Disclaimer: Plot is mine, characters belong to Konomi Takeshi.
Warning: Crap grammar. Characters are probably going to be OOC. Bad language in use, hard yaoi.
Bold for English.
I Cry For the Last Time
Chapter Fifteen: Holding Hands.
"Why can't I get away from you?" Ryoma mumbled to himself, looking pointedly at Keigo and ignoring Yukimura's presence, "Are you stalking me?"
"Shouldn't I be asking you that? You seem to pop out everywhere I go. And besides," Keigo flipped some strands of hair away from his face, throwing a strange, slightly angry glance at Yukimura, "This was all his idea, not mine."
The person in question chuckled and wrapped his fingers around the teacup. "Your embarrassment only serves for my amusement. Now then, Echizen," he pushed the menu in Ryoma's direction, pointedly opening it on the breakfast section, "How come you are here?"
"You do know that bribing is wrong, right?" Ryoma raised his eyes from the menu, "I'll take the salad and pancakes." He closed the menu and slid it back to Yukimura.
The ex-captain of Rikkai Dai sipped his tea and hummed to himself. "And yet it works so well, doesn't it?"
Keigo rolled his eyes. The only thing that Ryoma could be bribed with was food, always has been. He snapped his fingers, bringing the waiter's attention to them and placed the order in Ryoma's place. He or someone of Ryoma's team always did this when Hyotei and Seigaku went out to eat together; it was a habit that was hard to shake off. He could feel Ryoma's eyes on him, but Keigo said nothing.
"Now then, once you've stopped giving each other the love-filled looks would you mind if I ask again, why are you here Echizen? From what Atobe told me you should be at Akutsu's place, no?" Yukimura interjected, sounding as if it was the most boring conversation ever.
Ryoma glanced at the man sitting next to him. He narrowed his eyes slightly and then simply said, "Marui was staying over yesterday. Besides, I didn't… Never mind." He averted his eyes and started at his Starbucks cup.
"So you spent your night outside? That's kind of sad, isn't it, Atobe? Maybe you really should have chased after him? He's your love interest after all." Yukimura slid his finger along the cover of his book, not paying attention to the tension that had replaced the almost comfortable atmosphere. "You both should finally move on, you know?"
"If it were that easy I wouldn't be here, Yukimura-san." Ryoma flicked his Starbucks cup and then sighed.
Keigo leaned in his chair and tilted his head up a bit, so that the only thing visible to him was the ceiling of the small café. He hated when Yukimura did this. "It's not that we're stuck, Yukimura. We simply don't know where to go so we're wandering around, searching for it."
Keigo knew that Ryoma felt something towards him, that something was the very beginning of love, he was sure of that. He still loved Ryoma; his feeling had never left him. It was hard, painful and terrible in its own way, but he was glad that these feelings stayed. No matter how much it hurt, he was glad.
"I hate to break it to you, but that's the same as being stuck, Atobe." The blue-haired male corrected the other and then turned his full attention towards Ryoma again. "So what are you going to do now? People think that you're dating Atobe because of yesterday's little stunt."
The look of remembrance on Ryoma's face was priceless. First he went wide-eyed, then narrowed his eyes and lastly, something between a pout and scowl settled on his face. He was obviously trying to figure out some way out of this, but he (and the other two) clearly knew that, by now, it's impossible. It was better if everyone though that they are dating for real – very few would go so far as to anger Keigo, which would help Ryoma survive until he had to go back to America.
"Fuck." He silently cursed in English.
Ryoma's order arrived a moment later, so all of his problems were instantly forgotten. Keigo watched Ryoma's every move – the teen always managed to make eating somewhat erotic. Either it was the way he licked his lips, or the low pleased hum that he made when the meal was extra delicious.
"Atobe, don't do that. You might start to drool." Yukimura teased and made a small smile as a counter to Keigo's glare. "Either way, I think that Echizen should go with you and this time, not run away. Before you object," Yukimura silenced Ryoma with one look, "I'll let you know that it might me safer that way and, if someone sees you, they will think that you spent the night with Atobe. I'd say it's pretty convenient."
Keigo sighed, "You are a scheming pain in my softer parts, do you know that?"
"Just so you know, I'm not spending the night at your place." Ryoma mumbled. He was watching the scenery running past as they drove though the busy streets. He had been forced into the car with a little help from Yukimura and the door was locked this time. He had no way out of this.
Keigo had to fight back the urge to roll his eyes. "I know, you've said that already." He turned left in an intersection and then speeded up a little. "So stop pouting already."
"Assbutt." Ryoma hissed back at Keigo and ignored whatever else the man had to say.
It was just a simple ride home, nothing much. He had received a message from Akutsu earlier, saying that now it was ok for him to get back. Marui had left already and the apartment was cleaned out, sort of. Akutsu wasn't known for being much of a cleaner, though his cooking was something to look forward to.
Keigo sighed and glanced at his pouting companion. Was it really that uncomfortable for Ryoma to be with him? Or was it just embarrassment? Well, knowing that Ryoma felt something towards him, Keigo assumed that the kid felt a mix of confusion and embarrassment right now, so, obviously, being alone with him didn't help the situation.
It was cute, in its own way.
"Ahh… Kaidoh-sempai. I haven't seen him at all." Ryoma suddenly spoke, leaning a bit closer to the window to be able to see what they have already passed. "He looked the same."
Keigo glanced at the seventeen-year-old. "The snake man was in the hospital for a few days, or so I heard. Something about his legs, I think. Well, even if he weren't there, you wouldn't have seen him anyway. His family moved to another town, and he started working." The corners of Keigo's mouth lifted up a bit, "And he got into a fight with Tezuka too."
"Ehh, is that so?" Ryoma leaned back into the seat, "He was with Inui too. Did they break up?" the boy's eyes settled on the radio and he started to push buttons, searching for something good to listen to.
Keigo eyed the slim fingers dancing over the small buttons but said nothing. "They didn't. Why do you think Kaidoh is here?" The student made a face once Ryoma had settled on a currently popular song about how much one thinks that he's sexy. "That song has no meaning whatsoever."
"So?" Ryoma went back to watching the passing people and houses outside of the car. "Not everything needs to have a deep meaning. It would only make things more complicated, and that is what we don't need. Life is hard enough as it is."
"Ne, ne, Yuu-chan! I just saw Atobe's car. And Echizen in it." Jiroh suddenly said, brining the ice-cream closer to his lips. "I bet they had a date." He grinned and licked the cold vanilla sweet before it managed to start melting any further.
Yuuta furrowed his brows a bit, glancing down on his own peppermint and chocolate chip ice. "But doesn't Atobe-san live further away from here? Isn't it a bit, you know, inconvenient to come all the way here?" he looked at his lover, only to find him smiling smugly back.
"Yuu-chan, how can you not get it? It's romantic to come all the way here, enjoy a drive and then have a small meal, just like what we're doing right now, and then go home and have some more fun. You're so cute." The brown-haired man laughed. His eyes sparkled with glee when he spotted the pink on Yuuta's cheeks.
They had decided to go out for the day, forget about yesterday and just have fun. No friends, no team mates, no stuck-up idiots – just the two of them, having fun on their own.
Jiroh sat there like that, lost on his thoughts a little, looking at his boyfriend, until he suddenly gasped rather loudly. "Ah, I'll let Oshitari know! He likes info like this! Here, hold this!" he thrusted his slightly melted ice-cream in Yuuta's free hand and fished out his phone. "A date I tell you."
"Oshitari-kun, you're interrupting the game. Again." Yagyuu pointed out, pushing up his glasses a little.
"Sorry, but this seems something rather interesting." Oshitari said as his eyes skimmed over the message from his ex-teammate and close friend. Absentmindedly he placed a mahjong piece on the table, earning a rather angry tsk from Niou.
The master on illusions pondered over this a little ad then placed a piece of his own on the table, "Piyo."
"You both are unbelievable." The gentleman sighed, carefully studying the pieces on the table and on his hand. He was losing horribly. It ticked him off a bit, not to mention the fact that one of the players wasn't even paying attention. "Really."
"Yes, yes." The tensai mumbled to himself. "I should re-send this to Sengoku, he was fangirling over him, even thought he has a girl. Oh well, with this, no more of that. Heh." He pushed a few buttons and then hmm-ed. "I think Fuji will find this interesting as well."
"If you lose you owe me a strip show Hiroshi. You promised me, puri." Niou smirked, his eyes shining in that sneaky glint that informed of new mischiefs and pranks being planned. It was never something good; Yagyuu had learned that a long time ago.
Oshitari finally placed his phone back in the bag where it belonged and surveyed the game table. He smirked and glanced at the poor bespectacled man next to him. "I will want that bet money in cash when you lose, thank you."
"I'm never playing with you two again."
Ryoma was pissed off.
Well, 'pissed off' was a mild way of putting it. He glanced around the overly decorated room and blew out a new batch of smoke from his mouth. He didn't care that the rich ass didn't like people smoking in his house – if Ryoma wanted to smoke, he will smoke. End of story.
He used a lone plate as an ashtray and then stuck the cigarette between his lips. The taste of nicotine calmed him down, the smell of the smoke now so familiar. He was addicted, he didn't deny it. The teen sighed in bliss, filling the room with more smoke as time went by. He was tired of waiting for Keigo to show up again.
Actually, he was also very confused about how he actually got here. "I thought I told him that I'm not staying here. Ass." Ryoma sighed, getting his phone from the back pocket of his pants. "I'll let Jin know I was kidnapped."
It wasn't that much anger that Ryoma felt though. He was confused. Confused as to why he was here in the first place and what will happen now. Yeah, sure, they were pretending to be a couple, but not to this extent. The rich man brought him here against his own will, but Ryoma couldn't bring himself to actually feel angry at Keigo. Yes it was strange; yes he should be mad and pacing around the room destroying things but… He couldn't bring himself to feel like that and do it.
He even felt a bit… happy.
"Oh hell no." Ryoma rolled his eyes. Confusion quickly changed into a frown though. He opened the new message that he had received and then wished he hadn't. "Fuck. Fuck him, that mother—Ahh… Goddamn it. All I needed here was Elijah. Great, I thought he was bluffing. "
"Who was?" Keigo slightly interested voice was too close, in Ryoma's opinion. The other merely raised an eyebrow and the corners of his lips lifted a bit, "Well, at least now I know you can still get scared."
Ryoma frowned, "Huh? Are you an idiot?" he turned his face away from Keigo, very aware of the hotness that had settled on his cheeks and pocketed his phone, "And didn't I tell you that I'm not staying here."
"You did." Keigo watched the back of Ryoma's head, tilting his head slightly to the right, "But it is not yet evening." He widened his smirk when he heard a quiet 'tch' from his guest. "But you could have left any given moment."
Ryoma glared at the carpet – the bastard was right and he couldn't deny it. He took a long smoke and then put out his cigarette on the plate he was using as an ashtray, he breathed out the smoke and tried to think up with something to say. Sadly, nothing came to him.
It was like his head had gone empty, all remains of his usual snarky replies and confident nature gone. He felt too self-aware and uncomfortable under Keigo's eyes. He wanted to run away and sit in his room at Jin's apartment, pretending that this never happened and everything was just a stupid-ass dream.
"What are you doing?" Ryoma hissed when he felt Keigo's arms on his shoulders, making sure that he couldn't move from the chair now, "Go away or I'll punch you." He glared at the calm dark blue eyes staring back at him.
Since when Keigo had been standing in front of him, Ryoma couldn't tell. He must have been too into his thoughts to notice Keigo walking around the chair and kneeling in front of him.
"Now, now. We both know that's not possible." Keigo simply answered back, moving his right hand from Ryoma's shoulders to gently trace the boy's cheek. "You think you are strong Echizen, but you're not. You are not strong enough."
Golden eyes narrowed a little - the anger now gone, a dark shadow taking its place. "Shut it." The boy averted his eyes. He didn't fight back against Keigo's touches – they seemed right. He wasn't sure if what he was doing was the right thing, or whether he should be allowing Keigo to touch him like this.
But... he didn't have the strength to fight back. His body was empty, he mind was empty, he was empty.
"It pains me to see you like this. Alone, suffering, getting blamed for things that are not your fault, losing your place. Ech-Ryoma, what do you want?" the man asked, now holding his hands on either side of Ryoma's face, waiting for an answer that will surely never come. He knew, he knew that Ryoma wouldn't answer. He knew.
"Let me go, I'm going home." Moments had passed before Ryoma finally spoke up. He didn't want this. He didn't want this, he didn't want Keigo. He just wanted to go. Go and never look back and try and forget, he wanted to become himself again.
There was a quiet laugh and Keigo shook his head. "Fool. Like I would let you go home like this. Truly, a fool." He took his hands away though, waiting for Ryoma to look at him again.
"Bastard." The teen growled under his nose. But he still looked at the man kneeling in front of him. It was somewhat comical, knowing who Keigo was and just how much of an image he had in the society. "Aren't you the idiot here?" he smirked - a fake.
"Maybe I am." Keigo laughed. "But so are you, you cannot deny that."
Ryoma wasn't sure if he should allow this. But it all happened so fast that it was out of his hands now. And it felt so good, Keigo's lips felt so good against his own. He tangled his fingers in Keigo's hair – more. He needed more now. Lips and tongues and saliva and more lips. Heat that traveled between them, that sudden rush of feelings, that animalistic need for more – it was all here.
Keigo smirked against Ryoma's lips. They boy won't leave this place, not tonight.
A/N: *gross dying whale sound* I'm so gomen. I just... I was so fucking stuck with everything. I still am. And this is just so no that it's somewhat sad. But you do suspect what will happen next chapter, right?
I don't know anything about mahjong though. I can only play those online games (I suck at them). Why did I put that there again…? Who knows. But yeah, umm…. That's it? Oh wait. It's not. The thing is – I was thinking about changing the title for this story. I suddenly want to put something like "Rebirthing" or "Steal your pain". I don't know. I'm still thinking about it.