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“Happy birthday, Soushi!”
“Happy birthday, Soushi-senpai!”
“Thank you, everyone.” The male accepted the birthday wishes graciously, smiling gratefully at the people in the room.
He didn’t think it was really necessary for them to throw a party like this, but he couldn’t deny that it was nice to have this every once in a while. It was worth it to see the smiles on the faces of his friends and the other members of Alvis, their moods lightened by the event.
“Hold still, Minashiro-kun.”
Soushi turned to see Canon and Maya standing behind him, the former holding a familiar-looking camera in her hands.
“Are you teaching Canon how to use the camera?” He asked as he accepted a glass of punch from the pilot.
Maya nodded. “Canon wanted to learn how to use it. She’s pretty good with it.”
“It’s just that Maya’s a good teacher!” Canon interrupted, her face flushing at Maya’s praise. “I didn’t even know that you could make the image larger by pressing the buttons!”
“Well, you are a fast learner.” Maya quickly redirected the focus of their topic when she saw Canon about to protest at that statement. “Come on, weren’t you going to take a picture of Minashiro-kun?”
Canon nodded. Maya looked around, asking,“Have you seen Kazuki-kun, Minashiro-kun?”
Soushi was wondering the same thing as well. He hadn’t seen Kazuki since he arrived, though he knew that his boyfriend had arrived with Maya and Akira earlier.
“No. Wasn’t he with you earlier?”
“Mizoguchi-san grabbed him to help out with the food preparations.” Maya told him. She seemed to want to say something else to him, but stopped, looking hesitant.
Was something wrong? Soushi frowned slightly. It wasn’t like Maya not to speak her mind. If there was really something bothering her, but she couldn’t say it… What was it that she didn’t want to discuss with him in front of Canon?
“Oh.” Canon looked disappointed, for reasons that Soushi couldn’t quite understand. “Alright. Maya, do you want to be in the picture with…?” She gestured to Soushi.
Maya blinked, caught off by the question. “Ah, sure. You don’t mind, do you, Minashiro-kun?”
Soushi shook his head before he moved closer to her and posed for the camera. Canon peered at the camera screen for a moment, pressing several buttons on the miniature device before she said, “Alright! What’s sixty-six minus sixty-four?”
“Two!”
“… Two.”
He stepped away from Maya once the shutter sounded and approached Canon.
“I see that you have picked up on Maya’s habit.” He commented as the photographer turned the camera screen to him. He cast an appraising look at it and nodded. “Not bad,” he said, “I agree with Maya. You’re pretty good at this.”
“Thanks.” Canon smiled at him, then she and Maya were moving on to take photos of the others.
===
Soushi heaved a sigh of relief as he stepped out from the function room onto the pavement outside of Alvis. He’d brought along some documents that he thought he could work on during the celebration. Unfortunately, Kenji’s severely disapproving stare and threat to tell Kazuki had stopped him from looking at his tablet for the first half of the celebration.
Speaking of which, where was he? He hadn’t seen Kazuki at the buffet tables and Reo hadn’t seen him after he left the kitchens. It was unthinkable that Kazuki would have gone back without wishing him happy birthday.
Was there something bothering Kazuki that was causing him to avoid Soushi? It wasn’t as if that thought hadn’t appeared in his mind. Ever since that short exchange with Toomi, he had his own suspicions. He hadn’t approached the woman on the topic, but he was certainly going to have a word with her.< /p>
Something was up with Kazuki.
He closed his eyes. His mind going through the possibilities for Kazuki’s behaviour. Had anything happened these past few days that could be a possible cause? Try as he might, Soushi couldn’t think of anything.
Kazuki’s assimilation phenomenon had been less severe these past few months. He was doing well at work, he didn’t need to take breaks as much as he did before, he wasn’t as sleepy as he was during the period when he had frequent exacerbations of the assimilation phenomenon.
Unless… Soushi felt an icy hand grip his heart. Was that it? The assimilation phenomenon?
He needed to find Kazuki and ask him.
He was about to turn back to search Alvis when he caught sight of someone sitting not too far away on the steps—
Kazuki.
So he had been sitting out here all along.
Soushi watched him quietly for a while. Kazuki seemed to be oblivious to his presence, lost in his own thoughts. After a while, he stepped forward and called out to him.
The black haired man glanced at him, eyes widening in surprise, as if he hadn’t expected Soushi to find him here.
Why are you avoiding me?
Is there something wrong?
He wanted to ask, but he couldn’t say them out loud. He didn’t want to wrongly accuse Kazuki of something. Even though he was mostly sure that there was something going on, there was no concrete evidence, only suspicions based off their behaviours.
“What are you doing out here?” He opted to say instead, hoping that Kazuki would give him an answer to clarify his doubts.
“It was getting a little rowdy in there.”
Soushi couldn’t deny that. Not that he disliked the others, but he preferred the silence and the company of his closest friends to the noise and chatter of the crowd. Still, he had made the effort to stay there for a while before he came out. And unlike him, Kazuki would have normally stayed with the crowd, talking to Kenji or someone else before he came to find Soushi.
Only, this time, he had escaped from the party before Soushi had even left.
So why?
He narrowed his eyes, wanting to press on the issue. But something in Kazuki’s eyes stopped him.
He didn’t know how to describe it. He only knew that it was that same look that Kazuki had when Toomi-sensei told them that Kazuki had only three years left.
Dread gripped his heart, his throat growing uncomfortably tight with sadness.
Somehow, he knew what Kazuki was hiding from him.
“Maya’s looking for you. She wanted to take a group photo.” He chose to steer the direction of their conversation away from that.
A photo of us both.
He knew very well why she wanted to take one of them together.
Kazuki kept silent, looking away from him. They sat there in the silence of the night for nearly an hour; both lost in their despair for the future.
When Kazuki turned back to him, telling him to make a wish on a shooting star, Soushi almost wanted to tell him the truth, that he knew what Kazuki was hiding. How could he wish for anything else other than Kazuki’s continued existence on the island?
Kazuki’s hands were chilly, the night chill having seeped into his skin during the time he had spent out here. They were cold, so cold that it was almost as if he had lost all warmth of the living.
Struck by the fear of that image, he concentrated on warming up those pale, callused hands.
Kazuki leaned into him, seeking comfort.
“I want you to live a long life, Soushi. Without any of the war affecting your life. I want you to have a long, peaceful life.”
He felt his breath catch, hating that Kazuki was speaking as if he wasn’t going to be part of his life. It was almost selfish of him to even think that Soushi could even bear to let him go. He was the pillar of support in Soushi’s existence. Without Kazuki, he wouldn’t be here today.
He wasn’t going to let Kazuki give up.
Not now, not ever.
“If you’re with me, I can do that.” He tightened his grip on Kazuki’s hands, feeling him stiffen in surprise, then laugh warmly.
He didn’t need Kazuki to talk to him about what was bothering him. They had spent two years in crossing; whatever Kazuki left unspoken, he could hear it in his mind and likewise for Kazuki.
I wish I could have more time to stay with you.
Kazuki pressed a chaste kiss against his lips, then he was rising, pulling Soushi along with him.
He could understand why Kazuki didn’t want to talk to him about this. Memories of the times when they had discovered that Kazuki only had three years left were deeply embedded in his mind. But even if he understood Kazuki’s reasons, that didn’t mean that he agreed with them.
However, he knew that this wasn’t the time to be discuss such matters. The others were still waiting for them downstairs, eager to celebrate his birthday— and he didn’t want to spoil the mood for them.
“Come on, let’s go back in and take that photo with Maya.”
So he forced aside his troubled feelings and smiled back at Kazuki, swearing to himself—
He would do anything to protect Kazuki and save him from this.