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After a few years in Brazil, his parents decided to go back to Japan for his college. He has also been convincing his parents of wanting to go on a solo trip to his homeland prior to their decision of going back home but his fathers specifically Tobio, did not allow him. He was always the protective one while Shoyo is the carefree one, always encouraging Kaien to try new things.
“What if I fail papa?” Kaien once asked, staring wide eyed up at his papa. Shoyo ruffled his son’s hair and smiled.
“Kai-chan you have to remember that it is okay to fail. We aren’t perfect after all,” he says.
Kaien grips tightly around the bicycle handles, he’s already 6 years old and has begged his dad to let him learn to ride a bicycle. Tobio was a bit hesitant about it.
What if he falls from the bike?
He will be bruised.
He’ll bleed.
What if he gets into an accident?
Those were the worries of Tobio and that wasn’t even half of it. But Shoyo convinced him too.
“You know we shouldn’t shelter Kaien that much. He should be able to explore the world Tobio. We can be there for him every step he takes right?”
After few more compromising and talking, Tobio purchased a bicycle and Shoyo is up to teach him how to ride it.
“Come on you’ll be fine. I’ll be holding you,” Shoyo assures his son.
After a week of learning on his bike, he finally got the hang of it and he can ride it without having Shoyo hold him at the back.
“Papa look at me!” He says as he rides around their back lawn.
“Be careful Kaien. You don’t want scratches on your legs for you summer break,” Tobio warned as he sips on his juice.
Kaien stopped in front of his dad. “Dad we’re going to Hyogo for summer right?”
“Yes. Atsumu and Sakusa-san visited here last year so we’re gonna visit them for this year,” Tobio answers.
“I’m excited. I will meet Nao-chan again!”
Three days after their summer break started, they booked a train to Hyogo for a five day trip. It has become a tradition for them to spend summers at each other’s houses. It once included the Bokuto’s too but they moved to Australia and they also received a news that Koutaro and Keiji now has a daughter.
“Kai-chan!” Naoyuki shouted as soon as he saw his dad’s Audi pulled up in front of their house.
“Don’t run Nao,” Atsumu reminded him but Naoyuki has already dashed out of the house.
“Dad!” He crashed into Kiyoomi’s legs.
“Woah careful there. Look who is so excited,” Kiyoomi smiles gently at his son.
“Where’s Kaien?” He asked.
The back door opened and Kaien jumped out earning a half-hearted scolding from Tobio.
“Nao-chan!”
“Kai-chan!”
And they got absorbed into their world as they talked about the random things they found interesting over the course of time that they haven’t seen each other.
“Oh! And I know how to ride a bike now!” Kaien proudly announced.
“Really? Let’s go then! I have two bikes now. Papa bought me a new one!”
But before they could even go to the garage they are both stopped by their papas.
“Kai-chan you have to change first and we still have to eat,” Shoyo says.
“Same goes for you too Nao-chan. Let’s go eat lunch first.”
As their cue, Kaien’s stomach grumbled.
“Let’s see who gets to eat more bowl of rice!” Naoyuki challenged.
“I will win!” Kaien declares.
As the afternoon passed, the parents are all gathered in the backyard of the Miya household while the kids took a nap because they’re just too full.
“We will be moving to Brazil at the end of the month,” Shoyo says.
“Oh. Is that final already?” Kiyoomi asked.
“Yes. Me and Tobio both have work offers there and we can’t just leave Kaien so we’re taking him too.”
“Nao will be sad,” Atsumu smiles sadly. “Have you told Kaien about that already?”
“We haven’t yet,” Tobio sighs. “Maybe on our last day here. Naoyuki has to know too. Those two are close friends.”
Days seems to go by fast, it’s now already their fourth day in Hyogo and Kaien was asked by his parents to sit down with them for a bit.
“Is there something wrong dad?” He asked Tobio.
“We have to tell you something,” Tobio answers.
“Hmm,” Kaien hums as he rocks himself back and fourth.
“Kaien we’re going to Brazil,” Shoyo starts and Kaien beams.
“Really?!” He asked excitedly. “How long are we going to stay there?”
Shoyo sighs and gave his son a small smile. “We are going to move there Kai-chan. We’ll be living there.”
All the excitement and joy drains from Kaien’s face. “But… but what about…”
“Me and your dad got job offers there and it is not sure how long we are going to stay there. But I promise you that we will go back here.”
Kaien nodded and proceeded to ask his curious questions.
Perhaps, his shift of mood is very obvious because Naoyuki has stared at him while Kaien was heaving sighs.
“Are you okay?” Naoyuki asks.
Kaien sighs again. “I think this is the last summer that we can play together.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Papa told me that we will be going to Brazil. We are going to live there and I asked dad if could we just take the train back home but he said it’s not possible,” Kaien said in a small voice.
“Oh,” Naoyuki is clearly down too. “Yer leaving.”
Kaien nodded.
“Don’t worry about it! We will play again when ya come back here. And don’t be an idiot, Brazil is like very far. Ya need to ride an airplane not a train.” Nao teases.
“What?! Did you just call me an idiot?”
And just like that, the sadness that has dawned on them disappeared. Maybe they’re just kids after all. The day went by fast and the Kageyamas are already on the train station to catch their train back to Miyagi.
“I’ll see you soon Kaien,” Naoyuki said. It has given Kaien a weird feeling since Naoyuki has been calling him Kai-chan but he smiles at him.
“I will see you too soon Naoyuki.” He waved him goodbye before stepping into the train.
--
He was ecstatic when his parents had announced that they will be moving back to Japan. The first thing that popped into his mind was to visit Naoyuki but on the second thought, he doesn’t have any news about him anymore. So instead he explored Tokyo because even when they still haven’t moved, he was usually in Miyagi. His university is just around Tokyo too so he’s free to roam around the city.
He finished moving in yesterday and as per usual, Tobio was a bit hesitant to leave Kaien alone. This will be the very first time that his son will be out of his sight longer than a month.
“Dad I will be alright. I promise!” Kaien assured his anxious dad.
“Make sure to take care of yourself alright Kaien?” Tobio asked for more than a hundred times already.
“Yes dad. I will.”
“Don’t worry too much Tobio. Nao is in this university too and he’s on the same dorm building.”
“He is?!” Kaien surprisingly asked.
“Yes… oh!” Shoyo exclaimed. “Sorry Kai-chan. I forgot to tell you but well I guess you’ll see him around. You can catch up with him.”
“Yes. I definitely will!”
After a dinner, his parents left and he’s alone in his single dorm room. Tobio insisted that he should stay in a single dorm room because he doesn’t want Kaien to room with someone who is possibly a bad influence. His room is pretty decent, a bed by the window, a study table, a closet, a small bathroom, and some small space for his other stuff.
His class will start in two days and he still has the time to familiarize everything. He also visited the campus already and the rooms where his classes will be held.
Without any academic responsibilities yet, he lazed around his room, just binged watching movies or reading some mangas. His peace was interrupted by a sound next to his room. He paused his movie to listen to it and it registers that it’s an electric guitar. It’s kind of muffled because the walls are concrete which is a good thing, Kaien thought. Because maybe his neighbor likes to play guitar in the middle of the night and he can just muffle the sound out by wearing his noise cancelling headphones.
When the clock strikes 1, his stomach grumbles, so he decided to go out. He closed his door the moment his neighbor opened his.
“Hey you played nicely—Nao?”
His neighbor stopped and stared at Kaien, he can’t be wrong. He is definitely Miya Naoyuki. Nao’s face also sparked recognition when he saw Kaien.
“Naoyuki! Hi!” Kaien greeted excitedly.
“Kaien,” Nao says. His voice is now deeper. “Hi. You’re back.”
“Yes! Actually I was back two weeks ago.”
“I see,” Nao only says and proceeds to lock on his door.
“So we’re neighbors,” Kaien attempted to make a small talk as he waited for Naoyuki.
“Yeah,” Nao said and pocketed his keycard. “Dad told me that you will go here too.”
“This is my number one choice. I didn’t know you’re here too. It’s a very likely coincidence.” Kaien speaks in delight but he noticed Nao’s lack of interest.
Maybe things have changed already? Kaien thought. They have grown apart, he understands that. They also didn’t have any communication the whole time he was staying in Brazil because he got busy adjusting and adapting there.
“Um I’m going this way,” Nao pointed somewhere else, probably to the nearby café.
Kaien nodded. “Yeah. I’ll see you around Nao!”
Naoyuki only nodded before turning his back. Kaien sighed.
His plans on how to do some catching up with Naoyuki has completely crushed and now’s thrown into the garbage can. He forgot that even if they were really close as children, people still change especially in their situation where they were apart for years. He was moping as he stroll around the convenience store to buy his lunch. Yes, his parents have reminded him to eat healthy and he has a separate money for grocery but he’s in his dejected mood now.
Classes started and Kaien made friends easily. He can get along with everyone else, it’s in his nature. Weeks passed by and he hasn’t seen a single silhouette of Naoyuki. He is not sure if is he avoiding him or do they have a very conflicting schedules that they literally don’t have the chance to be in the same room.
Kaien was able to cope up with the demands of the university. His parents visit him too occasionally. It’s actually just easy for him because this isn’t the first time he has to adapt on his environment. They are nearing the midterms and Kaien spends it with his newly found friend, Akihiko. They have the same classes in gen ed so they became close. But he just lives in another dorm building.
“I am nervous Kai-chan,” Akihiko sighs. “What if I fail my first ever college exam?”
Kaien laughs. “Aren’t you a little advanced? You will fail it if you won’t trust yourself.”
“I am not as smart as you!” He whines.
“Since when did I become smart?” Kaien laughs. He’s pursuing a degree in art, he loves how he can express himself in various form and have the audience relate it to themselves.
He was oblivious to the presence of Naoyuki who is sitting on the other side of the café. Of course he would recognize that hair and that eyes of his. It’s just too unique to be unnoticed. Even some people occasionally cast a glance in Kaien’s direction who is obviously not aware of it.
When Naoyuki was about to open the door to leave, someone bumped on his back. A frown formed behind his mask and he was ready to throw some sarcasm when he saw a familiar ginger like hair. Kaien.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking—Naoyuki?” Kaien recognizes him immediately and gave him a toothy smile and the frown disappears from his face.
“Kaien,” he simply says almost sounding dismissive and he whacks himself on his mind. Kaien must have picked up on it because his smile formed into almost a pout.
“I’m sorry again. Let’s go Aki.”
Another guy followed Kaien and they went out of the café with Kaien not even looking back at him.
“You knew the guy?” He heard the guy named Aki asked as they walked away.
Naoyuki groaned as he pushed the door open and headed towards his dorm. He quickly changed into his household clothes before plopping onto his bed because he is frustrated. He doesn’t even know why. So he took his guitar and played any song that came to his mind. He kept the volume decent to not disturb his neighbors but he guesses that most of them are probably in classes or in the library.
When his fingers started to hurt, he puts down his guitar and plopped on his bed face first. After a minute of contemplation, he decided to call his uncle Osamu.
“Nao-chan!” Osamu greeted merrily over the phone.
“Hello Uncle Samu good af…oh.” He peaks through the curtain and realized that it’s dark outside already. “Good evening Uncle. I hope I’m not disturbing.”
“Oh no it’s fine. My staffs are taking care the dinner rush. I can just leave them. What’s up? Are you alright?”
“I… I don’t understand Uncle Samu,” he whispered.
“Hmm. Tell me about it.”
“Do you remember Kaien?”
“Oh yes. Tobio and Shoyo’s son. Your best friend. What about him?”
“He’s back already.”
“Isn’t that a good thing? You said you missed him.”
“And we’re on the same university and we’re neighbors.”
“Then I think that’s really an advantage for you. But what seems to be the problem Nao-chan?”
“I don’t know how to act around him. We haven’t seen each other for years and I don’t know what to say to him. I felt bad because he was still very friendly when he first saw me and because I don’t know what to say I made myself a snob.”
He heard Osamu chuckles on the other line. “Nao you really take after Kiyoomi. But do you want to hang out with him?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Then ask him to hang out with you and tell him how you really feel. I’m sure Kaien will understand. You guys were best friends your whole childhood years. You can just pick up where you left off.”
“I will try that. Thank you Uncle Samu.”
“No problem Nao-chan. I got your back.”
“And please don’t tell my parents about this,” he requested as he felt the burn on his cheeks. He’s sure his papa would tease him if he ever finds out.
“Yep. You can count on me with that.”
“Thank you uncle,” Naoyuki smiles.
So he devised a plan that will take place after the midterms. He has to focus on his exams so he can get good grades. His parents are not pressuring him but he finds satisfaction in getting high remarks with his efforts. Burying himself with textbooks and notes, he temporarily forgot about his worry with Kaien.
In the next room, Kaien’s room has turned into somewhat a mess because he was busy studying. One of his coping mechanism is to eat when he’s stressed so the junk food wrappers lay around his floor and if his papa would see his room, he’s sure he will be scolded.
A week had passed and the midterms are over. Students visibly heave a sigh of relief as they walk out of their examination halls. A party was planned here and there. Some went to get a proper meal, some headed straight to the dorms to get some sleep. Kaien and Akihiko went to a café to get some meal because they are starving.
“That was kind of intense,” Kaien says as his mind starts to forget the history of art that he was studying for.
“Yeah but hey it’s over. So we can finally relax!” Akihiko says.
After their meal, they parted ways to go back to their own dorm building. Kaien wants some sleep but before he could do that, he cleaned his room first. After throwing all of his trash, he immediately fell asleep. He woke up to his stomach grumbling and his throat feels so dry. He quickly grabbed his water bottle and chugged on it.
“I’m hungry,” he says as he sleepily walks out of his room. He was yawning when he locked his door the same time Naoyuki was about to enter his room.
“Kaien?”
Kaien was startled since he didn’t notice his presence.
“Oh Nao. Hi.” He smiled sheepishly.
Naoyuki scanned him, he looks like he just woke up.
“Where are you going? It’s almost three in the morning.” Naoyuki interrogated as he placed back his keycard on his jacket’s pocket.
As if to answer, Kaien’s stomach grumbles. “Well that. I’m just going down to the kitchen.”
“I’ll come with you,” Nao says and walks ahead of Kaien who was clearly surprised.
“Wait really?”
“Are you coming or not?” Nao looked back with a bored look but his eyes seems to project a different emotion.
“Yeah yeah I’m coming,” Kaien said and walked beside Naoyuki.
Good thing he bought a take-out burrito that he just heated up.
“What are you doing at two a.m. Nao?” Kaien asked while waiting for his burrito.
“I just woke up from a nap an hour ago so I came down to eat,” Nao explains which is the truth but actually he was waiting to see Kaien.
When it’s done, he took out two huge burritos and split if in half. He offered one to Nao who accepted it.
“You can eat all of that?” Nao asked.
“Yes. I eat a lot. Have you forgotten that? We used to have a competition when we were still kids and I would always win.” Kaien reminisces and Naoyuki was flooded with his memories of them during their childhood years.
“Yeah. Glad to see you still have that huge appetite.”
“Of course. I need my muscles,” Kaien flexes his lean arm and Naoyuki smiled. It was a breathtaking look for Kaien who hasn’t seen his smile since the day they first met again.
“Hey,” Nao called. “Why are you staring? Eat your burrito it will get cold.”
“Ah. Yeah.” Kaien said and he feels weird. What the fudge just happened to me?
“Did you… did you play volleyball while you were in Brazil?” Nao asked with hesitation, it’s as if asking such question would hurt an open wound.
“Yep I did!” Kai said enthusiastically. “I usually play beach volleyball though like papa. But I stopped playing now. How about you?”
“I’m part of our university’s team.”
“Wow,” Kaien made a cute little clap clap on his hand. “That’s good to hear. You wanted to pursue it professionally?”
Naoyuki swallowed his food first before answering. “I’m still thinking about it. I also found another interest that I’d like to pursue.”
And just like that they were able to go back to how they used to be, friends with no some sort of awkwardness. Because Naoyuki is a year ahead, his schedule mostly differs from Kaien but they always catch up everytime they get the chance to and they have exchanged numbers too.
One Friday night, Kaien happened to stay to up until three in the morning. He was about to get ready for sleep when Naoyuki texted him.
Nao-chan:
Hey you alive?
Me:
What does that even mean nao -_-
Nao-chan:
Lol haha but are you up to?
Me:
To what? Can u like give me a context?
Nao-chan:
I have popsicles. Do want one?
Me:
If you’re so generous then I want one
How about you come over to my room
Nao-chan:
I’m actually outside your room
Sent a photo
It’s just his door with the plastic held out by his hand
Me:
Why didn’t u knock
He hit the send and went straight to open his door and saw a messy hair Naoyuki wearing his high school volleyball team jacket.
“Come in,” he said and Nao followed closing the door behind him.
“Were ya about ta sleep?” He asked in his Kansai accent which always, in some weird unknown reason, takes Kaien’s breath away. He always steals a deep breath whenever Naoyuki switches to his Kansai accent.
“Nah,” he lies. “So are you going to give me some?”
Nao handed him the plastic bag and Kaien picked one. Naoyuki picked the other one and they ate in silence. They’re both sitting on Kaien’s bed a little too close, their arms are almost touching. And Kaien feels like there’s an electrical current between them and he feels like it’s hard to breath. He shifted on his seat and curled his legs.
“This is weird,” he uttered accidentally.
“Huh?” Naoyuki looked back at him.
“I mean, popsicles at 3am. We’ll get colds with this.”
“Eh,” Naoyuki shrugs and bites off on his Popsicle. It sure sent his brain to freeze but at least it distracts him with the overwhelming feeling of wanting to run his fingers through Kaien’s smooth silky hair.
“Kaien,” Nao calls quietly. “Um.”
“Hmm?” Kaien hums, leaning forward to meet Naoyuki’s eyes.
“I’m sorry if I acted bad the first time you saw me here. I was just… surprised and overwhelmed. We haven’t seen each other for years and I kind of… don’t know where to start.”
Naoyuki looked down while being aware of Kaien’s eyes on him.
“Don’t worry Nao. It’s really fine. I understand.” Kaien says with an assuring smile. Nao meets his eyes and he can’t help but to smile too.
“Thanks,” he says.
“No problem,” Kaien says and finished his Popsicle. “Hmm, Popsicles at 3am isn’t so bad after all.”
They didn’t have colds the next day but rather a scratchy throat since both of them were too lazy to go down to drink some water and none of them have water left stocked in their rooms. Then it happened it again the next day until it became their safe space to eat something sweet in the middle of the night and they didn’t forget to stock on their water.
“Ah I can sense a future pinning-for-each-other trope here,” Rintarou whispered on Osamu’s ear when he spotted Kaien and Naoyuki eating at Onigiri Miya.
“We’ll see about that,” Osamu says.
All the while, Kaien and Naoyuki has two different thoughts running in their minds.
“I really like his eyes,” Naoyuki thought as he watches his best friend devour an onigiri.
“That’s a beautiful smile,” Kaien thought as Naoyuki grimaces but smiles at the end when shoved a half onigiri on his mouth.