Red Herring [4/4]
Title: Red Herring [4/4]
Author: Ani
Genre: Fluff,
Rating: PG
Pairings: Chiitaro
Word Count: 1430
Summary: Seventeen years. He was a normal kid for about eight of those seventeen. Then Johnny's appeared in his life and everything changed. Three years he's been with JUMP. And five years he's been in love with the boy who barely seemed to notice his existence.
Disclaimer: I don't own JE
"Well?" Shintaro was still waiting for his answer.
"W-what makes you think I l-like R-ryutaro?" Chinen could feel his blood pounding loudly in ears. Why was Shintaro suddenly asking this? Was he really that obvious about his feelings? Well, JUMP did find out about it, but that was only because he spent so much time with them, it was only natural....right? Shintaro, on the other hand, didn't have the advantage of seeing him every single day. Plus, didn't the younger boy like him?
"I just want a 'yes' or a 'no,'" Shintaro continued patiently.
Reluctantly, Chinen admitted, "I-I...well...yeah, I do." Flashing him an apologetic look, he went on, "I'm sorry, Shin-chan, I can't return your feelings since I already like your brother even though he-"
"Don't worry about that." For a second, Shintaro hesitated before glancing at him guiltily. "Truth is...I was lying before. About liking you, I mean," he clarified, seeing Chinen's confusion. "I just wanted to get under nii-chan's skin, so that's what I told him."
"Oh." Chinen's shoulders slumped, both from relief and disappointment. "I-I see." Which meant Ryutaro did like Shintaro. After all, it was a well known fact that Ryutaro got easily irritated with Chinen, so if Shintaro had just been trying to get his brother jealous...
"Hey, Chinen-kun?" Shintaro pulled at Chinen's sleeve to get his attention, which had been wandering for a while. "What do you think I should do about nii-chan?"
"Why don't you just tell him how you feel?" Chinen suggested, feeling like a total hypocrite simultaneously. He really had no right telling other people to be open about their feelings when he himself kept everything locked up.
Meanwhile, Shintaro was blinking at him in bafflement. "What are you talking about?"
"You and Ryutaro like each other right?" Chinen asked miserably. "And he's just mad at you cuz he got jealous of me for that other day when we got ice cream together, isn't he?"
For several moments, Shintaro was quiet, processing his words. Then he face palmed himself and sighed with defeat before putting his hands on Chinen's shoulders, saying, "Chinen-kun, nii-chan's just nii-chan to me. Besides, he can't like me cuz the one he likes is you."
Chinen blinked once. Twice. And then a third time before his brain fully processed Shintaro's words. "T-that's not true," he protested once he got over the shock. "Ryutaro doesn't l-like me, he thinks I'm annoying and-"
Before Chinen could even think of a response, another voice cut in. A very familiar voice which made his heart jump. "Shintaro, what are you doing?"
Startled, Chinen and Shintaro stepped away from one another to see Ryutaro's eyes flickering between the two of them. Steadily, a red blush crept up Chinen's cheeks as he realized what the situation must look like to the other boy. "I-it's not what you th-"
His voice broke off as Ryutaro turned his glare on him. "I didn't ask you."
"Nii-chan, stop being mean to Chinen-kun!" Shintaro reprimanded. His glare resembled his brother's to an uncanny degree.
"I am not being mean, you need to stop being selfish and-"
"Oh I'm the selfish one now?" Shintaro bristled. "How about you? You're hurting Chinen-kun and you can't even tell him you lik-"
"Shut up, don't talk about stuff unrelated to you," Ryutaro cut in hastily with a quick glance at Chinen, who was standing awkwardly there.
"Ryutaro, do you like me?" Chinen asked quietly with small flame of hope.
After a long silence, Ryutaro finally answered, "That's just Shintaro spouting nonsense-"
"Nii-chan!"
"-so don't listen to him and- C-chinen-kun?"
Something cold and wet was rolling down Chinen's cheeks. Startled, he touched his face and vaguely realized he was crying. Without another word, he pushed past Ryutaro and ran as fast as possible to a secluded part of the building where he could emo in peace.
He had always been prepared to get rejected by Ryutaro. He even thought he was ready for rejection when it came. But hearing the words spoken so bluntly by him had been worse than he could imagine.
Shintaro's words kept floating around his head, almost taunting him. "Chinen-kun, nii-chan can't like me cuz the one he likes is you."
"T-that's not t-true..." Chinen mumbled quietly to himself as he buried his face against his sleeves. He didn't want to admit it for for that one brief second, he thought Ryutaro really would return his feelings.
Footsteps approached him, but he kept his head lowered until he heard Inoo's voice calling his name. The BEST member took a seat next to him and gently patted his head.
"I already heard from Shintaro and Ryutaro," Inoo told him. "There seems to be quite a misunderstanding between the three of you."
"W-what do you m-mean?" Chinen couldn't help asking.
"Shintaro was supposed to get his brother jealous so the two of you would get together. But you, and I don't understand why you would think this or anyone else for that matter, you thought Ryutaro liked his brother."
"B-but Ryutaro d-doesn't like me," Chinen protested, feeling his heart clench painfully.
Sighing with exasperation, Inoo continued, "Then Ryutaro thought you and Shintaro liked each other, so he actually did get jealous, though it didn't exactly work out the way we had planned it originally."
"W-what? S-so Ryutaro does l-l-like me?"
"Why don't you just ask him?" Chinen's eyes widened as Ryutaro shuffled into view with obvious reluctance.
"You talk too much, Inoo-chan," Ryutaro complained, not looking at Chinen.
"You don't talk enough. Why else did we all go to the trouble of asking your brother for help?" Inoo retorted.
"I didn't ask for help. You're all such nosy meddlers," Ryutaro muttered.
"Hey, the result is what matters." Inoo patted the younger boy on his head as he left.
After a moment, Ryutaro went over and took a seat next to Chinen.
"So what happened?" Chinen finally asked after a long silence. He kept his eyes down and unconsciously twiddled with his sleeves, since he still couldn't completely believe Ryutaro had feelings for him.
"BEST was using Shintaro to...to...get me jealous," Ryutaro admitted reluctantly. "So they asked, more like bribed, him to say he liked you and arranged the 'date' and everything. I learned about it after that day from Yamada and Yuuto." He paused for a few seconds before asking, "How long have you liked me?"
Chinen blushed at the question and shifted his eyes to the floor. "F-five years..." he answered as quietly as possible. "What about you, Ryu-chan? Do you really like me?"
Glancing over furtively, Chinen noticed Ryutaro's face had reddened slightly. "I realized I liked you...three years ago." The other boy looked over at him and must have seen the surprise on his face because he asked, rather irritably, "What?"
"C-cuz you always act like you think I'm annoying and you don't want anything to do with me," Chinen explained, feeling his stomach back flip over hearing the words 'I like you' from Ryutaro. "That's why I thought you didn't like me..."
Chinen felt his blush deepen as the younger boy leaned in towards him, pressing their foreheads together. The other boy was so close, he could feel his breath tickling his skin. Without another word, Ryutaro gently covered Chinen's mouth with his own. It was only for a brief second, but it left Chinen's heart pounding like mad. His head spun as exhilaration coursed through him.
"That's my apology for hurting you and making you cry," Ryutaro murmured, his hands cupping Chinen's flushed face. "This..." Again, Ryutaro pressed his lips softly against Chinen's, longer this time so both were slightly breathless when they broke apart. "...is to say I like you."
Hesitantly, Chinen scooted closer to the other boy, longing for more of his kisses and warmth. With his face burning, Chinen leaned up and quickly placed a chaste kiss on Ryutaro's cheek. "I like Ryu-chan, too. I like Ryu-chan so much."
"Why are you being so cute right now?" Ryutaro moved a bit so he was behind Chinen and wrapped his arms around to his front.
"Ryu-chan thinks I'm cute?" Chinen smiled shyly as Ryutaro's hand found his smaller one and intertwined their fingers together. "Your hand's so warm."
"Be quiet," Ryutaro muttered, embarrassed.
"Ryu-chan's red~" Chinen couldn't help teasing even as Ryutaro scowled at him.
"So are you," he retorted, purposely blowing air into his ear and making him giggle. "And before I forget..." The back of Chinen's neck tingled with a funny sensation as Ryutaro pressed his lips against it. "Happy belated birthday."
A/N: ....Ryutaro stole my A/N. Going to take a break from pure, nonsense fluff to brush up on my plot skills. It's time to feed those bunnies.
HAPPY 17TH CHINEN, HOPE YOU SPENT IT WELL WITH RYUTARO JUMP AND YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS
Author: Ani
Genre: Fluff,
Rating: PG
Pairings: Chiitaro
Word Count: 1430
Summary: Seventeen years. He was a normal kid for about eight of those seventeen. Then Johnny's appeared in his life and everything changed. Three years he's been with JUMP. And five years he's been in love with the boy who barely seemed to notice his existence.
Disclaimer: I don't own JE
"Well?" Shintaro was still waiting for his answer.
"W-what makes you think I l-like R-ryutaro?" Chinen could feel his blood pounding loudly in ears. Why was Shintaro suddenly asking this? Was he really that obvious about his feelings? Well, JUMP did find out about it, but that was only because he spent so much time with them, it was only natural....right? Shintaro, on the other hand, didn't have the advantage of seeing him every single day. Plus, didn't the younger boy like him?
"I just want a 'yes' or a 'no,'" Shintaro continued patiently.
Reluctantly, Chinen admitted, "I-I...well...yeah, I do." Flashing him an apologetic look, he went on, "I'm sorry, Shin-chan, I can't return your feelings since I already like your brother even though he-"
"Don't worry about that." For a second, Shintaro hesitated before glancing at him guiltily. "Truth is...I was lying before. About liking you, I mean," he clarified, seeing Chinen's confusion. "I just wanted to get under nii-chan's skin, so that's what I told him."
"Oh." Chinen's shoulders slumped, both from relief and disappointment. "I-I see." Which meant Ryutaro did like Shintaro. After all, it was a well known fact that Ryutaro got easily irritated with Chinen, so if Shintaro had just been trying to get his brother jealous...
"Hey, Chinen-kun?" Shintaro pulled at Chinen's sleeve to get his attention, which had been wandering for a while. "What do you think I should do about nii-chan?"
"Why don't you just tell him how you feel?" Chinen suggested, feeling like a total hypocrite simultaneously. He really had no right telling other people to be open about their feelings when he himself kept everything locked up.
Meanwhile, Shintaro was blinking at him in bafflement. "What are you talking about?"
"You and Ryutaro like each other right?" Chinen asked miserably. "And he's just mad at you cuz he got jealous of me for that other day when we got ice cream together, isn't he?"
For several moments, Shintaro was quiet, processing his words. Then he face palmed himself and sighed with defeat before putting his hands on Chinen's shoulders, saying, "Chinen-kun, nii-chan's just nii-chan to me. Besides, he can't like me cuz the one he likes is you."
Chinen blinked once. Twice. And then a third time before his brain fully processed Shintaro's words. "T-that's not true," he protested once he got over the shock. "Ryutaro doesn't l-like me, he thinks I'm annoying and-"
Before Chinen could even think of a response, another voice cut in. A very familiar voice which made his heart jump. "Shintaro, what are you doing?"
Startled, Chinen and Shintaro stepped away from one another to see Ryutaro's eyes flickering between the two of them. Steadily, a red blush crept up Chinen's cheeks as he realized what the situation must look like to the other boy. "I-it's not what you th-"
His voice broke off as Ryutaro turned his glare on him. "I didn't ask you."
"Nii-chan, stop being mean to Chinen-kun!" Shintaro reprimanded. His glare resembled his brother's to an uncanny degree.
"I am not being mean, you need to stop being selfish and-"
"Oh I'm the selfish one now?" Shintaro bristled. "How about you? You're hurting Chinen-kun and you can't even tell him you lik-"
"Shut up, don't talk about stuff unrelated to you," Ryutaro cut in hastily with a quick glance at Chinen, who was standing awkwardly there.
"Ryutaro, do you like me?" Chinen asked quietly with small flame of hope.
After a long silence, Ryutaro finally answered, "That's just Shintaro spouting nonsense-"
"Nii-chan!"
"-so don't listen to him and- C-chinen-kun?"
Something cold and wet was rolling down Chinen's cheeks. Startled, he touched his face and vaguely realized he was crying. Without another word, he pushed past Ryutaro and ran as fast as possible to a secluded part of the building where he could emo in peace.
He had always been prepared to get rejected by Ryutaro. He even thought he was ready for rejection when it came. But hearing the words spoken so bluntly by him had been worse than he could imagine.
Shintaro's words kept floating around his head, almost taunting him. "Chinen-kun, nii-chan can't like me cuz the one he likes is you."
"T-that's not t-true..." Chinen mumbled quietly to himself as he buried his face against his sleeves. He didn't want to admit it for for that one brief second, he thought Ryutaro really would return his feelings.
Footsteps approached him, but he kept his head lowered until he heard Inoo's voice calling his name. The BEST member took a seat next to him and gently patted his head.
"I already heard from Shintaro and Ryutaro," Inoo told him. "There seems to be quite a misunderstanding between the three of you."
"W-what do you m-mean?" Chinen couldn't help asking.
"Shintaro was supposed to get his brother jealous so the two of you would get together. But you, and I don't understand why you would think this or anyone else for that matter, you thought Ryutaro liked his brother."
"B-but Ryutaro d-doesn't like me," Chinen protested, feeling his heart clench painfully.
Sighing with exasperation, Inoo continued, "Then Ryutaro thought you and Shintaro liked each other, so he actually did get jealous, though it didn't exactly work out the way we had planned it originally."
"W-what? S-so Ryutaro does l-l-like me?"
"Why don't you just ask him?" Chinen's eyes widened as Ryutaro shuffled into view with obvious reluctance.
"You talk too much, Inoo-chan," Ryutaro complained, not looking at Chinen.
"You don't talk enough. Why else did we all go to the trouble of asking your brother for help?" Inoo retorted.
"I didn't ask for help. You're all such nosy meddlers," Ryutaro muttered.
"Hey, the result is what matters." Inoo patted the younger boy on his head as he left.
After a moment, Ryutaro went over and took a seat next to Chinen.
"So what happened?" Chinen finally asked after a long silence. He kept his eyes down and unconsciously twiddled with his sleeves, since he still couldn't completely believe Ryutaro had feelings for him.
"BEST was using Shintaro to...to...get me jealous," Ryutaro admitted reluctantly. "So they asked, more like bribed, him to say he liked you and arranged the 'date' and everything. I learned about it after that day from Yamada and Yuuto." He paused for a few seconds before asking, "How long have you liked me?"
Chinen blushed at the question and shifted his eyes to the floor. "F-five years..." he answered as quietly as possible. "What about you, Ryu-chan? Do you really like me?"
Glancing over furtively, Chinen noticed Ryutaro's face had reddened slightly. "I realized I liked you...three years ago." The other boy looked over at him and must have seen the surprise on his face because he asked, rather irritably, "What?"
"C-cuz you always act like you think I'm annoying and you don't want anything to do with me," Chinen explained, feeling his stomach back flip over hearing the words 'I like you' from Ryutaro. "That's why I thought you didn't like me..."
Chinen felt his blush deepen as the younger boy leaned in towards him, pressing their foreheads together. The other boy was so close, he could feel his breath tickling his skin. Without another word, Ryutaro gently covered Chinen's mouth with his own. It was only for a brief second, but it left Chinen's heart pounding like mad. His head spun as exhilaration coursed through him.
"That's my apology for hurting you and making you cry," Ryutaro murmured, his hands cupping Chinen's flushed face. "This..." Again, Ryutaro pressed his lips softly against Chinen's, longer this time so both were slightly breathless when they broke apart. "...is to say I like you."
Hesitantly, Chinen scooted closer to the other boy, longing for more of his kisses and warmth. With his face burning, Chinen leaned up and quickly placed a chaste kiss on Ryutaro's cheek. "I like Ryu-chan, too. I like Ryu-chan so much."
"Why are you being so cute right now?" Ryutaro moved a bit so he was behind Chinen and wrapped his arms around to his front.
"Ryu-chan thinks I'm cute?" Chinen smiled shyly as Ryutaro's hand found his smaller one and intertwined their fingers together. "Your hand's so warm."
"Be quiet," Ryutaro muttered, embarrassed.
"Ryu-chan's red~" Chinen couldn't help teasing even as Ryutaro scowled at him.
"So are you," he retorted, purposely blowing air into his ear and making him giggle. "And before I forget..." The back of Chinen's neck tingled with a funny sensation as Ryutaro pressed his lips against it. "Happy belated birthday."
A/N: ....Ryutaro stole my A/N. Going to take a break from pure, nonsense fluff to brush up on my plot skills. It's time to feed those bunnies.
HAPPY 17TH CHINEN, HOPE YOU SPENT IT WELL WITH RYUTARO JUMP AND YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS