Summary: After the monorail, Kenji realizes he might've had feelings for Ben. And while searching for Ben, he snaps in front of the whole group. All while a long lost friend is standing behind him.
The scene kept replaying through his head. What he could've done. Ben hanging on to Darius, grasping for his life, his right arm flailing-Ben's expression seemed like he knew it was the end of the line for him. If only Kenji stepped in, Kenji kept thinking.
He missed Ben, incredibly so. He wishes he could just wipe the nightmare out of his head completely. He wishes they met somewhere other than Isla Nublar, maybe school-or one of Kenji's games-or...anywhere, really. He wishes he could just stare into those sweet hazel eyes and see something other than fear. He wishes he could see Ben's wardrobe, and what his style actually is when he's not being chased by these-these monsters. But something Kenji's realized in his time here at Camp Cretaceous, is that wishes don't come true. And that having any sort of hope is worthless.
"Kenji!" Yaz woke Kenji from his sleep. His sleep where he had tossed and turned, shouted and whined. "It's the nightmare again isn't it." Kenji nodded. He was parched, and his lips were chapped. He's cold and his clothes are damp from the rain and mud. "Do you wanna talk?" Yaz asked gently.
"Not here..." He said, seeing everyone else sleeping. So, Yaz and him stood up, and walked about half a mile away from camp. They walked side by side in silence for a while, until Kenji finally spoke up. "I can't stop seeing him. It's like every time my eyes close he's there, I can't stand it anymore!"Yaz looked at him, saddened.
"Kenji, I..." She thought of how to speak for a second. "Darius isn't the only one who lost a parent. I watched my dad get murdered right in front of me. I had the nightmares. I've been there, trust me Kenji, I understand what you're going through completely. But lucky for you, Ben could be out there." She gestured toward the thick woods.
"But what if he isn't." Kenji frowned, moving to look at the fellow athlete.
"Remember when you, Darius, and Brooklynn snuck out and when Ben found out, he forced you to sleep on the top bunk so you couldn't sneak out without waking him up. He was persistent. Unless that was a different Ben, then I know he's out there. And he is fighting as hard as he can just so he can prove how tough he is. Because you're Ben is persistent, and he will not give up that easy."
"...My Ben?" Kenji asked.
"He doesn't just cling to you when Darius is telling you scary stories because you're the closest." She winked, walking back to camp. Kenji stood scarily still. My Ben, he thought, I like Ben.
.
The next day, getting up from his makeshift cot wasn't as hard as it had been prior to his and Yaz's adventure. Walking down a few steps, he stood in front of the group. "I'm going to find Ben. I think-" He looked at Yaz, who was smiling proudly. "I know. He's alive, he wouldn't give up that easy." The rest of the group knew about Kenji's feelings for Ben before he even knew himself.
"I'm in." Darius said, standing. The rest of the group stood as well, and sure enough, they all wanted to help. And so, they ventured out to where Ben had fallen, or should have landed at least, and searched. They tried shouting for him as quietly as they could, as to not draw too much attention. They checked around a three mile radius of where Ben should've landed. And alas, Darius showed them a footprint. The print matching up with the bottom of Ben's boot. Kenji started running around frantically, so into covering more ground, he didn't notice the thick twig in front of him. He tripped, banging his pointed nose on a rock. It started bleeding viciously.He screamed his anger out, drawing the attention of the group.
"I just want him back!" He said to no one in specific. He stood, face littered with the angriest expression he'd had in a long time. "I denied it, I know, just please give him back!" He screamed.
"Kenji, sweetie." Sammy looked at him, with a frown.
"Give him back to me, I want him back. I never said goodbye. Give him back, I love him!" Half way through his intense rant, he seemed to only get angrier and sadder, not at the group, but at everything else. "I love him! I love him, I love him, I love him, I-" He started sobbing, doubling over onto his knees. He didn't see the others' eyes widen.
"I love you too, Kenji." A Rambo-esque Ben set a hand on Kenji's shoulder, as Kenji's tear ridden face looked Ben in his eyes. Ben smiled, holding a hand out to help Kenji up. Kenji looked at the hand, at Ben's face, and back at the hand. He yanked the hand, getting up, and he grabbed Ben by the waist, giving him the biggest hug. If Ben didn't hear his confession a minute prior, then the hug could've told him everything. Kenji sobbed into Ben's neck.
"You're real right, please be real." Kenji cried out, stroking Ben's face as if he was some enigma made of thin air. Like he was going to fade away with the wind just like a pile of ashes.
"Well I'd sure hope so." He chuckled lightly, blushing at Kenji's touch.
"You're real!" Kenji shouted, throwing himself onto Ben, tumbling both boys backwards onto the ground. Kenji was still crying, but now they weren't the salty angry tears ripping his heat apart at the seam-they were sweet tears filled with joy. Ben was right there, with him. His Ben, as Yaz would say.
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HEYHEYHEY i absolutely love this one, and i may have cried writing it, i have no idea how though.
but this one genuinely made me so happy and sad at the same time i can't explain it.