A red rose for the dead

It was around 1 a.m when he finally got to his apartment drunk, again. I has became a routine by now, finish work, go to a bar, get drunk, go home. A mundane, yet addictive cycle.

He took his coat off and placed it on a hanger near the entrance, the same hanger where his coat was hanging. He should've thrown it away a long time ago, atleast that's what Kōyo told him. She was probably right but he just physically couldn't bring himself to do so. It felt wrong to do such a thing, especially after everything that happened.

Said coat had gathered quite a layer of dust by now. It wasn't much of a surprise. After all, it was hanging there for 4 years by then.

Today, though, was a little different. You see, he bought flowers on his way to the bar. A beautiful bouquet of freesias. These were the flowers that he would often buy him to mess with him. No matter how many times he did so, it always worked. Every time he gave them to him, he would get red in the face and start throwing insults at him. Good times.

After Oda's death, he was the one that helped him, listened to him. He gave him a shoulder to lean on, expecting nothing in return. That was not something you could experience being in port mafia often, or at all.

He holds these memories in his heart and misses those times dearly. Times when they could just live their life, be themselves, be together. June 19th was the day of his birthday. It was supposed to be a nice, happy even, day. Full of celebrations,tasty food accompanied by a glass of some kind of alcohol. He chose whiskey most of the time. He didn't know why the other one enjoyed it so much.

He came to his apartment that day. With a bouquet of red roses, hoping to finally tell the other one about his feelings and hopefully take their relationship to the next step. His knock wasn't answered and after waiting for a bit in front of his door, he decided on using his ability for opening them. Practically immediately after getting in, he felt the uneasiness making itself home in his body. After taking a quick look at the inside of his apartment, he noticed the light coming out of under the door to the bathroom, accompanied by the sound of a shower running. It helped a bit, but he still felt something was off. He decide to just wait, till he comes out. A grave mistake.

Sometimes he finds himself wondering, if he had runner into that bathroom then, would it have changed anything? Or if he would have came earlier would it change the future? To a one where they were together?

But it doesn't matter anymore, it's way too late now.

He putted the freesias into a small vase, before putting them next to a framed picture of a brown-haired boy in a black suit, just as any other 19th of june, for the last 4 years.

"Happy birthday Osamu"