Reita/Ruki - Pantophobia: A Fear of Everything - PG - Chapter 09
Title: Pantophobia: A Fear of Everything
Chapter: 09/09 + Epilogue
Author:
spinfreeze
Rating: PG (language)
Genre: fluff, AU
Warnings: none
Pairings: Reita/Ruki
Disclaimer: I don't own the GazettE, just the story. I'm not making any profit off of this, either.
Synopsis: Reita wasn’t one of those do-gooder folk who have to butt in everyone’s business, but how was he expected to react to the sight he saw? He wasn't expected to ignore it, was he? At the street corner, there was the most distressed human Reita had ever seen.
Comments: Holy crap I actually made you guys wait for something for once! I'm very sorry T.T BUT CHAPTER 9 HAS MADE ITS ARRIVAL! (This is where you jump, cheer, and clap excitedly. Try not to hurt yourself, though.)
Chapter 01
Chapter 02
Chapter 03
Chapter 04
Chapter 05
Chapter 06
Chapter 07
Chapter 08
“I don’t like it,” Ruki said as he wrapped his arms around Reita’s neck more tightly and rested his chin on one of his arms.
Reita laughed a little as he hiked Ruki higher on his back, making sure to have a snug hold on his legs as not to drop him. “It’s not abnormal to dislike being in the rain, Ruki,” he explained. “Rain is cold and wet. It makes mud and splashes all over you shoes and pants.”
“Then why are you giving me a piggy back ride when it’s raining?!”
Reita flinched at the sound, because Ruki’s mouth was right by his ear and Ruki’s voice was much more than a whisper. “Because you need to see that you shouldn’t be frightened of rain, Ruki. It’s not so bad.”
Ruki shook his head. “But it’s really cold,” he replied as his teeth started to chatter slightly.
“Don’t worry, Ruki,” Reita soothed. “We’re almost at your apartment. You know I wouldn’t keep you out in the rain long enough for you to get sick.”
Reita really believed that Ruki knew that, too. Ruki had always trusted Reita-from the moment Ruki clutched Reita’s jacket in his hand as they crossed the street together for the first time-but now Ruki fully trusted him. Ruki trusted Reita enough to extend the perimeter of his safe space, now including Reita.
Starting out, Reita would initiate any touching between the two, everything from a simple high-five to the more intimate contact of a hug. He didn’t mind, though. How could he mind as long as Ruki was hugging him back? The action wasn’t forced, either. Ruki would smile and cling to Reita as they hugged and it only served to quicken the beating of Reita’s heart.
Reita had helped Ruki overcome so much. He’d even passed the issue of no touching, but Reita still had a problem of his own to worry about: he was in love with Ruki and Ruki had no idea.
He’d thought of telling Ruki a number of different times, too many to keep count, but each time there was that one roadblock that would stop him from thinking on the matter any farther: the fear of rejection. Once a person hit a rejection roadblock, their only choice for turning around was to take a detour through heartbreak… and Reita wasn’t sure he could face that trip. That trip was one he’d only be taking without Ruki. Just the mere thought of being without Ruki made Reita feel miserable and he couldn’t help but let it consume him, pulling away from Ruki as the thought swallowed his mind.
“Reita!” Uruha scolded as he pushed Reita’s bedroom door open all the way, the doorknob hitting the wall with a dull thud and bouncing off.
The sudden appearance of Uruha and his shouting had started Reita out of his comfortable position on his bed and landed him on the floor. “FOR FUCK’S SAKE URUHA!” he shouted as he pushed himself off of the floor and resituated himself on his bed.
“Maybe if you would stop being such a baby and talk to Ruki, I wouldn’t have to yell at you!” Uruha reprimanded him. Reita just grunted and rolled onto his side, his back facing Uruha. “Suzuki Reita!” he shouted, walking over to the bed and lifting his leg to give Reita a swift kick in his rear.
“Ow! Uruha!” he yelled as he sat up a little and rubbed his ass.
“He has been calling me so worried, because you won’t answer his calls!” Uruha said. “You quit visiting him, too! What’s he supposed to think, Reita?! He doesn’t know what he’s done wrong!” Reita sat up and leaned his back against his headboard, pulling his knees to his chest and burying his face in his thighs. “What is the matter with you?!”
Lifting his head so he could look at Uruha-and he did, with the most pitiful of expressions-Reita answered, “I’m fucking in love with him and I don’t know what to do, okay?!”
“You could tell him, for starters! You dumbass!” Uruha said, shoving Reita’s shoulder.
Reita let out a sigh that gradually turned into a groan. “You think that didn’t occur to me already?! What if he rejects me, Uruha?”
“What if you hadn’t helped Ruki cross the street? What if you hadn’t talked him into using the phone, huh? What then?” Uruha asked.
With a shrug, Reita said, “He’d probably still be too scared to do both.”
“Funny, isn’t it?” Uruha posed.
Looking at his friend with confusion, Reita asked, “What’s funny?”
“You being a fucking wimp over something like telling someone you love them when Ruki faced more than one of his biggest fears. You can’t even do him that service, can you?” Uruha spat with a roll of his eyes and then turned to leave Reita’s room with a slam of the door.
If that didn’t give Reita another of Uruha’s kicks in the ass, then nothing could.
------------------------------
Uruha’s words did have the same effect a kick in the ass would have had, but all that kick in the ass did was encourage Reita out of his apartment with the intention of confronting Ruki. Currently, Reita was mastering the art of procrastination by wandering the city.
He had traversed many streets, and each one only reminded him of Ruki. That street was where Ruki had freaked out on their way to buying his cell phone. That street over there was where Ruki almost fell, had it not been for Reita catching him.
And this street was where Reita had met Ruki.
Reita sighed, pressing his back against the building at the street corner-the same spot Ruki had been crying when Reita stumbled into the scene that day after leaving work. He rubbed his face as he groaned, wishing there was a button he could press to fast forward to the part of his life where he’d be with Ruki. Was that even possible? Could he press a button to skip straight to the good parts of life? He didn’t think it was possible. So instead he just walked the short distance to Ruki’s apartment complex and pressed the buzzer button instead.
“Hello?” Ruki asked softly. Reita cringed at the sound of Ruki’s voice. It sounded so frail and unhappy. Had he done that? Of course he’d done that. How stupid could he be, hurting the person he loved so much?!
“Ruki, it’s Reita. Is it alright if I come up and see you?” he asked slowly.
“Reita?” Ruki’s voice immediately sounded happier as he realized who was waiting for him downstairs.
“Yeah, Ru. It’s me. May I please see you?” he asked again and was answered with an opening door. Reita took a deep breath and then took the first step towards either making or breaking his life. As he walked upstairs, he thought of the many different things he could say to Ruki. How should he tell him? Should he tell him? What should he do if he was rejected? Should he go ahead and cry on the spot or save some of his pride and wait until he’s made it outside before bawling like a baby?
Before he was anywhere close to making choices of how to handle this, he noticed Ruki’s door had somehow magically appeared in front of him… or he had been so consumed in his thoughts he just hadn’t realized he was already at Ruki’s door. Taking another deep breath, Reita reached forward to knock on the door, only to have the door thrown open before he could even touch it. And before he could even process that Ruki had opened the door, Ruki was suddenly attached to Reita’s middle-hugging him tightly.
“I missed you so much!” he said as he squeezed Reita even tighter.
Reita temporarily forgot about his dilemma and instead smiled that stupid smile reserved solely for Ruki-wrapping his arms around his small friend and hugging him back with just as much enthusiasm. “I’m sorry, Ruki,” he said as he nuzzled Ruki’s hair. “I really missed you, too.”
“What the hell happened?!” Ruki asked, his brow furrowing with concern and confusion as he pulled away slightly to look at Reita.
Sighing, Reita untangled his arms from around Ruki and tugged his arm, pulling them both inside the apartment and closing Ruki’s door. He took a moment to slip his shoes off, leaning down and making sure to line them neatly beside Ruki’s shoes as he always had. As he righted himself, he gently grabbed Ruki’s arm again, reveling in the joy the simple act of being able to touch Ruki’s arm gave him, and pulled them over to the couch.
After they had both sat down on the couch, Reita turned a little so he was facing Ruki a bit more and he took another deep breath before he finally mustered enough courage to speak. “Ruki,” Reita began nervously, “I have a fear of my own.”
“How come you’ve never told me about it?” Ruki asked, a little hurt slipping into his voice.
Reita shrugged as he smiled, answering, “I was more worried about you.”
Tilting his head downwards so hair would cover his blushing face, Ruki hummed with appreciation and said, “Wasn’t it difficult?”
Not sure what Ruki meant exactly, Reita prodded, “Wasn’t what difficult?”
Ruki shrugged and lifted his head to look at Reita, answering with, “Forgetting about your fears.”
Smiling, Reita softly responded, “It was easy to push this fear aside when it came to helping you, Ruki.”
“What do you mean?” Ruki asked, laughing slightly at the absurdity of a fear seeming so unimportant. “How can it be so simple to just forget you’re afraid of something?”
Shrugging again, Reita turned away from Ruki as he quietly explained, “You needed me and it made me happy to know you needed me. You wanted me there and I wanted to be there for you, Ruki.” Silence sat in the air for a minute until Reita continued in nothing but a whisper. “It’s easy to forget about a fear of rejection when the person you’re in love with is clinging to the sleeve of your jacket.”
He wasn’t sure if he should risk looking at Ruki. Doing such a thing might end with his heart cracked and hurting, but he decided the silence was becoming too much to handle. Slowly, Reita turned his head in Ruki’s direction, mentally bracing himself for anything that might not be pleasing. When he finally saw Ruki’s face, his eyes widened in shock and he gasped quietly; Ruki’s face was as deliciously red as apples and his eyes were sized to match. When Ruki noticed Reita looking at him, he quickly turned away from Reita and began fumbling with his hands nervously. “Ruki?” Reita prodded softly.
“Hmm?” Ruki hummed without looking at his friend.
Reita bit his lip before asking, “Are you alright?”
Ruki didn’t answer for a minute or two, but then he suddenly turned towards Reita and asked, “Do you mean it?” Sighing, Reita slowly nodded his head. “I saw this TV show once,” Ruki started as he scratched his cheek. “This girl confessed her love to the guy she liked and after that, all he did was ignore her.”
Reita squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that wasn’t Ruki’s way of easing into a rejection. Slowly he opened his eyes and forced himself to look at Ruki again, slowly and nervously asking, “Is… that… what you’re going to do to me?”
“No,” Ruki answered sternly. Ruki looked Reita straight in the face, causing Reita’s eyes to widen with surprise, and added, “I don’t do things like ignoring people. That’s mean.”
Reita nodded, smiling as he said, “Ah, I can take a hint. Ignoring you was probably not the best way to handle this”
“No! It really wasn’t!” Ruki said angrily. “What did you think I was going to do?!”
Shrugging, Reita stared at his lap and mumbled, “I dunno. Never want to see me again?”
Ruki sighed with frustration and said, “Let’s pretend for a minute that I don’t feel the same way about you. Did you really think I’d not want to talk to you anymore?! Reita, what would I do without you?” he finished sadly.
Shrugging again, Reita mumbled, “I dunno… You’d still have Kai and Ao-“ He immediately stopped talking and instead gasped, jerking his head up to look at Ruki. “We were pretending you don’t feel the same way about me?!”
His cheeks flushing a deep shade of pink, Ruki nodded at Reita and mumbled, “Uh huh.”
“So that means you’re in love with me too?!” Reita asked excitedly, his happiness kicking his contemplative frown off of his face and instead replacing it with a huge-ass grin. Ruki’s cheeks flushed more deeply as he grinned back and bit his lip, nodding at Reita.
Reita couldn’t contain his excitement; he lunged across the couch and threw his arms around Ruki’s neck, leaning forward as he tried to press his lips to Ruki’s. “NO!” Ruki shouted, trying to push Reita away. “No, don’t touch me there! DON’T TOUCH ME THERE!” he pleaded as he pressed the palm of his hand to Reita’s face, trying to shove him away.
“Ruki!” Reita mumbled against Ruki’s palm. “I just want to kiss you! I promise it’ll be nice!” Reita groaned and stopped trying to struggle against Ruki. A thought had occurred to him suddenly and he gently grabbed Ruki’s wrist, pulling his hand away from his face. He smirked at Ruki and said, “You’ve never been kissed have you?”
“I’m totally okay with that!” Ruki quickly said as he nodded fervently. Reita’s smirk grew and became slightly predatory as he leaned closer to Ruki, only causing Ruki to lean farther away from him with a whimper. “W-what are you doing?! Stay away!”
Reita just smiled even more deviously as he crawled closer to Ruki. He was now leaning over Ruki as he had Ruki backed against the arm of the couch. Noticing the fearful look Ruki was giving him, Reita’s smile softened and he said, “Don’t worry. I would never hurt you,” and then slowly leaned closer… and closer… and closer… until finally their lips connected. Ruki whimpered softly as Reita moved his lips gently against his.
Reita couldn’t help but chuckle into the kiss as he noticed the way Ruki had suddenly made a hundred-and-eighty degree turn when it came to kissing. He was kissing Reita hungrily-nipping at his lips as he clung to Reita tightly. Just a minute ago he had been begging Reita not to kiss him at all!
There were no complaints about Ruki’s enthusiasm from Reita, but he was so startled and amused at the situation that he pulled away-or tried to-so he could stare at Ruki in surprise. As soon as he had broken the kiss, Ruki was pulling Reita closer again, saying, “No, don’t stop!”
Reita laughed. “Easy, Tiger!” he chuckled as he pulled back from Ruki again. “Don’t you want to save some of that for later?!” he asked, shocked at Ruki’s eagerness.
Biting his lip as he blushed furiously, Ruki mumbled, “Sorry. I guess I got a little carried away.”
Smiling at him, Reita leaned down and pecked Ruki gently on the lips. “It’s alright,” he said as he pulled away again. “It was just a bit of a shock. Wasn’t that supposed to be your first kiss?!” he asked incredulously.
Ruki blushed even deeper as he nodded. “It was my first kiss. I just…”-he paused and combed his fingers through his hair nervously-“I just really liked it.”
Reita grinned as he sat up and tugged Ruki closer to him on the couch. Ruki sat beside Reita and circled Reita’s waist with his arms. Wrapping an arm around Ruki’s shoulders and pulling him even closer, Reita said, “I loved it.”
Grinning, Ruki hid his face in Reita’s chest as he shyly said, “I’m so glad you stopped to help me that day on the street, Reita. I’m positive you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You’ve helped me so much…” Ruki’s happy face had turned into one with a frown. “Come to think of it, I’m not really sure it’s fair. I haven’t done much of anything for you.”
“Don’t say that!” Reita scolded, pulling Ruki even closer to him. “I needed you and you didn’t turn your back on me, Ruki. Just because you didn’t help me cross a street doesn’t make how you helped me any less important.”
“But I didn’t even do anything for you! I already loved you!” Ruki said as he looked up at Reita with a pout.
Reita laughed happily as he beamed at Ruki and said, “That’s more than enough."
------------------------------
A/N: Alright. I'm quite pleased with this chapter! Hopefully all of my dearest readers are satisfied as well!!! I'm saving all of the end-of-fic author's notes for the epilogue. Don't forget there's still the epilogue! And I'm sorry for making you guys wait so long D: I really just wanted to make the final chapter as best as I could!
Chapter: 09/09 + Epilogue
Author:
spinfreeze
Rating: PG (language)
Genre: fluff, AU
Warnings: none
Pairings: Reita/Ruki
Disclaimer: I don't own the GazettE, just the story. I'm not making any profit off of this, either.
Synopsis: Reita wasn’t one of those do-gooder folk who have to butt in everyone’s business, but how was he expected to react to the sight he saw? He wasn't expected to ignore it, was he? At the street corner, there was the most distressed human Reita had ever seen.
Comments: Holy crap I actually made you guys wait for something for once! I'm very sorry T.T BUT CHAPTER 9 HAS MADE ITS ARRIVAL! (This is where you jump, cheer, and clap excitedly. Try not to hurt yourself, though.)
Chapter 01
Chapter 02
Chapter 03
Chapter 04
Chapter 05
Chapter 06
Chapter 07
Chapter 08
“I don’t like it,” Ruki said as he wrapped his arms around Reita’s neck more tightly and rested his chin on one of his arms.
Reita laughed a little as he hiked Ruki higher on his back, making sure to have a snug hold on his legs as not to drop him. “It’s not abnormal to dislike being in the rain, Ruki,” he explained. “Rain is cold and wet. It makes mud and splashes all over you shoes and pants.”
“Then why are you giving me a piggy back ride when it’s raining?!”
Reita flinched at the sound, because Ruki’s mouth was right by his ear and Ruki’s voice was much more than a whisper. “Because you need to see that you shouldn’t be frightened of rain, Ruki. It’s not so bad.”
Ruki shook his head. “But it’s really cold,” he replied as his teeth started to chatter slightly.
“Don’t worry, Ruki,” Reita soothed. “We’re almost at your apartment. You know I wouldn’t keep you out in the rain long enough for you to get sick.”
Reita really believed that Ruki knew that, too. Ruki had always trusted Reita-from the moment Ruki clutched Reita’s jacket in his hand as they crossed the street together for the first time-but now Ruki fully trusted him. Ruki trusted Reita enough to extend the perimeter of his safe space, now including Reita.
Starting out, Reita would initiate any touching between the two, everything from a simple high-five to the more intimate contact of a hug. He didn’t mind, though. How could he mind as long as Ruki was hugging him back? The action wasn’t forced, either. Ruki would smile and cling to Reita as they hugged and it only served to quicken the beating of Reita’s heart.
Reita had helped Ruki overcome so much. He’d even passed the issue of no touching, but Reita still had a problem of his own to worry about: he was in love with Ruki and Ruki had no idea.
He’d thought of telling Ruki a number of different times, too many to keep count, but each time there was that one roadblock that would stop him from thinking on the matter any farther: the fear of rejection. Once a person hit a rejection roadblock, their only choice for turning around was to take a detour through heartbreak… and Reita wasn’t sure he could face that trip. That trip was one he’d only be taking without Ruki. Just the mere thought of being without Ruki made Reita feel miserable and he couldn’t help but let it consume him, pulling away from Ruki as the thought swallowed his mind.
“Reita!” Uruha scolded as he pushed Reita’s bedroom door open all the way, the doorknob hitting the wall with a dull thud and bouncing off.
The sudden appearance of Uruha and his shouting had started Reita out of his comfortable position on his bed and landed him on the floor. “FOR FUCK’S SAKE URUHA!” he shouted as he pushed himself off of the floor and resituated himself on his bed.
“Maybe if you would stop being such a baby and talk to Ruki, I wouldn’t have to yell at you!” Uruha reprimanded him. Reita just grunted and rolled onto his side, his back facing Uruha. “Suzuki Reita!” he shouted, walking over to the bed and lifting his leg to give Reita a swift kick in his rear.
“Ow! Uruha!” he yelled as he sat up a little and rubbed his ass.
“He has been calling me so worried, because you won’t answer his calls!” Uruha said. “You quit visiting him, too! What’s he supposed to think, Reita?! He doesn’t know what he’s done wrong!” Reita sat up and leaned his back against his headboard, pulling his knees to his chest and burying his face in his thighs. “What is the matter with you?!”
Lifting his head so he could look at Uruha-and he did, with the most pitiful of expressions-Reita answered, “I’m fucking in love with him and I don’t know what to do, okay?!”
“You could tell him, for starters! You dumbass!” Uruha said, shoving Reita’s shoulder.
Reita let out a sigh that gradually turned into a groan. “You think that didn’t occur to me already?! What if he rejects me, Uruha?”
“What if you hadn’t helped Ruki cross the street? What if you hadn’t talked him into using the phone, huh? What then?” Uruha asked.
With a shrug, Reita said, “He’d probably still be too scared to do both.”
“Funny, isn’t it?” Uruha posed.
Looking at his friend with confusion, Reita asked, “What’s funny?”
“You being a fucking wimp over something like telling someone you love them when Ruki faced more than one of his biggest fears. You can’t even do him that service, can you?” Uruha spat with a roll of his eyes and then turned to leave Reita’s room with a slam of the door.
If that didn’t give Reita another of Uruha’s kicks in the ass, then nothing could.
------------------------------
Uruha’s words did have the same effect a kick in the ass would have had, but all that kick in the ass did was encourage Reita out of his apartment with the intention of confronting Ruki. Currently, Reita was mastering the art of procrastination by wandering the city.
He had traversed many streets, and each one only reminded him of Ruki. That street was where Ruki had freaked out on their way to buying his cell phone. That street over there was where Ruki almost fell, had it not been for Reita catching him.
And this street was where Reita had met Ruki.
Reita sighed, pressing his back against the building at the street corner-the same spot Ruki had been crying when Reita stumbled into the scene that day after leaving work. He rubbed his face as he groaned, wishing there was a button he could press to fast forward to the part of his life where he’d be with Ruki. Was that even possible? Could he press a button to skip straight to the good parts of life? He didn’t think it was possible. So instead he just walked the short distance to Ruki’s apartment complex and pressed the buzzer button instead.
“Hello?” Ruki asked softly. Reita cringed at the sound of Ruki’s voice. It sounded so frail and unhappy. Had he done that? Of course he’d done that. How stupid could he be, hurting the person he loved so much?!
“Ruki, it’s Reita. Is it alright if I come up and see you?” he asked slowly.
“Reita?” Ruki’s voice immediately sounded happier as he realized who was waiting for him downstairs.
“Yeah, Ru. It’s me. May I please see you?” he asked again and was answered with an opening door. Reita took a deep breath and then took the first step towards either making or breaking his life. As he walked upstairs, he thought of the many different things he could say to Ruki. How should he tell him? Should he tell him? What should he do if he was rejected? Should he go ahead and cry on the spot or save some of his pride and wait until he’s made it outside before bawling like a baby?
Before he was anywhere close to making choices of how to handle this, he noticed Ruki’s door had somehow magically appeared in front of him… or he had been so consumed in his thoughts he just hadn’t realized he was already at Ruki’s door. Taking another deep breath, Reita reached forward to knock on the door, only to have the door thrown open before he could even touch it. And before he could even process that Ruki had opened the door, Ruki was suddenly attached to Reita’s middle-hugging him tightly.
“I missed you so much!” he said as he squeezed Reita even tighter.
Reita temporarily forgot about his dilemma and instead smiled that stupid smile reserved solely for Ruki-wrapping his arms around his small friend and hugging him back with just as much enthusiasm. “I’m sorry, Ruki,” he said as he nuzzled Ruki’s hair. “I really missed you, too.”
“What the hell happened?!” Ruki asked, his brow furrowing with concern and confusion as he pulled away slightly to look at Reita.
Sighing, Reita untangled his arms from around Ruki and tugged his arm, pulling them both inside the apartment and closing Ruki’s door. He took a moment to slip his shoes off, leaning down and making sure to line them neatly beside Ruki’s shoes as he always had. As he righted himself, he gently grabbed Ruki’s arm again, reveling in the joy the simple act of being able to touch Ruki’s arm gave him, and pulled them over to the couch.
After they had both sat down on the couch, Reita turned a little so he was facing Ruki a bit more and he took another deep breath before he finally mustered enough courage to speak. “Ruki,” Reita began nervously, “I have a fear of my own.”
“How come you’ve never told me about it?” Ruki asked, a little hurt slipping into his voice.
Reita shrugged as he smiled, answering, “I was more worried about you.”
Tilting his head downwards so hair would cover his blushing face, Ruki hummed with appreciation and said, “Wasn’t it difficult?”
Not sure what Ruki meant exactly, Reita prodded, “Wasn’t what difficult?”
Ruki shrugged and lifted his head to look at Reita, answering with, “Forgetting about your fears.”
Smiling, Reita softly responded, “It was easy to push this fear aside when it came to helping you, Ruki.”
“What do you mean?” Ruki asked, laughing slightly at the absurdity of a fear seeming so unimportant. “How can it be so simple to just forget you’re afraid of something?”
Shrugging again, Reita turned away from Ruki as he quietly explained, “You needed me and it made me happy to know you needed me. You wanted me there and I wanted to be there for you, Ruki.” Silence sat in the air for a minute until Reita continued in nothing but a whisper. “It’s easy to forget about a fear of rejection when the person you’re in love with is clinging to the sleeve of your jacket.”
He wasn’t sure if he should risk looking at Ruki. Doing such a thing might end with his heart cracked and hurting, but he decided the silence was becoming too much to handle. Slowly, Reita turned his head in Ruki’s direction, mentally bracing himself for anything that might not be pleasing. When he finally saw Ruki’s face, his eyes widened in shock and he gasped quietly; Ruki’s face was as deliciously red as apples and his eyes were sized to match. When Ruki noticed Reita looking at him, he quickly turned away from Reita and began fumbling with his hands nervously. “Ruki?” Reita prodded softly.
“Hmm?” Ruki hummed without looking at his friend.
Reita bit his lip before asking, “Are you alright?”
Ruki didn’t answer for a minute or two, but then he suddenly turned towards Reita and asked, “Do you mean it?” Sighing, Reita slowly nodded his head. “I saw this TV show once,” Ruki started as he scratched his cheek. “This girl confessed her love to the guy she liked and after that, all he did was ignore her.”
Reita squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that wasn’t Ruki’s way of easing into a rejection. Slowly he opened his eyes and forced himself to look at Ruki again, slowly and nervously asking, “Is… that… what you’re going to do to me?”
“No,” Ruki answered sternly. Ruki looked Reita straight in the face, causing Reita’s eyes to widen with surprise, and added, “I don’t do things like ignoring people. That’s mean.”
Reita nodded, smiling as he said, “Ah, I can take a hint. Ignoring you was probably not the best way to handle this”
“No! It really wasn’t!” Ruki said angrily. “What did you think I was going to do?!”
Shrugging, Reita stared at his lap and mumbled, “I dunno. Never want to see me again?”
Ruki sighed with frustration and said, “Let’s pretend for a minute that I don’t feel the same way about you. Did you really think I’d not want to talk to you anymore?! Reita, what would I do without you?” he finished sadly.
Shrugging again, Reita mumbled, “I dunno… You’d still have Kai and Ao-“ He immediately stopped talking and instead gasped, jerking his head up to look at Ruki. “We were pretending you don’t feel the same way about me?!”
His cheeks flushing a deep shade of pink, Ruki nodded at Reita and mumbled, “Uh huh.”
“So that means you’re in love with me too?!” Reita asked excitedly, his happiness kicking his contemplative frown off of his face and instead replacing it with a huge-ass grin. Ruki’s cheeks flushed more deeply as he grinned back and bit his lip, nodding at Reita.
Reita couldn’t contain his excitement; he lunged across the couch and threw his arms around Ruki’s neck, leaning forward as he tried to press his lips to Ruki’s. “NO!” Ruki shouted, trying to push Reita away. “No, don’t touch me there! DON’T TOUCH ME THERE!” he pleaded as he pressed the palm of his hand to Reita’s face, trying to shove him away.
“Ruki!” Reita mumbled against Ruki’s palm. “I just want to kiss you! I promise it’ll be nice!” Reita groaned and stopped trying to struggle against Ruki. A thought had occurred to him suddenly and he gently grabbed Ruki’s wrist, pulling his hand away from his face. He smirked at Ruki and said, “You’ve never been kissed have you?”
“I’m totally okay with that!” Ruki quickly said as he nodded fervently. Reita’s smirk grew and became slightly predatory as he leaned closer to Ruki, only causing Ruki to lean farther away from him with a whimper. “W-what are you doing?! Stay away!”
Reita just smiled even more deviously as he crawled closer to Ruki. He was now leaning over Ruki as he had Ruki backed against the arm of the couch. Noticing the fearful look Ruki was giving him, Reita’s smile softened and he said, “Don’t worry. I would never hurt you,” and then slowly leaned closer… and closer… and closer… until finally their lips connected. Ruki whimpered softly as Reita moved his lips gently against his.
Reita couldn’t help but chuckle into the kiss as he noticed the way Ruki had suddenly made a hundred-and-eighty degree turn when it came to kissing. He was kissing Reita hungrily-nipping at his lips as he clung to Reita tightly. Just a minute ago he had been begging Reita not to kiss him at all!
There were no complaints about Ruki’s enthusiasm from Reita, but he was so startled and amused at the situation that he pulled away-or tried to-so he could stare at Ruki in surprise. As soon as he had broken the kiss, Ruki was pulling Reita closer again, saying, “No, don’t stop!”
Reita laughed. “Easy, Tiger!” he chuckled as he pulled back from Ruki again. “Don’t you want to save some of that for later?!” he asked, shocked at Ruki’s eagerness.
Biting his lip as he blushed furiously, Ruki mumbled, “Sorry. I guess I got a little carried away.”
Smiling at him, Reita leaned down and pecked Ruki gently on the lips. “It’s alright,” he said as he pulled away again. “It was just a bit of a shock. Wasn’t that supposed to be your first kiss?!” he asked incredulously.
Ruki blushed even deeper as he nodded. “It was my first kiss. I just…”-he paused and combed his fingers through his hair nervously-“I just really liked it.”
Reita grinned as he sat up and tugged Ruki closer to him on the couch. Ruki sat beside Reita and circled Reita’s waist with his arms. Wrapping an arm around Ruki’s shoulders and pulling him even closer, Reita said, “I loved it.”
Grinning, Ruki hid his face in Reita’s chest as he shyly said, “I’m so glad you stopped to help me that day on the street, Reita. I’m positive you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You’ve helped me so much…” Ruki’s happy face had turned into one with a frown. “Come to think of it, I’m not really sure it’s fair. I haven’t done much of anything for you.”
“Don’t say that!” Reita scolded, pulling Ruki even closer to him. “I needed you and you didn’t turn your back on me, Ruki. Just because you didn’t help me cross a street doesn’t make how you helped me any less important.”
“But I didn’t even do anything for you! I already loved you!” Ruki said as he looked up at Reita with a pout.
Reita laughed happily as he beamed at Ruki and said, “That’s more than enough."
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A/N: Alright. I'm quite pleased with this chapter! Hopefully all of my dearest readers are satisfied as well!!! I'm saving all of the end-of-fic author's notes for the epilogue. Don't forget there's still the epilogue! And I'm sorry for making you guys wait so long D: I really just wanted to make the final chapter as best as I could!