"I can't believe this!"
Ryou literally jumped when Yami burst through the front door, clearly furious. Not because he was furious, though; because it was half past four and Yami was already back.
"What is it?" Ryou ran over to the sink and quickly rinsed his hands, grateful for an excuse to get away from the onions he was chopping.
"Somebody trashed my car!"
Ryou paused. "You...have a car?"
Yami stopped his fuming for a second to look at Ryou strangely. "Yeah, why?"
"Oh...I just never use the garage downstairs, that's all. I don't have one. I didn't realise."
Yami's hesitation was short lived. "But anyway! I leave it for twenty minutes and when I come back, everything under the bonnet is completely mangled. I could barely get it back here."
"You still tried to drive it?" Ryou asked, his voice growing high-pitched with concern. "You could have been killed!"
Yami shrugged, not paying attention to much. Ryou had never seen him angry before. "I'm sure it's still fixable; you can take it to the mechanic, or I could-"
"But that'll take at least a couple of days! I need it now. It's not even my car!"
Ryou looked quizzical. "Then whose is it?"
"What? It doesn't matter; I didn't steal it, if that's what you're thinking."
Ryou squirmed, uncomfortable. He didn't like this angry side of Yami. He knew Yami wasn't upset about the car itself; he wasn't that kind of person. He was worried, because without a car he wouldn't be able to search for the person he was looking for.
But nonetheless, Ryou didn't want to be around Yami when he was like this. He had to get out of the apartment.
His lips curled into a smile. And he knew just what to do.
"Um...Yami, I know this is a bad time, but I have to be somewhere...soon."
Yami looked almost crestfallen as Ryou scraped the chopped onions into a plastic container and put them in the fridge. "What? Why? And where?"
"No time to explain!" Ryou ran into his room and grabbed an unusually large, heavy bag. "It's important, though! I'll explain later!"
He made his escape, leaving Yami staring after him, speechless.
Outside in the elevator, Ryou shifted the bag's position to make it easier to carry. He pressed the lift button several times as though that could make it go faster. He wanted to be finished in time to go to bed.
Ryou hadn't even been aware that Yami was using their single car garage under the building; as he had said, he didn't own a car himself. Instead, he settled with playing with other people's.
Yami's car was a mess. Aside from a dent in the bonnet, it looked fine from the outside. But when Ryou lifted the bonnet and peered at the engine, it was almost enough to make him cry. Who could have done something like this?
Upon further examination, however, it wasn't as bad as Yami had caused him to fear. Despite the unappealing look of the engine, the damage itself was actually minimal; several pipes were bent out of place or ripped, and the battery was leaking. Even so, it was a miracle Yami had been able to drive it back at all.
Ryou pulled a large green piece of cloth from his bag and folded it into a triangle. It was time for work.
It was well into the night when Yami finally came down, presumably to take one last look.
He obviously hadn't expected to see Ryou there, tinkering with his car, because at first, he let out a surprised shout as though he expected the original vandal to have returned.
Ryou was standing on his tip-toes, a spanner in his hand, tightening a bolt at the back of the engine, when he heard Yami's cry of alarm. Instantly, he jumped away from the vehicle. "It's only me!"
Yami stared at him. For the first time, he looked utterly dumbfounded.
"Ryou...what are you doing?"
Ryou pushed the bonnet shut. "Just finishing up," he announced proudly. "I had to take a few trips to the mechanic to buy the spare parts, but it was just a new battery and some pipes. It didn't take too long to put in. I've even tightened all your bolts and stuff."
"No, Ryou, I mean, what are you doing."
Ryou blinked, his eyes wide and confused. "Fixing your car. You'll have to see a professional to get the dent straightened out, but it should be able to run now-"
"But, why?" Yami was frowning.
"Because you said you needed it soon! I thought you'd be happy!" he exclaimed, his face falling. Yami didn't like it? But he had been working for hours!
Ryou suddenly became aware of how he must have looked. His face was smeared with engine grease, not to mention the rest of his body and clothes. The top of his head was wrapped in a green bandana to keep his hair out of his eyes, with the rest of it poking out the bottom ridiculously. The exposed hair was also covered in grease, looking a sickly grey as opposed to its usual fluffy white. He started fiddling with the spanner, feeling a tear well in his eye. He had just wanted to help. And now Yami was mad at him.
"I didn't know you fixed cars, Ryou."
Ryou jumped at this, suddenly looking childishly excited. "Oh – I didn't tell you? I love cars; I've been fiddling with them since I was a kid. I just don't have one of my own."
Yami suddenly came over and looked into the engine. Not only had the ripped pipes and battery been replaced, but Ryou had practically given it a full service in the six hours since he had left the apartment. Aside from some minor dents and scratches, it looked as good as new. "Wow...that's amazing."
Ryou glowed under his praise. "Then you like it?" he asked excitedly.
Yami looked at him. "Ryou, of course I like it, but you shouldn't have done it! I didn't even know you were down here."
"I wanted to surprise you," Ryou said, turning the spanner over in his hand self-consciously. He looked at it with fascination, trying to avoid looking at Yami.
"But you could have hurt yourself, Ryou," Yami pointed out. "Your rib is still broken. You only broke it four days ago. You could have widened the fracture."
Ryou frowned and lifted up the side of his shirt. The bandages concealed any evidence if further damage to the rib. "I was careful; I didn't put any pressure on it, or anything like that! Just like you told me too," Ryou insisted.
Yami looked genuinely worried. "Ryou...I'm sorry to be so...unenthusiastic, but you just shouldn't have done this! I could have taken it to a mechanic."
"But mechanics are overpriced," Ryou said stubbornly. "You can't always trust their quotes. This was just a service for a friend."
Ryou searched his features, hoping for some sign of happiness there. He could certainly see gratitude, underlined by Yami's usual faint aura of sorrow. But happy?
Ryou almost cried. So Yami didn't like it. He would have rather seen a mechanic. Frustrated, he pulled the bandana off his head.
Yami suddenly burst into laughter. "Look at your hair!"
Ryou frowned and ran around to the wing mirror. The hair beneath the level of the bandana was a mixture of black and grey, and stuck together in clumps. The hair above it was totally flat, pushed down from hours under a piece of cloth, and perfectly white, with a few straw pieces of green thread, forming a neat line at the interface.
He started laughing too. It looked absolutely comical.
And then, unexpectedly, Yami hugged him.
It came completely by surprise. It was only one armed and in no way hard, but it knocked the breath right out of him. His heart started pounding so hard that he was certain it was resonating off the walls of the small garage. Yami...
And then, just like that, it was over, and Yami was stepping away. Ryou stared at his face almost moonily. It wasn't fair; it had been over before he had even had time to register what was happening.
"Don't think I'm not grateful, Ryou," Yami said, smiling. "I was just surprised. Thank you so much. There...needs to be more people out there like you."
Ryou scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Then...you like it?"
Yami stared at him. "You only just realised that? Of course I like it! Thanks, Ryou!"
"It was nothing..." Ryou gulped, trying to keep his calm. "N- now you can get back to whatever it was you needed to do with the car."
A shadow suddenly fell over his eyes. "Oh, yes...I can." He paused. "It's okay, though; it can probably wait until morning."
Ryou looked surprised. "What? But I thought you needed to use it now!"
"Well I-"
"Go on!" he insisted eagerly. "I want to know how well it runs! Don't worry about me."
Yami looked at him for several seconds, searching for some emotion there. "Well, if you say so."
Ryou almost whooped with pride as the engine started beautifully. Waving goodbye to Ryou, Yami took off out of the garage.
Ryou practically skipped back to the elevator. He was covered in engine grease and he was tired and weary, but he didn't care. Yami had hugged him! And Yami was happy with Ryou's job on the car! Now, he was able to keep searching, because of Ryou. Because of me! I helped him! Ryou hummed to himself on the way up to his floor. I made him happy. That makes me happy.
It wasn't until he was opening the door to his apartment when he realised something else, and it was enough to turn him cold.
He recalled how he had insisted on Yami's leaving afterwards. He froze.
Did he think I wanted him to leave? I bet he does! He wanted to stay - he actually wanted to stay! I thought he was doing it for me, but he wasn't. Why did I have to think he wanted to stay because of me? I'm not that special to him. Ryou stared ahead, horrified. Does he think I'm mad at him? But I was just excited about the car! He must know that! No...we haven't even known each other for two weeks; he doesn't know me that well. He tried to push it away. I haven't even known him for two weeks...so what right do I have to care so much? For all I know, he has a lover.
His happy mood suddenly downcast and dejected, Ryou closed the door behind him and made his way to the bathroom.
I know absolutely nothing about cars... O.o just saying XD
Please review :D Thanks so much for reading ;D