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When I'm done with the bath, I towel off and get dressed. I scoop up my wet clothes and pad into the living room. Kaede's back, hair obviously still wet, and he offers me a warm smile as I stand awkwardly by the threshold.

"You can toss your wet clothes in the drier over there," Kaede says, pointing to the small in-wall closet. I nod, and head over, dumping the clothes in the dryer after emptying out my pockets. I slip my cold phone into the hoodie pocket and trot back over.

It looks like Kaito's making oyakodon, a rather simple and comforting food, and the three of us are sitting at the small table and eating within a few minutes. We're all quiet, which I'm grateful for, the sound of the rain against the window and the dryer the only things we can hear. I know that Kaede and Kaito are curious, and they deserve to know.

"Touma said that we're not compatible." I say, after we're all done eating and the table's cleared. We're all seated on the couch, Kaede draped over both my lap and Kaito's in his glowing tiger form, chest rumbling with a noise resembling a purr, his warmth seeping into my chilled body. Kaede's long tail flicks lazily in the air, and brushes my cheek occasionally.

"Not compatible? I'm sorry, what?" Kaito demands, jerking upright swiftly, and Kaede lets out a grumble as he's shifted. "Sorry." Kaito strokes a hand through Kaede's fur, kissing the top of his head before shooting me a disbelieving glare. "Touma? Touma said that you're both incompatible? After he's been pining after you ever since he saw your face?"

I shake my head, a self-depreciating smile crossing my face. "He said that he found someone else he was happy with." I say, my voice soft as I play with the fur along Kaede's spine.

"Bullshit." Kaito snorts. A low grumble from Kaede signals that he agrees.

"Idiot." Kaede growls. "He's been in love with you, head over heels for the past four years. I find it hard that he's 'found someone else'." I sigh, and shift, and Kaede rolls off the couch with a loud thump, before he gets to his paws, rearing up to press his forepaws to the couch.

I curl up, almost into a feeble ball, as the realization that I won't ever see Touma's cheerful smile without feeling as if I'm breaking hits me again. Kaede whimpers, and climbs onto the couch next to me, awkwardly hanging half off the couch as he rests his head in my lap.

Kaede usually transforms into his tiger form when trying to comfort someone, as the last few times he tried to use words had him decked in the face. Twice.

"You're incredible, NightHaze. One of a kind, irreplaceable. Touma and his stupid face is an asshole." Kaito says. "He won't ever find someone as strong, dedicated, sweet and perfect as you. I don't give a single shit about any excuse he makes. He's stupid to let you go."

"Perfect?" I sigh. "Far from it. But I do agree with the fact that Touma's an asshole. I... threw my promise ring at him." Kaito's eyes widen.

"But, you only just got it!" Kaito exclaims.

"And he has someone else to give it to now." I respond darkly. "It's disgusting of him to buy something for me, a promise ring, of everything, when he's already in love with someone other than me. He's a manipulative bastard, and I don't know what I ever saw in him." Kaede whimpers, as if physically pained himself, and his ears flatten against his head.

His golden eyes are sorrowful, and he presses the side of his face to mine, and purrs. I wrap my arms around his neck and the damn breaks. I don't know how long I sit there, with my arms wrapped around Kaede's neck, and Kaito's head resting comfortingly on my shoulder.

~

"We're only twenty two. There's still plenty of time," Kaede says, out of his tiger form, and offering me a box of tissues and a bottle of water. I nod, and blow my nose just as Kaede's phone rings on the table. I catch sight of the caller ID and freeze, feeling my throat close up. Kaito's fingers wrap around my wrist comfortingly. Kaede's eyes darken, and he picks up the phone.

"Hello? Oh. Touma." I stiffen further and Kaito glares at Kaede, mouthing rather violently at him to hang up. "Er, no, sorry. Kaito and I already had plans this weekend. Why do you ask?" Kaede glances over at us, and mouths a, what do I do?

Kaito grabs a piece of paper from the table, a marker and furiously scribbles out a messy "hang the fuck up" and holds out the rumpled piece of paper to Kaede. "Hang up." Kaito demands, as if the poster wasn't enough.

"Ah. Sorry, yeah. We had reservations for a few things so we can't really back out of it." I'm impressed at Kaede's ability to keep his voice calm even though his body trembles with anger. I'm too numb to feel anything. "Hmm? NightHaze? No, haven't seen him. Why?"

A few moments of silence, and Kaede scowls.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence." Kaede growls, voice dropping several octaves in a way that sends a cold shiver down my spine. "Whatever reason you're about to tell me, that explanation you just gave is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. You're a selfish bastard. Think about his past, and what he's been through, and then you can complain about your so-called 'Daddy' problem. Got it? Good. Bye." Kaede's words are clipped, and he hangs up before turning off his phone.

"Don't." I hold up a hand to stop Kaede before he can speak. "I don't care why he ended things. He doesn't love me, and that's that. I don't need anything else in my head to give me false hope." Kaede swallows thickly, and nods, before drawing me in, letting me rest my head against his chest. Kaito snuggles into my other side, and I gratefully accept the warmth and comfort they're offering me. My voice is on the verge of breaking, and I let out a short, heartless laugh. "Who could love a pathetic failure like me anyways?"

"We do," Kaito says, softly, glancing up at me. Kaede presses a chaste kiss to my temple, and they both hold one of my hands in theirs, and I break again. Kaede and Kaito hold onto me, comfort me, they just help me feel loved, truly, truly loved. I still wonder, if Touma ever did love me, even if it was just a smidgen. My body shakes with sobs and cries, and I can't help but to cling onto the both of them as if they were my lifeline.

They're the only people I can trust now. No body else. Ever.

"You're worth more than infinity." Kaede murmurs. "Touma is a fool for letting you go."

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Pairing: NightHaze x Touma; Kaede x Kaito

"I call Kaede!" I watch, betrayed, as my boyfriend jumps onto Kaede's back, cackling when Kaede grasps him beneath the thighs to steady him.

"But Kaede's my boyfriend, isn't he?" Kaito complains. NightHaze sticks out his tongue at Kaito, and hops down from Kaede's back.

"I called him first." NightHaze argues. Kaede looks sheepish, and casts me a glance.

"What about me?" I complain. NightHaze blinks up at me owlishly, before a sly smile crosses his face.

"I think it would be fun if we competed against each other, but not as couples." NightHaze shrugs. "It makes things more interesting."

"We do get too competitive when we compete as couples," Kaito admits, rubbing the back of his neck. "Besides, Touma and NightHaze are like a power couple." I pout, and NightHaze runs up to me, wrapping his arms around my waist and burying his face in my chest.

"I'm sorry," NightHaze says, the side of his head pressed against my heartbeat. I can't help the smile that crosses my face, and I thread my fingers through his hair, and kiss him swiftly, before releasing him.

"Well, the game's on." I grin.

"We should make some bets first," Kaito suggests.

~

"Oh shit," Kaede curses as NightHaze's "running wind-up" ends badly, and he ends up slipping, sliding down the alley, the machine beeping loudly to indicate he stepped over the line.

"Oh my god," Kaito's crying with laughter beside me, and I'm torn between laughing and helping a dazed boyfriend from the middle of a bowling alley. I don't have to, since Kaede's already hurrying along the space between each alley to get to him, pulling him to his feet.

"You good?" I can hear Kaede's anxious question, and NightHaze nods.

"My ass hurts, but that was kind of fun." NightHaze admits, sheepishly. "I costed us a few points though. Sorry."

"Don't worry." Kaede ruffles NightHaze's hair, and my boyfriend bounds back down the alleyway and around the line, before leaping at me. Startled, I catch him, bracing myself before we both go crashing down.

"Don't laugh at me." NightHaze pouts, and I grin, brushing my nose alongside his.

"Sorry babe." I say, before releasing him. I pat Kaede on the shoulder as I pass him for my turn. "Good luck, mate." Kaede rolls his eyes.

"NightHaze is the one who's been getting two strikes in a row," Kaede snorts, before he wanders over to the food and snacks bar. I pick a 7kg bowling ball, and easily send the ball down the alleyway, knocking the majority of the pins over.

"See, that's how you bowl." I hear Kaito laugh.

"Oh, shut up. My foot slipped." NightHaze grumbles. I end up throwing a gutter ball the next time around, and when I go back to seats, Kaede's back, and he's bought four bottles of water, two cans of ginger ale, and two cans of Sprite. Being around each other for the past several years, we all know what drink belongs to who. I grab a ginger ale, and thank Kaede as he passes me to take his turn.

NightHaze snuggles into me almost immediately after I sit down, and I wrap an arm around his shoulders. NightHaze hums, pressing a chaste kiss to my cheek before he watches Kaede with intent, silver eyes. Kaede easily knocks down all the pins, and NightHaze cheers, shooting me a smug look.

You're losing, he mouths, and I grimace, knowing that if I lose this bet, NightHaze will never let me live it down. Kaede high-fives NightHaze when he sits down, taking Kaito's seat as he gets up.

"Still confident you're going to win?" Kaede grins, eyes darting up to the scoreboard, where he and NightHaze are beating Kaito and I by fifty points.

"We can get strikes," I argue, although it's weak. Despite NightHaze's and my reputation for being a "power couple", turns out that I'm absolute shit at bowling. Kaede hums, and slings an arm around NightHaze's shoulders, teasingly pulling him from my grasp.

A wave of possessiveness fills me, but I hold myself back, content with seeing the way that NightHaze's eyes light up, and the way he laughs when he hears something that Kaede says.

"Go Kaito!" NightHaze cheers, and Kaito gives him an awkward smile, before throwing his second bowling ball, earning him a spare.

"Why don't you cheer for me?" I complain. NightHaze reaches over and threads our fingers together, but stays silent, and I'm content with that.

Kaito and I end up losing horribly, resulting in us taking us all out for lunch. As for the other part of the bet, all I know, is that NightHaze will definitely make the next few days a time to remember forever.

"Please take some time off for yourself," I beg. "It's not healthy to overwork yourself. I'm worried." I don't want to lose anyone again. Touma frowns, and his thumbs knead at his forehead. He looks exhausted, skin pale and face gaunt.

The dark circles beneath his eyes only seem to be getting more and more prominent with each passing day, and he's gotten even thinner. He won't eat anything sustainable, and he's been running on coffee, energy drinks and instant cup ramen for over three weeks. I'm honestly surprised he hasn't died yet from lack of proper nutrition.

"I don't have time," Touma sighs. "I have to fill out more paperwork, get the appointment dates set and prepare for the interview in two days. I have no time for myself." Touma insists.

"Your own health, physical and mental is important." I try to sound reasonable, but Touma shakes his head, slumping tiredly into the couch. "Touma, please."

"Kazuko, stop." Touma snaps. My eyes widen involuntarily, and I take a hesitant step back. Touma never raises his voice at me. I stop, and bite my lower lip harshly, staring down at my feet. Touma pushes himself off of the couch and stalks up to me until he's nearly knocking me over. "I'm working hard. I'm making money that I need to live off of. At least I actually have a job, and I'm not poor and living in some kind of slum apartment like you!" Touma's yelling now, and his words his a sensitive chord within me.

I grit my jaw, fury flooding through my veins. My walls slam back up into place, and my gaze hardens, silver eyes meeting widening amber, Touma stumbling back one step as he realizes the weight of what he just said.

"Shit. I didn't mean-" Touma begins, fumbling for words, but I lift a hand, cutting him off as I press it against his chest, feeling his furious heartbeat before shoving him away from me.

"I knew this would happen if I were to get involved romantically with someone like you." I sneer, my lower lip curling in disgust. "Pompous, famous rich bastards, always finding a way to flaunt their way of living in people's faces. They're always the same. I don't know why I thought you were different." Touma swallows thickly, and reaches out a trembling hand, which I smack away harshly. "Don't. Fucking. Touch. Me." I growl, voice low and dangerous. "We're over. Don't ever contact me in any way, shape or form." I whip around, stalking towards the door.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry." Touma apologizes, over and over again, and my teeth grind together, hands curling into fists at my side. I want to deck him, so hard.

"I know you're exhausted, but it gives you absolutely no right to treat me like shit when I've been there for the last three weeks trying to help you. Shouldn't it be easy to let me go now when you haven't given a single fuck about how worried I was?" I snap, whirling around.

Touma has tears streaming down his face, amber eyes sorrowful and expression broken, voice cracking and trembling when he tries to speak to me. "But... I love you."

"I wish you'd told me that two months ago, when I said those exact three words to you and you brushed me off like it was nothing." I snarl. I turn back around, and ignore Touma's blubbering pleas, apologies and sobs. The door slams shut behind me and I vow to never return.

~

As soon as the door slams shut, I collapse to the ground, on my knees, pathetic sobs leaving my lips.

"No... don't leave me. Please. I love you. I love you so, so much. Please, I'm sorry. I'm sorry." The last few words become whimpers, and Kaito is suddenly running into the room, door slamming open.

"What happened? I heard screaming and the door slam- Jesus, Touma!" As Kaito drops to his knees beside me, I begin to hyperventilate, my head spins and everything goes black.

When I come to, I'm laying in a hospital bed, hooked up to several machines. Kaito's pacing next to the bed, and only stops when he realizes that I'm awake. He drops onto a chair next to the bed and huffs out a heavy sigh.

"You passed out from exhaustion and lack of nutrition. They're pumping vitamins and electrolytes into your system now. Drink." Kaito lifts a bottle with a straw to my lips, and I take a pull from is, relishing in the cold water washing down my throat. Kaito's quiet, but I can hear his unspoken question, what happened?

"Kazuko's come from a very rough childhood." Kaito starts quietly. "He was abandoned by his parents when he was merely two, left on the streets alone. He was able to walk, and he wandered until a policeman found him and brought him to the local orphanage. The kids were terrified of him. It wasn't his personality, but it was his eyes."

His eyes? Those... beautiful and gorgeous silver eyes?

"Kazuko told me that he'd actually tried to be sweet and kind to the others, but the fear and taunting of the other orphans began to twist his personality. He broke out of the orphanage when he was five, living on his own, on the streets, scavenging through trash for food and things to just live by, even if it was just scraps of cloth or worn down shoes. He stole, and he fought dirty for things he desperately needed to live another day. It's how he lived for eleven years. It was about eight years of living on the streets when we had our first encounter.

I saw him rummaging around in the trash for food, and I called out to him. I was more surprised and entranced by his unusual eye color rather than afraid of it. The meat bun I'd just bought was still warm, and I offered it to him when he approached, keeping his distance. He was a scrawny kid, and it took quite a bit of coaxing to even have him come close enough to take it.

He was like a wild and wounded animal, cornered, afraid and defensive. He never spoke to me each time I met him, and I assumed that he was too shy to speak. It wasn't the case. He didn't know how to speak, read, write nor comprehend the English or Japanese language. He only seemed to understand the most basic of signs and sounds. I'd never seen anyone eat a meat bun as fast as he did," Kaito smiles wryly, eyes glimmering fondly with the memory.

"I told him to wait on the curb, not knowing if he understood or not, and ran back inside, bought another meat bun and a bottle of water. Kazuko was still there when I got back. He looked surprised when I gave them to him, and he bowed, before running off.

I saw him later that night, splitting the meat bun with a young girl, the both of them huddled beneath a shop overhang. The girl also seemed to be a runaway orphan, if the tattered remains of her clothes, and the scraped and dirty skin meant anything. She had that same fire in her eyes that Kazuko did, and she had to have been younger than Kazuko, most likely by two to three years. Kazuko doesn't like to talk about her, it's too painful for him.

I only saw him occasionally after that, getting into fights with the other kids in the neighborhood if they picked on his friend. The girl was the only one who seemed to understand him, and the way that he was. But one day, Kazuko lost her as well."

I suck in a sharp breath, my chest feeling tight, hurting for the strong person that I love so much, for the strong person who left me. Being abandoned by his parents, harassed by the people around him at a young age, and finally making a friend who accepted him, before losing her as well had to have been hard. I swallow thickly, and nod at Kaito to have him continue. Kaito's throat works, before he speaks again.

"She was in an accident, couldn't have been more than thirteen. Kazuko was probably about fifteen then. She'd followed a cat into the street and was hit by a truck that couldn't stop in time. I was there, and I couldn't do anything to help. It killed her instantly. I hadn't seen either of them in a year, they'd both grown taller, thinner.

Naturally, Kazuko had been furious, and in despair. He cradled her shattered body close to him and snarled and bite at anyone who got too close, or tried to help. He ran away from the scene, from the crowds and before the paramedics and police could arrive. I ran after him. There were others who followed, but hell, he could run. After we'd lost the others, he let me catch up, but I'm assuming it's only because he recognized me. He... didn't even have a name, until I gave him one, right then and there."

"Peace and harmony," I murmur. Kaito nods, smiling sadly.

"It was the fi

"It was the first time I saw him cry. He couldn't speak, and we couldn't communicate, but he was distraught. We buried her together at the edge of the forest, and I stayed with him until it got dark and I had to return home. Kazuko disappeared after that." Kaito pauses, before continuing. "It was strange, how we kept meeting up. It was another year later when I saw him stealing from a fruit vendor. Before the vendor could call the authorities, I aid for the fruit and ran after him. It was a miracle that I kept running into him. When I finally caught up to him, I could tell that he'd changed: he'd become harsher, edgier, more defensive and skittish.

By now, Kazuko knew bits and pieces of the Japanese language, but it was quite broken. I can't tell you how happy I was when he pointed to himself, gave me a crooked smile, and said 'I'm Kazuko'. He remembered the name that I'd given him. I offered to teach him English and Japanese, to bring him food as long as he promised not to steal. I don't know how much of it Kazuko understood, but he nodded his head.

That's how our friendship began. He was smart, naturally talented, and he picked everything up swiftly. After a few months, I offered him a place to stay in my apartment. He accepted, and managed to get a part time job at the nearby coffee shop, which blew up in popularity when he started working at the counter. It was a blend of his good looks, and his rather awkward and broken English and Japanese that made him popular with the females.

As soon as he could speak semi-fluent Japanese and English, he started working. He's worked so hard to get some money that he could live on, that he could use for himself instead of depending on others. He's always been so fiercely independent, especially when it comes down to his past. Ever since he'd been a little bow, he wanted to be able to provide for himself, and finally, after sixteen and a half years of struggle, he finally could.

He's one of the hardest working people I know, and with the roughest past. Despite his laziness now, he's probably lucky to have been blessed with multiple natural abilities, art being one of them. We only found out about the art when he found a thrown out box of half-used chalks in the trash, and started drawing over the pavement in the town square in the middle of the summer. He was still sixteen, and didn't understand much English or Japanese. It gathered a lot of attention, and Kazuko actually received quite a bit of money as if he had been a street performer.

I didn't know about it until later that night, when he excitedly showed me the money he'd earned, holding up his chalky hands and telling me in broken Japanese what he'd done. I gave him a few jars to put the money he'd earned in, including the money he'd gotten from working at the coffee shop.

Kazuko started off on paper, and eventually moved to drawing digitally. That tablet of his was the very first purchase he made. He's made a decent amount of money drawing and painting for others. I helped him to set up his own bank account, and before I knew it, he was moving into his own apartment.

We'd lived together for seven years, and this is almost one year that he's gone to live independently. He still relies a lot on me, which I'm perfectly okay with. Kazuko's worked hard, and although he doesn't own too much, and his apartment is very small, he's proud of it. He's always been proud of his achievements, and he deserves to be. Kazuko's someone who's had to fight both tooth and claw for everything that he has now, and he's worked his ass off to get where he is now, at only twenty four years old.

I don't know what you said to him, but despite his harsh and emotionless exterior, he's sensitive. He hates to admit it, but it's true. It stems from his fear to let others in, knowing that they'll end up leaving him. So far, I'm the only one who's stayed. I'm surprised he even agreed to letting you date him."

"You might have been my childhood friend who when MIA when he was twelve, Touma, but Kazuko is also very dead to me, as a friend and as family. I thought it had been a good idea in the beginning to introduce you two, but now I can see that it was a terrible idea.

Touma, I hate to say this, but Kazuko deserves so much more than you. You're someone who's had everything handed to him on a silver platter since birth, someone who can easily get what he wants when he wants it, and it's not a goof match for Kazuko."

Each work Kaito speaks pierces deeper into my heart. I feel like an absolute douchebag, and now I know that he will never look me in the eye again.

"I'm a shitty person." I whisper.

"95% of the time." Kaito responds easily. "You didn't know, so I'll cut you some slack. I only knew of this backstory a little over a year ago, before Kazuko moved out. He felt indebted to me, and so he told me his story. He still feels as if he owes me, he constantly tells me how grateful he is that I let him stay with me, even for giving him a name when no one else had.
Kazuko has problems with trust, and he's always been afraid. He's always been afraid that the people around him will all eventually leave him. Now, he's the one who's left everyone else."

kind of an abrupt ending, but yeet 8D

Pairing: NightHaze x Touma

Touma's POV

sorry guys, but there's no way i can rewrite the last bit. i'm way too tired.

but i do remember the last two lines, yeet.