Aoi/Shin, Reita/Nao, Kai/Ruki - Floorboards - Oneshot

[tsumetaikaze]

Title: Floorboards
Author: tsumetaikaze
Band/Pairing: Aoi/Shin, Reita/Nao [GazettE/Kagrra,], Kai/Ruki [GazettE]
Genre: Romance… General, TOTAL FLUFF XD
Rating: PG-13 for kissing and stuff
Warnings: None fluff overload
Disclaimer: HAH! Nice one. No.
Summary: It’s when you know which floorboards creak and the technique to open certain doors that you realise you’ve been sucked in for good with no turning back.
Notes: All relationships are the same ones mentioned in my previous stories involving these three pairings, but you don’t need to read them to read this. Just a heads up ^^Also I’m really really proud of this one XD

Shin dried his hands off on the tea towel and chucked it on the bench, leaving the kitchen to answer the door as the bell rang insistently. He told the person behind it that he was coming and ran a tired hand through his hair as he opened up, giving Nao an irritated look with a pointed glance at his watch.
“You’re late,” he said shortly.

Nao shrugged with a grin. “Yeah well I haven’t been here in years - you can’t expect me to know exactly where I’m going.” He shoved a handful of papers into Shin’s outstretched hand. “Now let me in, grumpy.”

Shin rolled his eyes but nevertheless stepped to the side, letting his friend into Aoi’s house with a quiet, “I’m not grumpy.”

Nao just laughed loudly and said, “So where’s the wonder boy?”

Shin gave an inward sigh as he led Nao into the kitchen, dropping the notes next to the fruit bowl on his way past. “You just missed him.”

“Aah. Coping without him, are you?”

“Fine,” Shin said curtly, picking up the tea towel again and drying the last cup before he put it on the shelf.

Nao picked up the CD Shin had left out on the kitchen bench, whistling softly to himself. “Haven’t heard this yet but I’ve been meaning to buy it. This is the one from Ruki, I take it?”

Shin nodded and covered his mouth as he yawned widely. “Yeah, I have to give it back to him. Aoi’s finished recording and said he’s going to be working from home for the next couple of days, so maybe Reita could pass it on.”

Nao nodded, flipping the CD over and running his eyes down the list of mostly English track titles, making an odd sound of recognition when he spotted one he knew. “Yeah… okay… Is it any good?”

Shin shrugged, folding the tea towel neatly and looping it over the handle of the oven. “Not too bad. Very Ruki.”

Nao raised an eyebrow at that and smirked. “I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or not.”

“Neither do I.”

“Worth buying or give it a miss?”

“Eh.”

Nao laughed and put the CD underneath his car keys on the bench, ensuring he wouldn’t forget it. He gave an exaggerated stretch and said with a grin, “Whoa, sure am parched after that endless drive over here.”

Shin lifted an eyebrow. “Fridge is there or the kettle’s there - cups are in the cupboard above the sink. Help yourself.”

Nao’s expression changed immediately to a deflated one. “Maa, Shin, you’re so mean! Be a good host for once.”

“For once? If I recall correctly, I’m always the one doing the running around for you at my house and yours.”

The bassist winced as he slowly slid off the bench stool and got to his feet. “Yeah, yeah, fine.”

Shin smirked at his triumph and watched Nao mumble his way over to the fridge with a glare aimed his way, but he just shrugged and walked out of the kitchen. He wandered around the other side of the bench and turned the corner into the lounge room, spotting what he was looking for and reaching out to yank one of Aoi’s oversized hoodies over his head, smiling at its warmth as he made his way back to the kitchen and sat in the seat Nao was previously occupying.

Nao had apparently abandoned the fridge and instead had a packet of tea bags in front of him on the bench, which had been next to the kettle last time Shin looked, and was currently trying to pry open the cupboard above the sink, frowning and sticking his tongue out in concentration.

He turned to face the guitarist when he let out a small laugh, and demanded, “You! How the hell does this thing open?”

Shin smiled, pulling the sleeves of Aoi’s hoodie over his hands and folding his arms, huddling down as he replied in an amused tone, “Lift it up and to the left a little, then pull.”

Nao raised an eyebrow, turning to do as Shin said. When the cupboard opened without protest and Nao had a mug in his hand, his other eyebrow joined the first. “Dude, how long have you guys been together?”

Shin tilted his head. “A while, I guess. Why?”

Nao shrugged, still looking a little surprised and amused at the same time. “Just…” He paused a moment, seemingly looking for words. “I dunno… Isn’t it kinda odd that you knew that and you don’t even live here?”

Shin opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again as Nao waved his hand dismissively and flicked the kettle on, not quite sure how to respond as a strange feeling suddenly hit him.

It made him think. Nao made him think, which was a bit odd in itself, but he did have a point, be it intentional or not. Shin really hadn’t been with Aoi for that long, all things considered, but it was long enough to be counted as a serious relationship. He hadn’t really thought about it before, but Nao’s observation almost forced him to.

He didn’t live here, but he obviously spent enough time at Aoi’s house to know that there were little things that gave it character, and the kitchen cupboard was just one of them. The lock on the bathroom door had a habit of getting stuck, and there was a nifty little trick to turning the handle that would release it. Unless there was a book under two of the coffee table’s legs, it was entirely unsafe to put anything on. If the washing machine was making a strange, unhealthy gurgling sound, two satisfying hits to its side would shut it up.

Shin smiled to himself as Nao faced him again, arms folded and a curious look on his face.

“What are you smiling like an idiot at?”

The guitarist just shook his head and sank further into Aoi’s hoodie. “Nothing.”

But when Aoi returned that evening with Shin still wearing his clothing and still smiling stupidly, the kiss they shared felt somehow heavier than all the others, and Aoi couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows in question as Shin tucked himself up on the couch and pillowed his head on his shoulder.

“Did something happen?” Aoi asked, the arm around Shin’s shoulders tightening reassuringly as he kissed the top of his head.

Shin shook his head and sighed. “No…”

“Why are you so cuddly all of a sudden, then?”

Shin blushed a little at the smile he heard in Aoi’s voice, and looked up with a shrug, mumbling, “Nao said something, that’s all.”

The amusement in the older guitarist’s eyes diminished somewhat. “What did he say?”

Shin barely refrained from rolling his eyes at Aoi’s protectiveness, and replied, “Nothing, don’t worry.”

“Shin…” Aoi said in a warning tone.

Shin sighed, still unable to hide the smile, and tilted his head at his partner. “This… This is nice, isn’t it? You know, us, and all… And, well, I know how to unlock the bathroom door and open that cupboard in the kitchen with the cups in it and how to shut the washing machine up when it’s whining…” He blinked slowly. “It’s nice.”

And while Shin might have felt a little stupid, the way Aoi kissed him and laughed, “You’re weird sometimes, you know. But I still love you,” told him that he wasn’t being stupid at all, and this was nice.

Shin’s smile only widened as he tucked his head back into Aoi’s shoulder and closed his eyes, more comfortable in his borrowed clothing than his own.

*~*

Nao shrugged his shoulders out of his heavy jacket as he stepped through the door, Ruki’s CD and car keys in hand as he hooked the garment over the spare spot on the back of the door.

“Reita?” he called questioningly, turning to walk down the hall and throwing his keys on the low table by the door as he did so.

He took all of two steps when he felt a cool breeze at his back, and turned around swiftly to kick the door shut. Damn thing never closed unless you slammed it.

Then he stopped a moment, looked from his foot to the door and back again, and couldn’t stop the enormous grin that spread across his face as he bounded down the hall in search of the blonde bassist.

“Oi Reita! Where are you?”

A muffled voice came from the general direction of Reita’s bedroom, and Nao made his way down the hall, following it - not without kicking Uruha’s door on the way past, of course. Because that was always fun. Especially when they were in the middle of recording and the guitarist cherished his sleep.

Still grinning like an idiot, Nao stuck his head around Reita’s door and raised his eyebrows at the sight before him.

Reita was rummaging around in his wardrobe for a t-shirt, which meant he was shirtless, which also meant Nao had an excellent view of his bare back, watching the movement of the muscles as Reita’s arms moved.

Nao smirked to himself, slowly creeping up behind the other bassist, and was just about to wrap his arms around his waist to surprise him when Reita turned around with a triumphant, “Aha-aah! Don’t do that!”

Nao just laughed in a way that made Reita smile as well, and wrapped his arms around the other anyway, grinning into his neck as he hugged tight enough to cause discomfort.

Reita returned the embrace, if not a little less enthusiastically, and said awkwardly, “Uh, Nao? Something wrong?”

Nao shook his head and giggled. “Nope. Just thinking.” He pulled back and eyed the t-shirt in Reita’s hand, honestly preferring him without it. “Going out?”

Reita nodded a little apologetically. “Yeah, Kai asked me to come in an hour earlier to help out with a couple of things.”

“Aah,” Nao murmured absently, then the mischievous smirk came back and he said thoughtfully, arms still looped around the blonde’s waist, “Reita, why does nothing in your apartment close properly?”

Reita quirked an eyebrow. “Because everything hates you.”

Nao pinched his side. “Funny.”

Reita smiled and shrugged. “I don’t know - why?”

Nao gave an exaggerated frown. “Your front door doesn’t close unless you slam it, none of your kitchen cupboards close unless you jiggle them because all the hinges are wonky, your door doesn’t close if you don’t jam it with something, and if the bathroom door didn’t have a lock I think we’d be watching each other shower while I was here. Which, you know, I totally wouldn’t mind… if Uruha wasn’t such a pervert.”

Reita snorted and kissed Nao’s forehead lightly before disentangling himself and slipping his t-shirt over his head, much to Nao’s disappointment. “You’re weird.”

Nao just shrugged and followed his boyfriend out of the room, kicking Uruha’s door again on the way past and leaning against the hallway wall. He watched Reita sling his bag over his shoulder and attempted to explain himself.

“No, I was at Aoi’s place, you see -“

“What were you doing there?”

“Had to pick up a CD from Shin - it’s there on the table, by the way. You have to give it back to Ruki - yeah, so I was at Aoi’s with Shin -“

“This one?” Reita pushed Nao’s keys to the side and picked up the CD, raising his eyebrows at Nao in question.

“Yeah - And I couldn’t open the cupboard in the kitchen to get a mug out, and Shin -“

“Did he say if it was any good? I’ve been thinking of buying it.”

Nao shrugged. “Just that it was ‘very Ruki’ - Shin had to explain how to open the cupboard because there was this neat little trick to it -“

“Does that mean it’s good or bad?”

“You’ll probably like it - and it got me thinking how he knows all these little things about Aoi’s place even though he doesn’t live there, and -“

“Huh, might ask if I can borrow it for a bit, then.”

Nao frowned. “Reita.”

Reita grinned and tugged on Nao’s t-shirt, pulling him into a loose hug as he said, “Sorry, sorry, I was just being annoying.”

“Yes, you were,” Nao huffed.

“Do continue.”

“Only if you promise to actually listen this time.”

“I promise.”

Nao paused a moment, unconvinced, but at an encouraging squeeze of Reita’s arms around him he continued where he left off. “And I thought it was kind of cool how he knew all that. Then when I got here I realised how I knew that the front door wouldn’t close unless I slammed it shut and it just sort of… hit home, I guess.”

Reita looked down at him. “What hit home?”

Nao averted his eyes, a little embarrassed at getting this sentimental over a door. “Us…”

But Reita’s smile assured him he shouldn’t have been embarrassed because he was thinking it too, and the soft kiss that followed just reinforced everything he’d said. He could feel Reita’s smile through it, but it wasn’t a god-you’re-weird smile like it usually was, it was… just a smile. A happy smile. And for once that damn noseband wasn’t getting in the way.

Reita pulled back and slowly released Nao, but kept a firm hold on his hand as he stepped backwards out the door, still smiling. “You’re an idiot, Nao,” he laughed. “A gorgeous idiot, but an idiot all the same.”

Nao just wrinkled his nose and pulled his hand out of Reita’s grip. “Yeah, shut up, you. Go to your precious Leader.”

Reita rolled his eyes and ducked inside again for the quickest of kisses before pulling the door closed gently behind him. Nao only folded his arms and waited.

Sure enough, with the quietest creak, the door opened again and he called out to his partner teasingly, “Oi idiot, close the door.”

He heard Reita’s snort and caught the strange look in his eye before he slammed the door shut, and smiled to himself.

*~*

Ruki dropped his pencil and looked up at the front door, a little frustrated at being interrupted but not surprised in the slightest to see Reita standing there when he opened it. He reached out his hand immediately and asked for his CD back, skipping out on greetings entirely.

“C’mon, where’s my newest baby?”

Reita had a strange smile on his face as he pulled the CD out from the depths of his jacket and handed it over. “She’s perfectly safe, don’t worry.”

Ruki took the CD without a word of thanks and turned on his heel, the only indication that Reita was invited in being the wave of Ruki’s hand over his shoulder, beckoning him forwards.

Reita shook his head in exasperation and stepped inside, removing his jacket and closing the door softly behind him. He had to fiddle with the handle for a bit until it closed properly, and would’ve been standing there for much longer if Ruki hadn’t popped his head back around the corner and said, “Lift it up sort of, then push it closed. The bottom gets jammed sometimes. He still hasn’t gotten round to fixing it.”

Ruki sat back down on his knees at the coffee table, glancing up for half a second when Reita sat down on the couch opposite him, and he frowned at that strange smile that seemed to have gotten stranger since the bassist had walked inside.

“Did he say if he liked it or not?”

Reita shrugged. “Apparently he just said it was ‘very Ruki’.”

Ruki frowned. “’Apparently?’”

“Yeah, Nao went and got it from him and passed it on to me to give to you.”

“Ah.”

“I’ve actually been wanting that for a while - mind if I borrow it?”

“Yes.”

“Yes meaning no I can’t or yes meaning I can?”

“Yes meaning yes I do mind, so no you can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s my baby and I haven’t had any time with it yet.”

“… You’re weird when it comes to your CDs.”

“No, I’m possessive. There’s a difference.”

Reita ‘hn’ed into his chest as he slumped down into the couch cushions, getting comfortable. “Where’s Kai?”

Ruki poked his tongue out in concentration as he willed the rhythm from before to come back to him. “Asleep - he’s practically killed himself from overwork, as usual - so no random shouting.”

Reita snorted, recognising a hint of that tiredness in his limbs as he remembered the gruelling recording session. “Wasn’t planning on it.”

“Good.”

He picked up his pencil again in the silence that followed, adding a few lines to the sketch here and there before breaking it with, “So... What’s the dopey look for?”

Reita visibly started, jolting slightly. “What look?”

“Either the I’ve-just-fallen-in-love look, which it couldn’t be because we all know you haven’t just fallen in love, or the I’ve-just-discovered-the-meaning-of-life-and-fuck-it’s-good look. But you probably haven’t discovered that either.”

Reita didn’t reply, and Ruki raised an eyebrow, staring up at him through the bits of fringe that hadn’t quite managed to stay confined to the pins he’d shoved in before he started drawing. “Well?”

The bassist gave a heavy sigh, the strange look getting all the stranger, and gave Ruki a wide grin. “I was talking to Nao before Kai kidnapped me today.”

“I was under the impression you spoke to Nao every day.”

Reita chuckled quietly to himself and drifted off again momentarily. When his mind came back into the room he commented thoughtfully, “You knew how to close Kai’s door properly.”

Ruki’s hand paused the pencil’s motions. “Yes…? And?”

Reita shrugged. “Nothing… Just think it’s cool.”

Ruki snorted. “Well I should know - I practically live here.”

“You don’t, though.”

Ruki put down the pencil sharply and folded his arms, glaring up at his friend. “Are you trying to point out the faults in mine and Kai’s relationship or what? Because if you are you can get out.”

Reita shook his head hurriedly, waving his hands in front of his face as he said, “No, no! Nothing like that! I was just… Well, Nao got me thinking…”

Ruki lessened the force of his glare, if only slightly. “Mmm? What about? Is he going to move in? I’m not sure Uruha would be too happy about that, despite how much credit he takes for you two.”

Reita shook his head again, slower this time, and made motions with his hands to tell Ruki to be quiet. “No… He just - he started talking about how Shin knows all the tricks to Aoi’s apartment, and then about how our front door never closes unless you slam it shut… And he said it ‘hit home’.”

Ruki slowly picked his pencil back up and resumed his sketching as he asked, “What hit home?”

Reita leaned back on the couch with a heavy sigh as he laced his fingers behind his head, but that strange look remained. “Us. Being together.”

Ruki smiled a little despite himself and continued drawing. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

He saw Reita nod out of the corner of his eyes. “Yeah, definitely, but… but I guess that made me think as well, and… I don’t know.”

Ruki chuckled quietly. “Yeah, I get it.”

But before either of them could elaborate, a very sleep-drowsy Kai came stumbling around the corner and put a hand on Ruki’s head, ruffling his hair slightly as he said through a thick yawn, “He-e-ey, Reita…”

Reita laughed under his breath and smiled at the drummer, lifting a hand in greeting as he got to his feet, recognising when he was no longer welcome. “I’ll be off then - I need some sleep anyway.”

Ruki nodded while Kai just stared after him in a sleepy haze, and said, “You know where the door is.” He laughed, adding, “And now you know how to close it.”

Reita just snorted quietly as Kai began to ask them what they were talking about before Ruki shushed him, and left the two to be alone. He sent a farewell over his shoulder as he scooped up Ruki’s CD from the dining table on his way past, smirking as he headed out the door. He closed it properly this time, remembering Ruki’s advice.

Kneeling at the coffee table in the lounge room, Ruki felt Kai’s knees against his back and tilted his head upwards to look at his tired partner, resting his head against his thighs as he smiled up at him. Kai’s hand continued its movements in his hair, and Ruki asked quietly, “Did you have a good sleep?”

Kai shrugged, covering up a yawn again with his free hand. “Yeah… until you lot started making a racket.”

Ruki chuckled, reaching his own hand up to tangle with Kai’s one that was previously in his hair. “I told him there was to be no random shouting.”

Kai laughed. “Well thank you for thinking of me. I’d kiss you but you’re even shorter all the way down there.”

Ruki scowled, but it had no force behind it. “Hey, don’t ruin a good mood. Pull me up.”

Kai did as he was told, if a little half-heartedly due to the bleariness that was hanging around, and asked, “What did he want?”

Ruki shrugged, now on his feet, and looped his arms around Kai’s waist. “Well I think he was bringing back my CD that I leant to Shin which he obviously forgot to give to you today because he’s hopeless like that, but it just wound up as him bragging about how Nao knew how to close the doors properly in his house and how that obviously made them the best couple in the world.”

Kai blinked several times, tilted his head, shook it in clear confusion, but looped his arms around Ruki’s neck all the same. “You’re weird, you know.”

Ruki just grinned and leaned further into Kai’s chest, feeling the drummer give another yawn before he was asked, “You’re not going to keep drawing?”

The vocalist shook his head. “Nah. Bed sounds like a much better idea,” he smirked.

Kai blinked again in confusion, pulling back slightly to look down at his partner. “Bed…? Did I say something about bed?”

Ruki laughed. “No, but I could tell you were thinking it.”

Kai smiled slowly and ducked slightly to kiss Ruki’s temple, mumbling against him, “Ah, you know me too well.”

And when Ruki told Kai to go back to bed and he’d be there in a minute, he smiled to himself as he stood at the kitchen sink, rinsing out his coffee cup as he adjusted the tap to just the right pressure so it wouldn’t make that horrible squealing noise that it did when you weren’t careful.

His smile turned a little soft when he saw Kai waiting for him at the end of the hallway, but it grew contemplative as he subconsciously avoided the creaky floorboard at the beginning of the hall. Fourth from the right, about a foot before the door to the study. Had a little black knot in the wood about halfway along.

Ruki blinked as he paused beside the floorboard in question, and tested it almost hesitantly with his foot. When it gave a quiet but perfectly audible creak, his grin turned outright childish as he looked up at Kai with a wicked glint in his eye. The only warning he gave his half-asleep partner was a hurried, “Turn around!” before he was leaping onto his back and laughing into his hair.

“The floorboard creaks,” he said as Kai readjusted the weight on his back and began to lead them into the bedroom with a smile to show off his one dimple.

And even though Ruki felt a little silly, he liked the way that when he was unceremoniously dumped onto the bed with a loud laugh, Kai’s kiss told him he agreed. The slow movements with the barest hint of a smile said that he didn’t think Ruki was being stupid, because he knew it wasn’t just a floorboard.

------

As far as I know, Reita and Uruha live together. Or did. Or something. Someone correct me if I’m wrong. And I do hope I haven’t choked you with fluff... >< I’m actually really proud of this one and I enjoyed writing it a lot. Pretty good for 3am, ne? XD

Comments = <333