[ for a brief moment, youichi feels the urge to do just what ryousuke's doing--to roll back over and curl back up, go back to sleep. torn between the feeling of things being perfectly right and the terrifying thought that this was just another dream, things about to go perfectly wrong, he's left stranded for a moment, just looking down.
that's not just ryousuke--he would know ryousuke anywhere, has seen him in ten different ways now, twenty different ages, from five to fifty. their lives have been intertwined together from day one, from ryousuke at six years old bullying him into watching haruichi (to kuramochi pretending his throat wasn't thick with tears as he held a four year old haruichi on his knee and saw him alive, tiny and shy and going to bloom into a professional baseball player and a good kid, one of the best he's ever known) to ryousuke on a different death bed entirely, old age and sleepy half squinted eyes telling kuramochi he wasn't allowed to follow him to the grave.
the first time he didn't, even if for a week or so, he wished he had. he'd gotten this, instead, a chance to fix things and make his lifetime the right one, where they were together like they'd always been, playing catch in the yard, kuramochi's wedding ring banging against his chest on a chain every time he leapt for a catch, just because. he still wears that now, the one relic he was allowed to take back with him when he woke up in another lifetime with ryousuke calling him stalker-kun.
he can still remember the last time he flashed into what he's sort of been calling the 'main' timeline, the one where he never ages but ryo does, goes through fights for his brother and baseball school, university and a promising career ahead of him, the one where he and ryousuke had originally been scouted to the same university because of the promise of their perfect 'iron wall'. the last time he was here, ryousuke was 22 and graduating college and kuramochi held him in his arms and said he was sorry, because he knew in the morning he'd be gone.
and now he was back. and things were back to normal.
he stares at ryousuke with something like wonder in his eyes, feels himself getting choked up and has to shut his eyes tight to stop from crying as he opens his mouth to speak to the bundle that's moved against his chest--all he can do is hook his left arm around his shoulder and then his right, holding him tight to make sure he's real and alive and there, he's right here, like nothing ever went wrong. ] S-- [ he starts, breathes, squeezes. ] Sorry, Ryo-san.
[ his voice sounds husky even to him, ridiculous and full of tears, and he ducks his head and presses a kiss to the top of his pink head and then drops his own back, squinting his eyes shut tight to keep from crying. ] Y'can go back to sleep.
gently does reward tags while i work
that's not just ryousuke--he would know ryousuke anywhere, has seen him in ten different ways now, twenty different ages, from five to fifty. their lives have been intertwined together from day one, from ryousuke at six years old bullying him into watching haruichi (to kuramochi pretending his throat wasn't thick with tears as he held a four year old haruichi on his knee and saw him alive, tiny and shy and going to bloom into a professional baseball player and a good kid, one of the best he's ever known) to ryousuke on a different death bed entirely, old age and sleepy half squinted eyes telling kuramochi he wasn't allowed to follow him to the grave.
the first time he didn't, even if for a week or so, he wished he had. he'd gotten this, instead, a chance to fix things and make his lifetime the right one, where they were together like they'd always been, playing catch in the yard, kuramochi's wedding ring banging against his chest on a chain every time he leapt for a catch, just because. he still wears that now, the one relic he was allowed to take back with him when he woke up in another lifetime with ryousuke calling him stalker-kun.
he can still remember the last time he flashed into what he's sort of been calling the 'main' timeline, the one where he never ages but ryo does, goes through fights for his brother and baseball school, university and a promising career ahead of him, the one where he and ryousuke had originally been scouted to the same university because of the promise of their perfect 'iron wall'. the last time he was here, ryousuke was 22 and graduating college and kuramochi held him in his arms and said he was sorry, because he knew in the morning he'd be gone.
and now he was back. and things were back to normal.
he stares at ryousuke with something like wonder in his eyes, feels himself getting choked up and has to shut his eyes tight to stop from crying as he opens his mouth to speak to the bundle that's moved against his chest--all he can do is hook his left arm around his shoulder and then his right, holding him tight to make sure he's real and alive and there, he's right here, like nothing ever went wrong. ] S-- [ he starts, breathes, squeezes. ] Sorry, Ryo-san.
[ his voice sounds husky even to him, ridiculous and full of tears, and he ducks his head and presses a kiss to the top of his pink head and then drops his own back, squinting his eyes shut tight to keep from crying. ] Y'can go back to sleep.