SUNFLOWER

by VanillaMint

Part 6

The noon sun was already high up in the sky by the time Shinya and Toshiya reached their station. Toshiya had forgotten to take his normal clothes back from the stripclub before they went to Kaoru’s apartment so he was still in his costume. He ignored the stares and giggles of a group of girls as he passed them. But the costume was making him hot and uncomfortable and he wished he could strip right now>.<!

“ Maa…I got a hangover!” Toshiya groaned, rubbing his temples.

“ Me too…and I’m so sleepy=0=!” Shinya covered his yawning mouth with a hand. “ And I’ve got a class at 3,” he sighed.

“ Didn’t sleep enough?”

Shinya looked at Toshiya. “ I kept waking up because of noise.”

“ What noise? I didn’t hear anything,” Toshiya said.

Shinya smiled a crooked smile. “ Nothing.”

Back at the apartment, they washed up and changed. Whistling, Shinya tended to his sunflowers while Toshiya cooked instant noodles for them both. Toshiya held a strand of noodle up with chopsticks and put it into his mouth to see if it was cooked enough…

“ Ow, hot!;__;” he cried, sticking out his burned tongue.

“ Dummy=p.”

“ Bleh! I’m cooking this for you too, ungrateful!” Toshiya separated the noodles into two bowls and emptied the flavour sachets into them. “ Okie, lunch’s ready~”

Shinya looked at the bowl of noodles, picking up his chopsticks. “ You going out on a date with Die this Saturday?”

Toshiya paused his chewing. “ How wuu wnow??”

“ I overheard,” Shinya picked out a piece of fish cake and put it into his mouth.

“ Mm-hm,” the other man nodded.

“ Are you guys…” Shinya trailed off, trying to think of a word to describe what he meant. “ Umm…you know…”

“ What?” Toshiya frowned then lightened up as he caught what Shinya was trying to ask. He laughed. “ No! We don’t have an agreement like that yet.”

“ ‘Yet’? So if he ask you to be his lover, you will say yes?”

Toshiya sucked in one corner of his lips and rolled his eyes sideways thoughtfully. “ Hmmm…maybe=p! Depends on where he brings me for dinner, I might consider, hehe!”

Shinya shook his head and continued eating. A few minutes later, the doorbell rung.

“ Who’s that?” Shinya pouted as he got up and answered the door. He opened the door to see a tough-looking guy with studded ears and pierced lips frowning at him. On his upper right arm was a tattoo of a Siamese god. Shinya hid behind the door and peeked out. “ Who are you looking for?”

“ A person named…Hara Toshiya.”

Toshiya turned around and nearly dropped his chopsticks. He quickly got up and rushed to the door. “ Hi, I’m Toshiya!”

“ You-”

Before he can say anything more, Toshiya pushed the man outside. “ Let’s talk elsewhere okay??? Shinya? Help me wash up the things ne!” Quickly he kicked the door shut.

Shinya stared at the closed door. “ What the…”

***
“ Ahh!” Toshiya cried out in fright as two muscular arms trapped him to the wall.

“ What do you mean you don’t have it?” the man growled.

“ Give me time!” Toshiya managed to push the man away using all his strength. They were in the alley behind the flats.

“ Your time is up, Hara-san!”

Toshiya shot an angry look at the guy. “ Listen! You tell Tokai that I will get the money okay?! Give me one week and I’ll have it.”

The guy snorted. “ One week? No, no, what about one month? That’d be good huh?” Without warning, one hand shot out and wrapped around Toshiya’s neck. Toshiya let out a painful gasp as he was pushed against the dirty brick wall roughly. “ You listen to me, pretty boy. Two days. Today and tomorrow. That’s all you’ve got. If you still can’t pay, Tokai himself will come after your ass.”

Toshiya slumped down onto the gravel ground when the man let go of him and strode off. Still breathing hard, Toshiya rubbed his face with his palms. His eyes stung.

“ Fuck…” he swore as he looked at his palms, his eyes blur with tears. Hugging his knees close to his chest, he cried.

***
Shinya was at home reading his novel when he returned. Shinya turned around but Toshiya went straight into the bathroom without even greeting him. Closing his book, Shinya walked towards the bathroom and peered in.

“ You were gone a long time. Who was that?”

Toshiya pulled the towel from the rack and wiped his wet face. “ No one really.”

“ Why was he looking for you?” Shinya asked, curious and a bit worried. Toshiya’s eyes looked puffy and his spirits seemed down. “ You don’t look too good.”

Toshiya touched his cheek. “ I guess it’s the hangover effect. Don’t worry, Shin-chan.” Toshiya smiled and gave Shinya’s shoulder a firm squeeze.

“ Well, if you say so…” Shinya frowned.

Toshiya gave a nod for reassurance.

Shinya padded back into their tiny living room and spread himself across their sofa set with his book. He flipped the page and read intently without realizing the pair of troubled eyes looking at him.

“ Shinya?”

“ Hm??” he mouthed without looking back.

“ Can I ask for a favor?”

“ Of course. What is it?” Shinya whipped his head around to look at Toshiya who was standing near the dining table.

“ Um…I…”

Before he can say it, Shinya’s handphone rang.

“ Oops, wait!......Moshi moshi? Mom?” Shinya sat up. “ I’m doing fine! How are you? ……is Dad okay? …okay…Mom, please don’t talk about that anymore. I’ve already decided. No matter what Dad says I won’t…okay.”

Toshiya listened quietly.

“ I can only follow my heart… I feel sad that he can’t accept the future I chose… but one day he’ll see. Mom, I gotta go. Take care…bye.”

Shinya put down the phone, staring at it for a short moment.

“ You still haven’t made up with your Dad?”

“ No, he’s so stubborn,” Shinya sighed.

Toshiya gave him a sympathetic smile.

“ Oh, you were saying just now?”

Toshiya bit his lower lip. “ Hm? I forgot what it was. Hmmm…” Toshiya pretended to think. “ Gah, I’m going to take a nap!”

Toshiya fell onto his bed but sleep was the furthest thing away from his mind at the moment. He curled up into a tight ball, hoping he could just hide himself and disappear.

Two days…

Toshiya looked at the picture of his family on his nightstand. He closed his eyes.

“ How am I going to find so much money in two days?”

He opened his eyes again and he saw tiny little stars floating in front of them.

There’s surely a way…someone…someone that can help me get out of this mess.

But who?

He turned to lie on his back. He stared at the ceiling; the plaster was peeling at the corners.

Someone with money, of course, and someone who won’t ask too many questions.

Who?

……

Kaoru.