September 3 / The End / PG / Daiki

[true]

Characters: Daiki
Location: Aozora
Time: Graduation Day

Number One had promised him $100,000 a month to sing for an underground record company in Osaka, along with a full range of benefits like free cars, free insurance, free housing. Chiaki turned him down politely, with a smile on his face. Sorry, he said, with a shake of his little head. He couldn’t take a single contract, particularly so if it would cart halfway across the country for months on end, yanking him away from the person who mattered more than anything else.

Number Two had pitched $250,000 a month, but in America; Number Three wanted him to sing for their commercials, hurling $200,000 his way; Number Four wanted him to sing for this, sing for that, leave his boyfriend behind to gain riches beyond his comprehension. They’d been pestering him for the entirety of his third year, but he always turned them down once he heard the word, ‘solo’. Chiaki would never be solo again, not if he could help it.

But these were all the wrong things to be thinking about – it was graduation day, it was time to be proud, walk across the stage, receive what he’d earned.

Chiaki grinned from ear to ear as he accepted his diploma, skipping off of the stage like he was walking on air. Because, in reality, he was; Daisuke was in the crowd somewhere, sitting much closer to the front than he did. It sucked to be a “Y” when your boyfriend was a “K”, but what else was there to do?

Misaki threw her arms around him once the ceremony had ended, the smaller boy hugging her back as best he could. “Chiaki, I’m so proud of you,” she said, breaking the embrace before ruffling his hair a little. “It’s a big deal to graduate from here, you know. You’ll be famous!”

“I hope so!” Chiaki smiled – before Aozora, she had been his only positive role model, the only one to keep everything straight for him since he was too naïve to figure it out for himself. Misaki was his real mother, and to have her approval – for loving Daisuke, for singing, for doing what he loved – meant the world.

Misaki looked at him for a moment, sighing as she closed her eyes. “You… you know that you probably won’t get to stay with Daisuke, right?”

It was like the wind had been knocked out of him, post-graduation giddiness hurled through the guillotine. “I-I… I’ll be able to stay with him! I can’t leave him!” His eyes felt heavy, barely holding back the tears he’d been holding in for months upon months. I know, he thought, holding himself together. But I have to have hope!

Again, Misaki sighed. “Go find him, alright?” The girl whom he idolized over everyone else placed a hand on his shoulder, sympathy written all over her face. “But take what I said into consideration, okay? We can’t live off of Dad’s money forever, you know that.”

Stop it, Misaki! It’ll all work out!

“Y-yeah,” he said, looking at the floor.

Chiaki felt a little sick as he walked out of the auditorium, none of the usual skip in his step; the courtyard outside was full of people milling around, proud parents, potential sponsors. Daisuke had to be in the crowd somewhere – a big, friendly giant in a country full of harsh, honor-bound, certainly smaller males. Chiaki took a few steps into the crowd, tried not to cry as his eyes scanned for the one he loved more than anything.

[karina]

Graduation day. It was finally here, the day that Daisuke would leave Aozora academy and into a record deal of some sort. Daisuke was quite a catch, if he could say so himself, but.... even though it was his dream to get signed and become a professional singer, right now that wasn't even on his mind. There was a small young man walking onto stage, that he knew very well, and all he could do was think of him.

As Chiaki grabbed one of the last diploma's Daisuke cheered, standing out of his seat and clapped for his boyfriend, as he knew the younger boy had to have done for him. This was it. He knew that the boy would be found by his darling sister first. Dai really liked her. She was brilliant and amazing to Chiaki.

He was a little jealous of him. No one had showed up to congratulate the tall boy for graduating, well... no family member at least. Many of his underlings had surrounded him, hugging and tugging at his buttons, but none of them were his parents. They hadn't showed up. His mother had left him a long voice mail, saying how sorry she was that she couldn't be there, but Dai had hung up mid-listen. He didn't want to hear her excuses, not today.

His stomach turned as he nonchalantly turned down one contract after another. It was a bittersweet feeling, being surrounded by everything you've ever wanted but you can't reach out for it, because if you do... you'll lose everything you already have. They were in his way, he just needed to see Chi. He wanted to see him.

They had been avoiding the topic of graduation like the plague. None of them wanted to believe that their time together could be up, that they would be forced to part ways or give up their dreams. For weeks he had tried thinking of a way out of this but... it was inevitable, unless one of them sacrificed their dreams for the other -- which Dai would never allow Chi to do. It was either that or they had some duo... or something.

Duo.

Dai was onto something, but he couldn't really latch onto the idea for long because his eyes landed on Ryoji. A smile wriggled onto his face, as he ran forward snatching the boy up into his arms. "How's my fellow graduate?" All of the sadness was washed away momentarily, by the feel of the boy in his arms.

[true]

Emotions other than happiness were foreign to Chiaki, something he rarely experienced, and barely knew how to handle; as he stood there in the sea of people he couldn’t help but tear up a little. He’d taken Misaki’s advice as undeniable fact for years and it had always been perfect, the predictions of someone very much like his old friend Asuka – larger than life, impossibly accurate. He found himself looking for his parents out there, as if maybe they’d finally decided to pull themselves together for his sake, but found nothing.

Chiaki felt the world shift around him as he was lifted up off the ground, pulled towards the person he’d been searching for in the first place. "How's my fellow graduate?" Daisuke didn’t sound upset at all – had he not been thinking about this? His mom hadn’t been able to make it, his dad was an insufferable asshole, and he didn’t have a surrogate mother to remind him just what was going on, either. Daisuke must have been so lonely as a kid, Chiaki thought to himself; but his sorrow evaporated as his boyfriend’s long, skinny fingers tickled at his sides.

“Dai,” Chi began, laughing and squirming uncontrollably. “When did you get so strong?” He craned his neck upward so that he could see his face – smiling, ecstatic to see him again. I... I can’t leave this. Chiaki’s smile disappeared, and his eyes felt heavy again, ready to burst into tears at the tip of a hat. He took a deep breath, tried to compose himself. “I... Did you get any more contracts today?” In his voice there lay an undeniable, barely concealed portion of unhappiness, despair. Never before had he loathed anything more than the words, “Solo Contract.”

“Because Misaki’s telling me that I have to accept one at some point, but..” he trailed off, tried not to cry again as he looked into Daisuke’s eyes, crystal clear like the ocean. “I don’t think I can.”

[karina]

Chi made Daisuke giddy, everything was dream like when he was around. He was the only one that could take all of his worry away like a drug that Daisuke was hopelessly addicted to. Chiaki made him so happy, what would he do without him at his side? Dai didn't want to know.

“Dai, When did you get so strong?”

He smiled, burying his face into Chiaki's neck. If he could drown out all of his bad thoughts in Chiaki, he would. His heart fluttered loudly, and he pulled away looking down at his boyfriend, hoping to see that famous Chi smile, but... instead he saw a rare expression on Chi's face. He was sad.

He didn't even need to ask, he knew what the sadness was for. “I... Did you get any more contracts today? Because Misaki’s telling me that I have to accept one at some point, but..“I don’t think I can.” The tall boy almost burst into tears at his boyfriend's words. He felt exactly the same way, but he was at a loss. What could he do? Tell Chi not to take the jobs? No way.

He smiled down at his boyfriend, kissing the top of his nose, "You can, and you should. You're such a talented musician... you shouldn't give that up." His smile was sad, but supportive. He couldn't crush Chi's dreams, he refused to. He groaned, hugging his boyfriend close, "I wish that people would let us be a duo or something,:

The words came out before he thought about them. He had never talked about going as a duet duo, and that's a big step for him. Music was his everything, and... to him, asking to be a duet duo with someone was a bigger deal than a marriage proposal. It says, I trust you wit my dreams. He didn't take them back though... him and Chi were good for each other. Voice and heart.

[true]

Daisuke was all fake-smiles and nose kisses, trying to hide the fact that he was just as upset just for Chiaki’s sake. "You can, and you should. You're such a talented musician... you shouldn't give that up."

And what if I don’t care about that? Chiaki’s eyes watered even more as Daisuke groaned, hugging him even closer.

"I wish that people would let us be a duo or something.”

Chiaki let those words sink in for a moment, playing them over and over in his head. A duo, huh? They’d played together before – nothing serious, just playing around in the practice rooms, fooling around with chords and the words to their favourite songs. Moments like those were the ones Chi would miss more than anything, completely wrapped up in music with someone he loved. It was bliss, complete bliss.

But to aim for a duet contract? They’d never talked about that before, even though Chi would have been lying if he claimed to have never thought of it. How romantic would that have been to tour the country with your someone special, be famous together with that person, never have to leave their side? Such idle fantasies were kept inside his head, though; he’d never thought such a thing would be possible. But if Daisuke had suggested it, no matter how offhand or thoughtless his last comment had been, it had to be at least plausible. He never suggested anything stupid.

“D-daisuke!” Chiaki wiped at his tears, eyes wide, before he threw his arms around the other boy’s neck. “That’s it! We could definitely get a duet contract, we always sound so great together!” He leaned up, kissed Daisuke on the mouth – kiss number seven hundred thirty eight, he’d kept track, ever since the ferris wheel. “We should go record something now, right now! The studio’s still open, right?”

[karina]

“D-daisuke! That’s it! We could definitely get a duet contract, we always sound so great together! We should go record something now, right now! The studio’s still open, right?” His boyfriend asked excitedly.

The lavender haired boy beamed, taking a hold of the smaller boy's hands. "You think we could really get a contract?" Who was he kidding? Of course they could. They were soul mates after all. Wasn't this the type of things God just granted you when you find the one? Perfect singing partners, perfect lovers, everything was awesome

"Yeah it's open! Let's go!" He pulled at Chi's hand, sprinting to the recording studio. He pushed away anyone that came up to them as he pulled the dark haired boy along with a gentle hand, and simply informed them that they weren't going solo. "If you want one of us, you want both of us!" He grinned, to the numbers of sponsors. "Follow us and we'll show you!"

Closing the numerous offers in the actual studio, he dragged Chi to the booth, closing the door behind them. "So," He grinned, a little out of breath, "What do you want to sing?"