{multichapter} tell me why (chapter 2) ; ryoda
TITLE: Tell Me Why (Chapter 2)
PAIRING: Nishikido Ryo x Ueda Tatsuya ; Yamashita Tomohisa x Ueda Tatsuya ; Akanishi Jin x Kamenashi Kazuya
RATING: NC17 (overall)
DISCLAIMER: Do not own. Title belongs to Taylor Swift.
GENRE: Angst, fluff, romance, violence, AU
WARNINGS: Violence.
NOTES: Requested by natsuki_suzu Originally posted HERE
SUMMARY: After a chance encounter at the supermarket, Ryo is intrigued by Tatsuya, and he is determined to find out more about the other. The more he discovers, the more he wants to protect him. After enlisting the help of his two closest friends, they set out to help Tatsuya.
Ryo had almost forgotten about Ueda. He hadn’t seen him since that day at the store, and work had been busy, so he was almost driven from his mind. Koyama had even stopped asking about him, readily slipping into an easier conversation - how are you finding the weather; how was your day; that’s a nice tie.
He was driving home one night, exhausted and his eyes aching, when he saw him again. Ueda was hunched over, arms loaded with bags from the store and eyes on the ground as he walked. But it was unmistakably him - that copper hair of his gave him away immediately.
Ryo was about to just drive right past; was about to ignore him and just continue on home, but he couldn’t. He found himself pulling over, the car whining to a stop on the curb. Ueda turned, quickly bringing a hand up to shield his eyes from the headlights of the car, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to work out who was inside.
Ryo took a deep breath before opening the door and giving Ueda a small wave. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked, waiting for some sign that Ueda recognised him. But he didn’t get the dawning expression and smile that he was expecting. Instead, Ueda’s eyes widened and he took a step back, quickly gathering himself and giving Ryo a sharp nod, turning and heading up the hill. “Wait!” Ryo called after him, making sure the car wouldn’t roll back down the hill before following him.
“What do you want?” Ueda snapped, glancing at his watch quickly. “I have to get home.”
Ryo rushed forward, grabbing onto Ueda’s elbow. He didn’t miss the way Ueda froze, before trying to pull his arm free. “Are you okay?”
Ueda paused, looking at him incredulously. “Right now?” he asked. “Right now I’m not okay. Because I have some stranger who I’ve only met once clinging onto my arm, asking if I’m alright!” Ueda wrenched his arm out of Ryo’s grasp, anger and frustration evident on his face. “What is wrong with you?”
Ueda groaned as one of his bags split, the contents falling to the pavement and rolling down the hill. “Here, I’ll help you,” Ryo said, already rushing after a stray orange, and ignoring Ueda’s cry of protest. Ueda sighed, and crouched down, collecting the groceries that hadn’t broken. Ryo was panting slightly as he ran back up, and Ueda took the orange back with a disgruntled expression.
“Thanks,” he muttered, stuffing it back into one of the other bags. “I’m going now,” he said, standing up after making sure none of the other bags would break. “Please don’t follow me.”
“I wasn’t following you,” Ryo said quickly, “I wasn’t. I was just-well, I was just worried,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. Ueda’s eyes were flicking down to his watch again. It was rather distracting; Ryo wished he would stop doing that.
“Why were you worried?”
“Because…of the other day,” Ryo said, completely forgetting that ‘the other day’ was actually three weeks ago. That was possibly why Ueda was just staring at him blankly. “You were acting strange, and-“
Ueda’s face was suddenly devoid of all emotion. “Thankyou for your concern,” he said, bowing slightly, “but I have to go now.”
“No, wait-“ Ryo took a hold of Ueda’s arm again, but this time he ignored the way Ueda gasped and flinched away from his touch. “Please.” Ryo didn’t know what he was saying. He didn’t know why he wanted Ueda to stay so badly. He didn’t even know what he was going to say after ‘please’.
Ueda shook his head furiously. “I have to go,” he repeated, “Let me go, I have to-"
“Why? Where are you going? It’s almost six o’clock in the evening, don’t you-"
“You don’t understand!” Ueda exclaimed, fire in his eyes. “I have to get home before-"
But then Ryo was wrenched away, landing on his back against the sidewalk, the wind knocked out of him. He looked up in shock, a tall man standing above him and shielding Ueda behind him. “Tatsuya, are you okay?” the man asked, turning to the other and cupping his face in his hands sweetly. Ueda nodded.
“I’m fine, Tomo.”
He must be the boyfriend, Ryo assumed. He got to his feet, albeit a little shakily, and stood to the side, unsure of what to do next. Ueda was being fussed over by his boyfriend, clearly embarrassed by the affection, and averting his gaze. The boyfriend was checking him over, running his hands through Ueda’s hair and over his shoulders, as if Ryo had hurt him.
“Tomo, really, he didn’t do anything,” Ueda said softly, placing a hand on the others’ elbow. He didn’t look convinced, but he let his arms drop, and turned back to Ryo.
“What were you doing?” he asked, voice calm but eyes angry.
Ryo paused. “I… I just saw him here; thought he needed some help.”
Ueda nodded. “…One of the bags split - see, here - and there was food rolling everywhere. And so he stopped and helped me out,” he explained, showing his boyfriend the bag. He kept his eyes on Ryo’s, dark and rather suspicious, but he smiled at Ueda, nodding.
“Alright then,” he said, reaching for the other bags. “Let’s go home?” he asked, and Ueda smiled. “Thanks for looking after Tatsuya,” he added as an afterthought, taking Ueda’s hand in his.
“No problem,” Ryo said distractedly. This was turning out to be a very strange night.
The boyfriend tugged on Ueda’s hand, and led him back to his car, which he had parked right behind Ryo’s own. Ryo watched on as they left, speeding away up the hill without a glance back at him.
Ryo shook his head, climbing back into his own car and rubbing his eyes. He just sat there for a while, hands on the steering wheel and looking out through the windscreen, wondering what the hell just happened.
Ueda hadn’t looked very lovingly at his boyfriend.
He had looked scared.
>>><<<
Tatsuya’s head barely missed the corner of the coffee table as he was thrown to the floor. Tomohisa towered above him, his eyes sharp and full of anger. “Tomohisa, nothing happened,” Tatsuya said, hating the way his voice wavered. But Tomohisa wasn’t listening, and he grabbed the collar of Ueda’s shirt, pulling him up.
“Stop talking,” he hissed, voice full of venom. Tatsuya looked into Tomohisa’s eyes, so close to his own, but found nothing there; he wasn’t the person Tatsuya loved right now. And just like that, Tatsuya shut down, just waiting for the first punches to land on his body.
They came soon after, blows to his stomach, his shoulders, his face. It was one of the punches to his face that sent him flying, crashing into the coffee table and bashing the back of his head against the wood.
“I told you not to talk to other men,” Tomohisa grunted, lifting Tatsuya up almost effortlessly by the shoulders, slamming him into the wall. Tatsuya coughed, light flecks of blood painting the wall as he was forced against it, Tomohisa’s hand against his spine, holding him there. “I told you, Tatsuya.”
“It-It wasn’t my fault,” Tatsuya wheezed, Tomohisa placing his other hand on the back of his head and pressing him into the wall. “He came out of nowhere.”
“You’re not going anywhere outside without me anymore.” Tomohisa jerked, and pulled Tatsuya off the wall, pushing him down to the floor and slapping him across the face. Tatsuya fell to the side, but Tomohisa grabbed his hair and dragged him back up, holding him there as he sent kicks to his stomach. Tatsuya doubled over, but Tomohisa wrenched his head back up, bending down to kiss him harshly, biting upon his bottom lip and making it bleed. He let Tatsuya collapse back down, stepping over his exhausted body and leaving the room.
As always, Tatsuya made sure Tomohisa wasn’t coming back before he moved again. Who knew what Tomohisa would do if he came back to see Tatsuya standing, dusting himself off from their encounter.
When he finally did move, his entire body screamed at him, and he paused, reaching for the wall to steady himself. His head was swimming, his vision fuzzy and unfocused. His breaths were coming in short gasps, and he held a hand to his chest, grasping his shirt as if it could take the pain away.
But then there were those tears again, falling down his cheeks. Tatsuya slid to the floor, drawing his knees to his chest and hiding his face, sobs racking his body as the tears kept on falling.
They just wouldn’t stop. He needed to get up; needed to clean himself up; needed to patch up that cut on his lower back from when he fell on the table. But he couldn’t find the strength within him to stand back up. Couldn’t find the strength to stare at his battered reflection in the mirror again.
But still, he unsteadily got to his feet, making his way to the bathroom not a second too soon. Tatsuya held his stomach, shaking as he vomited into the toilet bowl, every part of his body aching as he heaved.
He sat back, drawing a hand over his mouth and grimacing at the aftertaste. Tatsuya used the sink to pull himself up, flushing the toilet and turning to eye himself in the mirror. Huh. He hadn’t even noticed the blood running down his chin. He splashed his face with water, trying unsuccessfully to rid his face of the dried tears, and tugged at his hair, attempting to straighten it. Tomohisa had always loved to pull his hair.
Tatsuya missed Tomohisa. He missed the man who would kiss his forehead every morning; who would play with Tatsuya’s fingers when they were watching a movie and he was bored. He missed being able to proudly say that Tomohisa was his boyfriend.
He hated being scared of him
>>><<<
“And then what?” Kame asked, sitting on the edge of his seat, eager to hear the rest of the story.
“Then his boyfriend bundled him into the car and they took off,” Ryo finished, sighing.
“Kame, calm down,” Jin laughed, ruffling his hair as he sat next to his boyfriend. “It wasn’t that interesting.”
“Hey!”
“Well, it wasn’t. So you stalked some guy - in the dark, might I add - and then you grab him, asking him repeatedly if he’s alright? And then,” Jin continued, counting on his fingers, “Then you break his shopping bags, steal his oranges, grab him again, and then his boyfriend turns up and yells at you.”
“I didn’t break his shopping bags!” Ryo squawked indignantly. “And I gave that orange back, okay!”
“Oh, details,” Jin waved his hand in front of his face. “Point being - you’re being really creepy about this guy, Ryo.”
“I know,” Ryo said, holding his head in his hands. “Should I just let this drop?”
Jin was nodding before he had even finished his sentence. “Yes.”
Kame turned, shocked. “But-no! You can’t give up, Ryo. None of this makes sense,” he said, grasping onto Jin’s arm.
“What d’yo-"
“You said he looked fearful, right?” Kame asked, looking wide-eyed between Ryo and Jin. Ryo nodded slowly.
“I think that was just because his boyfriend came out of nowhere; I didn’t even hear his car pull up-"
Kame shook his head. “Something else is up. It just… doesn’t sound right.”
“Hmm? How do you mean?” Jin asked, slinging his arm around Kame’s shoulders and drawing him closer. “Come here; calm down,” he murmured soothingly. Kame was close to shaking, tears gathering in his eyes as he held onto Jin’s hand as though it were his lifeline.
“Kame?” Ryo asked, bewildered. “What’s happening?”
Jin was running his hand up and down Kame’s arm, bringing him closer and pressing his lips to his hair. He shook his head at Ryo, asking him silently to be quiet, and Ryo shut his mouth. “What do you mean, Kame?”
“I mean… it doesn’t make sense. Why would he be scared of the person he loves?” Kame asked, fisting his shirt in his hand. “And… you said he had a black eye the last time you saw him-"
“He said it was from a tennis ball,” Ryo interrupted, but he slowly understood where Kame was coming from. “You think the boyfriend is hitting him?” he asked in surprise. Kame nodded.
“When I was little - shush Jin, I can do this,” Kame started, laying a hand atop Jin’s knee as he went to protest, “When I was little I had a friend who lived right next door to our apartment. Our rooms were right beside each other. I remember waking up, hearing thumps from his room… I didn’t know what was happening, of course, but my parents told me later. He was always covered in bruises; tried to hide them with long sleeves,” he explained, and Jin’s grip tightened on his hand. “It’s okay, Jin. He left, after a while. They never told me where.”
Ryo was horrified. “Why… why didn’t you tell me this before?” he asked carefully. It had obviously hurt Kame deeply.
“You never asked,” Kame shrugged. “But Ryo,” he said, leaning forward once more, “Promise me you won’t let this drop.”
“What?” Jin said, surprised. “Why?”
But Kame’s jaw was set, his eyes dark and determined. “No-one should ever have to go through that. It’s disgusting; it’s horrible. He shouldn’t be hurt by his own boyfriend.
“I just-Ryo please,” Kame said, expression so open and earnest that Ryo just had to hear him out, “Just… next time you see him? Try to make sure he doesn’t have any bruises.”
Jin was staring at Kame, but Kame wasn’t allowing Ryo to break their eye contact until he promised. “Fine,” Ryo sighed, taking a long drink of the beer in front of him, “I’ll try.
>>><<<
The next time Ryo saw Ueda was that Saturday. It was around noon, and Ryo was back at Koyama’s store, perusing the aisles for soy sauce that he just couldn’t find anywhere. He should tell Koyama that he needed to be more organised. He threw a punnet of strawberries into his basket, grimacing at the price but leaving it at that, turning in time to see Ueda lift up a bunch of bananas and examine them closely.
He was about to open his mouth and say hello - maybe apologise for the other night - but then Ueda set the bananas into his basket and looked around, silently calling someone over. The boyfriend appeared, nodding at Ueda’s choice, and the two continued shopping.
Ryo slipped a hand into his pocket, fingering the piece of paper in his pocket. Kame had written Ryo’s phone number down on the back of a Chinese takeout menu, ripping it and ordering Ryo to give it to Ueda when he next saw him. Ryo had refused, but somehow he hadn’t thrown it out.
And then he remembered his promise to Kame, and his stomach dropped. He couldn’t very well just go over there, asking Ueda if he had any bruises. Ryo wouldn’t be surprised if Ueda called the police on him if he ever spoke to him again, really.
It was the boyfriend who noticed him first, recognition flooding his face and drawing Ueda closer, even though the other wasn’t even paying attention. But the hand on his elbow made him turn, and he looked straight at Ryo, rather wide-eyed.
“You’re the guy from the other night, am I wrong?” the boyfriend said, moving over to where Ryo was standing stock-still.
“Uuh, yes.”
“Yamashita Tomohisa,” he said, holding a hand out for Ryo to shake. He took it carefully, feeling nothing but hostility from this Yamashita.
“Nishikido Ryo,” he said, and Yamashita nodded. Ryo couldn’t help but notice how his hand went right back to Ueda’s elbow, as if making sure he were still there. As if he were keeping there, anchoring him down with just one touch.
Ueda bowed his head in acknowledgement, looking rather fed up. He kept eyeing the door; the other customers; the food on the shelves behind them. Yamashita tapped his elbow, and he snapped to attention again, fiddling with the food already in their basket. “We’re shopping,” was all he said.
Ryo nodded. The atmosphere was almost suffocating. Yamashita’s eyes were boring into Ryo’s own, practically staring him down. Ueda was still shuffling his feet, trying to find anything but Ryo or Yamashita to rest his eyes upon. Ryo wanted out of that conversation - if you could really call it that - but Yamashita wasn’t letting him leave so easily.
Ryo clucked his tongue, about to snap and say something he would probably regret later (it happened quite often), but he stopped himself just in time. Yamashita was talking, but it was just white noise to Ryo. His eyes were focused on Ueda’s wrist, away from Yamashita, which was purple and blue and yellow, and Ryo thought he could see the hint of a bandage peeking out from under his jacket sleeve.
And maybe he was just paranoid; maybe Kame’s words were still at the forefront of his mind, but he came to a decision there and then. His hand closed over the paper in his pocket.
“Nishikido-san.” Yamashita’s nasally voice shook him from his thoughts. “I was asking you something.”
“…Oh?” Ryo said, oblivious. Ueda followed his eyes, quickly shifting so that his sleeve covered his wrist completely. Luckily, Yamashita noticed nothing, as he was so focused on staring Ryo down.
“Yes. Do you live around here?” Yamashita asked, his fingers now wrapping around Ueda’s elbow.
“Oh, uh-yes, I do,” he answered, and Yamashita was nodding before he’d finished, clearly wanting to move on.
“Right, well - nice to meet you, Nishikido-san. We should be off,” he said, turning and lightly steering Ueda after him.
Now was his chance. Yamashita’s back was to him, heading towards the checkout, and Ryo rushed forward, tucking the little slip of paper into Ueda’s jacket pocket. Ueda felt it, Ryo was sure, because he went to turn around, but Yamashita tugged on his arm and he stopped.
“Goodbye,” Ryo called after them.
He hoped he was doing the right thing.
End of chapter
PAIRING: Nishikido Ryo x Ueda Tatsuya ; Yamashita Tomohisa x Ueda Tatsuya ; Akanishi Jin x Kamenashi Kazuya
RATING: NC17 (overall)
DISCLAIMER: Do not own. Title belongs to Taylor Swift.
GENRE: Angst, fluff, romance, violence, AU
WARNINGS: Violence.
NOTES: Requested by natsuki_suzu Originally posted HERE
SUMMARY: After a chance encounter at the supermarket, Ryo is intrigued by Tatsuya, and he is determined to find out more about the other. The more he discovers, the more he wants to protect him. After enlisting the help of his two closest friends, they set out to help Tatsuya.
Ryo had almost forgotten about Ueda. He hadn’t seen him since that day at the store, and work had been busy, so he was almost driven from his mind. Koyama had even stopped asking about him, readily slipping into an easier conversation - how are you finding the weather; how was your day; that’s a nice tie.
He was driving home one night, exhausted and his eyes aching, when he saw him again. Ueda was hunched over, arms loaded with bags from the store and eyes on the ground as he walked. But it was unmistakably him - that copper hair of his gave him away immediately.
Ryo was about to just drive right past; was about to ignore him and just continue on home, but he couldn’t. He found himself pulling over, the car whining to a stop on the curb. Ueda turned, quickly bringing a hand up to shield his eyes from the headlights of the car, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to work out who was inside.
Ryo took a deep breath before opening the door and giving Ueda a small wave. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked, waiting for some sign that Ueda recognised him. But he didn’t get the dawning expression and smile that he was expecting. Instead, Ueda’s eyes widened and he took a step back, quickly gathering himself and giving Ryo a sharp nod, turning and heading up the hill. “Wait!” Ryo called after him, making sure the car wouldn’t roll back down the hill before following him.
“What do you want?” Ueda snapped, glancing at his watch quickly. “I have to get home.”
Ryo rushed forward, grabbing onto Ueda’s elbow. He didn’t miss the way Ueda froze, before trying to pull his arm free. “Are you okay?”
Ueda paused, looking at him incredulously. “Right now?” he asked. “Right now I’m not okay. Because I have some stranger who I’ve only met once clinging onto my arm, asking if I’m alright!” Ueda wrenched his arm out of Ryo’s grasp, anger and frustration evident on his face. “What is wrong with you?”
Ueda groaned as one of his bags split, the contents falling to the pavement and rolling down the hill. “Here, I’ll help you,” Ryo said, already rushing after a stray orange, and ignoring Ueda’s cry of protest. Ueda sighed, and crouched down, collecting the groceries that hadn’t broken. Ryo was panting slightly as he ran back up, and Ueda took the orange back with a disgruntled expression.
“Thanks,” he muttered, stuffing it back into one of the other bags. “I’m going now,” he said, standing up after making sure none of the other bags would break. “Please don’t follow me.”
“I wasn’t following you,” Ryo said quickly, “I wasn’t. I was just-well, I was just worried,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. Ueda’s eyes were flicking down to his watch again. It was rather distracting; Ryo wished he would stop doing that.
“Why were you worried?”
“Because…of the other day,” Ryo said, completely forgetting that ‘the other day’ was actually three weeks ago. That was possibly why Ueda was just staring at him blankly. “You were acting strange, and-“
Ueda’s face was suddenly devoid of all emotion. “Thankyou for your concern,” he said, bowing slightly, “but I have to go now.”
“No, wait-“ Ryo took a hold of Ueda’s arm again, but this time he ignored the way Ueda gasped and flinched away from his touch. “Please.” Ryo didn’t know what he was saying. He didn’t know why he wanted Ueda to stay so badly. He didn’t even know what he was going to say after ‘please’.
Ueda shook his head furiously. “I have to go,” he repeated, “Let me go, I have to-"
“Why? Where are you going? It’s almost six o’clock in the evening, don’t you-"
“You don’t understand!” Ueda exclaimed, fire in his eyes. “I have to get home before-"
But then Ryo was wrenched away, landing on his back against the sidewalk, the wind knocked out of him. He looked up in shock, a tall man standing above him and shielding Ueda behind him. “Tatsuya, are you okay?” the man asked, turning to the other and cupping his face in his hands sweetly. Ueda nodded.
“I’m fine, Tomo.”
He must be the boyfriend, Ryo assumed. He got to his feet, albeit a little shakily, and stood to the side, unsure of what to do next. Ueda was being fussed over by his boyfriend, clearly embarrassed by the affection, and averting his gaze. The boyfriend was checking him over, running his hands through Ueda’s hair and over his shoulders, as if Ryo had hurt him.
“Tomo, really, he didn’t do anything,” Ueda said softly, placing a hand on the others’ elbow. He didn’t look convinced, but he let his arms drop, and turned back to Ryo.
“What were you doing?” he asked, voice calm but eyes angry.
Ryo paused. “I… I just saw him here; thought he needed some help.”
Ueda nodded. “…One of the bags split - see, here - and there was food rolling everywhere. And so he stopped and helped me out,” he explained, showing his boyfriend the bag. He kept his eyes on Ryo’s, dark and rather suspicious, but he smiled at Ueda, nodding.
“Alright then,” he said, reaching for the other bags. “Let’s go home?” he asked, and Ueda smiled. “Thanks for looking after Tatsuya,” he added as an afterthought, taking Ueda’s hand in his.
“No problem,” Ryo said distractedly. This was turning out to be a very strange night.
The boyfriend tugged on Ueda’s hand, and led him back to his car, which he had parked right behind Ryo’s own. Ryo watched on as they left, speeding away up the hill without a glance back at him.
Ryo shook his head, climbing back into his own car and rubbing his eyes. He just sat there for a while, hands on the steering wheel and looking out through the windscreen, wondering what the hell just happened.
Ueda hadn’t looked very lovingly at his boyfriend.
He had looked scared.
>>><<<
Tatsuya’s head barely missed the corner of the coffee table as he was thrown to the floor. Tomohisa towered above him, his eyes sharp and full of anger. “Tomohisa, nothing happened,” Tatsuya said, hating the way his voice wavered. But Tomohisa wasn’t listening, and he grabbed the collar of Ueda’s shirt, pulling him up.
“Stop talking,” he hissed, voice full of venom. Tatsuya looked into Tomohisa’s eyes, so close to his own, but found nothing there; he wasn’t the person Tatsuya loved right now. And just like that, Tatsuya shut down, just waiting for the first punches to land on his body.
They came soon after, blows to his stomach, his shoulders, his face. It was one of the punches to his face that sent him flying, crashing into the coffee table and bashing the back of his head against the wood.
“I told you not to talk to other men,” Tomohisa grunted, lifting Tatsuya up almost effortlessly by the shoulders, slamming him into the wall. Tatsuya coughed, light flecks of blood painting the wall as he was forced against it, Tomohisa’s hand against his spine, holding him there. “I told you, Tatsuya.”
“It-It wasn’t my fault,” Tatsuya wheezed, Tomohisa placing his other hand on the back of his head and pressing him into the wall. “He came out of nowhere.”
“You’re not going anywhere outside without me anymore.” Tomohisa jerked, and pulled Tatsuya off the wall, pushing him down to the floor and slapping him across the face. Tatsuya fell to the side, but Tomohisa grabbed his hair and dragged him back up, holding him there as he sent kicks to his stomach. Tatsuya doubled over, but Tomohisa wrenched his head back up, bending down to kiss him harshly, biting upon his bottom lip and making it bleed. He let Tatsuya collapse back down, stepping over his exhausted body and leaving the room.
As always, Tatsuya made sure Tomohisa wasn’t coming back before he moved again. Who knew what Tomohisa would do if he came back to see Tatsuya standing, dusting himself off from their encounter.
When he finally did move, his entire body screamed at him, and he paused, reaching for the wall to steady himself. His head was swimming, his vision fuzzy and unfocused. His breaths were coming in short gasps, and he held a hand to his chest, grasping his shirt as if it could take the pain away.
But then there were those tears again, falling down his cheeks. Tatsuya slid to the floor, drawing his knees to his chest and hiding his face, sobs racking his body as the tears kept on falling.
They just wouldn’t stop. He needed to get up; needed to clean himself up; needed to patch up that cut on his lower back from when he fell on the table. But he couldn’t find the strength within him to stand back up. Couldn’t find the strength to stare at his battered reflection in the mirror again.
But still, he unsteadily got to his feet, making his way to the bathroom not a second too soon. Tatsuya held his stomach, shaking as he vomited into the toilet bowl, every part of his body aching as he heaved.
He sat back, drawing a hand over his mouth and grimacing at the aftertaste. Tatsuya used the sink to pull himself up, flushing the toilet and turning to eye himself in the mirror. Huh. He hadn’t even noticed the blood running down his chin. He splashed his face with water, trying unsuccessfully to rid his face of the dried tears, and tugged at his hair, attempting to straighten it. Tomohisa had always loved to pull his hair.
Tatsuya missed Tomohisa. He missed the man who would kiss his forehead every morning; who would play with Tatsuya’s fingers when they were watching a movie and he was bored. He missed being able to proudly say that Tomohisa was his boyfriend.
He hated being scared of him
>>><<<
“And then what?” Kame asked, sitting on the edge of his seat, eager to hear the rest of the story.
“Then his boyfriend bundled him into the car and they took off,” Ryo finished, sighing.
“Kame, calm down,” Jin laughed, ruffling his hair as he sat next to his boyfriend. “It wasn’t that interesting.”
“Hey!”
“Well, it wasn’t. So you stalked some guy - in the dark, might I add - and then you grab him, asking him repeatedly if he’s alright? And then,” Jin continued, counting on his fingers, “Then you break his shopping bags, steal his oranges, grab him again, and then his boyfriend turns up and yells at you.”
“I didn’t break his shopping bags!” Ryo squawked indignantly. “And I gave that orange back, okay!”
“Oh, details,” Jin waved his hand in front of his face. “Point being - you’re being really creepy about this guy, Ryo.”
“I know,” Ryo said, holding his head in his hands. “Should I just let this drop?”
Jin was nodding before he had even finished his sentence. “Yes.”
Kame turned, shocked. “But-no! You can’t give up, Ryo. None of this makes sense,” he said, grasping onto Jin’s arm.
“What d’yo-"
“You said he looked fearful, right?” Kame asked, looking wide-eyed between Ryo and Jin. Ryo nodded slowly.
“I think that was just because his boyfriend came out of nowhere; I didn’t even hear his car pull up-"
Kame shook his head. “Something else is up. It just… doesn’t sound right.”
“Hmm? How do you mean?” Jin asked, slinging his arm around Kame’s shoulders and drawing him closer. “Come here; calm down,” he murmured soothingly. Kame was close to shaking, tears gathering in his eyes as he held onto Jin’s hand as though it were his lifeline.
“Kame?” Ryo asked, bewildered. “What’s happening?”
Jin was running his hand up and down Kame’s arm, bringing him closer and pressing his lips to his hair. He shook his head at Ryo, asking him silently to be quiet, and Ryo shut his mouth. “What do you mean, Kame?”
“I mean… it doesn’t make sense. Why would he be scared of the person he loves?” Kame asked, fisting his shirt in his hand. “And… you said he had a black eye the last time you saw him-"
“He said it was from a tennis ball,” Ryo interrupted, but he slowly understood where Kame was coming from. “You think the boyfriend is hitting him?” he asked in surprise. Kame nodded.
“When I was little - shush Jin, I can do this,” Kame started, laying a hand atop Jin’s knee as he went to protest, “When I was little I had a friend who lived right next door to our apartment. Our rooms were right beside each other. I remember waking up, hearing thumps from his room… I didn’t know what was happening, of course, but my parents told me later. He was always covered in bruises; tried to hide them with long sleeves,” he explained, and Jin’s grip tightened on his hand. “It’s okay, Jin. He left, after a while. They never told me where.”
Ryo was horrified. “Why… why didn’t you tell me this before?” he asked carefully. It had obviously hurt Kame deeply.
“You never asked,” Kame shrugged. “But Ryo,” he said, leaning forward once more, “Promise me you won’t let this drop.”
“What?” Jin said, surprised. “Why?”
But Kame’s jaw was set, his eyes dark and determined. “No-one should ever have to go through that. It’s disgusting; it’s horrible. He shouldn’t be hurt by his own boyfriend.
“I just-Ryo please,” Kame said, expression so open and earnest that Ryo just had to hear him out, “Just… next time you see him? Try to make sure he doesn’t have any bruises.”
Jin was staring at Kame, but Kame wasn’t allowing Ryo to break their eye contact until he promised. “Fine,” Ryo sighed, taking a long drink of the beer in front of him, “I’ll try.
>>><<<
The next time Ryo saw Ueda was that Saturday. It was around noon, and Ryo was back at Koyama’s store, perusing the aisles for soy sauce that he just couldn’t find anywhere. He should tell Koyama that he needed to be more organised. He threw a punnet of strawberries into his basket, grimacing at the price but leaving it at that, turning in time to see Ueda lift up a bunch of bananas and examine them closely.
He was about to open his mouth and say hello - maybe apologise for the other night - but then Ueda set the bananas into his basket and looked around, silently calling someone over. The boyfriend appeared, nodding at Ueda’s choice, and the two continued shopping.
Ryo slipped a hand into his pocket, fingering the piece of paper in his pocket. Kame had written Ryo’s phone number down on the back of a Chinese takeout menu, ripping it and ordering Ryo to give it to Ueda when he next saw him. Ryo had refused, but somehow he hadn’t thrown it out.
And then he remembered his promise to Kame, and his stomach dropped. He couldn’t very well just go over there, asking Ueda if he had any bruises. Ryo wouldn’t be surprised if Ueda called the police on him if he ever spoke to him again, really.
It was the boyfriend who noticed him first, recognition flooding his face and drawing Ueda closer, even though the other wasn’t even paying attention. But the hand on his elbow made him turn, and he looked straight at Ryo, rather wide-eyed.
“You’re the guy from the other night, am I wrong?” the boyfriend said, moving over to where Ryo was standing stock-still.
“Uuh, yes.”
“Yamashita Tomohisa,” he said, holding a hand out for Ryo to shake. He took it carefully, feeling nothing but hostility from this Yamashita.
“Nishikido Ryo,” he said, and Yamashita nodded. Ryo couldn’t help but notice how his hand went right back to Ueda’s elbow, as if making sure he were still there. As if he were keeping there, anchoring him down with just one touch.
Ueda bowed his head in acknowledgement, looking rather fed up. He kept eyeing the door; the other customers; the food on the shelves behind them. Yamashita tapped his elbow, and he snapped to attention again, fiddling with the food already in their basket. “We’re shopping,” was all he said.
Ryo nodded. The atmosphere was almost suffocating. Yamashita’s eyes were boring into Ryo’s own, practically staring him down. Ueda was still shuffling his feet, trying to find anything but Ryo or Yamashita to rest his eyes upon. Ryo wanted out of that conversation - if you could really call it that - but Yamashita wasn’t letting him leave so easily.
Ryo clucked his tongue, about to snap and say something he would probably regret later (it happened quite often), but he stopped himself just in time. Yamashita was talking, but it was just white noise to Ryo. His eyes were focused on Ueda’s wrist, away from Yamashita, which was purple and blue and yellow, and Ryo thought he could see the hint of a bandage peeking out from under his jacket sleeve.
And maybe he was just paranoid; maybe Kame’s words were still at the forefront of his mind, but he came to a decision there and then. His hand closed over the paper in his pocket.
“Nishikido-san.” Yamashita’s nasally voice shook him from his thoughts. “I was asking you something.”
“…Oh?” Ryo said, oblivious. Ueda followed his eyes, quickly shifting so that his sleeve covered his wrist completely. Luckily, Yamashita noticed nothing, as he was so focused on staring Ryo down.
“Yes. Do you live around here?” Yamashita asked, his fingers now wrapping around Ueda’s elbow.
“Oh, uh-yes, I do,” he answered, and Yamashita was nodding before he’d finished, clearly wanting to move on.
“Right, well - nice to meet you, Nishikido-san. We should be off,” he said, turning and lightly steering Ueda after him.
Now was his chance. Yamashita’s back was to him, heading towards the checkout, and Ryo rushed forward, tucking the little slip of paper into Ueda’s jacket pocket. Ueda felt it, Ryo was sure, because he went to turn around, but Yamashita tugged on his arm and he stopped.
“Goodbye,” Ryo called after them.
He hoped he was doing the right thing.
End of chapter