Chapter 18

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*Third person's POV*
Black suits, dark umbrella, grey skies... A figure clad in a formal suit kneels by the glossy casket, eyes overflowing with tears. His attendant does not cry, but instead holds out an umbrella to shelter his boss.

Rain falls soon as the casket is licked by the hungry flames and the man bids a final goodbye as the crematorium door slams shut.

He furiously wipes his tears and weakly smiles at the overcast skies as the rain poured down. "Keiji look, heaven is celebrating his return." His attendant nods, face somber. "Oyaji didn't liked it when I cry. He said men didn't shed tears, only blood and sweat. But I can't help it can I? He is my father after all... My father...I didn't even get to tell him he meant so much to me." Even though the man tried his best to resist the waterworks, they fell from his already puffy eyes once again.

"Bokuto-san, let's go back and get some food ok? Your father wouldn't like you starving yourself." It had indeed been quite a long while since they ate. The attendant, Keiji, steers the crying snow haired lad away from the crematorium and nods gratefully at the slim spectacled man stationed behind them. The guy returns the nod and heads inside the building. Keiji and Bokuto-san leaves after bowing for one last time.
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*Keiji's POV*
We got back to the apartment around late evening. Bokuto-san was still tearing up even though his eyes had dried. I went to the kitchen to prepare dinner, giving Bokuto-san some time on his own.

I checked on him as the soup boiled. I wouldn't reckon that Bokuto-san had much of an appetite anyway. Bokuto-san was staring into space, lost in his own thoughts and most likely, his memories too. I sat on the ground beside him, hands stroking his fingers, the only thing my mind could process as comfort. My heart ached.

I heard the hissing from the pot and went back into the kitchen, only to reemerge minutes later with two bowls of soup in my hands. 

I passed him a bowl and he took it, starting to eat off slowly from the bowl. It was tofu soup, something I picked up while I was in Shanghai. We stayed in this comfortable silence as we ate. I was afraid to overstep my boundaries.

We finished in 15 minutes. I reached my hand to clean up the bowls on the table. But instead got pulled into a bone-crushing hug from Bokuto-san.

"Jii-chan was so healthy the other time we saw him... Why?" Bokuto started to sob once again.

"He must have wanted to leave quietly without you worrying..." i quietly replied, unsure of what else to say.

"You're the only one I have now Keiji..." his voice was barely a whisper.

"I'll stay ok?"

"Forever?"

"Forever."

Bokuto-san flashes a slight but angelic smile, then...moves in to plant a small kiss on my cheek. He left for his room, not after turning dark pink from the tip of ears to his toes. I felt my face heating up, just that little bit. I would have wanted to convince myself that that was the hot soup but I could not ignore the fact that Bokuto-san affected me. Just a tiny little bit......

*Bokuto's POV*
I slapped myself on both cheeks and walked into my room. Why did I do that? I covered my face and screamed. Keiji was not my type. No no no. He was like my...my...

My lips burned as if remembering their touch with Keiji's skin. My mind went boom then blank. I dropped on my bed, head filled with so many thoughts. Did I like Keiji? It felt so weird. Nothing made me, the awesome Bokuto Koutarou, feel this way before. My heart was beating as if I was running a race. Was this love like they talked about in stories? Impossible right? Keiji would never like me back. And again Keiji was not my type. He wasn't cute. Maybe he was...a little. He wasn't small...he was slimmer than I would ever be. I slapped my face again. What was I doing...

*Keiji's POV*
I got up the next morning and bumped into Bokuto-san who was pacing outside the door. We had an awkward morning greeting. "Uh...Keiji. Wanna um head out?" He scratched his head nervously. "I need to do my morning jogging first." Bokuto-san nodded, then volunteered to accompany me. We headed to jog around the neighbourhood. Sadly, there wasn't a park nearby. Jogging would help Bokuto-san get over his father's death too. But maybe jogging at 9am on a Saturday in the heart of a busy city was not such a good idea afterall. We had to slow down to avoid the weekend crowd. And Bokuto-san kept getting distracted by the food the many cafes we passed sold. Bokuto-san when not raving about food, spaced out. He almost crashed into a lamp post. In the end, he fell off the pavement, earning himself a scrape on his knee. I helped to support him as he hobbled home.

I sighed and chided him as I slowly applied medicine on his bleeding knee. I stuck an adhesive band over it. Bokuto-san muttered a "sorry", looking like he was going to cry again. I immediately turned on the TV and switched it to some anime channel hoping to distract him. The bribery worked. I shook my head as I went into the kitchen to make lunch, glad that I decided to go shopping yesterday night. I made rows of nicely rolled up sushi with assorted ingredients. There was tamago, thinly sliced smoked salmon and octopus too. I prayed it would cheer him up. When I got out, plates lining my arms, I realised Bokuto-san was again spacing out, eyes moist with welling tears. I carried the plates to the glass coffee table in front of the sofa. Bokuto-san snapped out of his trance and wowed in amazement of the feast layed in front of his eyes. He started ravaging the food. Thank goodness. We managed to finish everything. Bokuto-san looked a little more cheerful too.

We spent the rest of the day doing an anime marathon. It was one of the only things I knew cheered Bokuto-san up. We binged watched Ouran High School host club and also a little part of Gintama. I would not say I was a fan of anime, especially highly energetic ones like Gintama, but I still enjoyed the shows with their humor, also knowing that Bokuto-san was happier. During the show, Bokuto-san's arm had somehow found its way to my shoulders, pulling me closer. I liked it although I knew I should not have. But all that mattered now was Bokuto-san was starting to revert back and ready for work on Monday. I had not done alot of work yet. We had to get things done too, now that the head had passed away. Bokuto-san could not afford to weaken and let his company get bought over. Somewhere in my train of thoughts, I blacked out.

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