#knifeofday

He, alongside a close knit group of their mutual friends- including Taichi's younger sister, Hikari, and Yamato's younger brother, Takeru- had all been invited along to Knife of Day’s first gig of the year at a small venue in Shinjuku.

The rest of the gang shot off straight after the band's performance to give Taichi and Yamato the opportunity to spend some time alone.  Yamato's dad was away for a few nights because of work. They would have the apartment all to themselves tonight. The notion made Taichi feel giddy.

Last month, things had got heated during their night together at the onsen resort, but they were still yet to go all the way.  

As the crowd thinned out, Taichi scanned around the room for Yamato, until he spotted him standing near the bar chatting away to a mature looking lady with short cropped hair and bright red lips. It was not rare for Yamato and his band mates to briefly mingle with their fans after a gig, so Taichi did not think too much into it as he started to approach them.

The woman was almost the same height as Yamato, with her high heeled leather boots, and seemed to be very interested in whatever Yamato was saying as she leant towards him intently.  In the next instance, Taichi had grinded to a complete halt. The lady's arms were wrapped around Yamato and she was holding him close. A blush appeared across Yamato's cheeks, but he made no attempt to politely wiggle out from her embrace.  A sickening sensation lashed across Taichi's stomach.  He turned and rushed out the venue.

It was unlike him to run away, so unlike him, but seeing that lady all over Yamato had truly shaken him up. He leant against the wall and tapped out a message on his phone.

I'll meet you outside.  Need some air.

Yamato emerged from the venue roughly ten minutes later, a leather jacket thrown over his stage outfit, and a small smile on his face. He briefly adjusted the strap of the guitar case hoisted over his shoulder, humming the tune from ‘Butterfly’, one of the songs he had performed during the band's set, as he dipped his hand into the pocket of his jacket in search of the keys for his scooter. "Let's go," Yamato announced, swinging the loop of his key ring around his index finger.  

As he sat on the back on Yamato's scooter, his hands holding onto the rear of the seat, rather than the blond's waist.  The oily scent of motor fumes and Yamato's leather jacket usually soothed him, but not tonight.  Instead, flashes of the girls he had seen sneak their love confession letters into Yamato's shoe locker at school danced in the front of his mind. Yamato had never mentioned them to him, but he must have had to acknowledge their feelings for him one way or another.  

Finally, they were back in Odaiba. Yamato parked and locked up his scooter in the car park near their apartment block before tucking the helmets away into the compartment underneath the seat. He raised an eyebrow when Taichi handed him back his guitar case, which he had been carrying on his back throughout the journey home.

The air between them felt heavy as they climbed the apartment block stairs, like the ominous grey before a thunderstorm. When they reached the floor to Yamato's apartment, instead of stopping, Taichi continued onto the next set of stairs. Yamato reached out and grabbed his arm. The brunet immediately spun back around and shook him off, anger blazing in his hazel depths.  

"Taichi."  Yamato spoke his name firmly; an attempt to encourage Taichi to tell him what the problem was.  But, the brunet remained rooted on the spot, body trembling.  

“Taichi!” His voice was louder, more urgent.

"Why didn't you invite her back instead?" Taichi asked, his fingers furling up into the palms of his hands, resentment coiled around his voice.  

Yamato double blinked, then the realisation hit him as his mind replayed that particular moment from earlier, before an amused sigh accompanied the small smirk on his face.  His lips parted, but he was never giving the opportunity to speak.

"If you prefer girls, just say it." The words tumbled out from Taichi's mouth before he had even given them enough thought.  He immediately regretted them.  

As anticipated, the blond's eyes widened. Then, he frowned.

"Her name's Satomi.  She used to babysit me when I was a kid, when my dad couldn't be there," Yamato said, dropping his hands down by his side, eyes burning intently.  "I invited her and her husband to the gig."

The bubble expanding in Taichi’s stomach immediately popped, like a balloon. The sensation was replaced with a series of sharp stabs as a scolding hot wave washed across his skin. It had been so childish to let his insecurities leak out like that. It had only been a matter of time before he had let them trickle out though. Things had developed so quickly between them over the recent months, not to mention so naturally. 

This time last year, they had still only been friends.