Hanabi 35/?? - ReitaXRuki
Title: Hanabi
Chapter: 35/??
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: Why yes... Even without Hayama-san reminding him, Reita should've remembered that summer was coming closer by the minute. Not that he didn't like summer, but...
Comments: ... Someday you're gonna hate me for writing such a long fikku and not replying comments as I should... *slaps self* Awww... but I love you guys for reading this, keeping up with this, and even commenting. I really do...
FYI, Hanabi might last for another... 3-4 chapters? I estimate that much. But you know I've never been a decisive person. XDDDD
In the mean time, here's chapter 35.
Hanabi: 35
Nobody could blame him for feeling like he had his own personal doctor, and he thought everybody would just feel the same if they were placed in his shoes. A visit to Hayama-san's office became something like a daily routine now, since the first day Reita came back to school. She had insisted that Reita should come during lunch break so she could do a check up on him. Reita didn't understand why he needed to have his shoulder checked day after day, and he already had his weekly appointment with the doctor who had been taking care of him in the hospital; he had a feeling Kai-baa-chan had something to do with this, that man could be a worry wreck sometimes. He was even worse than Reita's own mother. "Would you mind checking on Reita? Monitor his progress?" was probably what Baa-chan had asked her. And most likely he had also added how careless Reita was as a boy, there was a big possibility he might just injure himself again without proper supervision. It was exaggerated, of course; Reita was NOT that careless.
But it wasn't that Reita disliked hanging around Hayama-san, on the contrary, he liked her very, very much. Other than the fact that she was very beautiful (and this fact only had been enough to turn almost half of the school population into an envious pack of hyenas glaring at Reita every time he passed by), she was also a great person to talk to. Most of the times Reita would be nervous and reluctant when he had to talk to someone much older, someone of the opposite sex, especially. But with Hayama-san it almost seemed like he was talking to a long time friend, someone he had known for quite some time. She was very helpful when they came into a conversation, starting new and easy topics whenever they had run out of one, and she always made Reita comfortable in her presence.
And she was generous too! Lately she had been carrying various sorts of treats to school, which made Ruki a happy-little-puppy who would go and tail behind Reita oh so willingly to the medical room every time lunch break's bell ringed. It seemed that now the word 'cafetaria' and 'medical room' held the same meaning for the two boys, and there Reita would bring his lunch boxes and the three would spend lunch time talking about many, many interesting things. Or Reita and Hayama-san would simply watch Ruki finish his lunch and afterward digging in to whatever treat Hayama-san brought that day -- as Reita said, Chibi had his adorable way of eating, even Hayama-san seemed to agree to that.
Today, after yet another fun lunch-eating, Hayama-san didn't smile and send off the boys back to their classes as she would usually do, instead she patted Reita's shoulder and asked, "Now, Reita-kun, do you have plans after school today?"
Reita furrowed his brows, answering, "No, do you need me to do something?"
Ruki was, at the moment, lost in his own pleasant little world, looking so very busy with the cookie-crumbles that were still left inside the plastic jar Hayama-san brought today. She had made chocolate chip cookies, and the blond loved chocolate more than anything, and he had practically snatched that jar to his own keep ever since Hayama-san pulled it out of her bag. Right now he was making sure he wouldn't leave one smallest bit left behind, uneaten.
"No, no," Hayama-san shook her head, her pony tail swayed following the movement, "I have to go to Shiroyama-san's inn."
Reita swore he saw Ruki's ears perk up at the mentioning of Aoi-jii-chan's name. "What's the occasion? And why do you want me to come along?" Reita asked, still staring at the blond discreetly from the corner of his eyes.
If there was one reason why Hayama-san needed to go to the inn, it was, most likely, to meet Baa-chan. Reita wasn't sure he was that interested to observe the two getting together and find out what they would talk about or do when they met up. He had never been that sort of a stalker, to start up with.
"Oh my... summer's coming, Reita-kun," Hayama-san lifted her finely-carved brows, "You do know what they're having right before summer, don't you?"
Reita frowned in an instant as the flash of idea came into his head. "Oh no... Don't tell me, the spring-cleaning??"
"Yes, it's the spring-cleaning and don't give me that face, Reita-kun! Even though I've never been involved in it before, I know it's a yearly tradition, isn't it?" Hayama-san said, "Everyone's going to be involved. Well, of course you don't have to do chores that you can't manage with one hand! But we do need all the help we can get, Reita-kun. You know it better than I do how crowded the inn gets at this time of the year."
A sigh left his throat as Reita gave a nod to agree to that. Last year he had had his share of hell too; he could never forget scrubbing the floors of the onsen from day to night. It would've been a lot easier to do and he could've finished it so much sooner if only they hadn't sent Ruki down to help him -- the blond had done NOTHING helpful, at all. All he had managed to do was to make Reita wet from head to toe and to laugh his small butt over the joke he had successfully done. Although Reita had had his revenge (there was no way he was going to let Ruki walk out of the onsen any drier than he was) and had been pretty much happy about it, at the end of the day, Reita still had to suffer when he fell asleep with a sore back and a fever threatening to burst.
The inn had workers, of course, but there weren't many of them since Jii-chan always thought his inn wasn't such a huge place that needed too much care. But indeed it did need a lot of care; considering just how old the building was, Reita thought it would be better if Jii-chan hired more professional people to clean the place up, maintaining the condition of the place and do all the jobs Reita disliked to do. Sometimes Reita couldn't help thinking that maybe he should just bump on one of the vases Jii-chan had and break it to pieces, just to let him know how reckless Reita really was and that it was better to keep Reita away from all of his precious belonging. But luckily for Jii-chan, Reita was never a cruel kid. And he hated to have Jii-chan being angry at him; he always loved the man, no matter all his strictness and perfectionist-tendencies and the fact that Jii-chan was his crush's crush. The latter reason was kept all to himself, of course.
Finally, Reita sighed. He looked up to Hayama-san, "And they're going to start it today? This afternoon?"
"I think so," she answered, "Oh! I've just remembered. Kai-kun told me something about a small summer party that is going to be held in the inn."
"A party?"
"I don't know the details, honestly, but I think it's just going to be something private. Just dinner with friends and families, I suppose."
Reita tilted his head aside, thinking about the possibilities Jii-chan was holding out a party in his inn without an extremely important reason. He had never been a generous person to start with, but then again... there was Reita's belated-birthday-party they had had at Jii-chan's expense. Well it was all Uruha's idea and Uruha was probably the one who had sweet-talked Jii-chan until he agreed. To think about this, Reita couldn't help guessing that this 'summer-party' had been somewhat Uruha's idea too.
The bell rang before Reita had the chance to discuss more about the spring-cleaning or the summer-party; Hayama-san informed him that she would be waiting with her car in front of the gate later after school, and Reita knew he couldn't argue no more. So after he nodded his agreement, he bid his momentary goodbye, and with Ruki clinging onto the back of his blazer, he walked toward the class.
~
As she had promised, Hayama-san was already waiting just across the school's front gate when Reita was released from class; her white sedan was parked right next to her. Reita looked right and left -- the best way to cross the street was to be very precautios, he had been told by his mother -- before he crossed the street. He wouldn't leave the school without Ruki of course, and he had made sure he picked up the blond on the way down to the school yard. The mentioned kid was now walking by Reita's side; disturbingly enough for Reita, Ruki had been very, very quiet during their short walk from class to the front gate. Reita didn't want to question, though, he had a feeling that he knew the answer already and that it was better off unspoken.
Hayama-san was smiling expectantly as the two boys came approaching her, replying in her friendly and casual way when Reita greeted her.
"Is it okay for both of you to be coming home late today?" she asked, looking at both Reita and Ruki.
Reita shrugged, "It's fine by me." He glanced at his blond companion, "You, Ruki?"
Ruki was slightly pouting his lips when Reita's gaze fell on him, but then he shrugged as well. "No problem. As long as I come home before 7."
No questions were asked as to why Ruki had to come home before 7 p.m. and even if Hayama-san might've been wondering about it, she didn't say anything. 7 p.m. was the time when Ruki's father came home from work, and anything would be better than Ruki showing up on his front gate any later than that. A sleep-over at Reita's place or even the park's bench would become his only choice in several circumstances.
Shortly afterward, the two boys hopped in Hayama-san's car right after her; Reita at the front passenger's seat and Ruki at the back, soon becoming busy with his own thoughts. The car roared softly as it moved over the street, one direction to head to: Jii-chan's inn.
~
Of course, nothing had really changed, at least not in a big scale, in the inn. But nevertheless, Reita still could notice some stuffs that had already been re-positioned, like the sofa and the table in the lobby, they had been dragged further back near the wooden counter at the corner before the hall. The lobby looked spacier now with the rearrangements been done, and it should be more comfortable for guests too. When the three of them arrived, Kai-baa-chan was standing behind the counter, seemed to be busy working with the big, thick book Reita recognized as the inn's log book. He lifted his face when he noticed their arrival, though, and he looked very, very shiny all of a sudden and Reita was sure it wasn't because he was happy receiving Reita or Ruki's visit.
"Hi, you guys," he greeted cheerfully, never missing one single chance to show off his dimple, "Nice to know we're getting a lot of help for this year's spring-cleaning."
There was some sort of a horrific sense in Baa-chan's way of saying that; somehow Reita wasn't so convinced anymore that his task in the spring-cleaning would be as light as Hayama-san had ensured him. Anything but scrubbing the onsen's floor, please...
"Haven't seen you around lately, Rukicchi," Baa-chan shutted the log-book closed and stepped out of the small, square counter box. Reita made sure to look elsewhere when Baa-chan leaned toward Hayama-san and received a brief kiss on his cheek from her.
"Yeah well..." Ruki's voice made Reita turn his sight to the blond, instantly noticing how uncomfortable he was being here, "I haven't had the chance to come around..."
"Oh I understand, Rukicchi," Baa-chan replied, ruffling his hand through Ruki's hair. The blond certainly didn't like the treatment as a stern pout came onto his face. "You've been baby-sitting Reita during his whole stay in the hospital," Baa-chan continued, seemed oblivious with Ruki's discontent, "And that's so sweet of you."
Ruki shrugged, giving a brief -- rather bashful -- glance toward Reita. "Who else would do it, but me?" he said.
"Yes, exactly," Baa-chan laughed, "You two are inseparable, you know that? I remember back then when you were sick, Rukicchi. Reita stuck around you like a mother hen keeping watch on his chick, he had constant surveillance on you for 24 - 7. He was as worried about you almost as much as you were worried about him back at the hospital. Sometimes it makes me think that if either of you gets sick, the other will follow suit. It's amazing, that relationship between you two..."
While Baa-chan shook his head in amazement, Reita was blushing.
"How come I'm a chick??" Ruki protested, though. Ah well... Some people just hated to be compared with anything yellow, furry, round-eyed and obnoxiously adorable.
"Oh... Do you want to be a pup, then? So Reita could be your bulldog-dad?"
"How come I'm a bulldog???" Now it was Reita's turn to protest.
Hayama-san's laughter that sounded almost like a bell tingling mixed with Baa-chan's light, crispier voice, both laughing at the boys' reaction. Reita and Ruki weren't laughing, though, the joke was on them this time.
"Hey, why are you guys laughing?" a voice coming from the hall made all four of them turn their sights at the new presence. At that very second, Reita felt as if his heart had taken a pause without an earlier warning, and it was now hanging uselessly inside his chest. While it felt like all blood streams had stopped inside him, suffocating him, Reita stood motionlessly, watching as a grinning Uruha entered the lobby, Aoi-jii-chan tailing close behind him.
=====
previous chapters and other titles ==> fanfic list
Chapter: 35/??
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: Why yes... Even without Hayama-san reminding him, Reita should've remembered that summer was coming closer by the minute. Not that he didn't like summer, but...
Comments: ... Someday you're gonna hate me for writing such a long fikku and not replying comments as I should... *slaps self* Awww... but I love you guys for reading this, keeping up with this, and even commenting. I really do...
FYI, Hanabi might last for another... 3-4 chapters? I estimate that much. But you know I've never been a decisive person. XDDDD
In the mean time, here's chapter 35.
Hanabi: 35
Nobody could blame him for feeling like he had his own personal doctor, and he thought everybody would just feel the same if they were placed in his shoes. A visit to Hayama-san's office became something like a daily routine now, since the first day Reita came back to school. She had insisted that Reita should come during lunch break so she could do a check up on him. Reita didn't understand why he needed to have his shoulder checked day after day, and he already had his weekly appointment with the doctor who had been taking care of him in the hospital; he had a feeling Kai-baa-chan had something to do with this, that man could be a worry wreck sometimes. He was even worse than Reita's own mother. "Would you mind checking on Reita? Monitor his progress?" was probably what Baa-chan had asked her. And most likely he had also added how careless Reita was as a boy, there was a big possibility he might just injure himself again without proper supervision. It was exaggerated, of course; Reita was NOT that careless.
But it wasn't that Reita disliked hanging around Hayama-san, on the contrary, he liked her very, very much. Other than the fact that she was very beautiful (and this fact only had been enough to turn almost half of the school population into an envious pack of hyenas glaring at Reita every time he passed by), she was also a great person to talk to. Most of the times Reita would be nervous and reluctant when he had to talk to someone much older, someone of the opposite sex, especially. But with Hayama-san it almost seemed like he was talking to a long time friend, someone he had known for quite some time. She was very helpful when they came into a conversation, starting new and easy topics whenever they had run out of one, and she always made Reita comfortable in her presence.
And she was generous too! Lately she had been carrying various sorts of treats to school, which made Ruki a happy-little-puppy who would go and tail behind Reita oh so willingly to the medical room every time lunch break's bell ringed. It seemed that now the word 'cafetaria' and 'medical room' held the same meaning for the two boys, and there Reita would bring his lunch boxes and the three would spend lunch time talking about many, many interesting things. Or Reita and Hayama-san would simply watch Ruki finish his lunch and afterward digging in to whatever treat Hayama-san brought that day -- as Reita said, Chibi had his adorable way of eating, even Hayama-san seemed to agree to that.
Today, after yet another fun lunch-eating, Hayama-san didn't smile and send off the boys back to their classes as she would usually do, instead she patted Reita's shoulder and asked, "Now, Reita-kun, do you have plans after school today?"
Reita furrowed his brows, answering, "No, do you need me to do something?"
Ruki was, at the moment, lost in his own pleasant little world, looking so very busy with the cookie-crumbles that were still left inside the plastic jar Hayama-san brought today. She had made chocolate chip cookies, and the blond loved chocolate more than anything, and he had practically snatched that jar to his own keep ever since Hayama-san pulled it out of her bag. Right now he was making sure he wouldn't leave one smallest bit left behind, uneaten.
"No, no," Hayama-san shook her head, her pony tail swayed following the movement, "I have to go to Shiroyama-san's inn."
Reita swore he saw Ruki's ears perk up at the mentioning of Aoi-jii-chan's name. "What's the occasion? And why do you want me to come along?" Reita asked, still staring at the blond discreetly from the corner of his eyes.
If there was one reason why Hayama-san needed to go to the inn, it was, most likely, to meet Baa-chan. Reita wasn't sure he was that interested to observe the two getting together and find out what they would talk about or do when they met up. He had never been that sort of a stalker, to start up with.
"Oh my... summer's coming, Reita-kun," Hayama-san lifted her finely-carved brows, "You do know what they're having right before summer, don't you?"
Reita frowned in an instant as the flash of idea came into his head. "Oh no... Don't tell me, the spring-cleaning??"
"Yes, it's the spring-cleaning and don't give me that face, Reita-kun! Even though I've never been involved in it before, I know it's a yearly tradition, isn't it?" Hayama-san said, "Everyone's going to be involved. Well, of course you don't have to do chores that you can't manage with one hand! But we do need all the help we can get, Reita-kun. You know it better than I do how crowded the inn gets at this time of the year."
A sigh left his throat as Reita gave a nod to agree to that. Last year he had had his share of hell too; he could never forget scrubbing the floors of the onsen from day to night. It would've been a lot easier to do and he could've finished it so much sooner if only they hadn't sent Ruki down to help him -- the blond had done NOTHING helpful, at all. All he had managed to do was to make Reita wet from head to toe and to laugh his small butt over the joke he had successfully done. Although Reita had had his revenge (there was no way he was going to let Ruki walk out of the onsen any drier than he was) and had been pretty much happy about it, at the end of the day, Reita still had to suffer when he fell asleep with a sore back and a fever threatening to burst.
The inn had workers, of course, but there weren't many of them since Jii-chan always thought his inn wasn't such a huge place that needed too much care. But indeed it did need a lot of care; considering just how old the building was, Reita thought it would be better if Jii-chan hired more professional people to clean the place up, maintaining the condition of the place and do all the jobs Reita disliked to do. Sometimes Reita couldn't help thinking that maybe he should just bump on one of the vases Jii-chan had and break it to pieces, just to let him know how reckless Reita really was and that it was better to keep Reita away from all of his precious belonging. But luckily for Jii-chan, Reita was never a cruel kid. And he hated to have Jii-chan being angry at him; he always loved the man, no matter all his strictness and perfectionist-tendencies and the fact that Jii-chan was his crush's crush. The latter reason was kept all to himself, of course.
Finally, Reita sighed. He looked up to Hayama-san, "And they're going to start it today? This afternoon?"
"I think so," she answered, "Oh! I've just remembered. Kai-kun told me something about a small summer party that is going to be held in the inn."
"A party?"
"I don't know the details, honestly, but I think it's just going to be something private. Just dinner with friends and families, I suppose."
Reita tilted his head aside, thinking about the possibilities Jii-chan was holding out a party in his inn without an extremely important reason. He had never been a generous person to start with, but then again... there was Reita's belated-birthday-party they had had at Jii-chan's expense. Well it was all Uruha's idea and Uruha was probably the one who had sweet-talked Jii-chan until he agreed. To think about this, Reita couldn't help guessing that this 'summer-party' had been somewhat Uruha's idea too.
The bell rang before Reita had the chance to discuss more about the spring-cleaning or the summer-party; Hayama-san informed him that she would be waiting with her car in front of the gate later after school, and Reita knew he couldn't argue no more. So after he nodded his agreement, he bid his momentary goodbye, and with Ruki clinging onto the back of his blazer, he walked toward the class.
~
As she had promised, Hayama-san was already waiting just across the school's front gate when Reita was released from class; her white sedan was parked right next to her. Reita looked right and left -- the best way to cross the street was to be very precautios, he had been told by his mother -- before he crossed the street. He wouldn't leave the school without Ruki of course, and he had made sure he picked up the blond on the way down to the school yard. The mentioned kid was now walking by Reita's side; disturbingly enough for Reita, Ruki had been very, very quiet during their short walk from class to the front gate. Reita didn't want to question, though, he had a feeling that he knew the answer already and that it was better off unspoken.
Hayama-san was smiling expectantly as the two boys came approaching her, replying in her friendly and casual way when Reita greeted her.
"Is it okay for both of you to be coming home late today?" she asked, looking at both Reita and Ruki.
Reita shrugged, "It's fine by me." He glanced at his blond companion, "You, Ruki?"
Ruki was slightly pouting his lips when Reita's gaze fell on him, but then he shrugged as well. "No problem. As long as I come home before 7."
No questions were asked as to why Ruki had to come home before 7 p.m. and even if Hayama-san might've been wondering about it, she didn't say anything. 7 p.m. was the time when Ruki's father came home from work, and anything would be better than Ruki showing up on his front gate any later than that. A sleep-over at Reita's place or even the park's bench would become his only choice in several circumstances.
Shortly afterward, the two boys hopped in Hayama-san's car right after her; Reita at the front passenger's seat and Ruki at the back, soon becoming busy with his own thoughts. The car roared softly as it moved over the street, one direction to head to: Jii-chan's inn.
~
Of course, nothing had really changed, at least not in a big scale, in the inn. But nevertheless, Reita still could notice some stuffs that had already been re-positioned, like the sofa and the table in the lobby, they had been dragged further back near the wooden counter at the corner before the hall. The lobby looked spacier now with the rearrangements been done, and it should be more comfortable for guests too. When the three of them arrived, Kai-baa-chan was standing behind the counter, seemed to be busy working with the big, thick book Reita recognized as the inn's log book. He lifted his face when he noticed their arrival, though, and he looked very, very shiny all of a sudden and Reita was sure it wasn't because he was happy receiving Reita or Ruki's visit.
"Hi, you guys," he greeted cheerfully, never missing one single chance to show off his dimple, "Nice to know we're getting a lot of help for this year's spring-cleaning."
There was some sort of a horrific sense in Baa-chan's way of saying that; somehow Reita wasn't so convinced anymore that his task in the spring-cleaning would be as light as Hayama-san had ensured him. Anything but scrubbing the onsen's floor, please...
"Haven't seen you around lately, Rukicchi," Baa-chan shutted the log-book closed and stepped out of the small, square counter box. Reita made sure to look elsewhere when Baa-chan leaned toward Hayama-san and received a brief kiss on his cheek from her.
"Yeah well..." Ruki's voice made Reita turn his sight to the blond, instantly noticing how uncomfortable he was being here, "I haven't had the chance to come around..."
"Oh I understand, Rukicchi," Baa-chan replied, ruffling his hand through Ruki's hair. The blond certainly didn't like the treatment as a stern pout came onto his face. "You've been baby-sitting Reita during his whole stay in the hospital," Baa-chan continued, seemed oblivious with Ruki's discontent, "And that's so sweet of you."
Ruki shrugged, giving a brief -- rather bashful -- glance toward Reita. "Who else would do it, but me?" he said.
"Yes, exactly," Baa-chan laughed, "You two are inseparable, you know that? I remember back then when you were sick, Rukicchi. Reita stuck around you like a mother hen keeping watch on his chick, he had constant surveillance on you for 24 - 7. He was as worried about you almost as much as you were worried about him back at the hospital. Sometimes it makes me think that if either of you gets sick, the other will follow suit. It's amazing, that relationship between you two..."
While Baa-chan shook his head in amazement, Reita was blushing.
"How come I'm a chick??" Ruki protested, though. Ah well... Some people just hated to be compared with anything yellow, furry, round-eyed and obnoxiously adorable.
"Oh... Do you want to be a pup, then? So Reita could be your bulldog-dad?"
"How come I'm a bulldog???" Now it was Reita's turn to protest.
Hayama-san's laughter that sounded almost like a bell tingling mixed with Baa-chan's light, crispier voice, both laughing at the boys' reaction. Reita and Ruki weren't laughing, though, the joke was on them this time.
"Hey, why are you guys laughing?" a voice coming from the hall made all four of them turn their sights at the new presence. At that very second, Reita felt as if his heart had taken a pause without an earlier warning, and it was now hanging uselessly inside his chest. While it felt like all blood streams had stopped inside him, suffocating him, Reita stood motionlessly, watching as a grinning Uruha entered the lobby, Aoi-jii-chan tailing close behind him.
=====
previous chapters and other titles ==> fanfic list