The Space Between [RanTaku] [MuneTaku]

e i g h t e e n

Nine.

Nine weeks.

It had been nine weeks since Kirino had seen Shindou. He sighed as he ran down the path leading to Shindou's parents holiday cabin. He'd been running nonstop for at least thirty minutes now and when he finally reached the doorpost, he almost collapsed from the fatigue.

Once he'd caught his breath, he hesitated before knocking, what the hell was he supposed to say in a situation like this? Was he angry? Was he upset? How was he supposed to feel? Were his feeling towards him even the same as before? Yes, he loved him, and he'd always love him, but what kind of love was it now?Without thinking, he knocked on the door quietly.

"It's open!" Kirino heard Tsurugi's voice yell. With a sharp intake of breath, he slid the door open.

"Oh, hey, he's over there." Tsurugi told him, tilting his head slightly to tell him the direction. He had his phone to his ear and was already back speaking to someone. "Yeah, okay, thank you..."

Kirino decided to leave him to it and walked further to a small cosy looking room, where Shindou was stood, holding onto a chair for support, his hair a mess of wild curls and dark circles around his eyes. The sight of him made tears sting Kirino's eyes: he hadn't looked this bad since his grandmother died.

Kirino tried to speak, but he felt like his voice had completely left him, he could feel himself choking up. He was not about to cry now.

"You—"

Shindou's head tilted in confusion.

It was then that Kirino knew exactly what to say. He moved to where Shindou was standing, a little unsteadily, and punched him hard in the arm, knocking him onto the couch behind him.

"You! Idiot! Are you fucking stupid? Don't you ever do anything like that to me ever again! I thought you'd skipped town! Or worse! Do you have any idea how fucking worried I've been for the past nine weeks? Stop being so fucking selfish and think about the people that love you for once you idiot!" There was a lot of swearing, and Shindou knew it since he knew that Kirino only swore when he was angry.

"Kiri—" Shindou was cut off when he was then half suffocated by Kirino's hug.

"Don't ever do that again." Kirino whispered, burying his face into Shindou's shoulder. Shindou, though surprised and slightly confused, hugged him back, a small smile on his face.

Kirino let go and took his hands in his own, and was surprised and worried when Shindou's hands began shaking furiously.

"Shindou, your hands—"

"Don't worry about it. The doctors at the rehab said that they're only withdrawal symptoms of all the alcohol. It'll happen for at least another few weeks or so."

"You damn idiot. I can't believe you." Kirino said, as more of a tease than an insult.

"I'm sorry. I— i promised you I'd never put another drink to my lips ever again and I couldn't keep that promise. I'm— I'm a failure as a best friend! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

Kirino was startled when tears began streaming from Shindou's face. It was rare that Shindou ever completely broke down.

"Shindou—"

"I'm a mess! I can't help it! All I want to do is drink and drink, every day there's this uncontrollable desire to overindulge and I can't stop it! I- I have a problem, I know I do— and I want to get help but my body won't let me! Why am I like this!" He was practically bawling now. "I'm just scared that I'll never stop."

"It's okay to be scared, but don't you ever think you're in this by yourself. I'm here, Tsurugi's here, we're all here. I swear I'll always be there."

Shindou sniffed, his eyes red and puffy from crying, "Thank you, Kirino."

And for a moment nobody spoke, they stayed there, enjoying each other's presence.

"Kiri, I'm sorry about what I said that night, I didn't mean it, honest. I was angry and sad and I took it out on you and that wasn't fair."

The thought of that night had completely left him, at this point, it didn't really seem relevant anymore but it obviously meant a lot to Shindou. "I'm sorry too, I should never have reacted so stupidly."

"Well, you're forgiven."

"You too."

"Thanks."

Another silence but then again, what more was there to say?

"So... was it you that contacted a rehab?"

"Uh, no. That was Tsurugi, he insisted that I needed professional help. I spoke to him and I think there's a meeting tomorrow morning. That and my hands were shaking too much for me to press any buttons."

"He's been amazing, I need to thank him for looking out for you." Kirino said.

"I'm glad you think so. An by the way, the doctor said you should take it easy."

"Oh, you're back."

"Well, someone's got to have a clear head, and you two aren't in the right frame of mind." Tsurugi said and both Kirino and Shindou were slightly surprised and amused by how much of a mom Tsurugi was.

"Can I use your phone again? There's someone I need to call."

"Fine, but be quick, it's gonna die soon." Tsurugi said, handing him his phone.

Kirino watched siliently as shindou dialled a number he clearly knew by heart. He could tell he hesitated before pressing the 'dial' button and Kirino assumed he was calling his mom. The phone rang for an unnaturally long time before a voice sounded from the other side.

"Hello?"

Shindou opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, what would he say, how would he explain everything? Thinking about it made his stomach lurch in an unfriendly way.

"Hello?"

"Mune— I mean Ibuki, it's- it's me."

"Oh my god, Takuto are you okay?" Ibuki's voice sounded concerned, frightened, probably because Shindou sounded so bad.

"I think so. Can you please come over?"

"How can I, when I don't even know where you are?"

Shindou looked like he was about to cry.

"Let me do it." Kirino said, noticing Shindou's hands had also began shaking again.

"Hey, Ibuki?"

"What do you want, why are you there?"

"It doesn't matter, Shindou needs you right now, I know what's happened before and I know you probably hate me but— yeah, just come quickly." Kirino said.

He heard a little sigh from the other end of the line and the sound of plates clinking in the background.

"Send the address."

And then Ibuki clearly hung up. Kirino sighed, a small smile on his face, turning to Shindou, "He's coming, don't worry about it."

"Thank you."

"I think I should go now, I left some stuff at school." Kirino said. He didn't want to make things awkward when Ibuki arrived, so he thought it'd be best if he left.

"Okay, are you coming back?"

"Of course, I won't be long."

So Kirino left, feeling lighter, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.