[Fic] Resolution - help_chile fic

[aya_magic]

Title: Resolution
Author: Me (iris_aya )
Beta:spread_da_love
Pairing: HayaRyu
Rating: PG-13 (for language, implied sex)
Genre: Fluff, romance
Warnings: boyxboy relationship, general screwiness, please excuse typos/etc
Disclaimer: If I owned them I wouldn’t be spending my time writing fics about them, time would be used for much more interesting and fun things.
Summary: After five years of silence a relationship ten years in the making might finally find resolution.
A/N: This is my help_chile  post and yes I know I’m very late but luckily lady_aenea  is very kind and patient.  She was very sweet and understanding throughout KAT-TUN Anniversary Week and through me attempting to write this.  I hope you enjoy this fic dear, I’m sorry if I deviated from what you wanted.  Please be honest and tell me what you think and if it’s not up to what you wanted I’ll write you another fic, I’ll understand completely!
Note 2: Anything marked with a * has an explanation/credit at the end. This is also my first attempt at Akame drama characters so I’m sorry if things are a bit off :/ Also 19 page = 6854 I'm at almost 2x longer than what I planned, I'm horrible at sticking to a limit/etc
Note 3: Edit: I forgot to put this.lady_aenea  was sweet enough to allow me to post this so please thank her for her generosity~  also she prompted me for.... a HayaRyu of any time period with dominant!Ryu. I hope I pulled it off.

-

 

[Tokyo]

Hayato stared back at the arrival gate, almost wishing he could get back on that plane.  He had WANTED to come back, had even jumped at the idea when he gotten the offer from the agency.  But now he was back on home soil, surrounded by Japanese citizens, and getting odd looks.  Some were of recognition, some the typical, others of confusion as to just WHY he was standing in the middle of the walkway.

He opened his phone again, staring at his calls list as if it would give him the courage to move forward.

“Ryu will be there,” he murmured, staring at the call log from Take.

His hold on his phone tightened along with the feeling in his stomach.  He had slowly come to terms with things, and had decided on a course of action.  He knew Ryu was going to call him an idiot, that what he had done was INCREDIBLY stupid.  And that his decision to cut communications, and the reasoning behind it, was as idiotic as their old arguments.

He had to go, he decided, because it was time, it would be ok.  He just had to MAKE it ok.  He paused as a teenage girl shyly approached him.

“Ya-Yabuki… Hayato?” she shyly stuttered.

He smiled at her charmingly and opened his mouth to respond, “yes, what can I do for you?”

~~^~~

Ryu sighed, slamming his textbook shut.  He had finally finished that monster that his professor called a paper, he had wanted to shoot himself the moment twenty-five pages had been assigned.  He checked the clock and sighed, he had just enough time to shower and go meet Take, Tsucchi, and Hyuuga to eat some of Kumai’s ramen.

He paused while pulling clothing from his closet for after his shower.  In the back of his closet, poking out from between two coats was his jacket.  Since he had gotten back from Canada it had sat, hidden, in his closet but some rustling must have exposed it.  He couldn’t help but pull it out and rub his thumb lightly over the second button.

After the first two years in Canada, the owner had slowly stopped responding to any and all of his messages.  After two months of receiving no response he had given up, obviously the other hadn’t cared as much about their friendship as he had been led to believe.

It sucked, for a lack of better words he supposed.  Especially when the calls and messages stopped completely, at least for a while they slowly came in even if just one or two.  At that time he had slowly come to realize it, realize why it felt this horrible.  Losing a best friend was a horrible thing, but he wished it had only hurt that much.

A scowl reached his face before he threw the uniform jacket somewhere into his closet again and stomped over to his bathroom.

[Kumai Ramen]

Ryu parked the motorcycle and quickly bowed into the restaurant.  Kumai greeted him with a loud “Irrasshaimase Odagiri-kun!”

“Ryu!” Take raised his hand in greeting from where he sat with Tsuchiya, “we’re just waiting on two more then, Kumai!”

Ryu sat down and nodded in greeting to the others, “I thought I was going to be late…”

“Did you finish your paper?” Tsuchiya, as ever, asked while fanning himself lightly.

“Just before I got ready,” Ryu nodded, cracking his knuckled lightly, “I thought I’d die while writing it.”

“Sorry!” Hyuuga ran in, out of breath.

“It’s just lunch, you didn’t need to run here,” Take laughed brightly.

Hyuuga looked around and blinked, “not here?  The idiot should’ve had one of us go get him,” he grumbled before sitting, “Ryu!  How’s school going?”

“Painfully,” Ryu picked at a napkin lightly before frowning, “who else is coming?”

The other three exchanged looks.

“I thought you knew,” Tsuchiya grinned, “Hayato said he’d meet us here, but I swear he was landing a couple hours ago.”

His frown deepened, “Landing?”

Take opened his mouth to respond when the shop door opened, a brief chime sounded.

“Hayato!” Hyuuga called out brightly.

Ryu turned around, frowning.  His frown deepened at the sight in front of him.  “He looks… good, better than good actually,” he mused briefly.  The obvious designer clothing, coupled with the sleek sunglasses and tousled hair, just what the hell had the other been doing?

~~^~~

Hayato closed the door to the sports car.  He tapped his fingers on the top, trying to find an excuse not to go in there.  He couldn’t find any: he hadn’t even gone to his new apartment so he couldn’t use an issue there, movers were taking care of his things, the agency had taken care of everything else, and he wasn’t even tired from the flight.

He trudged through the door, shooting a small smile at Kumai’s greeting.

“Hayato!” his head shot up and he grinned at Hyuuga.  He already felt a bit at ease, hearing that excited shout.

He pulled his sunglasses off and his eyes locked with Ryu’s eyes, the other was scrutinizing him.  He forced the smile to stay while thoughts ran through his head.

“He looks good, way less skinny,” he tilted his head, “his chubbier cheeks are kind of adorable actually… much better in casual clothing.”

“Hey,” he greeted carefully, sitting down on the other side of the table, “It’s been a long time.”

“Yeah it has,” Tsuchiya hit him with his fan, “what happened?  Once you left did Japan decide it didn’t want to let you back in?”

Take, Tsucchi, and Hyuuga chuckled.

He ran a hand through his hair, “I had a contract, I couldn’t just break it… even if I wanted to,” he unnoticeably glanced at Ryu.

The bo… no man, now dark haired, was still examining him.

“Ryu?” Hayato asked quietly, “Is there something wrong with me or something?”

“Where the fuck have you been you bastard?” Ryu snapped, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

The other three shrank back a bit, wondering how their other former leader would react.

“That’s a great first thing to say to me, especially since it’s the first time in five years,” Hayato growled.

“Fi-five years?” Take started, “I thought you guys still TALK!”

“As if I would talk to this idiot, apparently he’s so stupid he doesn’t know how to use a phone properly,” Ryu scoffed, sipping on a glass of water.

Hayato’s eyes narrowed, “I don’t have to sit here and take that shit, Ryu.”

“Then why are you still here, Yabuki?” Ryu spat out, his chest ached whenever he glanced up at the other.

Hayato opened his mouth to respond when the phone buzzed.  He scowled as he flipped it open and snapped, “what!?”

He sighed, “Right, right.  Alright I’ll be there soon then.”

He spared one last glare for Ryu before shutting his phone, “sorry to run off but I have to go to an appointment.”

“Go ahead,” Hyuuga smiled.

“It was good seeing you guys, we’ll have to do it once my schedule isn’t so stupid,” he ran a hand through his hair before nodding tersely to Ryu.

“Bye Hayato,” Take and Tsuchiya called as the other fished his keys out and left.

“Really Ryu,” Take shook his head, “I’m almost ashamed of you.”

“What does he do?” Ryu wrinkled his nose in disgust, “found himself a rich whore or something?”

“Ryu, just be quiet,” Tsuchiya sighed, “You’d think you were living under a rock while in Canada.”

“I don’t get it,” Ryu frowned, he hated not knowing something everyone else did.

“Just try looking him up later,” Hyuuga waved it off, “Kumai!  I think we’re ready to order!”

Ryu sat in relative silence for the rest of the meal, why would he need to look Hayato up?

[Agency]

“Sorry I’m late,” Hayato sighed, he had spent ten minutes sitting in the parked car beating himself up.  He shouldn’t have reacted that way, Ryu had every right to be angry.

“It’s fine, you’re actually earlier than I expected.  They just learned you were in today and wanted to move it up a day,” the man in front of him paused, “you ok?”

“Just jetlagged,” Hayato assured him.

“Alright let’s get going,” the man directed him out of the office.

[Ryu’s Apartment]

His eyes kept straying to his laptop and away from the book that he NEEDED to finish before he did anything else for the night. 

Most people do exactly the opposite.  Without realizing that the past is constantly determining their present actions…*  His eyes snapped back to his computer from the page, with a sigh he closed the book with a quiet snap.

Windows greeted him with a sparkle and glitter before his desktop came into view.  He bit his lip before opening the internet browser and typing in ‘Yabuki Hayato’.

His eyes widened at the sight that greeted him.  He half expected headlines about an arrest, an affair with a rich heiress, a random lottery win but not countless pictures to pop up under the image search.

He hit the first thumbnail, not believing his eyes at first.  Up popped a sleek picture, his eyes trailed over the long, fitted jacket, checked scarf, black fedora, the 70,000 plus yen boots.  He blinked, the very boots the older boy had been wearing earlier.  Professionally taken photo, styled hair, perfect tailoring.

“What… the… fuck?”

He opened more tabs, looking at all the different pictures popping up.  Some recent, very recent it seemed.  The same hair, build, everything but some were older.  He frowned at how innocent and young the other looked in some of these, that boyish smile lighting up his face and making him seem so much less hardened than he had been.  He frowned, quite a few of these couldn’t have been that long after graduation, he was too young looking compared to some, too thin and a bit more awkward looking from time to time.

He finally hit the back key a few times and hit another link, a Wikipedia page.  He skimmed the page and something jumped out at him.

“Agent scouted him on his way home in Tokyo in January when he was nineteen...  Six months after his debut he was encouraged to transfer to an American agency where he continued his rise in the industry”

Ryu glared at the screen, “so that makes… it around the time that he stopped talking to me that he went to America, bastard,” he snarled before violently shutting his computer.

“So the idiot went and became a super model,” he moved back to his bed and lied down, “a fucking model of all things…”

[Photo Shoot]

Hayato stared at his phone, wishing it would ring and he could apologize.  Maybe he could even invite the other over once they solved everything, the apartment was too big for him anyway.  He didn’t want to return there after the photo shoot wrapped up.  He glanced at the hair stylist busy touching up his hair before his gaze went back to his phone.

“Expecting a call?” she chatted genially.

“No,” he mumbled.

“You probably just want to go home, well this is the last set and then we can all leave,” she smiled and made one last adjustment, “go ahead.”

[Ryu’s Apartment]

Ryu set his textbook to the side with a yawn as his eyes flicked over to his phone for the nth time that night.  He was sure he could get an explanation from his idiot ex-best friend if he really wanted but that required calling him, something he definitely didn’t want to do at the moment.  He didn’t want to admit it but he felt he’d hang up if he tried.  He stared at his phone a bit longer; he had a decision to make.

[The Next Night: Hayato’s Apartment]

Hayato sorted through the keys, finally locating the one he had been given to get into his new apartment.  He walked forward when the elevator opened to the top floor and stopped.

Ryu looked at his watch and scoffed, “it took you long enough to get home,” he hadn’t expecting to be waiting until eleven.

Hayato blinked at the figure leaning against his doorway, “I had… I had work.  What are you doing here?”

Ryu arched an eyebrow, “are you going to invite me in or what?”

“Uh, yeah,” Hayato quickly opened the door and let Ryu into the empty apartment.

Ryu tipped his shoes off and continued into the living room.  Black leather furniture, flat screen TV, everything was pretty simple.  He assumed the only reason there was no mess though was that the other had just returned to Japan for the first time.

“Nice apartment,” Ryu said.  It was much bigger than his own was, but he hadn’t wanted or needed the extra space when he had gone apartment hunting.  It actually wasn’t that far from here.

“Thanks…” Hayato stood a distance away awkwardly, “the agency has taken care of all arrangements for me.  I mean this place is too big, I don’t know what they were thinking.  But Taku might move in with me, it’s closer to his university,” he rambled on.

“I guess he is that age now,” Ryu mumbled.

“Look I’m sorry,” Hayato blurted out.

Ryu blinked, had he ever heard those exact words in a serious situation?  It hadn’t counted when the other had stolen bits of his food and apologized without meaning it at all or when mock apologies during little squabbles.

“You had every right to be angry when you saw me and you didn’t deserve that kind of reaction from me,” Hayato bit his lip, “you can hit me if you want.”

“I’m not going to hit you,” Ryu scoffed, “what would your agent and clients say if you showed up to a photo shoot with a black eye?”

“I take it you know?” Hayato cringed, they had spent ages mocking male models when they were younger.

“Take told me I should look you up so I did,” Ryu rolled his eyes, “I was expecting a story about how you somehow won over some heiress, not this.”

Hayato shrugged, “Do you want anything to drink or eat?  I don’t know what’s in here I didn’t really check yesterday… I wonder if…” He opened the refrigerator and blinked at everything inside it.  When they had said they’d take care of everything they had meant it.

“Agency?” Ryu asked with a frown, “just water is fine.”

“Yeah,” Hayato handed him a water bottle.

Ryu opened it and decided to avoid the main topic again, “so how exactly did this happen?”

Hayato shrugged, “I was walking home after a shift and some guy just scouted me right there.  I was with the agency temporarily, on a beginning probations of sorts until I got scouted to go to America.  I was based there for five years, flying around the world for stuff.  Does that answer your question well enough?”

“No, not at all,” Ryu looked at him pointedly.  The gaze was filled with poignant meaning, Hayato knew what the other wanted.  He had to explain, at least explain part of it.

Hayato frowned and leaned back into the chair, almost trying to disappear into the leather.  They sat in silence for a moment before a quiet, nearly inaudible voice finally answered the unspoken question.

“I didn’t think I could face you,” Hayato murmured, “you were studying so hard at school and actually trying to make your life into something…” he paused, “and I was back here doing nothing of any importance you know?  And when I got scouted I thought maybe I would do something other than fail.  But I couldn’t face you before I was sure I was worthy of being your… friend again.  I was afraid that if I told you about being a model because I was good enough that once I failed I wouldn’t be able to face you.  And being scouted to go work for my American agency, it was a huge step up.  It meant that they thought I had so much potential, but even then I wasn’t there yet.  I still couldn’t face you like I used to.”

“It never bothered you before.”

Hayato sighed, “when I got busier I stopped responding to your messages as quickly, and eventually the time between got bigger… and then I felt awkward even typing out or leaving a message because so much time had passed and you would no longer care about my answer.  I figured that once I was ready I would make things right again.”

“You’re an idiot,” Ryu scoffed.

Hayato bit his lip and looked at Ryu warily, “I’m sorry?”

“Well you’re not forgiven,” Ryu rolled his eyes.  He sighed at the look on the other’s face, “Don’t look at me like that.  I feel like I’ve kicked a puppy.  I haven’t forgiven you yet, you retard.”

Hayato perked back up, “so how can I get my best friend back?”

“You can start by buying me lunch tomorrow,” Ryu suggested while standing up.

“Where are you going?” Hayato shot up from his spot.

“Home?” Ryu arched an eyebrow, “I have classes in the morning.”

“Oh right, you’re working on a masters or something?” Hayato mumbled walking him to the door, “do you need a ride home?”

“I’ll just walk,” Ryu rolled his eyes, “I mean I’m only a couple blocks down.”

Hayato blinked, “I’ll walk you, that way I can come bother you when I’m bored.”

Ryu narrowed his eyes, “I’m not a little girl who can’t be out after dark.”

“True but it’s a nice night anyway,” Hayato shrugged and slipped his shoes back on and looked at Ryu expectantly, “come on I don’t have all night.  I have to be up early tomorrow too.”

Ryu rolled his eyes one last time before walking out the door.  Hayato’s eyes lingered on the other’s back as he fumbled with the lock.

The short walk was spent in silence, neither acknowledging the fleeting looks that both threw at one another.

Ryu paused at the entrance to his apartment building, “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Hayato shrugged, “just give me a call?  I should be finished by noonish.”

Ryu scoffed, “try not to make the photographers angry or you’ll be late like you always were.”

Hayato wrinkled his nose, “the photographers love me, if you must know.”

“They’ve never spoken to you then,” Ryu smirked.

Hayato narrowed his eyes, “go to bed you bookworm.”

“Go fluff your hair a bit more you camera-whore,” Ryu countered.

Both chuckled before turning and going their respective ways.

 [Hayato’s Apartment]

Hayato pulled out his phone as he took his boots off.  He dialed a number while dropping his keys on a side table.

“Hello?” his brother asked on the other line.

Hayato distinctly heard typing in the background, the other no doubt working on an assignment, “hey.”

“Hayato,” Taku paused, “is everything ok?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Hayato frowned, tugging off his jeans and collapsing onto his bed.

“Because it’s almost midnight, don’t you have to be somewhere in like seven hours?” Taku went back to typing.

“Er right,” he had forgotten about that in his giddiness of things being so comfortable in that walk to Ryu’s apartment, “I just wanted to confirm that we’re getting your stuff settled over here tomorrow?”

“If it’s still fine with you,” Taku answered worriedly.

Hayato rolled his eyes, “stop treating me like I’m going to snap at you any second.  Oyaji being paranoid about you disturbing me or something?  He’s the one who kept pushing you to agree to the offer too.”

“Ah a bit…” Taku acquiesced.

“Well I just wanted to know about what time you’re going to need help?” Hayato pulled up his schedule on his laptop really fast.  He frowned a bit when he couldn’t remember how to get one of the functions to work, you’d think after five years of using a similar program he’d be used to it.

“Not until after classes so maybe not until around dinner.”

“That works then, I have lunch plans anyway…” Hayato trailed off absentmindedly.

“With Ryu?” Taku asked knowingly, “I take if you finally made up with him?  It took you long enough you idiot.”

“Oi don’t call your older brother stupid!  And what do you mean ‘finally made up with him’?” Hayato snapped.

“Only an idiot wouldn’t realize you two weren’t talking or whatever,” Taku scoffed, “can I get back to my work?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Hayato drawled, “I’ll see you tomorrow brat.”

“Bye.”

[The Next Day: Photo Shoot]

“You can’t already want to go home…” the stylist smiled and raised an eyebrow.

Hayato met her eyes in the mirror in surprise, recognizing her from the night before, “Ah!  Ma-Mariko-san, right?” he asked unsurely.

“Glad you remember,” she continued flipping the ends of his hair out.

He finally registered what she had said, “oh! No, I just… don’t want to be running late?”

“Date?” she smirked.

His eyes widened, “What?  No, no!  I’m supposed to meet a friend!”

“Uhuh,” she smiled knowingly, “well at least your hair will be looking extra nice for your not-date after this shoot.”

Hayato pouted, “I’m going to ignore that last part but if you’re fishing for compliments you’re not getting any from me.  At least not today.”

“I’ll make a note not to tease you in the future,” she laughed, “but you’re just too cute.”

“I’m not cute!” he snapped.

[A Few Hours Later]

“Yabuki-kun are you sure you don’t want me to touch up your hair for your date?” Mariko teased as his make-up was removed.

“It’s not a date!” Hayato fumed before getting his things and storming out

[Tokyo University]

Ryu fished his phone from his pocket when it buzzed.

To: Ryu

From: Take

Message: I take it you two didn’t kill each other yesterday?  Work things out?

To: Take

From: Ryu

Message: Why would you think we’d kill each other?  We’re having lunch together if that’s proof enough of the lack of murder .

To: Ryu

From: Take

Message: You asked for his address yesterday, I figured you’d either come out of it as friends or dead.  Have fun on your date.

Ryu chose to ignore Take’s idiocy and instead found Hayato’s number in his contact’s list.  The other picked up on the second ring.

“Yeah?” Hayato answered irritably.

“Why are you pissed?” Ryu rolled his eyes, something he found he’d been doing a lot since he started talking to Hayato again.

He couldn’t make anything but ‘stupid hair stylist’ ‘mind her own’ ‘dead wrong’ out before Hayato sighed dramatically.

“No reason, so where do you want to meet?”

“Uh… there’s this place that has great karaage near campus,” Ryu suggested.

“Alright, I’ll come pick you up.”

“You don’t need to pick me up,” Ryu replied.

“Yeah but I’m not that far away and I don’t know where this place is that you’re talking about so it’s settled.  Where in Tokyo U are you?”

“Fine, what makes you say Tokyo Uni?” Ryu asked offhandedly.

“Because it’s you,” the reply was simple.

“I see, I’ll head to the front gate then, it’ll be easier for you, see you soon,” his good-bye was mirrored before he hung up.

[Half an Hour Later]

“Aaah, umee*!” Hayato smiled as he chewed on a piece of karaage, “you were right their karaage is good.  I missed real Japanese food while in America.”

Ryu watched in near disgust as the other devoured his food, “don’t you have to watch what you eat now?”

Hayato waved his hand, “I’ll just have to work it off, not much different from before.”

Ryu nodded, “so how was America?”

“Pretty amazing,” Hayato tilted his head, “big… it was really big and crazy.  Well Tokyo is crazy but you know what I mean.  It’s a different sort… it’s crazy and laid back at the same time, at least in California it was.  Canada?”

“Cold, boring,” Ryu frowned, “who’d have thought I’d miss you idiots once I left.”

Hayato smiled lightly, “I missed everyone too, but I think it all worked out.  Well except… you know.”

Ryu for a moment before shaking his head, “idiot.  So what did your hair-stylist do?”

Ryu couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow when a faint blush stained the other’s cheeks.  It was kind of adorable, even after all this time the other still looked absolutely adorable in the rare moment he blushed.

“She wouldn’t stop teasing me about useless things,” Hayato pouted, stabbing at his karaage before transferring another piece to his mouth.

Ryu chuckled, “what about?”

“Nothing really, she thought we were going on a date and wouldn’t listen to me.  Mariko-san is just being annoying,” he huffed.

“If she’s just being annoying then why are you blushing?” Ryu tried, though he mentally berated himself the moment it left his lips.  The other had to be embarrassed because the woman, even if unknowingly, had suggested he was dating a man.

“She got the make-up artist in on it and they kept offering to make me super pretty for you,” he crinkled his nose.

Ryu blinked and began chuckling, the image of Hayato in girly make up filling his head.

“They didn’t mean girly make-up Ryu!” Hayato pouted, “it’s for contouring and stuff.”

“Did you at least set them straight?” Ryu tried to calm his laughing before he noticed his word choice.

Hayato bit his lip, “I told them I was meeting you, a friend.  They responded with, ‘Really?  We support your lifestyle decision, Hayato-kun,’ they’re even calling me by my name without permission now!  And they’re part of the team for multiple campaigns I’m doing, they’re’ affiliated with the agency too, so I can’t get out of seeing them almost daily.”

Ryu eyed Hayato’s hair for a moment.  “Well I take it she got to your hair, it does look nice,” Ryu replied without thinking before freezing above his food.

Hayato smirked lightly, “it compliments my amazingly handsome features, don’t you think Ryu?  Maybe I’ll keep it like this constantly since you seem to like it so much.”

Ryu tilted his head down to eat some of his own karaage to hide his face, “shut up Hayato.”

Hayato smiled accomplishedly, “ne, we should do something after this!  I don’t know what but I have a short day anyway.  Though I have to go when Taku needs to start bringing his stuff over.  I should at least be there for when the movers show up at dad’s later.”

“Ah Taku is moving in then?” Ryu tilted his head curiously.  He hadn’t seen the younger Yabuki in about three years, not since running into him right after his return.

“Yeah, dad seemed kind of proud when I offered.  I think he just wants us both out so he can finally get some proper rest without worrying constantly.  Taku and I weren’t sure about leaving him there alone but he was pretty adamant.”

“I’ll help you move him in I guess,” Ryu offered, “I finished two major papers and a couple books for classes so I’m free for at least another day or two.”

“You don’t need to,” Hayato hurriedly answered.

“I don’t mind."

[Yabuki Apartment]

Taku blinked in shock when he opened the door.  He felt like he was back in middle school when his brother and Ryu had been best friends.

“I see you two did make up,” Taku rolled his eyes, “the movers aren’t…”

“They were driving right behind us,” Ryu informed, he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at the company pulling up.

“Great,” Taku nodded and left the door propped open, “Dad!  Hayato, Ryu, and the movers are here!”

Hirofumi came to the door, “come in,” he ushered the three of them inside as the movers came up.  He exchanged a few words with the movers before coming back in.

“You,” he looked Hayato in the eyes before drawing him into a brief hug, “you should have visited us more often.”

“You both came out and visited me a few times,” Hayato bit his lip, “besides I sometimes got called in for photo shoots last minute.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Taku rolled his eyes, “you were already successful, you can turn down a shoot or two.”

Hayato gnawed on his lip harder and shot a hurried glance at Ryu, “I-I wanted to be the best, I needed to be the best to prove to myself.”

“Enough about that,” Horifumi looked to Ryu, “how have you been?” he scrutinized Ryu’s form, “I’m glad you’ve put some weight on, I was always worried when you came over to visit before.  Not that my stupid son did much to help when I told him to make sure you ate properly.”

Ryu blinked before smiling lightly, “I’ve been good.  I can’t believe you worried about that though, but Hayato always did try to get me to eat more.  Doesn’t mean I listened though.”

Hirofumi frowned, “of course I worried,” the rest of his phrase trailed off but Ryu was distinctly sure he had heard a slightly embarrassed, “you’re like a third son with how much you were over before.”

Hayato grinned over at Ryu before walking further into the apartment.  He ran his fingers along the walls he had grown up with, carefully skipping out of the way of the movers when they brought boxes down the hall.  Ryu joined him in reminiscing on memories from the apartment.

“Are you sure dad?” Taku asked as Ryu walked after Hayato, “are you sure you’ll be ok alone?”

“Please, I’ll be fine,” Hirofumi rolled his eyes in response, “you’re both acting as if I’m old, I’m only in my forties for the love of…” Hirofumi trailed off at Hayato’s laugh and he seemingly teased Ryu, “I’ll be fine, I need you to watch over that idiot brother of yours for me.  I was starting to think I’d never see those two fooling around again.  Idiot son of mine.”

Taku chuckled when Ryu reached over and messed up Hayato’s perfectly styled hair, “Oi!  I have to keep up public appearances you know!”

“Stop complaining pretty-boy,” Ryu chuckled in response.

[One Month Later – Karaage restaurant]

Ryu couldn’t keep from glancing up at Hayato, he couldn’t help but wonder at how they’d been able to come so far in such a short time.  It had only taken a week at most for it to be as if no time had passed, only with the added jokes about their ‘hiatus’.

“Why are you staring at me?” Hayato swept at his face, “rice or something?”

“No you don’t have anything on your face,” Ryu rolled his eyes and scoffed, “Prima-donna.”

“Ah, entranced by my perfect features right,” Hayato replied offhandedly but he carefully watched for any reaction that would be in his favor.  He scooped up some rice and waited for the answer

Ryu looked up again, “and if I said yes?”

Hayato dropped the chunk of rice halfway to his mouth, “U-u-uh what?”

“I said, what if it really was because I was staring at your ‘perfect features’,” Ryu smirked, just the reaction he’d been hoping for.  He leaned forward a bit further and locked his eyes with his dumbfounded friend.

“I-I…” Hayato stammered trying to not get his hopes up, “o-ok then… are you just teasing me?”

Ryu bit his lip, “you’re an idiot.”

Hayato’s expression immediately fell from confused to completely crestfallen.  Ryu couldn’t help but inwardly chuckle, the man looked beyond adorable.  He wondered how he managed to make it as a model, everything he thought showed on his face almost 24/7. “I actually kind of want to see him at work, because it doesn’t seem at all right.”

“Don’t give me that look,” Ryu smiled, “you’re an idiot.”

“And you’re the one who is best friends with this idiot,” Hayato sighed, “what does that say about you then?”

Ryu smiled, “I’d much rather have to explain what this idiot being my boyfriend has to say about me.”

He laughed at Hayato’s shocked expression, “it’s a good thing you’re a model, your brains wouldn’t get you anywhere.”

Hayato pouted, “don’t go from asking me out to teasing me like that, Ryu.”

“Not until you give me an answer,” Ryu warned.

“You’re an asshole,” Hayato answered, crossing his arm in annoyance.

Ryu looked at him expectantly, his gaze never wavering.  Hayato fidgeted before throwing Ryu an annoyed look, “fine.”

“Tomorrow?” Ryu suggested.

“I’m booked pretty much all week,” Hayato mumbled.

Ryu narrowed his eyes, “and you can’t get away?”

“Unless you want a really short lunch or dinner,” Hayato rolled his eyes, “all the new collections are coming out and I have a ton of contracts to fulfill.  We’ll go to the movies this weekend or something.”

“Fine, I have a ton of work to do anyway,” Ryu frowned.

[One Week later]

Hayato glared at Ryu, “you don’t need to walk me up, I’m not a girl and the building is high security.”

“Mm you’re not a girl but…” Ryu paused in front of the apartment door.

Hayato sighed, deciding not to respond to that, “I’ll talk to you later, I’m exhausted.”

Ryu stopped him when he went to fish his keys out of his pocket.  Hayato’s eyes widened as his back met the door and Ryu’s lips harshly claimed his.  It was quickly cut short as Ryu pulled back with a smirk.

“Talk you to later, Hayato,” he said before walking back to the elevator

Hayato watched Ryu go until the door swung open behind him.

“Oh hey, did you forget your keys or something?” Taku asked.

“What?” Hayato furrowed his brows in confusion.

“I thought I heard you knock?” Taku replied.

“Oh, yeah I accidentally… just ignore it,” Hayato pushed into the apartment and got a glass of water to calm his nerves.

“Alright,” Taku shrugged, “ah how was your date?” he smirked.

“Go write your paper!” Hayato resisted the urge to throw his glass at his brother.

Taku grabbed a piece of fruit before darting into his bedroom.

[One Month Later]

Hayato rang the bell to Ryu’s apartment and frowned when he heard stomping.  The door was thrown open and Ryu dragged him inside.

“Nice to see you too?” Hayato smiled at his glaring boyfriend.

“What the fuck is this!” Ryu threw something at Hayato.

Hayato instantly brought his arms up to protect his face out of force of habit.  He picked up the tabloid and frowned at the front cover.

“What’s wrong?” Hayato frowned.  He didn’t see the problem, it was a picture of them leaving a club.  He had convinced Ryu to come with him to a party with some of the new friends he had made in the industry.  The other had been reluctant at first but he was sure he had fun.  It was a picture of them leaving, maybe a bit tipsy but it wasn’t like they had been caught romantically.

“I can’t get a reputation like this!” Ryu glared, “I’m back at Uni to become a teacher, Hayato.  A TEACHER!  This sort of shit can’t happen.”

Hayato frowned, “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry isn’t going to fix this,” Ryu ripped the tabloid from his hands and threw it across the room, “you should just go, and be careful not to be seen.”

Hayato bit his lip, “are you being serious?  I’m sorry, I’ll be more careful… I’ll do something…”

Hayato picked up the tabloid and left.

Ryu sighed after his front door closed.  He felt a bit guilty; it hadn’t really been the other’s fault even.  But if he hadn’t dragged him out that night.

[Next Day]

Tsucchi furrowed his brows as Hayato stared off absentmindedly, “oi, what’s bothering you?”

“Ryu’s angry at me,” Hayato answered.

“Cause of the tabloids?” Tsucchi asked.

“Yeah, I’m ruining his future reputation already,” he poked at his food.

“I doubt he’s actually angry at you,” Tsucchia pat him on the shoulder, “just don’t do anything to piss him off any more and he won’t punch you.”

Hayato avoided Ryu for a few days until the other called him and demanded that he come over.

Once again he felt himself dragged angrily into the apartment and immediately began to wince.

“What did I do?” He sighed, “it can’t be more tabloids.”

“I put up with you telling me I’m girly,” Ryu fumed, “I even felt bad for blaming you for the tabloids but then there’s shit like this that comes out.”

Hayato massaged his forehead, “what is it this time?”

A magazine hit his stomach and he watched as it flopped to the ground, “AnAn?”

“More like a fucking porno,” Ryu snapped and threw himself onto his couch.

Hayato blinked, “are you fucking serious right now?”

“Do I make useless jokes?” Ryu snapped.

“This is why you’re angry at me this time!” Hayato glared, “I can get you being angry at me about teasing you and I can even get you being angry about the tabloids.  Fuck, I can even get you being angry when I’m late to a date when I’m held back at work because I get a bit annoyed when you’re late because of studying.  But this!”

“Yes, I’m allowed to be angry when you whore yourself off like that!” Ryu kicked him irritably.

“It’s for work, it’s not like it means anything!” Hayato resisted the urge to shout, “no one is going to believe she and I are actually together or did anything.  And if you think I did anything with her then I have to tell you I didn’t and I can’t believe you’re acting like this.”

Ryu arched an eyebrow, “Come here, Hayato.”

Hayato looked nervously at Ryu and shuffled a bit closer.

“Closer Hayato,” Ryu urged.

Ryu stood up directly in front of Hayato.

Hayato caught a brief whiff of Ryu’s cologne and bit his lip at their close proximity.  His heartbeat sped up, he could feel his blood pounding through his veins.  Ryu was looking at him so intensely he couldn’t resist the thought, “are we going to fight or fuck…”*

Ryu glared at him, “shut up Hayato.  I wish I could hit you but I know your agent would personally come here and murder me for injuring you.”

Hayato blinked, “did I say that out loud?”

“Yes you fucking retard,” Ryu shoved him.

Hayato stumbled and barely missed toppling over the coffee table, “oh so you’re just going to push me so I crack my head open on your glass table or something?” He sighed, “Look, if you don’t want me to do any photo shoots like this again then I won’t.  I’ll just tell my agent.”

Hayato pulled out his phone and checked the time, it was early enough he was sure his agent was still at the office.

“What are you doing?” Ryu frowned.

“I’m telling my fucking agent I’m not taking anymore shoots like that,” he gestured angrily to the magazine.

“Why are you doing this?” Ryu frowned.

Hayato resisted the urge to throw his phone at the other, reminding himself that if he did he might bruise that pretty face he loved so much, “Look, if it makes you this unhappy and upset then I don’t want to do it anymore.  It took like ten years for us to finally admit our feelings so I’m not going to be the one to fuck this up!”

Ryu reached over and closed the cellphone before dragging Hayato down to sit in his lap, “I always knew you’d be the sappy one in a relationship,” his trailed a finger down Hayato’s spine.

Hayato’s eyes widened, “don’t you wa-want me to call my agent?”

“Don’t bother,” Ryu smirked, “just imagine the angry make-up sex after these photo shoots we can have.”

Hayato gulp, he could already see Ryu’s form, covered in a layer of sweat, hovering over him in the dark.  Himself groaning for the other to move, do anything except keep on teasing like he always did.

[Next Morning]

Ryu rubbed his eyes and sat up.  He glanced over and smirked at Hayato.  The other was lying on his stomach hugging a pillow with the sheets pulled far enough down on his hips to expose his defined back.  Ryu reached over and played with his long hair.

Hayato groaned, “Why are you awake already?”

“It’s already ten, don’t you have work or anything today?” Ryu questioned.

Hayato scrambled to find his phone before sighing in relief upon looking at his calendar.  He winced at every movement, “thankfully no, I don’t think they’d appreciate me limping around set,” he turned bright red and hid his face in the pillow.

Ryu smiled, “sorry about that, we’ll just have a lazy day then.”

“Only if you forgive me for the photo shoot and the tabloids,” Hayato bargained.

“I forgive you,” Ryu lied back down in bed and pulled him close, “so long as only I get to have this.”

“Like I said, after waiting at least ten years I’m not going to do anything stupid to fuck this up,” Hayato tiredly replied.

The End

*The italics quote that Ryu is reading: from The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self by Alice Miller.  I kind of chose a random book from my shelf and took a quote from it.

*Umee – a super casual way to say ‘tasty’ in Japanese. I reserve using Japanese words/terms/phrases for times when I feel it isn’t properly expressed in English/the alternate translations don’t sound right to me.

*The whole portion of the ‘fight or fuck’ paragraph is actually taken directly/lightly paraphrased from Jay from Celebrity Fit Club >.> the situation was just golden and I loved the quote as soon as I heard it LOL