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The Bishounen Boys

Part 6: "Hitori Bocchi no Seesaw"

By Splash

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Notes: Sorry this chapter took so long, my life's been pretty hectic ^^;;  And plus, an extra inspiration has come up that made me think up of some new ideas... *evil grin*  Funny coincidence that I did "Mizu-Kagami" before I had any certain high respects for Tomokazu Seki, but now it's skyrocketed even further :-D  One word... Gravitation!!!!

 

Hitori Bocchi no Seesaw ("Alone on a see-saw") is Yamato's coupling song to "Tobira," the title of the single "his band, 'Teenage Wolves,'" released, translated lyrics are after this chapter ^_^

 

Translations (helps if you know them before reading this)

Okaasan-Mother

Otousan-Father

Suffixes:

-San: Said to someone you speak to formally, almost like Mr. or Ms.

-Sama: Lord, Master, someone you serve, blah blah ~_^

-Chan: Usually used for little girls or anyone who is seemed as "cute." Also used commonly in pet names...

Kami-sama: God

Ma.. Ii ka...: Often translated as "Oh well" but I like, "It's all good.."

Kako: School

Pocky: A common Japanese snack, in this case a cracker/pretzel-like stick covered with chocolate.  Shuuichi (Tomokazu Seki) from Gravitation likes the strawberry ones ~_^

 

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~September 13, 2002~

 

It's been two weeks since I came to my realization, yet Taichi and I continue to have some kind of awkward, close friendship.  I'm not sure if I can settle for this, whether it's too much or too little.  It's almost confusing, yet comprehendible.  Ah, these oxymorons...

 

Last Friday okaasan had insisted to drag me to find some more school clothes, though I didn't need any.  And guess who I happened to run into... an old playmate back in Japan... he couldn't recognize me with my new hairstyle, or so I thought.  Actually, it took me longer to recognize HIM, which was quite sad since he looked exactly like an older version of the Takeru Takaishi I knew.

 

He claimed that he needed to find more American style clothing for a boy band he was going to be in.  Strange, I never thought he would go into music, especially since he's still in middle school.  Either way, I wished him luck with his band, gave him my e-mail address, and we've been swapping e-mail ever since.

 

" Yamato--

We had our first meeting last Saturday for the band, and Daisuke seems to be the best dancer out of the three of us.  We have two hour meetings Monday and Wednesday, and then whatever time we have on the weekends.  They really need to get more organized on that part...

 

Anyhow, in the last meeting I suggested that we just don't dance, because it isn't really our specialty and we needed to focus more on the music.  Our producer was really reluctant about our decision, but he let us go with it anyhow.  He was also wondering if we would like to ask some older members to join, and I said that there was a possibility.  Do you know who he might be? *winks*"

 

" Takeru-san,

...Only if Taichi can join me, too. ^_^  Did I ever tell you about him?  He's also Japanese, and I don't know where I would be without him... my parents and school give me a hell of a time."

 

" Yamato--

...Anou...

Sure, you can invite Taichi, too!  The producer says that any group over 5 would be too many, though, so I hope you don't have to drag anybody else in while you're at it.  Either way, I'd like to meet this Taichi guy!

 

P.S. You don't have to call me -san. ^^;;"

 

" To Takeru-sama,

We'll see.  Taichi's coming over tomorrow, if you'd like, you can drop on by, too.  He'll be here for a pretty long time."

 

" Yamato--

I'll go do that.  I'll tell you more about the band tomorrow.

 

P.S. How about just plain Takeru? O_o;"

 

" To Takeru-chan,

No.  I refuse! :-P"

 

****

 

~September 14, 2002~

 

Taichi's eyes shined brightly at the sight before him, pupils dancing with joy with the reflection of the light.

 

" Yamato... you... you..."

 

Inside his mind was screaming like a fangirl, ' Oh, Kami-sama!  REALLY?!?' but physically he felt as if he was going to collapse.  He never had a clue...

 

All of a sudden, skeptimism ran through his veins, and he curled his eyebrows in doubt. " Are you telling the truth?"

 

In front of him, Yamato's half-grin twitched. " Of course..."

 

Unconvinced, Taichi stepped forward so he was barely a foot away from the other.  With his face sparkling with seriousness, he strickly commanded, " Prove it."

 

Yamato imitated the brown-eyed's expression.

 

" All right.  I will."

 

At that point, they stared at each other for an everlasting minute, neither daring to initiate anything.  Taichi slightly jerked his head to the bottom of his right side, indicating the small bench next to them.

 

" I know," replied the blonde.

 

Yamato, still in staring stance, slowly wedged over to the furniture, sliding his lofty legs to sit on it.  He focused on the large object before him.  And then...

 

All around the house, the tune of a melodious piano song rang in the air.

 

" Yamaaaaa!  It's true!  It's true!!" Yamato's passionate playing was interrupted by an abrupt hug, causing him to spoil his perfect performance. " I've always wanted to hear someone play that song live!"

 

" Ma.. Ii ka..." Yamato said to himself as he rested his hands on the vanilla-colored keys.

 

" I could just kiss you!" Taichi blurted, craning his neck over Yamato's shoulder to commence his statement.  But he hesitated impetuously for who-knows-why...

 

Noting the other's intimation, a large gap of silence filled the house, contrasting its earlier state.

 

" Um, I-I'll go fix something to eat," Yamato flustered finally, releasing himself from Taichi's grip and quickly exiting the room.

 

A brief blink of confusion bestowed the young brunette, and he took a step back.  Feeling the need to concentrate  on something besides reflecting on what just happened, he looked upon other things...

 

' Other thoughts, other thoughts... Kako... french... les vitres... Oh, look.  There's a trash can under the window," some sudden impulse persuaded him to peer into the wastebasket to observe the crumbles of paper that were carelessly thrown away.

 

The paper was neatly written, much neater than the brunette could do in his life, he bet...

 

" Perhaps life is simply overrated.  Humans like to have the best in life, to see the best things, hear the most pleasant sounds, smell the sensual aromas, taste the delicacies, touch the temptations...

 

If anyone has lived without fear of doing any of these... well... that wouldn't be part of life.  It would be near impossible to go without fearing ALL senses.  Especially senses that are not common...

 

But one tends to have the most difficulty in one specific sense of life.  The desire to feel, be near someone, feel their heat radiating across dimensions, the need to feel needed.  And that pit that develops within the burrows of the stomach... It could easily be referred to as " Butterflies," but that would be too miniscule.  It goes much deeper than that.

 

Young love may be looked down upon more than an average person thinks.  The "average person" is defined any which way one presumes it to be, yet the numbers are still there.  Those who abhor their children and juveniles to experience a fact of maturing are condemning them to loneliness.  And even then, it is usually meaningless to prevent them from a sensory humans have experienced since they first existed hundreds of thousands of years ago.  Unless they were to do something as drastic as "injecting them with chemicals to hold back hormones," they cannot withdraw an important part of life.  It is absolutely immoral and if viewed carefully enough, is even an element of slavery... oppression of a cowardly kind.

 

Going off the topic of sounding similar to a civil rights activist, a juvenile may think he or she is receiving the worst treatment on the issue of love.  The individual may get a sense that no one else could possibly feel the same way, yet the _youth_ may also perceive that adults would never understand, hence another gap between family relations develops.  Some individuals may actually be aware that they aren't the only ones suffering as they are, but it is only natural for the fleeting thought to occur.  Humans relying on stereotypes will remain oblivious to these individuals' actual knowledge, believing that " No, they DO think that the world revolves around them."

 

Then, there are people whose vision goes beyond all else.  Their opinion reaches a point where they're fed up with the propoganda and prejudice of the world, and they have to retract the urge to stand up and shout.  Why do they hold back?  Why not share the knowledge and rid this planet of such rancid filth?

 

...Who would actually do something about it?  Would their voices even be heard?

 

What IS "it," anyhow?  It is not a neccessity of life, any human can die without it... but yet, those who have it are able to believe themselves as Kings or Queens, the top of the world, complete with jesters and musicians.  If only it were to be distributed equally enough... but hoping for that would be a waste of time.  Still, it-"

 

" You up for chocolate Pocky?  It's the fudge kind."

 

Taichi scrambled his hands with the papers he was engrossed in.  He peered at the small brown stick pointed at his nose.  " Un..."

 

The other detected the object in Taichi's clasp, and sharply made a grab for them.  Since he was caught off guard from the Pocky the blonde was quite successful.

 

Yamato gave a small rasp of breath. " Do you always look through people's trash?"

 

Taichi, blinking casually, took the Pocky piece that was beginning to annoy him. " Just this once.  Did you write that?"

 

" Th... That's none of your business."

 

Taichi kept his stare strong on the blonde.  " Music isn't enough to release emotional tension, is it?"

 

" I..." Yamato gaped slightly at his revelation, " I was just trying it out, that's all."

 

The brunette smiled thoughtfully. " You should finish it sometime.  I'd love to read it."

 

Yamato glanced at the papers, words out of focus. " Maybe... I was about to finish it, but I decided against it because..."

 

Mrs. Ishida stepped into the room just in time for Taichi to see her rather than the blush on Yamato's face.

 

" Hello, Mrs. Ishida," Taichi greeted.

 

" Hello, Taichi," she replied, effortless to hide her callous tone, " Yamato, could you rake the leaves in the front yard?"

 

" I'll do it later, okaasan," Yamato said calmly.

 

" Why not now?"

 

The blonde rebounded with half-shock. " Okaasan," he repeated, repentance glowering in his voice, " I have a guest.  Don't you think it would be somewhat disrespectful?"

 

The look on Mrs. Ishida's face might as well been plastered with the words " PISH-POSH.  Who gives a fruck about that?"

 

To save them from further trouble, Taichi raised his arm as a sign to relax.  " That's okay, Mrs. Ishida.  I'll help Yamato is you don't mind."

 

Mrs. Ishida smiled, obviously pleased. " That would be nice.  I need to do some yoga.  If you'll excuse me, then."  She walked off, leaving Taichi and Yamato to quirk at her strange antics.

 

****

 

" Urgh!  She's so impatient and demanding!  Why didn't she just become a CEO of some company so she can take out all her orders on people who have some kind of motivation to carry them out?  I'm lucky just to get a bed to sleep in."

 

Taichi paused briefly and leaned on his rake while Yamato continued to attack the leaves. " What about your room?  Food?  Clothes?  Education?" he queried, bemused. " Er, scratch education."

 

" My room is more like a place that only I can clean, which my parents force me to do every other day," he said, spotting an unusually green leaf out of the pile of dead, " Rooms were made so people could have some sense of privacy, right?  I don't get any.  Okaasan barges in whenever she feels like it... no sense of other's privacy at ALL."

 

" That's hard to believe."

 

" You'll find out someday..." he grumbled, " One day we'll just be going along on our business when WHAMMO, there she is, barging in when she isn't supposed to."

 

Taichi blinked, lifting his weight off his rake. " We...?"

 

The other must of not heard him, since he rambled on, " Sure my parents are the ones to buy groceries, but we rarely go to restaurants, and I do all the cooking, in which otousan ALWAYS criticize no matter how I get it to a professional's style.  When I ask them if they can do any better they just brush it off somehow and we eat the rest of the meal in silence.  It drives me nuts!"

 

" Yamato--"

 

Ignoring the small intrusion, Yamato firmly gripped his rake and opened his arms wide so he was clearly visible. " And these clothes?  Every one of them... hand me downs from other relatives.  I'm lucky to have so many cousins."

 

" YAMA."

 

Finally noticing that the view of the brunette in front of him was replaced by only a rake, he blinked in surprise and tightened the grip on his rake even further as he felt warmth making its way around his neck.  A breathe of peaceful air on the back of his hair caused him to silence himself.

 

" Didn't I tell you?" he whispered intimately, " There ARE good things in life, but right now you're looking through the wrong mirror."

 

Yamato's stomach hollowed out and his arms brought themselves back to his sides in surrender.

 

" Why couldn't I have been born to actual parents?  Why do they have to be so single-minded?  Why can't I just disappear..." he trailed off, a defeated look on his face.

 

" You're feeling awfully negative today, na?" Taichi said softly, " Please, just... stop it.  I... I need you here, Yama," he couldn't help but flutter his eyes slightly in the scent of Yamato's hair.

 

" Taichi..." his voice cracked, but that was ignored as he leaned his upper half back against the other, eyelids closing in contentment.  But as they did so, a tear escaped its trenches, making its way down his light cheek.  It fell onto Taichi's layer-clothed arm, deeping its already dark blue hue.

 

' This feels... familiar...'

 

That moment could have lasted forever if other situations had permitted it.  But as foul's worth, an unclear shout from a distance made Taichi remember their chore, and he proceeded to retrieve his rake.  He paused for a moment while Yamato gazed toward the sound, the hollowing in his stomach refusing to diminish this time.

 

Another blurry shout reached their ears, but Yamato shouted and waved toward it...

 

" Takeru-chan!"

 

" DON'T CALL ME THAT!!"

 

" I refuuuuuse!"

 

' Chan...' Taichi pondered. ' Maybe.'

 

****

 

Tsuzuku...

 

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Eek, it's 11:30 p.m. and there's cursed school tomorrow, oh well, there's a usual.  I'm lucky if I can sleep before the day ends :P  I think I'll need to drag in school again soon... ~_^

 

Anyhow, I really didn't like how this chapter worked... mm, I can't write well under stress >.<

 

Translated lyrics for Hitori Bocchi no Seesaw, by Meimi meimi@time-stranger.net

 

During winter, down the path

I'll walk on as with no expectations

The cold blue sky above, both my hands in my pockets

Stumbling over the pebbles in my heart

 

Your kindness is much too deep

Enough that it's a little painful

 

I can't be honest with my feelings

So I also have no right

To answer honesty, do I?

 

All alone on a see-saw

Everyone waits for someone else to come

Though I'm just the same as them

Sitting on the other side

 

Never being able to say exactly what I thought

That was how it used to be, but...

 

It's something where you push yourself to the limit

I've decided after all

So smile for me

 

All alone on a see-saw

Pretending not to be lonely as I waited

If you would come and sit as well

Our feelings would be the same

And I think, become a smile

 

All alone on a see-saw

Everyone waits for someone else to come

My feelings of wanting to see you

Like the blue sky of midwinter

Spread out within my heart

 

You guess what the see-saw represents in this fic ~_^

 

Splash

http://gottaito.cjb.net