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Yotsuyu warned him. Warned him months ago. But in his heated confession of his “condition” to his girlfriend, Aisho felt as if he could completely trust in another person. Without any doubt, he knew she would accept him, love him, smother him in kisses and support even if he was a freak of nature, by human standards.
But when he came to from his next hibernation, as his stone body reverted back to squishy, fragile flesh, Yotsuyu was there, kneeled at his side, his eyes carefully fixed on Aisho as he explained the situation to him. His girlfriend had searched the house, found the deed, and sold the house for money. As Yotsuyu talked, Aisho heard the wailing of heavy machinery and the neck of a bulldozer crawl toward a half-destroyed structure. His house. Currently being demolished.
“And she also… she was also cheating on you for a while. She took random men into the house and…” Yotsuyu had the decency to stop there.
Aisho slowly sat up and rolled his neck, then sighed, his face falling as he tried to cover it in his hands before Yotsuyu could notice his posture crumbling. Deep breaths. Don’t shake. Don’t cry. But he failed at all of them as ugly tears stung at the corners of his eyes, and hundreds of thoughts with the same message worded in different ways assaulted his mind. Fuck up. Dumbass. Got what was coming to you.
“I can’t believe how fucking -- how fucking stupid I am,” Aisho managed, his voice cracking as he voiced one of his brain’s taunts. And now Yotsuyu could see how pathetic Aisho was compared to him. Couldn’t look him in the eye as an equal anymore. Aisho bunched up what little hair stuck out from his hat into his fists, knuckles turning white, “After all,” Aisho said with a bitter edge to his voice, “you’re the one who told me I shouldn’t trust anyone who isn’t a Rock Human. You must think I’m shit.”
Yotsuyu sighed. “I don’t think any less of you. But here, come,” he said as he rose to his feet, extending one hand.
Aisho wiped his face off before glancing up at Yotsuyu. “What’s that for?”
“You need a place to stay from now on, so come with me to my house.”
Yotsuyu’s house. Aisho had never seen it before, and he wasn’t sure if anyone else from the Rokakaka Smuggling Organization had ever been invited there. All he knew was that Yotsuyu designed it himself, being the best architect in Morioh -- maybe even the best in Japan. He ought to feel honored. But he still felt hollow, only barely warmed and still falling apart as he stood on wobbling legs to follow his friend to his house.
And the sight of the flat, sleek home impressed Aisho, distracted him from his woes for several seconds. Without catching himself, he breathed an, “Oh, wow.”
“I need the best,” Yotsuyu said as he unlocked the door and let Aisho in.
Aisho’s eyes wandered around each room as they passed through, Yotsuyu briefly talking about the design choices he carefully included in each one. The fact that they only spent five minutes in the room told Aisho he was holding back from completely dorking out and talking architecture for hours -- after all, Aisho didn’t know shit about architecture. The only building he knew intimately was the baseball stadium because it was his job. One thing he could do right sometimes.
They reached a tidy room with a clean, clearly uninhabited bed to which Yotsuyu gestured. “This is one of the few guest rooms I’ve included in this house. Make yourself at home while you recuperate and find a new one.”
The thought of living anywhere else, as well as being thrust back into the reality that he was homeless because his girlfriend cheated and stole and sold his house, brought his thoughts back to his shitty situation. His shoulders slumped. He was sure he could save up enough money after a month or two to start renting a dingy apartment, but it was a shame he couldn’t just live here with Yotsuyu without the stress of needing to find a new lonely place in which to live. This is why you shouldn’t get attached to people or things , he told himself. Look what happened when he got attached to his cozy home on a hill and got attached to his doting, ditzy, cheating girlfriend.
“And you’re sure I can stay here?” Aisho asked nervously. Because already, he could see himself getting attached to this subtly extravagant home and its architect and his friend and his colleague, could see himself wanting to boast about his almost improved living arrangements to an assortment of colleagues at his day job, could see himself not wanting to leave while simultaneously feeling paranoid that Yotsuyu would want him to leave, that Yotsuyu would hate every moment they spent together. It wasn’t that Yotsuyu treated Aisho like a pest, but his general demeanor he carried was that of someone who knew he was very important. And Aisho wasn’t that important.
“I wouldn’t extend the offer if I wasn’t sure,” Yotsuyu said with a deadpan tone, as if it was an obvious thing to do, only it wasn’t that obvious to Aisho. Aisho’s relationships with others in the organization, as well as other Rock Humans, consisted of generic greetings and goodbyes with some occasional questions tossed around. Again, he felt it was best to not get attached to them.
Aisho took in a deep breath and lowered himself on the edge of the bed. “Thanks. I appreciate it. Sucks that I’m so fucking pitiable right now, though.”
Much to Aisho’s surprise, Yotsuyu took a seat next to him. Without looking at him, he said, “I’m serious when I say I don’t think you’re dumb or silly or foolish for wanting to get into a relationship with someone and having it blow up in your face when nothing hinted to your girlfriend being cheating scum. It’s something I’ve never found a desire for, but none of us in the organization are stupid. Any idiots would end up dead anyway. We’re careful with our choices.”
Aisho snorted and wiped at his face. “Well, there’s plenty of time for me to die and prove myself to be an idiot, after all.”
Yotsuyu closed his eyes for a moment, and Aisho lifted his gaze and kept it on the other man, unsteady. Maybe he just lost his guest status by being too paranoid. And fuck the way his paranoia screwed him over in the way it somehow stopped being a problem when he should have been paranoid about his ex and shouldn’t feel so around Yotsuyu to show how shitty he was--
A warm hand on his shoulder brought Aisho back with a small jump.
“You’re a good guy, Aisho,” he said. “You didn’t deserve what that woman did to you. People outside of our kind are too dim-witted, selfish, and cruel. It’s better to stick to those who understand you.”
“I’m not close to any other Rock Humans,” Aisho sighed. “And I doubt any of them would want to get closer to me. There are others who have accomplished much more in their life. People who impress others and make them desirable friends. I’m just a loser who works at a baseball stadium, staring at cameras to make sure no one sneaks in or steals shit.”
“Well, I’m here,” Yotsuyu said simply, sitting stiff. His leg shifted just slightly, breaking his gaze from Aisho to the blank wall. As if there was something he was unsure of doing.
And the strangest thing was, Aisho’s heart skipped a little at that, for some reason. Yotsuyu was here. For him. Yotsuyu must have searched Aisho’s entire house to find him before the demolition crew wreaked havoc on his once loving place. Yotsuyu waited until he woke from hibernation to tell him of this terrible predicament. Yotsuyu made the effort to be there and opened the opportunity for him to continue being here for him until he could pull his life back together.
Maybe it was his fucked up feelings, maybe loneliness struck him hard and left him yearning for someone else, but Aisho raised his shaking arm and took Yotsuyu’s hand in his own. Squeezed it. Tried not to cry again. The past two hours were already far too emotional, leaving Aisho drained. Yotsuyu was probably sick of him and his negativity already, wanted him to move on and simply function like a normal being.
He couldn’t let himself think for a second that Yotsuyu felt anything deeper than a sense of pity and wanting to do good for others of a scarce species. Couldn’t let him make bad choices from rebound. But this moment was enough. Made him feel less alone. Maybe he could trust Yotsuyu, seeing how his words felt more genuine than all of the saccharine bullshit from the girl he’d been in love with for far too long. Because damn it, he wanted this moment to mean something more. Something more that hadn’t often crossed his mind, since he found it better to admire those in the organization from afar. Yotsuyu had always caught his eye, and not only because of his ridiculous choice in clothing, but because he was important. He was respectable. He was a somebody both in the Rock Human world and the outside.
And what seemed like out of nowhere, Yotsuyu said quietly, nearly a whisper, “You deserve better, you know.”
Aisho’s heart caught in his throat. He wanted to say a casual “thanks,” but his heart stayed there, left him unable to speak. He couldn’t even swallow or clear his throat.
Maybe he deserved better after all if someone like Yotsuyu said so.
After another moment, after the tense air among them calmed down, Aisho let himself close his eyes and lean toward Yotsuyu, resting his head on his shoulder, and stayed there. Feeling like something.