No Surprises (10/15)
Author: ryosukekoibito
Pairing: Okajima, with some side Ariyama, Chiitaro, Takachii, Hikabu, and Inoo/Saya
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Genre: Romance
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone from J&A.
Summary: Yuto's life has been planned out from the moment he was born, decisions most of the world got to make all predetermined by his parents. Now as an adult he has to decide if he's going to continue along the path they've lain out for him, or if he's going to abandon it all, risking leaving his family behind in the process.
Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
In the next few days Yuto was completely on house arrest. He was allowed to wander the mansion freely, but he could not go outside, and he was always followed by at least one of his parents manservants. He was cut off completely from the outside world, all means of communication removed. His parents had even taken Raiya's phone, knowing that their younger son wouldn't say no if Yuto asked to make a call. Despite these restrictions his parent's placed upon his life, they made an effort to make him feel like he was home. They ate all of his favorite foods, and had prepared his favorite movies and books, and they'd even bought him a couple of high end cameras, but no amount of coaxing made Yuto feel any better, the noose of his parent's control too tight around his throat to be ignored, and he spent most of his time either sitting with Raiya, or alone in his room, trying to think of a way out.
His parents both tried to 'reason' with him multiple times in the following days, his father mainly discussing his company, talking with Yuto about how things were going, and what he'd like Yuto to experience as an employee before taking over as CEO. These talks often included wheedling and coercing in the hope of Yuto starting at the company right away, his father even going as far as to offer to let Yuto out of the house, so long as he agreed to come with him to work. His mother meanwhile focused mainly on the arranged marriage, and while Yuto dreaded all conversation with his parents, the ones about his fiancé were significantly worse than the ones about his future company.
His mother talked a great deal about the benefits of his marriage, and she explained why he had to go through with it, why the suitor he was promised to would make his life better. Yet, in all of her attempts at coercion, the word happiness never crossed her lips. It was miserable, the three of them often getting into screaming matches, Raiya breaking them up, dragging Yuto away. Yuto cried a lot, and to his dismay Raiya did too, his precious little brother asking him one evening, after dinner had disintegrated into another grand fight
"Nii-chan, is all of this fighting really better than just agreeing to what they want?" For a moment Yuto floundered in despair, not sure what to say, because he really, truly was miserable. But then his eyes caught on the crumpled photograph of Keito, the one he’d kept after his father had shoved it in his face that first morning, and he nodded.
"I-I think so." He croaked out, his husky voice even more rough than usual, due to his crying. I hope so.
This lasted for over a week, Yuto trapped in his family home, the days wearing down on his hope of getting out. Until one afternoon, nearly two weeks into his forced isolation, when a servant approached him during lunch, holding in his hands a tray upon which lay all of Yuto's confiscated possessions. Yuto looked over at the man in surprise.
"Your parents have declared that you are free to go." The servant told him, placing the tray down on the tabletop next to his breakfast plate. Yuto stared at his phone in disbelief.
"You're kidding."
"No I am not, sir." A smile bloomed across his face, and he kept to his feet, abandoning the remains of his french toast and snatching up his camera and phone, checking them over. Both of them had run out of battery, but aside from that they seemed to be in fine condition. As he looked them over, he asked
"What changed their minds?"
"I believe it was your fiancé, sir. Your parents have been on the phone with them all morning." His fiancé? Yuto froze in his ministrations, trying to take that unexpected piece of news in. His fiancé had bailed him out. What on earth could they have said to convince his stubborn parents to just let him go? Yuto had no idea; but he was amazed, and for the first time in his life he held some respect for his suitor. This newfound respect wasn't enough to keep him in that house any second longer, however, and so-after bidding goodbye to Raiya-he dashed out of the front doors, a limousine waiting by the steps to take him home.
On the way back all he could think about was how worried his friends had to be. Hopefully they weren't too mad. He couldn't wait to see them again. He had missed them greatly, and when he got out of the limousine, he was ready to celebrate being reunited, skipping through the hotel lobby and literally bouncing with excitement as he took the elevator up to the penthouse, bursting through the elevator doors as soon as he can squeeze through them. He was expecting to be met with the sight of his friends preparing dinner, Chinen sitting up on the counter or the dining table, trying to do as little as possible as Yamada and maybe Daiki cooked, light, comfortable conversation filling up the time as the smells of good food filled the air.
Yuto was instead met with the high pitched sounds of a distressed Chinen, his younger housemate's voice ringing through the space. Yuto blinked in confusion, glancing around, not seeing Chinen. Chinen's voice was followed by a much deeper one, a voice Yuto recognized to be Ryutaros. He blinked in surprise. What was going on? He stopped in the entryway, slipping off his shoes. He heard a gasp, glancing up to see that Yamada and Daiki had entered the living room, and then Yamada was running at him, pulling him in for a hug, and Yuto threw his arms around his friend, glad that this part of his fantasy had come true.
After a long moment Yamada pulled away, and Daiki leaned in, giving Yuto a hug, squeezing just as tightly as his boyfriend had, and as Yuto hugged Daiki he smiled over the older man's shoulder at Yamada, the model asking
"Yuto, what happened? Where the fuck have you been?" His hissed the words, his voice low, eyes wide, the reunion rather tainted when Ryutaro bellowed something, Yuto tensing up in surprise.
"I-I was at my parents. They, well...they found out about Keito, and they took me home." Yuto informed his friends, as Daiki pulled out of the hug.
"Damn." Daiki looked up at him, the two shorter men gazing at Yuto with matching concern in their eyes.
"Yeah." Yuto sighed, but then Ryutaro yelled again, and his attention was completely stolen by the couple fighting in some unseen room. "What's going on? Why're they yelling like that?" He'd never known Chinen to really fight with anyone, the tiny man’s charms winning over everyone he'd ever encountered effortlessly. Both Daiki and Yamada turned back to look in the direction of Chinen's bedroom.
"He's breaking up with Ryutaro." Yamada finally said, looking self conscious and a little upset himself. Daiki leaned in and wrapped an arm around Yamada's waist.
"We've already had gyoza brought up, and we're just waiting the yelling out, we figured he could use some friends once this ordeal is over." Daiki explained, Yuto nodding in understanding. It was nice of them to stay and support Chinen this time, instead of running away like they had when Chinen and Takaki had gotten into their fight.
"It was Dai-chan's idea." Yamada conceded, giving Daiki an affectionate glance, and Yuto smiled appreciatively at the older man. "We've been hanging out in my room. Let's all go back in there, you can tell us what the hell happened to you." Yamada offered, Yuto nodding and following them back, past Chinen's bedroom door. It had gotten immensely quiet inside, and it wasn't until they were all in Yamada's bedroom, the door closed, that Yuto whispered
"Yama-chan, can I borrow your charger?" Yamada pursed his lips, fixing Yuto with a disapproving look.
"It's Keito, isn't it?" It wasn't really a question. Yuto nodded, slightly embarrassed, and he felt the need to justify himself.
"My phone is dead, and I'm sure I freaked Keito out, disappearing on him like I did. We were supposed to meet for breakfast, and I missed it and he hadn't heard from me since. I need to tell him I'm okay, and apologize." Yamada didn't really acknowledge his excuses, but he didn't protest, just gesturing to his charging cord. Yuto thanked him, plugging in his phone before the three of them all sat around, and-with a little prompting from Daiki-he told them everything that had happened while he'd been away. He was just getting to the part about how he'd been allowed to go when there was the sound of Chinen's door opening, and they all fell silent, listening for the chime of the elevator doors before they stood and filed out, coming into the living room to see Chinen standing by the elevator doors, his back to them, but his shoulders shaking, and as they watched he collapsed in on himself.
It was then that the three of them all rushed to his side, enveloping him in their arms, and Yuto could hear him crying, could feel his little body shaking. Nondescript words of comfort fell from his lips, and next to him he could hear Daiki too murmuring to their younger friend, and after a few moments of crouching there on the floor in the entryway Daiki scooped Chinen up, Chinen clinging to him as Daiki wobbled over to the couch, setting into it, Chinen in his lap.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Daiki asked, and Chinen shook his head, his face a ruddy mess of snot and tears, and Daiki nodded, not saying anything and letting Chinen bury his face into his shirt. Yuto turned to Yamada, intending to indicate that they should join Daiki and Chinen on the couch, but he froze when he caught sight of the way that Yamada was looking at Daiki. He had seen them share glances of affection before, but this look, this purely awestruck look of wonder and love was something completely different, and as Yuto watched Yamada watch Daiki comfort Chinen he felt in that moment that he finally understood what it meant to love someone. It was a little humbling, and he blinked, feeling like he was intruding on a private moment, and he looked away. But as he did so Yamada seemed to come to, and he moved to join Daiki on the couch, sitting by his boyfriend's side and leaning in, rubbing circles on Chinen's back.
It was at that moment that a phone started ringing, loud and shrill in the background, the tone one Yuto recognized as his own, and Yamada's head shot up, giving Yuto a very pointed look that clearly indicated that he needed to turn off the disruptive noise and give Chinen a chance to grieve without any distractions. Yuto rushed to Yamada's bedroom, scooping his phone up and quickly answering, intending to tell the caller that he'd have to call them back-Chinen was crying-whatever they had to say could wait.
"Hi, I'm sorry but-"
"Yuto?!" Yuto's breath caught in his throat at the sound of the familiar deep, gentle voice, and he couldn't help but notice the slightly watery edge it held, the anxiety layered into that one word, and he felt a wash of want hit him. He wanted to see Keito so very badly in that moment.
"Keito, hi." He felt embarrassed, not sure what to say, or do. He needed to get back to his friends, back to Chinen, but it had been too long since he'd last heard Keito's voice, and the sound made something in his chest ache.
"Oh thank god, are you okay?! Is everything alright?" Keito sounded slightly frantic, and Yuto didn't blame him.
"I'm okay. I'm sorry I didn't meet you for breakfast, there was an issue with my family, and it's taken a while to sort out, and I've wanted to call you, but...but I couldn't, and I just got back less than an hour ago. But I'm fine. Sorry." The words tumbled out of his mouth in a rush, and he felt like the whole excuse was vague and poorly worded, and just generally lame, but Keito didn't press him.
"You're okay, that's the important part." Keito assured him. "I...I've been worried about you." There was a pause. "Are you busy? Can we get together? I want to see you. We could go to dinner or something, I know this nice Italian place we could go to. It's proper, authentic Italian food. I mean...if you want." Dinner with Keito sounded spectacular. It sounded like all Yuto wanted, but he couldn't just leave when Chinen was in the state he was in.
"Keito that sounds perfect but...I can't. Chinen just broke up with his boyfriend, and I'm on moral support duty tonight. This evening is strictly a pity party, and I can't bail on him. He's taking it really hard."
"Oh. Of course, you need to help Chinen." There was a small pause, the both of them understanding that Yuto really needed to go, but neither of them wanting to hang up, neither one wanting to sever this small tie they shared through the phone.
"I'm sorry." Yuto murmured, truly wanting nothing more than to meet Keito for dinner. To lay eyes on Keito's face, and feel Keito pull him into his arms.
"Yuto, you did nothing wrong. I-I shouldn't be keeping you from Chinen." There was another long silence, before Yuto sighed, resigning himself to his fate.
"I'll call you tomorrow, will you be free for dinner then? Or for anything?"
"I'm always free for you." Keito said, and Yuto felt a pang in his chest, a small blush coloring his cheeks.
"Thanks. Good night, Keito."
"Good night, Yuto." Yuto felt perfectly melancholy as he hung up the phone, and he wandered out to find that his friends hadn't moved, Chinen still sniveling in Daiki's lap. Yuto immediately stopped pitying himself. Chinen was more important. He could see Keito tomorrow. Chinen needed him now. And so, he let a smile bloom on his lips, and he dove into the couch, between Daiki and Yamada, whining dramatically
"Don't keep Chii all to yourselves! I want him!" He pulled Chinen in for a hug, the top half of the younger man ending up in Yuto's lap, while the bottom half was still in Daiki's. Daiki let out a yelp of surprise, one that quickly morphed into one of protest, and he grabbed at Chinen's knees, keeping him in place, declaring that Yuto couldn't have Chinen, eyes glinting with playfulness. Yuto appreciated Daiki playing along, and they showered Chinen with affection, the two of them continuing to play fight over the smaller man, wrestling over him. Daiki eventually won, pulling Chinen wholly back into his lap and wrapping his arms around Chinen's waist. It was at that moment that Yamada interjected, coming in from the kitchen with a big platter of gyoza.
"Chinen is going to choose me, because I have my secret weapon! I have the gyoza!" He declared dramatically, puffing out his cheeks and his chest in triumph, and it was then that Chinen finally cracked a smile, the three of them smiling back in relief at seeing it. Yamada set the tray of gyoza down right in Chinen's lap, handing him a pair of chopsticks. He disappeared back into the kitchen, reappearing with a second platter of the little dumplings, and Daiki whooped, as if in surprise, Chinen letting another small smile work its way onto his lips. Despite Daiki's excitement at the sight of food, he didn't actually manage to get much of any, because he refused to let Chinen off of his lap, insisting that Chinen was his prize for defeating Yuto earlier. Chinen didn't protest in the slightest, looking rather content there curled up in Daiki's arms.
They were halfway through the gyoza when the penthouse phone rang, everyone looking bewildered over at where it hung on the wall. Tentatively Yuto stood from where he'd ended up on the floor, crossing the room and picking the receiver up.
"Hello?" It was one of the hotel staff.
"Sorry to disturb you, especially at this hour Nakajima-san, but there's a man here asking to be let up to you. He claims that he has a gift for Chinen-san. He isn't one of your usual visitors, so we weren't sure if he was welcome." Yuto blinked in surprise, bewildered.
"What is it?" Yamada asked.
"There's someone downstairs that says he has a present for Chinen? The staff don't recognize him, so they want authorization before they let him come up." Yamada stared at him, bewildered. Then they both turned to Chinen.
"What do you want to do Chii? It's all up to you." To Yuto's surprise Chinen didn't hesitate.
"Let them up."
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