Urban theory; chapter 12 No funny stuff…99

It was two p.m. on Monday and Rikimaru was cycling back to Oni's place with the jacket in his back bag. His thoughts lingering here and there, thinking should he do that or the other, and as he reached his destination he still wasn't sure of his mind.

He left his bike leaning against the wall and took the jacket off the bag. It was in a plastic mothproof bag he had bought ten minutes ago. He pressed the doorbell and mentally hit his brain for the one last time for a reason he couldn't or didn't want to remember anymore. The bell rang and the door to the corridor where the elevator was opened. Rikimaru looked briefly to the camera above the doorframe and felt a pinch in his cuts.

He had waited at least to hear Oni's voice before seeing him face to face so he could tell in what mood was he in and would know better him self what to expect. It was completely okay to be nervous, Rikimaru thought as he stood in the elevator, the hanger hanging from his left shoulder, wondering where there a camera in there too and would he be watching if there was one.

The elevator stopped and Rikimaru opened the grid, the same hallway opening ahead of him that he had left a morning ago. He wasn't there.

"Just a second…!"

Rikimaru heard him shout from somewhere. He knew better than to go after the voice again and just dissuaded to wait. After a five seconds Oni came to the hallway suddenly. "…Hi…" He said quickly still walking to him.

"…Caught you on a bad time still…?" Rikimaru asked an evil glint in his eyes.

Oni answered as innocently as he could, seeing clearly what he meant.

"…No…! I just was kinda stuck in there… I'm cleaning up…"

Oni seemed over energetic like back then when Rikimaru had watched him paint. "…Right… You finally found the time…?" Rikimaru tried to buy his time to prepare for the hardest part.

Oni was bit of careful not that it was recognisable for to take part the small talk. "Yep, here's no room to live anymore…and I need more room for my work…" He sifted uneasy.

Rikimaru nodded and pretended to be interested of how Oni's new living room might look and then handed him the jacket, like it wouldn't have been the only thing he had come here for. "…Thank you… for borrowing it to me…"

"…No trouble, it was nothing. I knew you wouldn't dare not to bring it back…" He said playfully mainly to himself. "You want the bag back?"

"No… I just…" Rikimaru smiled suddenly trying to remember what sense had he seen in this just awhile ago. It was so damn hard to swallow one's pride even if you wanted to do so. "…I'm not going to apologise about yesterday …But, I'm grateful for what you did… getting me away from, that guy and all. So, thank you for that… too… and I would like to have that bag, on a second thought…?"

This wasn't what he meant to say or was it, Rikimaru thought meaning the apology more than getting the useless bag back. Anyhow it was getting too funny and too upsetting for him to continue on it. He heard Oni assenting and he disappeared to kitchen saying that he had all the hangers in there. "…Come on in…!"

In kitchen, Rikimaru wondered but shook it off. Oni wasn't kidding when he'd said he needed to clean up.

Oni was putting the jacket away as he noticed that Rikimaru was holding onto his own and hadn't left it on the hallway. Not that he really had expected it, but he hadn't really expected him to return the jacket either.

"…You want coffee…? I was just about to take a break; I need something that I'm able to move the cursed bookshelves…"

"Oh really… I don't remember you having so many books…? Rikimaru looked at the living room.

"Well actually, all of them are not mine. I'm just storing them up for an old friend. He moved to Australia so he couldn't take all of them with him." The books were Kichigoro's, who was in jail at the moment. Well, they used to send convicts in Australia.

"I could help you… anyhow… now that I'm here…?"

"…You sure?" Oni couldn't help but to smile and not because he would have been amused by something. He walked to next room where the shelves were Rikimaru fallowing him. "They are quite heavy cause I haven't emptied them…"

There were three different shelves all coloured black and all full. The room was clearly smaller than the others; it was narrow but long and like all the other rooms jammed full. Rikimaru eyed the shelves. "…And you thought to move them all by your shelf, huh?"

"…Oh yeah well… It's not like I'm in a hurry to anywhere…" Oni moved to the corner of shelve and pointed Rikimaru to take a hold of the other end. "…Living room…"

The shelve squeaked as the bottom of it rose from the floor. Rikimaru backed up and Oni pushed from the back.

"My god, what are you holding in here? You sure this won't break?"

"…Nah… Just get over there…" He nodded and they got the shelve turned and on it's place. Oni started to make room for the two others and threw some of the paper boxes on the couch. He didn't probably notice that Rikimaru was looking curious of his friend's book collection.

"…Locks, knots and security…?"

Oni pretended to be dumbfounded for a second and looked at the book on the shelve. "…He writes thriller series… all thought, hadn't published anything yet…and kinda mad for crime novels too…" Oni hoped the explanation would also cover the 'Banks world wide' and 'Anything to steal?' "…Let's move this a bit, so the other two will fit in here…"

After they had moved the other two to their places Oni offered him the coffee but Rikimaru refused.

"…I should get going… I still got class to keep at five…"

"You got time, it's only half three…?" Oni said victoriously.

This meant he had to take off his jacket for five minutes and sit down. He sighted as Oni was already pouring the coffee on two cups. Rikimaru put his jacket on the chair's arm and sit down thinking that it was his own fault to get stuck in this situation. Why had he offered to move the cursed shelves or that matter brought the jacket back? It was all her fault; she had talked her into this, making it sound like it had some sense. "What you said yesterday, about wanting to be friends…?" He had a plan and it was the thing that made the most sense at the moment so Rikimaru stick to it.

"Yeah…?" Oni turned around and took a sip from the cup so he wouldn't have to continue as Rikimaru played with the spoon in a cup and looked as bothered as he felt.

"…Well… yesterday… I was mad and hurt of what you did, then. And I can't lie and say that I would trust you in anything anymore… I thought I knew you and, you go and pull the carpet under my feet, in a snap …I just hoped you would realize, how it felt to see you two…"

"Trust me …I do…"

"Let me finish…Okay? …I know I'll regret this, but… I lied when I said I don't want to be friends with you, I do want to, but I want to trust you, know you… not to play any stupid games like back then… I don't want to end up a knife in my back…!"

"…So?"

"…So… you want to see again or what?"

"By saying; not to play any stupid games, you mean…?"

"Just plain good friends, no funny stuff, we could never go back to funny stuff… wouldn't work… if you'd even looked at me the wrong way I'd kill you… Literally…"

Oni nodded smiling a bit and considered. "Hmm… Friends…?" He offered his hand like starting everything all over again when they had first met.

"…Friends…" Rikimaru hold his arm for the short while and felt it so weird to smile and look at his face. It confused his mental state, but it was already too late so snap now that they had made up. Had they really, the long silence after the friendly handshake felt hostile.

Luckily a ringing phone saved them both. "…Just a sec." Oni said going to the next room. Rikimaru stayed and looked at his cup like he'd never before seen coffee. Friends, huh, Rikimaru thought. This wouldn't be easy. Had they ever been friends? He heard Oni answering the phone.

"Moerumoya…Hi…"

Apparently it was someone he knew.

"…Anything."

Sure they had lots of things in common. When they met for the first moment they connected, they laughed to the same things etc. but they had also shamelessly flirted the whole time. But then of course they had their emails back from the time they didn't feel any physical attraction to one another. Only thing was thought, Rikimaru couldn't remember the topic of those electric letters.

"I'll look into it to night. What shall I do with her?"

Oni sounded so serious and strange, but didn't he always. What would they do together now that they were friends, he thought forgetting his curiosity. Would they end up in each other's bed again? No; that would not happen. But would he be thinking it? Rikimaru looked over to the room where the voice was coming.

"Then she should be okay…"

They could go camping again. Drive to country side by Oni's motorcycle and… No that wouldn't do, he thought it over again. Not by the two of them anyways, it would be awkward as they had done some experimenting in the cramped tent last time. Maybe they could make dinner together and just talk over all. Or maybe not, considering that Oni was usually the one to actually make some real food and he himself took care of the -afters- part. Of course they could just hang together, but only couples hanged together like that. Had they done anything together that didn't include implies of sex or just having some of it? Well of course there had to be something else they did together. They hadn't been together for that long but all their time they seemed to have spent it together. They couldn't have spent it all in sex, could they?

"What?! You got to be kidding…?!"

Not so grown up voice broke the line of his thought. Just what I was thinking Rikimaru thought and sipped his coffee and almost spit it out in a same motion as he heard the next one.

"I'm no nanny! …and I don't know… but…"

Strange conversation, Rikimaru thought. For a moment ago it had sounded like a business call.

"I'll do it…Bye"

He heard his silent assenting to his fate and a moment after he came back looking a little worried. Oni saw this needed an explanation. "…Sorry…"

"Something serious…?"

"…Yes… and no… I'll know tomorrow… So…?"

"…So?"

"What now? Rikimaru? …I would give you my number, but I know you aren't gona call anyways…"

"You think I'm gona disappear again?" He smiled and finished his coffee thinking that Oni wasn't going to get out that easy. "…Why would I?"

"Hmm… Let's just say that… If, I'm not to touch you, what will we do then…?"

"Hey, what's it…!" Rikimaru shook his finger with intent already making a leave. "I might just forget that I still got your number… or have you changed it?"

"…No…"

"Then I'll call you…"

"You are just saying…?" Oni said mildly.

"And you are just teasing me to call you…Right…?"

"Hmm, I'd say you call to me, tomorrow and give me your number or you can forget the whole thing…eh?"

Rikimaru stepped into the elevator. "…Well, I see if I remember…"

Oni swallowed the smile away as Rikimaru was gone. Quickly he moved to his laptop, sitting to the couch and pushing away the boxes he had just lifted there. So much about cleaning the house he thought and buried himself to the net. The call had came from Kichigoro who needed his help with some relative of someone that short. That would take all of his night and probably even tomorrow and that would only be the starter.

He broke in the police files and downloaded them to see what they contained. The loading was taking it's time; 5.

Why did it have to happen just now, he thought. He was already enough pursued by the law and tried to keep his profile low and then something like this happened.

…24

And then he should have thought more carefully about the matter with Rikimaru. He was pretty sure he would call. Give his number and talk or just think so loudly that he could hear the ticking true the line.

…30

Maybe he should take him to golf or something. He'd have to think about that later. He would be busy with this for awhile. He just hoped Rikimaru wouldn't think he was intentionally avoiding him. Maybe they could go to somewhere with a big croup, so it wouldn't seem so obvious or vexing. If just for the first couple of times so they could get them used to the idea of being what ever they would be. Maybe in time, Oni hoped, that Rikimaru could forgive him completely, if now he was still at the war zone thought he wanted to show otherwise. He knew him better than Rikimaru dared to guess and Oni thought if it was the same for him.

…50

And maybe in time Rikimaru would let him come closer, mentally as well as physically. But that thought seemed to be so far-fetched and it was too soon even to quietly think about it. He was greedy to want both sides of him and he was horrified for the idea what it would take to deal all that was ahead to gain all that he'd lost. Still he would be contented to have at least some part of him to keep.

…62

It was dangerous and pointless to think things trough too far when nothing was for certain.

…70

He thought; if he wouldn't call. It would be all over by them.

…85

Maybe he should get a lover. God knew Rikimaru had had more than one. But who was he to say anything about it. Was the youngster dating someone seriously, probably not, Oni thought? Rikimaru would have said something. There weren't so much time between this and the day they broke up.

…95

Nah, he thought boringly, he didn't want just any lover.

…99