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“Dear, pass me the rice, please. Oh, and Itaru?”
“Mhm?”
“Are you still going through with that job you mentioned?”
“Mhm.”
“... couldn’t you have found something closer?”
“Probably. Didn’t want to though.”
“Itaru, is this really necessary? Shimane is so far away, and working at a store really isn’t the kind of job prospect worth moving-”
“Mom, I’ll … I’ll be fine. Please.”
“Have you looked at apartments yet? Will you even be able to make rent?”
“... I have someone to split the costs with …”
“Really? Who?”
“Nishiki-san … from, uh … from school. He used to be on the student council too.”
“Oh, a school friend?”
“Mhm.”
“Well then that’s fine, I suppose. I was worried you’d come running back here asking for help in a few months, but I suppose that’s different. You’ll get more leeway before he throws you out if you’re friends, right?”
“... right.”
Except that’s not what they were.
Itaru found solace in this being one of his last evenings in this house as he slowly emptied his plate, wondering if he’d finally be spared the lectures or if his dad was waiting to chime in too.
Soon, he would graduate high school with somewhat decent grades and leave behind a vacancy in the student council’s storage manager position. Itaru had taken care of his duties fondly for almost three years, but he understood the lack of willingness for anyone else to replace him.
He had to be tricked into it too, after all.
Or perhaps lured would have been a better word.
Either way, he told the new student council president that if push comes to shove, they should just grab a delinquent off the rooftop to fill the position. The soft spoken second year laughed awkwardly, and said he didn’t really understand Itaru’s humor.
But Itaru wasn’t joking: that’s what Gai told him to do after all.
And he always followed Gai.
He remembered the exact row and seat his boyfriend sat in during his graduation ceremony, and made sure to sit in the place next to it two years later at his own. In a different world, they would have graduated together, sitting next to each other like this. In a different world, Gai wouldn’t have had to wait for him.
The distance hurt so much over the past two years.
But now, with high school behind him and a packed-full duffel bag and suitcase before him, Itaru was finally about to bring an end to it once and for all. One sleepless night, seven hours on a train, a bus ride and an uphill climb was all that was left between them and the rest of their life together.
Gai offered to leave class early and come meet him to help with the luggage, but Itaru refused. He’d sized up that final hill between the station and Gai’s apartment many times before during his visits, and he ended up attending about 80% of his gym classes in his third year, so … he was ready to drag the suitcase up there alone, without a doubt.
And besides … every time he visited, Gai was at the station, waiting for him. Itaru didn’t want this to feel like that , because it was different. This wasn’t a visit. He didn’t need to be waited for and escorted. He was just … coming home.
“Oh, so it’s you? You’ve visited before, haven’t you? I think I saw you last summer! So it’s you who’ll be the second tennant here?”
“Yes, ma’am. Chigasaki Itaru, pleasure to meet you.”
“Ah, the pleasure’s all mine! What a charming young man! Nishiki-kun, is he a relative of yours?”
“No. We attended the same high school in Tokyo and … Chigasaki-kun also felt drawn to a quieter life out here. I thought it could be a good idea to share the lease … most of my classmates do so as well.”
“Oh, Chigasaki-kun, will you be attending university here as well?”
“No, ma’am. I’ve found work nearby.”
“I see, I see! Well, I am sure you’ve got a lot to unpack, so I’ll just leave the second set of keys here, and we can sign the new lease together and then I’ll be on my way!”
“That would be great, ma’am.”
“Thank you.”
“Oh don’t mention it, I’ve moved before, I know how it is, haha. Ah, but it’s quite interesting … you two are such different boys, but you’ll be roommates? Interesting!”
“... yes, ma’am.”
Except that’s not what they were either.
It wasn’t until their landlord left, and Gai locked the door behind her, and Itaru found himself swept up in an embrace and a deep kiss … it wasn’t until then that the stars finally aligned.
“I can not believe you are really here.”
“But I am, Gai,” Itaru smiled up at him.
“Did you grow even taller?”
“You can’t keep asking that every few months.”
“I apologize. Your presence is just so overwhelming … I was certain you had grown a bit.”
“A bit fonder of you, maybe.”
Gai nodded, burying his face in Itaru’s hair. “Me too. Each time I think of you.”
“I missed you, Gai …” Itaru sighed, his fingers digging through the fabric on Gai’s back to hold him as tight as he could.
“Me too, Itaru … for the last time.”
“Mhm.”
In the narrow hallway by the door, Itaru’s suitcase was soon completely forgotten. They had no space or time to unpack anything other than their feelings that night, and what had to be held back for two years was finally unleashed: drowning them both in a sense of home and belonging they’d only ever dreamed of before. In fact, Itaru was pretty sure his mind had already slipped into a dream of its own, and he wasn’t about to fight it at all.
It was only Gai’s gentle voice that brought Itaru back to reality sometimes, confessing over and over again just how profoundly and endlessly Itaru was loved.
And that … that was finally right.
That’s what they were.
— In love.