Chapter 2: Ghosts in the photograph

Silence stretched as Jun and Juudai stared at each other. The other people in the changing room paid them no attention, but Jun felt like needles were pricking his skin all over with unwanted attention. It wasn’t til Juudai opened his mouth to continue speaking, only getting a “Manj--” when he snapped out of it, covering his former classmate’s mouth with his hand and hissing “shut up!” at the brunette. Juudai blinked at him in confusion, but stayed silent for the moment while Jun continued to silently speak so no one could hear. “Just get dressed and we can talk when we get out of here.”

 

Juudai still looked like he had no idea what was going on, but he nodded and Jun finally dared take his hand away and adjust his shirt that was half on. He could only hope Juudai hadn’t noticed the big ugly scar in the middle of his abdomen, but he didn’t have high hopes. Even though he had missed the man (though he wouldn’t admit that out loud), he didn’t look forward to having this conversation.

 

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It was almost time for lunch by the time they were both getting out of the run down gym and out into the early spring sun, but Jun didn’t really have the budget to go out to eat, and he really didn’t feel like taking Juudai back to his apartment just like that. But apparently Juudai was well stocked and pulled stuff out of his pockets, happily sharing some pre packed sandwiches and a bottle of ramune he’d had in his jacket pockets. The pockets on his jacket and pants were unnecessarily big, in Jun’s opinion, but pointing it out helped distract the other from why they’d sat down on a park bench in the first place for a few moments longer.

 

Sadly the distractions came to an end when Juudai pointed out how they hadn’t seen each other in years, and the questions kept raining down on him. He had to take a few steadying breaths while looking up at the cold blue sky before he started to talk about things he’d never told anyone before.

 

“My brothers think I’m dead. They shot me and threw me off a cliff.”

 

He’d already been prepared for the outburst, and managed to cover his former friend’s mouth before he could yell a surprised reply. “Shut up,” he hissed again, “no one in this town knows any of this so if you could not scream so everyone can hear!?” He stared right into Juudai’s eyes until the man nodded. Jun removed his hands but made sure to be ready in case he needed to do it again.

 

“Obviously the cliff wasn’t high enough to kill me and they’re shitty shots, so I’m still alive, but I can’t exactly go back there. They’re in a lot of cops’  and yakuzas’ pockets, nothing’d happen to them without concrete proof and they’d just make sure I’m gone for good next time.”

 

When Juudai opened his mouth he was ready to cover it up again, but this time the response was lower, in a voice that was shaky with how unsettled the revelation seemed to have made him. “Holy shit Manjoume, that’s so fucked up.” Looking back into the sky again, eyes tracing the rare shape of a cloud dotting the blue, Jun sighed.

 

“My name’s Tanaka Haruki now, don’t call me Manjoume. If anyone I know hears you they’re gonna get suspicious.”

 

He felt Juudai shift next to him, and glancing to the side he could see the other man watching him, a painful look in his eyes. “That name doesn’t suit you at all.” The comment made Jun snort, lips twitching upwards. “That’s kind of the point.”

 

“I guess it makes sense now why you didn’t show up to the reunion last week.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

They fell into an awkward silence after that, Jun staring at the sky and Juudai alternating between staring at him and staring at the ground. After a few minutes, Juudai finally spoke up again, confirming what Jun hoped he would have missed. “So that scar on your stomach… that was them, right?”

 

“They got me in the leg and shoulder too. Winter’s a bitch, the cold makes it hard to walk properly.” To get the focus off himself for a minute, he did what he would rarely have done when they were together at school; asked Juudai a question in return. “I thought you’d have left Japan by now. You never seem to stay in one place for long anymore.”

 

“You’ve been keeping track of us?” Jun nodded, and Juudai continued. “I’m exploring Japan right now, Rei and Martin are getting married in two months so I’m gonna stay in the country til then and just go hitchhike and stuff. It’s been pretty exciting.” Juudai grinned at him, obvious in how fun he’d had since he came back to Japan.

 

“You’re the only one still hitchhiking anymore, you know that, right? That’s how you get killed.”

 

And there Jun went and ruined the mood that had finally started to lift again. Of course. He felt like a dumbass, but there wasn’t really anything new about that. He just wasn’t used to feeling like one in front of Juudai anymore.

 

The smile dulled on the brunette’s face as he was reminded of why they were there. “So, uh… What’ve you been doing here all this time, then?”

 

Jun groaned, thinking back to the day before. “Conbini. Worked 16 hours yesterday, I almost wish I’d actually died so I didn’t have to deal with that again.”

 

He could feel Juudai’s stare as the other man got closer. “Hey, don’t say that, do you have any idea how much we’ve all missed you?!” Jun just rolled his eyes this time. “Joking about it’s been what helped me stay sane, so I doubt I’ll stop doing it any time soon. Geez, be more like Cheeseburger, she doesn’t complain when I do it.”

 

“Cheeseburger?”

 

“My cat.”

 

“You have a cat?!” Finally, Juudai’s eyes were back to the shiny, enthusiastic self that had been such a big part of drawing so many people into his orbit at Duel Academy. It made Jun’s heart skip a beat, and he had to look away. God, he’d been so annoyed by the other all the time at school, but here he was and all his feelings of longing for his friends came rushing at him at once.

 

“Yeah, for a few years now.”

 

“Can I meet her?” He should have expected that. Juudai had gotten along well with Pharaoh after all. Of course he’d want to meet Cheeseburger. Was he ready to let Juudai into his apartment though? His loneliness was yelling ‘YES’ at the top of its lungs inside him, but his nerves were more hesitant. In the end though, he couldn’t stop himself from nodding.

 

“Sure.”

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