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Ishiro did not like Sakito. That was apparent to everyone already. He just could not accept someone like that being with them unless he fixed his attitude. So for that reason, Ishiro kept his distance from the other.
Unfortunately, Taiya had invited Sakito to live at his house since he seemed to have nowhere else to go. That meant he inevitably had to deal with him against his will. Ishiro was cold to him and refused much conversation, not that Sakito seemed to want to say much to him either.
He didn't complain to Taiya about it though. As much as he didn't like having to keep Sakito so close, he wasn't cruel enough to toss him back out onto the streets. He just bit his tongue and went about his day as always.
But then one night, Ishiro got home late. He had to meet up with an old friend and it had run later than expected. He was surprised to see a light on down the hall that didn't lead to any bedrooms. Was Taiya up late doing some extra work again?
Ishiro went to check after he set everything down. The light led him to a small office-like room that really was more a recreational room at this point. Ishiro peaked in and stopped.
It wasn't Taiya. It was Sakito that was up late. He looked like he had been working on something as there were miscellaneous objects scattered all over the floor. Sakito had abandoned it though, now sitting on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest. Ishiro could see his eyes were puffy and red. And then he saw he was still crying as it was.
He didn't know what to do. He didn't like Sakito but it felt wrong to leave him in this state. Ishiro could relate a bit to having a past he'd rather not remember. But, did he want to be the one to deal with this? Maybe he could go get Taiya to do something but the thought of having to see Taiya interact with Sakito that way made his stomach churn all the same.
"Sakito?" Ishiro knocked on the frame of the door.
The other man jumped and quickly wiped his face. "Go away."
"You're crying." Ishiro said, before mentally facepalming. That was stupid to say. Yeah, he knew that Ishiro saw him crying. He didn't need to point it out again.
"Go away." Sakito repeated.
Ishiro walked into the room and took a seat beside him on the floor. Sakito turned his entire body away from him. He was still desperately trying to clean his face up but tears kept falling.
"What's wrong? I can't leave you like this in good conscious." Ishiro asked gently.
Sakito didn't reply. He just buried his face into his knees. Ishiro sat there, unsure what else to do. He couldn't leave him like this. Taiya would be mad if he did. And... he would probably feel forever guilty if he just walked away when someone who now was his comrade was in such a state. Even if he didn't like Sakito that much... that was not something he could do to him.
Ishiro moved and wrapped his arms around Sakito from behind. He didn't say anything to accompany his sudden movement. He was half expecting to be shoved away, but instead Sakito just started sobbing. Not what he had wanted, but that was probably a good sign. That meant he was accepting the comfort now.
"What's wrong?" Ishiro asked again, tightening his grip.
"I don't know..." Sakito finally spoke.
"You have to know something. What happened right before you felt this way?"
"I... remembered something while I was working on this."
"Something bad?"
Sakito nodded. Ishiro frowned. He knew what that felt like. Did he tell him that? He didn't want to make it about his problems by accident. Maybe it was best to just lend an ear and listen for now. If Sakito was willing to let him in.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No. I'm not comfortable with you knowing my past in that much detail yet."
"Alright." Ishiro accepted the answer.
He couldn't fault him for not wanting to open up. Especially to him. Sakito knew he wasn't very liked by him. Why would he want to be that vulnerable with someone who barely tolerated him?
They fell into silence. Ishiro didn't move yet. When Sakito pulled away, he would let go. But for now, it seemed he needed a hug, even if it wasn't from the most ideal person.
"Is everything okay in here?"
"Taiya..." Ishiro shot backwards and faced him.
Taiya looked between the two of them. Sakito sniffled and dried his eyes, having finally stopped crying.
"We're fine. Sorry if we disturbed you." Sakito spoke for them.
"I heard crying. Are you... alright?"
"I'm fine... just had a flashback to a bad memory. I'm fine now." Sakito pushed himself to his feet. "Goodnight."
He gave Ishiro a small nod of thanks and then brushed past Taiya and out of the room. Ishiro got to his feet as well and walked over to Taiya.
"Everything good?" Taiya asked him.
Ishiro shrugged. "I guess."
"I didn't think you'd do something like that."
"Either did I, believe me, Taiya."
The next day, Taiya couldn't help but notice Ishiro seemed more open to Sakito's presence around them.