{oneshot} the shoebox ; ryoda

[kyjr]

TITLE: The Shoebox

PAIRING: Nishikido Ryo x Ueda Tatsuya

RATING: PG-13

DISCLAIMER: Do not own.

GENRE: Fluff, romance

NOTES: For my floppy_snoopi.

SUMMARY: A bird, a sickness, and a few bowls of soup bring them together one snowy day.



Snow falls lazily onto the street, covering everything in a thin layer of white. A lone man stands out on the corner of that street, adjusting his scarf over his mouth and rubbing his gloved hands together to create some form of warmth. He crunches his way across the street, heading towards the building which looks so ordinary yet so intimidating.

The man stamps his feet outside the building and ruffles his hair to rid himself of the white powder which has settled there. He stares at the painted wooden door in front of him, tapping his fingers against his thigh. He looks the door up and down, sighs, and knocks on it. The sound seems to resound down the lonely street. He hears a lock click as it's turned, and the door draws back, revealing a rumpled-looking man, who frowns when he realises who is standing at his doorstep.

"Nishikido-kun?" he asks in a small voice, rubbing his eyes with the back of one hand.

The other man grunts in assent, and walks past the ruffled man, casting his eye around the apartment. He hears the door close behind him, but pays it no heed.

Numerous mugs and glasses adorn the coffee table, the remains of old tea still visible within them. The curtains haven't been drawn, and the morning sunlight struggles to fight it's way through them, staining everything an orange hue. The couch looks as though it has been the man's shelter for the past three days - around five blankets and quilts are thrown haphazardly over it, and a cat rests peacefully within them, happily in a coccoon of warmth. Another cat winds it's way around Nishikido's legs, it's tail curling around as it lets out a soft meow.

A sniffle sounds out from behind him. He turns around, and the other man's puffy eyes greet him. He really isn't well. His copper hair is knotted and standing up in odd directions; his nose and eyes are red; his eyelids are drooping.

"N-Nishikido-kun, what're you doing here?" he asks, blinking tiredly.

"Your band is busy doing something, but Nakamaru and Kamenashi wouldn't shut up about how 'worried' they were about you, so I decided to come and check to get them to be quiet," he answers, shrugging his shoulders uncomfortably.

Another sniff. "More like... Kame and Nakamaru are too busy to come see me, so they annoyed you into coming here?"

"...maybe."

The other starts to laugh, but it quickly turns into a cough, and he doubles over. Nishikido rushes to his side, awkwardly stroking his back.

"Ueda...you okay?"

As Ueda finishes coughing, he turns his head towards Nishikido, his eyes watering and his face red. "Do I look okay?" he asks in a raspy voice. He rights himself, and hobbles over to the couch, pitching his body forward and just falling onto it, face-first. Then, voice muffled by the mass amounts of fabric covering his face, he says, "You don't have to stay here. You've got enough to do - looking after me is just another hassle."

"Shut up. It is a massive hassle, but I'm not going back there to face an angry Kamenashi." He pulls on Ueda's feet as he walks past, just because he can, and walks into the kitchen. The cat from before is now sitting on the counter, and she stretches her neck out to him, purring as he strokes her head.

It's the first time Nishikido has ever been at Ueda's house, and he doesn't think Ueda has been at his place, either. It wasn't as if they were complete strangers - the two just feel awkward around each other; never knowing what to say. The only things they had in common were Akanishi and guitars. And one could only say so much about guitars.

Nishikido found his way to the kettle, and switched it on. He spent the next few moments searching through the cupboards, trying and failing to find clean mugs. Ueda yells at him from the other room, telling him where they are, and so he spends the moments after that abusing Ueda's logic in hiding the cups where no-one would think to look.

As Nishikido makes the two of them a cup of tea, he notices a small shoebox sitting near the kettle. It was just a cardboard shoebox. No markings; there was nothing particularly striking about it. It was just a shoebox. On the kitchen bench.

Nishikido finishes making the tea, and heads back to the lounge where Ueda had not moved. He kicks him lightly, and moves aside some of the older cups to make room for the new ones. Ueda grumbles as he sits up, holding his head in one of his hands.

"You! Don't sit up so fast, stupid," Nishikido barks out, and hands him one of the cups. Ueda grimaces, and mutters under his breath as he takes it, inclining his head in thanks. Nishikido takes his own cup, and sits on the small, broken armchair placed near the television.

There's that awkward silence that both of them had been expecting. Nishikido drums his fingers on the ceramic mug, whist Ueda strokes his cat distractedly. Ueda turns on the television suddenly, and they both sigh as the silence is filled with the familiar tones of Music Station reruns.

During the middle of an Ikimono gakari performance, however, the screeching starts. Nishikido, who had been slowly drifting to sleep, sat upright in his seat in shock.

"What the hell is that?!"

Ueda looked at him, confused. "What's what?"

"That goddamn noise!"

"Oh. That's Coco."

Nishikido's mouth drops open, and all he can do is stare at Ueda as he gets to his feet unsteadily and makes his way to the kitchen. Soon, he can hear the kettle boiling again, and his curiosity gets to him, so he follows the copper-haired man. He finds him in the kitchen, breathing heavily through his mouth and bracing himself on the countertop.

Nishikido rushes over to him, and grabs him by the shoulders. He's completely prepared to just throw him back onto the couch.

"Oi, you alright?"

"Mm...no...not really..." Ueda leans onto Nishikido, surprising him, but he let him. "Just let me lean here...for a bit..."

Nishikido looks down at Ueda, who had his eyes shut tightly, and one hand clutching his arm. He's slowly realising that Ueda isn't all that bad to be around.

"You okay now?" he murmurs, and Ueda tilts his head up to look at him. Their faces were so close. Almost touching.

"Yeah. Thanks." Ueda slowly moves out of his grip, turning his face so that Nishikido didn't see it reddening. The screeching starts up again. "Oh!"

He whirls around, not without stumbling slightly, and moves slowly around the kitchen as Nishikido hoists himself onto the bench to watch. Ueda grabs a small blue and white teacup and a bowl. Nishikido looks on as Ueda pours the steaming, boiling water into the bowl, and places the teacup inside it. He grabs a container, spoons out a cream-coloured powder, and places it inside the teacup. He does this three times or so, and then attempts to pour some more water into the cup, but his wrist gives out. Nishikido is next to him in seconds, grabbing the kettle from him.

"Ah...thanks..."

He grunts. "How much?"

"I'll tell you when to stop."

Nishikido starts to tilt the kettle, and the two watch the slow trickle of water as if their lives depend on it.

"Stop!"

Nishikido abruptly jerks the kettle back again, and when he's at a loss as to where to place it, Ueda takes it carefully with two hands, and sets it back down.

Nishikido stays near Ueda as the petite man mixes the powder and the water together. He wrinkles his nose.

"Ugh - that's really disgusting. What the fuck is that?" He asks. Ueda gives him a sidelong glance, a smirk playing along his lips.

"You'll see."

Nishikido really hates it when people say that. He asked the question for a reason - why couldn't people just tell him the answer, instead of being cryptic?

"Um..Nishikido-kun? Can you help me?" a weak voice sounds, and disrupts Nishikido from his thoughts.

"If I have to," he says, but lifts up the bowl with the cup inside carefully and takes it over to the kitchen table. "What's with asking for my help all of a sudden?" he ventures, "A few years ago, you wouldn't dare to even look at me. What's changed?"

Ueda shrugs as he places down a napkin, and retreats back into the kitchen. His scratchy voice floats back, "Dunno. We both grew up, I guess."

He comes back, shuffling his feet. He gingerly places down the shoebox. The screeching is coming from the shoebox, Nishikido realises.

"Oi. Sounds like you've got a bloody velociraptor in there."

Ueda smiles slightly and sniffs as he sits down. "You don't have to stay here - go back and watch TV. I'll be done soon."

Nishikido takes in his appearance once more, and deems it necessary that he stays with the other. Especially when hot water is involved. The possible velociraptor residing inside the box is another worry.

"It's okay. I'll stay."

"Okay," is all Ueda says. He has a beautiful smile on his face as he lifts up a strange-looking spoon.

"Okay, what the hell have you done to that."

"Hm?"

"The sp -- oh, don't worry." The spoon is misshapen - the sides of it look as though they've been hammered upwards, making it look more like a funnel than an actual spoon. Ueda takes it and places it inside the teacup. He then reaches towards the box. Nishikido takes a few steps back, and Ueda chuckles.

"He's not really a dinosaur, Nishikido-kun."

"I know that." Nishikido counters. He didn't know, not really - if Ueda was strange enough to admit that he could see fairies, he was strange enough to keep a dinosaur in a little shoebox. He'll stand over here anyway - just in case.

Ueda chuckles again, and Ryo watches curiously as he reaches his hand into the cardboard box. He withdraws it, and Ryo's eyes widen as he sees what Ueda has there.

A small bird rests in his open palm. It's head is too large for it's body, and it struggles to keep it upright. It's body is covered with the beginnings of white feathers - they're really nothing more than spikes adorning it's skin. It's claws grasp at Ueda's hand, and it's screeching at him, bobbing it's head. It's incredibly ugly, Ryo thinks, but he can see the adoration shining in Ueda's eyes.

"This is Coco - I'm hand raising him," he says, as he reaches for a spoon.

"What is it?"

"He. Coco is a he. At least, I think so..." he cocks his head at the bird, who is now on the table, still making that ear-piercing noise.

"Oh, now we're correcting my English?" Ryo says as he moves into the chair closer to him.

"No, I just hate it when people call animals 'it's'. And he's a cockatiel. Do you mind if I feed him? 'Cause I forgot the time before..."

At a loss at what to say, Ryo just shakes his head, staring at the little screaming animal on the table.

Ueda takes the spoon and scoops up the mush which lies within the teacup, blows it, lifts it to test the temperature on his lips, and then he offers it to the bird. Ryo watches in barely contained amazement as the little creature gulps the food down in an instant, quickly demanding more. Ueda goes back and collects more food, and Ryo watches him repeat the action.

"Do you want to feed him?"

Ryo wants to refuse; he wants to say absolutely no way, but he finds himself nodding. He hands Ryo the spoon, and tells him what to do. The little bird turns it's attention then to Ryo, screaming at him. Ueda gently grasps his wrist.

"Here, you hold it up like this," he says, lifting up Ryo's hand. Ryo stiffens slightly at the gentle pressure, but slowly relaxes. The little animal grasps onto the spoon with it's beak, gulping down the food offered to him. Ryo looks up at Ueda, an awestruck look on his face. It's something he can't describe. Ueda smiles gently.

"It's great, isn't it?" he asks, taking the spoon back from Ryo. He nods. "Being the one who he depends on all the time... it's amazing. I love it. I love him."

Ryo looks at Ueda out of the corner of his eye as he picks up the little bird and holds it close to his face. It was strange, that look in Ueda's eyes - it was some form of unexplainable emotion.

Ueda takes the spoon back out of Ryo's hand with a small 'excuse me', and keeps on feeding the baby bird. It's still squawking away, but it's cries settle down as Ueda lowers the spoon for it to feed off. Every so often, he'll pause to grab the napkin and clean up the mess the little animal has made on itself - thick globs of it's food had escaped it's beak, run down it's throat and settled on it's chest.

"Ueda?"

"Mm?"

"It's still screaming."

Ueda looks at him, exasperated.

"...what?"

"Can you hold him while I clean up?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Eh?"

"You've gotta rest. I'll clean up, you go and do whatever you want with it, as long as you're on that couch."

"...Fine."

As Ryo collects everything, he smiles gently as he watches Ueda bundle up the little animal in his arms. It's screaming has died down to a contented murmur, now, and Ryo thinks that maybe even he could grow to like that sound.

Ryo makes short work of the washing up - he really just rinses everything and leaves the caked-on bird food for Ueda to deal with another day - and retires into the living room. Ueda has fallen asleep curled up on the couch, the many quilts wrapped around him tightly. A tortoiseshell cat sleeps next to him, purring happily. Ryo can just see the small form of the bird - Coco - snuggled up to Ueda's neck.

Ryo moves closer when Coco starts making strange movements. It's foot keeps jerking strangely, and Ryo finds himself worried. He kneels down next to the couch, and leans forward, soon realising that it's foot is caught in the strands of Ueda's hair. With one cautious look at the peacefully sleeping Ueda, Ryo gently moves his fingers to the bird's foot.

He hadn't realised how small and delicate it's feet really were. If he pulled too hard, he could easily snap it's bones. His eyebrows furrowed as his fingertips worked their way over it's scaly skin. He curses silently as the bird starts fighting his hands - it starts to jerk more violently, screeching every so often to show Ryo it's dissatisfaction. Ryo feels himself losing patience and concentration.

"Slowly."

Ryo looks down at Ueda. He didn't have to look very far, though. He had forgotten that Coco was lying on Ueda. Their faces are too close - he can feel Ueda's breath hot on his own face--

"Oi. Stop trying to give me your flu."

Ueda just sniffles in response, and says softly, "Work your fingers slowly. Don't try to yank his foot out - break my hair."

Ryo licks his lips and goes back to the bird. With a nod at Ueda, and then at Coco, he grasps it's foot in one hand, and quickly snaps the small clump of hair that was wrapped around it. Ryo feels Ueda flinch against him.

"Done."

"Thanks," Ueda murmurs, lifts up a hand to take hold of the bird, and brings him closer to his own face to inspect the damage. Ueda sits up, and picks at it's foot, untangling all of the stranded pieces of hair still there with his smaller fingers.

Ryo coughs in embarrassment, and throws himself at the other armchair, burying himself in it's high back and trying to focus on whatever Horikita Maki drama was airing on television. A small, sleep-laden voice floats over to him, soon, and Ryo turns around slightly to hear.

"Thankyou."

"What for?"

"Everything."

"I made you tea and tore your hair. You're welcome."

"You helped Coco."

"And tore your hair."

"Doesn't matter."

There's a strange feeling deep down in Ryo's stomach, and he smiles. "Lucky you're not Kamenashi, then - he'd have a freak out."

There's a soft chuckle from Ueda, and suddenly he's coughing again, disrupting the little bird. Ryo rushes over, and makes him sit up, even though he's waving his arms about trying to tell him to stop. The little bird falls down onto Ueda's lap, still calling out. Ueda, as his eyes water and his lungs burn, cradles Coco in his hands. Ryo rubs his back and tsks, rolling his eyes.

Once the coughing fit has stopped, Ryo hops up, demanding to know where Ueda keeps his medicine. Once he tells him, he almost flies into the kitchen to bring him the tablets and water the other needs. Ryo would have thrown the packet of flu tablets at Ueda, but he realised in time that the other's hands were busy, and so settles for placing them in front of him.

"Take them or you'll die," he says casually, and settles back into the armchair. He likes that chair.

Ueda takes them silently, and gets to his feet, wobbling over to the kitchen. Ryo watches him until he's out of the room, and then focuses back in on Horikita. He can't wait until this drama is over.

With one eye on the flashing television screen, he calls out, "Oi. What're you doing in there?"

"Just putting Coco to bed..." Ueda calls back, and soon he's back in Ryo's sights, with a new wad of tissues in his hands. He smiles weakly at Ryo as he sits down.

"Is your cold getting worse, or is that just me?" Ryo asks, as he shifts around on the chair until he's in a comfortable position.

"It gets worse at night."

"It's night?"

"When the sky gets dark, generally, yes."

"When the hell did that happen?"

"Probably when you were tearing my hair," Ueda says as he lies down with a small grunt and pulls the quilt over himself.

Ryo checks his phone for the time - it's 5:23. "Ugh, is it still snowing?"

"Yep."

"Right, well, I'm staying here."

Ueda looks too ill to protest, anyway. Ryo's right - the man doesn't say much except another grunt.

Finally Horikita's drama ends, and a new talk show begins. The hosts are awkward; the audience is unresponsive; the questions are boring. Ryo thinks that maybe Horikita wasn't so bad.

Just as he's getting used to the garishly coloured set, Ueda murmurs, "Go cook yourself something to eat. You've been here all day."

Ryo glances over and sees that Ueda's eyes are drooping closed again. "You want something?"

"No."

"That's nice. I'll make you soup."

"But I don't wa--"

"Too bad. If you don't eat it, I'll force feed you," Ryo says as he passes Ueda, and adds, "Seriously, I will." Ueda doesn't answer.

Ryo hastily makes some form of soup - even he himself isn't sure of what it was. But he declares it good enough to eat, and places a bowl full of it in front of Ueda, shaking him until he wakesup.

"Thanks," Ueda says, and the soup is gone in about two minutes. Ryo finishes his soon too - he hadn't realised he was so hungry - and places it down on the coffee table next to Ueda's bowl.

"No problem."

Ueda sniffles again and coughs a little. "I'm tired," he says, and Ryo smiles.

"Of course you are," he replies. "Go to sleep."

"I'll see you out," Ueda says sleepily, but Ryo shakes his head.

"It's fine. I think I can find my own way to the door."

Ueda doesn't answer, and Ryo knows he's fallen asleep. He looks over at Ueda, then - really looks at him. He looks so frail; so tiny all wrapped up in his blankets. Ryo's heart clenches a little and he pauses, sighing as he realises that he's not going anywhere anytime soon. He fishes his phone out from his pocket and quickly types a message to his manager explaining the situation. When she doesn't write back Ryo assumes that he's not in trouble.

It seems like Ueda needs him more right now. He stands and, making sure that Ueda is indeed fast asleep, tucks the blanket closer to Ueda's body, keeping him warm. Ueda's cat awakes with a question in her meow but Ryo ignores her, surreptitiously moving Ueda's hair out of his face. There is a little tug at his heart and Ryo leans down, pressing the smallest of kisses to Ueda's temple. He pulls away, a little confused, but his heart skips a beat as Ueda blinks his eyes open.

"Nishikido?" he murmurs, "You're still here?"

"Yeah," Ryo whispers, still hovering a little above Ueda. "I think I'll stay awhile."

Ueda mumbles something, shifting under the blankets a little. "That's okay, I suppose," he says, and Ryo smiles. "You'd better kiss me again though, to help me get back to sleep."

Little brat, Ryo thinks, and flushes a deep red that Ueda luckily can't see, because he's closed his eyes again. "I'm not gonna kiss you again!" Ryo mutters, and he can see a tiny tiny smile that plays at the corner of Ueda's lips. "You're all sick and gross."

Ueda's eyes are open then. "Ryo," is all he says before leaning up and quickly kissing Ryo's cheek before Ryo can move away. "Good night," he says, not even trying to hide this smile, and Ryo grimaces.

"If I catch your cold, you're going to have to look after me," Ryo says, and makes sure the blankets haven't shifted off Ueda's body. Ueda grunts.

"Fine. I'll hug you till you sleep," he mumbles, and Ryo hits him lightly as he moves to collect the dirty dishes.

"Shut up, you're delusional."

"Not."

However, as Ryo puts the bowls back into the sink and starts a little as the baby bird starts calling out again, he thinks that maybe he wouldn't mind that so much. His heart skips a beat again and he's smiling, and it's stupid and ridiculous but... weird in a good way. He's too tired, he thinks again as he heads back into the living room. He'll think harder about it all later.

Ryo presses his hand to Ueda's as he passes, feeling strangely light-headed.

"Your little dinosaur needs attending to," he says, and Ueda wrinkles his nose.

"Will you help?" Ueda asks, sitting up. Ryo rushes forward, supporting Ueda's body as he sways a little.

"Yeah." Ryo's a little breathless at the way Ueda's looking at him, and he barely even thinks before kissing Ueda's forehead. "I'll help."

Ueda beams at him, and Ryo can't help but smile back. "You know, when I get better--" at this point, he turns away and sneezes loudly. Ryo laughs. "--I'm going to kiss you."

"Um." What was he meant to say to that? "...Okay." Because, well, it doesn't seem like such a terrible idea. "As long as you shut that bird up."

Ueda laughs. "Deal."

Ryo smiles. Ueda's strange and weird and confusing but there is so much about him that Ryo doesn't know yet; he hasn't even scratched the surface. And Ryo realises that yeah, maybe he wants to know him better; wants Ueda to look at him with those soft eyes.

Maybe today wasn't such a bad idea, after all.

END.