LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 10: White Chrysanthemum
Content warning: implied sexual content (non-explicit, fade to black sort)
The place Taiki brought them to was, usually, a very chill place for those with a finer palate to go.
That is to say, usually.
It was typically bustling, it wasn’t that kind of restaurant. But the only people besides the employees was the two of them. The lighting seemed dimmer, the tables smaller, candles more prevalent.
It was romantic like it had been planned.
Sometimes he really hated novel logic.
They were seated in a cozy little corner away from prying eyes, despite the fact there were no other eyes to be prying.
Wine was served to them first while their meals cooked, and Mr. Takeuchi watched Taiki with a strange look on his face.
Taiki took a sip of his wine before speaking. “Do I have something on me?”
Mr. Takeuchi chuckled. “Not at all. Just… it’s strange to think. I remember seeing you that first time, a scrawny, bratty sixteen-year-old with no respect.”
Taiki squawked. “I wasn’t a brat—"
Mr. Takeuchi laughed again, even having to set his wine glass down so it didn’t spill. “Says the young man who asked for tutoring, but then skipped as many lessons as possible.”
Taiki turned pink, and was suddenly thankful for the dim lighting to hide it. While that was true, he’d had a good reason for that and surely he knew that—?
“I understood, of course,” Mr. Takeuchi continued, laughter dying down enough for him to pick up his glass again and take a generous drink from it. “I would have skipped out on anything for Makoto as well, no matter how important it was. You were always so good with him while Natsumi…”
He went quiet, and Taiki stared at him intently. He sat his glass down, off to the side, and leaned on the table, hand cupping his chin.
“Do you still think of me as a child?” he asked unblinkingly. “That same sixteen-year-old kid you first met when you moved in next door?” Mr. Takeuchi looked up, meeting Taiki’s eyes. Taiki tilted his head. “I’m not, you know. I’m not a kid anymore. I’m 25, an adult who can do and consent to a lot of things. Hell, I’m paying for our wine and meal.” As if to prove his point, Taiki, took a long drink of his wine, letting the red drink slide down his throat. He licked his lips as he put his empty glass back on the table.
With how intently he’d been watching, it didn’t escape his notice how Mr. Takeuchi watched the movement.
“Indeed, you certainly are,” he agreed easily.
Taiki hummed, tapping his fingers absently on the table. He adverted his eyes, sighing a little as he closed them. “You’re not really taking me seriously,” he complained. Taiki opened his eyes again, turning his sharp gaze on the man across from him. “If you’re not convinced, I could always show you how much I’ve grown up.”
He froze, unable to look away from Taiki, but also seeming unwilling to meet Taiki’s eyes. “What are you implying?”
Taiki sat up, leaning back against the chair and looking away. “Absolutely nothing,” he said. “We can forget everything and enjoy a nice meal as distant acquaintances.” He didn’t turn anything but his eyes, looking out the corner of them. “But if there’s something you’re implying you’re comfortable with…”
It was an out. All or nothing, right here and now. Taiki would, he would, give up if he was making him uncomfortable. But that look on his face… even the dim lighting couldn’t hide it.
“…Takuya?”
Takuya downed the rest of his wine entirely too quickly. He stood, surprisingly steady on his feet. Taiki gave him a lazy grin.
“You don’t want to wait for the food?” he asked, but Takuya gave him a stern look.
“Don’t start what you can’t finish,” he said, making Taiki laugh.
Taiki rose to his feet, taking his jacket off the back of the chair and leading the way out of the restaurant, making sure to take his time paying before leading the way out into the dark night.
By the time they’d reached Taiki’s apartment, Taiki was almost as much of a bundle of nerves and excitement as Takuya was. He was the first to initiate the kiss as soon as they’d crossed the threshold, shoes and slippers already forgotten. Though he wasn’t left hanging for long, with Takuya responding easily.
Taiki tossed his jacket onto the couch, loosening Takuya’s tie as he did so.
“Wait,” Takuya said breathlessly as Taiki led the way to the bedroom. “I’ve never done this with a… man, before.”
“Neither have I,” Taiki said, kissing him again. At least, not in his current body. But that would raise too many questions he didn’t want in the current moment. “But I know what to do, so just trust me. Please?”
Takuya answered by kissing him again, pushing both further into the room until they’d tumbled onto Taiki’s bed, Taiki sprawled out beneath him. “Lead me,” he said, and Taiki grinned.
Taiki was not unused to sharing a bed. As Kaoru in his teen and young adult years, he’d had plenty of boyfriends to keep him company, though some lasted longer than others. Most would more accurately be called flings and one-night-stands that didn’t stick around for the morning. As a child, his sisters had enjoyed sleeping in his bed. But once he’d become Taiki, it had been exclusively Patch and Eri.
Both of those were a good deal different than waking up curled under the arm of someone you’d made love to.
Had it been love, though? With how little they truly knew each other. They knew each other in a certain context, but not enough to call it love.
Taiki rolled over to face Takuya’s sleep-peaceful features. He reached over and brushed his knuckles against Takuya’s cheek.
He’d like to know the man next to him more, for it to not be viewed as having been a simple mistake. He wanted the night to have meant something.
Taiki sat up, careful not to disturb Takuya. He caught a glimpse of himself in the full-length mirror just in the corner of the room. His neck, shoulders, chest, and stomach were all littered with dark bruises and bites. He reached up to touch a particularly dark one right under his ear, flinching a tad at the sensitivity.
He couldn’t help but grin wryly as he spoke softly to himself. “Who would have known you’re a biter,” he said, moving to touch another one.
The arm still slung around his waist tightened. “Who could have known you like being bitten.” Taiki looked down at Takuya. His eyes were still closed and he was still breathing slowly, just barely beginning to wake up. “Don’t get up yet.”
“Ah, a cuddler,” Taiki teased, scooting back under the blanket and right up against Takuya. “What a wonderful bedmate you make.”
Takuya huffed, eyes slowly creaking open just a sliver. “I was right. You are still a brat.”
Taiki scowled, but it didn’t last long when Takuya pulled him even closer. Taiki reached over and began running his fingers through Takuya’s hair idly, just existing in the moment.
“We should go on a proper date,” he said after a few quiet moments, when it was clear Takuya had woken up more.
“Last night wasn’t?” Takuya said, meeting Taiki’s gaze.
Taiki scoffed as he pulled a little harsher than necessary on a strand of Takuya’s hair. “Absolutely not,” he stated. “That was impulse driven by long held desire. A proper date, where we both are thinking of it as one and acting like it. Romance me.”
Takuya’s lips quirked upwards. “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you to do that?”
Taiki flicked him. “No. Well, maybe a little of both, yes. I romance you, you romance me. We get to know each other, we kiss, we possibly fuck some more. All the good things.”
The longer Takuya was quiet, the more anxiety grew in Taiki’s heart, making it beat erratically and a million thoughts to fly around in his head. He was already prepared for rejection, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt—
“Alright,” Takuya said, sitting up to be at the same level with Taiki. “Let’s go on a date. I still have a day before my conference.”
And suddenly, Taiki was feeling lighter than air.
Despite his reluctance, Taiki eventually pulled himself out of bed to shower. When he reentered the bedroom to get dressed, Takuya was nowhere to be seen.
He dried his hair, fitting into a lovely light brown turtleneck with a soft pink crisscrossing design on the chest and dark blue jeans. He entered the living room, finding Patch on the couch. Patch lifted its head, turning in Taiki’s direction. Across the apartment in the kitchen area, Takuya could be seen at the stove.
“You seem happy,” Patch said. Taiki leaned over the back of the couch to pet Patch’s head.
“Very happy,” he said.
“Would you like me to remove your injuries?” Patch asked. “They are very minor and so within my capabilities.”
“Injure- oh.” Taiki reached up to touch the bruise just peaking over the top of his collar, the only one unable to be hidden by it. He wondered for a flash of a second if that had been on purpose. He smiled, thinking of having a small reminder of his time with Takuya even after he’d return home. “Leave them. They’ll be gone in a few days anyway.”
“As you like, Master!”
The small clink of glass on wood sounded and Taiki looked over his shoulder.
“I didn’t realize you were done already,” Takuya said. “Breakfast is ready.”
The breakfast Takuya had made was just the beginning of a wonderful day together. Takuya let Taiki take the lead, showing him around to all the special places he’d found throughout his stay.
They ended up in a mall, in a classy, sleek store where most things were behind glass cases and came in sleek black or silver. Fancy perfumes and colognes with diamond stoppers, sparkling lip-glosses that claimed they were colored with real gold, twisting rings and bracelets made with real silver and emeralds and sapphires.
Taiki admired a sleek black nail polish, nostalgic for his high school days when Megumi would paint his nails. He hadn’t painted his nails since, as he never found himself with the time, but felt he missed it.
Takuya came up behind him, hand first placed on Taiki’s shoulder but easily moved down to his elbow. “You could find the same thing in a department store,” Takuya said, amused as Taiki seriously considered the polish.
“But not this pretty bottle,” Taiki stated, taking the bottle out of the cabinet and holding it up to the light. It was small, as most nail polishes were. But the bottle was expertly carved in a pretty, abstract shape. He was sure there was some reference in it, but he wasn’t into art enough to know what that reference was. “The intent of this is less about the use of it but instead how pretty it is. And- ah, there. Look close.”
Takuya did as Taiki instructed, looking at the polish. Where he’d thought it black before, it was really a dark purple.
“It changes shade in certain lights,” Takuya said, lowering the bottle again and contemplating it. “It’s gorgeous.”
Takuya shook his head, still just amused at Taiki’s seriousness. “But that expensive? Really?”
Taiki flicked his shoulder without even looking. He put the bottle back. “You’re right,” he said with a shrug. “It’s too much for me. I don’t even wear it anyway. But you… You’re someone who enjoys simplicity and function, don’t you?”
Takuya let out an entirely too fake gasp. “How’d you know?”
Taiki elbowed him in the ribs, but it was caught by Takuya’s palm before it could make contact. He’d like if the dramatics were left to him, thanks.
Takuya chuckled, mussing up Taiki’s hair. “There’s likely nothing in this store that’ll catch my fancy,” he said.
Taiki pointed at himself teasingly. “What about me?”
“You’re no thing, Taiki. You’re a person, which makes you special.” Taiki’s eyes went wide, and he could feel the heat rising in his cheeks before his brain had even registered what Takuya had said.
“Oh.”
Takuya’s eyes darted around for a moment, before they landed on Taiki again. He leaned down and softly, chastely kissed him. “I wouldn’t call you simple by any means, either,” he whispered before quickly standing and appearing as though they hadn’t just kissed.
Taiki huffed and ran his hand through his hair, once tidy but already messed up by Takuya. What was the harm and messing it up a little more.
“You look good like that,” Takuya mused when Taiki put his hands on his hips. Taiki raised an eyebrow.
“Like what?” he questioned, still a little miffed that he’d been one upped.
Takuya’s eyes were full of an affection Taiki hadn’t expected. “More relaxed, less serious,” he said. “Like you’re not carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. You don’t have to carry every burden you come across, you know.”
Taiki chuckled, adverting his eyes and letting his shoulders slump a bit. That was becoming a recurring theme, wasn’t it…
He straightened himself up and looked around the room. “Well, to purposefully change topics, I’m going to find something in this store for you and you’re going to wear it!” he declared.
Takuya folded his arms, favoring one leg. “There’s no need for that…”
“Of course there is,” Taiki said, immediately going to another section and zipping between cases of items. Takuya followed him without arguing. “I want to prove that I can give you something you’ll actually like.” Prove to who, he wasn’t entirely sure. But it would be proof nonetheless.
It took some time, but between all the fancier items that caught attention, was a simplistic black and gold watch. It wouldn’t have been shop appropriate if it didn’t have a few jewels on it, but the tiny red gems just above the number 12 didn’t distract from the handsome simplicity of it.
An employee took the watch out of the case and Taiki fixed it around Takuya’s wrist snugly. “How’s it feel?” Taiki asked.
Takuya lifted his wrist, lightly twisting the soft leather band and adjusting the placement. He smiled at it, expression akin to impressed.
“It feels good,” he said. He met Taiki’s eyes. “Good job.”
Taiki smirked, feeling triumphant. He turned back to the employee. “We’ll take it then,” he said, handing her his card. She bowed and left with it, quickly returning with a sleek black box to store the watch in. Takuya simply took the box and slipped it into the pocket of his coat.
They took a meal at another, less implication heavy restaurant as the day started drawing to a close. It was light hearted, filled with Taiki’s chatter under the unhidden intent of learning as much as he could about Takuya, sharing equally in turn.
But as the meal drew to a close and they stood out on the street, Taiki found himself frozen. He took Takuya’s hand, gripping it tightly.
“Stay again tonight,” he said, a quiet plea. Takuya ran a thumb over Taiki’s cheek.
“I have to go to the conference tomorrow, and it’ll take me most of the day,” he said, voice strained. “I have to leave early the next morning. My scheduling mistake really screwed me over.”
Taiki stepped closed until he could thump his head against Takuya’s shoulder. “Then just stay with me for the rest of your stay,” he whispered. “It- We don’t have to do anything. I just don’t want it to be over yet. I’m not ready for things to end yet.” It was all in his grasp right now, he didn’t want to let go. One day, in a dream. It was like a fairytale. But he didn’t want to reach the conclusion just yet.
“…Okay.”
They made a stop long enough for Takuya to grab his belongings from the hotel, then they returned to Taiki’s apartment. True to Taiki’s word, he didn’t even try to start anything, instead just snuggled up to Takuya’s chest.
Takuya snorted as they began to drift off into sleep. “And you called me a cuddler…”
Taiki didn’t even argue. Instead, he hummed contently. “I never said I was complaining,” he said, voice growing soft as his mind drifted off into darkness.
Takuya was absent the next morning when Taiki awoke. He wished he could have said he was surprised, but he had been warned. It turned into sheer luck that Takuya was gone for the day, because he received a call from Dr. Shirozawa about a breakthrough in the cure and Taiki rushed to the hospital to do more.
Testing the breakthrough took from morning until late at night. Taiki barely recognized that Takuya was already asleep in his bed when he returned home, just slumping into it and letting himself be cradled as he released himself to his exhaustion.
When he woke up, he was once again alone.
Taiki sat up, the gray light of early dawn peeking through the blinders.
He opened the door, once again finding Patch asleep under a blanket on the couch. Patch looked up when Taiki entered, slipping off the couch and coming over to Taiki to rub against him.
“He left just an hour ago for his flight,” Patch said. “I wanted to wake you, but you came back so late yesterday…”
Taiki sighed, slumping against the door frame. He petted Patch’s head. “It’s fine…” he said. Takuya wasn’t who he was in the world for anyway.
Patch rumbled, tail smacking against the floor. “Oh, but he left something on the table before he left! Don’t know what it was though, but it’s shiny.”
Taiki stopped petting Patch, eyes moving over to the dining table. He hadn’t noticed the object on it before, but now that Patch had pointed it out, he couldn’t help but go over to it. It was a small box, fitting nicely in Taiki’s hand when he picked it up. It was a dark velvet, wrapped with a shiny black ribbon.
He pulled the top off, eyes watering slightly when he pulled out the abstract bottle of nail polish. “The man’s an idiot, but he tried,” he said, setting the bottle down and sitting heavily in a chair, just staring at it with a dopey smile on his face.
Maybe the dream wasn’t over just yet.