Disclaimer: Not mine

Notes: AU. Post series, spoilers apply. This takes place right after the final battle, but will eventually become more AU as it progresses. Also-- there will be het AND slash (primarily slash!) in this. Deal.

Yuuki Gai lit a cigarette, took a half-hearted puff, and then smashed it against a nearby ash tray. He waited for a moment, and then repeated the cycle again. And again.

Finally realizing that this was one of those rare times that he didn't want a smoke, Gai fell back on his couch. He was supposed to be enjoying today. This was, after all, the first truly peaceful day he'd had in over a year. No more Vyram. No more having to fight monsters. No more giant robots, no more training.

No more Kaori. No more Raita and Ako.

No more Ryu.

Oh, stop moping already. Gai stood up, stretching. It wasn't like any of them had died, after all. Hell, none of them had even moved yet. Raita had already started making plans to go back to his farm and Ako kept going on about where she and her friend were going to live after high school, but for now at least, no one had actually followed through. Maybe they were like him. Maybe they didn't want to say good-- leave until things had truly settled down before doing anything.

And maybe he should take advantage of that.

"Why the hell not?" Gai reached for his jacket and keys. He'd go out and catch up on his former teammates. Anything had to be better than moping around (and wasting perfectly good cigarettes) all day. And besides, he wanted to see them again.

"I can't believe I haven't seen any of them today!"

Gritting his teeth, Gai turned a corner. Ako was cramming for exams. Raita had gone out of town for the day to buy some plant with a name he couldn't pronounce. And Kaori… well, it wasn't that he had any hard feelings towards her (quite the opposite), but he was fairly sure that he should wait at least a week before seeing his ex-girlfriend again. This meant that his last hope from going out of his mind from boredom was Tendou Ryu. Ryu, who went to bars and ordered milk. Ryu, who had bought his 'some monkeys who are definitely not Chokan and the girls are bathing in the tub next to us, why don't you take a peek?' line. Ryu, who probably read the Sky Force manual each night before bed.

I'm doomed. But doomed or not, he was already parked at Ryu's apartment. Gai dug out his spare key. It was Sunday morning; Ryu should still be at home reading the paper--

Except he wasn't.

"Damn." Gai bolted out the door and started up his motorcycle yet again. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who decided to pay someone a surprise visit today.

The cemetery wasn't too far away. Which meant Ryu was still there, placing fresh roses at Rie's grave by the time Gai had arrived.

"I thought you were going to honor her dying wish." No point in softening the blow. He'd never seen the point in sugarcoating before, and he didn't see it now.

But when Ryu looked at him like that-- not angry, but like he was about to break down again-- it was hard not to flinch. "I know, Gai. I just…"

"You just what?"

Ryu straightened the roses. "I just wanted to tell her that we won. That's all."

Gai felt his gut twist. "Well, I guess that's okay. She would want to know you avenged her, after all. That you saved the world." He walked over to Ryu, resting a hand on his shoulder-- he'd never been too comfortable with physical contact unless it involved a woman and a bed, but Ryu was the exception to the rule. "She'd also want to know that you're going to be all right."

"Gai…"

"C'mon, let's get you home." Gai's hand slipped from Ryu's shoulder to his arm as he led him away. He was very aware that Ryu wasn't in the clear just yet… but at least he'd dragged him away from death and despair, if only for the rest of the day.

He'd just have to make sure to Ryu didn't slip away from his grip.