Snow On The Peak

Chapter eleven

"Why didn't you protect him?!" Masaki yelled at the Inner Chambers as he pounded his fists into Sho's chest. "I told you to protect him! I told you to look after him! What did you do while I was gone? Just sit there and watch?!"

Masaki's words struck Sho, and all he could do was just stand there as Masaki hit him and yelled at him and cried. He had no words, but he knew Masaki was right. When he found his voice, Sho spoke. "You're right. I should've done more."

Masaki, who had buried his head into Sho's shoulder, looked up at him surprised. Sho refused to look at him because he knew his heart would shatter when he did. "I should've looked after Kazunari, and I didn't. I should've tried to protect him more." He didn't need to look at Masaki to have the tears start falling. "I should've protected him, Masaki, and I didn't!"

Without thinking, Masaki wrapped his arms around Sho to let him cry as well. They all needed to cry. They both cried until finally Masaki spoke up. "How's Ohno-san?"

Sho hiccupped. "He's not good. He's in a lot of pain right now." He looked up at Masaki. "I thought Kazunari would win. He was doing so good. He should have won! He was disarmed. Katsuhiko should have let him go."

Anger suddenly flowed in Masaki's eyes. "I want to kill him," he grimaced.

Sho only shook his head. "It won't bring him back."

"I don't care." Masaki took a deep breath then. "I want to go home, Sho-chan."

--

Silence surrounded Satoshi as he continued to stare at the white curtain that hid the face of the man he loved. He couldn't think, he couldn't move. All he could do was continue to watch over Kazunari's body before they took him to be cremated. It was like he was asleep, and Satoshi half expected him to open his eyes any minute and wonder why a blanket was over his face. Then he would say something witty and smile when he saw Satoshi watching over him like a guard dog in his pure white yukata.

But he wasn't going to wake up. Satoshi knew that now. But he still couldn't bear the thought of being away from him. The most painful thing for him was that he was never going to see those pure brown eyes ever again. He would never see the eyes that looked into his soul that first day and made his heart stop. Never again.

A door opened behind him, and he felt someone sit on the floor a few feet behind him as they closed the door. "Ohno-san?"

Satoshi turned his head a little at hearing Masaki's voice. He sighed. "How old was Kazunari?" He knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it.

Masaki swallowed. "Twenty-one years."

Satoshi nodded. "I'm twenty-four years old. When I was twenty-one, I was excited about being an adult. I was excited about being able to marry and have a family and have a life of my own. But I never really had a lot of friends, and none of the girls really interested me. So life moved on. Kazunari's twenty-one, and he had everything I had hoped for. And now he's gone. And it's my fault."

"Ohno-san," Masaki began. "It is not—"

"I left that damn door open for the whole world to see!" Satoshi exclaimed, feeling the tears returning. "Kazunari didn't even want to sleep with me that night! He was scared! But I talked him into it and promised him that everything was going to be okay. Now here we are, two days later, and Kazunari's dead because of something I did."

The two men were silent for a minute until Masaki cleared his voice. "Ohno-san, do you know why me and my brother chose to come to this city?"

Satoshi thought. "Your mother had died."

"That's right," Masaki said. "Me and Kazunari never thought of each other as half brothers. My father never knew either until my mother told him on her deathbed. Aiba Kazunari suddenly became Ninomiya Kazunari, and when my father found out, he was so upset and angry. I think it was more in the moment than the way he actually felt, but he told Kazunari that he wasn't going to take care of him anymore. Kazunari had to go live on his own, and it broke his heart and mine. Then I found out that there was a man named Ninomiya Katsuhiko living in this town, and immediately he wanted to come here."