Okay, here comes the second part! It is Kazuki's point of view, third person narrative...ish.
Disclaimer...uh. Doesn't that word say enough? Haha...

If days are long, what are nights? Kazuki thought to himself on the counter of HONKY TONK.
A brownish reflection stared back at him from his cup of café au lait.

Café au lait. He wondered why he ordered that particular drink that day, instead of his usual ice coffee.
It brought back childhood memories…which was something he treasured more than anything until that day.
At the moment, they were the last thing he wanted to remember.
And yet, it was what he had held on for so long. Too long.

He stared at his reflection without really seeing it.
All he could see was…Jubei.

xoxox

“Kazuki!”
Jubei when he was still a kid, running around…those fun and innocent times when they both couldn’t care less about the world.
“…Kazuki?”
A slightly older and troubled face, eyebrows furrowed in concern for some trouble Kazuki got into.
“Kazuki…”
Jubei, almost as tall as he is now, but not yet as mature or thoughtful…
“……”
A cold, impassive glare when they met again in the Infinite Castle…
“Kazuki.”
And finally, the first time he smiled a true smile after the fight.

All of these things, which were only Kazuki’s privileges until…
Until when?
His sight…which he wasn’t paying attention to anyway…blurred.
Sure, it was only today that he was told, but it should have been going on for pretty long.

Jubei, his childhood friend, his protector, his first love…
The kind boy who gave him café au lait when he complained black coffee was too bitter.
The person who helped him through practically his whole life and returned his love…

Who, just today, had declared freedom from the last part.
“Kazuki…I am sorry.”
His voice still rang in Kazuki’s ears.
“I love…… I cannot…”
“It’s okay.”
How Kazuki had to try not to make his voice shake.
“I understand, Jubei. Sorry for all this trouble…”
And how the cold winter wind slapped him hard when he stepped outside of Jubei’s apartmet.

He didn’t want to go back to the empty coldness of his own apartment.
No one…not even a thing waited for him there. He didn’t need to stay there long anyway…because he spent time with Jubei.
Now that he was gone, Kazuki felt alone. Alone in this city overflowing with people.

xoxox

When Kazuki came out of his trance, he noticed that everyone was already gone…except for Paul.
“Paul-san, are you closing already?”
“Already? It’s 9:30. It’s about time I close.”
Kazuki glanced at the clock, which actually did point to 9:30.
“I’m so sorry I stayed so long… I’ll go now.”
Kazuki stood up to leave, but he was so reluctant in doing so. Paul noticed his heavy footsteps and said in a warm voice.
“You can stay here if you want.”
“But aren’t you closing?”
“I always leave the door open. In case a lost kid needs a place to stay.”
“But…”
“Just don’t turn the heater on. I’m already going bankrupt because of the retrieval agents’ debts.”
Paul left before Kazuki could protest any further.

Kazuki was left alone in HONKY TONK, confused and a little surprised. Did he really mean that, or was he just trying to be nice?

But then, did he want to go back home?
No, Kazuki concluded. No matter how freezing cold the winter might became, HONKY TONK was so much warmer than his empty apartment.
At least, in HONKY TONK, he could remember who he was…and his role he had to play.
In his apartment, he couldn’t remember who he was, why he existed, and his importance…if he had any.

So he lied down on one of the couches, and let the freezing night detach his thoughts from his mind.

After some time, he heard the creaking of the door opening.
A short glance, but that was enough. No way you can mistake that sea urchin head.
Kazuki pretended to be asleep. He didn’t want to talk to Ban, which only meant trouble.
So he felt like his heart will stop beating when Ban walked straight towards him, and…touched his face.

A shudder. Kazuki didn’t like it at all. Ban felt too much like Jubei.
The person he hated for the person he loved.
If he tried hard enough, he could almost imagine Jubei there, with his caring smile…
But it was so hard to completely wipe out that taunting smirk outlined by black spikes from his mind.

Tears formed behind his closed lids, but Ban was the last person who he would cry in front of. Especially when he was pretending to be asleep.

He was half relieved and half lonely when Ban left him a few minutes later.
Relieved, because he hated Ban. Yes, Kazuki hated him.
Lonely because, as reluctant as he was to admit it, he could not deny that he saw Jubei through Ban. He actually felt that he belonged somewhere again.

Only that it was not supposed to be here in HONKY TONK, and it was not supposed to be Ban.

Kazuki could only breathe after Ban disappeared to the back of the farthest couch.
And even though Ban fell asleep, Kazuki was forced to stay awake the whole night.

He was afraid of falling asleep and dreaming about Ban, not Jubei.

So, how did you like it? Comments, things I can improve, maybe ideas for future fics? Anything, please...

To clarify some things: Ban and Kazuki both do not exactly like each other at this point...more likely, they hate each other. But that one night somehow attracts them to each other... Lol. Call it winter magic.