan? Please….remember me….in more ways than one….
“Yuu-chan…...do you remember me?”
That’s the….second fucking time he’s called me that….. And then something flickers in his eyes…..recognition, remembrance. Is this…...Mika????
Yuu stares, he blinks, he swallows, slowly. “M-mika?”
Mika can barely breathe, he only nods.
“You’re….Mika? But I…...how does that…..how does that even work? I thought…..how do you even remember me?”
Mika jerks forward, enthusiastically grabbing Yuu’s hands, which earns a jolt from Yuu. He’s already tearing up. “I could never forget you, Yuu-chan. I….The day when you were taken away was the worst day of my life”
Yuu doesn’t reject the simple touch, which seems really fucking weird to him since he hates when people get close to him. His mouth is agape. How could he matter that much to another person? He never stopped thinking about Mika but…..he never knew….that Mika….
“And there’s other things, too, Yuu-chan. I’m uh….there’s other things too, to discuss, other memories”
“Mika…..I know you’re really enjoying yourself” Yuu manages, “but I think I’m going to pass out”
Mika takes a glance at the sky. It was sweltering hot, over 100 probably. And to bombard Yuu-chan with all this information...He had to get him to a cooler location. He picked up the boy bridal style and re-entered the library.
“OH MY GOD MIKA PUT ME DOWN”
“Shhh, Yuu-chan, we’re going into the quiet section”