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“I can't perform with you anymore.” Toya said.
…
“You won't perform anymore…?” Akito asked, almost breathless. “What are you talking about?”
“You know you aren't any good with jokes, so stop messing around,” Akito said, trying to keep his voice steady.
Toya shook his head. “This isn't a joke,” Toya replied.
Akito’s brows furrowed. “What's wrong? Did your old man say something again?” he asked, stepping forward.
“This is my own decision,” Toya said, expression unreadable. “Our kind of music doesn't mean anything. It's just a bunch of kids making some noise,” he added, gaze shifting just enough to avoid Akito's.
Akito blinked. Then again. His expression hardened—the previous stunned expression now replaced with boiling anger.
“Are you being serious right now?” he asked, voice dropping a pitch lower.
Toya didn’t look away. “You're the one who said I wasn't any good at making jokes,” he replied simply.
“That’s going too far,” Akito snapped.
He took another step forward, jaw clenched. “Our music has no meaning? Try saying that again! I won't take this—not even from you, Toya!” he yelled, fists trembling, nails already clawing at his own palms.
“What are you gonna do if you quit, anyway?” Akito continued, tone rising. “Go crawling back and let your dad control you again after saying how much you hated things? How is that any more meaningful?!” he shouted, the words hitting harder than intended.
(That seems to be a trait he and Ena share, they tend to blurt things they don’t mean when they’re angry…)
Toya’s eyes flicked away for just a second.
“...Let go of me,” Toya muttered—but Akito reached out again.
“Get back here! This conversation isn't over, Toya!” Akito shouted, grabbing his wrist.
Toya shoved him. Akito stumbled a step back, more stunned by the act than by the force of the push.
Toya’s tone turned cold. “Don't you think it's about time you grew up and stopped chasing after some tiny event that no one's even heard of outside of this town?” he said.
“Why, you!” Akito shouted.
He grabbed Toya by the front of his shirt, fists twisting into the fabric.
“Fine then, leave!” Akito yelled—pulling his fisted right hand back and throwing a punch at Toya’s left cheek. Right under that mole he found oh so pretty.
Toya staggered back from the impact, blinking through it and hissing in pain.
“And never show your face around here again!” Akito screamed, before turning on his heel and running away.
—
Akito gasped awake, immediately sitting straight up. His head was spinning—his heart pounding and his chest felt like it was closing in on itself.
"Shit—!"
He took a deep breath, trying to control his breathing.
Inhale for 4… hold for 7… exhale for 8… repeat.
Inhale for 4… hold for 7… exhale for 8… repeat.
Inhale for 4… hold for 7… exhale for 8…
Once he finally got his breathing back to normal, he looked over to his side. Lying next to him, dead asleep—is Toya. His singing partner, his best friend, and… eventually the title of partner didn’t apply to just singing.
Watching his precious partner sleeping oh so peacefully, he should have felt at ease—happy that he was lucky enough to still have Toya with him. But instead, looking at his face, he felt his heart twist.
Nightmares weren’t a common thing for Akito, but certain events do cause him to have repeated bad dreams, leaving him gasping awake every single time.
Though, the last time he had a nightmare about the fight—was almost a whole year ago, back when he lost against Arata. Toya had reassured him that he was an amazing partner, and that if Akito ever hit a wall, he should rely on him.
But at some point in their visit to America, Vivid BAD SQUAD went into the Street SEKAI and got pulled into a dream of some sorts. You could almost call it a ‘what-if’ situation in an alternate universe. The point is, in that dream, BAD DOGS broke up and didn’t get back together. In fact, they moved to entirely different countries—Akito to America and Toya to Austria—almost opposite sides of the world.
Luckily, they all realized it was a dream and safely woke up back in the SEKAI. Akito had immediately ran over to Toya and hugged him as tightly as he could.
It had been weeks since that happened. They’re quite literally already back in Japan. Yet despite knowing it was all just some weird mind game the SEKAI played on them ( seriously, how do SEKAIs even work? ), Akito had been thinking about it.
He’d been plagued with nightmares since the night they went back from the SEKAI, bad dream after bad dream surprising him in his sleep. It was always the same thing, repeating the memory of BAD DOGS’s one real fight. Akito would consider it one of the worst moments of his life—heck, one of the worst few weeks of his life.
Not only that but, nearly every time he had spaced out in class, he thought back to the ‘what-if scenario’, his brain making more and more of them by the day.
What if Ken-san didn’t call him?
What if Toya never even went to say goodbye at Weekend Garage?
What if they truly never saw each other again after the fight?
Would Toya have been happier then?
Where would he be right now?
He knows that in the dream he was in a different country and successful or whatever—but he couldn’t stop thinking about the alternative scenario that the him in middle school had thought a multitude of times before. He swallows the lump in his throat.
Would he have ended it all?
Would he even still be alive by now if he stayed the way he was?
He’s been out of it for so long, he almost didn’t notice Toya shifting in his sleep. Akito froze, staring at the bluenette—his eyes starting to water.
Toya didn’t deserve someone like him—someone who… who…
“Aki…to?”
Akito flinched, realizing he had accidentally woken Toya up. He starts rubbing at his eyes, trying to wipe the tears away before the taller gets worried.
“H-hey, Toya…”
Toya slowly sits up. “What are you doing at this time?” he asked, drowsily blinking at the digital alarm clock on the nightstand table, ”It’s 2 in the morning.”
“I k-know it’s just—” Akito stammered.
“Aki.” Toya said, the nickname grabbing the boy’s attention. He grabbed his partner’s right hand, thumb gently rubbing it in circles. “You’re shaking—did you have a bad dream?”
Akito felt his hand tremble in Toya’s hold, the memory of punching him flashing back into his mind. He tried to respond but couldn’t speak up without the risk of crying like a baby, so he just nodded his head.
Toya looked at him understandingly. “...Was it about the fight ?”
Akito nodded his head once again. Of course, this wasn’t the first time Toya found him crying over a nightmare of the fight.
“Oh Akito…” he responded, pulling the younger into a hug. Said boy immediately hid his face in his shoulder—Toya felt that part of his shirt getting wet from tears.
“‘M sorry—I j-just…” Akito said, voice slightly muffled.
“I know, it was the weird dream from the SEKAI, wasn’t it?” Toya asked—feeling Akito give a small nod. He slowly brought his hand up to comb through his partner’s ginger hair, hopefully calming him down a bit.
Akito sniffled. “I’m sorry…you don’t deserve someone like me—"
Upon hearing those words, Toya instantly frowned. He pulled Akito away and grabbed his face to have the younger look him in the eye. “Akito, I’ve said it multiple times—you’re the best partner I could ever ask for,” he began.
“If it weren't for you, Akito, I wouldn't have been able to get this far. You were the one that lifted my spirits after that day we met on Vivid Street. If you still feel down after that, I'll be there to lift you back up.” he continued, smiling softly.
Toya wasn’t finished. “So please, just know that whatever happens, I love you. I’ll always be here for you. Just remember to rely on me.” he said, punctuating it by pressing a small kiss on his partner’s forehead.
Akito wiped his eyes again. “You sap—” he said, voice still shaky from crying but nevertheless, calmer than before.
He pulled Toya back into a hug, pulling both of them down so they were lying back in bed. “...Thanks. For always being there.” he said quietly.
“Of course.”
—
“Now please get some sleep Aki, you’ll be tired tomorrow”
“‘Kay, good night.”
…
“Want me to hug you—?”
“Please...”
“Of course partner.”