Kiyotaka spent the next few days planning things with Sonia and trying to keep Mondo at an arm's length. He'd run into him at the grocery store and kept up a pleasant but uninterested conversation. He knew that he would have to let the man down gently at some point, but he couldn't bring himself to do it in the middle of such a public place.
He huffed hoarse breaths out through his mouth as he ran, his feet pounding the treadmill below him. He'd lost track of time. The physical exertion seemed to be shedding some of the anxiety out of his body in the form of sweat.
Tomorrow, he reminded himself, he and Sonia were going ring shopping. A ring would be a physical seal of their pact.
Kiyotaka couldn't help but feel a little bit ridiculous. Who the hell faked an entire marriage just to impress their parents? He knew that it was silly, but he couldn't stop it. He just didn't have the strength all on his own. If his parents knew what he'd done— that he'd lied and tricked both families for so long, and to such an extent— they would surely hate him. They'd never be able to forgive him this time, and then, Kiyotaka would be all alone.
He couldn't even bear to entertain that thought.
He felt like he could collapse as he finally stopped the machine. He noticed, just then, that it was dark outside, and that he seemed to be the last person left. Only one employee remained, lounging lazily by the drink bar and blatantly staring at her phone. Closing time must have been close. Kiyotaka took a long swig of water, threw his towel over his neck, and made his way to the showers— he didn't want to drive home feeling sticky and gross.
He was halfway through taking off his shirt when he heard a sinister chuckle. The voice was familiar. Kiyotaka nearly threw his water bottle at the nearest wall out of sheer spite for his horrible timing.
"Fancy runnin' inta ya here, of all places!"
"You know very well that I use this gym. Don't pretend to be so surprised!"
"I know, but I've never run inta ya here."
Kiyotaka turned to cross his arms and glare. Mondo had exactly the sort of scheming expression on his face that Kiyotaka had guessed he would. Before he could open his mouth to say something scolding, it occurred to him that Daiya had branded him. He'd never hear the end of it if Mondo saw the tattoo. He blushed and made sure that he hadn't exposed it.
"N-Now, look— I know exactly what you're thinking, and I don't want you looking at me! If I see your eyes wandering, you'll be sorry!"
He was glad, at least, that he and Mondo seemed to be the only gym members left. This wasn't an argument that he'd want anyone overhearing. Mondo pouted and sighed.
"Fine, fine. I'll behave. ...If it'll get ya to lemme take ya to dinner."
"I'm not promising anything!"
"Of course not. That'd be too easy."
Mondo moved to remove his sweat-drenched tank top, and Kiyotaka swallowed a shriek. Dear, sweet Lord Almighty— please have mercy. Mondo was actually in even better shape than he'd been so shamelessly imagining. He turned to glare at the employee lockers before Mondo could see the deep red blush on his cheeks.
Kiyotaka snuck glances back at Mondo as he changed. This was just to make sure that he wasn't peeking, of course. To his surprise, Mondo made no such attempt. He just focused on stripping himself bare and stepping into the nearest shower stall, where he closed the little plastic door behind himself. The doors only covered the bits that would have to be censored on television. Mondo was tall enough that a decent portion of his upper body was still visible above it. ...How tall was he, anyway? It had to be at least six feet.
As soon as he was certain that Mondo was facing the shower head, and that he likely couldn't see him past the stall door or the divider, Kiyotaka stripped off his pants and underwear and rushed into the shower. He turned the water as cold as it would go. For reasons completely unrelated to the guy beside him.
A quiet minute passed. Kiyotaka didn't do much of anything. Mondo thoroughly soaked all of his hair with his hands.
"...Somebody's a hypocrite," Mondo's voice teased. Kiyotaka flinched.
"I beg your pardon?!"
"You were all weird about coverin' yourself up, demandin' that I not so much as glance at you, and then ya sit there and ogle me? I'm not a piece of meat, I'll have you know!"
"I-I wasn't—" Kiyotaka sputtered and averted his gaze. "I wasn't ogling anybody! I was... looking at the tattoo!"
"Oh, yeah? Which one?"
"The tiger."
Kiyotaka was able to declare this confidently, as he had, to some degree, been looking at the tiger. He wasn't an artist, but it was a beautiful tattoo. The detailing on the fur was magnificent.
More importantly, the tiger was a large tattoo, and the only one on his back. It was depicted in mid-pounce, the curve of its belly meeting the lower edge of Mondo's shoulder blade. The whole of the image filled what Kiyotaka would describe as the upper-left quadrant of the man's back (Kiyotaka's left), leaving the rest of it bare of any ink. It was, he had to admit, a very aesthetically pleasing arrangement. The tiger suited Mondo and moved along with his muscles. And there was still plenty of unmarked skin on that broad expanse of a back to be admired.
"Ah, my tiger? She's a real beauty. Daiya's always makin' me take my shirt off to show it to people, seein' as it's some of his best work."
"...Your brother does your tattoos?" Kiyotaka pretended that he didn't already know this. Mondo grunted a confirmation. He smiled a fond smile whenever he talked about his brother. Kiyotaka suddenly remembered Daiya's serious words about gratitude. He sort of wanted to tell Mondo what his brother had said, but didn't want to give away his little secret, so he kept it to himself.
Another minute. Kiyotaka was unconsciously prolonging this exchange and hadn't properly begun to clean himself.
"So what's new with you?" Mondo asked. Kiyotaka bit his lip.
"I, um... got a promotion at work. I'll be making six figures."
"Sweet. Good on ya. Doesn't come as a surprise, though, seein' as ya work so damn hard all the time. ...Anything else?"
"I'm, um..." Kiyotaka cleared his throat and then turned to face Mondo. "I'm engaged."
Mondo's hands, which had been lathering shampoo from a little travel bottle through his hair, stopped. This was only the second time that Kiyotaka had caught the man by surprise and wiped the relaxed smile off of his face. His face seemed empty, or like it belonged to somebody else, without it. He frowned and raised an eyebrow at Kiyotaka.
"...For real, or to your fake girlfriend?" His tone was fearful. That, too, seemed unlike Mondo. Kiyotaka sighed.
"My fake girlfriend. I suppose I should say that I'm fake-engaged."
"N' you're... actually plannin' to go through with a wedding?"
Kiyotaka held his gaze for a moment before he nodded. Mondo stared at him, wordlessly, for four straight seconds before he laughed an incredulous laugh and turned back to what he'd been doing. His hands started moving again, this time in quick and furious movements. Kiyotaka couldn't help but feel like he'd made Mondo nervous.
"...Look, I'm sure you know what you're doin'," Mondo said a bit too loud, sounding like he could hardly believe what was happening, "n' I should really learn to mind my own fuckin' business. I know that. Y'probably don't wanna hear it outta me, but, if Y'don't mind my asking... Are you out of your goddamn mind?"
Kiyotaka jumped.
"I— I am certainly not! I don't have much of a choice!"
"You're literally plannin' to marry some chick you've got no interest in so your parents'll get off your back. That's what you're sayin'?"
"Oowada. It's not a decision that either I or my fiancée take lightly, and frankly, it wasn't my decision. There were... circumstances. It happened by accident, but now, everyone knows, and it's too late for us to back out. They'd likely kill us if they knew."
Mondo didn't know what to say to that. He just laughed again, shook his head, and continued to scrub himself down. Kiyotaka felt insanely guilty.
"I honestly don't know what to say," Mondo sighed as he exited the shower stall and began to towel off. He managed to do this very quickly for such a large man, and then he wrapped his towel around his waist and used a smaller one to begin the more involved task of drying his hair. He squeezed the water out of it, thoroughly scrubbed at his scalp with the towel, and then tied it back into a ponytail with a hairband.
"Then don't say anything," Kiyotaka retorted as he followed suit. He made sure to dry himself off before exiting the stall (he had a lot less hair to worry about), and saw to it that the towel covered his hip. "You said it yourself— you ought to learn to mind your own business."
"Well, shit. I guess so." A pause. "...Y'know, you're pretty fuckin' cut for a nerd—"
"Didn't I tell you not to look?!" Kiyotaka couldn't help but blush even as he shouted. Mondo let out an exaggerated groan of annoyance.
"Fine! ...Dunno what you're so embarrassed about."
Mondo sat down on the bench and fiddled around inside of his gym bag, and from there, he retrieved a tiny bag. He pulled a little metal rod out and began to re-attach it to the cartilage of his ear. Kiyotaka supposed that it made sense to take the piercing out during a shower, or for strenuous physical activity. Mondo's workouts definitely had to be intense for him to look like that. ...Leon had said that he'd given the man a few piercings. Where were the others?
Kiyotaka plopped down onto the bench beside him, at just enough of a reasonable distance, and began to pull on his socks and underwear.
"...For what it's worth, I... know that I'm being ridiculous. And logically, I'm certain that my parents might realize it at some point, but... They went and threw us this extravagant engagement party, and they got me expensive gifts, and somebody leaked it to the press. It's in the local papers. My father went so far as to tell everybody in my office."
"The lie jus' got too big to handle before ya could back out," Mondo summarized. His gaze was sympathetic, and he was keeping it above Kiyotaka's neckline. "...It's still crazy, but... maybe I was bein' too harsh."
"No." Kiyotaka shook his head. "It's ridiculous, and I know that. I... I know that I don't ever tell you this, but I do appreciate your advice. You're just trying to help. You've been... very kind to me. In your own way."
That was the first time Kiyotaka ever saw Mondo blush. His lips twisted downwards in embarrassment, and a tint of pink dusted his bronzed cheekbones, before he scratched the back of his neck and turned away to focus on pulling up his pants.
"...Don't mention it."
God dammit. He could be unexpectedly cute sometimes, and that wasn't making it any easier for Kiyotaka to say what had to be said. Now was the perfect opportunity, since nobody else was around, but he just couldn't seem to do it. He secured his shoes and then stood up, halfway through slipping on his shirt, and turned to look down at Mondo.
"Listen, there's something that I have to— what are you doing to your nipples?!"
Kiyotaka squeaked at himself as soon as those words had left his mouth. It was a rude and vulgar question. What business of his was it?! Mondo, meanwhile, glanced down at his own pectorals after he'd allowed himself to be thoroughly amused by that remark.
"Oh, this? They're pierced. I don't wear the rings at the gym, though. Seems like a fuckin' nightmare waitin' to happen. I gotta put 'em back in."
Kiyotaka scoffed. Nipple rings. Nipple rings. There was just one more thing to add to his list of suddenly acquired and completely ridiculous fetishes. He was beginning to suspect that Mondo Oowada was not, in fact, a trucker, but that he was instead some kind of Incubus, and one that had taken on the sole purpose of ruining his life. And he didn't care if that sounded melodramatic. He was so thoroughly distracted by that little surprise that the words he'd planned to say were startled from his thoughts.
They both fully redressed themselves, packed up their gym bags, and put the provided towels in the laundry bin before they made their way outside. Mondo chatted excitedly about his brother's tattoo parlor, following Kiyotaka all the way to his car.
"Is this your new one, or is it a rental?" Mondo walked around the vehicle in a circle.
"I purchased it. It's mine. I only used a rental for a few days."
"It's nice. Real fuel-efficient."
"That's what everyone was saying online... I wanted something practical."
"Practical as in somethin' that won't potentially blow up n' kill ya?"
Kiyotaka shuddered, and Mondo laughed.
"I certainly hope so. I... suppose it's technically a good thing that I crashed it when I did, or..."
"You coulda been killed," Mondo finished for him, his voice laced with obvious concern. There was a brief pause, and then Mondo slapped the roof of the car with one hand. "Ya shoulda just come to me, though. If ya ever need anythin' car related—"
"Listen, Mondo."
That effectively stopped the man in his mental tracks, as Kiyotaka had never actually addressed him by his first name before. He raised an eyebrow.
"...Yeah?"
"...I... admit it. You've got me again, alright?" He looked around, and after confirming that no one was in their immediate earshot, he beckoned Mondo closer. The larger man bent down, slightly, to make it easier for Kiyotaka to whisper. He looked a little bit too eager. "...I'm not attracted to women. Never have been."
Mondo grinned victoriously. Which hurt, for some reason.
"Called it."
"You did. I know. And..." He sighed, squeezing his eyes shut. He couldn't look Mondo in the eyes and make this admission. "I'm... I am, however, attracted to you. And I like you a lot." Mondo's grin widened, and he started to say something. "But."
The smile faded. Mondo's brow lowered apprehensively.
"...But?"
"I... I-I have responsibilities to uphold! Understand? I... have a fiancée now, a-and... I just don't see how us entertaining this ruse any longer could do anything but hurt us both. You don't deserve to be some secret fling. I won't... I won't do that to you."
"...Ah."
Mondo straightened up his stance and took a hesitant step back. Kiyotaka's heart twisted at the dejected look on his face. Mondo had, surely, thought he'd won for a moment, only to have his hopes dashed seconds later. He took a moment to recover from his wounded pride, and then he smiled. This one was small and warm rather than flirtatious.
"...That's... That's alright," Mondo said carefully. "I'll, uh... withdraw. No use beatin' a dead horse, right?"
He suddenly looked a lot younger and more timid, his usual confidence having been shaken. Kiyotaka stared at him, amazed.
You really do like me, don't you...?
"Trust me, it's not you, I just—"
"No, you... You don't hafta make excuses. It's your decision."
Mondo was being as graceful about it as he could, and Kiyotaka appreciated that, but this was even harder, somehow, than he had guessed it would be. He wanted to take it back, but wouldn't that just hurt him even more? To entertain the possibility, for even a little while, of something that couldn't happen? He felt that he was doing the right thing, but the right thing wasn't always easy.
"But just so ya know..."
Mondo's voice pulled Kiyotaka out of his dazed stupor. He perked up.
"...Yes?"
Mondo had pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket— one of Daiya's business cards— and was scribbling something on the back. He thrust the card into Kiyotaka's hand and closed his fingers over it.
"I don't... wanna lose ya, even if I can't have ya, so... if you ever need anything— and I do mean anything— just gimme a call. I can still be a friend to ya."
Kiyotaka didn't know what to say to that. So he didn't say anything at all. He ran away and left Mondo standing there, alone and bewildered, on the sidewalk. He chewed his lip for the entirety of the ride back to his apartment. He tasted blood by the time he'd gotten his front door open. He sat down, slowly, on his sofa, not bothering to put his gym bag away or wash his dirtied workout clothes. He stared at the business card for several minutes.
And then, Kiyotaka, not knowing what else to do, cried. He sobbed into his hands, and nobody heard him.