Title: Games of Betrayal and Loyalty

Author: Andy-chan (antimiya88)

Pairings: Sakuraiba, Junba, Matsumiya, Ohmiya (past), Aiba x Takkey (mentioned), Jun x OC (mentioned)

Genre: AU, Romance, Angst, Slice of Life

Rating: R

Summary: Aiba Masaki and Matsumoto Jun are two of the hottest names in the show business. Both of them successful actors weren't afraid of revealing their relationship and now they are portrayed as the 'ideal couple'  by the media but are they really as happy together as everyone believes? Masaki can't help but feel uneasy when he meets Sakurai Sho, a young journalist, who seems to be able to see through him. Will the secrets be revealed? And if yes, would that mean the end or probably the beginning of something new, a lot more fulfilling?

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the boys, unfortunately.

Nino was looking at the front page and couldn’t help but smile widely. In front of him he had last week’s issue with Matsumoto Jun’s photos and analytical story. Once again, he had hit gold. His newspaper, trashy but always true as he was always proudly declaring, had made its miracle once again; a miracle that had gained him lots of money and he loved it.

It was perfect… Everyone was talking about the famous couple; everyone was wondering about the truth behind their relationship and as always rumors had started popping out. ‘Could it be that Matsumoto Jun and Aiba Masaki pretended the happy couple only to gain popularity?’, ‘Matsumoto Jun and Aiba Masaki: How they came up with the idea of pretending to be together just to become famous’, ‘Matsumoto Jun nymphomaniac? Secret meetings with friends with benefits’ were the latest and Nino couldn’t deny it. He was having lots of fun.

He walked out of his office to refill his cup with coffee when someone blocked his way.

“What were you thinking, Nino?”

Nino ticked his tongue against his teeth annoyed. “What a surprise! Your highness decided to leave the honorable offices of your proper magazine and come to the shitty ones of mine?! A miracle must have happened!” irony was more than obvious in his voice but that didn’t discourage the other who remained in his position blocking Nino in the small aisle between the offices.

“Do you enjoy so much seeing people fall apart? Is that your revenge?”

The question pierced like an ironed sword Nino’s heart but he wouldn’t do the favor to the other. “Sakurai, fuck yourself!” he pushed him away and went to the kitchen to pour some coffee. He needed caffeine.

Sho sighed. “You have changed so much… This isn’t the Ninomiya Kazunari that I hanged out with at college… This isn’t the boy who wanted to be the first name in journalism… Why do you keep publishing rubbish? I get that it brings money but-”

Nino muffled a laugh. “Sakurai, please, do me a favor and cut the crap! I never published rumors… only the truth! Now, if that truth hurts, it’s not my problem!”

“You never forgave him…” Sho said in a low tone staring directly at the other.

“And you never saw things objectively. But what am I saying?! You would never betray your precious childhood friend! Sometimes I wonder if I had to meet you in this life… If I hadn’t, I would have never met him and if I hadn’t met him, then I would have never experienced all this pain…”

“Nino… I-”

“Ninomiya for you!” Nino cut him off. “I know what bullshit you say… It was him that was right and me who was wrong! Aren’t I right?!”

“Despite what you believe, he never stopped caring about you…”

“Of course, he did…” Nino replied feeling angrier minute after minute. “Look. Get your ass out of my property or I’ll have the guards throw you out!”

“I’m leaving. But I must say that I never thought you’d be this low…”

“Why the fuck do you care about so much?! I thought you’d be here thanking me…. I believed you had the hots for the tall, cute one! Don’t think that I didn’t see how you were looking at him at the other’s movie premiere… I’d suggest you make your move now… Who knows? He might be in need for consolation…”

Sho’s eyes bulged but soon turned sad. “I can’t believe this is you…”

“It’s just another fairytale that fell apart” Nino continued in the same tone. “The guy shoved his dick into a vagina for a change… Perhaps to make the comparison? To make his fantasy come true? I don’t give a fuck. The thing is that they had already fallen apart. I just lit this small detail up!”

Sho simply sighed. “I’m really sorry for you…”

Nino’s grip on the mug tightened till his knuckles turned white. “Fuck you! I don’t need your or anyone’s pity! Got me?” he saw the other leaving and leaned against the kitchen stool. “As if you care… as if he cares…” he muttered to himself, his voice having lost its power. “He was the one who told me that our relationship didn’t go anywhere anymore and that we should stop seeing each other… He had already moved on and me, the idiot believed that we would be together forever… that we were soulmates… I’m not low, my dear Sho... just a realist. It was back then that you should pity me… then when I was an incurably romantic dreamer and idealist… Everything I believed in was a lie…” he sipped some of the coffee that had turned cold in the meantime. “Lies are everywhere… I’m just making sure all of them come up to the surface… and if that makes me a scumbag in your eyes then hell I am and I’m proud of it!”

***

Jun frowned as he felt someone close to him. His head was spinning and it took some time to realize what was happening. Masaki was holding him by the armpits, in an attempt to lead him to the bedroom.

“I cn do i…” Jun said in a high-pitched voice between hiccups and whimpers.

Masaki sighed as he led him to the bed and started taking off his covered in sweat clothes. “You know you can’t cope with strong alcohol, Jun… Raise your arms, please…” Jun obliged without further questions, perhaps it was the limit where all his powers had abandoned him and in a glimpse of eye was left with his torso naked. “Wait here…”

Masaki entered the small bathroom located in the bedroom and filled a sponge with water. His eyes had become wet, threatening-to-come-to-the-surface tears were making his eyesight blurry but denied to break down. He could do it later. What was important at the moment was Jun to be safely sleeping. He took a deep breath and went back to the room where he found the other lying on his back. He sat next to him and started cleaning him up, knowing that it would help him have a better sleep.

“Don’t move like that, Jun… You’ll wet the sheets…”

“As i yo care…” Jun mumbled while trying to suppress a laugh.

“But I do care…” Masaki whispered and without waiting for an answer, he continued his task. In a few minutes, Jun was wearing his pajamas and sleeping quietly.

Masaki’s lower lip trembled as his hand found Jun’s soft hair. Did he have the right to stroke it? He wasn’t sure… it was him the one at fault. It was him that had betrayed the other… it was him that had been found in their bed with another man… he was wasted… but it was his neck had someone else’s marks… and Jun was there… he still remembered the pain in his boyfriend’s eyes and he still hated himself for that.

---

Six months ago…


“I think I drank too much…” Masaki mumbled as he tried to stand on his feet but didn’t quite manage to stay still for more than a few seconds.

“Be careful, Aiba-kun…” a voice reached his ears while two hands wrapped protectively around his waist.

Masaki’s mind screamed that this was wrong but his body was too weak to be able to move away. He was led to a taxi, the hands never leaving him. He felt sleepy and before he could realize what he was doing, he let his head rest on the other’s shoulder.

He was almost sure he heard a chuckle but the tiredness won over.

“We have arrived!”

Masaki opened his eyes with difficulty and let out a moan of frustration. “Thank you, Takkey-kun. I will go upstairs now!”

“Is Matsumoto-kun here?”

“No… he’s… in Sap… poro for his drama spe… special…”

“Then I’ll help you. I would feel terrible, if you fell on your way to your apartment”

“But it’s…” Masaki tried to oppose but he was already carried to the entrance.

Once in the elevator, Masaki would swear that he could feel his costar in theatre leaning closer to him. His drunken mind wasn’t sending clear messages to his body that remained in its position, feeling the hotness not necessarily unwelcome.

When the door of his and Jun’s apartment opened, he was ready to say good night but didn’t have the chance to utter a single word. A mouth was locked on his, claiming his lips demandingly. He tried to push the other away, to make him stop but he was stronger and held him tighter as he forced his tongue into Masaki’s mouth. Masaki moaned in desperation… this was wrong… they might had problems lately but he was in love with his boyfriend… he was in love with Jun… he tried to get away from the other’s grip but as the minutes passed by, it felt more and more difficult. The way Takkey’s flushed body was rubbing against his was making his already blurry mind turn completely blank.

Before he knew what he was doing, he found himself relaxing and returning the kiss with eagerness. He felt the other smiling as the grips on his wrists disappeared. His hands wrapped around the hot neck, his whole body had leaned closer, making the distance between them disappear. He didn’t oppose as the other started taking his clothes off; neither did he oppose when he was pushed on his bed completely naked and exposed.

It felt as if he was trapped in a sweet fog. Hard sucks landed on his collarbones causing him to gasp, his nails buried in the soft skin. His breathing had turned uneven and his body was sweating… with the alcohol still running strong through his veins, it made the temperature of the room be double high. Soft whimpers left his mouth as a hand started caressing in a torturously slow way his most sensitive spots… a deep moan filled the air once a finger came to tease his hole.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes frightened. ‘No… this isn’t supposed to happen… what… what am I doing?!’

“Please… stop… I…” he tried to speak, he tried to push the other away but the finger entered him making him scream.

It didn’t hurt but it didn’t feel right… This wasn’t right. He tried to kick the other away but he proved to be stronger. Masaki couldn’t handle alcohol… he knew it well… But that night he had drunk because he wanted to forget how much he missed Jun. They had been fighting over small things… It had been days since they had last talked and that made Masaki a mess. In the bar when all those thoughts vanished, it had felt right… but now he realized how wrong he was…

“Come on, baby… You were having so much fun… let yourself enjoy…” the other whispered huskily close to his ear, his finger continuing its task even more aggressively till it found what he was looking for.

“Please…” Masaki repeated but an unwanted moan left his throat. The other had found his prostate and mercilessly kept brushing it.

“Don’t think…” he heard the other whispering in his ear, followed by small feather-like kisses from his earlobe to his neck.

“Plea- Ah… hnn…” Masaki tried to push the other again without any power or will as his body trembled forcefully.

“That’s it baby… moan for me…”

Masaki felt tears in his eyes as both his prostate and cock were caressed. His drunken mind kept telling him that this is wrong but the pleasure that had started building up inside him was too much. It wasn’t till a few minutes later that every resistance subsided. He couldn’t help but scream loud as the other entered him in one fluid move. The thrusts were powerful, making him move along meeting him half way.

His mind tried to stay with his boyfriend. ‘Jun… Jun…’ he felt like crying… yet it felt too good and before he knew it, his mind had turned blank as he clenched his muscles around the cock inside him in an attempt to gain more friction. His legs were wrapped around the other’s waist pushing him further in him.

They both moved faster and faster until they came with soundless gasps, their bodies trembling from the intensity of their orgasms.

Masaki was lying on his back, his eyes staring at the ceiling, still blurry and unfocused. His head was still buzzing. “Jun…” he mumbled under his breath, feeling a knot in his throat. He couldn’t believe it… He felt defenseless… a complete zero for having betrayed the man he loved like that… He wanted to push the other off the bed but had no power. He remained like that till his eyes eventually turned heavy.

It was only when he felt someone grabbing his arm with force that he opened them. Still lost, feeling his head ready to explode, he thought…, no, he hoped that everything was just a bad dream. He sat up when he saw Jun standing right there in front of him with his eyes filled of shock, questions and… something he had never seen before… disgust. He managed to turn to the side and saw Takkey’s naked body lying down still asleep. Now he knew that it wasn’t a dream but the truth.

Everything happened fast. Jun woke Takkey up throwing him with force off the bed along with his clothes, literally kicking him out of the apartment. It was only when the door closed that Jun came closer to Masaki. He pulled him into the bathroom forcing him to look at himself in the mirror. Masaki gasped. His collarbones and torso were covered with love bites and marks… marks that weren’t Jun’s.

“Tell me, Masaki…” Jun’s voice sounded hostile, full of disgust. “Did he fuck you hard last night? Did you scream out loud? Louder than with me?” there was so much sadness in it… and it was because of him. “Tell me, was he better? Did you enjoyed it more? Tell me, Masaki!”

“Jun… I…” Masaki tried to speak with trembling voice but was turned around with force, facing his lover who was looking at him with narrowed eyes.

“Be clever and shut up…” Masaki gasped but remained hushed. “Listen carefully…” Jun continued. “I won’t go to the media. We will still be together… That’s another selling point of us and I won’t destroy it. I have worked too hard to have this career. So, we will continue as we were…” his thumb brushed Masaki’s lower lip. “…for the others… Think of it as another role… It’s not that you’re unfamiliar with it though! You’ve already let someone else fuck you behind my back… So, be a good boy and continue along. Got it?”

“Please… Jun! Liste-” Masaki tried again, more desperate.

“You want to tell me that you didn’t sleep with him?”

“Jun, I…”

“A yes or no…” Jun cut him off. “You slept with him. Yes or no?”

Masaki gulped. “Yes…” he answered with a tiny voice, his head lowered in defeat.

“You got your answer…” Jun turned around to leave but Masaki grabbed his arm.

Jun freed himself from Masaki’s grip pushing him away. “I know that lately we didn’t have much time together and we had all those small fights. I know that maybe I was a bit of a jerk… I realized that I missed the moments back then when we still hadn’t achieved anything but were happy and had dreams… I wanted to try to bring back all those moments… and honestly, I thought that we still loved each other but from what it seems I was wrong. You’ll call me naïve… and you will be right…” he sighed before his lips turned into a sad smile. “BUT that doesn’t mean that I will continue being one” he leaned closer, making their eyes being only a few centimeters apart from Masaki’s widen ones. “Don’t even think to touch me... ever again… understood?”

“Ju-”

“Understood?” Jun repeated harsher this time.

Masaki nodded, not daring to follow the other as he left him alone in the bedroom. He heard the door banging loud as it closed. He tried to breathe but it felt impossible. He wanted to scream but no sound could leave his throat, he wanted to run after him but he knew it would be in vain. He had never imagined that these beautiful eyes of him could ever stare at him with so much hate, reflected in them.

‘What have I done? What have I done?’ he fell on the floor, naked as he was, burying his face in his palms, sobs causing his body to shake violently. “Jun… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

---

Masaki hadn’t realized that he was crying until he heard steps. He tried to wipe his tears away and without averting his eyes from the floor where he had been looking at blankly for hours, he spoke in a trembling voice. “It wasn’t you the one that was naïve, Jun… It was me…”

“What?”

“I guess I didn’t want to accept that Takkey was flirting with me…” Masaki said. Jun tried to stop him but he didn’t. “I wanted to believe that since he knew we were together he would respect it… That night, we had been out with the cast of the theatre production. I was really missing you… the more I felt that way, the more I drank… That continued till I couldn’t even stand properly on my two feet. He put me in a taxi but insisted on coming with me because he was afraid I might fall somewhere in between… he brought me to the door and before I could realize what was happening he started kissing me. I wanted to push him away, I tried to push him away, to make him stop but at my state it was inevitable… He knew what to do to make his caresses more welcomed…

And then before I knew it I was on our bed… All I could think of was you… I tried to make him stop…” Masaki stopped, his eyes closing tightly. He could hear Jun gasping but took a deep breath in order to continue. “I pleaded him to stop… but he didn’t… and then… I couldn’t fight back anymore… My body didn’t want to fight back… I hated myself… so much that I was convinced it was a nightmare… something that proved to be wrong when my eyes met that disgust written all over yours… and since then I hate myself… for having betrayed the man I loved… and now… here I am, having destroyed you completely…”

Jun had remained looking at the other with wide eyes, a frown covering his forehead. What he had just heard sounded much different from what he had decided to believe in all these months. He looked closer, distinguishing the guilt and pain in the other. He always had it but today it was more than ever. He bit his lower lip smiling bitterly. He had felt empty but at least it was his choice to sleep with that clingy girl… he wanted to forget; it hadn’t been successful but at least it was his decision. What Masaki had just spoken of wasn’t his decision… It was forced… it was… rape.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jun asked even though he knew he was at fault. He was the one that whenever Masaki tried to speak wouldn’t listen.

“You wouldn’t let me and then, I realized that it was my fault… Not because I had enjoyed it but because it was me the one who let him bring me home, touch me… It was me the one who had drunk more than I could handle when you were away… It wasn’t his fault, he got what he wanted… I had the choice but I made the wrong one…”

“Masaki… he…”

“Even though we’re practically done for half a year now, it still hurt me you know… I still wanted to believe that there was a small hint of hope for us… I know I was naïve and stubborn… but I hoped… Now I have finally accepted the truth… that there’s none. You were right, you know…! You made me taste exactly the same bitterness… And even though I felt useless, I thank you… because I deserved it…”

“I-”

Masaki stood up and smiled. “But I won’t accept that… I won’t let them make you look as if you’re the one at fault. I will clear things up. It’s the least I can do for you…”

“You won’t. This man… he forced you!” Jun grabbed Masaki by his shoulders making him look at his eyes.

Masaki smiled, heavier tears having filled his eyes. “I didn’t ask for it but I let him have his way with me when I shouldn’t have. I should have protected me and most importantly us… I should have spoken to you of my insecurities, my fears… yet I didn’t… I made the wrong choice and I paid for it”

“Masaki, do you even listen to yourself? Takizawa should pay!”

“I don’t care about him… The fact that I hurt you doesn’t change… and it hurts me to see everywhere all those horrible for you…”

“But it will destroy your career as well…”

“It will but at least, I will be able to live with my conscience peacefully…”

Jun turned the other way avoiding Masaki’s stare and lowered his head.

Masaki made a few steps forward till he was standing right in front of the other. “Can I ask you something? But I want you to answer to me with honesty…”

Jun looked up at the other confused but nodded.

“Do you believe that even if that had never happened, we would have really been ok?”

Jun was startled by the question and even more when he found himself unable to answer. “I… honestly don’t know…”

Masaki felt tears blurring his eyesight. “I thought so too…” he whispered with a trembling voice and smiled sadly. “So, I guess… that’s it, right?” he took a deep breath. “I’ll search to find another place to live…”

“Masaki…”

“We both knew this end would come… Staying together like this, it was only bringing more pain… and I guess we both had enough…”

“But…” Jun didn’t continue as he saw Masaki approaching him slowly, almost hesitatingly. He knew that stare… and felt tears filling his eyes up but tried to remain calm.

“I know I might sound egoistic right now…” Masaki spoke in a tiny voice “…but… Could you…” his jaw trembled as sobs threatened to come to the surface “could you just forget about everything for a while…? Half an hour… half an hour is enough… I just want to feel-”

Jun grabbed Masaki by his nape and crushed their lips together. It felt bitter as both of them knew that this was a good-bye. In a blink of eye, their clothes had been thrown unceremoniously on the floor as they made their way to their bedroom, crashing against walls, on the door.

Their bodies moved along in unison, wanting to feel the other one’s hotness as much as possible. Their eyes never left each other’s face; not even for a second, wanting to memorize this moment… this last intimate moment after so many years. With every move it was as if they were confirming the love they felt for each other. Everything was intense… passionate… reflecting their feelings. They knew it was painful but there was no other way.

Jun’s hips thrusted one last time deeply as he filled Masaki with his cum. The latter’s chest was still moving up and down trying to calm down from the powerful orgasm he had experienced a few seconds earlier. They remained like that, Jun’s lips ghosting on Masaki’s sweaty forehead.


Masaki wanted to hold his tears back but it was stronger than him. Perhaps it was the afterglow from sex but he felt them coming down his face like a river. To his surprise, Jun’s hands came to wrap around him holding him tightly, reminding him how safe he felt in these arms. He grabbed them as if his life depended on them. This was the last time he would ever feel them against his skin and he needed to memorize it.

“I really loved you, Jun…” Masaki said after a while, calm, his head resting on Jun’s torso, close to his heart. Every word was spoken shakenly… almost as a whisper, making Jun sigh.

“I really loved you too, Masaki… I really did…”

***

Masaki’s agency had tried to make him stop from holding this press conference. They had threatened to end his contract but he was determined. The flashes were once again all over him but this time the sense was so different. The fact that he had moved out from his apartment had already been in the headlines of the gossip newspapers for more than a month now. Both his and Jun’s names were trending everywhere on social media.

He could swear he was hearing whispers as he made his way to the chair prepared for him. He took a deep breath to find the courage to speak calmly. He opened his eyes and looked directly at the journalists in front of him. He had to be strong for both of them.

“I decided to hold this press conference today because I wanted to clear some things up. This whole story of my break-up with Matsumoto Jun has been circulated in the media and tens of different opinions have come to the surface, most of which present things in a certain, biased way that, allow me to call them unfair for my ex-partner. I just want you to know that I haven’t been the victim as many of you want to portray me. It was me that had made a similar mistake in the first place” he could feel more flashes, more questions. “Jun and I were having a crisis and both made mistakes… we’re not the first ones and I’m pretty sure we won’t be the last ones on this Earth but that doesn’t mean that our whole relationship was made up…

Jun was the first one who cheered up for me… who made me feel strong; he’d be the one who envisioned our future as actors, making our dreams come true… I have truly loved him the same way I believe he did love me back and even if many things happened between us, even if we’re not together anymore, it doesn’t mean that I will stop caring about him. When you have truly loved someone, then they will always keep a part of your heart… because they have meant something for you” he knew his voice was trembling, he was at the verge of crying but tried to smile as defense. He could see the way he was stared at; like a prey surrounded by tens of pairs of eyes, seeing him as the perfect meal of the day.

“I am ready to answer your questions, now…”

And then it started but he was prepared. He had to be strong. He owed it to him, so he cleared his throat and tried to answer as honest as possible. His image as an angel had been crushed but he knew it had to happen… because he wasn’t one… he was only a human… with many flaws and weaknesses; a human that had made mistakes that couldn’t be undone.

Two hours later he was finally free to go. He escaped as fast as possible to the toilets. He held the two sides of the basin as he tried to calm his throbbing heart and threw some cold water on his face. He took some deep breaths before he looked up in the mirror, gasping when he saw someone else’s face reflecting on it as well.

“Who are you?” he asked frowning. He had seen him being among the crowd.

“Ninomiya Kazunari”

“Ninomiya Kazu-?” Masaki gasped. “It’s you! You’re the one who published everything!”

“Yes, it’s me…” the smaller man replied in a calm way.

“Congratulations!” Masaki told him ironically and tried to leave the room but was stopped by the other. “You must feel really accomplished! You managed to destroy not only one but two men’s lives!”

Nino didn’t even flinch at the words. “Why did you do this today?”

Masaki smiled. “Because no matter what you might think, I love Jun… I will always do…”

“You still insist on that…” Nino mumbled as he shook his head chuckling.

“I do… because I believe it… You can’t just forget someone you have loved in your life… You care… if this someone truly meant something for you…” Masaki said calmer. “But from what it seems you have never experienced it, have you?”

Nino was left blinking unable to utter a single word. What did the other knew? How could he judge him?!

“I pity you…” Masaki whispered still looking at the smaller man in front of him with narrowed eyes.

“Excuse me?”

Masaki sighed. “You feed on other people’s sadness and destruction… If that’s not pitiful, then what is it?”

“You better not speak for things you don’t know… and remember that you shouldn’t come to conclusions, when you know absolutely nothing. Got me?!” Nino had narrowed his eyes dangerously. The other was speaking to him without knowing anything about him or his life. “I don’t feed on people’s destruction as you say, I just reveal the truth… Don’t forget that it was you who always claimed that you wanted to be honest with your fans!”

Masaki sighed. “So, you did us a favor?”

“Maybe I did…” Nino smirked. “Isn’t that good? There are no such things as fairytales!”

Masaki smiled bitterly. “You’re right, there aren’t… but you should know that trying to prove every single story doesn’t make you feel better… it only makes you sadder, even if you deny it…”

“What are you-?”

“Excuse me…” Masaki cut him off and left.

~.~.~

“He’s right…” a voice was heard as a door of the cubicles opened.

Nino chuckled. “I should have guessed that you would be here… Spying on him?”

“I was here before he came in… I just thought that it would be wrong to come out when I heard your conversation…”

“So you chose to eavesdrop! That’s what I call manners!”

“Nino… I think you should speak to Satoshi… Stop hiding behind your finger… face the truth!”

“I’d suggest you go and run after him… You might catch him at the back exit!” the other said with a smirk that was obviously a way to hide his uneasiness.

“I can see it in your eyes that this… job doesn’t bring you any happiness… You know that it doesn’t bring you any happiness but you’re stubborn… so stubborn that you’re willing to keep hurting yourself…”

“I said it before. I will say it again. Fuck yourself, Sakurai!” Nino yelled and left.

The door was closed with a loud bump, leaving Sho alone. “I hope one day you realize what you’re doing to yourself…”

***

Masaki leaned on the wall behind him as he was waiting for his taxi to come. He had no manager to drive him around and he owned no car. He had sold his in order to be able to have some cash until he figured out what he’d do from now on. A minute later, he felt his phone vibrating. He took it in his hands, a shy smile appearing on his lips.

From: Jun
You were strong…
I will try my best to be. I promise
you… that bastard will get what
he deserves. But I want you to promise me
that you’ll take care of yourself.

He knew that Jun wouldn’t let Takizawa escape and that made him think that he did have chosen the right man… despite the way things had turned out in between. He started pressing the buttons fast. The fact that Jun had sent him this small message proved that he had been telling the truth; if you had felt something real for someone, it would never disappear completely… you would still care for them.

To: Jun

I will like I know you will, too.
If you ever need me, I’ll be there
for you. You know it.
Take care, Jun…


He looked up in the cloudy sky trying to stop the thoughts that kept wishing to occupy his mind. It was difficult but he would fight… for him and for Jun…

---

Seven years ago…


“Will you promise me something, Masaki?”

Masaki smiled as he looked at his lover. “What?”

“No matter how many difficulties you will face, you’ll never give up!”

“I promise, I won’t… but you have to promise me the same…”

Jun kissed the top of his head. “I promise I will fight the best I can!”

---

I’ll keep that promise, Jun and I know that you’ll keep it, as well… he thought and sighed, somehow relieved.

“Aiba-san?”

Masaki was sure he knew that voice. He turned around and to his surprise it was the journalist who had taken his last interview. His alarms were immediately on. “What do you want?”

“To tell you that I admire you… I always did but now more than ever…”

Masaki was taken aback. He tried to distinguish the lie, the mock behind these words but no matter how hard he tried, all he could see was honesty. He felt his throat getting dry.

“I’m sorry but I forgot. Your name is…?”

The other smiled as he came closer. “Sakurai. My name is Sakurai Sho”



TO BE CONTINUED…