If I Only Had the Heart
Title: If I Only Had the Heart [Chapter 4]
Author: carcrashheart_8
Pairings: RyoDa, MaruDa [with more pairings to come]
Rating: R [language, violence, sex]
Summary: Ryo, the class bully, falls in love with the shy transfer student, Ueda. The problem is that Ueda doesn’t say a word and Ryo can’t ever get him to speak. Ryo does all he can to help the boy he loves break out of his shell. But he’s in for the shock of his life when he finds out the reason why Ueda has such a hard time speaking. Will the frequently violent and mean Ryo ever be able to help the passive, good-natured Ueda talk again?
Disclaimer: Title taken from "If I Only Had the Heart" by the Maine
Chapter 4
Ryo sighed to himself softly as he lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He couldn’t get his mind off what had happened the day before and what he had learned about Ueda. Yamapi was right; he should have prepared himself to hear something bad but never in his wildest imagination could he have imagined that Ueda had stop speaking after being beaten by the boy he was in love with.
It just appeared to be one obstacle after another for Ryo.
“And it’s all because of that damn Tanaka! Son of a--fucking--URGH!” Ryo muttered himself, tossing and turning in his bed. He finally decided that he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep so he just got up and dragged himself to his bathroom to brush his teeth and prepare for the day ahead of him.
He splashed cool water on his face and as he wiped it off, he had an idea. Ryo decided that he would go to Ueda’s house and let the other boy know that he was well aware of his past and what kept him from saying a single word. He thought that it was the right thing to do and it might create a different atmosphere between the two of them.
Meanwhile, at Ueda’s house, Maru continued to smile at Ueda while Ueda just looked shocked. Finally, Maru said something.
“It’s been a while, huh, Ueda-kun? I’m surprised you didn’t keep in touch. You know I’ve missed you,” Maru moved closer to Ueda but the shorter boy just looked away and stepped back.
Maru chuckled, “Oh, that’s right--you can’t speak. I guess you took what I said a little too literally, didn’t you?”
Ueda’s cheeks were red but not because he was embarrassed but because he was nervous as hell. He looked around and Maru just came closer to him.
“What’s wrong, Ueda-kun? You’re scared or something? Well--you shouldn’t be. It was all just a simple misunderstanding. You just got so dramatic--acted like you couldn’t talk anymore. But I guess I shouldn’t complain--you’re much cuter when you’re not running your mouth,” Maru moved closer and whispered in Ueda’s ear, causing the other boy to twitch and move back suddenly.
But just as Maru was attempting to take advantage of Ueda’s vulnerable nature, a knock on the door was heard.
Outside, Ryo was standing, seeming very nervous and very unsure of what he was doing in front of Ueda’s house. He checked his hair and his breath before taking a deep breath and knocking again. Finally the door opened and Maru was standing behind it.
“N-Nakamaru?” Ryo asked, looking shocked to see the other boy at Ueda‘s house.
“Oh--hello. What was your name again?” Maru asked with an innocent look on his face.
“It’s Ryo--Nishikido--ahem--Ryo Nishikido,” Ryo replied.
“Ah, that’s right--Nishikido-kun. What brings you here?” Maru smiled.
“Um--is Ueda home? I came to talk to him--to him--is he here?” Ryo looked suspiciously at Maru, and tried to see Ueda from where he was standing.
Maru turned around, “Ueda-kun, it’s for you.”
Maru turned back around and smiled at Ryo who still looked at the taller boy with a suspicious face. He wiped the suspicion off his face when Ueda came up behind Maru, head sunk down and his eyes to the floor.
“H-Hi, Ueda. I--I wanted to talk to you--um, Nakamaru? Can I talk to Ueda--alone?” Ryo asked politely.
Maru nodded, “Oh sure--I was just leaving,” he looked at Ueda who wouldn’t look back at him, “It was nice visiting with you, Ueda-kun. I just wish I could stay a bit longer. Well--we’ll keep in touch. Bye--goodbye, Nishikido-kun.”
Ryo nodded his head, looking serious and watching as Maru walked down the front steps and towards the gate in front of Ueda’s house. When Ryo turned around to face Ueda, Maru looked back at him and scowled a bit. He closed the gate behind him and stood there staring before walking away.
Ryo cleared his throat and began to speak but before he could he looked at Ueda who sounded like he was making some sniffling noises.
“U-Ueda, are you okay? What’s wrong?”
Ueda shook his head and crossed his arms. He wouldn’t look at Ryo and this made the other boy very nervous.
“Ah--okay. What-what I wanted to talk to you about was--I--I--I went back to your hometown yesterday,” he confessed.
Ueda finally made eye contact with him, his eyes sharp and focused on Ryo. He seemed to be outraged about what Ryo had confessed and angry as well.
“Look--I know maybe I shouldn’t have gone but I needed to because I wanted to know why you weren’t able to speak,” Ryo grabbed Ueda’s hand so that the other boy couldn’t walk away, “the truth is,” he paused before blurting out, “I’m in lo--”
“UEDA-KUN!” someone shouted from the gate.
Ueda and Ryo turned to look back and saw Maru smiling and waving, holding a piece of paper in his hand. He opened the gate and ran up the walkway and up to Ueda, subtly pushing Ryo out of the way.
“Here--I just remembered that I didn’t give you my email. Now we can keep in touch--so here,” Maru said while stuffing the piece of paper in the hand that Ryo had been holding. He then smiled and walked away, while Ryo glared at him and Ueda stared at the piece of paper, very confused.
When Maru was gone, Ueda looked at Ryo and tilted his head as a sign for Ryo to continue. Ryo just smiled and shook his head.
“I-It’s nothing,” Ryo said.
Monday morning, Ryo was in a state of depression, staggering to class and looking like he had received the worst news ever. His friends couldn’t get him to reveal what was bothering him and when he was in homeroom, he couldn’t even get up the nerve to look at Ueda who looked somewhat concerned about the other boy.
Ryo just put his head on his desk and faced away from Ueda, with a weird looking smile on his face and his eyes looking cloudy as if he was about to cry. Ueda kept looking over but he couldn’t do anything to get Ryo’s attention. Ryo continued to act like a highly unstable psychiatric patient.
That is, until Yamapi forced him to reveal what was wrong with him, while the two of them were eating lunch, along with Toma and Jin.
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong with you?!” Yamapi stared at Ryo, his hands on the shorter boy’s shoulder like he was attempting to shake him.
“What are you talking about? I’m perfectly fine--fine--fine--FINE!” Ryo faked a smile.
“RYO!” Jin cried.
“WHAT?!” Ryo replied with an angry tone.
“You’re really worrying us--are you still hung up on the whole Ueda thing?” Toma asked, frowning.
“What Ueda thing?” Ryo decided to play dumb.
Yamapi smacked him across the face.
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!” Ryo screamed while rubbing the side of his face.
“Don’t act like you’re not hurting! We’re your friends dammit! NOW--tell us what the fuck is making you so emo!”
Ryo continued rubbing his cheek and scowling before putting his hand down to his side. He took a deep breath and stared off across the field.
“Okay--yeah, I’m still thinking about the whole thing with Ueda. It still really bugs me! I hate feeling like I can’t do anything to make things better. I--I just feel like going back to his hometown and beating the crap out of that Tanaka guy!” Ryo punched his open palm to show his anger.
Yamapi sighed, “You’re not serious, are you?”
“YEAH!” Ryo jumped up from his seat, “LET’S GO! How about today--after school?! Or we can go right now--no one will notice if we skip out,” Ryo looked excited, a complete 180 from the way he was that morning.
“Ryo--”
“Hmm?”
“YOU’RE AN IDIOT!” Yamapi jumped as well, and grabbed the shorter boy from his collar.
“I CAN’T HELP IT! I--I--I can’t help it. It’s just something I need to do,” Ryo looked away, the smile on his face completely wiped away.
“And why is that?” Jin crossed his arms, still sitting down along with Toma.
“Because I--I--I don’t know!” Ryo crossed his arms as well, and huffed, looking like a little kid who was pouting.
“You do to know--we just want to hear you say it,” Toma laughed.
“Yeah, Ryo--tell us why this is so damn important to you,” Yamapi had already let go of the shorter boy and sat down again.
Ryo glared at his friends before mumbling, “Because I like Ueda.”
“Huh?” all three boys put their hands to their ears as a gesture that they wanted Ryo to repeat what he said.
Ryo glared again, “BECAUSE I LIKE UEDA!” he then looked around to hope that no one had heard what he said, luckily for him the only people who heard him were his friends.
Before saying anything, the group paused. They then started making weird noises before busting out laughing.
“WHAT THE HELL’S SO FUNNY?!” Ryo growled.
“Aw--Ryo--we knew it all along. We just thought maybe you were a lot denser than this. Glad you figured it out,” Yamapi laughed.
Jin and Toma nodded in agreement, and Ryo put his hand to his face before sitting back down, blushing like crazy.
“Okay,” Yamapi said.
Ryo looked at him oddly, “What?”
“You wanna go back to Ueda’s town to kick the crap out of that guy? Okay--we’ll be your backup,” Yamapi smiled at his friend.
“Pi--”
“We’ll go too!” Jin waved his hand around like he was volunteering for something.
Toma did the same, laughing and smiling at his friend.
“Yeah we’ll go again this weekend--since--I’ll be killed by my mom if I don’t stay home and do my homework this week,” Toma commented, smiling weakly.
“You guys--I--,” Ryo choked up a bit before looking shocked and saying, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU KNEW IT ALL ALONG?!”
His friends just laughed at him, pointing and grabbing their sides as they almost fell over onto the bleachers.
Ryo felt better after that lunch and was in better spirits by the time he came back to homeroom for the second time. He was in such a good mood, he managed to get himself to ask Ueda to walk home with him. Contrary to before, Ueda was apprehensive about doing so since Ryo had acted like he was embarrassed to be seen with him, the time before.
“Look--I know I acted like a jackass last time--but I assure you that it won’t happen again. Please--just trust me,” Ryo practically pleaded to Ueda from his desk.
Ueda looked at him sympathetically but at the same time he seemed reluctant. He thought about it for a couple of minutes before nervously shaking his head yes.
“GREAT!” Ryo shouted, but realizing his overexcited attitude, he calmed down and replied, “Cool.”
Ueda smiled brightly before turning back to his desk and turning away from Ryo who was in a permanent state of embarrassment.
“Idiot,” Ryo muttered to himself, feeling like he was the stupidest boy on earth.
The school day finally ended and Ryo was more nervous than ever especially since he was finally aware of his feelings for Ueda. But Ueda didn’t seem to notice that the other boy was sweating like a pig and shaking like someone who had forgotten to take his medication.
The two were making their way out of the school gates when someone jumped out in front of them and scared them.
“UEDA-KUN!” Maru smiled, wearing something that did not look like his school uniform.
“Nakamaru,” Ryo growled under his breath, Ueda just blinked out of confusion.
“Oh--Nishikido-kun, you’re here as well,” Maru smiled his big exaggerated smile.
Ryo smiled back but then scowled when Maru looked away and back at Ueda.
“So--Ueda-kun, I was thinking you and I could go to the movies or something--you know, just the two of us--alone,” Maru looked at Ryo when he made the suggestion.
“Actually, Ueda and I were about to go walk home together--so if you excuse us--” Ryo tried to get Ueda to move but Maru stepped in.
“I think we should let Ueda-kun make the decision--Ueda-kun, would you rather spend the afternoon with me or--with Nishikido-kun?”
Ueda looked a bit scared and before he could answer, Ryo’s friends came over.
“Ryo--we’re gonna go to Pi’s house and hang out for a bit, you wanna come?” Jin asked.
Yamapi looked at Maru and his eyes got big, “Hey--aren’t you Nakamaru? That guy who--”
“Yep, I’m Nakamaru Yuichi--er--we met when they came back home to visit,” he told Ueda, who looked at everyone weird.
They all seemed to be staring at the quiet boy and this just made him feel uncomfortable. He opened his mouth but just closed it and hurried off on his own, in the direction of his house.
Ryo grunted, “Son of a--”
“You know--that was a bit rude,” Maru interrupted.
“You’re telling me,” Yamapi added, looking after Ueda who was still within plain view.
“I meant you people interrupting me when I was talking to my friend, Ueda-kun,” Maru scowled.
Ryo choked a bit, “Your friend? Um--last time I heard, you ‘barely knew the guy’.”
“I--I--I was underestimating our relationship, I actually knew U-Ueda-kun quite well--we were childhood friends. I’ve known him since I was a kid,” Maru looked at Ryo straight in the eyes and maintained his composure.
“Uh-huh--” Ryo bit his lip, “I’ve actually been meaning to ask you--”
“Yes?”
“What the hell are you doing here anyways?” Ryo asked, with a weird glare on his face.
“Excuse me?” Maru glared right back.
“Yeah, I found it odd that the day after you come out of nowhere to tell us the whole story about Ueda’s inability to talk, you show up at his house when I show up. Don’t tell me that wasn’t planned or something?”
Maru’s eye twitched a little bit, but then he calmly replied, “It was nothing, really. When you showed up, I just--got reminded about the friend I had lost when he moved away from our little town. I managed to track him down and I just came to pay a visit--and while I was down here, I thought I’d stay a couple of days. I have family nearby.”
“‘Stay a couple of days’? Don’t you have school or something?” Ryo argued.
“I had my mom write me a note--no big deal. Anyways, I don’t see how any of this is your business. It’s not like--your Ueda-kun’s boyfriend,” Maru smirked.
Ryo glared at the taller boy, looking like he was ready to fight. Yamapi took notice and stepped in between the two of them.
“Uh--since U-Ueda is gone, Ryo, how about you go with us over to my house? Hmm?”
Ryo didn’t say anything and continued to stare at Maru.
“Ryo!”
“Alright! Nice seeing you again--Nakamaru,” Ryo said sarcastically.
“Same to you--Nishikido-kun,” Maru taunted.
Ryo glared at him some more before being dragged away by Yamapi, with Toma and Jin following close behind.
“What the hell was that?” Yamapi laughed from the couch of his living room as he looked at Ryo who was on the floor, brooding.
“What are you talking about?” he mumbled.
“You and that Naka--whatever guy--you two looked like you were about to have cat fight!”
“So? That guy really pisses me off--always--always showing up at the worst of moments. I’d like to kick him in the--” Ryo trailed off, crossing his arms and pouting.
Jin looked at Ryo oddly, “Um--Ryo? Are you jealous?”
“What?! No--I’m--NO!”
“‘Cause it looks to me like you’re jealous--of Nakamaru. Like he’s some threat to you--you and your little crush on Ueda,” Jin smiled, taunting his friend.
Ryo didn’t say anything and just threw a couch pillow at Jin’s head.
“HEY!” Jin cried.
“Son of a--”
“What about Tanaka?” Toma interrupted Ryo’s ranting.
“Huh?”
“I think you should be more concerned with that Tanaka since he was the one who did that to Ueda. Nakamaru may be acting all--friendly--with Ueda but it’s Tanaka, who you should really have the problem with, don’t you think?”
Ryo looked at Toma who was sitting on a chair in front of him. He then looked away as he thought to himself.
“You’re right,” he finally said.
“What?” all three boys said.
“Let’s go deal with that Tanaka bastard first and then I’ll be the one to make Ueda talk again, not--not Nakamaru,” Ryo had a determined look in his eyes that made his friends a bit proud.
END CHAPTER 4
A/N: Sorry for the quick updates ^^;; I'm just getting into writing this story and I feel the need to post the completed chapters as soon as possible >.< But don't worry! The series isn't ending really soon! We still have some stuff to find out and still have stuff that needs to happen first ^^ I'm hoping that everyone who reads this, enjoys it and thanks for all the wonderful feedback! I hope that I'm fulfilling your wishes for this story and its characters :3
Author: carcrashheart_8
Pairings: RyoDa, MaruDa [with more pairings to come]
Rating: R [language, violence, sex]
Summary: Ryo, the class bully, falls in love with the shy transfer student, Ueda. The problem is that Ueda doesn’t say a word and Ryo can’t ever get him to speak. Ryo does all he can to help the boy he loves break out of his shell. But he’s in for the shock of his life when he finds out the reason why Ueda has such a hard time speaking. Will the frequently violent and mean Ryo ever be able to help the passive, good-natured Ueda talk again?
Disclaimer: Title taken from "If I Only Had the Heart" by the Maine
Chapter 4
Ryo sighed to himself softly as he lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He couldn’t get his mind off what had happened the day before and what he had learned about Ueda. Yamapi was right; he should have prepared himself to hear something bad but never in his wildest imagination could he have imagined that Ueda had stop speaking after being beaten by the boy he was in love with.
It just appeared to be one obstacle after another for Ryo.
“And it’s all because of that damn Tanaka! Son of a--fucking--URGH!” Ryo muttered himself, tossing and turning in his bed. He finally decided that he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep so he just got up and dragged himself to his bathroom to brush his teeth and prepare for the day ahead of him.
He splashed cool water on his face and as he wiped it off, he had an idea. Ryo decided that he would go to Ueda’s house and let the other boy know that he was well aware of his past and what kept him from saying a single word. He thought that it was the right thing to do and it might create a different atmosphere between the two of them.
Meanwhile, at Ueda’s house, Maru continued to smile at Ueda while Ueda just looked shocked. Finally, Maru said something.
“It’s been a while, huh, Ueda-kun? I’m surprised you didn’t keep in touch. You know I’ve missed you,” Maru moved closer to Ueda but the shorter boy just looked away and stepped back.
Maru chuckled, “Oh, that’s right--you can’t speak. I guess you took what I said a little too literally, didn’t you?”
Ueda’s cheeks were red but not because he was embarrassed but because he was nervous as hell. He looked around and Maru just came closer to him.
“What’s wrong, Ueda-kun? You’re scared or something? Well--you shouldn’t be. It was all just a simple misunderstanding. You just got so dramatic--acted like you couldn’t talk anymore. But I guess I shouldn’t complain--you’re much cuter when you’re not running your mouth,” Maru moved closer and whispered in Ueda’s ear, causing the other boy to twitch and move back suddenly.
But just as Maru was attempting to take advantage of Ueda’s vulnerable nature, a knock on the door was heard.
Outside, Ryo was standing, seeming very nervous and very unsure of what he was doing in front of Ueda’s house. He checked his hair and his breath before taking a deep breath and knocking again. Finally the door opened and Maru was standing behind it.
“N-Nakamaru?” Ryo asked, looking shocked to see the other boy at Ueda‘s house.
“Oh--hello. What was your name again?” Maru asked with an innocent look on his face.
“It’s Ryo--Nishikido--ahem--Ryo Nishikido,” Ryo replied.
“Ah, that’s right--Nishikido-kun. What brings you here?” Maru smiled.
“Um--is Ueda home? I came to talk to him--to him--is he here?” Ryo looked suspiciously at Maru, and tried to see Ueda from where he was standing.
Maru turned around, “Ueda-kun, it’s for you.”
Maru turned back around and smiled at Ryo who still looked at the taller boy with a suspicious face. He wiped the suspicion off his face when Ueda came up behind Maru, head sunk down and his eyes to the floor.
“H-Hi, Ueda. I--I wanted to talk to you--um, Nakamaru? Can I talk to Ueda--alone?” Ryo asked politely.
Maru nodded, “Oh sure--I was just leaving,” he looked at Ueda who wouldn’t look back at him, “It was nice visiting with you, Ueda-kun. I just wish I could stay a bit longer. Well--we’ll keep in touch. Bye--goodbye, Nishikido-kun.”
Ryo nodded his head, looking serious and watching as Maru walked down the front steps and towards the gate in front of Ueda’s house. When Ryo turned around to face Ueda, Maru looked back at him and scowled a bit. He closed the gate behind him and stood there staring before walking away.
Ryo cleared his throat and began to speak but before he could he looked at Ueda who sounded like he was making some sniffling noises.
“U-Ueda, are you okay? What’s wrong?”
Ueda shook his head and crossed his arms. He wouldn’t look at Ryo and this made the other boy very nervous.
“Ah--okay. What-what I wanted to talk to you about was--I--I--I went back to your hometown yesterday,” he confessed.
Ueda finally made eye contact with him, his eyes sharp and focused on Ryo. He seemed to be outraged about what Ryo had confessed and angry as well.
“Look--I know maybe I shouldn’t have gone but I needed to because I wanted to know why you weren’t able to speak,” Ryo grabbed Ueda’s hand so that the other boy couldn’t walk away, “the truth is,” he paused before blurting out, “I’m in lo--”
“UEDA-KUN!” someone shouted from the gate.
Ueda and Ryo turned to look back and saw Maru smiling and waving, holding a piece of paper in his hand. He opened the gate and ran up the walkway and up to Ueda, subtly pushing Ryo out of the way.
“Here--I just remembered that I didn’t give you my email. Now we can keep in touch--so here,” Maru said while stuffing the piece of paper in the hand that Ryo had been holding. He then smiled and walked away, while Ryo glared at him and Ueda stared at the piece of paper, very confused.
When Maru was gone, Ueda looked at Ryo and tilted his head as a sign for Ryo to continue. Ryo just smiled and shook his head.
“I-It’s nothing,” Ryo said.
Monday morning, Ryo was in a state of depression, staggering to class and looking like he had received the worst news ever. His friends couldn’t get him to reveal what was bothering him and when he was in homeroom, he couldn’t even get up the nerve to look at Ueda who looked somewhat concerned about the other boy.
Ryo just put his head on his desk and faced away from Ueda, with a weird looking smile on his face and his eyes looking cloudy as if he was about to cry. Ueda kept looking over but he couldn’t do anything to get Ryo’s attention. Ryo continued to act like a highly unstable psychiatric patient.
That is, until Yamapi forced him to reveal what was wrong with him, while the two of them were eating lunch, along with Toma and Jin.
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong with you?!” Yamapi stared at Ryo, his hands on the shorter boy’s shoulder like he was attempting to shake him.
“What are you talking about? I’m perfectly fine--fine--fine--FINE!” Ryo faked a smile.
“RYO!” Jin cried.
“WHAT?!” Ryo replied with an angry tone.
“You’re really worrying us--are you still hung up on the whole Ueda thing?” Toma asked, frowning.
“What Ueda thing?” Ryo decided to play dumb.
Yamapi smacked him across the face.
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!” Ryo screamed while rubbing the side of his face.
“Don’t act like you’re not hurting! We’re your friends dammit! NOW--tell us what the fuck is making you so emo!”
Ryo continued rubbing his cheek and scowling before putting his hand down to his side. He took a deep breath and stared off across the field.
“Okay--yeah, I’m still thinking about the whole thing with Ueda. It still really bugs me! I hate feeling like I can’t do anything to make things better. I--I just feel like going back to his hometown and beating the crap out of that Tanaka guy!” Ryo punched his open palm to show his anger.
Yamapi sighed, “You’re not serious, are you?”
“YEAH!” Ryo jumped up from his seat, “LET’S GO! How about today--after school?! Or we can go right now--no one will notice if we skip out,” Ryo looked excited, a complete 180 from the way he was that morning.
“Ryo--”
“Hmm?”
“YOU’RE AN IDIOT!” Yamapi jumped as well, and grabbed the shorter boy from his collar.
“I CAN’T HELP IT! I--I--I can’t help it. It’s just something I need to do,” Ryo looked away, the smile on his face completely wiped away.
“And why is that?” Jin crossed his arms, still sitting down along with Toma.
“Because I--I--I don’t know!” Ryo crossed his arms as well, and huffed, looking like a little kid who was pouting.
“You do to know--we just want to hear you say it,” Toma laughed.
“Yeah, Ryo--tell us why this is so damn important to you,” Yamapi had already let go of the shorter boy and sat down again.
Ryo glared at his friends before mumbling, “Because I like Ueda.”
“Huh?” all three boys put their hands to their ears as a gesture that they wanted Ryo to repeat what he said.
Ryo glared again, “BECAUSE I LIKE UEDA!” he then looked around to hope that no one had heard what he said, luckily for him the only people who heard him were his friends.
Before saying anything, the group paused. They then started making weird noises before busting out laughing.
“WHAT THE HELL’S SO FUNNY?!” Ryo growled.
“Aw--Ryo--we knew it all along. We just thought maybe you were a lot denser than this. Glad you figured it out,” Yamapi laughed.
Jin and Toma nodded in agreement, and Ryo put his hand to his face before sitting back down, blushing like crazy.
“Okay,” Yamapi said.
Ryo looked at him oddly, “What?”
“You wanna go back to Ueda’s town to kick the crap out of that guy? Okay--we’ll be your backup,” Yamapi smiled at his friend.
“Pi--”
“We’ll go too!” Jin waved his hand around like he was volunteering for something.
Toma did the same, laughing and smiling at his friend.
“Yeah we’ll go again this weekend--since--I’ll be killed by my mom if I don’t stay home and do my homework this week,” Toma commented, smiling weakly.
“You guys--I--,” Ryo choked up a bit before looking shocked and saying, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU KNEW IT ALL ALONG?!”
His friends just laughed at him, pointing and grabbing their sides as they almost fell over onto the bleachers.
Ryo felt better after that lunch and was in better spirits by the time he came back to homeroom for the second time. He was in such a good mood, he managed to get himself to ask Ueda to walk home with him. Contrary to before, Ueda was apprehensive about doing so since Ryo had acted like he was embarrassed to be seen with him, the time before.
“Look--I know I acted like a jackass last time--but I assure you that it won’t happen again. Please--just trust me,” Ryo practically pleaded to Ueda from his desk.
Ueda looked at him sympathetically but at the same time he seemed reluctant. He thought about it for a couple of minutes before nervously shaking his head yes.
“GREAT!” Ryo shouted, but realizing his overexcited attitude, he calmed down and replied, “Cool.”
Ueda smiled brightly before turning back to his desk and turning away from Ryo who was in a permanent state of embarrassment.
“Idiot,” Ryo muttered to himself, feeling like he was the stupidest boy on earth.
The school day finally ended and Ryo was more nervous than ever especially since he was finally aware of his feelings for Ueda. But Ueda didn’t seem to notice that the other boy was sweating like a pig and shaking like someone who had forgotten to take his medication.
The two were making their way out of the school gates when someone jumped out in front of them and scared them.
“UEDA-KUN!” Maru smiled, wearing something that did not look like his school uniform.
“Nakamaru,” Ryo growled under his breath, Ueda just blinked out of confusion.
“Oh--Nishikido-kun, you’re here as well,” Maru smiled his big exaggerated smile.
Ryo smiled back but then scowled when Maru looked away and back at Ueda.
“So--Ueda-kun, I was thinking you and I could go to the movies or something--you know, just the two of us--alone,” Maru looked at Ryo when he made the suggestion.
“Actually, Ueda and I were about to go walk home together--so if you excuse us--” Ryo tried to get Ueda to move but Maru stepped in.
“I think we should let Ueda-kun make the decision--Ueda-kun, would you rather spend the afternoon with me or--with Nishikido-kun?”
Ueda looked a bit scared and before he could answer, Ryo’s friends came over.
“Ryo--we’re gonna go to Pi’s house and hang out for a bit, you wanna come?” Jin asked.
Yamapi looked at Maru and his eyes got big, “Hey--aren’t you Nakamaru? That guy who--”
“Yep, I’m Nakamaru Yuichi--er--we met when they came back home to visit,” he told Ueda, who looked at everyone weird.
They all seemed to be staring at the quiet boy and this just made him feel uncomfortable. He opened his mouth but just closed it and hurried off on his own, in the direction of his house.
Ryo grunted, “Son of a--”
“You know--that was a bit rude,” Maru interrupted.
“You’re telling me,” Yamapi added, looking after Ueda who was still within plain view.
“I meant you people interrupting me when I was talking to my friend, Ueda-kun,” Maru scowled.
Ryo choked a bit, “Your friend? Um--last time I heard, you ‘barely knew the guy’.”
“I--I--I was underestimating our relationship, I actually knew U-Ueda-kun quite well--we were childhood friends. I’ve known him since I was a kid,” Maru looked at Ryo straight in the eyes and maintained his composure.
“Uh-huh--” Ryo bit his lip, “I’ve actually been meaning to ask you--”
“Yes?”
“What the hell are you doing here anyways?” Ryo asked, with a weird glare on his face.
“Excuse me?” Maru glared right back.
“Yeah, I found it odd that the day after you come out of nowhere to tell us the whole story about Ueda’s inability to talk, you show up at his house when I show up. Don’t tell me that wasn’t planned or something?”
Maru’s eye twitched a little bit, but then he calmly replied, “It was nothing, really. When you showed up, I just--got reminded about the friend I had lost when he moved away from our little town. I managed to track him down and I just came to pay a visit--and while I was down here, I thought I’d stay a couple of days. I have family nearby.”
“‘Stay a couple of days’? Don’t you have school or something?” Ryo argued.
“I had my mom write me a note--no big deal. Anyways, I don’t see how any of this is your business. It’s not like--your Ueda-kun’s boyfriend,” Maru smirked.
Ryo glared at the taller boy, looking like he was ready to fight. Yamapi took notice and stepped in between the two of them.
“Uh--since U-Ueda is gone, Ryo, how about you go with us over to my house? Hmm?”
Ryo didn’t say anything and continued to stare at Maru.
“Ryo!”
“Alright! Nice seeing you again--Nakamaru,” Ryo said sarcastically.
“Same to you--Nishikido-kun,” Maru taunted.
Ryo glared at him some more before being dragged away by Yamapi, with Toma and Jin following close behind.
“What the hell was that?” Yamapi laughed from the couch of his living room as he looked at Ryo who was on the floor, brooding.
“What are you talking about?” he mumbled.
“You and that Naka--whatever guy--you two looked like you were about to have cat fight!”
“So? That guy really pisses me off--always--always showing up at the worst of moments. I’d like to kick him in the--” Ryo trailed off, crossing his arms and pouting.
Jin looked at Ryo oddly, “Um--Ryo? Are you jealous?”
“What?! No--I’m--NO!”
“‘Cause it looks to me like you’re jealous--of Nakamaru. Like he’s some threat to you--you and your little crush on Ueda,” Jin smiled, taunting his friend.
Ryo didn’t say anything and just threw a couch pillow at Jin’s head.
“HEY!” Jin cried.
“Son of a--”
“What about Tanaka?” Toma interrupted Ryo’s ranting.
“Huh?”
“I think you should be more concerned with that Tanaka since he was the one who did that to Ueda. Nakamaru may be acting all--friendly--with Ueda but it’s Tanaka, who you should really have the problem with, don’t you think?”
Ryo looked at Toma who was sitting on a chair in front of him. He then looked away as he thought to himself.
“You’re right,” he finally said.
“What?” all three boys said.
“Let’s go deal with that Tanaka bastard first and then I’ll be the one to make Ueda talk again, not--not Nakamaru,” Ryo had a determined look in his eyes that made his friends a bit proud.
END CHAPTER 4
A/N: Sorry for the quick updates ^^;; I'm just getting into writing this story and I feel the need to post the completed chapters as soon as possible >.< But don't worry! The series isn't ending really soon! We still have some stuff to find out and still have stuff that needs to happen first ^^ I'm hoping that everyone who reads this, enjoys it and thanks for all the wonderful feedback! I hope that I'm fulfilling your wishes for this story and its characters :3