Rules Were Made to be Broken

‣ scene 26 [late-night rendezvous]

Kiyotaka waited for about thirty minutes. They were minutes that flew by, as he spent the whole time daydreaming about the future. It had not occurred to him that the tow truck that arrived for him wouldn't actually have Mondo in it.

"No worries, little Taka! I've got ya!"

It was Akane Owari that pulled up beside him, honking her horn to get his attention. She grinned, and he raised an eyebrow.

"...I thought I called Mondo."

"Ya did," she confirmed, "but he was actually at home. He called me. He's on his way in his own car ta take ya outta here."

Ah. That figures, he thought. He had only assumed that Mondo was at work, and he had called his personal cell phone number, not the trucking company. He nodded.

"I see. Thanks, Owari-chan."

"Hey." Akane stared him down as she left the truck and shut the door behind her to assess the damage. Her grin widened. "I'm proud of ya. C'mere."

Akane pulled Kiyotaka into a tight hug before he could protest. He thought, for a moment, that her breasts would suffocate him. She patted his back so hard that it hurt— was she not aware of her own strength?

Mondo, apparently, had been keeping her somewhat up-to-date on things. Which made sense. The two of them were good friends. Akane got to work as soon as she released Kiyotaka, and she had his car loaded up onto her truck in no time.

"Thanks again!" He called after the truck as it prepared to withdraw into the night. "I'll try to swing by to pick it up in the morning!"

Akane flashed a thumbs-up out of her window, and then she was gone. Kiyotaka watched the big green vehicle grow smaller and smaller on the horizon until he was alone once more.

Mondo arrived (in his car, as Akane had said he would be) ten minutes after that. He pulled over into the grass as soon as he spotted Kiyotaka standing along the side of the road. Kiyotaka crossed the distance in a sprint and ran to the driver's side door. He practically pulled Mondo out and then wrapped him in an embrace.

"Mondo," he happily sighed into the other man's chest. "I missed you. Thank you."

"Don't sweat it," Mondo replied. His tone was casual, or tried to be, but one look at his face said otherwise. He was blushing. He must not have expected the open affection. "I said I'd come for ya whenever ya needed me, so. Here we are."

Kiyotaka stood still, listening to the taller man's steady heartbeat, for a moment. It settled his nerves. He'd gotten a bit nervous, at the last possible second, about seeing Mondo again, and now he was certain that he'd had no reason to feel that way. He stood on his toes and kissed the side of his face. Mondo turned red, coughed, and then invented some excuse to get back in the car. Kiyotaka laughed as he climbed into the passenger's seat.

Mondo was kind of a funny guy, Kiyotaka decided. He'd always been so openly flirtatious, and he'd initiated some small affections before. But the second those affections were returned, he got flustered. It was kind of endearing. He smiled to himself as Mondo started up the engine and pulled back onto the road.

Kiyotaka didn't bother to ask where they were headed before he started rattling off a play-by-play description of the night's events. Mondo listened intently, nodding along and adding in his own commentary, even as his primary focus remained on the road. Every once in a while, though, he would raise an eyebrow and make a face that seemed slightly concerned. Usually when Kiyotaka laughed. Kiyotaka knew that he did, admittedly, sound kind of delirious.

"Can you believe it?!" Kiyotaka boasted. "I did it! I finally did it! I wanted to get out of there so bad that I guess I must have missed the pothole—"