My Warning: "Now is Forever" is copyrighted to Eiffel 65 and their record label, which I don't know, can't remember, point is it's not me, I'm using this without permission and not getting money for it, so I hope I don't get sued. Also, the Slam Dunk characters belong to Inoue-san, and not me, yet again, using without permission with no personal gain other than making people happy. Please don't sue. Doumo arigatou to Rali-chan for editing this.

~~~x~~~

Mitsui stared out across his yard, beyond his road, down the street until his line of vision blurred, the horizon becoming a faint line that merged perfectly with the rosy colors of dawn. He breathed deeply, the light, cool air almost tangibly wet with early morning dew, moisture clinging to his gray sweater and sweatpants. There was always something about dawn; a magnetic force that pulled him out of bed to stumble through the house to his front door, out onto his front porch to watch as the sun greeted a new day. He felt a kinship with everything around him at this point, as if he were sharing something with the earth and sky and the birds that flew overhead. Everything stopped as the sun poked its round, glowing head over the horizon, peeking at the still sleeping world, looking around for anyone that would see it's arrival. Mitsui loved being out here at this moment, when the sky began melting from dark, midnight blue to a lighter blue that almost matched his eyes, while shades of pinks, oranges, red, and purples blended perfectly, guided by the perfect strokes of a master painter. He squinted against the light as the sun moved higher into the sky, its round mass casting wonderfully warm rays across the world, chasing away the villains of the night.

/The past is all that's gone, /

Mitsui sighed. He did this every morning, then was forced to go through the rest of the day with a sense of crushing pain. The dawn gave him a moment to separate himself from everything and enjoy the natural wonder of the sun greeting a new day. But then, the rest of the day was ran through in a blur of colors, shapes, faces, and voices, hardly enough to register in Mitsui's mind. The only thing that ever hit fully in his mind, lately, was a certain brown-eyed, brown-haired, spectacled boy that had been there for him through everything he'd done, all the mistakes he'd made, all the things he regretted, all the actions that he so wished he could take away. He was the one who had finally pulled Mitsui from his unhappy life as a gangster, and he wondered if Kogure Kiminobu would ever know how much he truly meant to him.

/The future is yet to come. /

What did he have to look forward to? Mitsui stretched, sighing deeply, picking up his teacup and sipping the bitter liquid without much thought. His past would always come back to haunt him. The mark of his actions was plain as the day, a scar that marred his chin. He saw people look at that, saw the whispers that were exchanged among them. He knew people were afraid of him, even though he'd long left his gang days behind him, for sake of the trust of Anzai-sensei. Still, some teachers and adults looked as if they'd just as soon see him kicked out of school.

/This moment is all our own.
we should live this way,
just building up our day,
now and forever. /

He saw a figure in the distance, jogging down the sidewalk that ran parallel to his street. Something in the stride reminded Mitsui of someone. He set his cup down on the porch and walked out onto his yard, picking up his newspaper and reading the headlines, glancing up at the figure as it steadily moved closer.

Kogure! Mitsui arched an eyebrow and turned back to his porch, his mind spinning rapidly in circles, trying to figure out what Kogure was doing over here, in his neighborhood.

Mitsui sat down in a wicker chair on his porch, picking his tea up and blowing on the steaming liquid, eyes still trained on the growing figure over the top of his paper. He was exercising, obviously, but this was quite a ways from his house...a long way to jog, for sure. He tilted his head and flipped the page, skimming over the headlines, not really seeing them.

Kogure, to Mitsui's surprise, turned onto his driveway, walking the rest of the distance up to his porch, controlling his breathing as he gazed at Mitsui, his expression unreadable.

"Kon'nichi wa, Min-kun."

"Kon'nichi wa, Mitsui. Ogenki desu ka?

"It's pretty early and I'm awake." Mitsui flashed a ghost of a smile. "What do you think?"

Kogure smiled, his cheeks red from his exertion, and his eyes were tired and bloodshot. It looked as if he hadn't slept well lately. Mitsui felt concern welling up inside of him, and he didn't even bother trying to contain it. These past torturous weeks had been spent with him bottling his emotions and hiding them away in the back of his heart, refusing to acknowledge any of the foreign feelings that were emerging from him. He was emotionally tired, and he let that and his concern show through his eyes.

/We should think about,
what we got right now,
'cause the good things are made up of time. /

"What's wrong, Min-kun?" Mitsui stood, staring down at the slightly shorter boy that stood on his steps, shorter now due to the level of steps he was on. Mitsui reached out as if to touch Kogure, then drew back.

Kogure was watching him earnestly, eyes so soulful that Mitsui thought his heart would break. It was a physical pain to see him so sad, so tired, with something that was obviously killing him inside. But what could he do? If Kogure wouldn't tell him, then there was nothing he could do except be a pillar of strength for him. It was the least he could do, after all Kogure had done for him.

"Mitsui, I'm having a problem..." He paused and looked at the sky, then down at the ground, pulling off his glasses and wiping the lenses with his shirt tail. Mitsui tried to get him to look at him again without touching the brown-haired boy, but Kogure was determined to stare at the wooden porch.

"Kogure...can I do anything to help?"

/Smile to your problems,
leave the past behind.
never forget this. /

Kogure smiled weakly, looking up again to finally meet Mitsui's eyes. "Perhaps, but it's too much to ask of you."

"Min-kun, after all you've done for me in the past, after everything you've endured for me, the least I can do is die for you. You're my best friend, Kogure. I'd go to the edge of the world for you." Mitsui realized he sounded like a bad Shakespearean actor, and blushed deeply, shuffling his feet. "At any rate, just tell me. Nothing can be as bad as you think."

/Find the truth in your soul,
keeping you alive.
going on from minute to minute.
don't shade the future,
with all that's behind.
live for today./

Kogure stared at him thoughtfully, eyes probing, keen, reading him as no other could. They'd known each other so long, been through so much, that to him it seemed that nothing could ever come between them. Kogure's future had always been uncertain, at least in his eyes, but he always thought that Mitsui would be somewhere nearby, just around the corner for him to talk to, his friend. Until recently that's all he wanted. But the past few months his heart had demanded more, and though Kogure had ignored it, some things couldn't be forced away, no matter how hard you wish things could be they way they used to be, simplistic and ideal. But no, his heart and soul rebelled and demanded that Kogure be near Mitsui, now and forever.

"Mitsui, this is more than I could ever ask of you, too much to ever expect you to do. But there's something I need to tell you, before I'm torn in two..."

Mitsui drew his tilted eyebrows together, arms crossed over his chest, not meaning to look so harsh but barely aware that he did. Kogure flinched at his expression and looked down, his eyes looking moist. "You're my best friend, Mitsui, and I want us to remain as such... But, if there's ever a chance we could be more..." He looked up now, gulped, and finished the rest of the sentence in a rush. "I love you, Mit-kun. With all my heart, I've loved you forever, and I know that now. And that's too much to ask of you, to have you love me in return." He cast his eyes down the street. He spoke in a whisper now. "But understand that I never meant to hurt you, and I hope you still want to be my friend."

/The past is all that's gone,
the future is yet to come.
this moment is all our own. /

Mitsui felt something inside him shatter. Probably whatever he'd been using to hold himself and his emotions in. Like a powerful tsunami, he felt everything pour out of him and his muscles turned to jelly. He almost sank to the ground but held himself up, somehow.

"But, Min-kun...what I've done...everything in my past..."

"The past is just that: the past. There's nothing you can do to change it. It's gone. But we're here, now, and I'm telling you; I don't care what you did before. You're who you are today by learning from your mistakes, and I love everything about you. Nothing in your past scares me." There was a pleading look in his eyes, and his hands were clenched in front of him, the tendons and muscles standing out as he tightened them. "Please don't let something you couldn't really help keep you from me."

/We should live this way,
just building up our day,
now and forever. /

Mitsui felt a wash of relief chase away his doubts, his fears, and the look on Kogure's face, the batch of tears that were welling in his eyes and trailing down his red cheeks, sealed it. Mitsui reached out a hand, staring into the brown depths of his best friend. "You're right, of course, Min-kun." When Kogure took his hand, he pulled him close, into a tight hug that threatened to never end. Not that either boy minded. Kogure laid his head on Mitsui's shoulder, a sigh that sent a shudder through his entire slender frame escaping from his lips.

"Remember, Mit-kun, the past is gone. We live in the present, and we should live with every moment in mind. You can't help what you did, and dwelling on it now will do no good."

Mitsui stroked Kogure's soft hair with one hand, kissing his head and resting a cheek against it. "I know, Min-kun. I love you."

Kogure looked up and smiled, his tears gone. "Aishiteru, Mit-kun."

Mitsui lowered his head, touching his lips softly to Kogure's, tightening his arms possessively around his best friend, his mentor, his lover, his acceptor, his soul mate.

/The past is all that's gone,
the future is yet to come.
this moment is all our own.
we should live this way,
just building up our day,
now and forever. /

~~~x~~~

My ending: I didn't use all the song, 'cause I got to the end and there was a lot more left, so I didn't feel like rewriting (me tired), so I figured this would be enough to satisfy you MitKo fans?? I was listening to this softer song by Eiffel 65 and thought of Mitsui and Kogure, and thought, why not?? Add this to my Song fic collection (of which there's one, now two). Anyway, C&C welcome, flame me if you want, but I'll ignore it. Ja~!