[one-shot] Realization
Title: Realization [the sequel to Will Return To Sender ]
Pairing: Ryoda and a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny hint of Akame at the end.
Genre: Fluff I guess and maybe you can also put it under the label romance as well as friendship.
Rating: G/PG
Summary: After the hug that night, Ryo's gotten even more confused over what it is Tatsuya have done to his mental state.
Word count: 4077
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot…
A/N: Finished this off late last night, couldn't go to bed before I had managed to end it.
Please enjoy and leave a line or two after finishing it if you feel like it (^_^)V
After that late evening by the elevator, Ryo had not got the chance to see Ueda again for a couple of weeks. It had bothered him slightly but he hadn't been able to do something about it since he had spent those weeks in Osaka with Kanjani8. He didn't know why it bothered him or why he kept on playing that scene over and over in his head or even why he felt all giddy by think about it all. He had even started to think about Ueda even more than before if that was even possible and that was bad, really bad. He had started to get a bit unfocused on work again, but luckily it seemed like it went unnoticed by his group.
The day he was back in Tokyo, and the moment he walked into the work building to meet up with News again, he couldn't help himself from feeling nervous. What if he met Ueda? How should he act? We're they friends now? Why did the thought of being friends with Ueda not feel quite right but at the same time not? As the thoughts ran through his mind he quickly made his way to News room and didn't take notice of any the senpais and juniors greeting him.
He let out a big sigh both of relief and disappointment that he hadn't ran into Ueda when he walked into the room and sat down on the couch next to Koyama. The others were already there gave him a bunch of cheerful greetings; but Ryo didn't take notice of any of them as he was still lost in his own thoughts. How could one be both relieved and disappointed over the fact of not meeting someone? That made no sense, wasn't those to feelings opposites?
"Hey Ryo are you with us?" Yamapi said kneeling down in front of Ryo and waving his hand in front of Ryo's face to get his attention.
"Huh?" Ryo said confused getting out from his deep thoughts and facing his curious band members.
"What were you thinking of?" Tegoshi said kneeling down next to the couch and leaning his arms on the armrest.
"Nothing special" Ryo said getting very self-conscious and tried to avoid everyone's curious eyes. "I'm just tired"
"Ah" Masuda suddenly shouted and started to look through his bag viciously. "Where is it? I know I placed it in here"
Everyone's eyes, including Ryo's, were now directed at Masuda as he looked through his bag.
"Aha!" he said in triumph as he pulled out an envelope and turned around to face Ryo. "Yuichi told me to give you this Nishikido-kun"
"Huh?" Ryo asked confused at the white envelope that Masuda was handing him. "Why?"
"He told me something about Ueda-kun wanting you to have this" Masuda pondered as Ryo slowly took the envelope from him.
"Why would Ueda-kun want to give anything to you?" Shige asked eyeing Ryo with suspicion as the older man slowly opened the envelope with a small smile on his lips. Ryo didn't answer him instead he just stared at the paper he had fished out from the envelope. He blinked a few times at in confusion. The letter only had a line of numbers written on it. Why would Ueda want to give him this? Was this some kind of code language? He frowned as he tried to figure out how to understand the hidden message when it hit him. It was a phone number; it was Ueda's phone number. How could he not have understood that right away? He hit himself mentally in the head as a big smiled spread over his lips and he quickly got up to get his bag from where he had left it when he entered the room. His band members looked at him both confused and amused.
"What did the letter say?" Yamapi asked as he sat down on the seat where Ryo had been sitting just seconds ago.
"Nothing really" Ryo said with a smile, and he actually didn't lie. The letter hadn't really said anything after all. He found his phone and dashed out from the room to get some privacy.
When he had closed himself into the privacy of a bathroom stall he dialed the number. His hands were shaking slightly with nervousness and anticipations. Would Ueda pick up? Or what if this wasn't Ueda's number? No, Ueda would never be the one to trick him, right? Maybe in the past he would've but not now.
He pressed the call button and put the phone to his ear hearing his call go though. One signal. Two signals. Three signals.
"Hello, it's Ueda Tatsuya" Ryo froze for a second when he heard Ueda's voice but soon he got himself together.
"Hello, it is Nishikido Ryo" he said trying his best to hide exactly how nervous and happy he was to be talking to the other man. But on the inside he felt like he was dancing the conga.
"Ah, Nishikido-kun" Ueda said, sounding happy to hear from him and the dance inside of Ryo got wilder. "So you got my message? You must be back in Tokyo then, right?"
"Uhm, yeah I got back late last night" Ryo answered a big smiled playing on his lips. Was it normal for a person to smile this wide when talking to someone they barely knew? "Ueda-kun, do you mind if I ask you why you gave me your number?"
"Oh, no, not at all" Ueda replied. "I just thought you should have it in case you would be in a need of a hug. Or if you're in need for someone to listen to you or take drink with or whatever you feel like"
"Oh, ooh…" Ryo had no idea how he should react to that. Had Ueda just offered himself to be Ryo's personal teddy bear? "Thanks…?"
"You welcome" Ueda said. "But Nishikido-kun, I need to go now. Call me if you ever need me in some way, okay?"
"Okay, bye" Ryo said still a bit stunned over what Ueda had said over the phone. He stood with the phone to his ear for a few minutes just staring into space before he realized that Ueda had hung up. He shook his head to shake some sense back into it before he got out from the stall and made his way back to News.
For the rest of the day Ryo couldn't stop thinking of the phone call. He couldn't believe what had been said and that almost made him want to call Ueda just to make sure. His group members obviously noticed that he was back to his unfocused self that had been present a few weeks ago but no one dared to ask him about it. They just let him be and since he had been back to, well almost back to normal after a few days the last time they figured it would be the same this time.
At the end of the day Ryo found himself being the last one to leave again as he packed his things. His eyes fell on his phone and before he knew it he had it pressed to his ear; the signals ringing gping through.
"Ueda Tatsuya here"
"Hi, it's Nishikido again" Ryo said feeling a bit stupid for calling like this. "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you"
"No, not at all" Ueda said and Ryo could almost imagine that he was smiling. "So why are you calling me?"
"Ah…" Ryo said not sure what to say. Why did he call? Why had he felt like he needed to call Tatsuya? "I… I'm just… wondering…"
"Are you nervous about something?" Ueda asked cutting of Ryo's attempt to build up a sentence.
"No, I'm not" Ryo snapped at what he saw as an insult and it made his mind function like it should again "I'm just wondering if you would like to have a drink or two with me?"
"Oh sure; where are you know?" Ueda asked. "Are you still at work? I can come and pick you up I've just finished up at the boxing gym"
"Yeah I'm at work" Ryo said trying to hide that he was getting nervous and giddy again. He was just going to have a drink with a work colleague so why did he feel like this? Okay, Tatsuya wasn't his regular work colleague, and they weren't even friends or were they? They had shared a couple of hugs though, did that make them friends?
"Good, I'll come and pick you up in about 15 minutes then" Ueda said cutting of Ryo's trail of thoughts. "See you"
"Bye" Ryo said and a second later Ueda had hung up. Ryo stood and stared at his phone for a while going through what had just happened in his mind. Tatsuya had agreed to have a drink with him, why? And why did this make him feel like he was the happiest, the most nervous, the giddiest, and the most excited man in the world? It didn't make any sense at all!
An hour later Ryo found himself sitting with Ueda in a small bar with a beer in hand. Their conversation had been rather awkward at first, what with Ryo not knowing what to say but they had finally fallen into a comfortable conversation about music and other things related to work. The giddiness and nervousness was still present inside of Ryo but he was making a great work at hiding it from the other. As the minutes went by Ryo could not for the world understand why he had been so nervous about this whole thing. A part from the fact that Ryo's stomach did a few back flips every time Tatsuya flashed him a smile or laughed, which was a very common occurrence, it felt totally normal sitting there with him. Well as normal as it could ever be with the two of them sharing stories and opinions over a few drinks.
The hours went by and Ryo had no idea when they had started to get touchy with each others. They would pat each other's backs, they would accidentally brush their hands together on the table and Tatsuya had more than once brushed Ryo's hair away from his eyes. The first time Tatsuya had done so Ryo had frozen and not been able to utter a single word for about a minute. The second time he didn't freeze but he got a bit nervous and started to fiddle with his napkin. The third time he had smiled at the other feeling his whole body heat up. And the fourth time he had closed his eyes and enjoyed the touch of the other. And the fifth time it happened he doesn't even remembers how he reacted.
Ryo had no idea what time it was when they made their way to Tatsuya's place, but it must've been way past midnight. How they had ended up outside the other's apartment complex was another thing Ryo had no idea about. He had a vague memory of them sharing a taxi and a vague memory of them realizing they lived close by each others. Standing there opposite of Tatsuya and looking the man in the eye made Ryo feel very self-conscious and he started to fiddle with the hem of his jacket.
"Thanks for tonight" Tatsuya smiled and causing Ryo's insides to do back flips and other acrobatics worthy of A.B.C . Why the hell did he react like that every time? He was just saying good night to a friend and not ending a date. Date? Was that why he felt like this? Was it because he…? No, no way!
"It was fun" Ueda said cutting of Ryo's thoughts. "Let's do it again sometime"
"Uh, yeah" Ryo said scratching the back of his head. "I'll call you?"
"You do so" Ueda smiled again causing Ryo's insides to do even more daring acrobatics. "Good night"
What happened next was something Ryo would never in the world think of happening; Ueda leaned in and gave him a quick, soft kiss on the cheek. The movement made Ryo freeze on the spot, his mind stopped functioning. Something he thought would only ever happen to dumb people like Yamapi and Bakanishi.
When his mind finally started working again after a couple of minutes he was alone. And that made him wonder whether or not if it really had happened. Maybe he had just imagined it, but why would he have done that? Why in the world would he imagine Tatsuya kissing him, and only on the cheek of all places possible on his body? But if it wasn't imagination then why the hell would Tatsuya do it? Was he more intoxicated than he had thought? And why didn't he feel the least disgust thinking about the kiss? He got for the love of News just kissed by a guy! Wait a minute, love? Was that… no way… He couldn't possibly be, right?
The next morning Ryo woke up in his bed with a slight hang over. He didn't remember much from the night before, not much except from the peek on the cheek that he had gotten from Ueda. He smiled remembering it but the smile soon faded and he scratched his hair in confusion. He still wasn't that sure it had actually happened and especially not now when he couldn't even remember how he got home. He crawled his way out of bed and started to slowly make himself ready to leave for work, he finished of his look with a pair of dark sunglasses to hide the most obvious traces of a late night out drinking. He thought of the incident the whole way to work and into the dressing room once again missing all the smiling faces greeting him on the way. His thoughts only got cut off once he dropped his body down on the couch and Yamapi pulled of his sunglasses.
"Good morning" the leader said smiling brightly at him but when he saw the slight bags under his eyes he raised his eyebrows. "What did you do last night? Party? Why didn't you invite me?"
"I was not out partying" Ryo muttered getting his glasses back and put them back on. "I was just out with a friend and it got a bit late"
"Late as in you getting lucky?" Yamapi asked and wiggled his eyebrows and giving the other a suggestive look. "Where you on a date?"
"No" Ryo said glaring at Yamapi but since he was wearing the sunglasses the victim totally missed it and continued on talking.
"So tell me; who is the lucky one to have fallen in your trap?" Yamapi asked draping his arm around Ryo's shoulder and pulling him in closer. "Is it someone I know of?"
"I told you I did not go out on a date last night" Ryo growled pushing Yamapi away violently. "So shut the fuck up and let me be!"
"Oh" Yamapi said dumbly looking at his best friend as the other stormed out from the room.
Ryo was still fuming when he reached the bathroom slamming the door with a bang behind him. "Who does he think he is suggesting that I went on a date with Tatsuya? And even implying that I slept with him? How does he even know I was out with Tatsuya in the first place?" Ryo growled staring at his reflection when it struck him. Yamapi had not mentioned Tatsuya at all! Why did he think that Yamapi had thought of Tatsuya? Ryo let out a big sighed taking of his glasses and splashed some water into his face. Tatsuya sure made his mind go crazy and he couldn't rule out the thought that he might be in lo-, no that he might like that pretty boy. He sighed again calming down and putting his glasses back on; throwing a last glance at his reflection. Why did this have to happen to him? Why did he fall for someone he obviously couldn't have, and to make it worse that someone was a guy! He slowly left the bathroom and made his way back to his band mates, scratching his hair in despair. He couldn't stop thinking about this whole mess, unrequited lo- like sure was a pain in the ass. He let his hand reach up and touch the cheek on which Ueda's lips had pressed softly just hours before. He smiled slightly again and then something hit him. Tatsuya must like him back! Because you don't go round kissing someone you don't like right? The smile on his face just grew wider and wider by every step he took.
The smile on his face stayed on for the entire day and not even when Yamapi had managed to steal half of his lunch or when Tegoshi was extra bratty. Tatsuya liked him and that was all that mattered for the time being. In his head Ryo was going though different ways to approach the other about it. Should he be blunt and say it straight out, or should he just hint that he liked him back. Or maybe he should just go and kiss him, return the kiss that he had received last night. The last option seemed most appealing to Ryo since that meant that he didn't need to talk much or make some kind of confession speech. So when should he do it? As soon as possible would be best; preferably that exact day, but maybe that would make him seem too eager about it all. And anyways he had no idea if Tatsuya would be able to meet him tonight or not.
He had reached for his phone several times to call Ueda but then put it back down again. After all he didn't want to seem desperate or too eager. He still had his pride and cool image to keep up but at the end of the day he did call Ueda. He had walked away to the toilets to get some privacy since most of his group members were still around. He held his phone firmly pressed against his ear and biting down on his lower lip in anticipation.
"Nishikido?" Ueda's voice came from the other end after a few tones had gone through. He sounded happy but tired.
"Yes, it's me" Ryo said trying to sound indifferent. "Are you busy? Am I interrupting something?"
"No, it's okay Nishikido" Ueda answered. "We're on a break right now. Was it something special you wanted?"
"Ah, I just wondered if you had time to go out and have dinner with me or just a few drinks later" Ryo said trying to sound like he was talking about something boring like the weather.
"Ah, I'm sorry but I've already promised Nakamaru that I would go out with him" Ueda said sounding truly apologetic. "And I don't really know when I'll be able to get away from work either. I really am sorry"
"It's okay" Ryo said not being good at hiding his disappointment. "We'll just do it some other time"
"I'm free on Friday if you wanna have dinner then?" Ueda suggested and Ryo's spirit brightened up again.
"Sounds great" Ryo said happy that no one could see the goofy grin that was probably playing on his face. "I'll look up a restaurant and come back to you with the details about it"
"You do that" Ueda chuckled before he added "But I have to go now, breaks over"
"Okay, I'll call you" Ryo said and then they hung up. His stupid smile was still playing as he thought of how successfully he had asked Tatsuya out. He had done that, right? Tatsuya knew it was a date right? Yeah, Tatsuya's not stupid of course he knew it was a date.
The next few days until Friday went awfully slow for Ryo and he was sure that some force from above had manipulated with time just to despise him. And to make it a bit worse he hadn't been able to talk much with Ueda on the phone or face to face. They both had been really busy so Ryo was really happy when Friday finally arrived and he couldn't hide his excitement for what would come. They had decided on doing it casual, just eat to a good ramen store that Ryo had went to with Kamenashi and Akanishi a couple of times. But that didn't mean that Ryo didn't try to look his best, working on his appearance slightly before going to pick Ueda up in KAT-TUN's dressing room. He had brought one of his best shirts to work along with his favorite cologne that he only used on rare occasions. And he work a bit on his hair as well, making sure that a few strands would be able to fall in front of his face for Ueda to pull back. He waited until everybody else in News had gone home before he left the room himself, for his plan to work out the rest of News had to be gone. He deliberately left his phone behind and started to walk towards KAT-TUN's room with a grin. When he reached it he knocked a couple of times before he walked in.
"Hi Nishikido" Ueda smiled when he glanced over to the door and saw who it was.
"What are you doing here?" Jin who was sitting on the couch playing on his guitar with Kamenashi who was humming along to the melody said.
"To get Ueda" Ryo simply replied doing his best to sound like it was something natural and very common occurrence. "Are you ready?" he then asked turning to Ueda.
"Ready, let's go" Ueda smiled grabbing his bag and jacket and then they said good bye to the singing Akame duo on the couch.
They had just walked a few steps when Ryo set his plan into action.
"Oh, I seem to have forgotten my phone behind" he said trying to sound really surprised over the realization. "Do you mind if we go back and get it?"
"Of course not" Ueda smiled "it's not like your room is very far away"
"True" Ryo said grabbing Ueda's hand and pulled him along down the hall way. It felt good holding the others hand and he was happy that Ueda hadn't tried to pull away. A sure sign that Tatsuya liked him, right? He didn't dare look at the other but if he had he would have seen the big smile plastered on Ueda's face.
They entered the room just minutes later and Ryo closed the door behind them before he pretended to look for his phone. Ueda looked at him with amusement written all over the face sensing that something was up.
"Ah found it!" Ryo said getting his phone out from under a magazine.
"Good, let's go then" Ueda said turning around to open the door but Ryo grabbed his arm to stop him. "What is it?" Ueda asked a bit confused eyeing Ryo's face.
"I…" Ryo started but he didn't finish his sentence instead he locked his eyes with Ueda for a second and then he leaned in giving Ueda a kiss. It was nothing extravagant; it was just a quick soft innocent kiss that was over in mere seconds. Ryo looked at Ueda with caution to see if he had been right when he'd thought that the other liked him back. Ueda blinked a few times seemingly a bit startled.
"Oh" he then said locking his eyes with Ryo and gave the other a big smile. A smile that made Ryo's heart beat as fast as if he had just finished a marathon and the butterflies in his stomach to do really extravagant acrobatics. Ryo smiled back like a fool and he was truly happy that no one else but Ueda was around to him at that very moment when he was looking nothing like the cool guy he really was.
"Let's go" Ueda said after they'd been standing smiling at each other for a moment and leaned in giving Ryo a kiss just as quick as the one he had just received. Ryo smiled again and nodded in agreement as he let his hand fall down from Ueda's upper arm and down to get a hold of the other's hand instead.
Pairing: Ryoda and a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny hint of Akame at the end.
Genre: Fluff I guess and maybe you can also put it under the label romance as well as friendship.
Rating: G/PG
Summary: After the hug that night, Ryo's gotten even more confused over what it is Tatsuya have done to his mental state.
Word count: 4077
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot…
A/N: Finished this off late last night, couldn't go to bed before I had managed to end it.
Please enjoy and leave a line or two after finishing it if you feel like it (^_^)V
After that late evening by the elevator, Ryo had not got the chance to see Ueda again for a couple of weeks. It had bothered him slightly but he hadn't been able to do something about it since he had spent those weeks in Osaka with Kanjani8. He didn't know why it bothered him or why he kept on playing that scene over and over in his head or even why he felt all giddy by think about it all. He had even started to think about Ueda even more than before if that was even possible and that was bad, really bad. He had started to get a bit unfocused on work again, but luckily it seemed like it went unnoticed by his group.
The day he was back in Tokyo, and the moment he walked into the work building to meet up with News again, he couldn't help himself from feeling nervous. What if he met Ueda? How should he act? We're they friends now? Why did the thought of being friends with Ueda not feel quite right but at the same time not? As the thoughts ran through his mind he quickly made his way to News room and didn't take notice of any the senpais and juniors greeting him.
He let out a big sigh both of relief and disappointment that he hadn't ran into Ueda when he walked into the room and sat down on the couch next to Koyama. The others were already there gave him a bunch of cheerful greetings; but Ryo didn't take notice of any of them as he was still lost in his own thoughts. How could one be both relieved and disappointed over the fact of not meeting someone? That made no sense, wasn't those to feelings opposites?
"Hey Ryo are you with us?" Yamapi said kneeling down in front of Ryo and waving his hand in front of Ryo's face to get his attention.
"Huh?" Ryo said confused getting out from his deep thoughts and facing his curious band members.
"What were you thinking of?" Tegoshi said kneeling down next to the couch and leaning his arms on the armrest.
"Nothing special" Ryo said getting very self-conscious and tried to avoid everyone's curious eyes. "I'm just tired"
"Ah" Masuda suddenly shouted and started to look through his bag viciously. "Where is it? I know I placed it in here"
Everyone's eyes, including Ryo's, were now directed at Masuda as he looked through his bag.
"Aha!" he said in triumph as he pulled out an envelope and turned around to face Ryo. "Yuichi told me to give you this Nishikido-kun"
"Huh?" Ryo asked confused at the white envelope that Masuda was handing him. "Why?"
"He told me something about Ueda-kun wanting you to have this" Masuda pondered as Ryo slowly took the envelope from him.
"Why would Ueda-kun want to give anything to you?" Shige asked eyeing Ryo with suspicion as the older man slowly opened the envelope with a small smile on his lips. Ryo didn't answer him instead he just stared at the paper he had fished out from the envelope. He blinked a few times at in confusion. The letter only had a line of numbers written on it. Why would Ueda want to give him this? Was this some kind of code language? He frowned as he tried to figure out how to understand the hidden message when it hit him. It was a phone number; it was Ueda's phone number. How could he not have understood that right away? He hit himself mentally in the head as a big smiled spread over his lips and he quickly got up to get his bag from where he had left it when he entered the room. His band members looked at him both confused and amused.
"What did the letter say?" Yamapi asked as he sat down on the seat where Ryo had been sitting just seconds ago.
"Nothing really" Ryo said with a smile, and he actually didn't lie. The letter hadn't really said anything after all. He found his phone and dashed out from the room to get some privacy.
When he had closed himself into the privacy of a bathroom stall he dialed the number. His hands were shaking slightly with nervousness and anticipations. Would Ueda pick up? Or what if this wasn't Ueda's number? No, Ueda would never be the one to trick him, right? Maybe in the past he would've but not now.
He pressed the call button and put the phone to his ear hearing his call go though. One signal. Two signals. Three signals.
"Hello, it's Ueda Tatsuya" Ryo froze for a second when he heard Ueda's voice but soon he got himself together.
"Hello, it is Nishikido Ryo" he said trying his best to hide exactly how nervous and happy he was to be talking to the other man. But on the inside he felt like he was dancing the conga.
"Ah, Nishikido-kun" Ueda said, sounding happy to hear from him and the dance inside of Ryo got wilder. "So you got my message? You must be back in Tokyo then, right?"
"Uhm, yeah I got back late last night" Ryo answered a big smiled playing on his lips. Was it normal for a person to smile this wide when talking to someone they barely knew? "Ueda-kun, do you mind if I ask you why you gave me your number?"
"Oh, no, not at all" Ueda replied. "I just thought you should have it in case you would be in a need of a hug. Or if you're in need for someone to listen to you or take drink with or whatever you feel like"
"Oh, ooh…" Ryo had no idea how he should react to that. Had Ueda just offered himself to be Ryo's personal teddy bear? "Thanks…?"
"You welcome" Ueda said. "But Nishikido-kun, I need to go now. Call me if you ever need me in some way, okay?"
"Okay, bye" Ryo said still a bit stunned over what Ueda had said over the phone. He stood with the phone to his ear for a few minutes just staring into space before he realized that Ueda had hung up. He shook his head to shake some sense back into it before he got out from the stall and made his way back to News.
For the rest of the day Ryo couldn't stop thinking of the phone call. He couldn't believe what had been said and that almost made him want to call Ueda just to make sure. His group members obviously noticed that he was back to his unfocused self that had been present a few weeks ago but no one dared to ask him about it. They just let him be and since he had been back to, well almost back to normal after a few days the last time they figured it would be the same this time.
At the end of the day Ryo found himself being the last one to leave again as he packed his things. His eyes fell on his phone and before he knew it he had it pressed to his ear; the signals ringing gping through.
"Ueda Tatsuya here"
"Hi, it's Nishikido again" Ryo said feeling a bit stupid for calling like this. "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you"
"No, not at all" Ueda said and Ryo could almost imagine that he was smiling. "So why are you calling me?"
"Ah…" Ryo said not sure what to say. Why did he call? Why had he felt like he needed to call Tatsuya? "I… I'm just… wondering…"
"Are you nervous about something?" Ueda asked cutting of Ryo's attempt to build up a sentence.
"No, I'm not" Ryo snapped at what he saw as an insult and it made his mind function like it should again "I'm just wondering if you would like to have a drink or two with me?"
"Oh sure; where are you know?" Ueda asked. "Are you still at work? I can come and pick you up I've just finished up at the boxing gym"
"Yeah I'm at work" Ryo said trying to hide that he was getting nervous and giddy again. He was just going to have a drink with a work colleague so why did he feel like this? Okay, Tatsuya wasn't his regular work colleague, and they weren't even friends or were they? They had shared a couple of hugs though, did that make them friends?
"Good, I'll come and pick you up in about 15 minutes then" Ueda said cutting of Ryo's trail of thoughts. "See you"
"Bye" Ryo said and a second later Ueda had hung up. Ryo stood and stared at his phone for a while going through what had just happened in his mind. Tatsuya had agreed to have a drink with him, why? And why did this make him feel like he was the happiest, the most nervous, the giddiest, and the most excited man in the world? It didn't make any sense at all!
An hour later Ryo found himself sitting with Ueda in a small bar with a beer in hand. Their conversation had been rather awkward at first, what with Ryo not knowing what to say but they had finally fallen into a comfortable conversation about music and other things related to work. The giddiness and nervousness was still present inside of Ryo but he was making a great work at hiding it from the other. As the minutes went by Ryo could not for the world understand why he had been so nervous about this whole thing. A part from the fact that Ryo's stomach did a few back flips every time Tatsuya flashed him a smile or laughed, which was a very common occurrence, it felt totally normal sitting there with him. Well as normal as it could ever be with the two of them sharing stories and opinions over a few drinks.
The hours went by and Ryo had no idea when they had started to get touchy with each others. They would pat each other's backs, they would accidentally brush their hands together on the table and Tatsuya had more than once brushed Ryo's hair away from his eyes. The first time Tatsuya had done so Ryo had frozen and not been able to utter a single word for about a minute. The second time he didn't freeze but he got a bit nervous and started to fiddle with his napkin. The third time he had smiled at the other feeling his whole body heat up. And the fourth time he had closed his eyes and enjoyed the touch of the other. And the fifth time it happened he doesn't even remembers how he reacted.
Ryo had no idea what time it was when they made their way to Tatsuya's place, but it must've been way past midnight. How they had ended up outside the other's apartment complex was another thing Ryo had no idea about. He had a vague memory of them sharing a taxi and a vague memory of them realizing they lived close by each others. Standing there opposite of Tatsuya and looking the man in the eye made Ryo feel very self-conscious and he started to fiddle with the hem of his jacket.
"Thanks for tonight" Tatsuya smiled and causing Ryo's insides to do back flips and other acrobatics worthy of A.B.C . Why the hell did he react like that every time? He was just saying good night to a friend and not ending a date. Date? Was that why he felt like this? Was it because he…? No, no way!
"It was fun" Ueda said cutting of Ryo's thoughts. "Let's do it again sometime"
"Uh, yeah" Ryo said scratching the back of his head. "I'll call you?"
"You do so" Ueda smiled again causing Ryo's insides to do even more daring acrobatics. "Good night"
What happened next was something Ryo would never in the world think of happening; Ueda leaned in and gave him a quick, soft kiss on the cheek. The movement made Ryo freeze on the spot, his mind stopped functioning. Something he thought would only ever happen to dumb people like Yamapi and Bakanishi.
When his mind finally started working again after a couple of minutes he was alone. And that made him wonder whether or not if it really had happened. Maybe he had just imagined it, but why would he have done that? Why in the world would he imagine Tatsuya kissing him, and only on the cheek of all places possible on his body? But if it wasn't imagination then why the hell would Tatsuya do it? Was he more intoxicated than he had thought? And why didn't he feel the least disgust thinking about the kiss? He got for the love of News just kissed by a guy! Wait a minute, love? Was that… no way… He couldn't possibly be, right?
The next morning Ryo woke up in his bed with a slight hang over. He didn't remember much from the night before, not much except from the peek on the cheek that he had gotten from Ueda. He smiled remembering it but the smile soon faded and he scratched his hair in confusion. He still wasn't that sure it had actually happened and especially not now when he couldn't even remember how he got home. He crawled his way out of bed and started to slowly make himself ready to leave for work, he finished of his look with a pair of dark sunglasses to hide the most obvious traces of a late night out drinking. He thought of the incident the whole way to work and into the dressing room once again missing all the smiling faces greeting him on the way. His thoughts only got cut off once he dropped his body down on the couch and Yamapi pulled of his sunglasses.
"Good morning" the leader said smiling brightly at him but when he saw the slight bags under his eyes he raised his eyebrows. "What did you do last night? Party? Why didn't you invite me?"
"I was not out partying" Ryo muttered getting his glasses back and put them back on. "I was just out with a friend and it got a bit late"
"Late as in you getting lucky?" Yamapi asked and wiggled his eyebrows and giving the other a suggestive look. "Where you on a date?"
"No" Ryo said glaring at Yamapi but since he was wearing the sunglasses the victim totally missed it and continued on talking.
"So tell me; who is the lucky one to have fallen in your trap?" Yamapi asked draping his arm around Ryo's shoulder and pulling him in closer. "Is it someone I know of?"
"I told you I did not go out on a date last night" Ryo growled pushing Yamapi away violently. "So shut the fuck up and let me be!"
"Oh" Yamapi said dumbly looking at his best friend as the other stormed out from the room.
Ryo was still fuming when he reached the bathroom slamming the door with a bang behind him. "Who does he think he is suggesting that I went on a date with Tatsuya? And even implying that I slept with him? How does he even know I was out with Tatsuya in the first place?" Ryo growled staring at his reflection when it struck him. Yamapi had not mentioned Tatsuya at all! Why did he think that Yamapi had thought of Tatsuya? Ryo let out a big sighed taking of his glasses and splashed some water into his face. Tatsuya sure made his mind go crazy and he couldn't rule out the thought that he might be in lo-, no that he might like that pretty boy. He sighed again calming down and putting his glasses back on; throwing a last glance at his reflection. Why did this have to happen to him? Why did he fall for someone he obviously couldn't have, and to make it worse that someone was a guy! He slowly left the bathroom and made his way back to his band mates, scratching his hair in despair. He couldn't stop thinking about this whole mess, unrequited lo- like sure was a pain in the ass. He let his hand reach up and touch the cheek on which Ueda's lips had pressed softly just hours before. He smiled slightly again and then something hit him. Tatsuya must like him back! Because you don't go round kissing someone you don't like right? The smile on his face just grew wider and wider by every step he took.
The smile on his face stayed on for the entire day and not even when Yamapi had managed to steal half of his lunch or when Tegoshi was extra bratty. Tatsuya liked him and that was all that mattered for the time being. In his head Ryo was going though different ways to approach the other about it. Should he be blunt and say it straight out, or should he just hint that he liked him back. Or maybe he should just go and kiss him, return the kiss that he had received last night. The last option seemed most appealing to Ryo since that meant that he didn't need to talk much or make some kind of confession speech. So when should he do it? As soon as possible would be best; preferably that exact day, but maybe that would make him seem too eager about it all. And anyways he had no idea if Tatsuya would be able to meet him tonight or not.
He had reached for his phone several times to call Ueda but then put it back down again. After all he didn't want to seem desperate or too eager. He still had his pride and cool image to keep up but at the end of the day he did call Ueda. He had walked away to the toilets to get some privacy since most of his group members were still around. He held his phone firmly pressed against his ear and biting down on his lower lip in anticipation.
"Nishikido?" Ueda's voice came from the other end after a few tones had gone through. He sounded happy but tired.
"Yes, it's me" Ryo said trying to sound indifferent. "Are you busy? Am I interrupting something?"
"No, it's okay Nishikido" Ueda answered. "We're on a break right now. Was it something special you wanted?"
"Ah, I just wondered if you had time to go out and have dinner with me or just a few drinks later" Ryo said trying to sound like he was talking about something boring like the weather.
"Ah, I'm sorry but I've already promised Nakamaru that I would go out with him" Ueda said sounding truly apologetic. "And I don't really know when I'll be able to get away from work either. I really am sorry"
"It's okay" Ryo said not being good at hiding his disappointment. "We'll just do it some other time"
"I'm free on Friday if you wanna have dinner then?" Ueda suggested and Ryo's spirit brightened up again.
"Sounds great" Ryo said happy that no one could see the goofy grin that was probably playing on his face. "I'll look up a restaurant and come back to you with the details about it"
"You do that" Ueda chuckled before he added "But I have to go now, breaks over"
"Okay, I'll call you" Ryo said and then they hung up. His stupid smile was still playing as he thought of how successfully he had asked Tatsuya out. He had done that, right? Tatsuya knew it was a date right? Yeah, Tatsuya's not stupid of course he knew it was a date.
The next few days until Friday went awfully slow for Ryo and he was sure that some force from above had manipulated with time just to despise him. And to make it a bit worse he hadn't been able to talk much with Ueda on the phone or face to face. They both had been really busy so Ryo was really happy when Friday finally arrived and he couldn't hide his excitement for what would come. They had decided on doing it casual, just eat to a good ramen store that Ryo had went to with Kamenashi and Akanishi a couple of times. But that didn't mean that Ryo didn't try to look his best, working on his appearance slightly before going to pick Ueda up in KAT-TUN's dressing room. He had brought one of his best shirts to work along with his favorite cologne that he only used on rare occasions. And he work a bit on his hair as well, making sure that a few strands would be able to fall in front of his face for Ueda to pull back. He waited until everybody else in News had gone home before he left the room himself, for his plan to work out the rest of News had to be gone. He deliberately left his phone behind and started to walk towards KAT-TUN's room with a grin. When he reached it he knocked a couple of times before he walked in.
"Hi Nishikido" Ueda smiled when he glanced over to the door and saw who it was.
"What are you doing here?" Jin who was sitting on the couch playing on his guitar with Kamenashi who was humming along to the melody said.
"To get Ueda" Ryo simply replied doing his best to sound like it was something natural and very common occurrence. "Are you ready?" he then asked turning to Ueda.
"Ready, let's go" Ueda smiled grabbing his bag and jacket and then they said good bye to the singing Akame duo on the couch.
They had just walked a few steps when Ryo set his plan into action.
"Oh, I seem to have forgotten my phone behind" he said trying to sound really surprised over the realization. "Do you mind if we go back and get it?"
"Of course not" Ueda smiled "it's not like your room is very far away"
"True" Ryo said grabbing Ueda's hand and pulled him along down the hall way. It felt good holding the others hand and he was happy that Ueda hadn't tried to pull away. A sure sign that Tatsuya liked him, right? He didn't dare look at the other but if he had he would have seen the big smile plastered on Ueda's face.
They entered the room just minutes later and Ryo closed the door behind them before he pretended to look for his phone. Ueda looked at him with amusement written all over the face sensing that something was up.
"Ah found it!" Ryo said getting his phone out from under a magazine.
"Good, let's go then" Ueda said turning around to open the door but Ryo grabbed his arm to stop him. "What is it?" Ueda asked a bit confused eyeing Ryo's face.
"I…" Ryo started but he didn't finish his sentence instead he locked his eyes with Ueda for a second and then he leaned in giving Ueda a kiss. It was nothing extravagant; it was just a quick soft innocent kiss that was over in mere seconds. Ryo looked at Ueda with caution to see if he had been right when he'd thought that the other liked him back. Ueda blinked a few times seemingly a bit startled.
"Oh" he then said locking his eyes with Ryo and gave the other a big smile. A smile that made Ryo's heart beat as fast as if he had just finished a marathon and the butterflies in his stomach to do really extravagant acrobatics. Ryo smiled back like a fool and he was truly happy that no one else but Ueda was around to him at that very moment when he was looking nothing like the cool guy he really was.
"Let's go" Ueda said after they'd been standing smiling at each other for a moment and leaned in giving Ryo a kiss just as quick as the one he had just received. Ryo smiled again and nodded in agreement as he let his hand fall down from Ueda's upper arm and down to get a hold of the other's hand instead.