Wish We Were Older
Title: Wish We Were Older [Chapter 15]
Author: carcrashheart_8
Pairings: RyoDa, Ryo/OC, PiDa, KameDa [friendship], Akame, PiTakki [one-sided], RyoKame, JinNo, TomaKame
Rating: PG-13 [strong language and sexual references]
Summary: When his parents go overseas to work, Ueda is forced to go to an all-boys boarding school for his high school years. There, he meets Ryo Nishikido, a stubborn, strong-willed boy who ends up becoming his roommate. Ueda quickly falls for the other boy despite Ryo's rude words and bad attitude. Trouble starts up, however, and soon this seemingly one-sided love ends up becoming a love triangle and eventually a love square. Despite it all, Ueda must overcome these obstacles in order to maintain his spot at the elite high school.
Disclaimer: Title taken from "Wish We Were Older" by Metro Station
Chapter 15
“Eh?”
The whole class stared at Yamapi, but he wasn’t letting his eyes stray away from the teacher he loved. Kame, for one, couldn’t believe what was going on.
Ryo just shook his head and mumbled, “Oh for the love of-”
Ueda looked around and started to grow nervous for his friend. He then jumped up and said, “Ah, Yamashita-kun-he’s just joking. We-we dared him to do it. It was just a silly prank, we’re very sorry!”
Takki’s shocked expression formed into an annoyed frown.
“I’d like to see you boys during lunch. Ueda-kun, Yamashita-kun, Nishikido-kun and Kamenashi-kun-all of you will be joining me for lunch. Now sit down.”
“EH?! WHAT’D WE DO?!” Ryo and Kame shouted back.
Takki simply glared at them and they proceeded to quiet down but muffled their complaints and directed them towards Ueda. He grinned and bared it, only to look at Yamapi who seemed hurt if anything.
During lunch, the foursome was standing shoulder-to-shoulder, next to Takki who was sitting at his desk in the classroom.
“Now-who would like to tell me what’s been going on?” the older man asked with a stern voice.
Ryo gulped and Kame looked at Ueda, who shrugged his shoulders. But just when Ueda was about to make up some story about a dare gone wrong, Yamapi spoke up.
“The truth is, Takizawa-sensei, I’m in love with you. I fell in love with you at first sight and I wanted to properly confess to you.”
“Yamapi,” Ueda whispered.
Yamapi looked at Takki, intently, before bowing his head and saying, “PLEASE GO OUT WITH ME!”
Takki smirked, looking flattered at Yamapi’s spontaneous declaration of love. He then looked at the other three, who stiffened up straight like soldiers upon his gaze.
“You three are free to go. I need to talk to Yamashita-kun-alone,” he said, still with the smirk on his face.
Ueda and the others looked at Yamapi who had turned the brightest shade of red. They then looked at Takki and nodded their heads.
As they walked down the hall, they all had somewhat disturbed expressions on their face.
“What do you suppose Sensei is telling Yamapi, right now?” Ryo asked, scratching his head.
Kame shrugged his shoulders, “It’s not really a question of what he’s saying. It’s more about what he’s doing,” he then said with a suggestive smile on his face, “Maybe he’s-well, you know, hehe.”
“‘You know’ what?” Ueda replied, his eyebrows rose, curiously.
“Oh, Tat-chan-you wouldn’t understand. You’re still a virgin,” Kame waved off Ueda’s questions.
Ueda’s cheeks went red and Ryo tried his best to keep from busting out laughing. The two made eye contact and that just made things worse for Ueda who started walking faster than the other boys before full on running off on his own.
Later on, Ueda was sitting at his desk in his temporary dorm room that he shared with Koki. He was staring at the calendar and reveling in the fact that the two-week dorm room switch was almost over. It would be only a few more days before he had to decide whether to stay as Ryo’s roommate or move on to live without the other boy.
Even if Ueda could take solace in the fact that Ryo probably did return his feelings, it was still awkward for him. Perhaps being exposed to a reaction to his one-sided love that was different then he expected was too much for him. He continued to think even as Koki and a bored Maru stared at him.
“Tatsuya-kun-are you okay?” they both asked simultaneously, prompting them to stare and point at each other.
Ueda turned to look at them and smiled meekly, “I’m fine, guys. Don’t worry about me.”
He sighed to himself, knowing that, in fact, he wasn’t fine and was so confused that he couldn’t bear thinking anymore.
Just then, Ryo came in and caused all three boys to be startled.
“Whoa, sorry, guys. Didn’t mean to scare the crap out of you,” he half-laughed, watching as Maru caught his breath and Koki pushed the other boy up off him.
Ryo laughed a little before looking at Ueda, who seemed to straighten up when the other boy’s eyes were on him.
“C-Can I talk to you?” he stuttered, subtly wiping the sweat off his palms.
Ueda didn’t reply with words; he could only manage to nod his head.
In the hallway, the two couldn’t speak to each other. All they did was look everywhere but into each other’s eyes. And each time they did make eye contact, it was followed by a quick shifting of the eyes and a muffled cough.
Ryo finally spoke up, grabbing Ueda’s hand almost instinctually.
“I wanted to talk to you about last time-”
“Last time?” Ueda repeated, sounding unsure of what Ryo was referring to.
“Yeah, when we were in our-my dorm room, last time.”
Ueda gulped and replied, “Y-Yeah?”
Ryo paused either out of hesitancy or to heighten the already tense mood. He clutched Ueda’s hand tighter but without hurting the other boy. Ueda, instead, felt a feeling of warmth go through his entire body.
“What I wanted to say was-”
“I’VE HAD IT WITH LOVE!”
Ueda’s body went limp and he almost fell but instead turned to see Yamapi storm down the hallway. Toma, for some reason, was right behind him, clearly unsure of what was going on.
Ryo started muttering something that sounded like “Mother of shit, why is he always interrupting me?”
“Pi, what’s wrong?” Toma asked.
Yamapi kept muttering to himself, and stopped at a wall, looking like he was about ready to punch it. He didn’t and just groaned loudly.
Ryo let go of Ueda’s hand and walked over to Yamapi, grabbing the other boy’s shoulders. He stared at him a couple of seconds before slapping him, straight across the face.
“YAMAPI!”
“RYO!”
“OW!”
Ryo looked at his friend, still dead-set on his eyes, not moving a muscle. Yamapi blinked a few times, rubbing his cheek and unsure why Ryo looked so serious.
Then Ryo said something.
In the most serious tone of voice, he asked, “Did he bang you?”
Yamapi jumped back.
“WHAT?!”
Ryo continued looking serious, and it was clear he was not joking.
“Did you guys ‘do it’? In the classroom? After we left?”
Toma’s eyes grew big, “WHAT?! WHO ARE YOU GUYS TALKING ABOUT?!”
Ueda sighed, “Yamapi confessed to Takizawa-sensei-right in the middle of homeroom. I played it off like we had dared him to. Sensei made us come back to the classroom at lunch to explain what had gone on. I WAS going to continue with the dare story but little did I know that Yamapi would actually confess-again.”
“Why the hell would you confess? He’s your frickin’ teacher!” Toma squeaked.
Yamapi shrugged his shoulders and just put his head in his hands.
Ryo stared at him, “I’m guessing it wasn’t as great as you imagined it would be.”
Yamapi looked up, “I DID NOT DO IT WITH TAKKI-SENSEI!”
“TAKKI-SENSEI?!”
Yamapi covered his mouth, “That wasn’t supposed to come out. Aw man-why did I tell him I liked him? He thinks I’m a moron, I’m sure.”
“TAKKI-SENSEI?!”
Yamapi ignored Ryo’s yelling and continued to gripe, “Ugh, I thought things were going my way until he told me he had a boyfriend already.”
“So Sensei is gay?” Ueda’s eyebrows rose.
“Lucky for me, huh? Too bad he’s already dating someone! Not to mention the fact that he’s my teacher and that I’m only a teenager-by the way, these are all the excuses he gave me as to why he couldn’t go out with me.”
Ryo rubbed his temples before saying, “You wanna tell me why you’ve started calling him ‘Takki-sensei’?”
Yamapi blushed slightly, “He told me to-well, just when we’re alone. I didn’t mean for it to come out just right now.”
Ryo shuddered, “So creepy.”
Ueda looked away and shook his head at Ryo’s comment before turning back to hear the rest of what Yamapi had to say.
“That’s it. He rejected me-he’s gay but not gay for me. My life is ruined-or should I say it continues to be ruined? I swear-ever since I started this school, it’s been one heartbreak after another!”
He put his hand over his chest and in a very obvious manner, looked at Ueda who blushed in return. It seemed Ueda was part of the list of the people who had broken Yamapi’s heart, along with his ex-girlfriend and now, Takizawa-sensei.
Yamapi shook himself out of his dramatic state and looked at Toma.
“When are you going to confess to Kamenashi?” he asked without blinking.
Toma did a double take.
“WHAT?!”
Yamapi now had the same serious face that Ryo had had earlier.
“Why, what’s wrong? You scared?”
Toma shook his head, “It’s not that-I mean, I never exactly said I liked Kamenashi! You guys just assume stuff-as always!”
“Oh come on, Toma. Everyone and their mother knows you have a thing for Kamenashi. It’s written all over your face every time you argue with or complain about him,” Ryo scoffed.
Toma looked at Ueda who shrugged his shoulder and smiled, hinting he agreed with what Ryo had said.
“Even if I wanted to confess to him-and I’m not saying that I do-he’d probably reject me. I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t want to become the new Yamapi.”
Yamapi smacked Toma who winced in pain.
“I’m just telling the truth! I don’t want to risk heartbreak even if it means I get to be with the person I like.”
“So you do like him?” Ueda stifled a giggle.
Toma just glared at him in response.
“I wouldn’t exactly worry about you getting rejected,” Ryo laughed.
Toma looked at his friend and cocked his head to the side in confusion.
“Huh?”
Ueda looked at Ryo and very angrily, stomped on his foot.
“OW! SON OF A-”
“Be quiet! Don’t start saying things about stuff that is none of your business!” Ueda shouted.
Ryo stopped screaming and looked at Ueda, shocked that the other boy had yelled at him. It had been almost two years since he had first met Ueda, and normally, Ryo would have been used to getting yelled at by the older boy, but due to changing circumstances, it was like it was the very first time.
“Who said it wasn’t my business?! Toma’s my friend and he has a right to know the truth!”
“Well, Kame’s my BEST friend and I don’t think you should be discussing things that relate to him when he’s not here!”
“Did someone mention my name?”
Everyone turned to see Kame come walking up the hallway. Toma went white and for some reason, chose to run and hide behind Yamapi. He was afraid that Kame had heard everything, including him basically confessing his feelings for the younger boy.
Ueda smiled nervously and nudged Ryo in the stomach. Ryo smiled as well in response.
“Nope, we were just listening to Pi talk about what happened with Takizawa-sensei,” Ryo explained.
“OH! How’d it go? Tell me-did he teach you the ways of love? I’d expect a good-looking guy like that to be more than experienced in sex and love.”
“KAME!”
“What, Tat-chan? It’s true. Takizawa-sensei is really hot and hot guys usually know their way around a bed, if you know what I mean.”
Ueda smacked his hand to his forehead and Ryo just shook his head. Toma felt a bit uncomfortable upon hearing that Kame found his homeroom teacher attractive and Yamapi was only annoyed that anyone would find the man who broke his heart, hot.
“We did not ‘do it’, for the four hundredth time! He rejected me! And now-I’m pretty sure I’m going to remain a virgin my entire life!”
“Wait-you’re a virgin?” Ueda gasped.
“Yeah?”
“I thought you said that you had sex with your ex-girlfriend,” Ueda replied, still sounding a bit confused and shocked.
“Yeah?”
“So you mean, you’re a virgin in the-gay sense?” Ryo questioned, sounding a bit uncomfortable with his own choice of words.
“WHAT?!”
Ryo continued, despite the protests of a too-shocked-for-words Toma and Ueda.
“You know-gay sense-virgin-you’ve never been-ahem-penetrated?”
Everybody’s eyes landed on Ryo before switching over to Yamapi who became very flustered.
“I LIED!” he shouted, giving into the pressure that developed while his friends were questioning the things he had told them.
“You lied?”
“Yeah, I lied-I never had sex with my girlfriend. I couldn’t-I ended up-well, let’s just say I ended up ‘messing’ the bed before we even really got started.”
Again, everyone’s eyes landed on him but this time it was amidst soft laughter, which soon developed into more boisterous guffawing, mostly coming from Ryo and Kame. Ueda just looked sympathetically towards Yamapi, while Toma still seemed scared of Kame’s presence.
Yamapi once again, was overcome with grief and quickly ran off. Toma, who was afraid of being anywhere near Kame at the moment, chose to follow after his heartbroken friend.
That left Ryo and Ueda with Kame, who was keen to making a large assumption.
“So that means that Tat-chan and Yamashita-kun are the last two virgins of our group. Well, I guess Yamapi’s at least been with someone-even if he never did go all the way.”
Ueda couldn’t help but turn red as Ryo immediately looked at him, no longer laughing but seeming somewhat empathetic.
“Why would you assume that it’s just me and Yamapi?!” Ueda boldly asked, despite his growing embarrassment.
“Well, it IS just an assumption on my part but I’m sure Nishikido-kun is no longer a virgin. A guy like him would never stay a virgin for this long,” Kame smirked, indicating that he still felt some attraction towards Ryo. Ryo just blushed slightly in response.
Ueda muttered under his breath, “A lot you know.”
“And I’m sure that Nakamaru-kun and Tanaka-kun are no longer virgins-I’m sure they’ve done it with each other. Gawd knows they’re unusually close, for some reason.”
Just then, Koki and Maru came out from the room where they had been, for no apparent reason, staying in despite the dramatic scene that had just played out earlier.
“WE HEARD THAT!” Koki defended.
“YEAH-and for your information, Koki and I are into girls. Not like the rest of you homos!” Maru added with a suspicious look on his face and a wag of his finger.
Ryo responded by grabbing the finger and twisting it ever so slightly, at least enough to get Maru to wail loudly. When he was released from Ryo’s grip, he started crying and ran off in the direction of his room, followed closely behind by Koki, who looked back and glared at his friends, before continuing after the injured boy.
“What about Toma?” Ryo asked, not giving a second thought to the pain he had just inflicted upon his roommate.
Kame paused, only to shrug his shoulders and say, “I’m sure that guy’s gotten a prostitute or some desperate auntie to take his virginity.”
“KAME!”
“Well-I’m just remarking on what I think to be true. If he’s still a virgin, that’s good for him. Actually-if he’s still a virgin, I’d have to definitely empathize for him. I honestly think that’s pretty pathetic.”
Ueda just glared in order to get Kame to apologize.
“Okay, it’s pathetic for him. Seriously, I applaud you, Tat-chan, for managing to hold onto the one thing that’s pure about you. Gawd knows, you aren’t exactly pure in your mind,” Kame chuckled, making Ueda blush even harder.
Ryo smiled but that just made things worse for Ueda, who attempted to move away.
Then Kame quickly changed the subject, catching both boys off guard.
“I know you guys were lying. Tell me-did Ikuta say anything about me?” Kame glared, hoping it would scare his classmates into telling him the truth.
Both were caught off-guard, and responded by giving each other slight glances, evidently showing that they knew exactly what Kame wanted to hear.
“I KNEW IT!” Kame cheered, “now what’d he say? I want to hear everything-especially if he said something about liking me.”
Ueda sighed like he was frustrated but Ryo quickly answered Kame’s questions.
“He said he’s perfectly okay with you not wanting to be tutored by him anymore. In fact, he’s gotten another tutoring job-it’s for some girl at the school next door. I’ve seen her-she’s really hot, and that’s not an exaggeration.”
Ueda just stared, open-mouthed, as Ryo continued.
“Yeah-he was glad that you suddenly decided to stop, otherwise he thought he’d have a hard time telling you that he was picking her over you. Sorry to say it but it’s better coming from me than Toma-he didn’t actually sound very apologetic.”
Kame’s haughty attitude dissipated into a much more humbled one. He appeared shocked and a little hurt, enough to make Ueda want to punch Ryo for saying anything.
He took Ryo aside as Kame let the so-called revelation sink in for him.
“Why the hell would you tell him that? Do you realize how fragile the situation is at the moment? And Kame is very quick for revenge-telling him something about Toma leaving him for a girl is gonna make him go ballistic!”
“Hey now-I’m quite aware of what’s going on and seriously, you gotta trust me. Can you do that? Can you trust me?”
Ueda looked Ryo in the eyes, feeling his heartbeat quicken as he noticed the sincerity in them. He shook his head and turned away, glancing at Kame who definitely seemed unable to contain his rage. Ueda sighed and looked back at Ryo.
“Okay fine but you better not make things worse.”
“Would I really do something to make things worse? Wait-don’t answer that.”
Ueda stifled a giggle and went back to Kame.
“I WILL MURDER HIM IN HIS SLEEP! THAT SON OF A BITCH THINKS HE CAN CHOOSE A GIRL OVER KAMENASHI KAZUYA? HE’S GOT ANOTHER THING COMING!” Kame muttered, very loudly.
“There, there, Kamenashi. Don’t worry about it-Ueda and I will help you get back at Toma-even if it kills us.”
“Or you do,” Ueda whispered, undetected.
The next day at lunch, Ryo sat very close to Kame and pretended to go over some algebra problems as Toma stared from a distance. Kame kept batting his eyelashes in Ryo’s general direction and laughing anytime Ryo attempted at making a joke. Ueda sat with Yamapi who was wondering what exactly was going on.
“Why is Ryo tutoring Kamenashi-kun?” Yamapi blinked.
Toma didn’t say anything, either because he wasn’t sure or because he wasn’t paying attention to what Yamapi was asking. It seemed he had his full attention on Kame, marking every time the younger man did something that appeared flirtatious in his eyes.
Ueda turned to Yamapi and whispered what was going on, to which Yamapi responded with a nod and a somewhat loud “Oh, I get it.”
“Get what?,” Toma asked, finally taking his eyes off of Kame.
Yamapi looked at Ueda who shook his head.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Yamapi lied, smiling and tilting his head thusly.
Toma glared but went right back to watching Kame and Ryo.
Towards the end of lunch, Toma finally got the guts to go over to the studying pair, to basically start trouble.
“So-Kamenashi-you and Ryo are study buddies now?” Toma asked, pretending not to care when it was very obvious that he was anxious to know.
Kame looked up, frowning and said, “It’s got nothing to do with you-why don’t you back to the hole you crawled out from?”
Toma’s easy-going attitude quickly disappeared and was replaced with nothing but fury and rage and above all, jealousy.
“ME?! Why don’t you go back to throwing yourself at Ryo while everyone watches?! You sure don’t know how to act subtle, do you?”
“Subtlety is something you wouldn’t know a thing about, asshole! Imagine telling your friends that you don’t want to tutor me anymore because of some girl when you could’ve very well told me yourself!”
Toma gasped, and left his mouth hang open. Kame seemed unsure of why Toma appeared so shocked.
“What?”
“Who told you I didn’t want to tutor you anymore?”
Before Kame could answer, Toma lowered his gaze and started glaring menacingly at Ryo. The latter pretended not to notice and started whistling, while slowly moving away from Kame. When he tried to get away, Toma grabbed him and the two started struggling.
“WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU MAKE UP A LIE LIKE THAT?!”
“I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT! LEMME GO, TOMA!”
“NOT UNTIL YOU TELL ME WHAT THE HELL YOU SAID TO KAME!”
Ueda sighed, frustrated as always and decided to step in so nobody ended up getting hurt.
“It was me, Toma.”
Ryo and Toma stopped struggling and stared at Ueda.
“You? What do you mean it was you?” Toma asked.
Ueda sighed again, this time rubbing the bridge of nose as he did so.
“I mean, I’m the one who told Kame that you didn’t want to tutor him anymore. I’m also the one who told him that you were now tutoring a girl and that’s why you chose to stop seeing him.”
Ryo gasped a little.
“Why would you lie like that, Tat-chan?” Kame’s voice broke a little, almost like he felt betrayed.
“I told him that because I wanted to stir things up between you! I wanted you to get jealous, Kame, so you’d finally admit that you have feelings for Toma.”
“WHAT?!” Toma yelled, almost falling backwards onto a table.
Kame stood up and slammed his hands on the lunch table.
“IT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!”
Ueda gaped at Kame, who was shaking slightly and looked beyond embarrassed at what was taking place.
“You shouldn’t have lied, Tat-chan! It wasn’t right! And besides, you shouldn’t get yourself involved with my affairs.”
“What the hell do you mean I shouldn’t get involved? You’re the one who wanted me to tell Toma you didn’t want him to tutor you anymore! You’re the one who got me involved! I was against it but you, as always, dragged me into your little drama of a life!”
“THAT DOESN’T MATTER! You shouldn’t have lied to me! I can’t believe you would do that, especially after all that’s happened between us. Some friend you are.”
“HE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!”
Everyone including Ueda stared at Ryo. He was angry, furious was more like it, that Ueda was getting all the blame for his backfired plan.
“He didn’t make up any of that stuff. It was all me. He’s just saying he did it so that I wouldn’t end up getting Toma mad at me.”
“Huh? Is this true, Tatsuya?”
“Yeah, Tat-chan, is it?”
Ueda blushed, mostly because Ryo was defending him, like a knight in shining armor. Of course, Ueda let the romance of the situation get to his head and he began to smile unconsciously.
“I-I-I-” he stuttered as he felt his face and the unusually large grin that was plastered over it.
“Why the hell are you smiling?” Ryo growled, making his way over to Ueda, unexpectedly.
“Don’t you care that I’m probably gonna get my ass kicked by Kamenashi and Toma?”
Ueda was disappointed; he should have expected Ryo to spoil such a miraculous moment such as this.
“I’m not smiling, you idiot! I just feel awkward and when I feel awkward, I smile! It’s a reflex, don’t yell at me for it!”
“Reflex? You’re such a bad liar, I pity you. Are you happy at the thought of me getting killed by these two morons?”
“Wow-is it always this bad when Toma and I fight?” Kame interrupted.
Toma turned and looked at the younger man, surprised that the other boy had said his first name.
“Did you just call me ‘Toma’?”
“I did? Oh hell-it slipped out. I didn’t mean it.”
Toma frowned, “Why is it such a bad thing for you and I to be peaceful with one another?”
Kame thought for a minute before answering, but he felt pressure as Toma kept staring at him.
“I DON’T KNOW! I just-it’s weird. I usually don’t act this way with people-I’m more of a pacifistic person.”
“I think you mean a sadistic person,” Ueda butted in.
“Shuddup!”
Ueda pretended not to laugh at Kame’s embarrassment and let his friend continue.
“You bring out this side of me and man, does it disgust me!”
“See? You’re doing it again! Why do you have to treat me like I’m a fucking disease or something? I never did anything to you!”
“It’s because I like you!”
Toma’s eyes widened and he gulped very loudly.
“I’m sorry what?”
“HE SAID HE LIKES YOU!” Ryo screamed.
“I HEARD HIM, YOU IDIOT!”
“THEN DON’T ASK STUPID QUESTIONS!”
“MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!”
Ueda grabbed Ryo and pulled him away, so Kame and Toma could keep speaking.
“I know it’s weird, right? I mean, we’re not exactly-”
“Go out with me.”
“Huh?”
Toma smiled, and looked Kame dead on. He walked over to the other boy and stared him straight in the eye.
“I want you to go out with me. I like you a lot.”
Kame was unsure of what to say, even though the answer was obvious. For some reason, he looked at Ueda, which seemed to be the standard action when one got confessed to at St. Sebastian’s.
“Okay,” he said in a breathy manner.
Toma smiled even wider and, as was his fashion, did a cheesy move he once in a drama on television. He grabbed Kame and pulled him into a warm embrace before stroking his cheek and leaning in for a very passionate kiss.
“EW!”
“GET A ROOM!”
“WHAT THE HELL?!”
Toma separated from Kame and just smiled.
“YOU WISH YOU COULD GET SOME OF THIS!”
Everyone started to laugh and the mood relaxed greatly. But not for everyone; Ueda was happy that Kame had finally gotten together with Toma. What worried him was that Kame and Toma seemed to be a mirror of what he and Ryo were. Two bickering classmates who always seemed to have something to insult the other about; they are brought together by a stranger surge of chemistry and though they fight it at first, they are unable to do anything but to succumb to it. It bugged Ueda, to say the least, because he knew that unless he did something to change his current situation, he, unlike Kame and Toma, would not have a happy ending.
Several days of thinking went by and before he knew it, Ueda found himself deciding whether to stay away from Ryo or to move back in with his sharp-tongued roommate. It was the last day of the switch and not only was it a matter of residency but it was also a matter of love and hate.
Ueda relayed through all the events that had happened between him and Ryo. He also thought about everyone else involved. He thought of Yamapi and his former relationship; Jin and Junno’s current one; and even Toma and Kame’s budding romance.
It also seemed so difficult, so unclear and so frustrating. Ueda was unsure of whether he would go back to just being Ryo’s roommate and nothing more.
But then he had an epiphany.
Ueda knew what he wanted to do. He knew exactly what he wanted and now was as good a time as any to get it. Without a second thought and with a stroke of courage that Ueda knew he might never get again, he walked over to Ryo’s room and knocked on the door.
When Ryo opened it, immediately, Ueda jumped on the other boy, hugging him tightly.
“Ueda-what are you doing?!” Ryo shouted.
Ueda just held the other boy tighter, feeling Ryo’s heart beat against his chest.
“I lied.”
“What?” Ryo asked, now seeming more concerned than shocked.
“When I said that I didn’t like you anymore-I lied.”
Ryo’s heart stopped. He looked at Ueda, whose face was nuzzled into his shoulder.
There was a brief silence before Ueda continued, that only heightened the tension.
“I never wanted things to end up like this. I was just scared. I want to be by your side always-Ryo.”
Ryo slowly started to wrap his arms around Ueda’s waist.
“Does this mean you’ll be moving back?” he whispered through a smile.
Ueda smiled and pulled his head away from Ryo’s shoulder to look at the other boy.
“I guess it does.”
Ryo smiled at Ueda so endearingly and attempted to get closer to the other boy, but was stopped when the door swung open.
It was Yamapi, again.
“DUDE, LEARN TO KNOCK!” Ryo screamed.
“Tatsuya, Headmistress wants to see you-right now,” the other boy panted, not really noticing how close his ex-boyfriend and best friend were to each other.
“Headmistress?”
Ueda ran over to the office of the Headmistress, with Ryo closely behind him who remained unseen. The older boy knocked on the door and when he got permission, entered the room.
That’s when he saw a familiar-looking couple standing next to the headmistress who was eagerly waiting for him.
“Hello, Tatsuya, we’ve missed you so much,” the woman of the pair said, smiling widely.
“MOM! DAD! What are you doing here?!”
END CHAPTER 15
A/N: Guess what! This is the second to last chapter of this series! D: I plan on making the last of the series as juicy and as dramatic as ever. Please forgive me for the cliffhanger, too ^^; Anyways, I found something out that some may be interested to know. As it turns out, St. Sebastian, who shares his name with the school in this story, is considered to be somewhat of a religious GAY icon. I don't know if he would be considered a patron saint of homosexuality but he does share ties with the LGBT community. I don't know, I found it interesting especially since I chose St. Sebastian randomly O__O but it does seem to be a very symbolic name don't you think? Especially for a story about an all-boys boarding school with many of the main characters being attracted to other boys? XD;; Okay, never mind, I'm weird .__.;; Anyways, THANK YOU SO SO MUCH for putting up with this series! I know I overuse the whole cliffhanger at the end of the chapters but I promise this will be the last one 8D *bricked* Please continue to read and I hope you will enjoy the last chapter when I manage to post it ^^
Author: carcrashheart_8
Pairings: RyoDa, Ryo/OC, PiDa, KameDa [friendship], Akame, PiTakki [one-sided], RyoKame, JinNo, TomaKame
Rating: PG-13 [strong language and sexual references]
Summary: When his parents go overseas to work, Ueda is forced to go to an all-boys boarding school for his high school years. There, he meets Ryo Nishikido, a stubborn, strong-willed boy who ends up becoming his roommate. Ueda quickly falls for the other boy despite Ryo's rude words and bad attitude. Trouble starts up, however, and soon this seemingly one-sided love ends up becoming a love triangle and eventually a love square. Despite it all, Ueda must overcome these obstacles in order to maintain his spot at the elite high school.
Disclaimer: Title taken from "Wish We Were Older" by Metro Station
Chapter 15
“Eh?”
The whole class stared at Yamapi, but he wasn’t letting his eyes stray away from the teacher he loved. Kame, for one, couldn’t believe what was going on.
Ryo just shook his head and mumbled, “Oh for the love of-”
Ueda looked around and started to grow nervous for his friend. He then jumped up and said, “Ah, Yamashita-kun-he’s just joking. We-we dared him to do it. It was just a silly prank, we’re very sorry!”
Takki’s shocked expression formed into an annoyed frown.
“I’d like to see you boys during lunch. Ueda-kun, Yamashita-kun, Nishikido-kun and Kamenashi-kun-all of you will be joining me for lunch. Now sit down.”
“EH?! WHAT’D WE DO?!” Ryo and Kame shouted back.
Takki simply glared at them and they proceeded to quiet down but muffled their complaints and directed them towards Ueda. He grinned and bared it, only to look at Yamapi who seemed hurt if anything.
During lunch, the foursome was standing shoulder-to-shoulder, next to Takki who was sitting at his desk in the classroom.
“Now-who would like to tell me what’s been going on?” the older man asked with a stern voice.
Ryo gulped and Kame looked at Ueda, who shrugged his shoulders. But just when Ueda was about to make up some story about a dare gone wrong, Yamapi spoke up.
“The truth is, Takizawa-sensei, I’m in love with you. I fell in love with you at first sight and I wanted to properly confess to you.”
“Yamapi,” Ueda whispered.
Yamapi looked at Takki, intently, before bowing his head and saying, “PLEASE GO OUT WITH ME!”
Takki smirked, looking flattered at Yamapi’s spontaneous declaration of love. He then looked at the other three, who stiffened up straight like soldiers upon his gaze.
“You three are free to go. I need to talk to Yamashita-kun-alone,” he said, still with the smirk on his face.
Ueda and the others looked at Yamapi who had turned the brightest shade of red. They then looked at Takki and nodded their heads.
As they walked down the hall, they all had somewhat disturbed expressions on their face.
“What do you suppose Sensei is telling Yamapi, right now?” Ryo asked, scratching his head.
Kame shrugged his shoulders, “It’s not really a question of what he’s saying. It’s more about what he’s doing,” he then said with a suggestive smile on his face, “Maybe he’s-well, you know, hehe.”
“‘You know’ what?” Ueda replied, his eyebrows rose, curiously.
“Oh, Tat-chan-you wouldn’t understand. You’re still a virgin,” Kame waved off Ueda’s questions.
Ueda’s cheeks went red and Ryo tried his best to keep from busting out laughing. The two made eye contact and that just made things worse for Ueda who started walking faster than the other boys before full on running off on his own.
Later on, Ueda was sitting at his desk in his temporary dorm room that he shared with Koki. He was staring at the calendar and reveling in the fact that the two-week dorm room switch was almost over. It would be only a few more days before he had to decide whether to stay as Ryo’s roommate or move on to live without the other boy.
Even if Ueda could take solace in the fact that Ryo probably did return his feelings, it was still awkward for him. Perhaps being exposed to a reaction to his one-sided love that was different then he expected was too much for him. He continued to think even as Koki and a bored Maru stared at him.
“Tatsuya-kun-are you okay?” they both asked simultaneously, prompting them to stare and point at each other.
Ueda turned to look at them and smiled meekly, “I’m fine, guys. Don’t worry about me.”
He sighed to himself, knowing that, in fact, he wasn’t fine and was so confused that he couldn’t bear thinking anymore.
Just then, Ryo came in and caused all three boys to be startled.
“Whoa, sorry, guys. Didn’t mean to scare the crap out of you,” he half-laughed, watching as Maru caught his breath and Koki pushed the other boy up off him.
Ryo laughed a little before looking at Ueda, who seemed to straighten up when the other boy’s eyes were on him.
“C-Can I talk to you?” he stuttered, subtly wiping the sweat off his palms.
Ueda didn’t reply with words; he could only manage to nod his head.
In the hallway, the two couldn’t speak to each other. All they did was look everywhere but into each other’s eyes. And each time they did make eye contact, it was followed by a quick shifting of the eyes and a muffled cough.
Ryo finally spoke up, grabbing Ueda’s hand almost instinctually.
“I wanted to talk to you about last time-”
“Last time?” Ueda repeated, sounding unsure of what Ryo was referring to.
“Yeah, when we were in our-my dorm room, last time.”
Ueda gulped and replied, “Y-Yeah?”
Ryo paused either out of hesitancy or to heighten the already tense mood. He clutched Ueda’s hand tighter but without hurting the other boy. Ueda, instead, felt a feeling of warmth go through his entire body.
“What I wanted to say was-”
“I’VE HAD IT WITH LOVE!”
Ueda’s body went limp and he almost fell but instead turned to see Yamapi storm down the hallway. Toma, for some reason, was right behind him, clearly unsure of what was going on.
Ryo started muttering something that sounded like “Mother of shit, why is he always interrupting me?”
“Pi, what’s wrong?” Toma asked.
Yamapi kept muttering to himself, and stopped at a wall, looking like he was about ready to punch it. He didn’t and just groaned loudly.
Ryo let go of Ueda’s hand and walked over to Yamapi, grabbing the other boy’s shoulders. He stared at him a couple of seconds before slapping him, straight across the face.
“YAMAPI!”
“RYO!”
“OW!”
Ryo looked at his friend, still dead-set on his eyes, not moving a muscle. Yamapi blinked a few times, rubbing his cheek and unsure why Ryo looked so serious.
Then Ryo said something.
In the most serious tone of voice, he asked, “Did he bang you?”
Yamapi jumped back.
“WHAT?!”
Ryo continued looking serious, and it was clear he was not joking.
“Did you guys ‘do it’? In the classroom? After we left?”
Toma’s eyes grew big, “WHAT?! WHO ARE YOU GUYS TALKING ABOUT?!”
Ueda sighed, “Yamapi confessed to Takizawa-sensei-right in the middle of homeroom. I played it off like we had dared him to. Sensei made us come back to the classroom at lunch to explain what had gone on. I WAS going to continue with the dare story but little did I know that Yamapi would actually confess-again.”
“Why the hell would you confess? He’s your frickin’ teacher!” Toma squeaked.
Yamapi shrugged his shoulders and just put his head in his hands.
Ryo stared at him, “I’m guessing it wasn’t as great as you imagined it would be.”
Yamapi looked up, “I DID NOT DO IT WITH TAKKI-SENSEI!”
“TAKKI-SENSEI?!”
Yamapi covered his mouth, “That wasn’t supposed to come out. Aw man-why did I tell him I liked him? He thinks I’m a moron, I’m sure.”
“TAKKI-SENSEI?!”
Yamapi ignored Ryo’s yelling and continued to gripe, “Ugh, I thought things were going my way until he told me he had a boyfriend already.”
“So Sensei is gay?” Ueda’s eyebrows rose.
“Lucky for me, huh? Too bad he’s already dating someone! Not to mention the fact that he’s my teacher and that I’m only a teenager-by the way, these are all the excuses he gave me as to why he couldn’t go out with me.”
Ryo rubbed his temples before saying, “You wanna tell me why you’ve started calling him ‘Takki-sensei’?”
Yamapi blushed slightly, “He told me to-well, just when we’re alone. I didn’t mean for it to come out just right now.”
Ryo shuddered, “So creepy.”
Ueda looked away and shook his head at Ryo’s comment before turning back to hear the rest of what Yamapi had to say.
“That’s it. He rejected me-he’s gay but not gay for me. My life is ruined-or should I say it continues to be ruined? I swear-ever since I started this school, it’s been one heartbreak after another!”
He put his hand over his chest and in a very obvious manner, looked at Ueda who blushed in return. It seemed Ueda was part of the list of the people who had broken Yamapi’s heart, along with his ex-girlfriend and now, Takizawa-sensei.
Yamapi shook himself out of his dramatic state and looked at Toma.
“When are you going to confess to Kamenashi?” he asked without blinking.
Toma did a double take.
“WHAT?!”
Yamapi now had the same serious face that Ryo had had earlier.
“Why, what’s wrong? You scared?”
Toma shook his head, “It’s not that-I mean, I never exactly said I liked Kamenashi! You guys just assume stuff-as always!”
“Oh come on, Toma. Everyone and their mother knows you have a thing for Kamenashi. It’s written all over your face every time you argue with or complain about him,” Ryo scoffed.
Toma looked at Ueda who shrugged his shoulder and smiled, hinting he agreed with what Ryo had said.
“Even if I wanted to confess to him-and I’m not saying that I do-he’d probably reject me. I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t want to become the new Yamapi.”
Yamapi smacked Toma who winced in pain.
“I’m just telling the truth! I don’t want to risk heartbreak even if it means I get to be with the person I like.”
“So you do like him?” Ueda stifled a giggle.
Toma just glared at him in response.
“I wouldn’t exactly worry about you getting rejected,” Ryo laughed.
Toma looked at his friend and cocked his head to the side in confusion.
“Huh?”
Ueda looked at Ryo and very angrily, stomped on his foot.
“OW! SON OF A-”
“Be quiet! Don’t start saying things about stuff that is none of your business!” Ueda shouted.
Ryo stopped screaming and looked at Ueda, shocked that the other boy had yelled at him. It had been almost two years since he had first met Ueda, and normally, Ryo would have been used to getting yelled at by the older boy, but due to changing circumstances, it was like it was the very first time.
“Who said it wasn’t my business?! Toma’s my friend and he has a right to know the truth!”
“Well, Kame’s my BEST friend and I don’t think you should be discussing things that relate to him when he’s not here!”
“Did someone mention my name?”
Everyone turned to see Kame come walking up the hallway. Toma went white and for some reason, chose to run and hide behind Yamapi. He was afraid that Kame had heard everything, including him basically confessing his feelings for the younger boy.
Ueda smiled nervously and nudged Ryo in the stomach. Ryo smiled as well in response.
“Nope, we were just listening to Pi talk about what happened with Takizawa-sensei,” Ryo explained.
“OH! How’d it go? Tell me-did he teach you the ways of love? I’d expect a good-looking guy like that to be more than experienced in sex and love.”
“KAME!”
“What, Tat-chan? It’s true. Takizawa-sensei is really hot and hot guys usually know their way around a bed, if you know what I mean.”
Ueda smacked his hand to his forehead and Ryo just shook his head. Toma felt a bit uncomfortable upon hearing that Kame found his homeroom teacher attractive and Yamapi was only annoyed that anyone would find the man who broke his heart, hot.
“We did not ‘do it’, for the four hundredth time! He rejected me! And now-I’m pretty sure I’m going to remain a virgin my entire life!”
“Wait-you’re a virgin?” Ueda gasped.
“Yeah?”
“I thought you said that you had sex with your ex-girlfriend,” Ueda replied, still sounding a bit confused and shocked.
“Yeah?”
“So you mean, you’re a virgin in the-gay sense?” Ryo questioned, sounding a bit uncomfortable with his own choice of words.
“WHAT?!”
Ryo continued, despite the protests of a too-shocked-for-words Toma and Ueda.
“You know-gay sense-virgin-you’ve never been-ahem-penetrated?”
Everybody’s eyes landed on Ryo before switching over to Yamapi who became very flustered.
“I LIED!” he shouted, giving into the pressure that developed while his friends were questioning the things he had told them.
“You lied?”
“Yeah, I lied-I never had sex with my girlfriend. I couldn’t-I ended up-well, let’s just say I ended up ‘messing’ the bed before we even really got started.”
Again, everyone’s eyes landed on him but this time it was amidst soft laughter, which soon developed into more boisterous guffawing, mostly coming from Ryo and Kame. Ueda just looked sympathetically towards Yamapi, while Toma still seemed scared of Kame’s presence.
Yamapi once again, was overcome with grief and quickly ran off. Toma, who was afraid of being anywhere near Kame at the moment, chose to follow after his heartbroken friend.
That left Ryo and Ueda with Kame, who was keen to making a large assumption.
“So that means that Tat-chan and Yamashita-kun are the last two virgins of our group. Well, I guess Yamapi’s at least been with someone-even if he never did go all the way.”
Ueda couldn’t help but turn red as Ryo immediately looked at him, no longer laughing but seeming somewhat empathetic.
“Why would you assume that it’s just me and Yamapi?!” Ueda boldly asked, despite his growing embarrassment.
“Well, it IS just an assumption on my part but I’m sure Nishikido-kun is no longer a virgin. A guy like him would never stay a virgin for this long,” Kame smirked, indicating that he still felt some attraction towards Ryo. Ryo just blushed slightly in response.
Ueda muttered under his breath, “A lot you know.”
“And I’m sure that Nakamaru-kun and Tanaka-kun are no longer virgins-I’m sure they’ve done it with each other. Gawd knows they’re unusually close, for some reason.”
Just then, Koki and Maru came out from the room where they had been, for no apparent reason, staying in despite the dramatic scene that had just played out earlier.
“WE HEARD THAT!” Koki defended.
“YEAH-and for your information, Koki and I are into girls. Not like the rest of you homos!” Maru added with a suspicious look on his face and a wag of his finger.
Ryo responded by grabbing the finger and twisting it ever so slightly, at least enough to get Maru to wail loudly. When he was released from Ryo’s grip, he started crying and ran off in the direction of his room, followed closely behind by Koki, who looked back and glared at his friends, before continuing after the injured boy.
“What about Toma?” Ryo asked, not giving a second thought to the pain he had just inflicted upon his roommate.
Kame paused, only to shrug his shoulders and say, “I’m sure that guy’s gotten a prostitute or some desperate auntie to take his virginity.”
“KAME!”
“Well-I’m just remarking on what I think to be true. If he’s still a virgin, that’s good for him. Actually-if he’s still a virgin, I’d have to definitely empathize for him. I honestly think that’s pretty pathetic.”
Ueda just glared in order to get Kame to apologize.
“Okay, it’s pathetic for him. Seriously, I applaud you, Tat-chan, for managing to hold onto the one thing that’s pure about you. Gawd knows, you aren’t exactly pure in your mind,” Kame chuckled, making Ueda blush even harder.
Ryo smiled but that just made things worse for Ueda, who attempted to move away.
Then Kame quickly changed the subject, catching both boys off guard.
“I know you guys were lying. Tell me-did Ikuta say anything about me?” Kame glared, hoping it would scare his classmates into telling him the truth.
Both were caught off-guard, and responded by giving each other slight glances, evidently showing that they knew exactly what Kame wanted to hear.
“I KNEW IT!” Kame cheered, “now what’d he say? I want to hear everything-especially if he said something about liking me.”
Ueda sighed like he was frustrated but Ryo quickly answered Kame’s questions.
“He said he’s perfectly okay with you not wanting to be tutored by him anymore. In fact, he’s gotten another tutoring job-it’s for some girl at the school next door. I’ve seen her-she’s really hot, and that’s not an exaggeration.”
Ueda just stared, open-mouthed, as Ryo continued.
“Yeah-he was glad that you suddenly decided to stop, otherwise he thought he’d have a hard time telling you that he was picking her over you. Sorry to say it but it’s better coming from me than Toma-he didn’t actually sound very apologetic.”
Kame’s haughty attitude dissipated into a much more humbled one. He appeared shocked and a little hurt, enough to make Ueda want to punch Ryo for saying anything.
He took Ryo aside as Kame let the so-called revelation sink in for him.
“Why the hell would you tell him that? Do you realize how fragile the situation is at the moment? And Kame is very quick for revenge-telling him something about Toma leaving him for a girl is gonna make him go ballistic!”
“Hey now-I’m quite aware of what’s going on and seriously, you gotta trust me. Can you do that? Can you trust me?”
Ueda looked Ryo in the eyes, feeling his heartbeat quicken as he noticed the sincerity in them. He shook his head and turned away, glancing at Kame who definitely seemed unable to contain his rage. Ueda sighed and looked back at Ryo.
“Okay fine but you better not make things worse.”
“Would I really do something to make things worse? Wait-don’t answer that.”
Ueda stifled a giggle and went back to Kame.
“I WILL MURDER HIM IN HIS SLEEP! THAT SON OF A BITCH THINKS HE CAN CHOOSE A GIRL OVER KAMENASHI KAZUYA? HE’S GOT ANOTHER THING COMING!” Kame muttered, very loudly.
“There, there, Kamenashi. Don’t worry about it-Ueda and I will help you get back at Toma-even if it kills us.”
“Or you do,” Ueda whispered, undetected.
The next day at lunch, Ryo sat very close to Kame and pretended to go over some algebra problems as Toma stared from a distance. Kame kept batting his eyelashes in Ryo’s general direction and laughing anytime Ryo attempted at making a joke. Ueda sat with Yamapi who was wondering what exactly was going on.
“Why is Ryo tutoring Kamenashi-kun?” Yamapi blinked.
Toma didn’t say anything, either because he wasn’t sure or because he wasn’t paying attention to what Yamapi was asking. It seemed he had his full attention on Kame, marking every time the younger man did something that appeared flirtatious in his eyes.
Ueda turned to Yamapi and whispered what was going on, to which Yamapi responded with a nod and a somewhat loud “Oh, I get it.”
“Get what?,” Toma asked, finally taking his eyes off of Kame.
Yamapi looked at Ueda who shook his head.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Yamapi lied, smiling and tilting his head thusly.
Toma glared but went right back to watching Kame and Ryo.
Towards the end of lunch, Toma finally got the guts to go over to the studying pair, to basically start trouble.
“So-Kamenashi-you and Ryo are study buddies now?” Toma asked, pretending not to care when it was very obvious that he was anxious to know.
Kame looked up, frowning and said, “It’s got nothing to do with you-why don’t you back to the hole you crawled out from?”
Toma’s easy-going attitude quickly disappeared and was replaced with nothing but fury and rage and above all, jealousy.
“ME?! Why don’t you go back to throwing yourself at Ryo while everyone watches?! You sure don’t know how to act subtle, do you?”
“Subtlety is something you wouldn’t know a thing about, asshole! Imagine telling your friends that you don’t want to tutor me anymore because of some girl when you could’ve very well told me yourself!”
Toma gasped, and left his mouth hang open. Kame seemed unsure of why Toma appeared so shocked.
“What?”
“Who told you I didn’t want to tutor you anymore?”
Before Kame could answer, Toma lowered his gaze and started glaring menacingly at Ryo. The latter pretended not to notice and started whistling, while slowly moving away from Kame. When he tried to get away, Toma grabbed him and the two started struggling.
“WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU MAKE UP A LIE LIKE THAT?!”
“I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT! LEMME GO, TOMA!”
“NOT UNTIL YOU TELL ME WHAT THE HELL YOU SAID TO KAME!”
Ueda sighed, frustrated as always and decided to step in so nobody ended up getting hurt.
“It was me, Toma.”
Ryo and Toma stopped struggling and stared at Ueda.
“You? What do you mean it was you?” Toma asked.
Ueda sighed again, this time rubbing the bridge of nose as he did so.
“I mean, I’m the one who told Kame that you didn’t want to tutor him anymore. I’m also the one who told him that you were now tutoring a girl and that’s why you chose to stop seeing him.”
Ryo gasped a little.
“Why would you lie like that, Tat-chan?” Kame’s voice broke a little, almost like he felt betrayed.
“I told him that because I wanted to stir things up between you! I wanted you to get jealous, Kame, so you’d finally admit that you have feelings for Toma.”
“WHAT?!” Toma yelled, almost falling backwards onto a table.
Kame stood up and slammed his hands on the lunch table.
“IT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!”
Ueda gaped at Kame, who was shaking slightly and looked beyond embarrassed at what was taking place.
“You shouldn’t have lied, Tat-chan! It wasn’t right! And besides, you shouldn’t get yourself involved with my affairs.”
“What the hell do you mean I shouldn’t get involved? You’re the one who wanted me to tell Toma you didn’t want him to tutor you anymore! You’re the one who got me involved! I was against it but you, as always, dragged me into your little drama of a life!”
“THAT DOESN’T MATTER! You shouldn’t have lied to me! I can’t believe you would do that, especially after all that’s happened between us. Some friend you are.”
“HE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!”
Everyone including Ueda stared at Ryo. He was angry, furious was more like it, that Ueda was getting all the blame for his backfired plan.
“He didn’t make up any of that stuff. It was all me. He’s just saying he did it so that I wouldn’t end up getting Toma mad at me.”
“Huh? Is this true, Tatsuya?”
“Yeah, Tat-chan, is it?”
Ueda blushed, mostly because Ryo was defending him, like a knight in shining armor. Of course, Ueda let the romance of the situation get to his head and he began to smile unconsciously.
“I-I-I-” he stuttered as he felt his face and the unusually large grin that was plastered over it.
“Why the hell are you smiling?” Ryo growled, making his way over to Ueda, unexpectedly.
“Don’t you care that I’m probably gonna get my ass kicked by Kamenashi and Toma?”
Ueda was disappointed; he should have expected Ryo to spoil such a miraculous moment such as this.
“I’m not smiling, you idiot! I just feel awkward and when I feel awkward, I smile! It’s a reflex, don’t yell at me for it!”
“Reflex? You’re such a bad liar, I pity you. Are you happy at the thought of me getting killed by these two morons?”
“Wow-is it always this bad when Toma and I fight?” Kame interrupted.
Toma turned and looked at the younger man, surprised that the other boy had said his first name.
“Did you just call me ‘Toma’?”
“I did? Oh hell-it slipped out. I didn’t mean it.”
Toma frowned, “Why is it such a bad thing for you and I to be peaceful with one another?”
Kame thought for a minute before answering, but he felt pressure as Toma kept staring at him.
“I DON’T KNOW! I just-it’s weird. I usually don’t act this way with people-I’m more of a pacifistic person.”
“I think you mean a sadistic person,” Ueda butted in.
“Shuddup!”
Ueda pretended not to laugh at Kame’s embarrassment and let his friend continue.
“You bring out this side of me and man, does it disgust me!”
“See? You’re doing it again! Why do you have to treat me like I’m a fucking disease or something? I never did anything to you!”
“It’s because I like you!”
Toma’s eyes widened and he gulped very loudly.
“I’m sorry what?”
“HE SAID HE LIKES YOU!” Ryo screamed.
“I HEARD HIM, YOU IDIOT!”
“THEN DON’T ASK STUPID QUESTIONS!”
“MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!”
Ueda grabbed Ryo and pulled him away, so Kame and Toma could keep speaking.
“I know it’s weird, right? I mean, we’re not exactly-”
“Go out with me.”
“Huh?”
Toma smiled, and looked Kame dead on. He walked over to the other boy and stared him straight in the eye.
“I want you to go out with me. I like you a lot.”
Kame was unsure of what to say, even though the answer was obvious. For some reason, he looked at Ueda, which seemed to be the standard action when one got confessed to at St. Sebastian’s.
“Okay,” he said in a breathy manner.
Toma smiled even wider and, as was his fashion, did a cheesy move he once in a drama on television. He grabbed Kame and pulled him into a warm embrace before stroking his cheek and leaning in for a very passionate kiss.
“EW!”
“GET A ROOM!”
“WHAT THE HELL?!”
Toma separated from Kame and just smiled.
“YOU WISH YOU COULD GET SOME OF THIS!”
Everyone started to laugh and the mood relaxed greatly. But not for everyone; Ueda was happy that Kame had finally gotten together with Toma. What worried him was that Kame and Toma seemed to be a mirror of what he and Ryo were. Two bickering classmates who always seemed to have something to insult the other about; they are brought together by a stranger surge of chemistry and though they fight it at first, they are unable to do anything but to succumb to it. It bugged Ueda, to say the least, because he knew that unless he did something to change his current situation, he, unlike Kame and Toma, would not have a happy ending.
Several days of thinking went by and before he knew it, Ueda found himself deciding whether to stay away from Ryo or to move back in with his sharp-tongued roommate. It was the last day of the switch and not only was it a matter of residency but it was also a matter of love and hate.
Ueda relayed through all the events that had happened between him and Ryo. He also thought about everyone else involved. He thought of Yamapi and his former relationship; Jin and Junno’s current one; and even Toma and Kame’s budding romance.
It also seemed so difficult, so unclear and so frustrating. Ueda was unsure of whether he would go back to just being Ryo’s roommate and nothing more.
But then he had an epiphany.
Ueda knew what he wanted to do. He knew exactly what he wanted and now was as good a time as any to get it. Without a second thought and with a stroke of courage that Ueda knew he might never get again, he walked over to Ryo’s room and knocked on the door.
When Ryo opened it, immediately, Ueda jumped on the other boy, hugging him tightly.
“Ueda-what are you doing?!” Ryo shouted.
Ueda just held the other boy tighter, feeling Ryo’s heart beat against his chest.
“I lied.”
“What?” Ryo asked, now seeming more concerned than shocked.
“When I said that I didn’t like you anymore-I lied.”
Ryo’s heart stopped. He looked at Ueda, whose face was nuzzled into his shoulder.
There was a brief silence before Ueda continued, that only heightened the tension.
“I never wanted things to end up like this. I was just scared. I want to be by your side always-Ryo.”
Ryo slowly started to wrap his arms around Ueda’s waist.
“Does this mean you’ll be moving back?” he whispered through a smile.
Ueda smiled and pulled his head away from Ryo’s shoulder to look at the other boy.
“I guess it does.”
Ryo smiled at Ueda so endearingly and attempted to get closer to the other boy, but was stopped when the door swung open.
It was Yamapi, again.
“DUDE, LEARN TO KNOCK!” Ryo screamed.
“Tatsuya, Headmistress wants to see you-right now,” the other boy panted, not really noticing how close his ex-boyfriend and best friend were to each other.
“Headmistress?”
Ueda ran over to the office of the Headmistress, with Ryo closely behind him who remained unseen. The older boy knocked on the door and when he got permission, entered the room.
That’s when he saw a familiar-looking couple standing next to the headmistress who was eagerly waiting for him.
“Hello, Tatsuya, we’ve missed you so much,” the woman of the pair said, smiling widely.
“MOM! DAD! What are you doing here?!”
END CHAPTER 15
A/N: Guess what! This is the second to last chapter of this series! D: I plan on making the last of the series as juicy and as dramatic as ever. Please forgive me for the cliffhanger, too ^^; Anyways, I found something out that some may be interested to know. As it turns out, St. Sebastian, who shares his name with the school in this story, is considered to be somewhat of a religious GAY icon. I don't know if he would be considered a patron saint of homosexuality but he does share ties with the LGBT community. I don't know, I found it interesting especially since I chose St. Sebastian randomly O__O but it does seem to be a very symbolic name don't you think? Especially for a story about an all-boys boarding school with many of the main characters being attracted to other boys? XD;; Okay, never mind, I'm weird .__.;; Anyways, THANK YOU SO SO MUCH for putting up with this series! I know I overuse the whole cliffhanger at the end of the chapters but I promise this will be the last one 8D *bricked* Please continue to read and I hope you will enjoy the last chapter when I manage to post it ^^