[One-shot] It is by choice that we met, by chance that we became friends.
Title: It is by choice that we met, by chance that we became friends.
Author: crazy_otaku911
Pairing: Inoo/Yamada
Rating: PG
Summary: It wasn't really expected, the stranger boy in the cafe, asking for Inoo's number. But he won't complain about the results. At least not all the time.
Disclaimer: This work is purely fiction.
Warnings: Minor language.
A/N: For dearest hotfruits. You really should be proud of me. THIS WAS SO HARD, WTF. XDDD orz and it's still not quite what I wanted, but then it ended and I liked the ending, so. Uh.
He’d been staring for quite some time now, but Inoo was still doing his best to ignore it. He was studying. Really, it wasn’t something to stare over.
Several more minutes passed and Inoo’s fingers were starting to twitch as he turned each page of his textbook. The other seemed perfectly content to sit there and smile, despite Inoo’s avoidance.
Finally it got to be a little too long and a little too much; Inoo snapped his book shut. “I’m not going to be helping you with your homework,” he said in annoyance.
The boy’s smile sparkled with amusement as he shrugged lightly. “Who said I needed it?”
Not that Inoo had given himself up to the inevitable conversation (it wasn’t that he was antisocial, he just didn’t like the blatant staring. ) he took a moment to size up this stranger. He looked well enough. Handsome, even, though his dyed chestnut hair had some heat damage and Inoo had never been a fan of circle lenses. He was young and fit, though Inoo guessed he was even shorter than himself, the poor guy.
“Than what do you want?” Inoo asked dryly, lips curling into a half smile. If he wasn’t out for Inoo’s brain, Inoo wasn’t sure what else he could possibly want.
“Your name would be a great start!” The guy laughed in response, warm and bright. Inoo couldn’t help but smile a little more genuinely even if he still felt a little lost.
“And why would you want that?”
The boy tutted lightly, still grinning. “I answered your question, I’m not answering another one until you tell me your name,” he was told in cheerful tones.
Inoo scowled for a moment before replying in resignation. “Fine…. But only if you tell me yours. I’m Inoo Kei.”
“Yamada Ryousuke,” the other boy said warmly. “It’s nice to meet you, Inoo-kun.”
Yamada offered a hand and, as awkward as Inoo thought it was, he took it in a quick shake. “Now, what do you want?” he couldn’t help but ask again. “Why’d you want my name?” He wasn’t sure why it even mattered, but he wasn’t used to random strangers sitting and staring at him in his favorite café with such indifference to propriety.
Yamada gave him a quizzical look, slowly letting go of his hand. “Well, I can’t really ask for your number or anything else if I don’t even know that much, right?”
Inoo spluttered for a moment, taken by surprise. That hadn’t been what he’d expected. “Wait, what?”
Laughing sheepishly, Yamada ran slender fingers through his hair, letting it fallright back into his eyes. “Ah, that just sounded weird, sorry. I’ve just seen you hanging around here a lot and wanted to see…” He broke off to laugh again. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say without sounding like a creep.
Inoo blinked for a moment before smiling again. “It’s nice to meet you too?”
Yamada actually turned pink with embarrassment and Inoo decided that new friends didn’t soun so bad, even one as odd as Yamada seemed to be.
“So… Who are you, Yamada Ryousuke?” Inoo asked, settling back down into the booth, reaching for his neglected latte.
Yamada took it as an invitation to sling himself into the opposite bench, chuckling. “Well, I’m a senior in high school. I love soccer. I love dogs. I want to be a teacher whenever I get around to growing up, but I’ve also thought about being a paramedic, so who knows about that.”
A high school senior? Inoo wrinkled his nose. “You fetus.”
“Hey, we can’t all be college students, mister,” Yamada replied defensively. “What do you study, anyways?”
“Architecture.” And at Yamada’s confused expression, Inoo’s eyes lit up, launching into a very detailed explanation, studying completely forgotten. Yamada settled down, chin resting on linked fingers, seemingly contented to just sit there and listen as Inoo blathered about nothing (really, how much could be said about his major? He loved it, but really.)
It wasn’t until Inoo’s phone buzzed with a message from his roommate, asking where the hell he was, that Inoo realized jour muffins, six cups of coffee, and three hours had passed since Yamada had introduced himself. “Shit!”
Yamada quirked an eyebrow, grinning. “What? Got a curfew?”
Inoo took a vague swat in the other’s direction. “Nothing like that, brat. My roommate likes hosting party nights on Fridays and I promised him I’d help him clean the apartment today.” He was so late already.
“Oh!” Nodding, Yamda pushed the remains of the last muffin in Inoo’s direction. “I guess I’ll see you around then?”
Inoo shrugged into his jacket, stuffing the muffin into one of its various pockets, flashing Yamda a distracted smile. He couldn’t help but be more concerned about Takaki Yuya’s impending hissyfit. “Sure thing,” he replied, already halfway out the café’s door when he remembered himself. “Oh wait!”
He returned to the table, phone in hand. “Text yourself. That way we’ll both have each other’s number.”
There was a pause as Yamada took his phone, tapping in his own number and sending the quick text of ‘:D’. “There you go~!” he chirped, handing the phone back to Inoo.
Inoo grinned back, pocketing the phone. “It was nice meeting you, Yamada-kun.”
Yamada gave a casual salute, waving him off. “Later, Inoo-kun!”
~
“You’re a bad habit,” Inoo complained one afternoon, trying to cram in some last minute studying over his favorite latte. Trying was the keyword. Yamada had shown up a half an hour ago and he hadn’t looked at his textbook since.
Yamada had his chin propped in his hand, grinning in amusement. “You’re actually worried about this test?” I thought you were a genius!”
“It’s hard to get anything done when you keep on distracting me,” he snapped back, more venom in his voice than he’d intended, but there was truth in his words. What used to be casual - and occasional - meet ups had turned into habitual hanging out together. He’d seen Yamada almost every single day and no matter how hard he tried, Inoo was inevitably distracted, sucked in by the latest fashion and celebrity gossip, despite Inoo’s lack of interest in either subject. Homework was shelved in the dark, cobwebbed corners of his mind, only to be reclaimed in last minute panic.
Yamada looked stung, drawing himself to his feet. “Sorry, I guess I’ll just leave you alone,” he said, starting for the door.
Inoo caught his arm, grimacing lightly. “I didn’t mean it like that…”
Yamada shook his head, pulling away again. “It’s okay… Good luck on your test. Tell me how it goes.”
Inoo watched him leave, feeling displaced as he vanished out onto the street. The feeling only worsened when he returned to his book, his mind drawing a complete blank.
~
“Why so serious?” Takaki trilled at Inoo, flopping down on the couch next to him. “C’mon, it’s not like failing one test is the end of the world.”
“I haven’t done that badly on a test since I was in middle school,” Inoo groaned, burying his face in his arms. He’d been faelling rather miserable since the flunked test. He also hadn’t texted Yamada to tell him as much - why this mattered was beyond him - and thus he’d turned his apartment into a storm cloud. It had gotten to the point where even Takaki was acting like a despondent puppy, furthering Inoo’s aggravation.
He should tell Yamada, Inoo thought savagely. It was his fault that Inoo had don’t so badly, first by distracting Inoo with this presence and then ruining his concentration with the lack of. It was all Yamada’s fault.
But in the end, Inoo knew he was being unreasonable and the text was never sent.
~
Days passed with Inoo continuously grouching around the apartment. Takaki had long since given up, fleeing to the comforts of his latest fling, Arioka something or other. The quiet should have settled Inoo’s mind but there was still a constant nagging feeling, gnawing at his conscious.
He didn’t want to admit it, but he knew why.
It had been two weeks since the horrid test and Yamada had neither called not texted. Inoo didn’t like the feeling that it was his fault, because it wasn’t. He wandered around the apartment, not thinking about how he was supposed to have texted Yamada ages ago, nor how hurt the other had looked the last time they’d seen each other.
Giving up for the day, Inoo threw himself onto his bed, trying to fall asleep and just frustrating himself even more when he was unable to do so.
~
The knock on the door took Inoo by surprise. It was a Tuesday evening, Takaki was out for the night, and Inoo wasn’t sure who it could possibly be.
Opening the door to find Yamada on his doorstep, Inoo just stared at him for a few moments, almost too taken aback to speak, mind scrabbling for words to say. “… Hullo.”
Yamada gave him a tentative smile, fidgeting. “Hi there!” he said, pausing for a moment before adding. “Sorry, I know it’s kinda late, but… I thought I’d stop by. Can I come in?”
With a slightly nervous chuckle, Inoo stepped aside, letting Yamada in. “Of course, of course.”
Once the door was shut, an awkward silence settled over the apartment. Yamada looked like a deer caught in the headlights, despite the fact that he’d been the one invading Inoo’s life again, and Inoo felt like there was a clock in his stomach, ticking dangerously.
(He wasn’t used to feeling this nervous, it was completely ridiculous.)
“So…” he began, just as Yamada blurted out something.
“You’re not mad at me, are you?”
“What?” Inoo said, at a loss for words yet again. “Why would I be mad?” He promptly ignored the voice in his mind, saying he had been upset at the very least.
“Well… I don’t know.” Yamada scuffed his sneaker on the flooring, frowning a little. “You got all annoyed and then you stopped texting… You kinda looked pissed, I wasn’t sure.”
Well, when he put it like that…
“I was ticked,” Inoo admitted, feeling sheepish as he did so. “I did pretty badly on that test.”
Yamada looked aghast. “God, I’m so sorry, I never meant to be a bother.”
“It’s okay!” Inoo said, laughing, surprised to find that he meant it. “It could have been worse-“ and maybe it had, but he was smiling after what felt like ages, he wasn’t going to complain about that. “Want a drink?” he asked as he ushered the other into the living room of his apartment, the tension easing.
“I don’t suppose I can have a beer…” Yamada smiled cheekily as he plopped himself on the couch.
“Hell no!” Inoo laughed as he disappeared into the kitchen area, grabbing a soda for them both. “One, you’re not old enough and I’m not getting in trouble for that. Two… well, all the beer is my roommate’s anyways.” He handed the soda over and Yamada accepted it with a light chuckle.
“Ah, that’s right, you prefer your lattes.”
Inoo nodded and silence settled over them again. This time, it was a warm, comfortable one, Inoo sipping his soda, but mostly just grinning at Yamada. It was strange, but he felt rather relaxed. More so than he had in the previous weeks. “I… is it weird if I said I missed you?”
Yamada’s grin simply widened and it was answer enough for Inoo.
~
He wasn’t even sure how they’d gotten to cuddling, hours later, the soda long finished and very little happening in the way of conversation.
“You know,” Yamada said, resting his head on Inoo’s shoulder, still smiling. Inoo wondered if his cheeks hurt, because he was sure his were supposed to be aching. “I never really thought it’d be like this…”
“What’d you think it’d be?” Inoo asked, fingers playing with a lock of hair.
“I don’t know,” Yamada pulled back, chuckling. “I never thought I’d get past asking for your phone number. You were kinda scary back then.”
They shared a bout of laughter, half falling all over each other in their mirth.
“Well, I’m glad it’s different,” Inoo said after they’d quieted down, kissing Yamada’s forehead.
Yamada’s smile, the resulting kiss, was more than enough for Inoo to be happy.
______________________________________________________________
A/N: ... Lmao, I'm not sure what to think of this thing. I sort of like it. But there's something SO OFF ABOUT IT, I don't even know what to do with it.
Author: crazy_otaku911
Pairing: Inoo/Yamada
Rating: PG
Summary: It wasn't really expected, the stranger boy in the cafe, asking for Inoo's number. But he won't complain about the results. At least not all the time.
Disclaimer: This work is purely fiction.
Warnings: Minor language.
A/N: For dearest hotfruits. You really should be proud of me. THIS WAS SO HARD, WTF. XDDD orz and it's still not quite what I wanted, but then it ended and I liked the ending, so. Uh.
He’d been staring for quite some time now, but Inoo was still doing his best to ignore it. He was studying. Really, it wasn’t something to stare over.
Several more minutes passed and Inoo’s fingers were starting to twitch as he turned each page of his textbook. The other seemed perfectly content to sit there and smile, despite Inoo’s avoidance.
Finally it got to be a little too long and a little too much; Inoo snapped his book shut. “I’m not going to be helping you with your homework,” he said in annoyance.
The boy’s smile sparkled with amusement as he shrugged lightly. “Who said I needed it?”
Not that Inoo had given himself up to the inevitable conversation (it wasn’t that he was antisocial, he just didn’t like the blatant staring. ) he took a moment to size up this stranger. He looked well enough. Handsome, even, though his dyed chestnut hair had some heat damage and Inoo had never been a fan of circle lenses. He was young and fit, though Inoo guessed he was even shorter than himself, the poor guy.
“Than what do you want?” Inoo asked dryly, lips curling into a half smile. If he wasn’t out for Inoo’s brain, Inoo wasn’t sure what else he could possibly want.
“Your name would be a great start!” The guy laughed in response, warm and bright. Inoo couldn’t help but smile a little more genuinely even if he still felt a little lost.
“And why would you want that?”
The boy tutted lightly, still grinning. “I answered your question, I’m not answering another one until you tell me your name,” he was told in cheerful tones.
Inoo scowled for a moment before replying in resignation. “Fine…. But only if you tell me yours. I’m Inoo Kei.”
“Yamada Ryousuke,” the other boy said warmly. “It’s nice to meet you, Inoo-kun.”
Yamada offered a hand and, as awkward as Inoo thought it was, he took it in a quick shake. “Now, what do you want?” he couldn’t help but ask again. “Why’d you want my name?” He wasn’t sure why it even mattered, but he wasn’t used to random strangers sitting and staring at him in his favorite café with such indifference to propriety.
Yamada gave him a quizzical look, slowly letting go of his hand. “Well, I can’t really ask for your number or anything else if I don’t even know that much, right?”
Inoo spluttered for a moment, taken by surprise. That hadn’t been what he’d expected. “Wait, what?”
Laughing sheepishly, Yamada ran slender fingers through his hair, letting it fallright back into his eyes. “Ah, that just sounded weird, sorry. I’ve just seen you hanging around here a lot and wanted to see…” He broke off to laugh again. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say without sounding like a creep.
Inoo blinked for a moment before smiling again. “It’s nice to meet you too?”
Yamada actually turned pink with embarrassment and Inoo decided that new friends didn’t soun so bad, even one as odd as Yamada seemed to be.
“So… Who are you, Yamada Ryousuke?” Inoo asked, settling back down into the booth, reaching for his neglected latte.
Yamada took it as an invitation to sling himself into the opposite bench, chuckling. “Well, I’m a senior in high school. I love soccer. I love dogs. I want to be a teacher whenever I get around to growing up, but I’ve also thought about being a paramedic, so who knows about that.”
A high school senior? Inoo wrinkled his nose. “You fetus.”
“Hey, we can’t all be college students, mister,” Yamada replied defensively. “What do you study, anyways?”
“Architecture.” And at Yamada’s confused expression, Inoo’s eyes lit up, launching into a very detailed explanation, studying completely forgotten. Yamada settled down, chin resting on linked fingers, seemingly contented to just sit there and listen as Inoo blathered about nothing (really, how much could be said about his major? He loved it, but really.)
It wasn’t until Inoo’s phone buzzed with a message from his roommate, asking where the hell he was, that Inoo realized jour muffins, six cups of coffee, and three hours had passed since Yamada had introduced himself. “Shit!”
Yamada quirked an eyebrow, grinning. “What? Got a curfew?”
Inoo took a vague swat in the other’s direction. “Nothing like that, brat. My roommate likes hosting party nights on Fridays and I promised him I’d help him clean the apartment today.” He was so late already.
“Oh!” Nodding, Yamda pushed the remains of the last muffin in Inoo’s direction. “I guess I’ll see you around then?”
Inoo shrugged into his jacket, stuffing the muffin into one of its various pockets, flashing Yamda a distracted smile. He couldn’t help but be more concerned about Takaki Yuya’s impending hissyfit. “Sure thing,” he replied, already halfway out the café’s door when he remembered himself. “Oh wait!”
He returned to the table, phone in hand. “Text yourself. That way we’ll both have each other’s number.”
There was a pause as Yamada took his phone, tapping in his own number and sending the quick text of ‘:D’. “There you go~!” he chirped, handing the phone back to Inoo.
Inoo grinned back, pocketing the phone. “It was nice meeting you, Yamada-kun.”
Yamada gave a casual salute, waving him off. “Later, Inoo-kun!”
~
“You’re a bad habit,” Inoo complained one afternoon, trying to cram in some last minute studying over his favorite latte. Trying was the keyword. Yamada had shown up a half an hour ago and he hadn’t looked at his textbook since.
Yamada had his chin propped in his hand, grinning in amusement. “You’re actually worried about this test?” I thought you were a genius!”
“It’s hard to get anything done when you keep on distracting me,” he snapped back, more venom in his voice than he’d intended, but there was truth in his words. What used to be casual - and occasional - meet ups had turned into habitual hanging out together. He’d seen Yamada almost every single day and no matter how hard he tried, Inoo was inevitably distracted, sucked in by the latest fashion and celebrity gossip, despite Inoo’s lack of interest in either subject. Homework was shelved in the dark, cobwebbed corners of his mind, only to be reclaimed in last minute panic.
Yamada looked stung, drawing himself to his feet. “Sorry, I guess I’ll just leave you alone,” he said, starting for the door.
Inoo caught his arm, grimacing lightly. “I didn’t mean it like that…”
Yamada shook his head, pulling away again. “It’s okay… Good luck on your test. Tell me how it goes.”
Inoo watched him leave, feeling displaced as he vanished out onto the street. The feeling only worsened when he returned to his book, his mind drawing a complete blank.
~
“Why so serious?” Takaki trilled at Inoo, flopping down on the couch next to him. “C’mon, it’s not like failing one test is the end of the world.”
“I haven’t done that badly on a test since I was in middle school,” Inoo groaned, burying his face in his arms. He’d been faelling rather miserable since the flunked test. He also hadn’t texted Yamada to tell him as much - why this mattered was beyond him - and thus he’d turned his apartment into a storm cloud. It had gotten to the point where even Takaki was acting like a despondent puppy, furthering Inoo’s aggravation.
He should tell Yamada, Inoo thought savagely. It was his fault that Inoo had don’t so badly, first by distracting Inoo with this presence and then ruining his concentration with the lack of. It was all Yamada’s fault.
But in the end, Inoo knew he was being unreasonable and the text was never sent.
~
Days passed with Inoo continuously grouching around the apartment. Takaki had long since given up, fleeing to the comforts of his latest fling, Arioka something or other. The quiet should have settled Inoo’s mind but there was still a constant nagging feeling, gnawing at his conscious.
He didn’t want to admit it, but he knew why.
It had been two weeks since the horrid test and Yamada had neither called not texted. Inoo didn’t like the feeling that it was his fault, because it wasn’t. He wandered around the apartment, not thinking about how he was supposed to have texted Yamada ages ago, nor how hurt the other had looked the last time they’d seen each other.
Giving up for the day, Inoo threw himself onto his bed, trying to fall asleep and just frustrating himself even more when he was unable to do so.
~
The knock on the door took Inoo by surprise. It was a Tuesday evening, Takaki was out for the night, and Inoo wasn’t sure who it could possibly be.
Opening the door to find Yamada on his doorstep, Inoo just stared at him for a few moments, almost too taken aback to speak, mind scrabbling for words to say. “… Hullo.”
Yamada gave him a tentative smile, fidgeting. “Hi there!” he said, pausing for a moment before adding. “Sorry, I know it’s kinda late, but… I thought I’d stop by. Can I come in?”
With a slightly nervous chuckle, Inoo stepped aside, letting Yamada in. “Of course, of course.”
Once the door was shut, an awkward silence settled over the apartment. Yamada looked like a deer caught in the headlights, despite the fact that he’d been the one invading Inoo’s life again, and Inoo felt like there was a clock in his stomach, ticking dangerously.
(He wasn’t used to feeling this nervous, it was completely ridiculous.)
“So…” he began, just as Yamada blurted out something.
“You’re not mad at me, are you?”
“What?” Inoo said, at a loss for words yet again. “Why would I be mad?” He promptly ignored the voice in his mind, saying he had been upset at the very least.
“Well… I don’t know.” Yamada scuffed his sneaker on the flooring, frowning a little. “You got all annoyed and then you stopped texting… You kinda looked pissed, I wasn’t sure.”
Well, when he put it like that…
“I was ticked,” Inoo admitted, feeling sheepish as he did so. “I did pretty badly on that test.”
Yamada looked aghast. “God, I’m so sorry, I never meant to be a bother.”
“It’s okay!” Inoo said, laughing, surprised to find that he meant it. “It could have been worse-“ and maybe it had, but he was smiling after what felt like ages, he wasn’t going to complain about that. “Want a drink?” he asked as he ushered the other into the living room of his apartment, the tension easing.
“I don’t suppose I can have a beer…” Yamada smiled cheekily as he plopped himself on the couch.
“Hell no!” Inoo laughed as he disappeared into the kitchen area, grabbing a soda for them both. “One, you’re not old enough and I’m not getting in trouble for that. Two… well, all the beer is my roommate’s anyways.” He handed the soda over and Yamada accepted it with a light chuckle.
“Ah, that’s right, you prefer your lattes.”
Inoo nodded and silence settled over them again. This time, it was a warm, comfortable one, Inoo sipping his soda, but mostly just grinning at Yamada. It was strange, but he felt rather relaxed. More so than he had in the previous weeks. “I… is it weird if I said I missed you?”
Yamada’s grin simply widened and it was answer enough for Inoo.
~
He wasn’t even sure how they’d gotten to cuddling, hours later, the soda long finished and very little happening in the way of conversation.
“You know,” Yamada said, resting his head on Inoo’s shoulder, still smiling. Inoo wondered if his cheeks hurt, because he was sure his were supposed to be aching. “I never really thought it’d be like this…”
“What’d you think it’d be?” Inoo asked, fingers playing with a lock of hair.
“I don’t know,” Yamada pulled back, chuckling. “I never thought I’d get past asking for your phone number. You were kinda scary back then.”
They shared a bout of laughter, half falling all over each other in their mirth.
“Well, I’m glad it’s different,” Inoo said after they’d quieted down, kissing Yamada’s forehead.
Yamada’s smile, the resulting kiss, was more than enough for Inoo to be happy.
______________________________________________________________
A/N: ... Lmao, I'm not sure what to think of this thing. I sort of like it. But there's something SO OFF ABOUT IT, I don't even know what to do with it.