(no subject)

[pez]

People always have reasons, excuses. But in the end, Gakuto knows, it takes two to lose contact.

He never did give Yuushi his new address after he moved house, because Yuushi didn't seem to enjoy writing letters to him or reading his letters. The brief, distant replies said as much. Why force someone to do something he felt was obligatory because they were once best friends? People come and go, and friendships fade, it's a fact of life. Rather than clinging onto something unsalvagable, it's better to let it go. Besides, Yuushi can save the 110 yen it costs to post a letter to America. Saves him the time and effort as well.

Japan is a land now foreign yet still familiar. So much has changed within the few years he has gone, but the baker where he used to grab his breakfast before school is still there, hiding at a corner of the train station. From there Gakuto traces the steps he used to take to get to Hyotei Gakuen, and then from the school to the local library, where Yuushi used to bury his face in romance novels and Gakuto flicked through magazine after magazine. Once he had asked the other boy why he didn't just buy the damn books and read them at home, and Yuushi answered that he liked the library. Whatever. It was just a place with chairs and loads and loads of books. Still, Oshitari went there at least three times a week and Gakuto always went with him.

The library has shut down. A notice stuck on the insider of the glass door says that it is with regret that, due to the lack of funding, they have to shut down after serving the community for many years.

Gakuto sneers at the notice and turns back. What good is a library anyway? If he knows what he wants to read, he would go and buy the book, not spend days and days cruising the shelves looking for something that might be interesting and worthwhile and he might be able to fall in love with. That just isn't his style.

He studies his own shadow, stretched by the setting sun, as he makes his way back to the shopping district for the train back home. The crowds are thinning as those who have finish with their day out start to go home, one by one. Suddenly Gakuto feels that he doesn't want to go home quite yet. He has planned to spend a little while at the library just for old time's sake and now the plan's been sabotaged and he doesn't want to admit defeat by going home now. Which makes sense because he says it does. So he heads towards the bookstore at the end of the street, determined to at least bring a magazine home.

There is a poster on the display window, drawing Gakuto's gaze towards it. The man on the poster is wearing a deep blue suit and has his head dipped so that most of his face is obscured by his long hair. But he looks as though he is chuckling. Gakuto walks closer and gapes.

Oshitari Yuushi will be here 3rd March for booksigning to commemorate the release of his 6th novel (title tbc)

Gakuto bites his lips when he finds a shelf in the store, right near the entrance, displaying all five of Oshitari Yuushi's published works, two of which have become bestsellers.

Right, so this is it.

Yuushi, his so-called best friend who wouldn't even spend a few minutes to write him a proper letter, has written five novels with the sixth one coming out.

He glares at the poster stuck above the shelves, and whispers under his breath. "You suck."

If he is still a child and if he's tall enough, he would reach up and rip the poster to shreds. But he isn't a kid anymore, so he just takes a deep breath and leaves.