I'm sorry, I had to post this from mobile so hopefully there's no errors. ;A;
--
It’s been a year since Makishima left.
He doesn’t quite remember the way the cicadas hum in the twilight (but he remembers the hesitant touch of Toudou’s lips on his, so unlike the noisy whole of him, the bluster that follows), doesn’t quite remember the suffocating humidity of summer, and honestly, doesn’t care to (but he remembers the way his shirt had stuck wetly to his back with the sweat of late summer, when Toudou had pressed his face to it anyway).
The flight back to Japan is long, it feels like the entirety of the year that just passed, and Makishima can’t sleep a wink. He thought he was coming back with answers, a clear path ahead, but it seems like a year was not nearly enough to find them.
Everything is awkward, afterward.
Makishima doesn’t really race anymore, he was too laden down with university lectures and the time he was putting in at his brother’s business, and then there’s the added struggle of a language he’s still finding his way around. A year takes a lot out of your condition, and when he meets up with Toudou again, Toudou who has raced ahead, brilliant and beautiful on his way to the world stage, the small gap between has turned into something as vast as the sea.
He runs out of breath just as they crest the peak, Toudou crossing first like a reminder and a memory burned for always to the back of his mind; the last push is too much, and Makishima doesn’t know how to read the look on Toudou’s face when he needs to pull over to the side of the road.
“Maki-chan! Are you sick? Did you forget to eat breakfast this morning? Ice cream is not breakfast, how many time do I need to remind you that if you’re hot, you should just drink water, it’s better for you!” Toudou leans over his bike, puts his face right into Makishima’s, paying no attention to the harsh panting as he tries to get his breath back, tries to control the awful shaking of his limbs.
"Jinpachi--"
Toudou doesn't even let him finish, takes his hand and holds it so tight in his that Makishima is sure he's going to break it. But for once, Toudou fills the moment with his silence instead, and they stay there for a long while, watching the sun trace a path slowly across the sky.
They take the downhill as the sun eases high into the sky, and it’s already too hot, much too hot, the scorch of another late summer sticking his jersey to his skin, but the wind wicks the sweat off his face, turns the world to a blur of scenery and a quiet hum broken only by the shift of his gears, the crack of pavement as his bike eats up the road. Makishima can hear Toudou yelling beside him, chasing him with a string of Maki-chan! Maki-chan!! and he thinks with a small smile touching the corner of his mouth, loud, noisy, and he thinks as he grits his teeth into a grin and pushes forward, this might not be so bad afterall.
Today the sky is clear, their hearts are clear, and the future is right there with them.
FILL: TEAM IMAIZUMI SHUNSUKE/NARUKO SHOUKICHI, G
I'm sorry, I had to post this from mobile so hopefully there's no errors. ;A;
--
It’s been a year since Makishima left.
He doesn’t quite remember the way the cicadas hum in the twilight (but he remembers the hesitant touch of Toudou’s lips on his, so unlike the noisy whole of him, the bluster that follows), doesn’t quite remember the suffocating humidity of summer, and honestly, doesn’t care to (but he remembers the way his shirt had stuck wetly to his back with the sweat of late summer, when Toudou had pressed his face to it anyway).
The flight back to Japan is long, it feels like the entirety of the year that just passed, and Makishima can’t sleep a wink. He thought he was coming back with answers, a clear path ahead, but it seems like a year was not nearly enough to find them.
Everything is awkward, afterward.
Makishima doesn’t really race anymore, he was too laden down with university lectures and the time he was putting in at his brother’s business, and then there’s the added struggle of a language he’s still finding his way around. A year takes a lot out of your condition, and when he meets up with Toudou again, Toudou who has raced ahead, brilliant and beautiful on his way to the world stage, the small gap between has turned into something as vast as the sea.
He runs out of breath just as they crest the peak, Toudou crossing first like a reminder and a memory burned for always to the back of his mind; the last push is too much, and Makishima doesn’t know how to read the look on Toudou’s face when he needs to pull over to the side of the road.
“Maki-chan! Are you sick? Did you forget to eat breakfast this morning? Ice cream is not breakfast, how many time do I need to remind you that if you’re hot, you should just drink water, it’s better for you!” Toudou leans over his bike, puts his face right into Makishima’s, paying no attention to the harsh panting as he tries to get his breath back, tries to control the awful shaking of his limbs.
"Jinpachi--"
Toudou doesn't even let him finish, takes his hand and holds it so tight in his that Makishima is sure he's going to break it. But for once, Toudou fills the moment with his silence instead, and they stay there for a long while, watching the sun trace a path slowly across the sky.
They take the downhill as the sun eases high into the sky, and it’s already too hot, much too hot, the scorch of another late summer sticking his jersey to his skin, but the wind wicks the sweat off his face, turns the world to a blur of scenery and a quiet hum broken only by the shift of his gears, the crack of pavement as his bike eats up the road. Makishima can hear Toudou yelling beside him, chasing him with a string of Maki-chan! Maki-chan!! and he thinks with a small smile touching the corner of his mouth, loud, noisy, and he thinks as he grits his teeth into a grin and pushes forward, this might not be so bad afterall.
Today the sky is clear, their hearts are clear, and the future is right there with them.