[drabble] Let the Tears Fall
Title: Let the Tears Fall
Author: Luna (dreamweavernyx )
Pairing: Inoobu
Genre: Fluff
Summary: 5 times Inoo cries + 1 time it was tears of joy.
Notes: For Au (au_gravityfree ).
Not exactly a prompt from any fic-thon, but if it happens to belong to any feel free to add it there. xD
~
one
The first time he sees Inoo cry is at their first meeting.
He’s running after his soccer ball after a hard kick had sent it flying into the bushes. Reaching out with his chubby six-year-old hands he pushes back the leaves of the bushes and stumbles into a sandpit.
What meets his eyes instantly is not the familiar white and black of his soccer ball, but the wide eyes of a petite boy sitting in the sand.
“My sandcastle,” he whispers is a soft scratchy voice, and Yabu can now see the wreck that may have once been a big sandcastle, reduced to nothing by his flying ball.
“I’m sorry,” Yabu squeaks, not knowing what else to do.
The skinny pale boy shakes his head.
“S’alright. I’ll just have to make another one.”
But Yabu can see tiny tear tracks working their way down the other boy’s cheeks, and realizes that he’s probably destroyed the boy’s best sandcastle.
“I’m sorry,” he says again.
Picking up his ball, he disappears back through the bushes, the face of the crying boy still etched in his mind.
two
The second time he sees Inoo cry is backstage.
It’s after the filming of the comedy contest episode of Ya-ya-yah, and Yabu finds Inoo resolutely ripping off the yellow flower hairclips and chucking them aside, ignoring the protests of the costume manager.
“Good performance,” he tells Inoo, grinning.
Inoo scowls at him.
“I’ve never felt so embarrassed in my life.”
“But you know,” laughs Yabu, ruffling Inoo’s hair, “you make a pretty good girl.”
Inoo kicks Yabu grumpily.
“I’m a guy, dammit! Not a girl!”
“You’re girly enough to be mistaken for one,” Yabu says.
“Yeah!” Hikaru chimes in, randomly appearing and sticking his face over Yabu’s shoulder.
Yabu notices Inoo’s lower lip begin to quiver, and realizes that he may have hit a sore spot.
“You’re awful, Yabu Kota,” Inoo sniffles, lashing out to kick Yabu’s knees hard.
By the time Yabu gets up from the floor, Inoo has run off, sobbing slightly.
“Exactly like a girl,” Hikaru deadpans.
The next day, Inoo doesn’t sit with Yabu for lunch anymore, and Yabu is left at an empty table as Inoo breezes past him to sit with Kohei.
three
The third time he sees Inoo cry is when JUMP’s formation is announced.
“I can’t believe it,” he whispers in the hanging silence after Johnny leaves, “they’re actually breaking up J.J.Express and Ya-ya-yah.”
“Oh, come on,” Yabu says dryly, “at least most of J.J.Express got in.”
“But what will become of Hashimoto-kun? And Fukazawa-kun!”
“Just face it,” sighs Yabu, “we got lucky. End of story.”
Inoo whirls on Yabu, eyes flashing.
“Aren’t you worried? About Shoon and Taiyou? Don’t you care?”
Inoo has unknowingly hit a sore spot, and Yabu gives the same deadpan reply he has been repeating over and over again ever since news of the formation had come out.
“I’m not worried about them, because I have faith that they will be lucky one day too. Have some faith in Hashimoto and Fukazawa.”
Inoo’s hand moves suddenly, and Yabu’s right cheek is stinging.
“I was once a leader of a group too,” he says softly, “you have no right to tell me how to care for them.”
“Now look here-”
“No, you look here,” snarls Inoo, “you’re just going to sever your ties with Shoon and Taiyou just like that?
Yabu can find no reply, and Inoo storms away, tears already pooling in his eyes.
four
The fourth time he sees Inoo cry is on an early morning.
He and Hikaru enter the dressing room together, hands linked. Yuto is the first to spot them, and he leaps up.
“You guys are a couple?”
Hikaru nods shyly, and Yuto cheers.
“Congratulations! Now you’re just like Keito and me!”
Yamada snorts, and Keito blushes as he tries to hide his face.
“I’m so happy for you,” says Takaki, slinging an arm around Yabu’s shoulders playfully.
Inoo offers him a small smile, and Chinen jumps up to clap him genially on the shoulder. But Yabu sees what he thinks might be a slight wetness in Inoo’s eyes as he turns away and begins shepherding Chinen back to the 7 corner.
However, he does not miss the quick glare Daiki sends his way, and he wonders what great wrong he’s done.
Later during break he passes by the toilet on the way to the vending machine, and slows down when he hears someone crying inside.
“Don’t cry,” a soothing voice that sounds vaguely like Daiki’s says, “it’s going to be alright.”
“I don’t know anymore,” whispers the person who had been crying - is that Inoo? wonders Yabu - in a shaky voice, “I don’t know. It’s too late now, I guess…”
He breaks off in small sobs again, and Yabu can hear the comforting voice trying to soothe the crying one.
Turning on his heel, he slowly walks away.
five
The fifth time he sees Inoo cry is on a rainy night.
“I thought we were truly meant for each other,” Yabu whispers as Inoo passes him a warm glass of cocoa, “I really did.”
“What did he say?”
“He…” Yabu trails off and hiccups, before continuing, “He told me that perhaps we’re better off as just friends, that our relationship is obviously not working well. Then he just left like that.”
The tears are falling again, and Inoo sighs, taking his hand.
“Perhaps you and Hikaru weren’t meant for each other,” said Inoo gently, “it’s not the end of the world. I’m sure Hikaru will want you to move on, and I think he will too. I’m sure one day, you’ll find someone else to love. Someone who will make you happy and be happy to be with you.”
At that moment, Yabu doesn’t understand why there are tears falling down Inoo’s cheeks as well.
plus one
It is only after Daiki corners him and gives him a long lecture that he understands the toilet incident.
Christmas rolls around, as does their winter concert, and Yabu finds himself with Inoo for his roommate.
That night after their first day of shows, Yabu drags Inoo out to the balcony to stare at the city lights.
“Merry Christmas, by the way,” he says softly into the quiet night.
Inoo makes a sound of assent as he looks out at the twinkling lights, long fingers wrapped around the veranda’s glass panels.
“Oh! I haven’t given you your present yet, have I?”
Inoo turns to Yabu in surprise as Yabu runs back into the room and comes out with a small bag. From the bag he takes out a red rose, which he tucks behind Inoo’s ear.
“…This is my present?” asks Inoo, pouting, “I’m not a girl.”
Yabu grins.
“It’s not your present. It’s just that you look so good with flowers in your hair.”
“That’s what you say to girls,” Inoo deadpans huffily, “and I’m definitely not one.”
Yabu ignores this, because Inoo does look very good with his mouth in a pout and the rose in his hair with snow dusting the top of his head and the edges of the red petals. Instead, he digs out a small box from the bag.
“This is your present.”
Carefully, Inoo pushes open the lid of the dark red box and peers inside. Instantly, his face drains of all colour.
Nestled in the sateen lining of the box is a red heart-shaped pendant, along with a tag that says where it had been bought from.
Vivienne Westwood, it reads.
“Isn’t this,” Inoo whispers hoarsely, “extremely expensive?”
Yabu shrugs, and Inoo lifts out the pendant with shaking hands. The pendant swivels on its chain, and suddenly Inoo sees something engraved in gold on the back of the pendant.
He reaches for the pendant and flips it around to have a closer look at the cursive elegant writing.
Aishiteru.
Inoo’s eyes grow wider than saucers, and he turns his disbelieving gaze to the taller boy.
“This-what-”
“Remember what you told me that time when Hikaru and I broke up? That you knew I’d find someone else to love?”
Inoo can do nothing but nod dumbly.
“I think I have found that someone,” murmurs Yabu, stepping closer to Inoo, “and that someone is you.”
He reaches out to brush away some hair from the ear the rose is not resting on, and sees Inoo’s cheeks flood pink.
“Besides,” he continues, “you like me too, don’t you? That’s why you were crying that night.”
Inoo bites his lip, and turns his head away to look studiously at the floor of the veranda.
“So, what do you say?” Yabu asks, looking at Inoo.
There is no reply, and Yabu reaches out his hand slowly to lift up Inoo’s face, his thumb brushing something wet.
“Oh,” he says softly, “oh god, please don’t tell you you’re crying, Kei. Not again.”
He is unprepared for when Inoo suddenly lunges at him, sobbing into his shoulder.
“Idiot,” he can hear Inoo sniffle, “the answer is yes. It’s always been yes. All you had to do was ask.”
Because I’ve always loved you.