[ Ritsu was the last person he'd seen before he died. He was the last person he'd felt, the last person who was there, and when Ryoji had come up again, the memories of the last ten years of his life flooding back, his was one of the faces that'd stuck, looking hopeful, regretful, scared, grateful, so many things that lent to how much he'd cared for Ryoji's part in his life. He remembers Ritsu talking about his brother leaving him, remembers the promise Ryoji had made to himself about never doing that to anybody else, a promise he broke and will keep breaking, but not this one time. Not to Ritsu.
> Last month was a terrible tragedy. > However, you must still go to school today.
As it were. It's Ritsu's deeply ingrained sense of responsibility that Ryoji placed his hopes in, that Ritsu would be in school no matter what. So that's Ryoji, standing, waiting, chatting with students and teachers alike until he found out which classroom Ritsu would be in and when. That's Ryoji who spots him the moment the doors open, who meets his eye and opens his mouth to call out of greeting, whose voice dies in his throat along with the flare of joy and relief in seeing Ritsu's face again when the boy so clearly sees and rejects him. The shock of being run away from roots Ryoji to the spot for a split second, but the fear of losing sight of Ritsu if he turns a corner urges him to move, chasing him down the hall, not having to weave in and out of the crowd because Ritsu's own frantic dash away from him opens up the path.
With the janitor's closet, it's a dead end, with nowhere else for Ritsu to run, even though it's where he chooses to hide. Ryoji's feet slow and stop in front of the door, and he leans forward to press his forehead against the cold paint. ]
no subject
> Last month was a terrible tragedy.
> However, you must still go to school today.
As it were. It's Ritsu's deeply ingrained sense of responsibility that Ryoji placed his hopes in, that Ritsu would be in school no matter what. So that's Ryoji, standing, waiting, chatting with students and teachers alike until he found out which classroom Ritsu would be in and when. That's Ryoji who spots him the moment the doors open, who meets his eye and opens his mouth to call out of greeting, whose voice dies in his throat along with the flare of joy and relief in seeing Ritsu's face again when the boy so clearly sees and rejects him. The shock of being run away from roots Ryoji to the spot for a split second, but the fear of losing sight of Ritsu if he turns a corner urges him to move, chasing him down the hall, not having to weave in and out of the crowd because Ritsu's own frantic dash away from him opens up the path.
With the janitor's closet, it's a dead end, with nowhere else for Ritsu to run, even though it's where he chooses to hide. Ryoji's feet slow and stop in front of the door, and he leans forward to press his forehead against the cold paint. ]
...Ritsu?