Keep me Warm - Bikeru - 02

   ’…‘Keru-kun…?’   
… No...
   ‘…‘Keru-kun…’
No. No. Not this dream again.
   ‘Come here, ‘Keru-kun…’
I won’t listen. This time I won’t listen. This time I won’t let him -
   The voice became stronger, louder, more threatening. Takeru blocked it out as his feet tried to find their way backwards, away from the voice, not daring to open his eyes and meet his nightmare. Maybe this time he could get away… If only his feet would cooperate!
   Blindly he touched along a cold stone wall, his only guide in this darkness. Where would the wall end, where would it lead him, and would that be a safe place? Wherever it led, right now it could lead him away from the voice, and Takeru followed, followed, kept following…
   Then, the cold stones ended; a sudden, comfortable warmth met his hand. Takeru froze in surprise. This was a part of the dream he hadn’t seen before… No, he knew all too well in what way the dream did end - and there was never any warmth involved. This was…
   The voice still called from across the darkness, attempting to lure him back, but Takeru turned towards this newfound safety, stretching out his hand to allow more of the blissful feeling to take hold of him - Next, the darkness was chased away by light.
   ’… Are you waking up?’
Utterly slowly, Takeru’s awareness of his body returned to him by bits. He was warm, so comfortably warm… And even the air was filled with a delicious scent… Oh, he was still dreaming - wait, no, he wasn’t anymore. But then how could he ever feel this… blissful?
   ’Oy, I asked whether you were awake.’
A voice… Not the unpleasant one from his dreams. Nah, this one sounded kinda nice actually… Wait, a voice?
   ’Geez, apparently you needed the rest, huh?’
This time, Takeru forced himself to escape from his deep slumber and opened his eyes too hastily to see, numbed by the sleep as they were. Quickly he blinked and brought his hand up to his eyes to rub them firmly, his skin stroking past a thick woollen blanket - huh?
   ’Ohayou gozaimasu,’ the voice spoke again, with its smoothness betraying the owner was smiling. ’I take it you slept well?’
   All Takeru could do was gape up towards the person sitting in a chair in front of him, smiling back at him friendly. A man around his age with long, straight black hair, dark eyes placed within a fair-skinned face with soft, slightly feminine features. Clearly he wasn’t native; despite his dark hair and eyes he still looked foreign, but Takeru couldn’t tell immediately what his origin was.
   The man smiled by what must’ve been Takeru’s dumbfounded expression as the former blonde scanned his unknown host from top down, taking in the details of the black bathrobe he wore before coming to rest at a big mug cradled in his slender fingers. So that had been that delicious scent…
   ’Coffee? I can get you some if you like,’ the dark-haired man offered as he saw the other stare, stretching out the mug to Takeru - but then full reality finally zoned in on the latter.
   CRASH.
Dark-brown liquid spilled around everywhere as the mug shattered into tiny pieces against the stone floor. Takeru had shot up like an arrow from the couch as a first reaction to being into close presence of an unknown person. His heart hammered in his ears as his eyes frantically sought out an escape-route - but to his horror the garage door was now fully closed. He was trapped.
   The man had gotten up from his chair as soon as the mug of coffee was lashed out of his hand, his eyes fixed on Takeru, but he still appeared calm as he watched how the other retreated further into the garage, pieces of ceramic mug getting crushed under his tattered shoes.
   ‘Let me out.’
   ‘Calm down first. I won’t hurt you.’
   ‘Let - me - out,’ Takeru repeated coldly with more emphasis on every word, acting braver than he was while feeling the blood drain from his face. He tried not to shiver and show his weakness, but the lost warmth from the blanket made his body severely protest against the sudden change in temperature.
   The man walked around his chair so slowly it irritated Takeru, and he couldn’t stand the piercing gaze from the dark eyes directly pointed at him. Instead he kept his gaze deliberately at the closed garage door, shifting his eyes only when the man took a step in his direction.
   ‘Just who the fuck are you?’ Takeru then spat out, retreating another hasted step. The dark-haired man raised an eyebrow before a faint chuckle escaped his lips.
   ‘That is quite a question asked from the one entering my house instead of vice versa. Shouldn’t I ask that first?’
   Takeru’s jaw nearly dropped. His house…? Was this guy in fact the owner of this house? He hadn’t even thought of that scenario!
   Sceptically now Takeru took in the appearance of the man again: well, he would go for someone above mediocre, even in his bathrobe, but when he owns this house, he has to be a friggin’ multi-millionaire! Takeru thought.
   ‘You’re lucky that I found you before the movers got here… Now I could tell them to come in the afternoon, for I easily get migraine in the morning when there is a lot of noise… An innocent little lie, or was it?’
   Takeru looked back up at the man reproachfully. What was he saying?
   ’That door on your right -’ the man then calmly pointed out and Takeru confusedly followed his gesture to the wooden door next to him ’ - that door leads into the rest of the house. Stupidly enough, not only did I not close the garage door properly yesterday, I even left that door unlocked. That’s just putting bait out for burglars, isn’t it?’
   Takeru’s body tensed. This was it, wasn’t it? Now he was done for. The guy had probably already called the cops -
   ‘But since you showed no interest in even trying to break in, and all my stuff is still here, why shouldn’t I trust you?’
    Nearly did Takeru’s jaw drop. This, he did not expect. A calm, soothing smile still played along the man’s lips as he slowly walked up to Takeru, leaving respectable distance, but again Takeru felt his heart moving up to somewhere near his throat. He still felt far from at ease.
   ‘Don’t get me wrong. I only realised you needed help so I provided you with some. Who am I to deny you that? Now -’ with confidence the man reached out his hand ‘ - don’t be afraid anymore. My name is Bi-’
   ‘Stay away from me!’ Takeru interrupted him with a shout, cowering back from the man’s outstretched hand as if it was a snake. ‘Just let me out - let me out right now!!’ He was afraid, knew very well he was but did not want to show it, but now it was too late. He had shown his weakness in front of someone - a stranger at that.
   A moment longer did the man cast his dark eyes directly into the onyx ones of Takeru, who quickly avoided them again - then the man sighed and turned his back to him, walking towards the right wall of the garage where he calmly reached for a device with two round buttons, of which he pressed one. Immediately the garage door came in movement and slowly a bar of light became broader and broader from underneath the door, soon reaching Takeru‘s feet.
   ‘Life hasn’t been fair to you, huh…’ the man muttered softly.
Takeru’s breath hitched. What was this guy…What the hell did he know!
   ‘… But it hasn’t always been like this, right?’
   ‘FUCK YOU MAN! JUST LET ME OUT!!’
The dark-haired man barely flinched under his shouting, he merely cast his eyes down with a sigh as he pressed the button deeper and let the garage door open more swiftly, the expensive mechanism hardly making a sound. Takeru still tried to keep his panting under control but failed, his eyes shooting from the man’s back to the door, his fear and urge for freedom suffocating him and when the door hadn’t fully opened yet he flung himself forward, dodging underneath it and staggering into blinding sunlight. Disorientated by the bright light for a moment, Takeru only slowed his running down in the middle of the forever deserted street, bringing his arm up to shield his eyes and casting one last startled look over his shoulder -
   The man was still watching him. His body and face painted gold in the sunlight, the only part he could see of him were his eyes, which he had shielded against the sun in the same way Takeru had. The dark eyes, still looking straight at him. Dark eyes filled with… questions? Regarding him…?
   No matter, he’d never see them again. He would never return to this fucking place again.


Around him, the houses decreased in value, the streets became broader, and he even passed a few people on their way to work, while he still hadn’t stopped running. The Platinum-centre was behind him now, and it was where it would stay. He had full reason to leave it behind forever.
   Sharp pain was striking his sides as he ran; he had ignored it all the while but now his body strictly protested against further exhaustion, and finally Takeru slowed his pace. Now running at a trot, he looked up to the skyscrapers towering ahead. That was where he was headed anyway, that was where he would start and find - something. He would be able to make it there today, perhaps he could even -
   ‘Oy, Buru-chan!’
A sudden shouting coming from his left distracted him - Takeru turned his head startled while his feet kept running. The voice shouted again, louder this time - then suddenly, everything came to an abrupt stop.

   ‘Aisshh~~ not good!’ Yuji hissed with a face scrunched up in compassionate pain as he dropped his newspaper and quickly made his way to the other side of the street on his slippers. ‘Oy oy Takeru, daijoubu?!’
   ‘…Ow…’ was the faint reply he got from the ground, where Takeru had ended up after his unintended collision with a streetlight post. When the shorter one weakly blinked his eyes, pain still numbing his brain, he saw a blurry picture of Yuji’s face hanging above him upside-down.
   ‘Takeru, you’re alive!’
   ‘… You sure?’
Yuji let out a breath then chuckled. ‘Yep, it’s still you. No brain damage done.’
   ‘It doesn’t feel like it,’ Takeru protested weakly as he tried to sit up - but immediately everything began to blur even worse and he felt a strong nausea rising. It had been quite a hard blow.
   ‘Hold still now, Takeru.’
   ‘I… ah! Yuji! I can walk!’
   ‘Not now. If you strain yourself now you’ll faint. Just stay calm.’
Yuji’s voice was serious and so Takeru didn’t complain anymore, as he was carried in Yuji’s arms across the street. Groggily he leaned his cheek against Yuji’s chest without intending to, it now occurring to him that Yuji was wearing a bathrobe too, a soft red one. Funny, he had one of those in college too…
   Yuji carried him across a small front yard and gave the closed front door a kick. ’Masato, open the door please!’
   Masato…? But of course… Damn, his brains were really turned to cocktail for a second there if the name Masato was even for only a split second a mystery.
   ’Yuji? What’s wrong, you’ve got yourself a key…’ a voice muttered from the other side of the door and a blonde head appeared when it opened. ’Did you - oh.’
   ’Surprise,’ Yuji smiled, and also Takeru put up a faint grimace to greet his old friend and former band mate. It didn’t surprise him that SuG’s princess had kept his blonde hair.
    ‘Ta - Takeru!’ Suddenly there was blonde hair everywhere as Masato had pulled him into a tight hug - not a very comfortable position for he was still dangling in Yuji’s arms. The latter also had to make effort to stay in balance and gently told Masato to let go so they could at least step inside. Masato immediately retreated and showed them in, leading them into the kitchen Takeru had only yesterday eaten in.
   ‘I can’t believe we’re meeting again like this! When Yuji told me yesterday I was completely gob smacked and sad that I couldn’t see you! And now you’re here again, how nice! - but, you’re bleeding!’
   ‘He had a little accident,’ Yuji soothed Masato as he carefully put Takeru down on a stool. ‘Why don’t you go get the First Aid-kit for us, dear?’
   ‘Ah, yes, right away!’ and Masato, like Yuji dressed in a charming white bathrobe, left the room. Takeru watched him leave.
   Yuji let out an sentimental sigh. ‘Ah, I guess these things never change…’
   ‘What things?’
   ‘Masato shall always be your mommy,’ Yuji smiled at him. Takeru gave a weak, but honest smile back, carefully touching the bump on the side of his head before retreating his finger with a hiss.
   ‘Yeah, it’s a pretty one,’ Yuji whistled, ‘but don’t worry, it‘s just a bump and a little cut. Besides, it could’ve been a lot worse.’
   ‘Yeah, you could’ve also distracted me from avoiding a truck,’ Takeru sneered.
   Yuji pouted. ‘I’m sorry…’
   ‘Iie dayou…’
Masato returned with the First Aid-kit and immediately took out cottons, disinfectant and a band aid. But as he coated a few cottons with the colourless fluid, Yuji gently stopped Masato’s hand, and the blonde looked up confused.
   ‘Let me do this Masato, then maybe you can get our guest a nice cup of coffee - I bet that’s exactly what he needs right now,’ Yuji smiled
    Masato’s frown became a smile too, and said: ‘I’ll go set the table then; we can have breakfast altogether!’
   ‘Good idea love,’ Yuji cooed as Masato left for the adjoining room.
A slight feeling of unease took hold of Takeru as soon as Masato was away again. The fact Yuji really wanted to take care of him - be alone with him at that - after yesterday, he didn’t know what to make of this anymore. Let alone his own feelings.
   Yuji applied some extra disinfectant and then gently raised Takeru’s chin. Takeru’s eyes shifted around when Yuji brought the cottons to his for-head and said: ’This might hurt.’
   Takeru nearly cried out when a thousand needles pierced the skin around the wound - the strong disinfectant did its job well. He bit his lip harshly but couldn’t stop a single tear of pain from escaping. Maybe that was what Yuji had been waiting for.
   ‘Don’t cry, ‘Keru…’
Yuji’s breath spilled against his lips with his whisper and Takeru froze, feeling Yuji lifting up his chin some more - Takeru’s eyes closed and he began to shiver, caught between welcoming and revolting against what was going to happen - their lips lightly brushed together -
   ‘Takeru, Yuji! Table is set!’
Immediately Yuji retreated and Takeru let out a shuddering breath, avoiding Yuji’s gaze completely and clumsily getting off his stool. If he could walk again, he’d run now.
   ‘You guys coming?’ Masato poked his head around the door, and Takeru still considered to decline - but when he dared to look up not only did Masato have an anticipating gleam in the eyes, Yuji’s eyes revealed a clear beg when he said: ‘Yeah… Have breakfast with us, Takeru.’
   Takeru complied. He felt he had no choice.


Yuji, this can’t go on. I won’t be able to take it. Nor would Masato. You and I have been, but cannot be again. Deal with that. Please… No matter how much I do still love you.
   A single tear escaped his eyes again and Takeru firmly rubbed them, thinking it would freeze up if he wouldn’t wipe it off fast enough. The night was cold, very cold again. He didn’t remember the previous night being this cold - well, that had been, different...
   Takeru stared into the dark alley he had made his new base, lost in thought. This was the first time he was thinking about the happening from this morning again. Really, it still looked as if he had only dreamt it. That guy… What the hell was he thinking… What an idiot. He felt in luck that the guy was an idiot.
   But, that warmth… That warmth he had encountered in his dream - that hadn’t happened before. Was it only because he gave me - I had that blanket? No, not true… When I was still sleeping in a bed I had the same dream too… and it has always been cold…
   An icy wind stirred around the corner of the alley and Takeru curled himself up even more in the only slightly wind-free corner he had found. This time an old, plastic windshield served as his blanket. Maybe tomorrow he’d find a better place when he’d start exploring this area. This district could hold so much more for him… Pfsch, yeah right, Takeru thought scornfully. I can only speak of luck once I wake up again the next morning…
   As the weight of sleep pressed down on his eyelids, the lamenting sounds of the restless city became his lullaby, and Takeru fell asleep.

To be continued