Hanabi 21/?? - ReitaXRuki

Aug 05, 2007 12:18

Title: Hanabi
Chapter: 21/??

Author: chuu ( akichuu)
Fandom: JRock, Gazette
Pairings: ReitaXRuki. Some other pairings in the background that you might find later on...
Overall Rating: PG
Genre: Drop dead fluffy.
Warnings: n/a. Un-beta-ed mistakes.
Summary: So this was what Nee-chan had been planning for Ruki... He only wondered whether Ruki had a share of his own idea in the designing of the costume, but could he just go and talk to Ruki about that? Would Ruki answer if he went and ask him?
Comments: Oh you lucky little pricks, you know I just don't have the heart to leave you with such cruelty. XD So, bbye cliffhanger, hello chapter 21! And we've got our precious Chibi-Ruki back~! \(>o<)/

Hanabi : 21

"Is he supposed to be... A cat?"

Reita had never known if there were a legend naming a cat-spirit in the history of ancient Japanese ghost-stories, but here he was, staring at Ruki which had somehow turned into a cat. Or something similar to a cat...

"That's a fox!!!!!" Nee-chan yelled irritatedly.

Reita looked at her, pondering whether his sister had lost her mind completely to say that that was a fox. "A... Fox?" A fox wouldn't look that... Cute.

Ruki was, at the moment, wearing a furry bright brown (almost orange) costume, a long thick tail hanging down from his back. Ruki was holding the end of the tail in his hands now, twirling it out of apparent nervousness. On Ruki's head, amongst the blonde, spiky streaks of hair, were two furry ears with the very same color as the costume, poking up. Reita could swear it upon his life, he had never seen a fox like that. Oh, maybe she meant a baby-fox...? With Ruki's glowing little pair of eyes, peering up from under his hair, he looked just like that.

A baby-fox. A chibi-kitsune. Okay, now Nee-chan's idea would make perfect sense.

"Yes, a fox-spirit!" Nee-chan nodded enthusiastically, "You've heard of it, right?" Yeah, Reita had heard of it, one of the most famous spirits in Japanese legends. But he was pretty certain that in those stories, a fox-spirit was described to be horrific, terrifying, ghastly, anything but... CUTE. Now if Ruki would just scrub his paw on his face and purr, he'd make the cutest spirit ever... Oh. And add up a small, round bell on his neck. Perfect, adorable pet-ghost... Reita knew it right then and there that Ruki was never going to scare a single person away tonight in his class' ghost-house. Oh, he would successfully make them squeal, but for the absolutely different reason...

"Now, now, shouldn't you both rush?" Reita's mother cut off the debate that was bound to happen between Nee-chan and Reita, and her warning made Reita look up to the clock. Oh yes... He had only fifteen more minutes to head to class! "Get your stuffs ready, Akira, and you too, Ruki-chan," his mother took command, but Reita halted, "Akira? Come on and hurry, or you'll both be late..."

"Does that mean..." Reita gazed to Ruki hesitantly, "I'm gonna have to give him a ride to school...?"

"Why off course!!" Nee-chan glared at Reita, "You want Ruki to walk with that costume all the way to school?? All Alone????"

"Ah... No, I mean..." Reita bit his lip nervously, "Does... Doesn't Ruki mind...?"

There was a while when Reita could actually hear ticking seconds in his ears, while everybody turned their eyes at Ruki, who seemed to have shrunk even smaller from his original size. Everybody waited for Ruki's answer. His face was blushing almost in the same color of his costume when he finally looked up at Reita. "I... I don't... Mind..." he stuttered, "As--as long as Reita... Doesn't mind..." he added up quickly.

"No, off course he doesn't mind..." His mother ushered Reita on his shoulders, urging him to hurry. Before she let go, Reita could feel a soft, assuring tap on his shoulder, which Reita thanked for quietly. Reita took a doubtful step towards Ruki, and halted right in front of him, feeling his heart beating quick just by looking at Ruki's face. "Let--Let's go..." he mumbled, and Ruki nodded slowly to reply.

---

Although he had only a couple more minutes to reach school on time, Reita didn't rush to pedal his bike. His journey to school felt longer than it normally was, especially when both him and the boy on his back were silent like this. It was unavoidably awkward, but Reita really didn't know what to say... He was questioning all alone in his heart, had Ruki forgiven him? Had he put that night's incident behind? Reita didn't have the courage to utter those questions out loud, although he knew he wouldn't be getting an answer by himself.

He was surprised out of his silent questioning when his bike bumped on a rock, suddenly realizing they had reached the rocky road right in front of the book store. "Ruki," he mumbled, "Hang on or you'll fall off..." He could feel Ruki's hands on his shoulder, that had been clinging loosely, now gripping tighter.

"Hey, Ruki..." Reita said, struggling to keep the bike steady through the rough street, "I'm... I'm sorry..." Stupid, it was only now had he realized that he hadn't apologized properly to Ruki yet. But then again, he hadn't even had the chance to come face to face and talk to Ruki. "Back then, that night... I forgot. I didn't remember that it was... My birthday... And I... I didn't know..." he stuttered, as if in rhyme with the bumps his bike kept making against the torn asphalt.

For a long while, Ruki didn't reply nor giving any signs that he had heard what Reita had just said, and Reita almost believed that Ruki was still so angry he wouldn't even talk to Reita. But then, just as the bike managed to survive the rocky road and they reached the smoother part of the street, Reita's breath halted when he felt Ruki's arms moved around his neck. He would've slipped from his control and fell if he hadn't grabbed a quick hold on himself, bracing his steer tightly, managing to regain the control of the bike, although his heart was beating so quick it felt like exploding in his chest. It went only worse when he felt Ruki's breath on his neck.

"That's okay," Ruki whispered, "I'm sorry too. You didn't understand about the plan."

At that moment, the weight he was supporting, the steering and the pedaling, suddenly felt so light and easy. Something warm flowed through his heart when he heard what Ruki just said, and for the first time after quite a while, he could smile. Reita smiled freely, feeling so relieved. "Friends again, then?" he murmured.

Reita's heart jumped again and he was so sure he would die young out of heart-attack, when Ruki kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Friends again," Ruki replied, and by the sound of his voice, Reita could bet that he was smiling too, "It sucks having a fight with you, Reita-chan..." Reita breathed long when he heard that, it had been a while since he had heard his name being called like that, hadn't it? "Ah right..." Ruki exclaimed suddenly as if he was surprised about something, Reita could feel him tightening his hold around Reita's neck, "Happy birthday, Reita-chan." And another kiss on his cheek, this one lasted longer than the one before.

By then, Reita knew he definitely had never felt so good. No birthday greetings he had ever received his whole life felt so special. His heart beat with quick pulses, something tickly fluttering inside his belly, his cheek where Ruki had just kissed felt warm and he knew without looking, it must've looked so red at the moment. He couldn't help but to keep his grin stretched out wide even until they had reached the school gate...

---

Someone had decided that the pond should be utilized more than just a decoration, now that the judgment time was over. It had started from one kid who tried to catch a goldfish with his hand, and then suddenly a lot of other kids participated, and now the pond had somehow turned into a fish-catching pond, and poor fishes, they should bear and try to survive from all the hands chasing them around... It looked pretty messy now, the dirt and grasses torn and scattering everywhere, the floor was wet, the kids' costumes were also wet, but nobody really cared (except the people who thought much about cleaning the whole place up afterwards).

Even Reita had to admit that they had fun during the cosplay session, for a while pretending that they had come from a different era, and when some girls had started performing cha-no-yu as the judges walked in to the class, Reita felt like he was suddenly transported to Aoi-Jii-chan's inn. Well, he had never seen Jii-chan performing cha-no-yu (and he wasn't so interested on finding out whether Jii-chan could really do it or not), but the scenery reminded him of the place very much. Maybe because of the ancient sort of a feeling that it had brought, it was almost the similar kind of feeling he had got when he visited the inn.

Maybe Kai-Baa-chan could do that... Cha-no-yu...

Reita was still pondering about Baa-chan and cha-no-yu when he felt a soft pat on his shoulder. He turned to see Higashi and Matsuda, both girls smiling at him. Higashi wouldn't be so scary, but he had been pretty much freaked of Matsuda, since she had been constantly smiling at him during the whole cosplay session. She had even spent more time walking up to Reita to comment about his hair, his head-band, his costume or many other things that she could think of, than the time she should've spent with the other girls, doing whatever they were required to do. "Great job, Suzuki-san," Higashi grinned.

"Ah... Thank--Thank you..." Reita looked carefully at Matsuda, who was still very keen on smiling at him, "But I didn't do a thing..." He thought that the girls should be complimenting on the other kids who had even bothered to pretend a sword battle when the judges walked in. Reita, in the mean time, had been doing nothing but sit around and... Getting bothered by Matsuda.

"I really really like your hair," Matsuda commented, and it was like... The fiftieth time of the day she had said that. "Your sister has done an awesome job."

"I'll make sure she hears that," Reita smiled, not really intending to keep his words. Uttering a compliment for his sister would be just like being forced to swallow down a whole bucket of spinach juice. Disgusting. Her head might explode if Reita told her about this.

"Do you have... Umm..." Matsuda mumbled, while both Higashi and Reita looked at her. Reita, specifically, was quite horrified looking at the glint she had in her eyes. "Do you have any plans tonight at the festival, Suzuki-kun? I mean, are you going with... Someone?"

"Matsuda!" Higashi squealed, and Reita didn't even need a mirror to check how red he had turned hearing the question. He had figured out how blunt Matsuda was, but this still shocked him.

But Matsuda's question reminded him of a promise he should keep, and peering up to the clock, it was about time to pick her up. "Ac--Actually... I do..." Reita answered Matsuda's question. Unexpectedly, both girls gasped in surprise. "Ah! Really?" Matsuda was louder than Higashi, off course, "Then... Then Suzuki-kun already has a... Girlfriend?"

"No, I don't have a girl--girlfriend," Reita answered quickly. This was Matsushima he was preferring, and as far as he could remember, there was nothing that special between him and Matsushima. Just friends.

Matsuda 'aaw'-ed, but she sure looked happy when she heard Reita's answer. "Okay, then, Suzuki-kun," Higashi spoke up, "We just wanted to thank you for participating today. Come on, Chie," Higashi pulled Matsuda's arm, but Matsuda declined with a complaint. "Come on! We've still got those tea-cups to clean up! Chie!" Higashi pulled again while Matsuda complained even louder, "Okay Suzuki-kun, you better go now, I don't think I can hold her anymore..."

Reita couldn't hold back to giggle, but he did what Higashi suggested him to do, walking off from the scene before Matsuda was released from Higashi's hold. God only knew what she would put Reita through if she was released...
He left the still noisy class, passing by the crowds and alleyways to head towards the parking lot. It occured in his thoughts to give Ruki a visit, wondering just how the ghost house looked like and how well Ruki was doing, playing the fox-spirit roll. He reached the first floor, but only gave that alley that headed towards Ruki's class a glance. It was still crowdy there... Weren't they done being judged yet?

Ah, there's Ruki... He was just walking out from the class, still fully wrapped in his furry-fox costume, looking like he was in a hurry. He held his long tail with one hand and he kept looking into his class nervously.

And then, Reita couldn't help but grin when a bunch of girls stopped Ruki's steps, wherever he intended to run away to, and Ruki's face paled immediately. They soon got busy squealing, pinching Ruki's cheeks, pleading to take pictures with Ruki. There were even more girls (and boys) surrounding him, each wanting to get their turn to--at least--poke their fingers on the cute chibi-fox. Poor thing, Reita thought. He must be feeling utterly annoyed right now. And Reita could even bet that Ruki was blaming Nee-chan for picking out the costume for him...

Too bad. He would really like to see just how upset Ruki was and how the hell was he going to escape from that crowd, but it was already too late and Reita was supposed to be on his way to pick up Matsushima...

The skies were already dark when he got to his bike and reached the front gate, and that's when he saw a pair of outstanding-looking gentlemen in yukata. Both men drew quite a lot attention towards themselves just by their appearance when they walked through the crowds, many eyes stared because they did look stunning and they seemed to glow. Some girls who gathered near the closest booth from the front gate squealed when both men passed them. Reita pondered for a few minutes of who the pair was, but then he could recognize the one with the dark hair. "Aoi-kun...?" he mumbled to himself, narrowing his eyes to try to see clearly. Yes. The one with the black hair was definitely Aoi-Jii-chan, Reita wouldn't be mistaken with his familiar stature that was shrouded with a dark-blue yukata tonight. But that other one, who was also wearing a yukata, his hair was light sandy-brown... That familiar grin he was stretching at Aoi-Jii-chan...

Is that... Uruha?

===

Hey hey!!! Look at what I've made:



That's how I thought about Rukicchi's costume.
I made that myself, so don't go posting elsewhere without AT LEAST crediting me, okay? XD
Yaaaayyy~ *me kidnaps Chibi-kitsune* Bbye~

~ and so, the fanfic list? Here.

graphic, fanfic

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