I Don't Care (2/12)
Author: ryosukekoibito
Pairing: Hikabu, with some side Takachii, and other side pairings to come!
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Hikaru had a great life. He had two great jobs, fun and caring friends, and an amazing boyfriend that he loved more than anything in the world. Life was good, but it would be perfect if Takaki would just stop calling during his make out sessions with Kota.
A/N: So! This fic is part of a project my sister
thanku4urlove and I have been working on. It ties in with two other multi-chaps: I Do, and I Don’t. If you’d like to get some other perspectives on the same series of events, please check her stories out! I Do is from Chinen’s POV, and I Don’t is from Takaki’s.Previous Chapters: 1
The next day was-thankfully-a Saturday, and the morning was spent naked in bed with his boyfriend, much to Hikaru's pleasure. The afternoon however, was spent preparing for the gig they had that evening. They both checked and rechecked their instruments and music, Hikaru fretting over the set list while Yabu made them an early dinner; they had completely forgotten about lunch, and had woken up too late for breakfast. They ate quickly, Hikaru still buried in the schedule and plans and music for the night's gig, Yabu letting him think quietly to himself, only occasionally leaning across the table to put a comforting hand on his own, the touch a gentle reminder that his obsessing wouldn't actually change anything. That they did this first and foremost, because they liked it, and not because it was something to stress over. Hikaru didn't know what he would do without Yabu.
He was suddenly reminded of the arranged marriage customer a few hours later, at the venue as he checked the tuning on his bass. The band was all hanging out in their waiting room, when he saw Takaki, and suddenly remembered. As it was something to keep his mind off of the way his dinner was churning in his stomach due to nerves, he decided to voice the thought.
"Funny story, Takaki, last night I served a kid at my ramen stand that was in the same boat as you. Arranged marriage. Except he seemed to be handling the situation much better than you are." Takaki looked over at him in surprise, obviously taking note of the little jab Hikaru had lightly tacked on at the end. Inoo too decided to contribute.
"Everyone would handle the situation better than Takaki." He joked, and Takaki huffed, flicking his carefully styled hair out of his face. Yabu however, was seriously considering the information, and he said
"That's two arranged marriages in a week, are they becoming common now or something?" Yuto and Inoo shrugged, but Hikaru voiced his theory.
"He looked like he went to the same dance studio as Daiki, and that place is expensive so I figured he was another rich guy. Maybe rich people are doing it." Yuto however, was skeptical; shooting that idea down, fiddling with the drumsticks he almost constantly carried with him as he said
"I don't know, Keito has never mentioned anything about that to me. He's in a normal relationship with a normal guy, from what I can tell." Keito was Yuto's best friend. Quiet and shy, he had only come by one of their rehearsals, but it seemed that he and Yuto got along quite well, despite their difference in family wealth. Keito was the son of an ambassador or something; Yuto had told them once, explaining that Keito's Japanese was kind of bad because of living in Europe for so long. Hikaru was just about to ask about Keito when they were called to be on standby, and the tension in the room rose, everyone falling silent as they all mentally prepared themselves for the gig.
The performance passed by in a rush of adrenaline and the flow of the music, and to Hikaru's delight the newer pieces they had included fit in without a hitch. He found himself watching Yabu from his spot on the stage, entranced by the way the words falling from Takaki's lips described the striking perfection that was Kota. The little things, from his surprisingly long eyelashes to the way the top joints of his fingers bent, to the fact that he broke his phone like clockwork three times a year, all wrapped up in Hikaru's love for him, flowing out in the music and making his chest swell with the emotion.
Once off the stage Yabu pulled him into a kiss, Hikaru wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's waist, bringing him closer, loving every second of it. Loving being able to hold Yabu, and touch him, and kiss him. The proposal nearly spilled out right then, the words 'Marry me' on his tongue as they broke their kiss, and he had to work to keep them from breaching his lips, and the rest of the night as they talked and laughed and drank with the rest of the group, proposing lingered in the back of his mind, a constant thought; a desire that he wanted to fulfill, and that night as they finally headed home, slightly drunk and definitely horny and happy, Hikaru realized once more that Yabu was the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
The next few days he threw himself into his work, counting every coin in his bank account, trying to get a basic idea of exactly how long it would take before he had enough money to be comfortable with proposing to Kota. A couple of times he went out in the morning and asked around various jewelers for ring prices, looking the rings over to try and get an idea of what he wanted. His boyfriend meanwhile, was fretting a bit over his new year of college. He was due to start in a week, and he was constantly running out to buy various items that he needed for school-usually replacements for the ones he had lost the previous semester. They were both very busy, so that Thursday when Hikaru slipped out the door he promised to come home early, eager to get in some proper, quality time with Yabu. Hikaru had completely forgotten about the dancer customer with the husband issues until the young man plopped down on a stool at Hikaru's stand, announcing
"He talked to me!" For a moment Hikaru was thoroughly bewildered. What was this little guy talking about? But then something in the back of his mind vaguely recalled their previous conversation, and he nodded, staying silent and trying to remember properly as the little guy ordered his ramen. It wasn't until he was passing the customer his food that it finally clicked. This was the guy with the arranged marriage; the guy in Takaki's situation! It all came flooding back in a rush, and suddenly much more confident in his ability to make conversation with this petite man, he said
"That's fantastic! Finally cracked him, huh? How did you get him to talk?" The customer grinned, scooping up some noodles in his chopsticks and saying
"Part of it was the advice you gave me, you know, about being a little annoying. Part of it though, I think, was that he was really hungover." He slurped the noodles happily, and Hikaru laughed bemusedly at the response.
"Hungover?" The guy giggled too, nodding.
"Yup. I gave him some painkillers and coffee and breakfast." Hikaru thought that over, remembering mornings that he had woken up to a dry mouth and a pounding headache, and Yabu had provided similar services to the ones this guy had mentioned.
"That'll do it." He declared; ready to ask about the customer's conversation with his asshole husband when a voice carried over the street.
"What'll do it?" Hikaru tore his eyes away from the customer, immediately meeting Yabu's as his lanky boyfriend approached, a huge eye engulfing grin on his face. Hikaru had thought Yabu would be waiting at home, and his sudden appearance made a ball of happiness settle in his chest, and he allowed Yabu to drag him forward across the counter of the stand to place a quick kiss on his lips, muttering a hasty explanation before the sound of noodles being slurped made him aware of where they were, and he immediately felt embarrassed-they couldn't do this when he was working! He glanced over at the little dancer guy, scolding
"Kota! I have a customer!" But the tiny man waved his concerns away, digging into his bowl for more noodles and saying
"I don't mind. It's fine." Yabu introduced himself to the customer, joining Hikaru around the other side of the stand and wrapping his arms around Hikaru's waist from behind, leaning down and resting his head on Hikaru's shoulder.
"You said you were closing early tonight." Kota whined right into his ear, and Hikaru slipped out of his boyfriend's arms and pivoted to face him, poking him playfully on the nose and saying
"Early still means later than eight PM, so you're going to have to wait." At the arrival of another customer he pulled away, expecting Kota to either take a seat or pout and meander back to their apartment, but instead Kota rolled his sleeves up and joined him in serving the customer, and Hikaru felt a warm, happy bubble of delight nestle in his chest as he and Kota worked together in the tiny space. Once the man had left however, his boyfriend pouted, saying
"How many more customers do you have to serve now?" He looked like a little kid that wanted to know if he had eaten enough spinach to get desert, and Hikaru couldn't help but laugh.
"Yabuchii, how am I supposed to know that? I do want to come home, but I can't close up yet. I'm sorry." He fought the urge to place some comforting kisses on his boyfriend's lips, as Yabu continued to protest.
"But Hikaru...We won't get to see each other as much when college starts up again." It was true. Yabu would get very busy with school in the following weeks, Hikaru remembering how it had been the previous year, with Kota so engrossed in his school work that he sometimes wouldn't come to bed at all, sitting up at his desk and studying until the sun rose. Hikaru hadn't really liked Yabu going to school. Not that he didn't think it was a good idea. He was proud of his boyfriend for continuing his education. He had just missed him.
Kota's comment sparked conversation with the dancer-who apparently went to the same university-and the two talked about school for a long time while Hikaru served other customers, only half paying attention to what his boyfriend was doing, more focused on his job. But eventually the petite dancer customer left, and as the night wore on it got more busy, Yabu settling in at his side serving the customers. He was very charismatic, the businessmen seeming to enjoy Kota's chatter as they ate. Hikaru too found it endearing, the lanky young man's presence putting something inside his chest at ease, and he found himself allowing his boyfriend to sling a long arm over his shoulders like he used to when they were kids. He loved having Kota there by his side.
They were barely through their front door that night when Hikaru pressed Yabu up against the wall, taking his face in his hands and kissing him roughly, the desire to touch and feel his boyfriend had been building all night. The way their shoulders had brushed in the tiny space behind the stand, the shared looks and muttered words that had filled the evening had brought out this need in him to feel Kota's skin. To hold him. To touch him and love him.
Kota pressed up against him, his hands reaching out, grabbing for Hikaru's shoulders, their tongues working against each other, Yabu's nails digging into his back through his shirt, and when they finally pulled apart the older boy let out a soft whine.
"The bedroom." Hikaru muttered. That's where everything they needed was. But Yabu pressed hot kisses all along his throat, breathing heavy as he murmured
"No. Here." Hikaru froze for a moment before shaking his head. Hikaru was going to do this right. It had been a long time since they had just dropped everything and had sex right in some hallway or somewhere, unplanned and unprepared for. It hadn't happened since they were teenagers, when they were still driven by hormones and inexperienced. He could recall all too well the way Yabu had choked back tears of pain, and even if his boyfriend had forgotten, he wasn't about to do that again. It wasn't worth the release.
"C'mon Kota." He muttered, nipping playfully at his boyfriend's lips, pulling him forward by his hips as he took a few backwards steps toward the hallway that led to the bedroom. Yabu pouted a bit, shuffling forward, trying to reconnect his lips with the juncture where Hikaru's neck and shoulder met. But he gave in, saying almost childishly
"Alright, but you owe me at least three orgasms tonight, Hika."
Hikaru chuckled at that, but he quickly dragged him to the bedroom, pushing him down on the bed with a low growl, crawling on top of him as Kota's legs naturally wrapped themselves around his waist, and he muttered
"You know I can do better than that." Before leaning in and rolling their hips together, his lips hot on his boyfriend's throat.
The band didn't get back together for another rehearsal until that following Monday. Hikaru had attempted to find some way to reschedule it, hoping to spend Yabu's last day off with just the two of them. He had almost succeeded too, secretly very happy when Yuto had called and informed them over lunch that his basement-their usual place for rehearsing-was undergoing renovations, and was no longer available. That was, until Takaki had offered his new home as an alternate location for practice, his new husband apparently out for the day, also a college student.
Hikaru forgot how disappointed he was with having to resume their plans once the rehearsal was in full swing, everyone enjoying themselves, laughing and joking around. Inoo had brought Daiki, the small young man telling hilarious stories and doting on them. It was a lot of fun, and they didn't actually manage to get much done in the way of improvement or music production, but their schedule was currently empty, so Hikaru wasn't too concerned about that. He let himself relax and enjoy the good natured stupidity, not even protesting when they cut practice short in exchange for hanging out and eating dinner.
Everyone was talking and laughing as they put their instruments away, and Takaki oversaw the process, declaring
"When Chinen gets here though, you all need to leave." Internally Hikaru immediately rejected that. He really wanted to meet Takaki's husband. He was curious about him. What type of person was he? He'd heard rumors about the young man, but all he really knew was that his name was Chinen Yuri. When they'd first arrived at Takaki's house he had searched the rooms for a picture of the guy, but they didn't even have their wedding photo up, the walls barren.
Kota broke him out of his train of thought, grabbing his hand and pulling him toward Takaki's couch after they had their guitars safely stored away. All of them rushed the piece of furniture, but Hikaru and Yabu got prime real estate on its cushions, settling in comfortably as everyone argued about what to eat. Takaki literally had never cooked in his life, so they were ordering takeout. It was only a moment after they had finally ordered their food when the door was pushed open, and to Hikaru's complete surprise, the little dancer customer from Thursday walked in.
Corresponding Chapters:
I Do | I Don't
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