Tea & Lace (11/14)
Author: ryosukekoibito
Pairing: Ariyama, with some side Hikabu, Takanoo, Chiitaro, and Okajima
Rating: PG
Genre: Fluff, Slice of Life
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
Summary: Yamada is a college student desperate for a job when he gets hired at Tea & Lace, a quaint little maid cafe. This is the story of how his coworkers, and their trials and tribulations help him come to realize that the love of his life may in fact have been sharing an apartment with him from the beginning.
Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
"You're sure you weren't followed or something?" Hikaru asked Ryutaro. The kid nodded, pulling Chinen protectively closer to his body. There was a second fit of banging on the door, this time accompanied by a yell.
"Hello! It's Yuto! Please, please open the door! Can you hear me?!" Yamada's eyes flew to the door. What?! Yuto's knocking paused for a moment, and then again, he yelled. "Please! Is anyone there?!" Hikaru, furthest from the door, gestured to it.
"For god’s sake, let the man in!" Inoo unfolded his body and pulled himself to his feet, and as soon as the door was opened they could all hear Yuto's exclamations of relief and thanks, and Inoo waved him inside. Yuto nearly tripped over Chinen as soon as he made it through the door, and he apologized to the small man before nodding in greeting to everyone else. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot from crying, and he looked around, searching the room.
"Is Keito here? I need to talk to him. It's-it's very important." Yabu frowned, shaking his head.
"Keito resigned last night. He said he was going." Chinen piped up, looking confused.
"What happened with Keito?" Yuto fell onto a nearby bench, sullen.
"He's gone." He told Chinen. "He told me some...stuff...this morning. And I was angry and upset because he had been lying to me for years. And. He told me he was going to go. At the time that sounded good to me, and I told him so, but I guess he must have packed his suitcase after I'd gone to bed last night because all of his things are gone, and he's gone, and that's not what I meant! I didn't want him to go permanently, I just needed some time alone, you know? To think everything he told me over. And now that I have I need to speak to him. I have to tell him..." Yuto cut himself off, and his monologue was me with a confused silence. He was too vague.
"...okay?" Chinen still looked bewildered. Takaki gave the whole explanation thing a shot.
"So basically Keito's actually a yakuza prince of the underworld who ran away from his previous life to try and become a normal, law abiding citizen. His cover was blown yesterday however when a group of guys tried to rob us yesterday and he threatened them with a gun. Now he's given up and is willingly returning to his previous lifestyle to help his bodyguard or something. At least, that's what I understood out of yesterday." Chinen just sat there, blinking in disbelief.
"You're kidding." Yamada shook his head.
"Nope." He turned to Yuto. "So, Keito told you about everything this morning?" Yuto nodded.
"He did. He told me about his family, and he showed me his tattoos, and he explained to me why he had kept it a secret all the years we've been talking. And then..." Yuto took a deep gulp of air. "He told me that he loved me. He said that he loves me, and then he promised to leave. And then he left." His words were met with silence for a moment, and then Yabu whistled.
"Damn."
"I need to talk to him! He didn't give me a chance to tell him; to let him know that I love him too! He needs to know! I need to tell him that I don't care where he's from, he's more than my best friend and I don't want to give him up!" Yuto turned to Hikaru and Yabu. "Please, can you help me? He won't answer his phone, but I thought you might know some other way...I don't know who else to ask." Hikaru and Yabu shared a look.
"We could call Shoon..." Hikaru started. Yabu sighed.
"But-"
"Look at him!" Hikaru gestured to Yuto. Yabu glanced over at the distraught young man. He turned back to his partner.
"Oh my god you are such a romantic."
Hikaru grinned, leaning in for a kiss.
“That’s a yes.”
Yabu just grunted in response, and Hikaru nuzzled his partner under his chin, saying
"Thank you."
Yabu pulled a cell phone from his pocket, scrolling through the contacts and pressing call before putting it up to his ear. They all waited tensely for the other end to pick up. After two rings Yabu said
"Hello? Shoon? Hey, it's me. I was just wondering if Keito's gotten back to you yet." There was a pause, and then Yabu nodded. Keito was there. "Is there any chance we could talk to him? Yuto's here and-do you know about Yuto?" Another pause. "You do? Good. Well, he's here and he really wants to talk to Keito." Silence. "I understand that, but this is important. It's about love. He wants to tell him that he loves him." Yabu declared, getting frustrated. "Oh. I see. Okay. Well, thank you. Yes. Bye." He hung up, turning to the rest of them.
"Keito's not allowed to have any outside contact. He's being punished for running away, or something. I don't know what happened exactly, but Shoon said he was returned to his care." He looked up at Yuto. "I'm sorry." Yuto took a deep breath, shutting his eyes, and slouching backward deeper onto the bench he was resting on. Ryutaro meanwhile, stood, checking his phone for the time. He offered a hand out to Chinen, announcing
"It's getting late. We need to be getting home Yuri." Takaki immediately protested.
"No! Hold on a second. He's not going back with you! You're just a kid. He's coming back home with us." Chinen looked over at Takaki in surprise.
"No way! He's been staying with me for weeks, and it's been fine! There's no reason to change that now. Besides, what does my age have to do with anything?" Ryutaro argued.
"It's not right for you two to be sharing a room! You're too young to be living together." Takaki objected. This time, Inoo supplemented the argument.
"He'd be safer and better looked after with us. We took care of him for months before you did, we know what we're doing. We have most of his belongings and a bedroom still set up for him. He would have his own space and he wouldn't be stuck sharing a room. Him coming to live with us makes the most sense. We're the closest thing he has to family here." Ryutaro had one arm wrapped around Chinen's shoulders, and he looked down at his little boyfriend. They shared a look, and Ryu said
"You want to go with them." It wasn't really a question. Chinen nodded.
"This has been fun, and I still want to be with you Ryu-chan, but it would be really nice to go back home." Ryutaro sighed, murmuring
"I don't want you to go." Chinen nodded.
"I know." They hugged, and with that Ryutaro left on his own, Chinen leaving shortly after with Takaki and Inoo. Yamada stayed behind, figuring he would walk home with Yuto. The lanky guy hadn't moved from the bench, laying back on it and shutting his eyes, and once the rest of the maids had left he finally pulled himself to his feet and said
"Um, Yabu-san?" Both Hikaru and Yabu turned their attention to him. He pursed his lips, obviously thinking hard about what he was about to say. "Can I work here? Please?" They didn't even stop to consider his offer, Yabu immediately saying
"Sure." Hikaru nodding in agreement. Yuto smiled weakly at them.
"Thank you."
"Of course. How early can you start?" Hikaru asked, and Yuto cracked a small smile. They decided on that upcoming Thursday as a good day, and together Yamada and Yuto walked home. They walked in silence for the most part, Yuto looking somber, his eyes watery, and Yamada felt a bit self conscious walking with him. He knew Yuto was upset because of Keito, and he didn't really know what to say. Yuto had always presented such a positive outlook on every situation. But in the time Yamada had known him he had always had Keito by his side. They were a great fit, they seemed to understand each other and make each other so happy, and it really was such a shame that Keito was actually a gangster.
Yamada was just thinking about what he would do if someone important to him-Daiki was probably the closest thing he had to Yuto's relationship with Keito-turned out to be a yakuza member, when he heard his name being called. As if on cue Daiki ran out of their apartment building, his cell phone in his hand, and both Yuto and Yamada stopped, watching as he drew closer.
"Yama-chan! Yama-chan, Inoo he-" Daiki caught up with them, his chest heaving as he caught his breath. "-said you guys found Chinen!" Yamada smiled, nodding.
"Yeah, we were just talking with him like forty minutes ago." Yamada slung an arm around Daiki's shoulders, giving him a squeeze of affection. "I'll tell you all about it over dinner."
"Okay. What do you want to eat?" Daiki asked as they turned back toward their building, the three of them walking together. Yamada and Daiki bounced ideas back and forth, and Yuto just walked silently by their side, watching them discuss the meal. He had a small smile on his face, and Daiki couldn't help but mention it, leaning his head a bit to see around Yamada's body. "What're you grinning about Yuto? Did we miss something funny?" Yamada too looked over at their lanky neighbor, and Yuto just shook his head, his smile growing wider.
"No, it's just....you two are really cute together." They both just stared at him, a little confused. "You know...?" Yuto added, registering the blank looks. "As a couple." Yamada felt something swoop in his stomach at Yuto's suggestion, and Daiki was denying the assumption violently as soon as the words fell from Yuto's lips, as if accused of something, his face bright red.
"We're not! Yama-chan wouldn't date me, he doesn't like me like that. Besides, that's just silly, the two of us, a couple?! There's no way. Right, Yama-chan?"
"Uh...yeah. Right." Yamada nodded, not really processing what it was he was agreeing too. Yuto just shrugged.
"Sure." He said offhandedly. Daiki pouted a bit.
"You don't believe me do you?"
"Nope." Yuto announced. By this point they had reached their front doors. "Have a nice dinner." He said, giggling suggestively, leaving the two of them alone in the hall. After a moment of silence they too entered their own apartment, taking off their shoes by the door. A new tension had filled the space between them, making it hard to talk. Yuto was the second person in the past few months that had assumed they were a couple. He pulled his textbooks from his bag, sitting at the dining room table while Daiki cooked in the kitchen, watching as his best friend flitted about, chopping and mixing and stirring things. As he cooked Daiki hummed, a tune he often accused Yamada of humming himself unconsciously when doing menial tasks.
Yuto's assumption and his refusal to believe their rejection of that assumption, made him think about Daiki in a bit of a different way. What if they were dating? Why weren't they? They were best friends after all, they knew each other better than anyone else. And it wasn't as if Daiki was bad to look at or anything. In fact it was quite the opposite. Daiki was adorable, his little round head matching his tiny hands and feet. He had floppy hair that he often clipped up out of his face in these kinda girly barrettes that Yamada would tease him about sometimes, but would secretly use when he wasn't home. Plus Daiki was really kind, and funny, and he had this great smile that would light up his whole face, and he had a deep genuine laugh that always managed to make Yamada feel good. Plus Daiki smelled good. Not like anything special, but warm and comforting, and Yamada liked it.
This line of thought perpetuated itself throughout the following week, helped along by Yuto. Their neighbor was now constantly around, at work with Yamada nearly every day, and often joining them for dinner or simply studying or hanging out at their apartment instead of his own empty one. For the most part Yamada didn't mind, but occasionally Daiki would get short with the taller young man, tired of hosting. Yuto still treated their relationship like a romantic one, and after the first two weeks or so Yamada and Daiki just stopped rejecting the statement.
For the most part Yuto remained chipper, waking up way too early in the morning and being way too happy about it, but it was obvious in the way he would ask Hikaru and Yabu every morning when he got to work if they had heard anything at all about Keito that he wasn't over his old pen pal. Occasionally his smile would suddenly drop off of his face, and he would stare at the wall for a moment, a loneliness settling over him that was visible, like a blanket. And whenever Yamada found himself wishing that Yuto would just go home so that he could get some alone time with Daiki he would remember the way Yuto looked in those moments and any harsh words he had crawling up his throat would slither back into the hole inside of him where the spiteful, selfish fractal of his personality resided.
Next