[FIC] THE HOURGLASS - Reita x Ruki (One-shot)

[miyabi_is_dead]

Title : THE HOURGLASS
Author : miyabi_is_dead
Pairing : Reita x Ruki (the GazettE)
Genre : Angst, Romance
Chapter : One-shot
Rating : PG-13
Warning : MalexMale relationship, incest
Disclaimer : I bought Reita and Ruki yesterday in a sex shop *is lying*
Summary : For everyone who believed that the red strings of fate do exist~
Comment : This is a piece of one-shot written for the fic exchange in jrock_valentine . This one's dedicated to twittering304 , and I hope you guys like it too~ Enjoy~



There was a fine line between love and insanity, drawn in plain sight as clear as daylight. Even the most romantic poets from the ancient time would agree to that thought, because love and insanity should never be written on the same page.

But when love and insanity decided to stubbornly cross the border, the only thing it brought was tragedy...and countless tears shed between those lonely nights full of misery.

And there was no difference this time.

Shoving his brother against the concrete wall, Reita brushed his fingers against Ruki's soft strands. He felt a hard push from a pair of smaller palms against his chest and the blond yanked his brother forward a little before shoving him back to the wall once again. Ruki was about to give another push when his sibling cleverly caught one of his arms and pinned it above his head. The same thing happened with his other arm only this time it was locked tightly against his back by some expert maneuver Reita performed just now. A chain of cusses were ready to depart from the brunette's mouth but the taller man didn't let it happen as he bridged the gap between them and gave his brother a mindblowing french kiss. It gave the younger male that bittersweet feeling as his lover treated him so rough yet so very gentle it almost brought him to tears.

But despite the undescribable feeling built between the two at this very moment, they could not just ignore the harsh reality drawn before their own eyes.

They were brothers. And brothers should not be together, romantically.

Kissing his little brother gently, the blond tugged the smaller man closer. He could feel the air surrounded them heated several degrees almost instantly as their body collided. His fingers treaded those soft strands of hair he came to love so much since they were kids. Not only him, their parents also loved Ruki's silky hair. And despite numerous hair products and teatments they had been using since their rebellious teenager time, Ruki's hair was still soft while Reita's was nearly all dried and damaged. Angling Ruki's neck a little bit more for a kiss, the blond started to trail feather light touches all over his lover's exposed skin. Everything was just perfect. Everything felt so right.

Reita was about to plucked out the first button of Ruki's shirt when a soft knock on the door roughly pulled them back to the present time. And judging by the way Reita's dog barked angrily at the visitor, both men knew who just interrupted them.

The brunette sighed heavily and gave his brother a light push to the chest, detaching himself a little from the blinding heat that nearly got him suffocated after the distraction. Reita looked at his brother apologetically, knowing that he could not just ignore this one. And Ruki, even though forced, seemed to understand.

There was no use to fight this time. They were running out of time. They had to give up.

The blond walked towards the door with so much burden on his shoulder. He didn't want to do this. Ruki didn't want him to do this. This wasn't what their future looked like. Maybe he could try for one last time. Maybe they could just run away and hide. Maybe...there was still hope left for them.

But as the door slowly opened, revealing a beautiful woman standing in the hallway with a very bright smile, Reita understood that maybe...it was just too late to back down.

"Ah, did I interrupt you two?" asked the red-haired woman, still with that perfect smile attached to her questioning face.

Reita shook his head and faked a chuckle, gripping the doorsill tightly because he didn't trust his own hands not to slam the door instantly.

"Oh, no, baby, not at all. I was just helping my brother to pack his stuff. He'll be leaving for Tokyo tomorrow, right after the party."

Ayumi knitted her brows upon hearing the news, ducking her head a little to peek at the inside of Ruki's room. "Tomorrow? But...that means he won't be with us at dinner. Why so soon?"

"Ah, well..." Reita trailed off. He knew what the real reason was, but there was no way he would tell her about it. "He needs to find a place soon since his boss asked him to start next week."

A big lie. Both men knew it.

And it wasn't that Ruki wasn't aware of the conversation happening behind his back even though he was a wall away from the door. Oh he could hear them all loud and clear but decided to ignore it. Because when Reita managed to wear his mask perfectly, he couldn't. He had been wearing his mask since the first day that woman appeared in their lives and this was just too much. So he was just going through his stuff over and over again, pretending that he was all alone in this room. This emotion consuming him was very dangerous, and he knew he wouldn't be able to handle it for too long. The truth sucked but what could he do?

It was the fiance.

Reita was getting married.

And the date...is tomorrow.

"That's too bad. I wish he could be there..." Ayumi looked disappointed.

The blond heaved a sigh and nodded. "There's nothing we can do about it. Oh and is there something wrong? I thought you were downstairs with your friends."

The woman smiled apologetically and Reita sensed something bad was coming.

"I am so sorry, Akira. I know that you wanted to spend the night with your brother and I already said yes. But my parents just arrived from the airport and they wanted to see you so bad. I want you to spend the night at my place instead. Is that okay?"

And this was really bad.

There was a loud thud coming from the closet and Reita instinctively turned his head around. It was Ruki for sure. He heard it. And the blond knew by heart that his brother was beyond pissed at the moment.

"Ru, you okay?" asked the older man, but the only reply he got was just the deafening silence. Ruki rarely snapped, but when he did, it was never a good thing.

Reita turned to look at the woman in front of him and sighed. It was a fucked-up situation and he decided to take care one thing at a time.

"Maybe he needs some help. I'm sorry, Ayu, but...can I stay a bit longer? I'll be there, I promise."

Ayumi threw a questioning look at her fiance again but then she decided to trust him. She knew that Ruki was Reita's top priority and there was nothing she could do to change it. "Okay then... I'll see you soon?"

Reita gave a light peck on her cheek and stretched his fake smile even further. "I'll see you soon."

And as soon as the door was closed, Reita didn't waste any more time and ran towards the closet. What greeted him there was a jumbled mess consisted of thrown shirts, shoes, and suitcase. And the look Ruki just gave him said everything he had expected.

"Did I hear correctly...Aki...?"

The words left the brunette's mouth between a hiss and Reita needed no one to tell him that his lover was mad.

But who wouldn't be?

This was supposed to be the last time they shared this special moment together as lovers and this woman decided to take that precious time away from them too? For the love of God, Ruki loathed this bitch so much.

The blond sighed for the umpteenth time in the past hour alone. He leaned forward and gently touched his brother's shoulders, squeezing them tightly as a mute apology.

"Taka...I'm so sorry, I didn't know tha--"

"Oh cut it off, Akira!" Ruki shouted and pushed his lover away so hard it sent Reita to stumble backwards. "I'm sick with this situation!"

Reita could only stood on his spot, staring at his angry lover without any clue how to deal with this mess.

"You shouldn't have accepted her as your fiance. This whole marriage thing is ridiculous!" the brunette's voice raised several notes higher as he spilled his frustation into words.

"But you know better that I couldn't stop this from happening!" Reita also raised his voice. "For god's sake, Taka, this arranged marriage is not my idea. I couldn't say no and you know that."

"Well at least you could try to--"

"I alreay did, God damn it! But I couldn't stand seeing our mother crying to no end! Ayumi's parents were the ones who saved Dad's ass from the trial and they were also the ones who paid for our school for seven freaking years!! I couldn't let our parents down!"

Panting heavily, Reita closed his eyes and tried to calm his soul even just for a moment. But the next question his brother asked sent the most hurtful pang to his already wounded heart.

"But what about us, Akira...? What about this relationship? You can't just ignore it..."

"Oh Taka, please, don't start. We already talked about this." the blond dared to take a step closer. "We're brothers. We're not supposed to do this. And you know that I love you, Takanori. For God's sake, I really do. But...this relationship doesn't belong in our future..."

And no man in this world could describe the horrible feeling Reita felt at this precise moment. For years he had been planting the faith to Ruki's mind that they belonged to each other, and that Reita would never ever love any other person in this world because Ruki would be his first and his last. Knowing that he was also the one who broke that faith, the blond now felt nothing more like a piece of shit.

Ruki used to live in that beautiful promises his brother had made. He used to believe that their happiness belonged in teh future. Now that things started to crumble down in their perfect little world, Ruki felt like he had been living in a very cruel dream after all of this time.

"But...I'm your lover..." those words came out as a sad whisper that sent more jabs right against Reita's very own heart. It was a clear statement. It was the truth afterall.

He never meant to hurt Ruki. But he also could not disappoint their parents who had done almost everything to raise them, even if that meant they had to live under everyone else's mercy.

"Baby...I'm so sorry..."

The blond desperately tried to regain control once again, but it was too late.

Ruki aimlessly grabbed something from the closet and when he found the first object with his hand, the brunette threw it directly towards Reita without thinking twice about what he might just did. But luckily, Reita managed to duck it.

It was a porcelain vase. And the poor thing crashed on the ground and broke into pieces.

Just like their dream.

Without saying a word, Ruki dashed towards the bathroom, shoving his brother harshly on his way there. The brunette made sure that Reita did not follow him and locked the door. He went straight to the shower and turn it on, feeling the small rain of cold water touching his skin. And with the excruciating pain ripping his heart apart, the brunette sat under the cold and let the water soak him to his bones.

Flashes of memories came to haunt him as he slowly closed both of his eyes, and they were all about Reita. Their childhood years, the school, their confession, their first kiss, their first time... How could something so perfect turned into nightmare in just one blink of an eye?

Ruki kept on sitting there on the cold tiles, shivering at the low temperature surrounded him. He was waiting...for a call...a shout...or even just a knock on the door. But after a while, all he got was silence.

And when he suddenly heard the door to his room opened and closed directly with a hard thud and when there was no sign of Reita nor anyone else on the other side of the bathroom door, Ruki realized that he just let the last chance to fight for his love slipping away right before his eyes.

He was left there alone and brokenhearted with tears streaming down his crestfallen face, knowing exactly that yes, it was now finally over.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When the sun already rolled high into the perfect blue sky the next day, Ruki found himself standing awkwardly in the middle of a beautiful garden where numerous chairs, tables, flowers, foods, and cakes were set and ready to welcome the guests. Wearing a perfectly tailored black tuxedo, the brunette felt suffocated. But he had to wear it nontheless because he would be Reita's best man for today.

Last night, it wasn't after several hours of torturing himself under the cold shower that Ruki finally got the power to step out of the scene. He was drenched to the core of his soul and did nothing to dry himself. So he just crashed on the bed fully clothed, ignoring all the 'how's and 'why's swirling like mad inside his skull. Reita left him without a word, and that spoke louder than anything.

"Where the hell are they?"

The brunette startled as someone suddenly stood beside him. It was his father. And Ruki never saw him very anxious like this before.

"Umm...I don't know, Dad." Ruki told matter-of-factly. He really didn't.

"Are you sure?" His Dad raised a brow skeptically at the statement. "You know, since you and Reita are like twins. You have some sort of radar for each other."

The brunette's chest tightened at the words and he managed to fake a laugh. He was about to say something but his father beat him to it.

"They're here!"

And the feeling Ruki had right now was like the feeling of a prisoner waiting for his death penalty.

There, parked under the maple tree was a black Mercedes belonged to Ayumi. Ruki noticed the car because since the very first day she was engaged to Reita, they used that black sedan a lot.

The brunette saw his father walked towards the car together with Ayumi's parents, all with eyes full of excitement. Was it weird that he was the only one who didn't want this wedding party go as planned?

The passenger door opened and Ruki could see Ayumi slowly getting out of the car. She looked stunning with her beautiful wedding dress that elegantly touched the ground. All happy and smiling, she hugged everyone who welcomed her warmly.

Ruki searched for the sign of the groom on the other side of the car but after a moment, he found none. It wasn't Reita who drove the car. It was Ayumi's driver instead. The people around Ayumi seemed to notice the same thing since their heads were turning to the left and right, looking for the other person who was supposed to be there. But the bride herself was not bothered by that fact. Instead she was scanning her surroundings, looking for another someone to whom she needed to talk right now.

When her eyes landed on Ruki, her smile widened almost instantly. And Ruki was frozen on his spot for no apparent reason because he never saw Ayumi smiled so sincere like that before.

What is going on...?

Ayumi lifted her dress a little and started to do a small run towards the brunette. Ruki didn't quite understand what was actually happening and somehow he couldn't move a muscle. And when the bride was finally just two feet away, she decided to launched herself forward and hugged her soon-to-be-brother-in-law tightly.

And Ruki just...froze.

Could someone just tell me, what is going on...?

He had questions that needed answers screaming inside his head. But before he could even utter the first question, Ayumi released her hold and softly cupped both of his cheeks. And it was the moment when Ruki realized that the sincerity he saw earlier in those eyes, it wasn't fake at all.

"I'm sorry, Taka...for all that I've done..."

The man's eyes widened in disbelief as the words slipped right through her parted lips.

Ruki chuckled nervously and shook his head. "Ayu...I don't know what you're ta--"

"Akira told me everything."

And all within Ruki froze once again. "He did...what..?"

Ayumi took Ruki's hands and held them gently. Staring straight at the brunette's brown eyes, she finally told Ruki the reason why she was alone here at her wedding party.

"Go to your house, now. Akira's waiting for you there. Just...go straight ahead and don't turn to look back. I know that this sounds crazy because I can't believe I'm doing this myself. We'll explain to you later. But for now...just go and see him. I'll take care of everything here and I'll hold these people as long as I can."

Ruki's breath hitched midway as the news hit him like a hurricane. But Ayumi didn't give him much time to think as she shoved a car key in his hands and held them gently for one last time. "Go. Now."

The brunette leaned forward and kissed the beautiful lady on her cheek as a sign of gratitude, for her words, for the understanding, for everything. And even though he still couldn't get the big picture of it, Ruki knew that Reita would tell him the rest.

Flashing one last smile, Ruki swiftly ran towards the black Mercedes and got inside of it immediately. He could hear some people calling his name but he could not care less. Ayumi had risked her family name and her own pride, and he would not do something stupid to ruin it even further.

Ruki drove the car as fast as he could once he hit the main road. Knowing Ayumi's family for quite a while, he knew that someone might be stalking him in no time. Thus, in less than half an hour, he finally entered his own neighborhood he knew so well. And when the brunette finally pulled over and parked his car across the street, he could saw the dream that was once shattered now coming back to life.

There stood Reita in front of his beloved red Mustang wearing his favorite T-shirt and a pair of jeans. People who didn't know him would never thought that this man was supposed to be at his wedding party right now since there was no sign indicating the word 'wedding' whatsoever written on his face. When Ruki stepped out of the car, the blond smiled lovingly at him, and it was the smile he missed so much since the incident last night.

They stood facing each other for a while before Ruki finally gave up and hugged the man in front of him tightly as if afraid he would lose him again just like last time. A hand instinctively wrapped around his lower back while the other one softly cupped his cheek, angling for a contact. Both men engaged in a passionate kiss that spoke more than just an apology. It was strange that all the arguments and the fight they had previously were forgotten instantly only by the taste of each other's kiss.

When both men finally parted, they looked at each other's eyes searching for any sign of deceive but they found none. Reita smiled at the man in front of him and brushed his fingers against Ruki's silky hair.

"So...what is this all about...?" Ruki finally let out the question that had been bothering him all the way from the cancelled party.

The first answer he got was an amused huff followed by a warm smile that made Ruki shivered.

"Well, let's say that all of this time, Ayumi has been hiding the same pain as mine..."

The brunette raised his eyebrows and threw his boyfriend a questioning look.

"She's also against this arranged marriage, Taka... She loves another man..."

Ruki formed an 'o' with his mouth and nodded in understanding. But then another question popped out and he knew that he had to ask Reita about it now.

"And what now, Akira...? What will happen next? Our parents will be very angry and they will definitely separate us!"

Ruki was about to continue his rambling when a finger softly laid against his lips.

"That's why we're leaving. Now."

The brunette's eyes widened in shock at his brother's words.

"We're...what...?"

Reita only smiled at him and leaned forward, kissing his forehead gently.

"I'm leaving with you. We're going to Tokyo together and we're gonna make money our own way."

But no matter how sweet and perfect that plan was, Ruki still couldn't understand several things. He shook his head desperately and glared at the man in front of him.

"No...no, Akira...you can't. What about your medical school?!"

And Reita only chuckled. "I'll take care of it. Don't think too much about that stuff, baby."

Ruki wanted to argue more, wanted to question more. But those soft dark orbs silently told him not to do so, that things would be alright as long as they were together.

And somehow Ruki believed in that premise.

"Come on. I already got all your stuff inside."

Reita detached himself from his lover and walked towards the other side of the car, leaving the younger man standing dumbfounded on his spot.

It wasn't that Ruki did not understand. It wasn't that he did not like the idea of running away with his brother.

It was just...things were happening too fast. And he wasn't quite sure whether he could keep up the pace or not.

A vibrate from his phone brought Ruki back to the present time. He fetched up the gadget from his pocket, sliding it open softly with one hand. It was a text message. And when he saw the ID showed on top of those words, his heart really wanted to cry.

From : Ayumi
- Be happy, Takanori. If you really love him, don't you ever let him go again. Text me when you guys get there, okay? -

Heaving an amused sigh, the brunette typed his reply immediately and shoved the phone back to his pocket. He took one last glance at the house he had been living in for almost twenty-two years, feeling a glimpse of sadness upon realization that maybe he would never get the chance to step inside it again. But when he looked at his brother, all smiling at him from the inside of the car, he knew by heart that yes, it was worth it.

Maybe this was the biggest mistake they had ever made.

Maybe they just destroyed their perfectly arranged future.

And maybe they would lose their beloved ones once they left this town.

But one thing for sure...

As long as he got through this together with Reita, even the depths of hell would have the wonderful taste of heaven.

A/N : So? What do you think? Yay? Nay? Either way, constructive criticism is welcomed warmly~ =D