My reflection - chapter 32, Ruki/Kai, Reita/Uruha
“Kai, where are you taking me?”
“Ru-chan, pouting may help you get out of a lot of thins but it’s not gonna work this time.” A smiling Kai answered. And Ruki never did find a cure against turning into mush when that man smiled. It was a chronic disease after all, tracing its origins to their first meeting. He had been a ball of nerves then, a bit after Yune had left.
…………………………………………
(past)
“I know we have something, Reita! I just know it! And he had to leave now!”
“Ru, calm down. Yune-san wasn’t the only drummer out there. We’ll find another one.”
“It’s not about finding another one, Reita-kun. You know he needs to click. How many interviews have we had until now? Ten, eleven. Every single one is either too bad or just doesn’t have the will to actually go through with this!”
“Screaming won’t get you anywhere though. I swear the last one was ready to jump an airplane just to get away from you.”
“Well, really, if they don’t have even that strength of character! And don’t roll your eyes on me!”
“Can you please promise me you’ll give him a chance?”
“This guy Yutaka something?”
“Yes. I saw him drum and he’s good, and not too good so he can think he’s the big shot. He might just be it, Ru.”
“Ok, I’ll try.”
“Thank you.”
Five minutes later, a brunette, thin, tall (compared to Ruki) young man was getting a cup of coffee, seated in front of a red-head and a partial brunette-partial blonde. And he seemed nervous.
“Ok, so Reita-san told me that you can drum and he seems pretty impressed with you. I’m not. We don’t need just someone who can drum.” Ruki looked Yutaka straight in the eyes. Damn, those eyes feel like they’re pulling me in.
“So then what do you need?”
Wow, first one to actually not flinch from that gaze.
“A teammate.”
And then Yutaka was smiling and extending a hand.
“Call me Kai. You’ve got yourself a new drummer.”
And Ruki could do nothing but simply stand there and watch as his smile reached his eyes and lighted them up and then grab his hand. And for a second, Ruki thought he might actually like to see that smile every day from then on.
……………………………………
“So where are you taking me? This blindfold is damn annoying, I tell you. It better not be just dinner…”
“Would that be unacceptable?”
“Everyone takes me to dinner…”
“But I’m not everyone now am I?”
“Maybe I’d forgive you if the dessert was awesome.”
“Maybe…”
“But really… blindfolds?”
“We’re almost there yet. Now I need you to let me guide you.”
“You’re kidding me! I’m still not aloud to see anything? I love you, but I’ll kill you.”
“I love you back.”
The two of them got out of the car and Ruki waited for Kai to come and take his hand and guide him. How he hated not seeing anything. It’s not that he didn’t trust his lover, he’d trust him with his life, but he wasn’t one for feeling helpless.
He could feel them climbing a bit. He could hear the bustle of the city but at the same time, it seemed a bit far away. There were also no sounds of other people. And in Japan and Tokyo, that was even stranger. After climbing a few steps and then feeling the automatic doors close and open between them, he gathered that they were there. Only Kai knew where, the same Kai that refused to answer to his questions. Oh, Ruki just had to pay him back.
And then he could feel the movement of an elevator and the doors opening and closing again and finally, Kai announced:
“We’re here. You can open your eyes now.”
And the blindfold was taken off. It took a few moments for his eyes to adapt to the change in lighting again even if he realized immediately that there was something different since the light wasn’t so intense. When his eyes were finally used to the change, he saw the romantic setting: the candles, the table decorated with white irises, the delicate curtains hanging around the table, the piano in the corner and, who he gathered as the performer, waiting for Kai’s sign that he could start. But what awed him was what was beyond that: the whole of Tokyo, seen from tens of meters from the ground. And he knew that view.
“We’re in Tokyo Tower?”
“Yes.”
“But how did you… I mean you can’t just book Tokyo Tower. It’s a touristic attraction. It’s… hell!”
“Like it?” Kai simply asked and finally gave the signal for the pianist to play.
“You know I do.”
Kai answered with a grin:
“Yeah, I sort of imagined that.”
“How did you ever achieve it?”
“Don’t I even get a kiss first?”
The man’s pout was simply wrong. No one was allowed to pout while smiling with his eyes like that. Ruki just had to erase that from Kai’s face and what easier way than to give in. It wasn’t such a difficult request after all. It took some minutes for them to finally reach the table.
“How did you do it, love?”
“Well, what can I say, I have connections.”
“Aren’t I lucky to have you as a lover.” I really am, aren’t I?
“I’m luckier to have you.”
“Ok, now let’s order before dessert, now shall we? Wait a sec, how do we order?”
“We don’t. I already have everything prepared.”
I really feel like digging into dessert right now. These curtains certainly fuel my imagination. Too bad we have company…
“When’s the pianist leaving?” Ruki shamefully asked.
“What are you thinking, Ru? Because I know you like the piano and I know you can have no complaints regarding the singing.”
“Oh, just a thought…”
“After dinner.”
“I sure hope that before dessert.” Ruki added and wriggled his eyebrows. “These curtains just make me want to eat you whole.”
“The curtains? And I thought it was the bed.”
Ruki almost jumped from his chair. He didn’t manage to contain his voice in the same way though so it came out a bit too high and a bit too loud, which of course triggered Kais melodious laughter and Ruki’s consequent blush.
“We have one?”
“Oh, you haven’t seen it yet. Well then, you’ll just have to wait till after dinner, now, won’t you?”
Now it was Ruki’s turn to pout.
……………………………………………………………..
The next day, the whole band had finally taken their first break from practice when Aoi finally pulled Ruki to the window. Uruha followed
“You’ve been grinning like a Cheshire cat all morning. And your singing is starting to sound like thrills, so spill. I know it must have something to do with yesterday’s date.” Aoi demanded.
“Maybe.” Ruki answered, a big grin on his face.
“Don’t even try it, Ruki-kun. I know you’re just dying to tell.”
“Damn. I’m so obvious. He took me to Tokyo Tower and a romantic dinner and a wonderful night, and sunrise. Thankfully, we got to see the sunrise.” Ruki answered, blushing a bit towards the end.
Uruha declared loudly, obviously directed towards his lover.
“Reita-kun never took me to Tokyo Tower.”
It didn’t come to Uruha as a surprise when Reita suddenly grabbed Kai and dragged him out of the room, with one word as explanation: “coffee”.
……………………………………………
“Kai-kun, I need your help with something.”
“Sure, Reita-kun. Need help booking Tokyo Tower?” Kai joked but then seeing Reita’s serious eyes, he forgot all about the topic. When Reita had that look, it meant some serious trouble. “Looks serious though. Everything ok?”
“Yeah, well, there’s nothing wrong with me or Uruha and it’s not about dating either but… Ok, let’s sit down and let me tell you the story.”
After both of them picked a couple of steaming coffees from the vending machine, they made their way towards the plush sofas supplied at the first floor of the PSC building. Once they were comfortably seated, Reita picked up.
“There’s this little boy in my building. His name is Ryo. I would often play with him football when we ran into each other and have a little chat. He’s a wonderful child; full of life and you wouldn’t imagine how smart he is. He’s also a prat. Loves to make jokes. I guess he kind of reminds me of Ruki.” Reita chuckled a bit of that but within moments the serious tone was back. “In time I noticed that he would more often than not have bruises, especially on his legs. I imagine he had them over his torso too because sometimes he’d stay as far away from my touch as possible or if touched, flinched. He’d always say he got them during football and for the longest time I didn’t doubt that. You remember what it was like, right? I mean you get faulted all the time. I had bruises over me every day of the month.”
“But…”
“But I never once saw him with his father, he never talks about him and then there were these rumors around the neighborhood. You know me, no time to sit and gossip but I happened to hear an old lady one day talking about Ryo-kun’s father coming back home drunk and that that night there had been a racket in their apartment, again. The’again’part got me questioning. I tried asking Ryo-kun. He actually changed the topic. I got even more suspicious. I went and talked with his football coach. He told me that yes, sometimes Ryo-kun would get hurt during the matches, but that there would be a lot of occasions when he’d come with his entire body covered in bruises. He’d always say it was from playing with his friends. But I never saw Ryo-kun play with anyone other than me back home. Then I tried talking with his schoolmates. His friends were worried about him, said there was something wrong because some days he’d be all quiet, shunning everyone. When I asked if they knew his father, they shook their heads. The man never came to school, and Ryo-kun had never invited them to his house.”
“You’re thinking he’s being abused by his father? What about his mother?”
“All I know is that she’s not home. When I asked, all I got was that she left. I’m not sure if she died or abandoned them but I think it’s the second one.”
“I see.”
“I still had doubts you know, and for the longest time I figured the first thing to do was talk with the father. But to my shame, band stuff and Uruha-kun… it got delayed. The day before yesterday, we were at his game, me and Uru, and then he stayed at our apartment from the night. Uru thought he acted strange when word of his father came up and he said one thing that made even more bells ring: little boys are supposed to brag about their fathers. Ryo-kun shies away before any such topic.”
“I agree with Uruha-kun on this one. I think you really have something here but I’m still a third party listening to you and according to me, there’s still room for doubt you know.”
“I know. I was thinking about asking a detective to find more things out.”
“Well, that would be sort of invading the man’s personal privacy…”
“I know, Kai-kun, and normally I wouldn’t but yesterday was just…”
“What happened?”
“The night after me and Uru talked and I promised him to do something, I happened to drop by Ryo-kun’s school again. Was planning on inviting him for tempura again. It’s his favorite dish. He had a broken arm, Kai-kun. And it was a few hours after he left our house. When I asked him about it, he said he just fell. From where? A tree. And this was the same boy that had once told me that he thinks climbing trees is idiotic. Why bother when you could spend the time so much better, like playing soccer? It really got me doubting, so I don’t know what to do anymore. An investigation could last and if he really is being abused, I can’t bear to leave him there a minute more.”
“Then how about going there and talking with the man? The two of us. You might be too partial and I’ll let you know what I think about him. And we can talk with Ryo-kun too.”
“Thank you, Kai-kun. That could work. I knew I could count on you. I don’t think I’d trust myself with the man right now. After we’re finished here, do you mind going straight away? Afterwards, you can drop by the house for a bit too, if you’d like.”
“Will do.”
“I guess the other three will probably want to chat even more about yesterday’s date, don’t you? There’s probably gonna be a pajama party, including Miyuki-san, at Aoi’s house. It’s probably best we stay as far away from that as possible.”
Both of them were laughing their hearts out all the way to the practice room and they almost collapsed when moments later, Ruki declared:
“Kai-chan, do you mind us heading to Aoi-shi’s house after practice?”
A/N: Couldn't resist a bit of fluff. Oh, and hold your horses, we're finally close to the finish line. With that said, hope you liked it?
“Ru-chan, pouting may help you get out of a lot of thins but it’s not gonna work this time.” A smiling Kai answered. And Ruki never did find a cure against turning into mush when that man smiled. It was a chronic disease after all, tracing its origins to their first meeting. He had been a ball of nerves then, a bit after Yune had left.
…………………………………………
(past)
“I know we have something, Reita! I just know it! And he had to leave now!”
“Ru, calm down. Yune-san wasn’t the only drummer out there. We’ll find another one.”
“It’s not about finding another one, Reita-kun. You know he needs to click. How many interviews have we had until now? Ten, eleven. Every single one is either too bad or just doesn’t have the will to actually go through with this!”
“Screaming won’t get you anywhere though. I swear the last one was ready to jump an airplane just to get away from you.”
“Well, really, if they don’t have even that strength of character! And don’t roll your eyes on me!”
“Can you please promise me you’ll give him a chance?”
“This guy Yutaka something?”
“Yes. I saw him drum and he’s good, and not too good so he can think he’s the big shot. He might just be it, Ru.”
“Ok, I’ll try.”
“Thank you.”
Five minutes later, a brunette, thin, tall (compared to Ruki) young man was getting a cup of coffee, seated in front of a red-head and a partial brunette-partial blonde. And he seemed nervous.
“Ok, so Reita-san told me that you can drum and he seems pretty impressed with you. I’m not. We don’t need just someone who can drum.” Ruki looked Yutaka straight in the eyes. Damn, those eyes feel like they’re pulling me in.
“So then what do you need?”
Wow, first one to actually not flinch from that gaze.
“A teammate.”
And then Yutaka was smiling and extending a hand.
“Call me Kai. You’ve got yourself a new drummer.”
And Ruki could do nothing but simply stand there and watch as his smile reached his eyes and lighted them up and then grab his hand. And for a second, Ruki thought he might actually like to see that smile every day from then on.
……………………………………
“So where are you taking me? This blindfold is damn annoying, I tell you. It better not be just dinner…”
“Would that be unacceptable?”
“Everyone takes me to dinner…”
“But I’m not everyone now am I?”
“Maybe I’d forgive you if the dessert was awesome.”
“Maybe…”
“But really… blindfolds?”
“We’re almost there yet. Now I need you to let me guide you.”
“You’re kidding me! I’m still not aloud to see anything? I love you, but I’ll kill you.”
“I love you back.”
The two of them got out of the car and Ruki waited for Kai to come and take his hand and guide him. How he hated not seeing anything. It’s not that he didn’t trust his lover, he’d trust him with his life, but he wasn’t one for feeling helpless.
He could feel them climbing a bit. He could hear the bustle of the city but at the same time, it seemed a bit far away. There were also no sounds of other people. And in Japan and Tokyo, that was even stranger. After climbing a few steps and then feeling the automatic doors close and open between them, he gathered that they were there. Only Kai knew where, the same Kai that refused to answer to his questions. Oh, Ruki just had to pay him back.
And then he could feel the movement of an elevator and the doors opening and closing again and finally, Kai announced:
“We’re here. You can open your eyes now.”
And the blindfold was taken off. It took a few moments for his eyes to adapt to the change in lighting again even if he realized immediately that there was something different since the light wasn’t so intense. When his eyes were finally used to the change, he saw the romantic setting: the candles, the table decorated with white irises, the delicate curtains hanging around the table, the piano in the corner and, who he gathered as the performer, waiting for Kai’s sign that he could start. But what awed him was what was beyond that: the whole of Tokyo, seen from tens of meters from the ground. And he knew that view.
“We’re in Tokyo Tower?”
“Yes.”
“But how did you… I mean you can’t just book Tokyo Tower. It’s a touristic attraction. It’s… hell!”
“Like it?” Kai simply asked and finally gave the signal for the pianist to play.
“You know I do.”
Kai answered with a grin:
“Yeah, I sort of imagined that.”
“How did you ever achieve it?”
“Don’t I even get a kiss first?”
The man’s pout was simply wrong. No one was allowed to pout while smiling with his eyes like that. Ruki just had to erase that from Kai’s face and what easier way than to give in. It wasn’t such a difficult request after all. It took some minutes for them to finally reach the table.
“How did you do it, love?”
“Well, what can I say, I have connections.”
“Aren’t I lucky to have you as a lover.” I really am, aren’t I?
“I’m luckier to have you.”
“Ok, now let’s order before dessert, now shall we? Wait a sec, how do we order?”
“We don’t. I already have everything prepared.”
I really feel like digging into dessert right now. These curtains certainly fuel my imagination. Too bad we have company…
“When’s the pianist leaving?” Ruki shamefully asked.
“What are you thinking, Ru? Because I know you like the piano and I know you can have no complaints regarding the singing.”
“Oh, just a thought…”
“After dinner.”
“I sure hope that before dessert.” Ruki added and wriggled his eyebrows. “These curtains just make me want to eat you whole.”
“The curtains? And I thought it was the bed.”
Ruki almost jumped from his chair. He didn’t manage to contain his voice in the same way though so it came out a bit too high and a bit too loud, which of course triggered Kais melodious laughter and Ruki’s consequent blush.
“We have one?”
“Oh, you haven’t seen it yet. Well then, you’ll just have to wait till after dinner, now, won’t you?”
Now it was Ruki’s turn to pout.
……………………………………………………………..
The next day, the whole band had finally taken their first break from practice when Aoi finally pulled Ruki to the window. Uruha followed
“You’ve been grinning like a Cheshire cat all morning. And your singing is starting to sound like thrills, so spill. I know it must have something to do with yesterday’s date.” Aoi demanded.
“Maybe.” Ruki answered, a big grin on his face.
“Don’t even try it, Ruki-kun. I know you’re just dying to tell.”
“Damn. I’m so obvious. He took me to Tokyo Tower and a romantic dinner and a wonderful night, and sunrise. Thankfully, we got to see the sunrise.” Ruki answered, blushing a bit towards the end.
Uruha declared loudly, obviously directed towards his lover.
“Reita-kun never took me to Tokyo Tower.”
It didn’t come to Uruha as a surprise when Reita suddenly grabbed Kai and dragged him out of the room, with one word as explanation: “coffee”.
……………………………………………
“Kai-kun, I need your help with something.”
“Sure, Reita-kun. Need help booking Tokyo Tower?” Kai joked but then seeing Reita’s serious eyes, he forgot all about the topic. When Reita had that look, it meant some serious trouble. “Looks serious though. Everything ok?”
“Yeah, well, there’s nothing wrong with me or Uruha and it’s not about dating either but… Ok, let’s sit down and let me tell you the story.”
After both of them picked a couple of steaming coffees from the vending machine, they made their way towards the plush sofas supplied at the first floor of the PSC building. Once they were comfortably seated, Reita picked up.
“There’s this little boy in my building. His name is Ryo. I would often play with him football when we ran into each other and have a little chat. He’s a wonderful child; full of life and you wouldn’t imagine how smart he is. He’s also a prat. Loves to make jokes. I guess he kind of reminds me of Ruki.” Reita chuckled a bit of that but within moments the serious tone was back. “In time I noticed that he would more often than not have bruises, especially on his legs. I imagine he had them over his torso too because sometimes he’d stay as far away from my touch as possible or if touched, flinched. He’d always say he got them during football and for the longest time I didn’t doubt that. You remember what it was like, right? I mean you get faulted all the time. I had bruises over me every day of the month.”
“But…”
“But I never once saw him with his father, he never talks about him and then there were these rumors around the neighborhood. You know me, no time to sit and gossip but I happened to hear an old lady one day talking about Ryo-kun’s father coming back home drunk and that that night there had been a racket in their apartment, again. The’again’part got me questioning. I tried asking Ryo-kun. He actually changed the topic. I got even more suspicious. I went and talked with his football coach. He told me that yes, sometimes Ryo-kun would get hurt during the matches, but that there would be a lot of occasions when he’d come with his entire body covered in bruises. He’d always say it was from playing with his friends. But I never saw Ryo-kun play with anyone other than me back home. Then I tried talking with his schoolmates. His friends were worried about him, said there was something wrong because some days he’d be all quiet, shunning everyone. When I asked if they knew his father, they shook their heads. The man never came to school, and Ryo-kun had never invited them to his house.”
“You’re thinking he’s being abused by his father? What about his mother?”
“All I know is that she’s not home. When I asked, all I got was that she left. I’m not sure if she died or abandoned them but I think it’s the second one.”
“I see.”
“I still had doubts you know, and for the longest time I figured the first thing to do was talk with the father. But to my shame, band stuff and Uruha-kun… it got delayed. The day before yesterday, we were at his game, me and Uru, and then he stayed at our apartment from the night. Uru thought he acted strange when word of his father came up and he said one thing that made even more bells ring: little boys are supposed to brag about their fathers. Ryo-kun shies away before any such topic.”
“I agree with Uruha-kun on this one. I think you really have something here but I’m still a third party listening to you and according to me, there’s still room for doubt you know.”
“I know. I was thinking about asking a detective to find more things out.”
“Well, that would be sort of invading the man’s personal privacy…”
“I know, Kai-kun, and normally I wouldn’t but yesterday was just…”
“What happened?”
“The night after me and Uru talked and I promised him to do something, I happened to drop by Ryo-kun’s school again. Was planning on inviting him for tempura again. It’s his favorite dish. He had a broken arm, Kai-kun. And it was a few hours after he left our house. When I asked him about it, he said he just fell. From where? A tree. And this was the same boy that had once told me that he thinks climbing trees is idiotic. Why bother when you could spend the time so much better, like playing soccer? It really got me doubting, so I don’t know what to do anymore. An investigation could last and if he really is being abused, I can’t bear to leave him there a minute more.”
“Then how about going there and talking with the man? The two of us. You might be too partial and I’ll let you know what I think about him. And we can talk with Ryo-kun too.”
“Thank you, Kai-kun. That could work. I knew I could count on you. I don’t think I’d trust myself with the man right now. After we’re finished here, do you mind going straight away? Afterwards, you can drop by the house for a bit too, if you’d like.”
“Will do.”
“I guess the other three will probably want to chat even more about yesterday’s date, don’t you? There’s probably gonna be a pajama party, including Miyuki-san, at Aoi’s house. It’s probably best we stay as far away from that as possible.”
Both of them were laughing their hearts out all the way to the practice room and they almost collapsed when moments later, Ruki declared:
“Kai-chan, do you mind us heading to Aoi-shi’s house after practice?”
A/N: Couldn't resist a bit of fluff. Oh, and hold your horses, we're finally close to the finish line. With that said, hope you liked it?