*********
“…Ah, love. What is love?”
Kouru Mizuno played with the pencil in his hand. His head
lay on the desk, papers and books scattered all around the desk. Then he heard
a snort from his back. When he turned around, his brother was acting as though
he was reading a book. Kouru’s eyebrow twitched.
“This is my room, Aoi. What are you doing here? Get out,”
Turning to another page, Aoi gave a sly smile as he looked
at his brother’s annoyed expression. “…Well, I heard someone suddenly popped a question about love…” His eyes met
Kouru’s blank stare. He grinned. Closing the book, he walked toward his brother
one step at a time. “I… was just curious.
My nerdy little brother talking about love…”
He gave a pat on the younger male’s shoulder.
“Are you in love, dearest
brother?” He asked him playfully. Kouru felt like stabbing the hand that was
touching his shoulder with the pencil he was holding right now. But knowing how
much of a sneaky bastard Aoi is, he would definitely evade the attack and in
the end, the one who would get hurt was going to be Kouru. He slapped the hand
away, showing Aoi his annoyance.
Aoi whistled when Kouru did that. Then the handsome devil
grinned.
“Ah, my little brother is in love. But he has no love left
for his only brother in the world,” Aoi sounded hurt by Kouru’s action, but the
latter knew better than to play along with his brother’s sneaky tactic to make
fun of him.
Turning his head away, Kouru decided to ignore his brother.
“Say what you want, brother. I don’t even understand what love is. So how do
you know that I’m in love? I just wanted to know just what is the meaning of
‘love’ is,” he rested his head on his left palm, his other hand started to play
with the pencil again.
“Love is… special,”
Aoi suddenly murmured. Surprised, Kouru immediately turned his head toward his
brother. He was holding a book in his hand, his eyes focused on its contents
but... his mind was somewhere else.
“…Aoi-nii?” Kouru called him unconsciously. Aoi turned at
him. “Love is… precious, you
understand that Kouru? Love is… message,”
And he smiled sadly at him. Kouru nodded silently, even though he wanted to ask
him the reason why Aoi made such a pained smile.
“…If you’ve had enough of talking gibberish you better get
out,” Kouru raised an angry eyebrow. Aoi just laughed it off, walking away from
him. Before he left the room, Aoi stopped at the doorframe and called Kouru.
“Hey, love is… it may be fragile, and it may be fleeting. But don’t stop
believing in it when you get dumped later, okay?” He grinned in his usual
devilish smile.
“…Just get out,
Aoi.” Kouru sighed. Aoi laughed.
***
Yume Naito chuckled when Kouru told her about what happened
that morning.
“So you’ve fallen in love, Kouru-chan?” She asked in between
her chuckles. Kouru quickly denied it, even shaking his head furiously in front
of her even though he knew full well that the girl in front of him cannot see
it.
“No, you’re wrong. Yume-chan, I’m just curious about the
thing called ‘love’. That doesn’t mean I’m in love. Really, don’t misunderstand!”
Yume continued chuckling, humored by Kouru’s flustered
voice. “Have you ever heard that ‘denying meant agreeing’, Kouru-chan?” She
teased him. Kouru groaned. “Does that even exist? Yume-chan, I’m telling you
the truth here!” He said in
exasperation. Yume just chuckled it away.
Mumbling in displease, Kouru sulked and decided to ignore
his childhood friend when he heard her murmur; “Love is… longing,”
“…Yume-chan…?”
Yume tried to give him her best smile and continued talking.
“Love is… support, Kouru-chan. Love
is… a message. It meant that you can’t do it alone, so…” Kouru realized that Yume was clutching on her dress very
tightly her knuckles had tuned white.
“Love is… your… unchanging voice… It healed me no matter how
bad a state I’m in…..” Yume’s voice trailed even further as she kept on
talking. The last visible sound he could hear her say was; “…One is love,” Then she suddenly cried,
making Kouru stunned. He was obviously confused.
“Eh? What… why are you crying-eh? Did I do anything wrong? Yume-chan?”
He asked her repeatedly, flustered and confused by her sudden outburst of cry.
***
Kouru
sighed as he slumped onto the couch in the living room. What he didn’t expect
was to see his father sitting on the other couch and watching him sigh. Mr.
Mizuno cleared his throat as loud as he can, claiming his youngest son his
attention immediately.
“What’s
with the sigh, Kouru? You’re still
young, don’t sigh so loudly,” He said nonchalantly, his eyes never moved from
the newspaper he was reading before Kouru came.
Sitting
upright, Kouru tried to answer in the most ambiguous way he could manage.
“Ah…nothing.
It’s nothing… Dad. Just… something,”
He shifted his gaze elsewhere, praying hard he didn’t sweat. His body couldn’t
stop twitching nervously though. Mr. Mizuno gave a light hum, before he turned
to another page.
“…I heard
you fell in love, Kouru?” This marked
the 1000th time Kouru felt like murdering his pot-mouthed of a
brother. He’s the only one able to find anything and anyone just to tease Kouru to his death! Blushing in
embarrassment, Kouru shook his head as he denied the statement furiously.
“No, dad!
It’s not like that. I just wanted to know what ‘love’ really meant. That’s all!” After three times
explaining, Kouru started to get tired of it. He even felt annoyed. All because
of that devil brother of his! Mr. Mizuno turned his gaze toward his youngest
son with a silent surprise. Then, he folded his newspaper and sat upright.
Kouru stiffened his body, stunned by his father’s sudden interest with him.
“Well, but
only a person who’s in love ever question the existence of ‘love’. Or are you
saying you didn’t get enough love from us that you don’t even understand the
meaning of ‘love’, Kouru?” His father stared at him. Hard. Kouru’s eyebrow rose.
“…What are talking about, dad? Both of
your loves are too excessive for me to bear. Don’t you know it?” Kouru said
emphatically, silencing Mr. Mizuno. He looked stunned, and Kouru grinned
boyishly at him. Then his father gave a snort. Covering his face in his palms,
he slumped into the couch and laughed heartily.
“Excessive…hah! You never failed to amuse me, my
boy.” He laughed and snorted, and Kouru just sat there, looking at the elder man in
front of him. Then the laugh stopped. “Love is… fulfilling.” Mr. Mizuno murmured. Kouru’s eyebrow twitched. What’s
with everyone teasing him and then suddenly murmuring what ‘love’ is? He was
annoyed, but decided to listen nevertheless.
“Love is… giving, Kouru.” Mr. Mizuno smiled at
him, though it looked the same as Aoi’s sad smile. It felt painful.
After Kouru
left, Mr. Mizuno still sat on the couch. He was reminded of the time when his
wife was still alive. If she heard what he just said to his son before, she
would laugh at him.
“Love is… a
message. It said; ‘I want to show you
a dream,’ so, love is… even if history changes, what’s in my heart will never
fade. One is love,” She would
definitely answer it like that, while smiling serenely. At that thought, Mr.
Mizuno couldn’t help but smile too. But this time, it was a happy smile.
***
Kouru
slumped onto his bed harshly, annoyed. Today, everyone was acting weird. He
rolled around for a while on the bed, hugging his pillow while squirming with
exasperation. His eyebrows won’t stop frowning as he thought harder and harder
about today.
“Everyone
kept saying that love is… message,”
He massaged his frowning eyebrows, trying to ease them back to normal. Suddenly
his door shot open and Aoi barged into his room, his face glowing in happiness.
Kouru jumped from his bed, surprised by the sudden attack from his brother.
“Aoi! You
surprised me!” Kouru shouted, but Aoi ignored it and immediately hugged his
brother. Kouru could feel the hair on his back stand up straight, obviously
freaked out by Aoi’s sudden actions. His brother just laughed it all off with
glee. Seriously, what’s wrong with
him?
“…Anyway
brother, please let go of me first. You’re grossing me out,” Kouru sighed,
tired of being annoyed at anything and sulking from everything that happened to
him that day. But Aoi ignored him, and even hugged him tighter. Kouru thought
he heard his bones cracking. Aoi wouldn’t stop laughing. He almost kissed his
little brother if the younger male didn’t protest so much, using his entire
strength to shove his face away from him.
“You’re a
crazy, perverted, pot-mouthed
bastard,” Kouru panted after he finally managed to separate himself from his
brother. “There aren’t enough girls outside that you even tried to assault your
brother? Are you that deprived? Or are you drunk?”
“Whaaaaaaatttttt~ I’m just sharing my
happiness~” Aoi whined. But he looked sober, so Kouru was confused about his
brother’s childlike actions. He let his guard down for just a moment, and Aoi
immediately jumped on him, hugging him again.
“Wah, Aoi! Stop
it! You’re freaking gross, you
know?” Kouru shouted, scared that he might get violated by his own brother.
“Oh, shut up, Kouru. I’m just hugging you,
not kissing you. Can’t you be a bit
manly and just endured with it?” Aoi
sighed in exasperation, but easily lifted his mood. Kouru was already stoned
when his brother’s tone turned serious before.
“What? Hey,
Kouru! I haven’t told you anything yet. Why do you have to pass out now?” Aoi
shook his brother’s body before Kouru slowly fell on the fluffy bed.
***
“Love is… special,”
“Love is… precious,”
“It’s a
message that I want to tell you, so”
“You might
get hurt sometimes,”
“But don’t ever stop believing in it.”
Kouru heard
Aoi whispered softly beside his ear. His eyes shot open immediately afterwards,
too surprised he’s not even sleepy anymore. Aoi was sitting beside him, smiling
while looking at him.
“I just
scolded you a little and you’re already stoned. It’s not like I’m a ghost,” Aoi
teased him. Kouru sighed, covering his blushing face with his hand.
“…Shut up.
I’m not used with the ‘serious’ brother. You’re a perverted, crazy, devilish
bastard after all,” He earned a knock on the head from Aoi. Rubbing his head in
pain, Kouru got up from the bed and sat beside Aoi. There was a moment of
silence between both of them as they stared at the moon outside the room.
“…You know,
because you blabbered about this morning to everyone, they all asked me if I’m
in love. It’s a pain in the ass to deny them,” Kouru complained. Aoi chuckled.
“Mission accomplished, then. Isn’t it my
duty to make sure my little brother have one hell of a day every day?” He grinned at him. Kouru pushed his brother’s face
away from him, annoyed.
“Stop spouting nonsense,” He said, and Aoi cackled.
“Stop spouting nonsense,” He said, and Aoi cackled.
“…By the
way, what is it that you wanted to tell me so much before?” Kouru asked Aoi.
***
It was
midnight, but Yume wasn’t asleep. She was sitting on her bed, her eyes looked
as though she was looking at the moon shining brightly outside her but in
reality, she was staring at nowhere. A few hours before, her lover suddenly
barged into her room without any notice, surprising her. She always wondered
how in the world did he managed to sneak into her house without being found
out. It was like he was some kind of a ninja. Yume chuckled to herself. She
remembered the conversation they have had before.
“…You know,
I think Kouru-chan might have fallen in love with someone,” She started the
conversation. Her lover surprisingly snorted at what she had just said.
“Well,
that’s hardly surprising. He’s already at that age, after all,” He sat next to
her, holding her hand in his.
“But when I
asked him, he denied it. He said he’s only curious about the thing called ‘love’…”
Yume immediately chuckled at the memory. Kouru sounded so flustered when he
answered her this morning. Then she felt her hand was lifted by him, and he was
caressing the back of her hand gently using his thumb, making her blush.
“And how
did you answer him?” He whispered at her, his lips touching her hand softly. Yume
flinched, feeling embarrassed by him. “I said…”
“Love is… longing,”
“Love is… support,”
“It’s a message… that meant that it’s something
you can’t do alone, so”
Yume
stopped for a while, her breathing felt hard. Although she couldn’t see, she
could feel his gaze staring right at her. She was panting as she struggled to
finish her words.
“…Your…
unchanging voice…” She was blushing so hard right now she thought her head
would explode.
“… Heals me
no matter how bad a state I’m in.” Yume panted. ‘Just a little bit more…’ Yume thought. He was just holding her
hand, but whenever he does it she couldn’t help feeling excited. His gaze was
so… erotic. She felt hot whenever she
felt his eyes gaze at her.
“…One is love,” She sighed softly.
Finally, she finished saying it. She smiled, then she shuddered. She felt his
lips on the back of her hand, smiling triumphantly at her.
** End **
Not much of an ending there..... whatever. It was 5 pages long, wow. Story based on the song by W-inds - "Love is...message".
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