Game Over

STAGE TWENTY-FIVE >> Jaded

This is a work of fiction. All of the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this story are all products of the author's imagination used in fictitious manner. Any resemblance to an actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

■□■□■□■□■□■

Just outside of the building, a night sky hung with stars welcomed their eyesight, and beneath the crescent moon, two figures with almost the same height stood side by side. This was Takehiko's first time visiting the rooftop office space that Akihiro shared with Ryoto and Hiroyuki. He only heard from Kenta that this office was more like a penthouse than a workspace since the three best friends have made the area entirely beneficial for relaxation.

Studying the place, Takehiko was inclined to believe the employee seeing even the rooftop was made to appear like a retreat, providing the much-needed respite complete with a mini-garden and a small bar on the side.

"Why?"

Takehiko didn't think that Akihiro will start the conversation with the very first question which turns out to be one of the toughest ones to answer.

Why indeed?

To Akihiro, this might just be one question that deserves a single response. But to Takehiko, the "Why" could follow a lot of statement that begins from that time they first both laid eyes on the boy with a celestial smile.

As Takehiko contemplates which one to answer first, Akihiro spoke again. "Why did you come back?"

The wind blew lightly from the east-west hinting at the start of fall, and with the moon gazing down at them the whole atmosphere was chilly. However, that wasn't the primary reason why the hissing in Takehiko's chest wouldn't settle.

"I never disappeared," he said, almost whispering. "You shut me off."

Akihiro stared back at him with fire in his eyes. The emotion was there like a hot fluid in a container, yet in the presence of the person he considered a rival, he couldn't fully convey the feelings. How he wished there was another way around, and once again Akihiro found himself wishing that he could turn back time. If he had done things differently, they wouldn't be in this situation in the first place—him, Takehiko, and Yuki.

"Do you know how much I hated you? I have to look at your face every day and be reminded of how I am still limited despite doing the best that I can. How come they could praise me and then succumb to your charms so easily? Even our parents saw it, your magic...

"Then it dawns on me. It doesn't matter how much of this success I achieved. It doesn't matter how much they flatter me with words. I can never be you in their eyes."

And in the process, he hurt those people that truly mattered. Those people who were willing to give him a chance and know the real him, not the avatar that Akihiro presented just to prove that he could be better—that he was better.

What was even more amusing was the fact that Akihiro wasn't even certain if he was jealous of Takehiko because he never desired to be him. All he wanted was an acknowledgment from a single person that matters. Something that his parents weren't able to provide.

"I failed you, didn't I?"

The younger turned to the older, emotionless and expressionless, after a while, he closed his eyes, his mind, and their conversation.

"Let it go, Aki. You don't need to hold it back anymore," Takehiko's voice was sinking to a husky whisper but he managed to send the message loud and clear.

"I thought we are here because of him?"

Takehiko veiled the hurt with a gentle smile. "Aki, I know you think of me as a thorn in your path. I know you've put me on top as a goal you wanted to surpass. But believe me, when I say, I never meant to make you more upset than you already are.