Chapter Text
As soon as he opened the front door, Keiji heard the animated chatter from the living room. He loved his mom but he wasn’t sure he could handle her excited self right now. Especially not if Koutaro’s mom was there with her.
He’d had an exhausting day at school and to top it off received two more rejections from flats he’d applied to. Needless to say, Keiji was not in the mood to have tea and chat with the two cheerful women
Hoping, he could evade long conversation, he just stuck his head through the door frame and nodded at them politely, before quickly turning around again to make his way to his room.
But before he could flee, his mom started patting the space next to her, urging him to sit with them.
“Keiji, come, sit, sit. Akari-san and I were just discussing something.”
He did as he was told, the tiniest bit curious, and completely unprepared for what was to come.
“So,” Akari said. “Your mom and I were talking about flats and all that stuff, and she said you had trouble finding one! So we found a solution.”
“A solution?” Keiji didn’t allow himself to feel relieved yet. Who knew what kind of solution it was. But it was true that he simply couldn’t find an affordable place and he was running out of time before college started.
“Yes!” his mom affirmed, a wide smile on her lips. “Akari-san said they already found a flat for Kou-chan and it’s big enough to house two! So you can stay together!”
“ What? ”
“Isn’t that great? You two have always been such great friends, it’s nice to see you going to the same college and now you are even going to live together!”
“I’ll also feel a bit relieved to know that someone as dependable as Keiji will keep an eye on my son. That boy really tends to get in trouble,” Akari agreed with a fond chuckle.
Keiji just stared at them, dumbfounded.
Koutarou and him weren’t friends. They hadn’t been friends since some time in middle school, naturally drifting apart after getting sorted into different classes and pursuing different hobbies. Their contact had kept decreasing until all that was left was a polite “Hello” and a smile when they stumbled into each other in the halls.
When they proceeded to attend different high schools, even those last traces of their friendship disappeared.
And it was fine, Keiji was fine with that. It was never meant to be forever; promises made on playgrounds were nothing more than the words of little kids after all.
Koutarou had said that Keiji was his world, but when they’d started middle school his world had suddenly started to expand and Keiji was nothing but a small shadow within. He couldn’t be blamed for that though, Koutarou was like a star, shining so brightly and beautifully, it was only natural that he would draw in crowds.
Keiji didn’t belong there with him, he wasn’t anything special and so he accepted when they drifted apart, keeping his distance when Koutarou was surrounded by sparkling people like himself. It made his chest ache and his throat feel tight, but he knew it was for the better, he didn’t want to be a millstone around his childhood friend’s neck. Keiji loved him enough to let him go.
So this whole moving-in together thing their moms came up with? Terrible, terrible idea. The last time they had a proper talk felt like an eternity ago, hell, Keiji hadn’t even known that Koutarou would attend the same college.
He swallowed, gaze wandering between the two women.
“That’s very kind of you, Akari-san,” he started, a polite smile on his face.
“No need to-”
“But I don’t think we can just decide on that. I’m sure he would prefer to live alone.”
Surprise flashed over Akari’s features but it was quickly replaced with a laugh.
“Well, we can just ask him then.”
Before Keiji could say anything, he heard the unlocked front door opening and bold steps coming their direction. He couldn’t help his heart from squeezing at the sight of Koutarou’s happy face as he walked in.
“I brought cake!” he announced cheerfully and put the cake on the table before sitting down next to his mom.
“Perfect timing,” she said. “We were just talking about how Keiji hasn’t found a flat yet.”
Big honey eyes glanced over to him and Keiji didn’t want to feel like melting.
“And since the two of you got accepted to the same college, we thought he could take the spare room in your flat.”
For a brief second, Koutarou seemed shocked and it was inexplicably painful. Keiji didn’t want him to say yes, yet he didn’t want him to say no either.
That worry turned out to be completely unnecessary though, because a bright smile appeared on Koutarou’s face as he nodded.
“Of course he can stay with me!”