barbosa2007 | Divergence - A Kei X Junko Kagiheya fanfic (Reply)

Title: Divergence

Fandom: Kagi no Kakatta Heya

Pairing: Kei x Junko

Genre: Romance (?)

Disclaimer: The characters of Kagiheya belong to Kishi Yusuke and Fuji TV, not me.

Synopsis: Kei and Junko, and the way things could have been.

Love does not begin with a thought. Anatomical mismatch prevents intellectual talons from grasping love as surely as it foils a person who tries to eat soup with a fork. To understand love we must start with feelings.

– Thomas Lewis, “A General Theory of Love”

Whenever Kei is with Junko, he feels like he is shaken out of his comfort zone.

Junko is the first person who praises his brilliance in a heartfelt manner, and tries her best to see that he is rewarded for his troubles. She is also the first person who’s ever really taken an interest in him, and not just in what he can do. She drops in weekly to check on him even when there isn’t a case to solve, claiming that he needs a daily dose of human interaction before he turns into a lock-picking machine.

Kei knows that Junko wishes to be his friend, and maybe even something more; but it is a request which he is unable to reciprocate. He responds to her usual visits by sitting with her as she chats about different issues, some interesting, others trivial, but he rarely does anything else. Locks and keys were a familiar presence to him, but Junko was an unpredictable entity. He was content with fiddling with locks, knowing that as he opened one, he could just move on to unlock the next.

So there Kei remained, imprisoned in a world of his own.

~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~

Sometimes Kei wonders what it would be like to see things through Junko’s eyes. During her visits to his office, she would often mention a point of view which he has never considered, or point out something which he failed to observe. Sometimes it was about a facet of human relations, or just a detail about the confectioneries they ate for tea. She would say it in an offhanded manner like it was second nature to her, but occasionally her words would remain in Kei’s mind for days afterwards.

For Kei, love was not about dramatic confessions or physical intimacy, it was about fascination. Junko opened up his mind’s eye to possibilities he didn’t know existed, and suddenly the world beyond his basement is intriguing again.

One day, when Kei suggests to Junko that they go shop together for a new pair of glasses, Junko almost drops her coffee mug in shock. Kei smiles inwardly, knowing that he doesn’t need a new prescription to see that he wants Junko by his side.