Millionaire ~Kelis ft. André 3000

(Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Some years ago...)

"Is this the right place?" Sakuma asked, peering out of the window of his boyfriend's car at the rather dilapidated apartment block.
"That's the address he gave me." Genda replied, turning off the engine.

Kidou took a cautious look at his friends, the rickety steel steps up to the first floor hardly seemed safe and the railings were rusted and bent out of shape. "Well...I'm sure it's nicer on the inside then out..." he said diplomatically.
"Which one is his?" Sakuma asked as the group reached the first floor, stairs still intact luckily. Genda was about to answer when he was interrupted by a man outside of the end apartment, screaming his head off and banging the apartment door. Not the best impression that could have been given on top of what already seemed a less-than-ideal place to live in Kidou's opinion. He shook his head, he needed to remember of course, that it must not be easy to find a nice place to live for a cheap price here. He had to remember, not everyone was as lucky as him.

"He said...first floor, first door on the left. Winky-face emoji. I guess that means this one." Genda said, voice raised over the man's wails of 'let me in!'. The apartment looked the same as all the rest, except there was a small collection of plants on the floor outside, cats painted on the pots. "Are you sure this is right?" Sakuma asked. Fudou was hardly the kind of person to own potted plants that actually looked alive, even less so to own ones so cute, and even less likely was he the kind of person to have a sign that read 'no junk mail please' in cursive calligraphy. No, Fudou was far more likely to write something more...creative.
"Maybe he's got a roommate?" Genda reasoned, ringing the doorbell.

It was possible, after all whenever Fudou decided to visit his friends at university he didn't speak much about his life, preferring instead to revel in his friend's misery at all the assignments they had to do, since he almost always managed to show up at the busiest of times. Kidou was doubtful, Fudou didn't seem like the kind of person who'd be on board with having a roommate, though he supposed it must make it easier for rent. Before Kidou could entertain the idea however, the door opened, revealing a tall, beautiful woman with platinum blonde hair and grey eyes. "Can I help you?" She inquired, a hint of an accent hidden under her soft voice. The men were a little taken aback, she looked like a supermodel, Sakuma and Genda looked at each other in disbelief. Kidou wasn't sure where to look, the woman was in a floor-length sheer black nightgown, one shoulder having slipped down exposing her pale skin. There were little white cat hairs all over it though. 'That explains the pots.' He cleared his throat "Sorry to bother you, does a Fudou Akio live here?"

The woman opened her mouth to answer before someone else spoke. "Who's at the door Éva?" another woman's voice asked. The second woman walked up to the door, she was just as tall as the other, with brown skin, tightly coiled black hair and an eyebrow piercing. In a strange match- up she was wearing sweatpants and a black crop top that said 'bite me' in pink letters, again, covered in cat hair. "They're looking for Fudou." The blonde woman explained.
"We probably have the wrong number." Kidou interjected, not wanting to bother the women any more than necessary.

The other woman folded her arms "Akio?" She asked before having what looked like a lightbulb moment "You must be his friends!" She beamed, clapping her hands together. The blonde woman smiled too, although it was much softer "Oh? Yes that makes sense."
"We've heard so much about you guys, you must be Sakuma-kun." The tan woman grinned at the eyepatched one. "And you." she turned to back to Kidou "You've got to be Kidou-San, Akio talks about you a lot." She remarked with a tone that the aforementioned man really did not appreciate. 'What's he been saying about me? And Kidou-SAN?'
She turned to the final of the three men, a questioning look on her face "And you...sorry the name escapes me." She answered and Sakuma suppressed a small chuckle. Éva spoke up, her voice delicate and sultry "I think he's only mentioned you as 'Sakuma's boyfriend'." She motioned with air quotes, Genda just shook his head "That sounds about right."

"Sorry, so he doesn't live here?" Kidou interjected, still a little concerned about being gossiped about. The black-haired woman nodded before walking out of the doorway and pointing down the corridor, at the apartment the man was still yelling outside of. "He lives there."

As if on cue, the door swung open. The man staggered back coming face to face with an extremely pissed-looking brunette.
"What. The fuck. Do. You. Want." He seethed through gritted teeth.
Kidou sighed heavily, bringing a hand down his face.
Fudou did the same action and shook his head at the pathetic man on the floor "For the last time, you don't live here." He leaned over and poked the man's chest then pointed next door "You. Live. There. It's not rocket science." he mocked, placing his hands on his hips and straightening up. Then man stared up at him before silently walking over to his own apartment, unlocking the door and closing the door behind him. The brunette dusted off his hands before turning around, about to go back inside when he noticed his friends down the hall. "Oh hey, I was wondering when you'd show up!"
He waved at the two women "Hey Celine, hey Éva."
"Morning Fudou." They both answered. Kidou turned to them and politely thanked them before walking over to the other, his friends in tow.

"This is a nice surprise." Fudou said as his friends reached him.
"We messaged to say we were coming down." Kidou retorted, taking in the other's appearance; he'd grown his hair out since they last met-which was over a year ago now for Kidou compared to his two friends who had seen him just two weeks prior-Kidou was just glad he was no longer sporting a Mohawk.
"You did? Oh my bad I was asleep." Fudou replied, bringing a hand up to ruffle his hair, looking as though he'd just woken up. His hair looked, rather...fluffy Kidou thought.

"Also you said it was the first one on the left." He said, taking his eyes off Fudou's hair.
Fudou shrugged his shoulders "Yeah."
"You're the last." The other stated
"Nooo." Fudou stepped out of his apartment and made L's with his fingers "See? My apartments the first on the left."
Kidou stared at him in disbelief "No it's- no yours is the last apartment, those women are the first-"
"Wait I'm totally confused." Sakuma interrupted, looking at his own hands "Whose left are you-"
Fudou crossed his arms "-my left, obviously. Jeez I would expect you to guys to know your left from your right by now, aren't you all in Uni?"
Kidou shook his head "That would be our right-"
"-yeah well it's my-"
"You could've just given us the number." Genda interrupted the two, really just wanting to go inside already.

Fudou smirked at him "Whatever, point is you're here now. Come on in to my humble abode." he mocked, waving his friends in. Kidou stepped in first, taking off his shoes and frowning. He stooped down, straightening up the pile of shoes that were strewn across the genkan before feeling a tap on his shoulder. Sakuma smiled at him and took off his own shoes, following Fudou down the hallway.
"It's not your house Yuuto!" Fudou yelled, now obscured from his friend's view. Kidou straightened up and sighed, turning to Genda who was untying his shoelaces "I was just trying to help." He huffed but Genda just shook his head "I don't think he wants it."

It was small. Confined. Only three rooms; kitchen-living room, bathroom and a small bedroom. But it was just enough for Fudou.

There was a potted plant on the kitchen windowsill, Kidou inspected it, surprised to find that it was, indeed real. 'He must have only bought you recently, good luck staying alive my friend.'
"I brought some fresh vegetables with me." Kidou said, trying to find a free space on the kitchen counter to put the bag down. He picked up what looked like a very burnt baking tray before depositing it in the sink before setting the bag down in its place. "Since I won't have you just living off instant ramen for the rest of time." He remarked. In fact that item filled up the kitchen cupboards.

Fudou just rolled his eyes as his other two friends sat down on a worn-out sofa "What do you guys wanna drink? I've got beer." He asked and Sakuma nodded his head "Yes, beer."
"I'm good thanks." Genda stated, taking the opportunity to sling his arm around his boyfriend's neck. Fudou smirked "Still doing that couply shit I see."
"Yep, since it annoys you so much." Sakuma grinned.
"I don't suppose you have any green tea?" Kidou asked, walking over to join the others.
"Nope. You can have beer like the rest of us Yuuto. And you can't use the excuse of lectures this time, it's the weekend." Fudou remarked with his trademark smile. Kidou was too tired to argue.

"You have some interesting neighbours." Kidou remarked, beer half drunk.
"You mean Cel and Éva? Yeah they're great, they're like my besties here, my bitches." Fudou replied smugly, leaning back with his hands behind his head.
"Right." Kidou said, unimpressed "But I was actually referring to that guy."
"Oh him. Yeah he's an asshole, his girlfriend finally got tired of him and dumped his ass last night, I heard all of it. Walls are pretty thin here." Fudou recounted. "It was very messy."

The brunette shook his head, slapping his hands down on his thighs "Anyway who cares about that, what've you guys been up to?" Fudou asked, although the question was more so directed at Kidou, they hadn't spoken in six months, hadn't seen each other for even longer...
Things between the two were...complicated.
In fact, Kidou had only agreed to see the brunette if his friends came too.
"Same old, same old." Sakuma stated, having moved himself onto his boyfriend's lap just to piss off their host.
"And what about you Yuuto? Regretting medicine yet?" Fudou asked cheekily, the other folded his arms "Of course not, it's a very enriching whilst challenging degree." Fudou rolled his eyes obnoxiously, much to Kidou's chagrin "I knew you'd say that."

"Kazemaru good?" He asked suddenly and Kidou gave him a strange look.
"Yeah he's all right." Genda replied, not wanting to bring up drama- but Fudou had  other ideas, he raised his eyebrow "He's not still- you know?" Kidou looked between the two, even more confused now. "Uh huh. It's a whole mess." Sakuma practically mouthed to Fudou, feeling kind of bad for excluding Kidou- but it was supposed to be a secret after all. Fudou leaned back, a smirk on his face "What an idiot."

Kidou wanted to ask what they were talking about, but Fudou had moved the conversation on to Sakuma and Genda's blossoming relationship- the conversation turning into more of a match between Sakuma and Fudou on who could make the other more pissed. Kidou wasn't even listening. He didn't like being excluded. 'Well you're the one who decided to isolate yourself...' he felt a strange feeling in his chest- was it jealousy? How could he be jealous, after all he was supposed to be focusing on his studies and that was all, he didn't have time for Fudou's nonsense. No, Fudou would only distract him.

Like he was distracting him now. Kidou watched him, watched the way his hair moved when he talked, the way he clutched his belly when he laughed so hard you could see the tooth he chipped three years ago, he had a bar across his top of his right ear and Kidou couldn't stop staring at it. It was absurd but that tiny little thing was the most distracting. Kidou just couldn't stop thinking about it, how much it suited Fudou.

Kidou looked around at the place Fudou was calling home. Their lives were so different, Kidou's life was a far-cry from this small one-bed apartment, but it seemed like Fudou was actually living; and yes Fudou only had cheap beer and instant ramen, and yes he looked tired and yes his genkan was a mess and his tatami mats were all scratched up, but that didn't matter. Money wasn't everything. What was the point in working insanely hard, to live up to his father's expectations, if it meant he barely saw his friends? If it took a toll on his relationships? It it was the reason he and Fudou had grown so far apart? Who was he doing this all for- clearly not himself?
If he was honest, he was little jealous of Fudou.

(Wednesday, 2pm)
(Fudou)
I used to think that having money was the best thing in the world, after all it buys you things, provides opportunities, allows you to experience things that I could only dream of as a kid. I used to be so jealous of people like Kidou who seemed to have it all. But I learnt at a young age how wrong I was. Money only causes problems.

I stared at the papers gathered all around me; I'd kept these hidden from Kidou for months now, he didn't know these existed and I'd always hoped it would stay that way. At first I thought if I just ignored them they'd go away, but that was stupid. I can't ignore them now.
I have to deal with it.

I rummaged around the mess that was 'my side' of the bedroom-Kidou always keeps his side so meticulously clean- to find my laptop. Just as I grabbed it I heard my phone buzz, I looked at the screen to see a text from Kidou. Hello Fudou, just to let you know I have to stay late at work today so I will not be back until around 7:00pm. Please have dinner ready.
I sighed heavily at the message, he always texts so formally.

I'd been laid off recently and am currently looking for jobs, but I'm really struggling and it's definitely just adding more pressure to the situation.
It's not like we don't have money, Yuuto's got savings but that money's strictly for emergencies; I don't have any savings, unsurprising since I was practically living pay check to pay check before Kidou and I got together. And all the money Kidou earns from the job he hates so much goes towards paying off his university debts (for a degree he didn't even get to finish) and for the questionable financial decisions I've made, since his father refuses to help now that we're dating- there's other reasons too but I know that's the main one.

What's more is that I get so lonely, it's so boring being stuck at home all day, I try talking to my friends but of course they're working too. I have way too much free-time where I just sit and do absolutely nothing, except just worry about money. I honestly hate it.

I don't want to be a burden, I hate being a burden. And although he never says it I know that's what Kidou thinks of me. I've got to start being independent again, paying my way through. I shook my head and turned on my laptop, I needed to borrow some money. Kidou never borrowed money but I mean what's the harm in it right? Just need a little cash to settle of some of my bills and then I'll just pay it off later, no big deal. Then Kidou won't have to worry about me. He wouldn't even find out. I found the site I always use and put my details in. I stretched and looked outside, it was a pretty nice day, I should get some vitamin D.

I was just walking down the street, nowhere particular in mind when "Akio!" I heard someone shout, I turned around to see someone running up to me "Celine!" I said happily as she stopped in front of me before punching my arm and smirking "Ow what was that for?" I asked but she just stuck her tongue out at me, I noticed she'd dyed her hair bright blue, complimenting her skin perfectly, she'd also had added another piecing to her ear and a nose ring.

"What happened to you dude you like disappeared?" I just shrugged, her tone instantly changed "You okay? You look kinda down." I didn't want to tell her what was happening so I just said it was 'one of those days'. She put an arm around my shoulder, a grin on her face "Well in that case let's go do something to cheer you up. Oh I know, let's go to the gaming plaza, it'll be just like old times!"
I gave her a look "Aren't we a little old for that?"
She ruffled my hair playfully "Aw come on, it'll be fun! Besides, school's not over for  another couple of hours so we'll have the place to ourselves. Come on Aki!" She teased.
I pushed her lightly "Hey, what have I told you about calling me that?" She stuck her tongue out at me again. I smirked "Fine then, let's go, Mayoko."
"Call me Celine dammit!"

We got to the plaza and it was empty aside from some 'delinquent wannabes' on the DDR machine but I scared them away. We did DDR for a bit and played some arcade games before trying out the grapple machines. Celine pressed her face up to one of the machines excitedly "Ooh this one does Pusheen merch. I've gotta try it!"
I laughed at her "You're like a little kid."
"It's not for me, I wanna get a plushie for Éva, she loves this crap!" She exclaimed and I just let her go at it. I wandered around for a bit before seeing one machine that had electronics in it. I peered inside 'maybe if I win something good I can sell it and get some cash'
I wasn't successful, no matter how hard I tried. Celine walked over to me, a plushie tucked under her arm, I just sighed "Shit's rigged."

"I know where we can make some real money" I heard her say, I turned around, seeing a sign at the back of the arcade that said '18+'
'Is this really a good idea?'
'You could score some quick cash though, besides, you need to let off some steam...'
I listened to the second voice, following Celine across the room and down the dark stairwell. This was all very familiar.
Once inside she went straight over to an empty machine and sat down calling me over. I looked around-this place was bringing back bad memories.

I walked over to the slot machine and watched as she put her money in before  pulling the handle "Come on come on, show me the money...aw dammit, I was so close!" She yelled before looking at me and smiling "Why don't you have a go?" I thought for a second, one try couldn't hurt, and I could surprise Kidou with some well-deserved cash. "Okay fine, just one turn..."

Two hours later I sighed and leaned back in my seat "Tough luck." Celine said from behind me, I looked up at her "I really thought I had it that time." I answered before standing up, I stopped at a thought "Hey Cel?"
"Yeah?"
"Um, the jackpot's a lot now right?" I asked calculating the numbers in my head, she just nodded. I looked back at the machine- this could be my chance. I hastily dug in my pockets for some more change and placed it steadily in the machine before pulling the handle."Come on come on come on..." I whispered crossing my fingers.

I held my head in my hands, so much for that "Let's just go." I said getting up to leave, just as we were about to exit there was a cry of praise "Get in!" I looked over to see a man standing by the machine opposite mine, money cascaded out into the tray below, a lot of it. "We're coming back after." I stated before finally heading out.

"Urgh I need a ciggie." Celine said leaning up against the wall, she pulled out a packet of cigarettes from her bag before lighting one and taking a long drag, blowing the smoke in my face. I remembered the familiar smell and sighed "I thought you were quitting Cel?" I asked and she shrugged her shoulders "I'm trying." She huffed and I knew exactly what she meant. I watched the smoke billow out of her mouth, the cloud flowing gently in the wind before disappearing, she gazed up at the sky. "I'm always trying. Always trying but it's never good enough. I wish I could be more than this."

I stood next to her in silence, just listening to her, just watching.
"I wish it hadn't happened this way, wish it didn't have to be so fucked up." She turned her head slightly, eyes locking with mine. "Do you know what I wanted to be when I grew up?"
I shook my head.
"An Astronaut. I wanted to go to space, see the stars." She breathed out, a cloud of smoke swirling around her. She turned her head back, looking at the floor "But that was never going to happen for someone like me, not here. Everyone used to tell me the same thing, you should be a model, after all you're so pretty and different looking." She scoffed "Some called me pretty whilst others called me a freak. I always knew I was different, different from all my other Japanese school friends, my skin was darker, my hair was thicker and curlier- my mum explained what it meant when people called me 'hafu', but she said my differences weren't a bad thing, I just had to love myself. That wasn't easy though.

Eventually I listened to those voices, my mum was hesitant, she didn't want it to interfere with school but at the same time she thought it'd help me with my confidence, so I started modelling and it was fun at first. I was getting acknowledged, getting praised, getting paid for my differences. But then one day, everything was ruined. My agent took me aside and told me about this job he booked for me. It was basically a lingerie shoot even if my agent wouldn't call it that, and obviously I said hell no because I was only seventeen! But my ass of an agent basically manipulated me into it, he said it didn't matter because I looked older than my age anyway, it was a one-time thing, it was good money, and then when I still said no he said that if I refused I'd 'start to find it difficult to get gigs'.
I went through with it even though I hated it.

I didn't tell my mum obviously. But as my luck would have it someone from school found the pics and started spreading them around school. I was already the weird hafu kid but now I was a 'slut' too, my final year of school was the worst year I think I've ever had. The bullying was worse than ever and unfortunately I wasn't a badass like I am now back then." She laughed but it wasn't genuine. She looked down at her shoes. "People said the worst kinds of things to me, all my so-called friends stopped hanging out with me, people would post my pictures on forums, someone even printed them out and put them in people's lockers. That's when the school intervened and called my mum in. I'd wanted to transfer when it first happened but mum said it would hurt my grades, and obviously I didn't want to tell her I was getting bullied because I didn't want her to get upset; and I couldn't tell her why either. When she got told she freaked out. It didn't help that the school blamed me, as if I wanted my pics spread or something. She transferred me the next week, we even had to move town because she didn't want people to find out.

It didn't matter in the end because I couldn't get enough to get into a decent university anyway." She sighed heavily "I thought maybe I could continue with modelling, but it just wasn't enough- I had an interesting look but not a profitable one- that's what they told me. I didn't care, I'd lost faith in the industry anyway." She let the smoke seep out of her mouth before speaking again "I tried to get a job, but it was really difficult, I was struggling. I started stripping to earn the extra cash; and while I don't want to do it forever it's working for me right now, I enjoy it, when I'm there I'm in control of my body, and they've got good policies to protect us girls so I know I'm safe, if a guy starts acting up or saying anything inappropriate to us they kick him out and ban him, it's not a bad gig- and besides, it's where I met Éva." I saw a smile etch onto her features.

"And thus, Celine was born. Unlike Mayoko, Celine is strong and independent, she doesn't take shit from anyone and she's in control of her body. Celine's just the best." Her smile faded "My mum thinks I'm a waitress- which is technically half true. I work as one during the week." She pulled the plushie out of her bag, just staring at it. I took that as my cue to speak. I leaned back against the wall, Celine was the only person I felt comfortable talking about my life with.
"My life's always been shit, it's a miracle I even got into such a prestigious school like Teikoku, and even then life just couldn't leave me the hell alone. Everything went downhill from there- but you already know about all of that. And then my friends left me behind to go to university. And it always bugged me, made me feel like I wasn't good enough for them you know?"

I huffed, kicking a drink can "Urgh I don't wanna talk about depressing shit anymore, I just wanna go win some money you know?"
I put my hands in my pocket and felt around to see how much money I had left, I opened up my wallet and looked inside in dismay. I needed some more money. I spotted a cash machine nearby.

I came back and stuffed the money in my wallet before turning back to her.
"You're not gonna use all of that are you?" She asked and I just nodded "I just want to try a few more times then I'll be done, I promise."
"Fudou, I think you've had enough today, I mean you've spent quite a bit already, maybe you should just go home now and give up." I tried to process her words but I just couldn't make them stick, I just needed a few more tries, just a few more. "But I'm so close, I can feel it."
She rested her hand on my shoulder, concern in her eyes "Fudou, enough. Let's just go home." I looked down at the cigarette she was holding in her hand, I needed something to calm me down.

"Give me one Celine." I asked, she looked down at the object before eyeing me sharply "You said you qui-"
"Just give me one already." I snapped and she raised her eyebrows before reaching into her bag and handing me one as well as her lighter. I lit it feeling all of those years coming back to me "Won't that goody-two-shoes boyfriend of yours get mad?" I just shook my head, I could just brush my teeth and change my clothes, he would never have to know. I took another long drag and felt all my muscles loosening up, it felt so good but I knew it was so wrong. 'It's just a one- time thing, I can stop whenever I want, I'm in control.'

The grip on my arm became tighter "I'm serious Akio. Don't go back in there."
I shook her off me "You're not the boss of me."
"Kidou wouldn't like it you know." She retorted and I rolled my eyes "He ain't the boss of me either."
"Oh my god Akio will you just stop, okay it was fun for a little bit but now it's getting too much, can't you see that!" She pleaded, trying to grab my sleeve but I swatted her away "I'm not a baby Cel, I can do what I want, and if I want to play just a bit longer then I will. You're the one who suggested this, if anything it's your fault, you know what I'm like with this-with this stuff!" I yelled, she looked hurt and I felt a bit bad for shouting but-
"You're always blaming other people you know? You always do this Akio! You can never take responsibility! Well, I'm not having it, I've tried to tell you and you don't want to listen, so I'm going home okay?" She retorted, stubbing our her cigarette. I kissed my teeth "Fine, go then! Go back to your slut life see if I care!" I yelled, her face crumpled 'Shit, I shouldn't have said that.'
She sniffed and glared at me "Whatever."

I played on the machines alone. I won a couple of times but they were such measly amounts and I ended up gambling all of that away anyway. I lost track of time. It was only when my stomach growled that I realised how late it was. It was 8pm and sure enough I had a bunch of missed calls and texts from Kidou.

I hastily rushed home and opened the front door only to be greeted by an extremely pissed off looking boyfriend. "Heyyyyyy-"
"Where the hell have you been? I was worried and you didn't answer my calls, I had no idea where you were or if you were okay I just-" he stopped "You smell of smoke." He said and I scratched my head nervously, "Y-yeah well a friend of mine is a smoker so..."
He shook his head "But you smell like smoke, it's really strong. Have you been smoking Akio?" I blinked quickly, dammit, there was no way to get out of this one.

"Don't lie to me Fudou, tell me the truth." He commanded and I sighed heavily "Alright I did okay, but-"
"-You've been hanging around with that woman again haven't you?"
"Hey, that woman has a name you know!" I stated back, crossing my arms. He rolled his eyes "She's such a bad influence on you Akio, I've said it a thousand times." He seethed and I gave a strained laugh "Oh come on give me a little credit, I'm a bad influence on her too!"
"It's not a competition- that's besides the point- you promised me you would stop smoking. You're always breaking your promises!" He said angrily.
"It was just one okay! Besides it was only to help me calm down after-" I stopped suddenly. "After what? What Fudou?" He asked and I shook my head furiously "Nothing." I scooted around him, practically running upstairs.

Kidou followed me, trapping me in the bedroom and stood, arms folded, by the door. "What's going on Akio? Tell me. And don't lie, I can tell when you're lying."
He was right, we'd been together long enough for him to know that. I took a deep breath and walked over to him, looking him straight in the eyes "Fine...don't me mad okay, promise?"
He nodded his head.
"Okay so I kinda did a little betting and..." I saw his eyes widen, an angry glare in his eyes "Fu-"
"Hey you promised you wouldn't get mad!" I yelled and he became more calm, urging me to continue.

"I only had a dabble on the fruit machines alright?"
"And how much, exactly, is a 'dabble'?!" He asked angrily, I stuffed my hands into my pockets. "Well I kinda...lost track of how long I was in there for-But it wasn't my fault! Celine was the one who..." I stopped, remembering my friend's words. Not that it seemed to matter to Kidou. "You lost track of how long you were in there for?!" He shook his head furiously, his dreadlocks swinging about "How much. How much of our money did you gamble away?" He asked quietly and I gulped, here it was. I stayed silent for a while  "I...."
He held his hand out to me, he knew what I was going to say.

Tense moments went past without either of us saying a word until my boyfriend spoke up "Well you clearly didn't learn from your father then huh Fudou?" He said coldly.

"What?!"
I clenched my fists "I'm nothing like my dad he was a pathetic, useless piece of crap!"
"You're turning into him Fudou-" He said, his expression hidden from view behind his glasses by the evening light that streamed through the window. I slapped my chest with my hand, feeling it tighten. "I'm not! I'll never be anything like that worthless excuse of a father I'll tell you that right now!" My heart burned in my chest, how could he, of all people say something like that? After everything he knows I've gone through?

I felt the anger boil up inside of me but there was something else too, was it fear?
'What if Yuuto's right, what if I really am turning into him? I mean look at me, I had one go on the slot machine and I completely lost it, who knows how much money I wasted away! I couldn't even stop myself! Dad was a gambler and now I'm gonna become one too!'

I couldn't listen to this "You're wrong Kidou!" I shouted and stormed away from him, at least I tried to. I wasn't looking where I was going and ended up tripping, landing on the floor in a groaning heap. "Fudou are you okay-" Kidou stopped and I heard something being lifted up behind me "What's this?" He mumbled and my eyes widened in panic. I grabbed the box out of his hands before he could open it "It's nothing!"

'Why do you keep saying that, now he's gonna know it's something!'
He looked at me, trying to take the box off me "What are you hiding from me Fudou? I'm so tired of this."
I sighed, the truth would come out sooner or later, it'd be better for him to just know. I handed it over to him without and word and he opened it. He read the contents carefully, disbelief in his crimson eyes, he looked at me with a mixture of shock and sadness "Why...have you been hiding these?..."

"I'm just trying to be financially independent! You know how much I hate fucking...relying on people dammit!" I cried out, that was the one thing my mother had taught me- you must be strong Akio, you can only rely on yourself.
I lowered my head "I didn't want you to know because I didn't want to put more pressure on you. I can't be relying on others to fix my mistakes."

He just stared at me before letting out a noise of disbelief "You realise that hiding this from me has me more stressed? We're already in the shit with all our current bills, now this too? Fudou you can't handle all of this by yourself!" He exclaimed, trying to grab hold of my arms but I pushed him away. "Yes I can! And besides I've already paid most of them off." I retaliated and he looked at me in confusion "But you don't have a job, and no savings." I but my lip, knowing this was going to have to come out sooner or later.
"I...I borrowed some money from this loan company to settle the bills and-"

"You borrowed money from a loan company?! Fudou those guys charge thousands in interest-everyone knows that! You borrow ¥10,000 and they want you to pay them ¥5000 on top of it, then you have to borrow again to pay them back and the interest just keeps on going up and up until you end up thousands in debt! What were you thinking?" He yelled and I shrunk into myself. 'You're so stupid, how could you not see that? You're a smart guy, what did you just think it would magically solve itself?!'

"And you didn't even bother discussing this with me first you just went straight into it. Lied to me all this time, hid this from me; that's not what you're supposed to do in a relationship!" He got up quickly and headed to the door "Yuuto I'm sorry, I didn't know!" He whipped around "I'm not angry about that! I'm angry about you keeping secrets- you've always done this, ever since we were kids, always trying to solve problems by yourself, but you can't! I thought you'd realised that by now...." He looked at the floor for a moment before looking back at me "You can't keep doing that." He said sadly before leaving.

I rushed after him "I know! I know it's just-I can't help it!" I yelled, chasing him downstairs, I grabbed his arm and he turned to face me. He looked devastated.
"Yuuto-" I tried but he removed my hand, eyes glued to the floor, his voice low and defeated "I don't want to talk. Please, just...I need some space..." was all he said before walking off into the kitchen, shutting the door behind him.

Everything was going wrong, all because of money.

((Oof, I know I should be working on the latest chapter but I really wanted to go back and redo this one since it's been bugging me.
Also I know Fudou's dad's issues weren't due to gambling technically but I took some creative liberties.
As always, I added in some extra backstory-so sorry for how long this chapter ended up being!

Quick shout out: don't forget to check out works by the amazing CityOfFragments ))