07-Ghost Fan Fiction ❯ Best Buddy ❯ Best Buddy ( Chapter 1 )

First, this was written for the wonderful meru-nekofor the Secret Santa Exchange at the 07ghostLiveJournal community. She has very kindly granted me permission to share it with everyone.

And secondly, just for the record, I want to state that this is not intended to be BL/yaoi/shounen-ai/slash/whatever you'd like to call it. Yes, it's very fluffy, but that's simply because I'm too used to writing fluffy-but-platonic hobbit relationships. :P I don't write BL and never will, and furthermore I don't interpret Teito and Mikage's friendship in that way. Disagree with me if you want to, but kindly don't flame me over it. Because really, this is my opinion and I have the right to it, as you do to yours.

...Okay, now that that unpleasantness is out of the way, on to the fic!

Disclaimer: As I am neither a brilliant manga artist nor a brilliant writer, 07-Ghost cannot possibly be mine. If it were, you can bet that chapter 7 would have ended differently... ::sob::

 

Best Buddy

 

It was not that Teito hated Mikage. Despite his rather horrific childhood, Teito was not someone generally prone to hating people. Strongly dislike, perhaps, but rarely did he hate someone.

 

No, hate was not the explanation for the way Teito would immediately tense up around the taller blond boy, feeling the strangest sensation in his chest that was almost like an ache. He did not hate his roommate. True, Mikage was loud and often obnoxious, and his ever-present cheerful grin grated on Teito's nerves, but at best these traits only annoyed him. Sometimes extremely.

 

What it came down to was that Teito was just plain uncomfortable around Mikage. He did not care for the inexplicable ache that always seemed to spring to life when he watched his roommate chat with a friend or do something ridiculous just to get a laugh out of someone. Mikage behaved unlike anyone he had ever met, and Teito could only conclude that the other boy must be hiding something. Nobody could be that good-natured and carefree, really. Which meant that either Mikage was putting up an act merely for the attention - a motive Teito would have despised - or that he wanted something, and was playing nice with everyone to get it. Teito saw no indication that it was the first (which had somehow seemed ridiculous anyway), so it must be the second, he reasoned.

 

Hence, his discomfort around Mikage. He had been used far too many times before, made to think of someone as a friend only to be stabbed in the back afterward. He did not trust people who smiled that much.

 

So Teito attempted to keep his distance from Mikage, and had soon made a mental schedule of when his roommate was where, so that he could avoid him as much as possible. Except that Mikage seemed to catch on to this strategy very quickly, and was thereafter constantly popping up at unexpected moments. It didn't matter if he glared and remained sullenly silent, or even if he turned on his heel and walked away - Mikage followed him, smiling and chattering carelessly as though he noticed nothing amiss. It was all frustrating in the extreme.

 

Only at night did Teito really have any peace. Well, from his roommate's intrusions, at least. Mikage was usually out pretty quickly, sprawled in a tangle of sheets and long limbs on the bottom bunk. At least he didn't snore. Usually. Teito was granted an hour or so of blissful silence before finally falling asleep, himself.

 

This would indeed have been a blessing had the silence actually been peaceful. However, whenever silence fell on their dark little room, Teito was immediately set upon by all the thoughts and memories that he could keep at bay during the noisy daylight hours. This meant that more often than not, Teito was stuck spending that quiet hour or two struggling not to think, at all.

 

Sometimes he succeeded, but more often he did not. Either way, by the time he finally was asleep, he was faced with yet another misery, this one far worse and more dangerous than the others: nightmares. Every night, without fail, his stupid, masochistic subconscious would dreg up countless memories, all of them horrifying or frightening or downright disturbing. He could do nothing to stop them, so he learned to deal with them. Fortunately, despite Mikage's uncanny instincts when it came to Teito's whereabouts, his roommate didn't seem to have discovered his nightmares. Either Teito didn't make too much noise (which he rather doubted, since most of the time he awoke with his throat raw) or Mikage was a heavy sleeper.

 

Teito was feeling particularly grateful for that trait of his roommate's tonight, as he awoke violently, chest heaving with his frantic breathing, a scream still caught in his throat. He sat up, trying to steady his racing heart. He felt sweat trailing, cold, down his fevered face, and when he looked at his hands they were shaking hard.

 

Teito looked around. It was still dark; a glance at the clock on the nightstand showed that it was 4:02. Good, if he went back to sleep now he still had a chance of getting about two hour's worth before he had to get up.

 

Despite himself, Teito snorted at the thought. As if there was the slightest chance of getting back to sleep. This one had been one of the worst he'd had in a while. His conscious mind shied away from the memory of it, but the terror still gripped him strongly, stronger than it had in ages. Where was his infamous cool composure when he needed it the most? He chuckled humorlessly, and then grimaced at how tremulous his voice sounded.

 

“Man,” a casual voice said suddenly, “that must've been some nightmare.”

 

For a moment, Teito almost convinced himself that he had imagined the voice, that he had not really woken up and that this was another part of the dream. Er, nightmare. But when his head whipped around instinctively in the direction of the voice, he was forced to accept the reality of the situation. Mikage's sleep-tousled blond head was resting comfortably on folded arms at the foot of Teito's bunk, and the rest of him was perched on the top rung of the ladder. Strangely, he did not seem sleepy at all.

 

As Teito stared at him speechlessly, Mikage grinned, a flash of white in the dark. “I wondered how long it was going to take you to wake up,” he said when Teito continued to gape. “I thought about waking you myself, but I wasn't sure how you'd react. Y'know, whether or not you'd break my arm or something.”

 

Teito finally found his voice, although it came out as more of a pathetic, very hoarse squeak. “You knew?”

 

“What, about the nightmares?” Mikage clambered up to sit cross-legged on the foot of the bed. “'Course I did. I've known for a while now, in fact, but you're always so touchy I didn't want to bring them up.” He scratched the back of his head. “Did you really think I wouldn't notice? I'm your roommate, after all! I've been living in the same room with you for three months!”

 

Teito was somewhat taken aback by the almost… indignant tone Mikage's voice had taken on. He blinked stupidly at the other boy before remembering the situation and turning his face away, hoping the darkness would hide his rising flush. There was a brief moment of silence, before Mikage spoke up again, and the uncharacteristically grim tone he had adopted this time brought Teito's astonished gaze back around to his roommate's face. It, too, was strangely sober, the usual grin gone without a trace. The expression made the cross-shaped scar on his cheek abruptly more vivid.

 

“Listen, Teito-kun.” Mikage's gold-brown eyes were, for once, completely solemn, and they held Teito's own with a strength he would never have expected. “I don't know what you've been through, but obviously it was something terrible, probably worse than anything I can even imagine.” He frowned, seemingly a bit frustrated by that thought. “But even though I may not understand what happened, I can see that it hurt you.” Apparently something of the bemused sort of horror Teito was experiencing must have shown on his face, for Mikage hurried to add, “Not that it's obvious to most people, mind you. You do a good job of hiding it. Even I didn't notice for a few weeks.” Teito wondered, dazedly, why it was that Mikage seemed disappointed with himself for that.

 

“But then you heard my nightmares,” Teito guessed, tonelessly.

 

“No,” was Mikage's surprising answer. That earnest gaze pinned him again, and it felt uncomfortably as though Mikage was trying to see right through him. “I caught a glimpse into your eyes, Teito-kun. Once, when you thought no one was looking. When they aren't glaring, or snapping fire at somebody, or being all scary and cold, your eyes are very, very sad. Like you'd been broken and put back together so many times that you didn't know what went where anymore.” He appeared to swallow hard. “It was scary, to tell you the truth. I've never seen anyone with eyes like that.”

 

Here it comes, thought Teito. Numbness was beginning to set in, automatically, trying to override the ache in his chest. He looked down, unable to see the inevitable pity that would be written all over Mikage's face. Either that, or contempt. He wasn't sure which was worse.

 

“Teito-kun,” came Mikage's quiet voice, “you don't have to be alone, you know.” Teito couldn't help it; he gave what was supposed to be a laugh of utter disbelief, but instead came out sounding shamefully like a sob. Mikage went on. “I'm serious! A lot of the other students really admire you, you know. They're not all jealous, puffed-up prats like Shuuri.” For a moment Mikage sounded more like himself. But then Teito, eyes still lowered, heard him sigh.

 

“Aah, mou, I lost my train of thought.” Suddenly Mikage's hand came to rest somewhat clumsily beside Teito's smaller one, which he realized had been clutching the sheet tightly. He looked up in astonishment, and found Mikage looking awkward and embarrassed. But there was no pity, no contempt—just honest concern. “What I'm trying to say, Teito-kun, is—is that you should try making some friends! Whatever happened to you must have made you think that people weren't to be trusted, but it isn't true! Not always, anyway. There are lots of people who really are just nice guys who want to be friends, you know.” There was no mistaking it, Mikage's face was definitely red. His next words came out in a rush. “Peoplelikeme.”

 

There was a long silence. Mikage slowly turned redder, and he was grimacing at his own words, which Teito was attempting to process. He realized eventually that the ache in his chest had vanished at some point while he listened, replaced by a great warmth. He tried to say something, but found himself utterly speechless. No one had ever spoken to him like that. He had heard similar words before, yes, but never with such… genuine intent. He knew somehow without a doubt that Mikage was not lying. Nor was he after anything. It left him completely at a loss of how to react.

 

At last, Teito spoke, and of course out of all the responses whirling about in his head, the one that came out had to be the most ridiculous.

 

“You sound like you're confessing to a girl.”

 

Mikage's head whipped up, eyes widening comically. They stared at each other, equally astounded. Then Mikage came to life. “W-W-WHAT?!” He sputtered, turning even deeper crimson, if that was even possible. Teito expected to see smoke coming out of his ears any second. “I don't - I didn't… I DIDN'T MEAN IT THAT WAY, STUPID!”

 

Teito didn't think he could possibly be any more amazed than he had been in the last few moments, but he was proven wrong when he discovered that he was laughing. <i>He</i> was laughing. Mikage seemed shocked, too, and stopped his indignant protests to gape, but Teito was laughing too hard to say anything. He laughed so hard that tears ran down his face, and then he realized that he was crying.

 

Teito was beyond astonishment now, and he found that he couldn't think at all. The warmth in his chest overwhelmed him, and even though one of the first things he had learned as a child-slave was that tears were a sign of greatest weakness, he buried his face in his hands and let himself sob.

 

And suddenly long, strong arms were wrapping around him, pulling him firmly against a warm chest. He felt more than heard Mikage's voice, though it seemed distant over the harsh sounds of his own sobs. “Well,” said his roommate, still sounding vaguely incredulous, “that wasn't exactly what I was expecting.” Teito's hands still covered his face, and he tried vainly to wipe away the tears that just wouldn't stop.

 

Then a hand landed gently on his head, long fingers burying themselves in his hair and stroking in soothing circles. “It's okay, Teito-kun.” Mikage's voice rumbled against Teito's ear, and was strangely comforting. “There's nothing wrong with crying, you know. You probably need it. Just… don't do it too often or you'll look like that chubby kid from down the hall. Did you see him yesterday? The crybaby, he…”

 

Mikage sounded like himself again, albeit quieter, and he chattered with his usual cheerfulness about everything and nothing for a few minutes, while Teito buried his face in the other boy's nightshirt instead of his own hands, and cried all the tears of his childhood lost.

 

It didn't last long, but when the flood had stopped, Teito was exhausted. He remained where he was, slumped bonelessly against Mikage's chest. The other boy's hand was still stroking his hair, like one would a frightened child, but he couldn't find the strength to bat it away or protest. He couldn't even muster up any embarrassment or annoyance.

 

Mikage had fallen silent, so Teito spoke. “Mikage,” he said softly. His voice was hoarser than before, but it was no longer shaking. He felt Mikage's murmur of a reply against his damp cheek, and went on. “I don't know anything about friends. I've never had any.”

 

Mikage took a moment to think this over. “I kind of figured that,” he said with just a flicker of humor. “Well, friends aren't that complicated. They just… look out for each other. Kind of like families do.”

 

“I've never had one of those, either.”

 

The admission was almost a whisper, and it caused Mikage to freeze for a moment. “Yeah, I kind of figured that, too.” This time Mikage sounded incredibly sad. Then, abruptly, he brightened. “Well then, I'll just have to teach you!”

 

Teito finally raised his tear-streaked face to look at Mikage in confusion. His… friend… was grinning from ear to ear, as if he had never been sad in his life. “I know everything there is to know about families,” he explained proudly, “since I've got a whole house full of brothers and sisters. My big brother is the best in the world, so I'll just pretend that I'm him. You can be me.” He looked at Teito, inviting him to share in the play. “That means that I have the right to annoy, trip, bearhug, and/or laugh at you whenever I feel like it. Oh, and I get to put you in headlocks, too.” He did, but gently, as if unsure how Teito would react.

 

Teito himself didn't know what to do, so he allowed Mikage to turn him around and put him in the careful headlock. It felt somehow familiar, and yet not. But when he thought about Mikage's words, he found that the warmth in his chest had spread, filling him completely and overflowing into a ridiculous smile that he just couldn't get off his face. He decided then that he liked friends. And families, too.

 

He let himself lean back against Mikage's chest, and tipped his face up to look at him. “I think I can put up with that,” he said, still smiling, “but if you bearhug me in public I reserve the right to beat you senseless.” For the first time in, well, ever, Teito projected the threatening aura he had perfected into that smile, and was gratified to see Mikage look distinctly nervous. His friend carefully dropped his arms from around Teito's shoulders, and Teito turned so that they sat across from each other.

 

“Ahahaha.” Mikage laughed uneasily, and then smiled back with a kindness that Teito couldn't believe he had once thought was fake. “Deal.” He held out a hand.

 

Teito didn't hesitate. He took the hand and felt it squeeze his firmly. And still he couldn't stop smiling, even after a yawn split his face. “Well, then, onii-chan,” he said, putting a playful note in his voice without even thinking about it, “it's 5:13 and we have to get up in forty-seven minutes. If you fall asleep in class tomorrow I won't help you.”

 

Mikage gasped, looked at the clock, and then at Teito. “Aw, crap!” he cried. “I've only slept for a couple of hours. I'm gonna die!” He went on like this for several minutes, and despite the melodrama, Teito again found his voice weirdly soothing. He yawned again and blinked eyes that were suddenly heavy. “Oi, Teito!” No “-kun” now, which for some reason made Teito happy, which in turn made him smile again. His eyes were closing. “OI! You better not be falling asleep on me, temee! That's just cruel, leaving your onii-san alone and sleep-deprived. I'll probably fall down the ladder and break my neck, and then you'll be sorry.”

 

Teito was too far gone to care about possible embarrassment. “Jus' go t'sleep where y'are,” he slurred. His eyes were completely shut now, and it would take nothing short of the world's end to make him open them. “'Cos I'm not movin'.”

 

He heard Mikage protesting some more, but he wasn't really paying attention to the words. Then he felt himself falling forward, hitting the bed with a quiet thump. A moment later he heard another thump and felt Mikage sprawl beside him. A warm weight settled comfortably across his back. Both of them were probably sideways across the bunk, but Teito found that he didn't really care. “Be that way,” he heard Mikage mutter; he thought blurrily that that was the first time in years that anyone had spoken to him with such affection. “No more nightmares, brat.”

 

Teito smiled, and fell asleep.

 

~owari~