My reflection - chapter 33, Ruki/Kai, Reita/Uruha
Author: yukigafuru
Title: My reflection
Chapters:34/?
Pairing: Ruki/Kai, Uruha/Reita, Aoi/OC, Aoi/Sakito
Warnings: lots of angst, manxman love
Rating: PG-15
Genre: Angst, Romance
Disclaimer: I am not connected to the real persons. This is just a figment of my imagination and I don't make any money nor profit in any way out of this (well, except gathering your love that is).
Summary: They are successful but are they really happy? Are there shadows lurking in the dark, just waiting for a chance to come out? What is happening with Ruki and how can Kai help? And what will this challenge for the two of them bring?
Chapter 33
While Aoi, Uruha and Ruki got together their things and left in a hurry towards Aoi’s apartment, eager to hear all the news everyone had to tell (two of them were more than interested in seeing how Sakito fell into the picture), the other two Gazette members seemed to be doing everything possible to postpone the unavoidable, even for a bit.
It certainly wouldn’t be a pleasant visit for any party involved. Even if Reita’s suspicions were wrong, something was bound to go haywire the moment they started questioning the man. How do you even start such a discussion: “I’m sorry, but I suspect you’ve been abusing your son?” Reita wasn’t the man to be afraid of something like this, but he wasn’t looking forward to it either. Kai was in a difficult position too. In reality, he didn’t belong there, he neither knew Ryo nor was involved in this matter in any way, but he felt that Reita needed someone’s support, so he was more than ready to offer that. He really hoped things wouldn’t get out of hand. They weren’t supposed to get too nasty, any way; they lived in Japan. This was not going to be one of those interventions with guns and judo moves and things blowing up, no, they’d have an intelligent discussion, right? Hopefully.
The ride towards Reita’s edifice was mostly quiet, with both members deep in thought. There were no plans; no “we should be doing this, saying this”. What kind of plans could they have agreed on, anyway, not knowing the slightest bit about your conversation partner? They’d just have to rely on themselves then and there.
Once they got inside the parking lot, the tension started rising.
“We really are doing this, aren’t we? Should I be doing this?” Reita asked. It was easy to have doubts. It wasn’t a situation to be presented with everyday. Normally, he was the stubborn, sure one, who once decided something, wouldn’t turn back until the job was done. But this time, what really got to him was the fact that he hadn’t talked with Uruha about this. Not really. He didn’t want his lover involved in any way. Uruha was sometimes a bit too sensitive and he was worried how he would react if Reita’s suspicions turned out true. So he could only turn to his friends, especially Kai.
“We are. Because you think it’s necessary. It’s not like you to doubt yourself, Reita-kun. And remember, I’m here.”
“Thanks, Kai-kun. That’s what I needed to hear... Sorry for not asking about yesterday’s date. Ru-chan seemed really happy.”
Kai smiled, remembering the date he and his lover had had the day before.
“Don’t worry. I bet Uruha-kun will fill you in plenty when you get home.”
“Tell me about it!”
And just like that they were in front of Ryo’s door. Reita knocked. No answer came. He knocked again, harder. This time some mumbling and crashing was heard from inside and after a few more minutes, the door opened. In the door stood what Reita could only assume was Ryo’s father. Or the idea of it, because the man wobbling on his feet, stinking of whisky and probably other several types of alcohol, his shirt stained and crumpled, his pants riding low on his hips, his eyes red and puffy and his beard unshaven in at least two days, was not supposed to be the man they’d be having this conversation with.
“Who are you?” Was the very direct and not polite question.
“I’m one of your son’s, Ryo’s friends. I was a little worried about him and wanted to talk with you. My name is Suzuki Akira. This is my friend and co-worker, Uke Yutaka. Might we come in?”
There was some grumbling, but they thought they heard the answer:” suit yourself” and the door was left open, so they entered.
The place was a mess. From the looks of the man, they weren’t expecting it to be spotless, but still, the scene was… Chairs were turned upside down, the couch and the small coffee table in front of it was filled with cans of different drinks and leftover snacks, dirty dishes could be seen here and there all over the living room, several pieces of clothing could be seen abandoned on almost every surface available. The place looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in weeks and it probably hadn’t.
They weren’t invited to sit down but it was hard for Reita to even try and maintain his calm, especially if he’d be standing. Not at seeing that living room. There hardly was anything to discuss anymore, was there? Ryo, that bright, funny, wonderful child should never have to live in those conditions, not even for a day. It was unacceptable. But still, the man being drunk didn’t mean he was abusing his son, and Reita needed to get the full picture. So he and Kai picked up a couple of thrown chairs and sat down, observing the man, who had just returned from the adjoining kitchen, another can of alcohol in his hand. He just sat down on the dirty couch and resumed drinking.
“Like I said, mister…”
This was the place where Ryo’s father was supposed to fill in the blanks and give his name. The man was perhaps too far gone for that piece of courtesy, so Reita cleared his throat and pressed on.
“I’ve seen him on several occasions with bruises all over his body and frankly, I was worried regarding his health. I’ve also heard that the neighbors have seen you on occasions in a not very favorable situation, so to speak, so I thought it would be best if I came and talked with you, heard your…”
He was rudely interrupted.
“Oh, I recognize you; you’re the fag my son was rambling about. Thought I had seen your two faces somewhere. Get out of my house! I don’t need people like you in here. And stay away from my son!”
“Listen, mister, I don’t care what you think about me but I asked you a question and I demand an answer. Have you laid a finger on your son?”
Reita was quickly loosing his patience. Sure he knew a lot of people didn’t approve with his sexuality, but that didn’t mean they’d be so… so… he couldn’t find the word, to use that tone and way of speech with him.
Although he didn’t show it, Kai was quite upset too, but not only about how they were being treated. The man was in no position to be talked too, and frankly he’d prefer they came back another time, but he knew better than talk with Reita then. Reita was demanding an answer and he was going to get it.
The man stood up from the couch, went into the kitchen again and started making for himself some sort of sandwich. Or at least he was trying too, since the slices were coming out in various shapes and sizes.
“Damn well I did. What kind of a man keeps posters with you weirdos? And he’s gonna get some more once he comes from school since I prohibited him to even talk with you people.”
What really surprised Kai was the fact that even though the man had obviously had alcohol in large quantities and he was far from being sober, his speech wasn’t a drunkard’s in any way. It was rude and nothing like he’d had to face in some time, maybe his whole life, but it wasn’t wrong or stuttered. Could the man be more sober than they had imagined? And if so, then what to do?
Kai was still analyzing the situation, but Reita was way beyond analyzing anything. He had practically jumped from the chair. He was now looming over the kitchen counter, his hands gripping it tight enough to break it.
“Now listen to me, I am gonna take Ryo-kun away and have him live with me and my lover and if you even try to see him again I am gonna have so many cops on your tail you won’t even know what hit you. I’ll be starting the adoption procedures tomorrow and you’re gonna be kind enough to sign the damned papers.”
Ruki was known in the Gazette for losing his temper, in the same measure as Kai was known for never losing his, but what few people knew was how deadly Reita became when he got mad. Which wasn’t often. Most times he’d get just slightly upset and no one but Uruha could talk him out of it but Reita raving mad was a sight not even Kai had seen before. And it certainly took someone out of his wits to not retreat when confronted with that stance and with that burning gaze and the ice-cold tone. It was obvious that the other man was out of it because he came out from behind the counter and stood facing Reita, kitchen knife still in his hand. Kai panicked and quickly got up to his feet but everything happened too fast to even be comprehensible. One minute the man was saying something about getting out of his house and the next, the same kitchen knife was going through Reita. Kai was a few steps away and still he couldn’t reach and was forced to watch everything and be unable to help. It all seemed to be in slow-motion, until he got near Reita.
He was breathing hard and was crunched over. He had been stabbed somewhere in the stomach area and was bleeding profusely. His breathing was labored and his gaze seemed to be a bit out of focus.
“Reita, hang on, I’m calling the ambulance now.”
Kai reached out for his cell phone when all of a sudden, the device was blown out of his hands.
“You’re not calling the cops on me, you’re not.”
“I was calling the ambulance. He needs immediate help!”
It was obviously pointless since the guy was no longer hanging on that shred of sanity he appeared to have had before. He was gripping the knife in his right hand and had hit with the left one apparently. Kai was weary of the knife still being clutched. He didn’t have time to try to reason with the drunkard. He needed to call the ambulance or Reita could… So he jumped at the other man and in the struggle, managed to grab his hand and twist it so that the knife fell. There were perks to being a drummer and one of those was having a killer of a grip. He had no reserve to punching the guy and sending him into the counter either. Better to be safe, than sorry. After these more or less heroic acts, he scrambled to pick up his phone, which lay thrown on the carpet, in the middle of the living room and call again. After the third ring, he got through.
“My friend was stabbed in the stomach region. He’s bleeding heavily. I need an ambulance on…”
He was about to give the address when all of a sudden, he felt was a powerful blow and everything went black. His last thought was that he should have hit harder.
……………………………………
“And even though normally I would have loved the piano performance, I swear that then and there, all I wanted to do was get him in the yet unseen bed.”
“Oh, that’s so romantic.” Uruha cooed. “Rei-kun never does incredibly romantic things.”
Just then Sakito came in and walked behind Aoi, embracing him and lightly kissing his neck.
“Who doesn’t do incredibly romantic things?”
Uruha pouted even more.
“See what I mean? Even Sakito-san is a romantic.”
Aoi decided to ignore Uruha for the moment since everyone in the room knew he didn’t really mean it and focus on Sakito.
“Miyuki-san?”
“She’s in town. Heard she needed to take care of something at the court house.”
“Will she be long?”
“A few hours.”
“Ok, then you guys need to get out of here.”
At Aoi’s remark, all the other three started to laugh. Ruki’s curiosity got hold of him.
“So how are things between you two? Last time, Aoi-shi only gave us a brief account of everything. We need details. Sakito-san, how are things around here?”
“Well, I’ve just moved in. We try to keep a bit of a distance when Miyuki-san is around. It must still be hard on her. Although… and I’m only saying this as an innocent comment…” The three of them rolled their eyes. “She’s making slaves out of us when she is here. That baby is gonna have the weirdest food habits. Last night, I had to get up in the middle of the night and go to the conbini for strawberry ice-cream. They were just out of it. Had to go to another one. When I came back, she wanted pine-apple ice-cream instead of the strawberry one.” And Sakito sighed.
“So that just means you’re getting to enjoy fatherhood.” Ruki grinned.
“That I most certainly am.” And Sakito reached down towards Aoi’s lips and kissed the dark haired guitarist gently. Uruha and Ruki grinned upon seeing Aoi’s lost expression. They certainly knew how that felt like.
“So when are you two getting to go on a real date?” Ruki cheekily asked. “I’d bet you’re both starving by now.” Aoi was actually the one to blush.
“Don’t think we’re gonna be able to for quite sometime. With the baby coming soon and Miyuki-san being tired all the time, and between us and the bands, it’s gonna be some months of healthy abstinence.”
“Healthy?” Uruha wondered.
“Sure. It just means that after everything gets settled I won’t be letting him out of bed for at least a week.” Sakito replied.
Uruha got up to go and get more beers from the freezer. He brought back the beers and after putting them on the coffee table in the middle, reached out for the platter of pastries, picked one up, put it on his own small plate. Ruki just saw him suddenly lose his balance, going white as a sheet. Therefore, he quickly got up and supported him. The plate fell on the rug. Crumbs of the pie were scattered all over it.
“Uru, are you all right?”
“I just… Don’t know what came over me.”
“Here, sit down. Want me to get you something? Maybe some cold water? You didn’t drink that much though.” Aoi worried.
“It’s not that. I just had this horrible feeling in my chest, as if…But I’m fine. I…”
Still no matter if time passed, the feeling just wouldn’t go away. It felt as if someone was opening a whole in his stomach. He didn’t feel pain, but he knew it was there, growing bigger and bigger, eating him away. Uruha was so absorbed in the sensation that he didn’t see Ruki suddenly sitting down. Nor did he see his face. He only heard the pained mumble.
“Kai.”
And then everything came into place. All the pieces were there and they had been assembled.
“Oh, God.”
A/N: Waiting for your comments. I certainly get the feeling there's gonna be quite a few this time. LOL
Love you and thank you for reading. Hugs
Title: My reflection
Chapters:34/?
Pairing: Ruki/Kai, Uruha/Reita, Aoi/OC, Aoi/Sakito
Warnings: lots of angst, manxman love
Rating: PG-15
Genre: Angst, Romance
Disclaimer: I am not connected to the real persons. This is just a figment of my imagination and I don't make any money nor profit in any way out of this (well, except gathering your love that is).
Summary: They are successful but are they really happy? Are there shadows lurking in the dark, just waiting for a chance to come out? What is happening with Ruki and how can Kai help? And what will this challenge for the two of them bring?
Chapter 33
While Aoi, Uruha and Ruki got together their things and left in a hurry towards Aoi’s apartment, eager to hear all the news everyone had to tell (two of them were more than interested in seeing how Sakito fell into the picture), the other two Gazette members seemed to be doing everything possible to postpone the unavoidable, even for a bit.
It certainly wouldn’t be a pleasant visit for any party involved. Even if Reita’s suspicions were wrong, something was bound to go haywire the moment they started questioning the man. How do you even start such a discussion: “I’m sorry, but I suspect you’ve been abusing your son?” Reita wasn’t the man to be afraid of something like this, but he wasn’t looking forward to it either. Kai was in a difficult position too. In reality, he didn’t belong there, he neither knew Ryo nor was involved in this matter in any way, but he felt that Reita needed someone’s support, so he was more than ready to offer that. He really hoped things wouldn’t get out of hand. They weren’t supposed to get too nasty, any way; they lived in Japan. This was not going to be one of those interventions with guns and judo moves and things blowing up, no, they’d have an intelligent discussion, right? Hopefully.
The ride towards Reita’s edifice was mostly quiet, with both members deep in thought. There were no plans; no “we should be doing this, saying this”. What kind of plans could they have agreed on, anyway, not knowing the slightest bit about your conversation partner? They’d just have to rely on themselves then and there.
Once they got inside the parking lot, the tension started rising.
“We really are doing this, aren’t we? Should I be doing this?” Reita asked. It was easy to have doubts. It wasn’t a situation to be presented with everyday. Normally, he was the stubborn, sure one, who once decided something, wouldn’t turn back until the job was done. But this time, what really got to him was the fact that he hadn’t talked with Uruha about this. Not really. He didn’t want his lover involved in any way. Uruha was sometimes a bit too sensitive and he was worried how he would react if Reita’s suspicions turned out true. So he could only turn to his friends, especially Kai.
“We are. Because you think it’s necessary. It’s not like you to doubt yourself, Reita-kun. And remember, I’m here.”
“Thanks, Kai-kun. That’s what I needed to hear... Sorry for not asking about yesterday’s date. Ru-chan seemed really happy.”
Kai smiled, remembering the date he and his lover had had the day before.
“Don’t worry. I bet Uruha-kun will fill you in plenty when you get home.”
“Tell me about it!”
And just like that they were in front of Ryo’s door. Reita knocked. No answer came. He knocked again, harder. This time some mumbling and crashing was heard from inside and after a few more minutes, the door opened. In the door stood what Reita could only assume was Ryo’s father. Or the idea of it, because the man wobbling on his feet, stinking of whisky and probably other several types of alcohol, his shirt stained and crumpled, his pants riding low on his hips, his eyes red and puffy and his beard unshaven in at least two days, was not supposed to be the man they’d be having this conversation with.
“Who are you?” Was the very direct and not polite question.
“I’m one of your son’s, Ryo’s friends. I was a little worried about him and wanted to talk with you. My name is Suzuki Akira. This is my friend and co-worker, Uke Yutaka. Might we come in?”
There was some grumbling, but they thought they heard the answer:” suit yourself” and the door was left open, so they entered.
The place was a mess. From the looks of the man, they weren’t expecting it to be spotless, but still, the scene was… Chairs were turned upside down, the couch and the small coffee table in front of it was filled with cans of different drinks and leftover snacks, dirty dishes could be seen here and there all over the living room, several pieces of clothing could be seen abandoned on almost every surface available. The place looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in weeks and it probably hadn’t.
They weren’t invited to sit down but it was hard for Reita to even try and maintain his calm, especially if he’d be standing. Not at seeing that living room. There hardly was anything to discuss anymore, was there? Ryo, that bright, funny, wonderful child should never have to live in those conditions, not even for a day. It was unacceptable. But still, the man being drunk didn’t mean he was abusing his son, and Reita needed to get the full picture. So he and Kai picked up a couple of thrown chairs and sat down, observing the man, who had just returned from the adjoining kitchen, another can of alcohol in his hand. He just sat down on the dirty couch and resumed drinking.
“Like I said, mister…”
This was the place where Ryo’s father was supposed to fill in the blanks and give his name. The man was perhaps too far gone for that piece of courtesy, so Reita cleared his throat and pressed on.
“I’ve seen him on several occasions with bruises all over his body and frankly, I was worried regarding his health. I’ve also heard that the neighbors have seen you on occasions in a not very favorable situation, so to speak, so I thought it would be best if I came and talked with you, heard your…”
He was rudely interrupted.
“Oh, I recognize you; you’re the fag my son was rambling about. Thought I had seen your two faces somewhere. Get out of my house! I don’t need people like you in here. And stay away from my son!”
“Listen, mister, I don’t care what you think about me but I asked you a question and I demand an answer. Have you laid a finger on your son?”
Reita was quickly loosing his patience. Sure he knew a lot of people didn’t approve with his sexuality, but that didn’t mean they’d be so… so… he couldn’t find the word, to use that tone and way of speech with him.
Although he didn’t show it, Kai was quite upset too, but not only about how they were being treated. The man was in no position to be talked too, and frankly he’d prefer they came back another time, but he knew better than talk with Reita then. Reita was demanding an answer and he was going to get it.
The man stood up from the couch, went into the kitchen again and started making for himself some sort of sandwich. Or at least he was trying too, since the slices were coming out in various shapes and sizes.
“Damn well I did. What kind of a man keeps posters with you weirdos? And he’s gonna get some more once he comes from school since I prohibited him to even talk with you people.”
What really surprised Kai was the fact that even though the man had obviously had alcohol in large quantities and he was far from being sober, his speech wasn’t a drunkard’s in any way. It was rude and nothing like he’d had to face in some time, maybe his whole life, but it wasn’t wrong or stuttered. Could the man be more sober than they had imagined? And if so, then what to do?
Kai was still analyzing the situation, but Reita was way beyond analyzing anything. He had practically jumped from the chair. He was now looming over the kitchen counter, his hands gripping it tight enough to break it.
“Now listen to me, I am gonna take Ryo-kun away and have him live with me and my lover and if you even try to see him again I am gonna have so many cops on your tail you won’t even know what hit you. I’ll be starting the adoption procedures tomorrow and you’re gonna be kind enough to sign the damned papers.”
Ruki was known in the Gazette for losing his temper, in the same measure as Kai was known for never losing his, but what few people knew was how deadly Reita became when he got mad. Which wasn’t often. Most times he’d get just slightly upset and no one but Uruha could talk him out of it but Reita raving mad was a sight not even Kai had seen before. And it certainly took someone out of his wits to not retreat when confronted with that stance and with that burning gaze and the ice-cold tone. It was obvious that the other man was out of it because he came out from behind the counter and stood facing Reita, kitchen knife still in his hand. Kai panicked and quickly got up to his feet but everything happened too fast to even be comprehensible. One minute the man was saying something about getting out of his house and the next, the same kitchen knife was going through Reita. Kai was a few steps away and still he couldn’t reach and was forced to watch everything and be unable to help. It all seemed to be in slow-motion, until he got near Reita.
He was breathing hard and was crunched over. He had been stabbed somewhere in the stomach area and was bleeding profusely. His breathing was labored and his gaze seemed to be a bit out of focus.
“Reita, hang on, I’m calling the ambulance now.”
Kai reached out for his cell phone when all of a sudden, the device was blown out of his hands.
“You’re not calling the cops on me, you’re not.”
“I was calling the ambulance. He needs immediate help!”
It was obviously pointless since the guy was no longer hanging on that shred of sanity he appeared to have had before. He was gripping the knife in his right hand and had hit with the left one apparently. Kai was weary of the knife still being clutched. He didn’t have time to try to reason with the drunkard. He needed to call the ambulance or Reita could… So he jumped at the other man and in the struggle, managed to grab his hand and twist it so that the knife fell. There were perks to being a drummer and one of those was having a killer of a grip. He had no reserve to punching the guy and sending him into the counter either. Better to be safe, than sorry. After these more or less heroic acts, he scrambled to pick up his phone, which lay thrown on the carpet, in the middle of the living room and call again. After the third ring, he got through.
“My friend was stabbed in the stomach region. He’s bleeding heavily. I need an ambulance on…”
He was about to give the address when all of a sudden, he felt was a powerful blow and everything went black. His last thought was that he should have hit harder.
……………………………………
“And even though normally I would have loved the piano performance, I swear that then and there, all I wanted to do was get him in the yet unseen bed.”
“Oh, that’s so romantic.” Uruha cooed. “Rei-kun never does incredibly romantic things.”
Just then Sakito came in and walked behind Aoi, embracing him and lightly kissing his neck.
“Who doesn’t do incredibly romantic things?”
Uruha pouted even more.
“See what I mean? Even Sakito-san is a romantic.”
Aoi decided to ignore Uruha for the moment since everyone in the room knew he didn’t really mean it and focus on Sakito.
“Miyuki-san?”
“She’s in town. Heard she needed to take care of something at the court house.”
“Will she be long?”
“A few hours.”
“Ok, then you guys need to get out of here.”
At Aoi’s remark, all the other three started to laugh. Ruki’s curiosity got hold of him.
“So how are things between you two? Last time, Aoi-shi only gave us a brief account of everything. We need details. Sakito-san, how are things around here?”
“Well, I’ve just moved in. We try to keep a bit of a distance when Miyuki-san is around. It must still be hard on her. Although… and I’m only saying this as an innocent comment…” The three of them rolled their eyes. “She’s making slaves out of us when she is here. That baby is gonna have the weirdest food habits. Last night, I had to get up in the middle of the night and go to the conbini for strawberry ice-cream. They were just out of it. Had to go to another one. When I came back, she wanted pine-apple ice-cream instead of the strawberry one.” And Sakito sighed.
“So that just means you’re getting to enjoy fatherhood.” Ruki grinned.
“That I most certainly am.” And Sakito reached down towards Aoi’s lips and kissed the dark haired guitarist gently. Uruha and Ruki grinned upon seeing Aoi’s lost expression. They certainly knew how that felt like.
“So when are you two getting to go on a real date?” Ruki cheekily asked. “I’d bet you’re both starving by now.” Aoi was actually the one to blush.
“Don’t think we’re gonna be able to for quite sometime. With the baby coming soon and Miyuki-san being tired all the time, and between us and the bands, it’s gonna be some months of healthy abstinence.”
“Healthy?” Uruha wondered.
“Sure. It just means that after everything gets settled I won’t be letting him out of bed for at least a week.” Sakito replied.
Uruha got up to go and get more beers from the freezer. He brought back the beers and after putting them on the coffee table in the middle, reached out for the platter of pastries, picked one up, put it on his own small plate. Ruki just saw him suddenly lose his balance, going white as a sheet. Therefore, he quickly got up and supported him. The plate fell on the rug. Crumbs of the pie were scattered all over it.
“Uru, are you all right?”
“I just… Don’t know what came over me.”
“Here, sit down. Want me to get you something? Maybe some cold water? You didn’t drink that much though.” Aoi worried.
“It’s not that. I just had this horrible feeling in my chest, as if…But I’m fine. I…”
Still no matter if time passed, the feeling just wouldn’t go away. It felt as if someone was opening a whole in his stomach. He didn’t feel pain, but he knew it was there, growing bigger and bigger, eating him away. Uruha was so absorbed in the sensation that he didn’t see Ruki suddenly sitting down. Nor did he see his face. He only heard the pained mumble.
“Kai.”
And then everything came into place. All the pieces were there and they had been assembled.
“Oh, God.”
A/N: Waiting for your comments. I certainly get the feeling there's gonna be quite a few this time. LOL
Love you and thank you for reading. Hugs