Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Loose Arrangement ❯ Chapter 1

 

“We are very much alike.”

 

“I, uh.”

 

“Do you take cream or sugar?”

 

“Ah, neither.”

 

“You don't like it to get in the way of the tea's flavor?” My boss watches me over his steepled fingers. I feel like a deer in a target, especially when he squints one eye. I can feel Tohma Seguchi sizing me up. That's not a good feeling. At all.

 

“No.” It's better to agree with him.

 

“I am the same.” He puts the target down and takes his saucer. “You are not agreeing. You are consistent, Nakano.”

 

I nearly choke.

 

“I like that.” He nods before he takes a long, long, long sip. Something strange- most people close their eyes when they drink- especially tea. It's the steam. He does not. Seguchi just lets his eyes go dull- a rare moment- as he sips. You can hear the gulps, if you listen, carefully. Small, audible gulps of scalding tea.

 

See, this is not a surprise, just disconcerting. Afterall: I've always thought Seguchi was slightly insane. Just slightly.

 

He puts the cup down and smiles. “I like that. I like you. We are very much alike, you see.”

 

I wonder what he is up to?

 

“Do you plan to marry, this Spring?”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

“Marriage is a wonderful thing. Makes a boy a man.” He folds his hands together, bring his target out again. His eye winks, and I'm in the crosshairs. “You know what I mean?”

 

That's… not really a question.

 

“I think I do.”

 

“I know you do.”

 

I make a fatale mistake. I glance at a magazine he's got on his desk. A magazine with a picture of Bad Luck. An old photo of just you and I.

 

“Makes a boy a man.” He's nodding slowly, one eye completely shut, finger pointing at me. He bends his thumb: “Pow.”

 

So, I've come to this conclusion. My boss wants me to break up with my girlfriend. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? Thing is, if I were trying to tell someone to break up, that's exactly how I'd do it.

 

I was very respectful; finished the tea, and let him use me for his target practice. Then I left.

 

“Remember, Nakano.”

 

“Makes me a man,” I bowed. He shot me with his hand, again. One more shot before I closed the gap between the double door and it's mate.

 

I left my jacket in there. It was cold in the elevator; I watched my reflection in the metallic framework shiver back at me. The face had no detail; it was washed out by steel grain. I didn't realize, until I stepped out, that leaving y jacket in his office was a mistake. Not because he was leaving, early. Well, probably not. But because he was expecting me to use a ploy, reason to come back and tell him I had broken my engagement.

 

Because he was right. We were very much alike.

 

“Hey, Hiro!” Shuichi's voice precedes him. I wince. Because I love the sound. “How'd it go with the boss?” I turn and see a fucking picture of that bastard in his hand. And I wonder, does Seguchi feel the same, when he goes to that bastard's house? Does he look a this face, this face I love, and call Shuichi the same name?

 

“He's an asshole.” I wince, again. Because I am, too. Because looking at that picture makes me want to do it: marry Ayeka. Just to see if it makes Shuichi stop thinking about that fucking Yuki Eiri, for just a second.

 

"Yeah!"

 

"Probably not."

 

"Huh?"

 

"Nothing."

 

I wince, again. I keep doing that.