Rules Were Made to be Broken

‣ scene 19 [not quite a goodbye]

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.