7 Prices of Greed Chapter 13a
Title: 7 Prices of Greed (Chapter 13a/16)
Author: Yuki
Group: NEWS
Pairing: Kato Shigeaki x Nishikido Ryo, with bits of KoyaPi
Genre: AU, Supernatural, Action, Romance
Rating: PG-13
Summary: After an experimentation gone wrong, Tegoshi, Yamapi, Koyama and Massu were given different abilities - manipulation of electricity, freezing time, healing, and the generation of fire. Three years later, Shige was caught saved by the four, including another named Ryo. Shige takes an interest in Ryo, but what happens when he is told that because of a curse, Ryo is forbidden to feel human touch, and if he does, that person must pay the seven prices of greed? How do you love someone who you can’t touch…
A/N: Kind of a mix between X-Men, Heroes, and a love story~ :)
Previous:
( Chapter 1 )
( Chapter 2 )
( Chapter 3 )
( Chapter 4 )
( Chapter 5: Part 1 )
( Chapter 5: Part 2 )
( Chapter 6: Part 1 )
( Chapter 6: Part 2 )
( Chapter 7 )
( Chapter 8 )
( Chapter 9 )
( Chapter 10 )
( Chapter 11)
( Chapter 12 )
Chapter 13a: Falling
Sometimes it feels like we’re continuously falling until one day it is impossible to stand back up and move on.
“Where were you?”
Shige jumped when Tako’s voice sounded from the dark apartment.
“You scared me,” Shige said as he flipped the switch for the light and put his keys down on the table.
Tako arose from the couch where he had been waiting. “You scared me too, I woke up and all of a sudden you weren’t here.”
“I went for a walk.”
It was left like that-no suspicion and no other questions.
---
Anxiety built while waiting for the week to pass, but eventually the day arrived.
“Kato-kun!” Koyama opened the door and instantly threw his arms around Shige. “It’s been so long; we were beginning to think we’d never see you again!”
His smile had always been gentle.
“Easy, babe, you don’t want to choke him the second he walks in the door.” Yamapi joked.
“He’s not even in the door,” Tegoshi noted.
Shige smiled against Koyama’s shoulder. It was something like a class reunion - they might have looked a bit different on the exterior, but none of them had changed.
Koyama pulled away and you could see the happiness in his eyes. “Come in, we can eat a late lunch,” he insisted, mindlessly ignoring the fact that he was the one blocking Shige’s entrance in the first place.
It felt nostalgic eating with them again. It was another world entirely; one that he used to belong to once upon a time.
They talked about the year that passed, the present, everything.
Massu arrived in the middle of everything after going out to eat with a few co-workers. No matter where he was, his smile as always lit up the entire room.
---
“It’s been too long,” Koyama exclaimed once again as he handed a wet porcelain dish to Shige who dried it. “I remember you used to help me with these every day.”
Shige smiled. “I had to find some way to repay you guys for everything. No one helps you nowadays?”
“Ryo-chan does sometimes. He says it looks too lonely if I do it myself. He must’ve gotten used to seeing you help me.”
Shige nodded in silence.
“I’m glad you two are meeting today. I think it is good for the both of you.”
Shige sighed and looked at Koyama questioningly. “You don’t think it’s a bad idea? I mean, it just seems like it could potentially make things worse.”
Koyama turned off the water and dried his hands before he gripped Shige’s shoulder firmly. “It’s not wrong to love someone and want to be with him no matter who he is or what might be different about him.”
Koyama smiled when Shige didn’t respond with anything more than an awkward glance back to the dish in his hands.
“You love him, don’t you?” Koyama insisted.
“I don’t know if it is love. I mean, I liked him a lot when I lived here. He was someone who I could never stop wondering about, thinking about, and before I knew it he became something that I treasured. However, I never opened myself up to know him fully because I knew that with time I’d fall for him to the point where it killed me to accept the fact that I couldn’t be too close to him.”
Where did these words come from, and why would they come out now?
“Want my advice?” Koyama took the dried dish and walked over to put it in the cabinet. “I think you should live today without holding back. That way, when it is all over you won’t have any regrets. Regret can hurt like knives, you know.”
Shige nodded. “I’m afraid of regret more than anything else.”
---
At 7pm, Ryo popped his head into the kitchen. Yamapi had the table covered with piles of papers and as usual, Koyama had his grandfather glasses on and was recording the numbers into the small boxes of the grade book. Shige sat there as well with his eyebrows scrunched together as he read one of the papers out of curiosity.
“Shouldn’t a teacher grade things on his own?” Ryo mocked.
Shige looked up at Ryo who was holding a bunch of things that his family must have given him. His eyes were normal once again and even though it was strange to see them like that, they were still beautiful.
“I’m a teacher so I am educating them on how smart my students are.” Yamapi defended.
“They are so lucky.” Ryo looked over at Shige and smiled. “I just have to throw this stuff upstairs and then we can go. Okay, Shige?”
Shige nodded. “Uh, sure.”
When Ryo left, Yamapi nudged his arm. “Shige?”
“Um, yeah. Almost everyone calls me that.”
Koyama smiled and went back to recording.
---
“Where do you want to go?” Ryo asked as they stood outside of the house.
Shige shrugged. “Anywhere. How about you? Is there something you want to do tonight?”
Ryo looked at him for a few moments without answering. “Not anything in particular.”
They began to walk along on the sidewalk without any distance between them, nothing holding them back.
When they were waiting at a busy crosswalk, Ryo reached his hand over and brushed a piece of hair off of Shige’s forehead. “You look better with this style.”
“You still look the same, though. Just as I remember.” Shige put a hand on Ryo’s shoulder. “Didn’t grow even an inch.”
Ryo shrugged off Shige’s hand and shoved him. “Smartass.”
“Are you hungry?” Shige asked suddenly after they crossed the street.
Ryo nodded, “I guess, why? You want to go eat somewhere?”
“I thought I could make you dinner. You’ve never seen where I live before.”
Ryo smirked, “You pick the one day that I’m not immune to illnesses to cook for me?”
“Pick your poison. Die from hunger or from a chance of food-related illness. Trust me; the latter is your best bet.”
“I’ll trust you this time.”
Shige continued to walk with a faint smile.
There was a buzzing sound and Ryo took out his cell phone.
1 new message.
They stopped and Ryo looked up at Shige. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Shige shrugged it off.
From: Tegoshi
We’re all going out for the night. Don’t hesitate to bring Kato-kun here if you two want to be alone~ ^_-
Ryo flipped the phone shut and shoved it into his pocket.
“Something wrong?”
“No,” Ryo said quickly. “They just wanted to let me know they were going to be out.”
---
Ryo walked into the apartment behind Shige and removed his shoes in the doorway. The apartment was normal - nothing outstanding.
Shige walked into the kitchen and put down the bags they got from the grocery store as he mumbled something to which Ryo gave an easy response to. Ryo wasn’t paying full attention as he was too caught up in looking at the pictures around of Shige and what seemed to be friends from school. In one, they all held up papers with high grades written on them. Maybe a first test, Ryo figured.
In another photograph, Shige was on the beach and it looked as if the people he was with were in the sun too long.
So many pictures, yet all of them had something in common. In all of the pictures, Shige was smiling with the man from the library. Ta-something, Ryo remembered.
The time he had known Shige was surprisingly short even though they seemed so close. We’re always fighting against the power of time.
“Ryo?” Shige called from the doorway.
Ryo left the pictures and walked into the kitchen. They made small talk and Ryo watched as Shige made what he deemed to be ‘amazing Italian pasta’ which he had learned to cook several years prior when his mother had requested it for her birthday.
In that moment, Ryo had the urge to walk up behind Shige and put his arms around him from behind. Shige would probably get annoyed and push him away since he was cooking, but he didn’t care.
Ryo smiled and took a step forward but the sound of the front door opening stopped him in his tracks.
“Oi, Shige. I left my-“ he trailed off when he saw Ryo in the kitchen. “Ah, the guy from the library.”
Shige stepped past Ryo and into the hallway. “What’s up?”
“I left my hat here last night.” Tako walked over to the couch and picked up a hat off the floor.
He has a key?
Shige looked at Ryo apologetically. It’s not like he had anything to hide or apologize for but he didn’t want Ryo to get the wrong idea about his friend’s presence.
“Is that all you came for?” Shige made an attempt not to sound like he wanted his friend to leave even though his heart was telling him otherwise.
Tako walked into the kitchen and looked at Ryo with eyes that were filled with jealousy and hatred. He covered it up with a smile so Shige couldn’t see such a thing, however. “You do talk, don’t you?”
“T-“ Shige started.
“Of course,” Ryo said politely though there was a hint of anger in his voice as well.
“Ah. I didn’t know, since last time you didn’t say anything.”
Ryo smiled. “You do know you’re not supposed to talk in a library, right? I was just following the rules.”
Shige didn’t want them to start a fight but he also knew he should stay out of it.
Until his friend crossed the line.
“Shige told me you were some sort of freak.”
“Takashima,” Shige snapped. “Stop.”
Ryo glared at the man but didn’t say a word.
“I see you’re not though,” Tako smirked. “You’re not a freak, you’re just an ass.”
“Nice to meet you too,” Ryo said sarcastically.
Tako walked over to the knife Shige was using and picked it up. Ryo leaned off of the counter instinctively but the man simply put it in the sink. “You might want to keep these away from him,”
Tako smiled and walked up close to Shige.
Ryo watched in surprise as he leaned forward and kissed Shige on the corner of his mouth before promising to ‘See you later’. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t angry at that moment - but since when did he have the right? Shige didn’t belong to him exclusively.
The door shut and Shige walked back into the kitchen nervously, purposely avoiding eye contact. He’d talk to his friend later, however for that moment he just needed him out of the apartment.
“Certainly seems like you’re dating.” Ryo snapped.
“He likes to show off at times, its like marking his territory I suppose you can say.”
“It’s not like he owns you.” Ryo’s tone was full of anger.
“No, he doesn’t.”
“Why do you let him get away with it then? Why do you let him kiss you like that?”
Shige walked back to the stove. “He knows I don’t like it. He’s an idiot like that; he knows I liked you and I’ve never liked him in the same way. I apologize on his behalf for what just happened. ”
The room became silent for some time and all that was heard were the sounds of the food cooking on the stove.
“It’s good,” Shige commented after tasting the sauce.
Ryo walked over to the stove and grabbed Shige’s wrist which was still holding the spoon.
“Eh-“was all he could mutter out before Ryo brought the spoon to his mouth and tasted what was left on it.
“It is good,” Ryo said and Shige took his hand away casually.
“I didn’t call you a freak.”
Ryo looked into Shige’s eyes and he ran his finger over Shige’s lips where there was the slightest hint of sauce. “I know.”
Shige took the hand away yet Ryo didn't look away.
“Could you get some plates? Second cabinet on the left.”
Ryo did as he was told and smiled when he looked back and saw Shige drop a spoon nervously.
---
After dinner, the two decided to go back out again for a walk to calm their full stomachs. Ryo seemed like he had somewhere he wanted to go and so Shige just followed behind obediently. They talked the entire time, as if they hadn’t spoken in decades. No matter how many words were exchanged, the topic of their relationship was never mentioned.
“Remember when I used to leave?” Ryo asked as they arrived at the top of a hill overlooking the city.
Shige was a bit caught up in the periphery and took longer than normal to respond. “You came here.”
“Yeah,” Ryo sat down and pulled Shige down with him. “Sit.”
“It may seem weird, but it seems like I have more control when I’m up here. It’s like a place that I don’t have to worry about who is around me or anything like that.”
You could see the lights from below coming from buildings, streetlights and cars. It was breathtaking. “That’s not weird. We all have times when we want to run away and be by ourselves.”
When Shige looked at Ryo, the latter was focused on a point in the distance. “What are we?”
Ryo glanced over at him. “Hmm?”
“Us.”
Ryo looked back at the same point and was silent for a few moments. “Two people who are continually separated but somehow always end up being drawn together again.”
Shige remembered Koyama’s words from earlier that night about not holding back, but that is hard to do when holding back is the only thing you can do to avoid drowning in your impulsiveness.
Shige reached over slowly and covered Ryo’s hand with his. Ryo’s hand twitched with surprise but he didn’t pull away.
“What are we?” Ryo repeated the question without looking away from the undefined point in the distance.
Shige hesitated a few moments before interlacing their fingers. It was the only answer that was needed.
“Two people living in a big city, in an even larger country, in a vast world.”
The message was hidden in the slight tightening of the hold and in the silence that resulted. It was obvious, even without words. Neither wanted to let go.
Certain things can never be placed into words. Language was created to satisfy communication, however putting your feelings into the right words was hardly a convenience.
End of Chapter 13a.
A/N: I split the chapter into "A" and "B" because I felt they were still connected yet needed to be separate. =)