224 || Kurokawa Izana

- 4 -

A week had passed living with Izana and if there's one thing you've learned it's that the boy enjoys his naps, a lot.

And you don't mean the typical short hour long nap, it was the grand four to five hour nap on a daily basis.

It could be an issue with his sleeping habits, but when you tried to check, it simply didn't make sense. The only thing that did was the fact that he still ate a couple of times a day.

You worried about him a lot and you had a few suspicions but you weren't planning to act on them.

At least, not yet.

Right now you were on your way to visit your brother, you missed him dearly after not seeing him for so many years.

You hoped he wouldn't be angry at you for not visiting. Truth be told, it was still difficult for you to visit him after that one dreadful day, and until now you probably haven't fully recovered.

Alas, we all have our reasons for doing things and one cannot judge what one knows nothing about.

When you arrived, you stepped out of your car, closing and locking the door behind you as you walked through the path decorated with short pillars of stone.

Finally, after a few turns, you arrived at your brother's grave.

"Hey... bro," you greeted awkwardly, placing a bouquet of flowers down in front of his grave and lighting two candles. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

It was strange yet strangely comforting speaking to the stone erection.

You spent hours there, catching up with your brother, telling him about all the crazy things that happened in your life during the time you haven't visited him.

He died around five years ago when you were only 17 years old. You missed him a lot, yet until now you struggled to truly grasp and understand why what happened, happened.

If you could go back in time and do things differently, you would. Perhaps maybe then you would've had a stable job, maybe even a boyfriend.

But because of that one fateful day, your entire life had completely changed. Your once perfect life had turned glum the day you lost your brother.

You took a deep breath, inhale, exhale. "So, let me tell you a little bit about this guy I met in the rain."

* * *

"Izana, I'm home!" You called as soon as you entered the apartment after an early morning run.

No response.

To be fair, you were growing accustomed to the lack of responses from the boy, but that didn't exactly mean you liked it.

You let out a sigh, taking off your shoes and heading over to his room. As usual, you did the routine two knocks before twisting the knob open.

"Izana?" You called softly, "Are you there?"

As you stepped inside, head peeking from the door, you spotted him sitting on his bed, legs crossed as he stared at a picture that he held in his hand.

"Whatcha got there, pretty boy?"

You stepped deeper into the room, walking over to him slowly.

"Nothing," he replied softly, tucking the picture away, hiding it from you.

You nodded in understanding, taking a seat next to him on the bed. "Okay, you don't have to tell me. Do you wanna go out? Like maybe to the grocery or something," you offered, hoping he'd accept.

"No thank you," he declined quietly.

You did your best to hide your disappointment, nodding your head slightly. "Okay, but maybe next time we can go out together."

He looked at you, a tired look in his eyes. "Okay."

"Alright, see ya later buddy," you smiled, patting his shoulder playfully before standing up.

You exited the room with a bright smile but a heavy heart, disappointed in yourself for being unable to get him out of the apartment.

He hasn't left the apartment once since he got here and most of the time he only stays in his room, it worried you a lot and thus you tried your best to get him out of the house.

Alas all your attempts this far have turned futile, failing over and over again.

But you weren't going to lose hope just yet, you were determined to succeed and kept your spirits high.

'Maybe next time,' you'd tell yourself over and over again.

Well, there was really nothing else you could do but try and try again. What other choice did you have?

You didn't plan on giving up though. I mean at some point when you were having an off day, you had considered simply dragging Izana out of bed and forcing him to tag along.

Luckily you didn't actually end up doing that. Izana would probably be angry with you for a little while if you did do that.

You were yet to figure out how to get him out of the house, thankfully the fact that he accepted your offer when you asked him if he'd join you next time proved that there was somewhat little progress to your schemes.

But progress was progress nonetheless, and you'd take what you can get.

"Just you wait Izana, I'll get you out of the house soon," you said to yourself, munching on an onion as if it were an apple.

Just as you were about to take another bite, the sound of Izana's voice caused to you freeze in your tracks. "What the fuck are you eating?"

Your eyes darted to where he stood in front of the hall, hands at his sides as he stared at you with an estranged look.

"An... onion," you mumbled rather quietly.

You prepared yourself for the torment and judgment you expected to endure, but strangely enough, none came.

Izana blinked twice before nodding his head. "Oh, okay."

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