I Don't (6/12)
Title: I Don't
Author: thanku4urlove
Pairing: Takaki/Chinen, side Hikaru/Yabu and one-sided Inoo/Daiki
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None that I can think of.
Genre: Romance
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Takaki Yuya could barely believe it. Just twenty-four years old, and he was already tied down to a single bedroom house and a tiny twenty year-old man named Chinen Yuri. He was sure, however, that this situation had to be temporary. There was no way he was going to stay married to some stranger his mother had forced him with.
A/N: If anyone is confused by the I Do/ I Don't/ I Don't Care thing, please check out the Author's Note for chapter one! Sorry for the lateness! My sister has been busy, and I can't really post without her.
Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
They all looked at him, surprised and worried.
"Why?" Hikaru asked. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, yes, I'm fine, but my friend is there and I want to go visit him." Chinen answered quickly. Yamada didn't look eased by the assurance.
"Ryu?" He asked.
Chinen nodded. "He's okay. There was a fire in his house."
Yikes. That wasn't good. That was never good.
"He really is okay," Chinen insisted, "I just haven't seen him in a while and I was going to see him today anyway, so... Don't worry." He looked sorry for making everyone worried as well as rather awkward for the concern he caused, so Takaki decided to speak up.
"I'll take you, if you're alright with riding the motorcycle."
"Sure." Chinen agreed after a few moments. So they all said goodbye to their friends, Chinen hitching his bag over his shoulder and following Takaki into the parking lot. They reached the bike quickly, Takaki climbing on immediately and giving his helmet to Chinen. The younger man hadn't moved, looking at the motorcycle, hands at his sides and eyes widened.
"Climb on." Takaki prompted. That's all it took to make Chinen move, slipping the helmet on. Once he seemed situated, Takaki reached back to place Chinen's arms around his middle. Chinen leaned forward slightly, chest pressed against his back.
"Whatever you do, don't let go." He could tell though, by how tightly Chinen was holding him already, that he didn't need to worry about him not holding tight enough.
"There is no danger of that happening." Chinen confirmed, Takaki nodding and starting up the bike. Chinen's arms gripped tighter around him immediately, and all thoughts that Takaki had of turning corners a bit too tightly and stopping a bit too suddenly, just to scare Chinen like he would with his other friends, completely vanished. He rolled out of the parking lot slowly, wondering just how scared Chinen was.
The answer was made apparent by the fact that Takaki felt like he is about to be snapped in half by the time they arrived. He could barely breathe, parking his bike and taking his helmet off Chinen's head.
"We're here. You can let go now."
As soon as Chinen's arms loosened, air rushed into Takaki's lungs. The expansion hurt, almost making him cough. Chinen's arms were strong.
"D'you think, next time, you could let me breathe while I'm driving?"
Chinen didn't answer, getting off of the bike and bending his knees, putting his head in his hands.
"That was so scary..." He let out a groan. "I thought we were going to die." He stood as Takaki raised his eyebrows.
"You don't trust me?"
"I don't even like regular bicycles. I'm fine with walking everywhere, which is saying something considering how short my legs are. I have no idea how you feel safe going everywhere on that thing." As soon as Chinen said it, Takaki realized that he was right. Chinen walked everywhere; to dance practice, to college. And the university wasn't all that close. He must really be afraid with vehicles, and while Takaki didn't really understand it, he could at least try and make Chinen feel better.
"Well, if anything had happened, at least we were on the way to the hospital." Takaki found his attempt at a joke funny but Chinen did not, glaring a bit before leading the way into the building. Chinen went to the front desk, requesting to see a 'Morimoto Ryutaro' and they were on the way to his room.
Takaki's stomach began tightening as they made their way down the hallway. Morimoto Ryutaro was Chinen's close friend, the one Takaki hadn't met yet, the one good at video games that, from Chinen's various descriptions of him, scared Takaki quite a bit.
"What, nervous?" Chinen asked, amused, somehow noticing Takaki's slightly reluctant way of walking. Not wanting to say yes, Takaki just shrugged.
The first thing Takaki noticed upon pushing the door open was, of course, the boy in the hospital bed. His hair was a simple brown, a bit short, sitting naturally. However, Takaki's gaze quickly shifted from him to the person next to him, sitting in a chair and holding his hand.
"Keito? What're you doing here?"
Keito stood immediately, saying hello, flustered and pink-faced by Takaki's question, as though he had been caught doing something embarrassing.
"My, um... Well..."
He didn't seem able to finish his sentence, so the Morimoto Ryutaro explained for him.
"His boyfriend is in the hospital, that's what." Ryutaro had a smile on his face as he looked at Keito. Takaki remembered that Keito had a boyfriend--Yuto had mentioned it countless times--and he even had known somewhere in the back of his mind that the name began with 'Ryu', but he never would have guessed...
"You're dating Keito?" Chinen was as surprised by the information as Takaki was. "Since when?"
"Uh... Around the time you and Takaki got married, I think."
"And you didn't tell me?" Chinen was appalled by the whole situation, stalking over and hitting Ryutaro in the back of the head with his palm a few times. Takaki wondered if he should tell Chinen that there was something morally incorrect with hitting a person in a hospital bed.
"I told Yamada, but you seemed like you had more serious stuff going on than this! Stop hitting me!" The defending remark seemed to do the trick, Chinen pulling Ryutaro in for a hug instead. Ryutaro hugged back the best he could and laughed, saying,
"I was going to tell you today, I promise, but then..." He trailed off, and Takaki figured he was now talking about the house fire that Chinen had mentioned earlier.
"Yeah, what happened exactly?" Chinen sat up on the bed next to Ryutaro's legs, Keito resuming his seat next to them. Deciding he wanted to sit down too, Takaki saw an empty chair next to a wall and took it. "The house caught on fire?"
"Well..." Ryutaro launched into a long, complicated story about two people named Shintaro and Juri, an exploding microwave, and a misinterpreted fire alarm. It was complete with Chinen interjections, and while Takaki didn't completely understand how all of the events had unfolded, he didn't ask any questions.
"Is everyone alright?" Chinen asked once the story sounded just about over. Ryutaro nodded.
"Yeah. No burns or anything. I'm just in here because I was exposed to the smoke the longest so they're checking my lungs for... Something." He shrugged. "I don't know. The kitchen is a black shell though, so we have to stay somewhere else while it gets renovated."
"Wow, that sucks."
"Yeah." Ryutaro nodded again. "The worst part is, since Juri lives next door and he and Shintaro are such close friends, he's staying over there. In Juri's room." Ryutaro sighed, and Takaki guessed that Shintaro was the brother of Ryutaro's that Chinen had mentioned. "Since he didn't want to tell Mom and Dad yet, I can't protest without outing him." Oh. Juri was Shintaro's boyfriend, and them staying together made Ryutaro uneasy.
"Just threaten to remove his brain with a turkey baster again, it'll be fine." Chinen patted Ryutaro's arm a few times, and Takaki's eyes went wide. Again? Again?
Chinen's best friend was going to hate him, and remove his brain. Takaki gulped. Too caught up in different fearful scenarios, the next thing he heard was Chinen exclaiming
"Hey, you could stay at my house!"
"He can?" Takaki echoed immediately, not sure he liked that idea.
"I can?" Ryutaro also asked, surprised and doubtful.
"Sure!"
"But there's only one room, and I know the couch isn't free." Ryutaro reasoned. He threw a glance in Takaki's direction, meeting his eyes. It was the first time that he even had acknowledged that Takaki was in the room.
"I have a big bed, we'll figure something out." Then Chinen paused his excitement, turning to Keito. "If that's okay with you." He said. Keito however, nodded.
"If Ryutaro wants to, it's fine with me."
"So?" Chinen asked. Ryutaro still seemed reluctant, Takaki waiting anxiously for the verdict.
"I don't want to intrude..."
"I'm not leaving you with your aunt that only eats old fish." Chinen was too insistent to let his friend say no. "C'mon."
"Fine. Thanks Chii."
Chinen smiled, hopping from the bed and walking over to Takaki as Keito passed Ryutaro his cell phone. His eyes lingered on the two, saying quietly
"This is kind of weird."
Takaki nodded."Yuto mentioned Keito's boyfriend a few times that week Keito stepped in for Yabu, and he would get all blushy, but I never would have guessed that it was your terrifying friend." As soon as the adjective was out of his mouth, Takaki regretted saying it. Both of Chinen's eyebrows went up.
"My what?" He asked. He giggled when Takaki shook his head, asking "Are scared of Ryu?"
Takaki let some of the fear into his voice as he asked "Can he really suck someone's brain out with a turkey baster?"
Chinen found the question hilarious, clapping a hand over his mouth to suppress a laugh, and even then some of the mirth escaped, shoulder shaking a bit. He didn't catch Takaki glaring at him, distracted by Ryutaro.
"Hey, Chinen?"
"Yes?"
"My mom said it was a good idea. She's going to swing by and pick me up, then head down to your house."
Ryutaro was going to be at their house that night, Takaki's mind immediately flashing back to his haphazardly flung clothes in the living room, the mess in the kitchen. He wasn't sure why, but making a good impression with Ryutaro was suddenly very important to him. He stood and hooked his index finger around Chinen's to get his attention, tugging his arm towards the door and saying
"We should go, clean up or something."
Chinen looked at him, confused, almost as though he'd grown two heads, but not quite.
"What?" Takaki asked him.
"Nothing."
It wasn't nothing, but if Chinen didn't want to elaborate Takaki wasn't going to ask him to. They said goodbyes, waving and going outside.
Chinen sighed as he climbed on to the motorbike, and Takaki, worried about getting a rib crushed on the way home, turned to Chinen with a few reminders.
"Remember, I need to be able to breathe. At least try not to squeeze."
Chinen put his arms around Takaki, laying his helmeted head on Takaki's back.
"No promises." He said.
One look from Ryutaro was all it took for Chinen's assurances of "he likes you fine" and "you two will get along" to completely fade from Takaki's mind. It was a glare, a destruction-plotting glare that made Takaki freeze, Chinen's younger friend pushing past him and into the house. He was taking Takaki's couch, and because of that Takaki would be sleeping on the floor, on a blow-up mattress in Chinen's bedroom. He didn't mind being in Chinen's room though. He was actually kind of looking forward to it, for some reason.
He set up his own mattress while Chinen helped Ryutaro in the living room. When he was finished Chinen still wasn't back, so Takaki turned off the light and snuggled up in his own bed. He had almost drifted off too, when the door creaked open and something heavy pressed his fingers painfully into the floor.
Takaki made a muffled, hurt noise, and there was a squeak of apology.
"Did I step on you?" Chinen asked. Takaki nodded, then realized that Chinen couldn't see that in the darkness.
"Yeah, kinda."
"I'm so, so sorry." Chinen clicked his bedside table lamp on, illuminating the room in a warm yellow glow. "I didn't know where you put your bed, so..."
"It's okay." Takaki responded, looking up at Chinen and massaging his fingers. "I don't really need these that much anyway."
That made Chinen smile a bit. The younger man crawled into bed, pulling the covers up to his chin.
"Is it alright?" He asked. "Ryu staying here and you sleeping on the floor? I didn't really ask you."
"I'm fine with sleeping on the floor." Takaki said after a moment's consideration. "And as long as we don't actually own a turkey baster, I think I'm fine with Ryutaro, too."
Chinen giggled at that, turning his head to look at Takaki from where he was laying down.
"Why're you afraid of him?"
"Because he's tall, sort of broad shouldered, and doesn't like me."
"And how do you know that?"
"Besides the glare he gave me earlier?" Takaki laid down, squirming slightly until he was comfortable. "Think about it. He's your best friend, and I, using Hikaru's words, am an asshole. Wouldn't that make him want to hit me, or something?"
Chinen reached up to turn of the light, the face that Takaki was looking at disappeared into darkness. There was a ruffling of bed sheets, then Chinen murmured, sounding sleepy,
"I don't think you're an asshole. I like you. I like you fine."
Those words made something warm bubble in Takaki's chest, bursting by way of a smile on his face.
"Well, thanks."
"Mmhm."
With that, Chinen fell silent. Not too long later, he shifted and sighed, his even breathing suggesting that he was asleep. Takaki however, was wide awake. He knew that Chinen liked him, after the younger man had said so a week ago, but now he found himself wondering just how deep this crush went. Chinen had said it was "growing serious" and something he "really didn't need", but how serious was serious? Aside from the flustered blushing he had given Takaki after the compliment earlier that day, Takaki had never seen any signs that Chinen liked him. Did he need to worry about any spontaneous confessions?
If Chinen did confess, what would Takaki say?
Not wanting to think about this now, deciding that the fact that it was so late was messing with his brain, Takaki just shoved his face into his pillow and tried to go to sleep.
Other Chapters:
I Do | I Don't Care