The Piano Man (Iwaoi)

Chapter 21

        Tooru and Tobio were in the middle of a lesson, around the middle of November, when they heard the front door open. Tobio stopped playing, but Tooru told him it was nothing and to keep going. Tobio, distracted, did as he was told. A few weeks ago, Tooru had given Hajime an extra key to the house, so he knew it was him—but he was surprised. It was the middle of the day, and Hajime never came over much anyway. He was too busy most of the time. So Tooru was a bit worried that Hajime had shown up at four o'clock in the afternoon without any warning. (Just to be sure, Tooru snuck a peek at his phone. Sure enough, there were no texts or calls from Hajime.) Something must have happened at work, but Tooru forced the thoughts, the concerns, out of his head. Tobio needed his attention right now.

        But his attention was forcibly ripped away when the door to the piano room was thrown open. Tobio flinched, and Tooru stood up so quickly that his chair fell over. He whirled around to find Hajime in the doorway, breathing heavy, head low.

        "Hajime! I'm in the middle of a—!"

        Hajime stormed across the room and, without even a word of explanation, wrapped his arms around Tooru's neck and held him so tightly that Tooru gasped for breath.

        "H...Hajime," he hissed through gritted teeth. "Now is hardly the time."

        "Just shut up and let me hold you for a second, all right?"

        Out of the corner of his eye, Tooru saw Tobio, nervous and uncomfortable, sitting with his hands wringing in his lap. He reached up and held Hajime, felt Hajime's nose crushed against his neck, felt his body trembling. His anger subsided for a moment—he'd never seen Hajime like this. Shaken up, this aggressively desperate to be held. So Tooru held him despite the little boy suddenly feeling very forgotten on the piano bench.

        "I can't talk now. Go make yourself a cup of coffee, smoke a few cigarettes. I have to finish my lesson," he murmured quietly.

        "Yeah. Yeah, sorry."

        Hajime finally let go, looked appreciatively and lovingly into Tooru's eyes, flashed a trembling smile in Tobio's direction, and left the room. When Tooru looked back at Tobio, he was staring after Hajime with wide-eyed amazement and a slight red flush in his cheeks. Tooru sat back down and pinched his cheek.

        "Sorry about that, darling."

        "Who was that?"

        "My friend Iwaizumi."

        "Oh."

        "He's a detective, too."

        "Is he, like...your new partner?"

        Tooru raised his eyebrows, always astonished at how perceptive children even as young as Tobio could be.

        "I suppose so."

        "Do you love him?"

        "I do."

        Tobio smiled, so Tooru smiled back. Then he took on a stern expression.

        "Back to playing."

        "Yes, Oikawa-sensei."

        Tobio snapped back into position and started to play again, but Tooru could tell that he was hiding a smile the whole time.

        When Tooru shut the door behind Koushi and Tobio, he took a deep breath and pressed his forehead to the door. Hajime was waiting for him, probably roaming around the living room and smoking through a full packet. He was trying to reconcile his irritation, his curiosity, and his worry so that he could deal with whatever was to come patiently and maturely. Both traits in which Tooru was notoriously lacking. He took another deep breath and went down the hallway, back to the vast living room. When he walked in, he paused by the staircase. Hajime was standing at the far side of the room, next to the fireplace Tooru used during winter. He was staring outside the window, one hand on his hip, the other bringing the cigarette to and from his lips. Hand trembling as Tooru had never seen it tremble. He moved forward.