Wish We Were Older
Title: Wish We Were Older [Chapter 7]
Author: carcrashheart_8
Pairings: RyoDa, Ryo/OC, PiDa, KameDa [friendship], Akame
Rating: PG-13 [strong language and sexual references]
Summary: When his parents go overseas to work, Ueda is forced to go to an all-boys boarding school for his high school years. There, he meets Ryo Nishikido, a stubborn, strong-willed boy who ends up becoming his roommate. Ueda quickly falls for the other boy despite Ryo's rude words and bad attitude. Trouble starts up, however, and soon this seemingly one-sided love ends up becoming a love triangle and eventually a love square. Despite it all, Ueda must overcome these obstacles in order to maintain his spot at the elite high school.
Disclaimer: Title taken from "Wish We Were Older" by Metro Station
Chapter 7
Ueda thought for a second. All of a sudden, it came back to him. He knew where that name "Akanishi Jin" had been mentioned before.
“Tat-chan-you remember me telling you about a high school boy I was-um-seeing?”
“OH MY GAWD! YOU USED TO DATE AKANISHI-SENPAI?!” Koki screamed, jumping out of his chair. Yamapi looked around, not sure what was going on.
Ueda could see Junno’s facial expression turn to complete and utter shock.
The tall boy whispered, “Jin?”
“What?” Ueda said, looking at Kame, blankly.
“Kamenashi-are you friends with these guys?”
Kame nodded his head nervously. Jin scoffed, looking a bit disgusted at the fact that Kame associated himself with such people.
“These idiots are your friends?” Jin rephrased his question, attempting to show his distressed shock.
“Who are you calling an idiot-you jackass?” Yamapi growled, still feeling a bit angry with Ryo.
Jin turned and looked at Yamapi, before sauntering over to the younger man, unable to believe he would be disrespected by someone below him.
“And you are?” Jin faked interest in knowing who Yamapi was.
“The name’s Yamashita Tomohisa-who the hell are you?”
“Why you little-” Jin tried to go after Yamapi but Kame stopped him.
“Ah-I don’t think now’s the time to be fighting with each other. Things are tense enough as it is,” Kame smiled nervously, as he separated the boys.
“BECAUSE YOU HAD TO OPEN YOUR BIG MOUTH AND RUIN EVERYTHING!” Ueda screamed.
“Tat-chan-” Kame gasped.
“I swear, Kame, you’ve done nothing but cause trouble since yesterday-and pretty much ever since I’ve known you. First you butt in on my date with Yamapi and then you come here and make a mockery of me in front of Ryo-kun! Do you even realize what you did?!”
“I just thought-”
“Yeah, I don’t think you were thinking, Kame, to be honest. If you have nothing better to do, why don’t you do me a favor and get a life? And stay the hell out of mine. You and I are through-I don’t want to see you again.”
Ueda ran out of the cafeteria with Yamapi in tow.
“Tat-chan,” the taller boy called out.
Kame’s lip started to tremble and he looked on the verge of tears. Jin reached his hand out but took it away.
“So-um-you guys actually dated?” Koki repeated his question. Jin and Kame looked at him, and Koki got embarrassed, continuing to finish his breakfast.
“Tat-chan-wait!” Yamapi grabbed Ueda’s arm and pulled him back.
“He’s just-he’s supposed to be my friend. He always does these things to me, acting as if it’s not a big deal if he humiliates me in front of everyone! It’s so-frustrating-it’s like I’ve never had a real best friend. I just-”
Just then, Yamapi pulled Ueda close into a tight, warm embrace. Ueda was caught off guard but after a little bit, he started to loosen up and slowly wrapped his arms around Yamapi’s neck. He rested his head on Yamapi’s shoulder and felt his heart beat quicker.
“Just talk to him. It’s not going to help if you just stay mad like this, Ryo,” Toma was attempting to calm Ryo down by appealing to his sense of reason.
“Are you kidding me? That guy overreacted and poured fucking juice on my head! I’m done with talking to him!”
“You and I both know that you don’t mean that. Even if you stay angry, you know you’ll find a reason to talk to him-even if it’s to yell at him, endlessly.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ryo glared.
“It means, you’re gonna talk to him eventually-might as well get it over with,” Toma crossed his arms, attempting to prove that he was willing to defend himself, should Ryo attack.
Ryo hesitated.
But then he finally spoke, “FINE! But you better be behind me the entire time-I’m not staying alone with that freak.”
Toma nodded, “Says the person who lives with ‘that freak’.”
“What?!”
“Nothing-just move.”
The two made their way down the hallway and stopped all of a sudden.
“What is it, Ryo?”
Toma looked and saw Yamapi and Ueda in a tight embrace and his mouth hung open. He then looked at Ryo, whose scowl only worsened and was shocked when the younger man just walked away, never looking back.
“Damn,” was all Toma could say, deciding it was best to let Ryo figure things out for himself for the rest of the day.
Later that day, Ueda was sitting in his shared room with Ryo, alone and in deep thought. He had basically been banned from speaking to Ryo and he did the same to Kame, his oldest and closest friend. He didn’t want to stop seeing Kame but he felt like he had enough trouble on his own. Then there was the matter of Kame having once dated Jin that bugged him even more. It wasn’t like Kame lied to him, but he still felt angry at the other boy for having revealed it at the worst of times.
Still in thought, Ueda sat up in bed, realizing that he had almost forgotten a very special event that would take place next week. He looked at his calendar; it was already February and it was just a week before Valentine’s Day.
He hadn’t been together with Yamapi very long but he knew that he was somehow obligated to make Valentine’s Day special for the both of them.
“AHHHH!” he groaned as he threw a pillow against his face and fell back into his bed.
Ryo came into the room not too long after that and the two looked at each other awkwardly. Both thought that the other wouldn’t speak so they had no idea what to do when it came time to speak.
That’s when they both said something.
“I’m sorry.”
Ueda gasped as did Ryo; not only did they speak at the same time, but they also said the same thing to each other. Ueda felt even more shocked that Ryo would apologize to him, considering how stubborn he usually was.
“You’re sorry?”
“Yeah-I guess I am,” Ryo scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed, “I shouldn’t have been making fun of you like I did. I guess I can’t blame you for pouring the juice on me. Haha.”
Ueda smiled weakly but then frowned again, “Well, I shouldn’t have gotten so angry. I’m sorry for pouring the juice on you-Ryo-kun.”
Ryo blushed a bit, nodding his head and refusing to look at Ueda directly.
“So I guess we’re okay then-I’ll just-yeah, I’m gonna go ahead and shower or something. I’ll talk to you later.”
Ryo stumbled around the room a bit, looking for his towel and such before scurrying out of the room and down the hallway for the shower he had mentioned. Ueda giggled a bit but went right back to thinking about what he would do for Valentine’s Day.
It was a tradition for girls to give the boys they liked chocolate for Valentine’s Day, but Ueda wasn’t sure if this applied to him since he was a guy, after all, and since the “object of his affections” was a guy as well. Still, since it was Valentine’s Day and since he was in a relationship with Yamapi, he thought it would be appropriate to get the chocolates for his boyfriend. Of course, the other option was to make them himself but he thought that would’ve been too girly, even for someone in his position.
Ueda also decided that, as a nice gesture, he would get his friends chocolate as well, but ones intended for friends and not for one’s lover. He thought it would also be nice if he got some for his stubborn roommate, considering most of his friends would get them as well.
“He’ll definitely accept them-especially since it’s not like I’m confessing to him. They’re just chocolates, right?” Ueda asked himself as he stared in the mirror.
He smiled; it wouldn’t be too difficult or too awkward. He’d go to buy the chocolates the next day, alone so that he could surprise everyone.
That Sunday morning, Ueda had snuck out of his dorm, without letting any of his friends know where he was going. He took the train to a small area full of shops, including those that Ueda was sure sold the Valentine’s chocolates. He walked down the street, thinking he’d be the first one there but was surprised to see a mass of about 3 dozen high school girls standing outside a storefront that had a sign stating that there was a special Valentine’s special: 20% off all chocolates.
Ueda gulped as he noticed how some girls were more vicious than others. He kept his distance until the store opened at which point he ran and drove straight through the crowd in order to make it to the display with the various chocolates. Ueda was the only boy in the entire group but at that point, he didn’t care. He wasn’t a boy against dozens of girls; he was a soldier fighting against his own kind. He pushed his way through, making sure that he at least didn’t end up accidentally “touching” some of the girls in front of him, and managed to go through, virtually undetected.
In a blink of an eye, he grabbed several boxes of friendship chocolates and managed to make it out with one love chocolate. He paid for them with the allowance his parents had sent him and had been sending him every month since the start of the school year. As he carried his bag home, Ueda started fantasizing about how he would give Yamapi the chocolates.
“Happy Valentine’s Day-Pi-chan,” Ueda giggled, tilting his head and acting unusually girly.
“Chocolates? My favorite! Thank you-Tat-chan,” Pi would reply, smiling and grabbing one out of the box and placing it into his mouth.
“Mind if I have one?” Ueda giggled again, this time in a more disturbing manner.
Yamapi nodded, taking another chocolate and feeding it to Ueda.
“Mmmm! So good!” Ueda would squeal.
“I’m so glad we’re together, Tat-chan. I really like you,” Yamapi would say, as he took Ueda into his arms.
“I like you, too-Ryo-chan!”
Ueda came to; he ruined his own fantasy with a sudden switching of names. The thought sent chills down his spine as he worried about making the mistake in real life. As much as he liked Ryo, Ueda felt himself starting to develop feelings for Yamapi as well. He wasn’t sure if they were really romantic feelings, but he knew that he cared too much about the other boy to hurt him.
Ueda shook his head and continued to the train station where he took the train back home. He made it to the school gates early enough, before anyone else was walking around campus. He smiled to himself, feeling like he had just committed the perfect deed but his happiness dissipated when he saw something in the trashcan.
He saw a bag, the same bag that Kame had with him just the other day. Ueda put down his own bag on the ground and took out the larger bag. He opened it to see a small stuffed mouse with a note on it. He opened the note and read what was written.
“Tat-chan, congratulations on getting your first boyfriend. I hope you and Yamashita-kun are very happy together. That’s all I want, for you to be happy and to experience love for the first time. I love you, Tat-chan. I hope we’ll always be friends.” - Kame
Ueda felt his heart break as he read the words his now-former best friend had written. He looked at the mouse and clutched it tightly to his chest. Once again, he felt enormously guilty for causing harm to someone he really cared about; first, Yamapi, then Ryo, and now Kame, one of the people he cared for most in the world.
He knew he had to make peace with Kame if he wanted to maintain his friendship with the one person who knew him best. He put the mouse and the note in his bag of chocolates and ran into the dorm building. Throwing everything into his closet and shutting the door as gently as possible so as to not wake Ryo who was still sleeping, Ueda left the room and went to go find Kame. He ran down the hallway and made it almost the whole way down the stairs when he bumped into someone he did not expect to see.
“A-Akanishi-senpai-good morning.”
Jin glared at him, not responding with a polite greeting but instead said, “You tool.”
Ueda bit his tongue, fearing that if he retaliated, he would only make things worse for himself. But he realized he couldn’t not say anything.
“Akanishi-senpai-you and Kame used to date, right?”
Jin stopped; he slowly turned his head and looked at the younger man. He looked angry but then the anger died and he instead looked a bit mournful.
“Yeah, we did-it was last year, for about 6 months and-wait, why should I tell you anything? It’s not like you and Kamenashi are friends anymore! It’s none of your business.”
Jin attempted to leave Ueda again but stopped when Ueda asked him another question.
“Did you really like him-Kame, I mean?”
Jin put his hand on the railing before turning and putting the other one next to it.
“Yeah, I did-but we couldn’t be together. It would’ve been too difficult for both of us-that’s why he broke up with me.”
“WHAT?!”
“Huh?”
“KAME BROKE UP WITH YOU?! I-I-I would’ve thought that you would break up with him because you know, you’re-”
“I’m what?” Jin grunted.
“You’re-older?”
Jin scoffed, “You might think that I’m some asshole who probably breaks hearts and takes names, but I’m not. I really liked Kamenashi-its just a shame that he thought it wasn’t enough.”
Ueda couldn’t think of how to respond, so he said the first thing that came to mind, “I’m sorry.”
Jin looked at him like he was an idiot, “You’re sorry? Okay-yeah, whatever. I don’t know why I’m even talking to you. I’ve got better things to do, anyways. See you later.”
Ueda was about to finally let Jin leave when he asked one final question.
“Did he give you a reason-when he broke up with you?”
Jin chuckled and surprisingly, he answered, “Yeah-he told me there was someone more important to me than him. A guy he felt like he needed to protect and look after always-I guess I would’ve come in between them. All I really know is-whoever the guy was-he must’ve been pretty pathetic if he needed Kamenashi’s full attention.”
Jin didn’t say another word and just sighed a bit before walking down the stairs and out of Ueda’s sight. Ueda took a deep breath and sat on the stairwell; a guy more important to Kame than his own boyfriend. Ueda wasn’t sure of who it could be and it ate at him to think of it. So much so, that he completely forgot that he needed to make up with Kame at that moment. Instead, he went back to his room and rummaged through his closet to sort the chocolates.
In the bag, there were 5 boxes; 4 were friendship chocolates for Koki, Maru, Toma, and of course, Ryo. The remaining box was for Yamapi, Ueda’s boyfriend. Without thinking about it, Ueda put them back in the bag, not realizing that they were unmarked as to which was the friendship chocolate and which was the love chocolate. And they were also unmarked as to who was getting which one. He’d figure it out eventually when the day came and he was ready to hand out his chocolates.
The morning of Valentine’s, he placed a box on Ryo’s desk and didn’t bother to wait for the other boy to discover them. Instead, Ueda went out and looked for the remaining friends to hand over the chocolates to and of course, to find Yamapi as well.
“HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY, NAKAMARU-KUN AND TANAKA-KUN!”
Koki jumped and Maru nearly fell out of his chair. The pair turned and looked at a beaming Ueda who was holding two boxes of chocolates in his hand.
“OOH WOW! CHOCOLATES!” Koki squeaked, grabbing the box and opening it up.
“You got us chocolates? That’s so sweet, Ueda-kun,” Maru commented, sounding a bit choked up.
Ueda smiled, “It was the least I could do-you guys are two of my closest friends.”
Koki and Maru looked at each other and made faces to show their joy before they grabbed Ueda and hugged him tightly.
“Um-guys-you’re hurting me,” Ueda whispered, seeing as how he could barely breathe. The two had him practically in a headlock that seemed impossible to get out of.
“If it’s all the same to you-we want to call you by your first name,” Koki stated after letting go of Ueda.
“You can call us by our given names as well-mine is Yuichi and his is Koki-or you can call me Maru and him-well, Koki is really all anybody calls him,” Maru laughed before getting smacked in the head by Koki.
“Okay-Maru-and Koki,” Ueda smiled widely, “You can call me Tatsuya or-”
“TAT-CHAN!?” the pair squealed.
“Actually, Tatsuya is fine-so is Ueda-kun. It doesn’t matter to me,” Ueda laughed nervously.
“Okay, Tatsuya,” Koki giggled, as did Maru.
Ueda looked at his friends strangely before getting distracted by Toma, who had just walked into the cafeteria for breakfast. Ueda ran over to the other boy, smiling widely and handing him a box of chocolates from his bag.
“What’s this?”
Ueda’s smile started to disintegrate.
“It’s chocolates-it’s Valentine’s Day and we’re friends.”
Toma then smiled and took the box, and opened it, quickly stuffing a couple of pieces in his mouth.
“Hey, hey, it’s breakfast time-chocolate is not for breakfast,” Ueda chastised him.
“MWMEMDAMSDFMAD,” Toma mumbled as the pieces started to melt and combine in his mouth.
Ueda shook his head and left Toma to eat the chocolates in peace. He went back to finishing breakfast with Koki and Maru.
One thing that was unusual about this day was that Yamapi was nowhere to be found. Normally, Ueda would have trouble just getting away from the other boy but for some reason, today was different and it drove Ueda crazy. He wasn’t sure where Yamapi was and was dying to know the answer.
After homeroom, he snuck back to the dormitories and looked for Yamapi at his room. There was, obviously, no one there, since classes had already started. Ueda thought that maybe it wasn’t a big deal, and that he could see Yamapi at lunchtime.
Lunchtime came, and still no Yamapi; Ueda’s chocolates for his boyfriend were waiting to be given. Surprisingly, Ueda had not noticed that another person did not show up for lunch; Ryo had gone back to the dormitory in order to finish homework he had due next period. As he struggled to find the missing paper he was looking for, he looked at his desk and stopped when he saw the box Ueda had left on his desk. There was no tag, nor was there really any indication that they had been from Ueda but Ryo had guessed that they were. He looked at the box intently, opening it, only to notice something odd about it.
He looked at the shape of the chocolates in the center and noticed that they formed in a shape of a heart. Normally, this signified chocolates meant for a special someone and Ryo knew exactly what it meant for him specifically.
He thought to himself, that this meant that Ueda was most definitely trying to confess to him. But he was most likely too scared to do it face-to-face and instead, chose a more subtle and simpler way to do so. Ryo started smiling goofily at the thought that maybe his roommate actually had a crush on him.
Ryo wanted to do something, and let Ueda know that he was aware of the other boy’s feelings, but Ryo first had to finish his assignment in the 15 minutes he had left.
Meanwhile, Ueda was continuing his search for Yamapi. He finally decided to give up and go back to Yamapi’s homeroom and ask if he was there. When he got there, he found a surprised Koki who was eager to know why the other boy was there.
“Yamashita-kun didn’t show up today. I think he might be sick or something. Apparently, he didn’t let anyone know where he was going.”
Ueda felt a pang in his stomach; maybe Yamapi didn’t want to spend Valentine’s with him, even though it was what they were supposed to do as a couple. He started to feel like maybe Yamapi was not as into him as Ueda once believed he was. He became very distracted with thoughts of why Yamapi had not shown up to class.
Ryo tried to talk to Ueda a few times about the chocolates and the “confession” but never got a chance because Ueda was so preoccupied with Yamapi, it was somewhat frustrating for the stubborn, sharp-tongued boy. Ryo eventually decided that when the day was over and they had both returned to the shared room was when they would “talk”.
The school day came to an end and still Yamapi had not shown a trace of his existence anywhere in the school. Ueda felt dejected, still believing that he was the reason that Yamapi had practically disappeared off the face of the planet.
Luckily, while walking back to the dorm, Ueda was in for a surprise.
“HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY, TAT-CHAN!”
Ueda jumped, turning around to see Yamapi with a small box in his hands, eagerly awaiting to hand it to Ueda. The older man then took out the box he himself had to give Yamapi for his gift. Ueda opened his box first and saw a sparkling chain with a small pendant on it. The pendant was in the shape of a small heart and looked to be fairly expensive. Ueda gasped, holding his hand to his mouth as he attempted to speak.
“I-you-this-is this-for me?”
Yamapi nodded, “Yeah, I thought it would be a cool thing to give on Valentine’s Day. I hope you like it.”
“I-I do, I do! It’s just-this seems so expensive. Please tell me that you didn’t spend a lot of money on this-and that you weren’t out of class today just so you could give this to me.”
Yamapi chuckled, “No, you dummy. I was spending the day with my mom because she is sick and I wanted to take care of her until my dad got back home from work. I had to leave early to take the train and if my dad hadn’t gotten back early, I’d probably still be down there. I didn’t bother saying anything because-it’s kind of embarrassing.”
Ueda smiled ever so widely, before giving Yamapi a big hug. He knew there was a reason so many people loved Yamapi; he had a good heart.
“Now, do you have something for me?” Pi asked, as if he was unaware of the small box that Ueda was holding.
“OH! Right-here, this is for you,” Ueda grinned, handing the box over and watching as Yamapi opened it.
“Oh-um, friendship chocolates?” he replied, sounding disappointed.
Ueda stopped smiling and looked at the box. Sure enough, he had mistaken the friendship chocolates for the love chocolates and had given them to the wrong people.
“Oh gawd-no, no, no! I meant to give you the love chocolates but-I must’ve switched them with one of the others. I gave a box to Maru, Koki, Toma and-Ryo. But I guess I switched one of their friendship chocolates with your love chocolates. I’m so sorry, Pi. Please don’t hate me.”
Yamapi just laughed and replied with a simple, “Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad that you were thinking of me enough to decide on buying love chocolates.”
Ueda felt relieved, but a bit anxious at the same time. Relieved that Yamapi hadn’t gotten mad about the mix-up and instead been rather understanding, Ueda was anxious to know who exactly he had given the love chocolates to.
He returned back to the dorm room with an eager Ryo waiting for him.
“Ryo-kun.”
“I wanted to talk to you about something-I-”
“I have to tell you something to.”
“Okay,” Ryo nervously chuckled, “You go first.”
“Today, I was going to give Yamapi some chocolates-you know, ‘cause it’s Valentine’s Day. Turns out I gave the love chocolates to someone else and I switch the chocolates with the friendship chocolates. I had no idea who got it but I can only imagine what they must think about me. Haha, I hope no one got the wrong idea and thinks that I actually like them now.”
Ryo’s eagerness disappeared as he began to grow a bit tense, even angry a bit. He just looked at Ueda and barely said a word.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Let’s hope that whoever you switched with, doesn’t get the wrong idea.”
He walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him. Ueda wasn’t sure why exactly Ryo had gotten so mad all of a sudden, when he saw something that caught his eye. He walked over to Ryo’s desk and saw the chocolate box, opened and a small note from Ryo to Ueda, or rather, notes for what Ryo was to say to Ueda.
From what he could tell, Ueda had realized that not only had he given the wrong chocolates to Ryo, but also that Ryo had mistaken the chocolates as a confession.
“Dammit.”
END CHAPTER 7
A/N: This is a long series isn't it? @___@ Didn't intend to make it so long but I guess it's enjoyable for some people, so I'm happy ^^ Finished with school and now I have a bit more free time, so expect more frequent updates :D That's good, isn't it? Anyways, thanks to everyone who has read and commented on this series. It means a lot to me ♥
Author: carcrashheart_8
Pairings: RyoDa, Ryo/OC, PiDa, KameDa [friendship], Akame
Rating: PG-13 [strong language and sexual references]
Summary: When his parents go overseas to work, Ueda is forced to go to an all-boys boarding school for his high school years. There, he meets Ryo Nishikido, a stubborn, strong-willed boy who ends up becoming his roommate. Ueda quickly falls for the other boy despite Ryo's rude words and bad attitude. Trouble starts up, however, and soon this seemingly one-sided love ends up becoming a love triangle and eventually a love square. Despite it all, Ueda must overcome these obstacles in order to maintain his spot at the elite high school.
Disclaimer: Title taken from "Wish We Were Older" by Metro Station
Chapter 7
Ueda thought for a second. All of a sudden, it came back to him. He knew where that name "Akanishi Jin" had been mentioned before.
“Tat-chan-you remember me telling you about a high school boy I was-um-seeing?”
“OH MY GAWD! YOU USED TO DATE AKANISHI-SENPAI?!” Koki screamed, jumping out of his chair. Yamapi looked around, not sure what was going on.
Ueda could see Junno’s facial expression turn to complete and utter shock.
The tall boy whispered, “Jin?”
“What?” Ueda said, looking at Kame, blankly.
“Kamenashi-are you friends with these guys?”
Kame nodded his head nervously. Jin scoffed, looking a bit disgusted at the fact that Kame associated himself with such people.
“These idiots are your friends?” Jin rephrased his question, attempting to show his distressed shock.
“Who are you calling an idiot-you jackass?” Yamapi growled, still feeling a bit angry with Ryo.
Jin turned and looked at Yamapi, before sauntering over to the younger man, unable to believe he would be disrespected by someone below him.
“And you are?” Jin faked interest in knowing who Yamapi was.
“The name’s Yamashita Tomohisa-who the hell are you?”
“Why you little-” Jin tried to go after Yamapi but Kame stopped him.
“Ah-I don’t think now’s the time to be fighting with each other. Things are tense enough as it is,” Kame smiled nervously, as he separated the boys.
“BECAUSE YOU HAD TO OPEN YOUR BIG MOUTH AND RUIN EVERYTHING!” Ueda screamed.
“Tat-chan-” Kame gasped.
“I swear, Kame, you’ve done nothing but cause trouble since yesterday-and pretty much ever since I’ve known you. First you butt in on my date with Yamapi and then you come here and make a mockery of me in front of Ryo-kun! Do you even realize what you did?!”
“I just thought-”
“Yeah, I don’t think you were thinking, Kame, to be honest. If you have nothing better to do, why don’t you do me a favor and get a life? And stay the hell out of mine. You and I are through-I don’t want to see you again.”
Ueda ran out of the cafeteria with Yamapi in tow.
“Tat-chan,” the taller boy called out.
Kame’s lip started to tremble and he looked on the verge of tears. Jin reached his hand out but took it away.
“So-um-you guys actually dated?” Koki repeated his question. Jin and Kame looked at him, and Koki got embarrassed, continuing to finish his breakfast.
“Tat-chan-wait!” Yamapi grabbed Ueda’s arm and pulled him back.
“He’s just-he’s supposed to be my friend. He always does these things to me, acting as if it’s not a big deal if he humiliates me in front of everyone! It’s so-frustrating-it’s like I’ve never had a real best friend. I just-”
Just then, Yamapi pulled Ueda close into a tight, warm embrace. Ueda was caught off guard but after a little bit, he started to loosen up and slowly wrapped his arms around Yamapi’s neck. He rested his head on Yamapi’s shoulder and felt his heart beat quicker.
“Just talk to him. It’s not going to help if you just stay mad like this, Ryo,” Toma was attempting to calm Ryo down by appealing to his sense of reason.
“Are you kidding me? That guy overreacted and poured fucking juice on my head! I’m done with talking to him!”
“You and I both know that you don’t mean that. Even if you stay angry, you know you’ll find a reason to talk to him-even if it’s to yell at him, endlessly.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ryo glared.
“It means, you’re gonna talk to him eventually-might as well get it over with,” Toma crossed his arms, attempting to prove that he was willing to defend himself, should Ryo attack.
Ryo hesitated.
But then he finally spoke, “FINE! But you better be behind me the entire time-I’m not staying alone with that freak.”
Toma nodded, “Says the person who lives with ‘that freak’.”
“What?!”
“Nothing-just move.”
The two made their way down the hallway and stopped all of a sudden.
“What is it, Ryo?”
Toma looked and saw Yamapi and Ueda in a tight embrace and his mouth hung open. He then looked at Ryo, whose scowl only worsened and was shocked when the younger man just walked away, never looking back.
“Damn,” was all Toma could say, deciding it was best to let Ryo figure things out for himself for the rest of the day.
Later that day, Ueda was sitting in his shared room with Ryo, alone and in deep thought. He had basically been banned from speaking to Ryo and he did the same to Kame, his oldest and closest friend. He didn’t want to stop seeing Kame but he felt like he had enough trouble on his own. Then there was the matter of Kame having once dated Jin that bugged him even more. It wasn’t like Kame lied to him, but he still felt angry at the other boy for having revealed it at the worst of times.
Still in thought, Ueda sat up in bed, realizing that he had almost forgotten a very special event that would take place next week. He looked at his calendar; it was already February and it was just a week before Valentine’s Day.
He hadn’t been together with Yamapi very long but he knew that he was somehow obligated to make Valentine’s Day special for the both of them.
“AHHHH!” he groaned as he threw a pillow against his face and fell back into his bed.
Ryo came into the room not too long after that and the two looked at each other awkwardly. Both thought that the other wouldn’t speak so they had no idea what to do when it came time to speak.
That’s when they both said something.
“I’m sorry.”
Ueda gasped as did Ryo; not only did they speak at the same time, but they also said the same thing to each other. Ueda felt even more shocked that Ryo would apologize to him, considering how stubborn he usually was.
“You’re sorry?”
“Yeah-I guess I am,” Ryo scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed, “I shouldn’t have been making fun of you like I did. I guess I can’t blame you for pouring the juice on me. Haha.”
Ueda smiled weakly but then frowned again, “Well, I shouldn’t have gotten so angry. I’m sorry for pouring the juice on you-Ryo-kun.”
Ryo blushed a bit, nodding his head and refusing to look at Ueda directly.
“So I guess we’re okay then-I’ll just-yeah, I’m gonna go ahead and shower or something. I’ll talk to you later.”
Ryo stumbled around the room a bit, looking for his towel and such before scurrying out of the room and down the hallway for the shower he had mentioned. Ueda giggled a bit but went right back to thinking about what he would do for Valentine’s Day.
It was a tradition for girls to give the boys they liked chocolate for Valentine’s Day, but Ueda wasn’t sure if this applied to him since he was a guy, after all, and since the “object of his affections” was a guy as well. Still, since it was Valentine’s Day and since he was in a relationship with Yamapi, he thought it would be appropriate to get the chocolates for his boyfriend. Of course, the other option was to make them himself but he thought that would’ve been too girly, even for someone in his position.
Ueda also decided that, as a nice gesture, he would get his friends chocolate as well, but ones intended for friends and not for one’s lover. He thought it would also be nice if he got some for his stubborn roommate, considering most of his friends would get them as well.
“He’ll definitely accept them-especially since it’s not like I’m confessing to him. They’re just chocolates, right?” Ueda asked himself as he stared in the mirror.
He smiled; it wouldn’t be too difficult or too awkward. He’d go to buy the chocolates the next day, alone so that he could surprise everyone.
That Sunday morning, Ueda had snuck out of his dorm, without letting any of his friends know where he was going. He took the train to a small area full of shops, including those that Ueda was sure sold the Valentine’s chocolates. He walked down the street, thinking he’d be the first one there but was surprised to see a mass of about 3 dozen high school girls standing outside a storefront that had a sign stating that there was a special Valentine’s special: 20% off all chocolates.
Ueda gulped as he noticed how some girls were more vicious than others. He kept his distance until the store opened at which point he ran and drove straight through the crowd in order to make it to the display with the various chocolates. Ueda was the only boy in the entire group but at that point, he didn’t care. He wasn’t a boy against dozens of girls; he was a soldier fighting against his own kind. He pushed his way through, making sure that he at least didn’t end up accidentally “touching” some of the girls in front of him, and managed to go through, virtually undetected.
In a blink of an eye, he grabbed several boxes of friendship chocolates and managed to make it out with one love chocolate. He paid for them with the allowance his parents had sent him and had been sending him every month since the start of the school year. As he carried his bag home, Ueda started fantasizing about how he would give Yamapi the chocolates.
“Happy Valentine’s Day-Pi-chan,” Ueda giggled, tilting his head and acting unusually girly.
“Chocolates? My favorite! Thank you-Tat-chan,” Pi would reply, smiling and grabbing one out of the box and placing it into his mouth.
“Mind if I have one?” Ueda giggled again, this time in a more disturbing manner.
Yamapi nodded, taking another chocolate and feeding it to Ueda.
“Mmmm! So good!” Ueda would squeal.
“I’m so glad we’re together, Tat-chan. I really like you,” Yamapi would say, as he took Ueda into his arms.
“I like you, too-Ryo-chan!”
Ueda came to; he ruined his own fantasy with a sudden switching of names. The thought sent chills down his spine as he worried about making the mistake in real life. As much as he liked Ryo, Ueda felt himself starting to develop feelings for Yamapi as well. He wasn’t sure if they were really romantic feelings, but he knew that he cared too much about the other boy to hurt him.
Ueda shook his head and continued to the train station where he took the train back home. He made it to the school gates early enough, before anyone else was walking around campus. He smiled to himself, feeling like he had just committed the perfect deed but his happiness dissipated when he saw something in the trashcan.
He saw a bag, the same bag that Kame had with him just the other day. Ueda put down his own bag on the ground and took out the larger bag. He opened it to see a small stuffed mouse with a note on it. He opened the note and read what was written.
“Tat-chan, congratulations on getting your first boyfriend. I hope you and Yamashita-kun are very happy together. That’s all I want, for you to be happy and to experience love for the first time. I love you, Tat-chan. I hope we’ll always be friends.” - Kame
Ueda felt his heart break as he read the words his now-former best friend had written. He looked at the mouse and clutched it tightly to his chest. Once again, he felt enormously guilty for causing harm to someone he really cared about; first, Yamapi, then Ryo, and now Kame, one of the people he cared for most in the world.
He knew he had to make peace with Kame if he wanted to maintain his friendship with the one person who knew him best. He put the mouse and the note in his bag of chocolates and ran into the dorm building. Throwing everything into his closet and shutting the door as gently as possible so as to not wake Ryo who was still sleeping, Ueda left the room and went to go find Kame. He ran down the hallway and made it almost the whole way down the stairs when he bumped into someone he did not expect to see.
“A-Akanishi-senpai-good morning.”
Jin glared at him, not responding with a polite greeting but instead said, “You tool.”
Ueda bit his tongue, fearing that if he retaliated, he would only make things worse for himself. But he realized he couldn’t not say anything.
“Akanishi-senpai-you and Kame used to date, right?”
Jin stopped; he slowly turned his head and looked at the younger man. He looked angry but then the anger died and he instead looked a bit mournful.
“Yeah, we did-it was last year, for about 6 months and-wait, why should I tell you anything? It’s not like you and Kamenashi are friends anymore! It’s none of your business.”
Jin attempted to leave Ueda again but stopped when Ueda asked him another question.
“Did you really like him-Kame, I mean?”
Jin put his hand on the railing before turning and putting the other one next to it.
“Yeah, I did-but we couldn’t be together. It would’ve been too difficult for both of us-that’s why he broke up with me.”
“WHAT?!”
“Huh?”
“KAME BROKE UP WITH YOU?! I-I-I would’ve thought that you would break up with him because you know, you’re-”
“I’m what?” Jin grunted.
“You’re-older?”
Jin scoffed, “You might think that I’m some asshole who probably breaks hearts and takes names, but I’m not. I really liked Kamenashi-its just a shame that he thought it wasn’t enough.”
Ueda couldn’t think of how to respond, so he said the first thing that came to mind, “I’m sorry.”
Jin looked at him like he was an idiot, “You’re sorry? Okay-yeah, whatever. I don’t know why I’m even talking to you. I’ve got better things to do, anyways. See you later.”
Ueda was about to finally let Jin leave when he asked one final question.
“Did he give you a reason-when he broke up with you?”
Jin chuckled and surprisingly, he answered, “Yeah-he told me there was someone more important to me than him. A guy he felt like he needed to protect and look after always-I guess I would’ve come in between them. All I really know is-whoever the guy was-he must’ve been pretty pathetic if he needed Kamenashi’s full attention.”
Jin didn’t say another word and just sighed a bit before walking down the stairs and out of Ueda’s sight. Ueda took a deep breath and sat on the stairwell; a guy more important to Kame than his own boyfriend. Ueda wasn’t sure of who it could be and it ate at him to think of it. So much so, that he completely forgot that he needed to make up with Kame at that moment. Instead, he went back to his room and rummaged through his closet to sort the chocolates.
In the bag, there were 5 boxes; 4 were friendship chocolates for Koki, Maru, Toma, and of course, Ryo. The remaining box was for Yamapi, Ueda’s boyfriend. Without thinking about it, Ueda put them back in the bag, not realizing that they were unmarked as to which was the friendship chocolate and which was the love chocolate. And they were also unmarked as to who was getting which one. He’d figure it out eventually when the day came and he was ready to hand out his chocolates.
The morning of Valentine’s, he placed a box on Ryo’s desk and didn’t bother to wait for the other boy to discover them. Instead, Ueda went out and looked for the remaining friends to hand over the chocolates to and of course, to find Yamapi as well.
“HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY, NAKAMARU-KUN AND TANAKA-KUN!”
Koki jumped and Maru nearly fell out of his chair. The pair turned and looked at a beaming Ueda who was holding two boxes of chocolates in his hand.
“OOH WOW! CHOCOLATES!” Koki squeaked, grabbing the box and opening it up.
“You got us chocolates? That’s so sweet, Ueda-kun,” Maru commented, sounding a bit choked up.
Ueda smiled, “It was the least I could do-you guys are two of my closest friends.”
Koki and Maru looked at each other and made faces to show their joy before they grabbed Ueda and hugged him tightly.
“Um-guys-you’re hurting me,” Ueda whispered, seeing as how he could barely breathe. The two had him practically in a headlock that seemed impossible to get out of.
“If it’s all the same to you-we want to call you by your first name,” Koki stated after letting go of Ueda.
“You can call us by our given names as well-mine is Yuichi and his is Koki-or you can call me Maru and him-well, Koki is really all anybody calls him,” Maru laughed before getting smacked in the head by Koki.
“Okay-Maru-and Koki,” Ueda smiled widely, “You can call me Tatsuya or-”
“TAT-CHAN!?” the pair squealed.
“Actually, Tatsuya is fine-so is Ueda-kun. It doesn’t matter to me,” Ueda laughed nervously.
“Okay, Tatsuya,” Koki giggled, as did Maru.
Ueda looked at his friends strangely before getting distracted by Toma, who had just walked into the cafeteria for breakfast. Ueda ran over to the other boy, smiling widely and handing him a box of chocolates from his bag.
“What’s this?”
Ueda’s smile started to disintegrate.
“It’s chocolates-it’s Valentine’s Day and we’re friends.”
Toma then smiled and took the box, and opened it, quickly stuffing a couple of pieces in his mouth.
“Hey, hey, it’s breakfast time-chocolate is not for breakfast,” Ueda chastised him.
“MWMEMDAMSDFMAD,” Toma mumbled as the pieces started to melt and combine in his mouth.
Ueda shook his head and left Toma to eat the chocolates in peace. He went back to finishing breakfast with Koki and Maru.
One thing that was unusual about this day was that Yamapi was nowhere to be found. Normally, Ueda would have trouble just getting away from the other boy but for some reason, today was different and it drove Ueda crazy. He wasn’t sure where Yamapi was and was dying to know the answer.
After homeroom, he snuck back to the dormitories and looked for Yamapi at his room. There was, obviously, no one there, since classes had already started. Ueda thought that maybe it wasn’t a big deal, and that he could see Yamapi at lunchtime.
Lunchtime came, and still no Yamapi; Ueda’s chocolates for his boyfriend were waiting to be given. Surprisingly, Ueda had not noticed that another person did not show up for lunch; Ryo had gone back to the dormitory in order to finish homework he had due next period. As he struggled to find the missing paper he was looking for, he looked at his desk and stopped when he saw the box Ueda had left on his desk. There was no tag, nor was there really any indication that they had been from Ueda but Ryo had guessed that they were. He looked at the box intently, opening it, only to notice something odd about it.
He looked at the shape of the chocolates in the center and noticed that they formed in a shape of a heart. Normally, this signified chocolates meant for a special someone and Ryo knew exactly what it meant for him specifically.
He thought to himself, that this meant that Ueda was most definitely trying to confess to him. But he was most likely too scared to do it face-to-face and instead, chose a more subtle and simpler way to do so. Ryo started smiling goofily at the thought that maybe his roommate actually had a crush on him.
Ryo wanted to do something, and let Ueda know that he was aware of the other boy’s feelings, but Ryo first had to finish his assignment in the 15 minutes he had left.
Meanwhile, Ueda was continuing his search for Yamapi. He finally decided to give up and go back to Yamapi’s homeroom and ask if he was there. When he got there, he found a surprised Koki who was eager to know why the other boy was there.
“Yamashita-kun didn’t show up today. I think he might be sick or something. Apparently, he didn’t let anyone know where he was going.”
Ueda felt a pang in his stomach; maybe Yamapi didn’t want to spend Valentine’s with him, even though it was what they were supposed to do as a couple. He started to feel like maybe Yamapi was not as into him as Ueda once believed he was. He became very distracted with thoughts of why Yamapi had not shown up to class.
Ryo tried to talk to Ueda a few times about the chocolates and the “confession” but never got a chance because Ueda was so preoccupied with Yamapi, it was somewhat frustrating for the stubborn, sharp-tongued boy. Ryo eventually decided that when the day was over and they had both returned to the shared room was when they would “talk”.
The school day came to an end and still Yamapi had not shown a trace of his existence anywhere in the school. Ueda felt dejected, still believing that he was the reason that Yamapi had practically disappeared off the face of the planet.
Luckily, while walking back to the dorm, Ueda was in for a surprise.
“HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY, TAT-CHAN!”
Ueda jumped, turning around to see Yamapi with a small box in his hands, eagerly awaiting to hand it to Ueda. The older man then took out the box he himself had to give Yamapi for his gift. Ueda opened his box first and saw a sparkling chain with a small pendant on it. The pendant was in the shape of a small heart and looked to be fairly expensive. Ueda gasped, holding his hand to his mouth as he attempted to speak.
“I-you-this-is this-for me?”
Yamapi nodded, “Yeah, I thought it would be a cool thing to give on Valentine’s Day. I hope you like it.”
“I-I do, I do! It’s just-this seems so expensive. Please tell me that you didn’t spend a lot of money on this-and that you weren’t out of class today just so you could give this to me.”
Yamapi chuckled, “No, you dummy. I was spending the day with my mom because she is sick and I wanted to take care of her until my dad got back home from work. I had to leave early to take the train and if my dad hadn’t gotten back early, I’d probably still be down there. I didn’t bother saying anything because-it’s kind of embarrassing.”
Ueda smiled ever so widely, before giving Yamapi a big hug. He knew there was a reason so many people loved Yamapi; he had a good heart.
“Now, do you have something for me?” Pi asked, as if he was unaware of the small box that Ueda was holding.
“OH! Right-here, this is for you,” Ueda grinned, handing the box over and watching as Yamapi opened it.
“Oh-um, friendship chocolates?” he replied, sounding disappointed.
Ueda stopped smiling and looked at the box. Sure enough, he had mistaken the friendship chocolates for the love chocolates and had given them to the wrong people.
“Oh gawd-no, no, no! I meant to give you the love chocolates but-I must’ve switched them with one of the others. I gave a box to Maru, Koki, Toma and-Ryo. But I guess I switched one of their friendship chocolates with your love chocolates. I’m so sorry, Pi. Please don’t hate me.”
Yamapi just laughed and replied with a simple, “Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad that you were thinking of me enough to decide on buying love chocolates.”
Ueda felt relieved, but a bit anxious at the same time. Relieved that Yamapi hadn’t gotten mad about the mix-up and instead been rather understanding, Ueda was anxious to know who exactly he had given the love chocolates to.
He returned back to the dorm room with an eager Ryo waiting for him.
“Ryo-kun.”
“I wanted to talk to you about something-I-”
“I have to tell you something to.”
“Okay,” Ryo nervously chuckled, “You go first.”
“Today, I was going to give Yamapi some chocolates-you know, ‘cause it’s Valentine’s Day. Turns out I gave the love chocolates to someone else and I switch the chocolates with the friendship chocolates. I had no idea who got it but I can only imagine what they must think about me. Haha, I hope no one got the wrong idea and thinks that I actually like them now.”
Ryo’s eagerness disappeared as he began to grow a bit tense, even angry a bit. He just looked at Ueda and barely said a word.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Let’s hope that whoever you switched with, doesn’t get the wrong idea.”
He walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him. Ueda wasn’t sure why exactly Ryo had gotten so mad all of a sudden, when he saw something that caught his eye. He walked over to Ryo’s desk and saw the chocolate box, opened and a small note from Ryo to Ueda, or rather, notes for what Ryo was to say to Ueda.
From what he could tell, Ueda had realized that not only had he given the wrong chocolates to Ryo, but also that Ryo had mistaken the chocolates as a confession.
“Dammit.”
END CHAPTER 7
A/N: This is a long series isn't it? @___@ Didn't intend to make it so long but I guess it's enjoyable for some people, so I'm happy ^^ Finished with school and now I have a bit more free time, so expect more frequent updates :D That's good, isn't it? Anyways, thanks to everyone who has read and commented on this series. It means a lot to me ♥