{MULTICHAPTER} Tell Me Why (Chapter 1)
TITLE: Tell Me Why (Chapter 1)
PAIRING: RyoDa (main), PiDa, Akame
RATING: NC17 (overall)
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.
GENRE: Angst, fluff, romance, violence, AU
WARNINGS: Violence.
DISCLAIMER: Do not own. Title belongs to Taylor Swift.
A/N: Requested by natsuki_suzu Thankyou, luna_truths, for help with the summary.
Nishikido Ryo led an ordinary life. He woke up at six every morning to get to work by nine. He had a good job; he had two brothers and a sister; he didn't like spiders. He was the head of his company, importing and exporting goods to and from Japan. He had a nice, large house, with two stories and a decent backyard. He rather liked his life.
Ryo walked down the road, dressed in his suit and tie, coming home from work. He was headed for the little corner store, to buy his dinner, as he was just too tired to make his own. The store was owned by a tall, lanky man, who was incredibly friendly and loved to make small talk. Ryo nodded a hello to him - Koyama, if he remembered right - and walked down the aisles, humming to himself.
He caught his reflection in the glass of one of the refrigerator doors, and clicked his tongue. His black hair was ruffled, his dark eyes had large bags underneath them. His shirt was untucked on one side and his tie was loose around his neck. He looked a mess. Oh well.
Ryo's little basket was getting quite heavy as he loaded it with the food he would need for the week ahead. Even though he was tired, he supposed he should probably stock up now, so he wouldn't have to make trips all through the week. He tried and failed to hide a yawn, as he rounded the corner.
But suddenly his basket was flying, knocked out of his hands by another person coming around the same corner. Ryo fell to the floor, arm catching on the shelf painfully. He heard the other person collapse next to him, crying out in pain as they landed on their wrist.
Ryo massaged his own arm as he sat up, quickly moving to help the other up. "Are you okay?" he asked. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention--" Ryo paused, as the other flinched away from his touch.
"I'm fine," the other - a man - said, looking up. And in that moment, cliched as it may sound, Ryo swore his breath caught in his throat. The man was beautiful, high cheekbones and honey-coloured hair. He had fair skin, and beautiful lips that were twisted into an uncomfortable expression.
But Ryo's eyes were focused on the man's own. Large and brown as they may be, one had an ugly purple-blue bruise around it. He must have been staring, because the man averted his gaze and shifted so that his fringe covered it just so.
"Um. Are you alright?" Ryo tried again, holding a hand out. The other ignored it, standing up on his own and dusting himself off.
"I'm fine," he repeated firmly. "Just tripped."
"I see that. Did I do... that?" Ryo had to ask. The man looked at him, rather surprised, before shaking his head.
"No, I was hit with a tennis ball," he answered, stooping to pick up his groceries. "The kids around my home aren't too careful."
Ryo chuckled. "I know what you mean. I'm Nishikido Ryo," he added, following him around the store.
"Ueda Tatsuya," he said, finally turning and smiling slightly. "Uh. Sorry about... before."
"No, it's fine," Ryo said quickly, but Ueda just shook his head.
"I'm clumsy. It happens all the time," he said. The two had moved to the checkout, now, where Koyama was standing, looking rather worried.
"What happened back there?" he asked. Ryo didn't miss the way Ueda jumped at the sound of his voice, averting his eyes quickly. "Did you two fall or something?"
"More or less," Ryo supplied, curious as to why Ueda was acting like that. What had sweet Koyama done to him, to make him act this way?
"Well, are you okay?" he asked, scanning Ueda's groceries. He nodded. "I haven't seen you in a while, Ueda, where've you been?" Koyama tried again, still not getting a response.
Until, "What's the time?"
Ryo checked his watch. Even Koyama paused in his work. "Ten to six."
Ueda's eyes widened. "I have to go."
"But I haven't finished here--"
"I'll pay for the things you've done," Ueda interrupted, thrusting the correct change into Koyama's hands. "I'm sorry, nice to meet you," he bowed to Ryo, frantically grabbing the bags Koyama had already packed and rushing out the door.
Ryo and Koyama just stood there, staring at the closing door. "What was all that about?" Ryo muttered to himself, but Koyama seemed to have heard it.
"No idea," he said, "but he always does that. Maybe he's missing out on something? I don't know, not my place I suppose."
Ryo just nodded absentmindedly, eyes still focused on the door.
>>><<<
Ueda Tatsuya had not left his mind. Whenever he had spare time, he would find himself thinking of the other, especially that bruise on his face. He knew it wasn't any of his business - he didn't even know the other - but he couldn't help it.
He hadn't seen the other in a week. Ryo didn't know why he kept thinking of him, it was ridiculous. All he knew about the other was his name.
And why did he run like that when he had found out the time? Why did he flinch when Koyama spoke to him? Why did he jerk away from Ryo's hand when he had only tried to help him up?
Koyama kept asking him if he had seen Ueda since that day. Apparently, he hadn't come back, and he usually came each day. For some reason, it worried Ryo. It seemed to worry Koyama, too, because every so often he would peer out of the window, as if hoping to see Ueda walking down the road towards the store.
Two weeks later, he was sick of it. He was sick of looking up the road, wondering if Ueda was going to be at the store that day. He was sick of seeing his face at night, pale and bruised, eyes blank as he stared into Ryo's own. He was sick of thinking about him all the time.
So one Thursday afternoon, after sending his secretary to go fetch him coffee - black, one sugar. Oh, and one of those cookies with the smiley faces made out of smarties - he dialed a number he hadn't had to use in years.
"Hello, this is Tegoshi," a familiar voice answered. Ryo smiled.
"Hey Tesshi," was all he said, before the other made a small sound of excitement.
"Ryo? Ryo, is that you?"
Ryo laughed. "Yes, it's me. I know I haven't called in a while--"
"Two years--"
"--but I need your help."
"Of course you do," Tegoshi said, voice rather bitter.
"Don't act like that, Yuya," he said, in his most convincing voice. He could practically hear Tegoshi's resolve slip away.
"Oh fine," he sighed. "What do you need?"
"I... well, I need some information on one Ueda Tatsuya," Ryo said, coughing a little. Tegoshi was silent. "Are you angry at me or just--"
"Shush, working."
"Okay." Ryo spun around in his office chair, swinging his legs as Tegoshi's silence was only punctuated by the faint sounds of his keyboard clicking away. His secretary came back, smiling at him and placing his coffee and cookie in front of him. She left, sipping her own coffee and closing the door behind her.
"Done," Tegoshi said, finally.
"What'd you find out?" he asked, breaking the cookie into smaller pieces.
"He's twenty eight years old," Tegoshi began. Ryo grunted. "His mother and father live in Okinawa. Currently, he lives with his boyfriend... a Yamashita Tomohisa - oh, they live near you. Just around the corner, number fifty nine. You know the place?"
Ryo did. It wasn't 'just around the corner', as Tegoshi had said. It was up the road, turn left, and it was the third house, the one with the large front garden and grand exterior. "Yeah," he muttered.
Tegoshi continued. "Do you want to know about his birthplace, what his parents do...?"
"No."
"Okay. It says here that he's unemployed - he has been for about four years. Must be living off his boyfriend. It's alright for some, eh?" Tegoshi chuckled, but Ryo felt his insides twist. It must have been the coffee. Not the fact that Ueda had some boyfriend who let him use his money, let him live in such a beautiful, expensive place.
He sounded like the perfect boyfriend.
And Ryo felt like a stalker.
"Okay, that's enough," he interrupted, as Tegoshi had started rattling off Ueda's childhood friends. "Thanks."
"No problem, Ryo," Tegoshi said, and Ryo could hear the smile in his voice. "Just... call sometime. Massu worries about you."
"Yeah, and you don't," Ryo scoffed. Tegoshi laughed. "Alright, I'd better be going. I'm still at work."
"Okay. Bye, Ryo."
Ryo put the reciever down, feeling worse than he had before. He went through the rest of the day feeling like a criminal, as though he had breached some sort of confidentiality. Which he did, he supposed. He had called up an IT expert, getting him to rifle through Ueda's past. What was wrong with him?
>>><<<
"You did what?" Kame shrieked, leaping to his feet. Jin gently took his wrist, pulling him back down onto Ryo's couch.
Ryo slumped forward, head in his hands. "I know," he mumbled.
Jin sighed. "You're creepy, you know that?"
"Mm," Ryo muttered, sighing. Kame clicked his tongue.
"I can't believe it," he said. "I can't--"
"I think he gets the point," Jin murmured. Kame sighed.
"What're you going to do?" Kame asked, side leaning against Jin.
"About?"
"With all the information you gained," he said, looking at Ryo like he had done the worst thing in the world.
"I don't know. Nothing, I suppose," Ryo said. "It... I just needed to know."
"Needed to know?" Kame snapped back, "What're you talking about?"
"Just-- let's just just drop it, okay?" Jin said quietly, entwining his fingers with Kame's. "Calm down," he whispered, turning to his boyfriend. Kame sighed, once again, but kept quiet.
Jin and Kame had been Ryo's friends for years - ever since high school, when Jin had asked to borrow Ryo's pen and didn't give it back. He still hadn't. Kame was one of those people who just appear in your life without you really noticing until one day you're friends, sitting next to each other and sharing lunches. Ryo hadn't found out until three months later that 'Kame' wasn't actually his name - it was Kamenashi.
Their relationship had been obvious to Ryo from the beginning. There were all these glances, small touches he could see from the corner of his eye. He didn't know whether or not they were trying to hide it, or whether they weren't sure what they had was beyond friendship.
Either way, the news of their relationship came as no surprise to Ryo. They never really said anything about it - suddenly they were holding hands and hugging and touching each other. And then, seven months ago, Kame moved in with Jin. Ryo just kind of assumed about their relationship.
Not that he really cared. He liked that they had found someone to love. And they suited each other so well, their personalities very different. But that was why they worked, Ryo thought.
Kame stood up, smiling down at Jin before moving to the kitchen. "Coffee?" he called.
Whilst Kame was making their coffee (in Ryo's own kitchen), Jin leant forward. "So, when's that big conference?" he asked, trying to divert Ryo's attention away from Ueda Tatsuya.
Ryo looked up from staring blankly at the coffee table. "Uh, the end of July," he answered. Jin nodded.
"Where're you going again?"
"America somewhere," Ryo said. "For a few weeks. Don't worry, you'll live without me," he laughed. Jin just smiled.
"Yeah, we'll manage somehow."
END
A/N2: First chapter! I'm sorry it's taken so long, it didn't want to be written. I'm still not quite happy with it...