Chapter 16 Part 3: To Live → The Walk Home
Leo, Yuichi, and April walking home
The hidden city was still lively at this late hour when Leo, Yuichi, and April stepped out of the building where the pool was. You could still see that they all swam on their looks, and they all had bags full of wet swimming gear and towels. Then… Leo started to tease Yuichi about the waterslide they all went on together.
“I told you I was faster!” Leo teased his boyfriend with a playful look.
“Of course you are, you don’t have fur like me. Your skin is… smooooothhhh. Same counts for April.”
“Wow, I am no longer the third wheel, imagine!” April jokingly said, grinning afterwards.
As the triple treat walked down the street, you could still hear them laughing. They were having a lot of fun. After a while, though… things had become a bit quieter, with the three just enjoying each other’s company. Yuichi, though, was especially quiet, with him just looking at the picture from the waterslide.
“Hey, are you okay?” Leo and April asked simultaneously, immediately after both of them had a funny quarrel about who asked first.
“I asked first, Leo!!!! This is a woman’s touch!” April said while laughing. Immediately, Yuichi looked up and was intrigued about who was going to ‘win’ this battle.
“I am literally his boyfriend, April, of course, I was first!” Leo and April were about to say more, but Yuichi interrupted them both
“You know that I care so much about both of you, right?” Yuichi said, quietly looking away. This immediately raised red flags about Yuichi’s well-being to Leo and April. Yuichi was well, but he was really scared about how his friends, especially his boyfriend… would react to him going away for a while. He could not take the others with him if he couldn’t take his boyfriend, of course. He would have to do this alone.
“I need to talk with both of you, especially Leo, but April can join too,” But as Yuichi said that and they were looking for a bench to sit… they heard a loud sound coming from a store a few blocks away.
Leo immediately froze, his hand instinctively moving to where his katanas normally hung. Yuichi’s ears perked up, his eyes darting to Leo. April took a step back, but her gaze remained sharp and alert.
The air changed. There was tension, panic, and the screams of bystanders.
“Seriously? Just when we’re having a quiet day.” Leo muttered, his gaze fixed on the robbers.
When they ignored what they were about to do and went to the place, they saw 3 masked men exit a store, trying to get in a vehicle, with a rodent-like yokai with ragged wings fighting 2 of the masked men, throwing one over his shoulder with intense force. Leo and April were shocked, with Yuichi just looking at the scene…
Yuichi knew Gabe already…
“Does he even need our help? Look at him go!” Leo said, bewildered, his eyes wide and his mouth open. April looked the same. Yuichi still nudged the other 2 to come help.
“Let’s not let the burglars drive away at least,” Yuichi told Leo and April, with the two then proceeding to immediately go into ‘serious-mode’ and running towards the situation. Yuichi proceeded to charge his now green kata with blue flames again and shot slightly condensed flames towards the wheels of the vehicle. This made it so that they couldn’t drive away while simultaneously making sure that the contents inside the truck wouldn’t burn.
Then… as the three ran towards the situation and were getting closer, almost being able to touch the truck with Gabe still fighting 2 of the men, a fourth person entered the scene.
It was the same Hippo with the metallic arm that almost defeated Leo last year, not hiding it this time whatsoever.
“Ah, the famous lovers who saved the city.” Leo and Yuichi still ran towards the hippo as he said this, with April going to support Gabe with her own mystic power. She luckily learned how to fight a little bit and was confident enough that she could beat 2 burglars without weapons and another strong yokai with her.
“So turtle… are you going to panic again… seeing THIS?” As the Hippo said this, he immediately showed his bigger metal arm, which was almost as large as him.
Leo still felt a lump in his throat… This time, though, he didn’t shut down. No… he got extremely angry that someone dared to try to use his old weakness against him. This caused the slider to immediately teleport behind the hippo and hold a blade against his throat, causing the hippo to freeze up. Leo then started to threaten him…
“Don’t move, or you won’t like what happens next. Tell your men to step down NOW.”
“LEO, STOP! THAT’S ENOUGH,” Yuichi screamed. He knew Leo could handle his trauma now, but seeing him threatening someone’s life was too much, knowing how painful it was to take someone’s life himself, even if they were a terrible person. Leo didn’t stop, though. He wanted to let the hippo know he was the one in power now.
The hippo listened, causing everyone to stop and letting themselves be detained by the rabbit, who had just started trying to help April and Gabe fight the others. As the police had already been called by other bystanders, Leo, Yuichi, April, and Gabe started to have a conversation.
“I didn’t think I would see you again, Yuichi… Thanks, everyone.” Gabe said, his voice quiet and tired, but still trying to sound grateful to the ones who helped him.
“Wait, you know this guy Yuichi, who is he?” April asked, with a confused Leo just listening because he was still embarrassed from what he did to the hippo and having his boyfriend berate him.
“I was… Big Mom’s assistant…I was her data scientist as well, providing her information and advice on what to do.”
“Did that ‘thing’ come here because of you?!” Leo almost screamed at Gabe, who just closed his eyes… It was true, and he paid the price for it. After he got out of his coma, he got the news that he would never be able to fly again… and it broke his heart.
“Leo, calm down, he never meant it to-” Yuichi tried to intervene, but…
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, CALM DOWN?! YOU ALMOST…” Leo was emotional at this point and yelling at Yuichi as well, with the rabbit just standing there looking at the ground…
April was just looking and analyzing what was happening, while Gabe showed his wings to the group and then started talking. “I am sorry. I guess you could say that I paid the price for it. We didn’t know what we were getting into.”
Looking at Gabe’s, now to be frank, broken and disgusting looking wings… actually managed to calm Leo down, with him realizing that not just they were a victim of Morris.
“We need to talk,” Yuichi said, looking at April and Leo. April, though, immediately intervened, asking if it was the right time for a serious conversation, with all the emotions up so high. Yuichi, though… didn’t care anymore. He had to let it out and talk.
“No, April… if I hold this for myself too long, it will hurt way more than it should… It has to be said now, the only one who knows at this moment is Donnie.”
Both April and Leo were surprised. They knew Yuichi and Donnie became friends, but to have Yuichi tell Donnie something that even they don’t know… what is going on here?
Yuichi started to talk, his face slightly tilted downwards. It was really hard for him to say because the truth was…
He wanted Leo to come with him so insanely bad.
“You know about my insecurities about what Morris said, right? I have been finding out more, with Donnie giving me a present to translate old Japanese texts, and this unknowingly gave me hope that I could find out what… the truth is.”
April and Leo were just listening, with Leo having his hands crossed. Was Yuichi really going to withhold things from him again? He and April did know about his insecurities, but they were both still on their tiptoes regarding what was going to be said.
“I met Gabe once, so he could give me all the data on how he found me… giving a clear layout on where I can find the information on my power…” As Yuichi said this… Gabe nodded to the group, confirming that this was not a lie. Leo was slightly taken aback by this… but he knew Yuichi hadn’t finished yet. April, on the other hand, frowned and felt a bit confused. She also felt a bit annoyed that Yuichi withheld something from them again.
“Yuichi, we talked about this, you don’t have to hide anything from us!” April was going to say more to berate Yuichi a little bit, but she got interrupted…
“I was going to talk about this when I got the full picture, which is now. I am not going to give just bits and pieces of information again to all of you.” Yuichi quickly said to the woman… who then just nodded in understanding. In journalism, she was also taught not to release a story when not everything has been written down about it… Though a lot of journalists still do, obviously.
Leo was still just listening. He wanted to have the full picture as well. Then… Yuichi looked at Leo with tears in his eyes.
“Regarding Japan Leo…” As Yuichi said this, he saw Yuichi’s heart break, and he couldn’t help but feel the same. He didn’t know what was going to be said yet… but he did feel it wasn’t going to be good.
“Especially in the hidden cities where all the info is from… homosexuality and interspecies relationships, and the fact that ninjas are hated… I don’t think it is wise for you to come with me…”
Leo was quiet… was this really happening? Why would Yuichi do this to him… they had been through so much together… and now? Yuichi started speaking again.
“In the future, I am going to go to Japan for around 3 weeks, Leo. Not because I want to leave, but because I need to know where I came from. What Morris said… I can’t let it go.”
Leo caught his breath and angrily spoke at first. “So you were just going to keep this a secret?” But the break in Yuichi’s voice took the edge off his tone. “No… You wanted to protect me.” As Leo said this, something in Yuichi broke… he started bawling his eyes out. April and Leo were just looking sadly at the rabbit, while Gabe still stood there a bit awkwardly.
“I wanted to take you with me so badly. But it’s too dangerous, Leo. For you. For us. And I hate the fact that I… AGAIN… have to do what I did a year ago… Go on my own and leave you behind. But I just can’t do it, Leo. I can’t see you, your family, and April in danger again. If I go by myself, nobody is in danger at all this time.”
Leo just closed his eyes, trembling a bit. But after a while, he stepped towards Yuichi and just hugged him tightly. He knew this was hard for his boyfriend to say… and he did hate it to be honest. But he had to respect this decision… since it was Yuichi’s journey after all. Leo started to talk to his lover again, trying to comfort him, but still letting him know that he wasn’t fully happy with the decision that was made.
“I hate this… but I get it. Let’s talk about it at home… and when you go… just come back to us. Okay?”
Gabe, in the meantime, started to put back his stuff inside his business. He felt that he shouldn’t be there when the emotional moment was happening between the lovers.
April sighed and started stepping a little closer, her eyes soft but sharp. She was going to have a bit of a monologue to Yuichi, but not berate him.
“Yuichi… I understand why you’re doing this, and I know you’re carrying it all because you want to protect us. But you don’t have to do it alone. You don’t have to hide everything from us, especially from Leo. We’re here for you, always. You know that, don’t you?”
She then placed a hand on Yuichi’s shoulder, even though he was still hugging Leo. April then just looked at him sternly, but with a faint smile of comfort.
“Yes, we are sad that you want to do this alone. But I have to admit…I respect your choice, and I want you to know that we’ll do everything we can to support you, no matter how hard it gets.”
Leo’s eyes widened and watered as he put his head back a bit and saw Yuichi’s tears close to his own. His mouth pressed into a thin line, and his breathing quickened slightly. He occasionally raised his eyebrows, as if trying to process the pain, but he said nothing.
Then he looked at April. His gaze was filled with both understanding and sadness, a silent acknowledgment of her words and his own feelings. He nodded slightly, barely noticeable, but it was enough to show that he felt and appreciated her input, without having to say anything.
After the events of the evening, the group decided to just use a portal to go home. They were all very tired from the ordeal and from all the interaction. April went to her own apartment, and Leo and Yuichi went to theirs. When Leo and Yuichi went home… nothing was said for a while, just silence… They both had their meals and got ready for bed.
When they both started lying in bed… what was going to happen?