Current mood:	amused
Current music:	Josh Groban - February Song
Entry tags:	50stories, lidaxdaishi, psycho le cemu

Psycho le Cemu - Lida/Daishi - February Song - 1/1
Title: February Song
Author: sadie_k_adder or Shuichi
Theme: #42 Song
Genre: General
Band: Psycho le Cemu
Pairings: Lida x Daishi (friendship)
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: Every February Lida examines his and Daishi's friendship.
Notes: This is my lame attempt at trying to write LxD as friends and not as lovers. XD; I actually think I did a good job of making it pretty platonic. It's a really short fic, though... I was inspired by Josh Groban's "February Song" because I looked at the lyrics and went, "OhhLidaDaishi!" ToT

February Song

    Where has that old friend gone?
    Lost in a February song

“Momma, why doesn’t Daishi like his parents?”

Mrs. Akeda was taken aback by the blunt simplicity of the question. She was doing the dishes, and a young Lida was sitting on a chair at the kitchen table, munching on some crackers—before he was Lida, of course; when he was Tatsuya. Since he was eight, he was old enough to ask such questions, but it still took her by surprise. She set down the dish in her hands as she thought of an answer. Finally she turned a smile on Tatsuya and said, “Well, you don’t like your parents either, do you?”

Tatsuya shook his head, shoving a cracker into his mouth. “No, I love you, Momma.”

“Ah, but you said like,” reminded Mrs. Akeda, turning back to her dishes, as though that settled the matter.

Tatsuya shook his head again. “No, he doesn’t love his parents either.”

Another stunted silence followed that. Tatsuya continued nibbling on his crackers, and Mrs. Akeda turned a hundred answers over in her head. At last she turned off the faucet and wiped her soapy hands on a towel. She came over to the table, and sat in the seat opposite of Tatsuya. “I can’t answer that question, dear,” she said carefully. “If you really think Daishi doesn’t love his parents then—“

“He told me so,” Tatsuya said matter-of-factly.

Mrs. Akeda wasn’t even shocked. She only knew Mr. Kajinaga by reputation—he was a big shareholder in a motorcycle company, and hardly ever spent time away from work. Word had it he was obsessed with money, reputation, and success. She’d met Mrs. Kajinaga once, and found she disliked her greatly. She was young and impetuous, and obviously very discontent with the life she’d found herself with. She seemed to look at Daishi as the child she never meant to have, and thus treated him accordingly. Mrs. Akeda refrained from saying anything bad about Daishi’s upbringing to Tatsuya, but she’d always feared that because of how he was raised, he would eventually join a bad crowd, and if that happened…well, unlike Mrs. Kajinaga, she actually did care about her son’s well-being.

“Tatsuya, honey,” she spoke finally, “I can’t answer that question for you. Only Daishi can tell you why he feels that way.”

Tatsuya nodded and went right back to munching on his crackers. He looked thoughtful, though, and after a moment said, “He loves me, though.”

Mrs. Akeda raised an eyebrow. “And did he tell you that, too?”

Tatsuya nodded, giving his mother a toothy grin. “Yeah, and he said we’re friends. Maybe one day we’ll be best friends. What do you think?”

Mrs. Akeda chuckled, and turned her gaze to look out the window. Snow was falling softly, some of it already sticking to the bare trees in their miniscule backyard. “I think you should look back every February and see where you are now. See what’s changed from this February day.”

Tatsuya gave another nod, and then resumed eating, though this time he was watching the snow drift lazily down.

    I never want to let you down
    Forgive me if I slip away…

It had been more than ten years since Lida’d been known as Tatsuya, except by people like his mother or…Daishi. No matter how old they’d gotten, they had always retained some element of their childhood. He could remember them still having sleepovers—even in the days of Psycho le Cému. Sometimes they would play video games or watch pornography. In the summer they would go swimming together. In February they would have snowball fights or watch movies with hot chocolate.

On this February day, Lida was sitting at home, watching the snow fall, and waiting for an old friend to call him back. It had been four years since their band had split—four years since they’d had a parting of the ways. It hadn’t even been on good terms, either. He knew Daishi had regrets, but he couldn’t help feeling he had worse ones. He regretted being so hard on his friend. He regretted letting mistakes and imperfections drive them apart. He regretted acting immaturely when Daishi apologized and tried to make amends. He was sure his regrets outdid Daishi’s by this point.

It had bothered him, not just this February, but during the last few Februarys. Once he had understood what true friendship meant. When he was eight years old he’d understood that he loved Daishi. And to be fair, Daishi screwed up a lot back then, too. He couldn’t help feeling he’d let his friend down. He couldn’t help feeling he’d been the one to make the ultimate screw-up at the end of all things.

The ringing of his phone cut through the dim quiet of the small house he was living in; it caused him to jump without meaning to. He reached for the receiver, and held it shakily to his ear. “Moshi moshi,” he said, his mouth dry, his heart pounding.

“…Tatsuya? Er, I guess you still go by Lida these days… It’s—it’s me, Daishi.”

There was a note of caution in Daishi’s voice. He sounded more worried than Lida felt. He smiled, finding that it helped him when he spoke again. “Hey, you got my phone call?”

“Yes…” Daishi sounded uncertain; he was undoubtedly curious as to why his ex-best friend would have called after so many years.

Lida still smiled. “I was thinking about you a lot and I just wanted to know if you want to come over for a little while today. I’m free, so…I just figured…”

There was a surprised silence on the other end, but finally Daishi’s voice broke through. “Okay. Do you live at the same place?” He asked, his voice oddly thick.

“No, but I can give you some directions…”

Nearly half an hour later, Lida was still on the couch, but he was cracking his knuckles nervously as he waited for a knock on the door. He had put the kettle on so they could drink some tea. It seemed a perfect day to just sit on the couch and have tea while the snow fell delicately outside.

Knock, knock.

Lida’s blood froze, and for a tiny moment he had second thoughts. He swallowed and went to the door, opening it, and for the first time in years, looking at the face of someone who had been his dearest friend. Daishi looked different, of course—he was leaner, his hair was brown with blonde streaks, and even his fashion sense had changed. He had the same warm brown eyes, though, and the same large smile that he flashed at Lida instantly.

Lida smiled back and said simply, “It’s good to see you again, Daishi.”

If he hadn’t known that he couldn’t possibly have said something wrong, he would have thought he did. The moment the words left his mouth, Daishi let out a choked sob, and hurriedly covered his face with his hands. “I’m sorry,” he managed before more sobs left his throat.

Suddenly Lida felt as though the last four years had never happened. He grabbed Daishi’s arm and pulled him into the apartment, and into a tight hug, shutting the door with his other hand. Daishi kept his head bent against Lida’s chest, obviously embarrassed as he continued to cry. Lida just continued to embrace him, feeling his eyes mist over. “Are you okay?” He murmured, hearing a tremor in his own voice.

Daishi nodded, and ripped away, still looking mildly humiliated. He brushed his tears away, and gave Lida that same big grin. “I just can’t believe you called me. I’m crying because I’m happy…as gay as that is.”

Lida laughed. It was amazing how quickly he felt comfortable around the other man again. “Go ahead and take your coat off. I’ve made some tea.”

When Daishi removed the jacket, Lida saw the tattoo on his forearm. It had never been there while they new each other; it was a reminder of how much had changed between them in the last four years. Yet, there were reminders of how much stayed the same. Daishi sat down on the same couch cushion he’d always sat on when he came to visit. He had the same nervous habits, like jiggling his leg and running his hand through his hair.

Soon Lida brought over two mugs of steaming green tea. He handed one to Daishi, and sat beside him. Daishi kicked off his shoes, and pulled his legs onto the couch, crossing them Indian-style. It was obvious by his face that he was older, but at the same time, he looked like that same boy Lida remembered when he was eight. “I missed you, D,” he said simply. “And I shouldn’t have thrown away our friendship. Every February since we were eight, I’ve examined our relationship and how it’s changed. The last four years, though…well, it’s been hell to think about it.”

“Then why did you?” Daishi asked, cocking his head and eyeing Lida curiously.

Lida shrugged. “I…I don’t really know. It was impossible not to, you know? February just makes me think automatically of our friendship. Imagine going through a whole month, thinking constantly of someone who used to be your best friend. It hurts.”

Daishi chuckled and shrugged. “Well, I’ve gone through every whole month, thinking constantly of someone who used to be my best friend. I would agree—it hurts a lot.”

Lida swallowed, feeling emotional again all of a sudden. He set his tea on the coffee table and extended his hand to Daishi. “I-I want us to be friends again.”

Daishi looked at his hand with a raised eyebrow. He offered a smile to Lida and set his mug aside as well. “Really?”

Lida nodded, hoping he looked as sincere as he felt. Daishi made a face. “I kind of had a feeling when you called me up.”

Lida smiled, holding his hand out a little more. “Shall we shake on it?”

Daishi shook his head. “Not good enough.”

He slapped Lida’s hand away, and flung his arms around his middle. Lida laughed and hugged him back. Reconciliation was a good feeling, but an even better feeling was that he wouldn’t have to be depressed every year during the month of February.

    And I never want to let you down
    Forgive me if I slip away
    When all that I’ve known is lost and found
    I promise you, I’ll come back to you one day

OWARI

---

Notes: 1) Written for 50stories
2) Download February Song
3) My sources tell me Lida and Daishi didn't really achieve "best friendom" until they were teenagers, but I don't care. It's called fanfiction for a reason, and I can never stress that enough. -_-;
4) Daishi did indeed get a tattoo on his right arm recently! You can see it in this picture.