Flying the nest

Chapter 3

A/N: Oof final part.

***

They were only half an hour into hanging out and Karma nearly gave him a stroke.

"Karma, stop messing around!" Gakushuu yelled at his brother who was trying to balance on the stone wall overlooking the river.

Karma grinned, deliberately balancing on one foot and nearly giving him a heart attack. "What? It's fine!"

Gakushuu tried to grab him and yank him down. "Get down!"

Ren, Nagisa, Kayano, Sugino, and Okuda were watching them.            

"Be careful, Karma," Okuda said.

"Yeah, Karma, come on," Nagisa said, frowning. "Get down."

Karma rolled his eyes and jumped down. "Whatever."

"Don't do that!" Gakushuu lectured, pinching his arm.

Karma didn't seem phased and just stretched. "What? It wasn't like I was gonna fall."

"You sure about that?" Sugino commented.

Gakushuu sighed, tempted to just drag his brother back to their mother's and call it a day. "Let's just grab something to eat already..."

"There's a really nice café not far from here," Okuda suggested, smiling.

"Yeah, that sounds nice," Nagisa replied.

"I brought my own hot sauce so I'm game for wherever," Karma commented.

Ren gave him a look. "Who carries around their own hot sauce?"

"Karma does because he's a weirdo," Gakushuu replied dryly.

Ren laughed and swung an arm around his shoulder, keeping him close. "It's kind of funny."

Gakushuu sighed. "It really isn't."

They hung back a little as the others walked ahead.

"So, have you talked to your dad since yesterday?" Ren asked.

"No." Gakushuu grimaced. "But he's coming around tomorrow, so there's no avoiding it."

Ren hummed. "You're not going to let him convince you to drop MIT, right?" He looked concerned. "You're still going to go no matter what he says?"

He stayed quiet, growing uneasy. "...I have been weighing it up—"

"Gakushuu." Ren's brow furrowed.

"I still want to go," Gakushuu interrupted, shrugging his arm off. "There's just other things to consider." His gaze shifted to Karma and then Ren. "Of what I'll be leaving behind..."

"You're not dying." Ren nudged him. "I wasn't lying when I said long-distance would be romantic."

Gakushuu sighed, frowning a little. "It isn't always going to be romantic, Ren," he said warily. "A lot of relationships fail because of long-distance."

Ren's smile wavered. "Well, yeah..." He paused for a moment. "But, I still want you to go." He held his hand. "I don't want to be the reason you never reached your full potential." He smiled apprehensively. "Pretty sure you'd end up hating me..."

Gakushuu's frown faded, looking at him curiously. "I wouldn't hate you..." He shrugged. "I'd just look down on you and harbour a deep resentment."

Ren baulked. "That's worse!"

The corner of his lip twitched upwards. "I'm just being realistic." He looked down at his fingers entwined in his hands. "So you're really okay with me leaving? Because if you're lying, then you have no right to complain."