lala fic after a long time.
Title: Ring
Pairing: Ryopi
Words: 906
Once upon a time, there lived a lonely and bitter man. Every day he would grumble about everything and anything - the sun is too hot, the neighbours are too noisy, the kid next door is rude. And every single day he would plot to trap the neighbours (he cannot do anything about the sun), so whenever he feels they are too noisy, he would throw bagfuls of water, or let fireworks off in their house.
But on days where they were quiet, he still wasn’t happy. Old man Ryo would sit on his stool, facing the mirror embedded in the wall and cry.
One day, while he was cleaning the house, he accidentally ran the head of the mop into the mirror, and chipped part of it. It was small, almost invisible, unless you searched for errors. A small flaw, but it irked him to no end. Moreover, there was no one to blame, but himself, and he could forgive himself for that. He berated himself for his carelessness and foolish act, and full of anger, he cried. He wailed and lamented about the injustice, and finally to him lonely self.
“Why am I alone?” he wailed, beating his fists on the floor.
He envied the neighbours terribly, for their laughter, their harmony, and their love. He did not receive any of those, and had long forgotten the way to achieve them.
“I wish I could experience those!” he cried out, tangible pain, sincerely; desire gushed from his heart.
“I can teach you how.” A small voice, weak, and easily unheard.
Ryo was so shocked that his mirror was talking, and leaned towards it, as if looking for a trick.
“You will treat your neighbours well as an exchange.”
This request was weird; Ryo only had his neighbours to interact with. Compared to the other people, he was probably closest to the neighbours. Ryo consented.
“I promise, just let me have what I want; joy, laughter, love.”
“Then you will do as I say.”
Ryo followed his instructions, practicing his smile in front of that slightly injured mirror. He was quite handsome, when he smiled. He looked friendly, instead of aggressive. He met his neighbour, and smiled. His neighbour, taken aback, but greeted him with grace. Ryo was shocked; he did not know how to reply. He ran quickly and hid himself in his room.
“What should I do?” he beseeched the mirror.
“You greet them kindly, respond as they do.”
This time Ryo was prepared what to do. He smiled at his neighbour, again, who smiled too and greeted him. Ryo greeted him back, he even remembered his name. “Konnichiwa, Akanishi-san.” Akanishi-san seemed to have forgotten Ryo’s awkwardness the last time he met. He invited Ryo over, and Ryo was taken aback. He did not reply and quickly escaped back to his room again.
Ryo cursed himself for this; he wanted to go, but did not remember the proper courtesies. He consulted the mirror again.
“What should I do now?”
What answered was silence. Ryo did not want to lose this progress he had, and decided to plunge ahead himself. The next day, he vowed, he would conquer this.
“Ohaiyo, Yamashita-san!” Ryo even bowed.
Yamashita-san did not reply, but smiled and gestured for Ryo to go into his house.
Ryo bravely went in, even though he did not know what to do. He sat awkwardly on the tatami, and watched as Yamashita poured him a cup of tea. He noticed a slight tremble as he set the cup on the table.
Finally, Yamashita spoke.
“How are you these days?”
Ryo did not know how to answer, and kept quiet. But Yamashita did not get angry or ask him to leave.
“Did anything happen recently?”
At this straightforward question, Ryo nodded, but did not know whether to offer any more information.
“I see. May I tell you about my day?”
Ryo nodded, he did not know what to say anyway.
“Every day, I worry about this person. He seems to have forgotten about the past, and I didn’t have the courage to remind him. I didn’t want to ruin the already unstable relationship we had, and left him alone. He became mad, a recluse. He had many breakdowns, and I wanted to reach out and console him, but I was too weak. But he seems better these days, and I met him, recently. He doesn’t speak much, but his presence makes me feel better. I wish him well.”
At this, Yamashita closed his eyes, and as if in meditation, did not speak again. Ryo, confused, left him alone and went to his own house.
“Mirror, what can I do to make him feel better?” Ryo turned to his mirror, hoping for an answer.
“Why do you want to help him?” was the cold answer.
“He seems so sad, but I do not know what to do. This way I can’t experience the laughter, the joy or the love.”
“They come with the price, called sadness.”
Ryo is still confused, but his mirror did not offer any more solutions.
Ryo wanted to try again, and knocked on the door the next day. But, it was a completely new person standing there. Where was Yamashita-san? The stranger handed him a package, and inside was a ring, and nothing else.
Engraved on the ring was his name, and Yamashita’s name. The one which he gave him two years ago.
ok the ending sucks, and it's still similar to yuhan's tego-flower fic hahah! and the ring is yamapi's song o.O
but i think nino's niji fits better lol. but more like the same flow o.O