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“1700 yen for a singular ice cream cone? You’ve got to be kidding me!” Ryo exclaims in disbelief. The scorching sun emits its golden rays mercilessly on this regular July afternoon, beating down on Sakuya as if he had wronged it personally. No but seriously, isn’t 27 degrees just a little too much? He rests his hand on his glistening forehead in a futile attempt to lessen its effects while Ryo haggles with the keeper for a cheaper price in front of him, the latter visibly becoming more irritated. He’s always noticed the little idiosyncrasies about Ryo, like how whenever somebody argued with him like now, he scrunched his face minutely in a scowl, moving his moles which were peppered on his polished skin with it. His ginger hair waved enthusiastically in sync with the greenery around them, beautifully iridescent in the golden sun. His deep black roots are beginning to grow in gradually. Sakuya notes that he should help him re-dye it later.
“Sakuya! Are you listening to what I’m saying?” Sakuya is pulled out of his reverie and looks back down at Ryo, who is now facing him with an accusing look on his face, eyebrows furrowed. “It’s way too expensive, you’re buying.”
“Seriously dude? I was the one who paid for us last time!”
“But you literally owe me!” Ryo cries, a pout forming on his lips.
“I owe you nothing.” Sakuya states, trying to prevent the steadily growing grin that appears on his face whenever he talks to Ryo.
“Who was it who saved you from Riku when he found out you broke his limited edition Kuromi charm again?” Ryo asks, pretending to ponder for a while and tapping his index finger on his chin as if he didn’t already know the answer. Sakuya is unable to control the wide smile that rests on his face now despite his efforts and lets out an overly dramatic sigh, moving forward to the ice cream stand where the keeper looks disgruntled while simultaneously looking like he’s about to melt into the concrete beneath them (which is probably a universal feeling right now considering the heat). He pays for the ice cream reluctantly, trying not to focus on the way Ryo beams at him as he’s doing so.
“I can’t believe Sion made us run in this insane heat,” Sakuya sighs, clutching his neapolitan ice cream like it’s the only thing grounding him on Earth right now, except it quite literally is after him and Ryo had sprinted for minutes on end. The taste was cloyingly sweet and definitely was not worth the 1700 yen, but beggars can’t be choosers, he guesses. After he and Ryo finally got a hold of their well-deserved ice cream, they slumped on a bench under an awning in front of a random store which had a note stuck on its window that read in bold letters, ‘COLD REFRESHING DRINKS HERE’.
In Kubitachi village, which is where the pair had lived their whole lives, people often relied on the temperatures the summer brought for business as it was a remote area with not that many people. Now that he was finally in the shade and could relax, he took the time to pay attention to everything around him, noting how the crickets were chirping at exactly two chirps per second. It was times like this where he really appreciated nature, not really caring for it on other days where life didn’t allow him to do so. “Yeah, that was just plain ‘tor-ture’.” Ryo exhales, shaking his head as he says so.
Sakuya almost doesn’t even notice.
He almost agrees with Ryo, completely unsuspecting.
But it’s when his eyes lock onto the mountain that resides in the middle of the village in the distance that he realises.
“…Ryo, why’d you say that word so weird?”
“Hmm?” Ryo replies, still concentrating on devouring his ice cream, and when he stays silent with no further elucidation Sakuya elaborates, “What was that? ‘Tor-ture’? It’s pronounced ‘tor-cher’.”
And for a second, almost so small it’s negligible, Ryo’s smile slips and returns in the same breath.
“‘Tor-cher’, right,” Ryo says, dragging out the words with a furtive giggle accompanying them, “I knew that. Silly mistake.” He focuses back on his ice cream, already down to the last part of the cone.
Sakuya hums in response, his eyes still on the mountain he knows all too well. Even the sight of it is enough to sour his mood. The memories he’s tried so hard to forget, the memories that keep him awake at night always come rushing back whenever he nears it.
“Ryo? Ryo!”
Heavy footsteps strike the ground, the pouring rain stifling the sound. Where could he be? The surrounding greenery becomes a blur at the speed he’s running, only one goal in mind.
Beginning to lose hope, he slows down, almost ready to admit defeat until he spots something sheltered by the shrubbery around it.
Sakuya treads closer, shining his torch on the mystery object.
A…shoe?
He directs his torch further up and it lands on-
“So, you were missing on that mountain for a whole week.” Sakuya starts, cutting through the peaceful silence that began to settle around them. “You don’t remember anything?”
“Nope,” Ryo replies, popping the p. “Not a thing.”
Sakuya sighs, frustrated. “It’s been six months and you still can’t remember?”
“Come on dude, why do you have to bring that up?”
Sakuya brings his free hand up to Ryo’s head and ruffles his copper hair, causing Ryo to groan and attempt to move away from his grip. “Do you have any idea how worried everyone was about you?”
Sakuya finally lets Ryo out of his death grip and Ryo glares at Sakuya with a scowl on his face, until his mouth slowly twists to form a cheeky simper as he asks, “So did you miss me while I was gone?”
Sakuya looks at Ryo properly for the first time since they’ve sat down at this store front, observing Ryo’s gleaming brown eyes as he contemplates what to say in response until he faces his front and lands on, “Nope. Not really.”
“You lie! Bet you cried,” Ryo jokes, dragging his eyes down with his index fingers as he makes a poor attempt at mimicking Sakuya’s deep voice crying, ‘Don’t leave me alone Ryo!’, his booming voice incongruous with the placid summer atmosphere.
“Cut it out man!” Sakuya huffs, shoving his hand back in his hair to teach him a lesson, causing an annoyed ‘Argh!’ to slip from Ryo’s lips, clearly feeling disgruntled by Sakuya’s actions when he mumbles, “You always do that just cause you’re bigger than me…”
Sakuya remains silent in response and just stares ahead, his ice cream forgotten about and melting in his hand. He tries to ignore the steadily growing pit in his stomach, and his heart is beating so loud he thinks there’s no way Ryo hasn’t heard it by now.
“Hey, can I ask you something weird?”
Ryo’s grin returns at that. “I mean, I think it’s fine to cry about me-”
“Shut up.” Sakuya replies harshly, however no real bite actually tints his tone. “Listen…” A pause. “Thing is, this isn’t something that I just thought of, you know?”
His heart is now beating so loud he can’t hear the crickets anymore, a shame when its continuous chirping has become the only thing grounding him. He keeps his face neutral, in an attempt to hide his thoughts as he says, “This has been on my mind ever since you came back.”
Ryo sneers at him, not picking up on Sakuya’s change in mood.
A stray drop of sweat travels down his neck as he utters the words,
“You’re…not the real Ryo, are you?”
It’s like the universe detects the weight of the words that just left Sakuya’s mouth, the clouds blocking the sunlight leaving the area in a tar-like hue. A deafening silence spreads throughout, the only sound left behind being the drip of his melted ice cream onto the concrete.
Ryo stares at him, eyes wide in utter disbelief, no trace of his previous smile left behind.
“Impossible…”
Sakuya glances at him, eyes filled to the brim with trepidation.
“How could you tell? I-I thought I was a perfect copy.”
What?
The left side of Ryo’s face begins to contort into something, his clear skin transmuting into a thick, dark, slimy substance, a commingle of blue and red highlighting it.
What the fuck?
Sakuya’s irises tremble rapidly, his breaths becoming intermittent. He can hear it. He can hear the sound of the black matter moving and squelching, and he has to physically stop himself from throwing up uncontrollably at the noise.
It begins to reach towards him progressively, and his grip loosens on his ice cream cone, causing it to fall on the ground with a thunk. He’s completely still, unable to move like there’s an external force keeping him in place, despite every bone in his body screaming at him to just run.
The right side of Ryo’s face is still normal, still staring at him, eyes quivering frantically. Can he even call him Ryo anymore?
“Please…” Ryo begins, moving forward to Sakuya in a shaky embrace. His head rests on Sakuya’s shoulder and his arms wrap around him, and the feeling of skin on skin is so fucking revolting. “Please don’t tell anyone.” He pleads,
A tear springs to the corner of Ryo’s eye as he continues, “This is the first time I’ve lived as a human.”
“School, ice cream, this is the first time I get to enjoy them. I know I’m only borrowing this body and mind, but I really like hanging out with you.” He sniffles. His voice is tremulous, almost as if he’s scared of something too. “So please, I’m begging you…”
“I don’t…” A tear runs down his face. “wanna kill you.”
Sakuya begins to hyperventilate, his breaths picking up at a sporadic pace. No matter how much oxygen he takes in, it doesn’t feel like enough. He didn’t even notice when his eyes began to become wet with tears. In his haze, he sees a sunflower in a patch of grass, evoking an old childhood memory.
The sunflowers in the garden faced the sun, in full bloom due to it being the peak of summer. Sakuya and Ryo are sitting at the rear of the house, the rhythmic sound of the river rushing flowing to their ears as Sakuya eats the watermelon slice in his hands, content.
The tranquil atmosphere is interrupted by Ryo calling out from beside him. “Hey, Sakuya!” Sakuya looks up to find Ryo holding his watermelon slice up, his tiny head disappearing behind its red flesh. “Watch me destroy this,” He brings the watermelon down to reveal his beaming smile that stretches across his whole face, a twinkle in his eye, “Manga style!” He opens his mouth as wide as he can, the gap in his teeth on the left on full display, and begins ravaging the watermelon like a beast, causing pieces of it to fly everywhere. “Ew, gross!” Sakuya giggles, covering his face to prevent being caught in the crossfire.
Ryo suddenly stops eating, and looks up at him with a distraught look on his face, and mutters anxiously, “Oh no…I think I swallowed a seed.” His voice begins to quiver when he says, “I heard my dads friend swallowed a seed and turned into a stripey watermelon man.”
Sakuya stills too. “Then what happened…?”
“He died!”
Sakuya’s heart sinks as he looks down at his watermelon, almost down to the rind, tears forming at his eyes instantly, “Oh no, I-I just swallowed a seed too!” They both begin to sob uncontrollably, and latch their hands together, afraid of the seeds’ after effects.
Tears begin to rush down Sakuya's face in heavy rivulets as he tightens his grip where his hand lays on Ryo’s back. Ryo is his best friend, his soulmate. The love of his life. He can’t imagine life without him. He loves him more than anything, and when he went missing every day without him felt like torture, it felt like he was going insane. How could he survive without Ryo by his side? He would do anything, anything to be able to see his smiling face next to him for the rest of his life. To be able to count the moles on his pretty face whenever he felt like. Even if that meant accepting this new version of him.
No matter what, Ryo’s gone.
So even if he is a fake, it’s better than having nobody.
“Okay, Ryo.”