Wish We Were Older
Title: Wish We Were Older [Chapter 12]
Author: carcrashheart_8
Pairings: RyoDa, Ryo/OC, PiDa, KameDa [friendship], Akame, PiTakki [one-sided], RyoKame, JinNo, TomaKame
Rating: PG-13 [strong language and sexual references]
Summary: When his parents go overseas to work, Ueda is forced to go to an all-boys boarding school for his high school years. There, he meets Ryo Nishikido, a stubborn, strong-willed boy who ends up becoming his roommate. Ueda quickly falls for the other boy despite Ryo's rude words and bad attitude. Trouble starts up, however, and soon this seemingly one-sided love ends up becoming a love triangle and eventually a love square. Despite it all, Ueda must overcome these obstacles in order to maintain his spot at the elite high school.
Disclaimer: Title taken from "Wish We Were Older" by Metro Station
Chapter 12
It was funny, to say the least, that after almost two years together with Ryo as his roommate and his secret crush, Ueda would finally be exposed by the person he once called his best friend. Ueda’s heartbeat quickened but everything else seemed to go in slow motion. He looked at all the faces of his friends, the faces of Jin and Junno, and of Kame and Ryo. He didn’t know what he could possibly do to stop the situation from occurring. Luckily for Ueda, he wouldn’t have to do a thing.
“What, Kamenashi?” Ryo said in a less-than-thrilled tone of voice.
Kame was about to open his mouth but before he could, Toma planted the biggest kiss Ueda had ever seen right on Kame’s slightly open mouth. Everyone was taken completely off-guard, none more than Kame and certainly none more than Jin.
“WHAT THE HELL?!” the tall man squeaked as Junno prevented him from going over to kill Toma.
Toma and Kame struggled for a bit before Kame finally pushed him off. The two gasped for air for a few seconds, trying to recover from those few seconds of hell. Kame took one look at Toma and then punched the other boy square in the face. Toma went down to the floor while Kame stood with his fist stuck out in front of his body. He wiped his mouth a couple of times, spit on the floor next to Toma and stormed out of the room.
Jin, who was about ready to kill Toma, ran over and only stopped to glare at the other boy. He mouthed some obscenities before running off to join Kame, with Junno in tow.
Yamapi walked over to Toma, held out his hand and said, “What the hell are you on?”
Toma just shrugged his shoulders and struggled to get up. He rubbed his now-swelling cheek and stumbled over to the cafeteria worker for some ice, while Yamapi helped him keep his balance.
Ryo’s shoulders went up and down. Ueda stared at him oddly but was taken aback when the other boy started laughing insanely. Ryo clutched his stomach and cackled like a maniac, as everyone left in the cafeteria stared at him. Ueda could only assume that Ryo was laughing at the fact that Toma had just gotten punched, only proving Ueda’s theory that Ryo was a bit of a sadist.
He continued staring until Ryo turned around and faced him, exhaling deeply as if all the laughter had left his body.
“Seriously-that friend of yours is nuts. Why do you hang out with him?”
Ueda smiled; for some reason, he felt relief at Ryo’s statement even though he knew his roommate had no romantic feelings for Kame. He didn’t respond either but just sat down as if the incidents that had just occurred never took place.
Later that night, while Ryo was in the shower, and Ueda was alone in his room, a knock was heard. Ueda got up from his desk and went to answer it. He was a bit surprised to see that it was Kame, looking very forlorn and guilty.
“What do you want?” Ueda snarled, sounding less like his normally upbeat self.
Kame fiddled with his school jacket, which he was still wearing. He took a deep breath and then looked up at Ueda with tear-filled eyes. Ueda blushed a bit, obviously not completely immune to Kame’s good looks.
“Well, what is it?” he asked, shaking himself out of his Kame-induced stupor.
“I-I just wanted to apologize-for everything-Tat-chan,” he whispered, as he wiped his cheeks.
Ueda tried to remain strong; he didn’t want Kame to see any weakness from him, because it would only leave him vulnerable in future fights, if ever such a thing were to occur. But when Kame began to whimper, Ueda’s upper lip started to tremble and his eyes were watering.
“Ah, Kame, don’t start crying on me! We’re men-we need to act like it,” Ueda said in between sniffles.
Kame started full on wailing as he grabbed onto Ueda, and didn’t let go. But Ueda wasn’t bothered, he just clutched Kame close to him and the pair started crying into each other’s shoulders. They’d been friends for a little more than a decade and it was clear neither one of them wanted to permanently give up on that, especially not over failed romances and budding ones as well.
As they continued bawling in the doorway, Ryo walked down the hallway. He passed by next to him, stopped and shook his head.
“You two are such girls,” he chuckled before going into the room.
After getting a hold of themselves, Kame and Ueda sat on the latter’s bed in order to discuss their falling out. Ryo, on the other hand, was sitting on his own bed, headphones in his ears and a magazine in front of his face.
“Look, Kame, I’m really sorry about rejecting you but you have to understand that I can only ever see you as my friend.”
“Oh, Tat-chan, you said that to me already. I get it,” Kame smirked, gesturing as if it was all behind him.
“What do you mean you ‘get it’? This morning, you were calling me out on it-in front of everyone!”
Kame started to stutter, “Well that-I was just-well, the thing is-okay, that stuff Ikuto-”
“Ikuta,” Ueda corrected him
“Whatever-anyways, what he said really got to me. It was like nothing anyone had ever said to me before that would ever change how I felt. But then he does his little ‘soapbox’ speech and it’s like everything’s become clearer. I felt like there actually was a chance of moving on and I felt like I really could start over.”
Ueda giggled, “You sound like you’ve fallen in love.”
Kame glared at which pointed Ueda stopped giggling.
“I do not like that Ikuto-Ikuta-whatever! He just spoke to me, that’s all! And anyways-you shouldn’t be talking to me about falling in love. It’s clear you’ve got your own-ahem-little thing going on with-” Kame tilted his head in Ryo’s direction, even though the other boy was too distracted to notice.
Ueda gently hit Kame on the head and waved his hand.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. I am not in love-with anyone!”
Kame pulled his legs close to them and clutched them, laughing as he did so.
“Okay, Tat-chan, whatever you say.”
“I’m serious!”
Kame smiled, “Sure, you are.”
He continued smiling as he stared at Ueda, who began to grow a little uncomfortable.
“What-what’s wrong? Do I have something on my face? Tell me, where is it?” he started picking at his face before lunging for a mirror, attempting to clear his face from any unwanted blemishes.
“No-no,” Kame laughed, taking the mirror away and putting it down next to him, “I’m just glad that you and I are okay with each other again. I wasn’t sure if we’d ever be friends again, Tat-chan.”
Ueda sighed, “I’m actually relieved. I’d rather have you as a friend than an enemy, to be honest, Kame. You’re a really scary person!”
Kame just laughed, which encouraged Ueda to do the same thing.
The two continued laughing and Ryo moved his magazine out of his face, and looked at them.
“Idiots,” he mumbled before continuing reading.
After having settled things with Kame and continuing his quest to gain Ryo’s affections, Ueda caught himself daydreaming in class about a week later. Not much had progressed in those seven days; it was weird, since most of the time, Ueda was caught up in some sort of drama.
“Ueda.”
He wasn’t sure why it felt like things were dying down, as if nothing new would occur for him.
“Ueda.”
It was certainly strange for him.
“UEDA!”
“WHAT?!”
Ueda looked at Ryo who was glaring back at him, something he was completely used to doing.
“Didn’t you hear? We just got voted as class reps-which means you and I have to clean the damn classroom right now-all by ourselves!” the younger boy said, sounding as if he wasn’t too happy about being stuck with Ueda.
Ueda, of course, didn’t notice, feeling giddy that he and Ryo would be spending more alone time with one another. The classroom had emptied out pretty quickly and pretty soon, it really was just the two of them. Ryo went into the cupboard and handed Ueda a broom while he took out the dustpan.
“Here, sweep up. I’ll work on cleaning the chalkboard.”
Ueda smiled and nodded; Ryo reacted as if he had been blinded by the sun. His eyes were fluttering and his cheeks were turning a very bright red. He quickly made his way to the board, hoping Ueda hadn’t noticed his reaction.
Several minutes went by with neither one saying a word. Ueda would occasionally look over at Ryo’s turned back and sigh as if he felt hopeless for not being able to speak. Ryo would do the same every so often when the other boy wasn’t looking.
They eventually cleaned up and as they were putting the broom and dustpan away, Ueda cleared his throat. For some reason, he thought that that moment would be the perfect time to actually confess to Ryo.
“What is it?” Ryo mumbled.
Ueda looked at him, with a slight frown and shining eyes. Ryo’s heart jumped.
Ueda looked back down and cleared his throat a second time. He finally managed to spit out some rather incoherent words.
“I really like you, Ryo-kun.”
Ryo’s eyes widened. He dropped the broom and jumped back when it hit the floor. He fumbled for it as Ueda did the same. Their hands touched and Ryo fell backwards, scooting back from the other boy as if his touch was poisonous.
“Ryo-kun, are you okay?”
Ryo shuddered; he struggled to get up off the floor.
When he got up, he replied, “I’m fine. I just-”
He stared at Ueda, who looked concerned for him.
“What did you just say?”
“I said that I really like you-Ryo-kun,” Ueda stated a second time.
Ryo coughed as his hands started shaking. He attempted to run his fingers through his hair but ended up hitting himself on accident. Clearly nervous, he felt the need to sit on the teacher’s desk, as far away as possible from his roommate.
“You-You mean as a friend right? As roommates-and classmates-and stuff-right?”
Ueda felt a smidge of disappointment cross his heart. It was obvious that Ryo was desperate for some affirmation that they were nothing more than platonic friends. Ueda found himself to be too weak to just firmly state that no, he meant as a lover; as someone he wanted to be with more than anyone else.
“Exactly what I meant,” he smiled nervously, chuckling a bit afterwards.
Had he just been rejected? Ueda didn’t want to think that way but with the look Ryo was giving him, he was sure that he had just gotten his first attempt at confessing completely rejected. As the “man” he tried to be, Ueda sucked it up and pretended nothing had just happened.
Ueda smiled even though it was obvious that he was not happy.
“I’m going to go back to the room-I’ll see you later,” he said in a breathy voice, putting the cleaning supplies away. He grabbed his bookbag from his desk and ran out of the room, as tears streamed down his face. Ryo didn’t see them but he was sure that the other boy was crying.
He slammed his hand against the desk and shouted, “Dammit!”
Ryo was feeling guilty; he just wasn’t sure why.
“He rejected you?!”
Ueda sniffled, nodding his head to confirm that Ryo had in fact, rejected him.
Toma looked angry as he sat on Ueda’s bed, along with Yamapi and Kame. Ryo was not there because he had to help his grandmother once again. He was fortunate for that because Toma and Yamapi and even Kame were about ready to kick his ass.
“He’s done some stupid-as-hell things before but this-this takes the cake,” Yamapi growled, practically foaming at the mouth.
“Are you sure he rejected you, Tat-chan?” Kame asked, putting his hand on his friend’s shoulder.
Ueda just nodded.
Toma clicked his tongue and got up off the bed. He started pacing, his hands on his hips and a scowl on his face.
“I’m going to kill him and bury his body in the woods. Who’s with me?!”
Yamapi raised his hand enthusiastically. Kame shook his head.
“That’s why I don’t like people like you-you’re too irrational and you have grammar problems,” Kame sneered.
Toma walked up to Kame and smiled.
“Who said I liked you either?”
Yamapi sighed heavily.
“Now is not the time for you two to be fighting-which reminds me-how the hell did you get over the fact that Toma tongued you?!”
Kame snickered, “It wasn’t easy. I may have to start therapy-but I think I’ll get over it, at least for Tat-chan’s sake.”
“Well, it was harder on me! I was only doing it to get you to shut up! You nearly exposed Tatsuya to Ryo!”
Kame jumped off the bed and faced off with a very annoyed Toma.
“Hey, I said I was sorry already-I don’t need you reminding Tat-chan of my mistakes!”
Ueda sighed gloomily, trying to not so subtly divert the attention back to him.
“Oh, sorry, Tat-chan-what were you saying?” Kame said nervously.
“He wasn’t saying anything, idiot! Weren’t you paying attention?!” Toma snapped.
“Hey-was I talking to you?! And who are you calling an idiot?!” Kame retorted.
“BOTH OF YOU-SHUT UP!”
“Tat-chan!”
“Tatsuya!”
“Wow,” Yamapi laughed.
Ueda sniffled a couple more times before continuing.
“To answer your question before, Kame, I’m sure Ryo-kun rejected me. When I said that I liked him, he got really nervous and asked if I meant just as a friend and as a roommate. I would’ve said no but he seemed really, really uncomfortable, like he wanted me to agree. There was nothing I could do,” Ueda said, sounding utterly defeated.
“Well, that’s just-”
“Bullshit!”
Kame gave Toma an odd look.
“What do you mean ‘bullshit’, you waste of skin and bones?” Kame smiled his sadistic smile.
Toma glared at him, “I mean ‘bullshit’ because Ryo wasn’t exactly rejecting Tatsuya, you human stain. Yeah, it’s true that Tatsuya confessed and yeah, Ryo had a less-than-stellar reaction to the confession. But since Tatsuya played it off as just a friendly thing, Ryo probably thinks that he meant just as friends. Ergo he doesn’t really think that Tatsuya confessed and ergo Ryo did not actually reject Tatsuya!”
Toma seemed mighty pleased with his shoddy analysis but Kame clearly was not.
“First of all, don’t ever say ‘ergo’ again. You’re too stupid for such a fancy word,” Kame scoffed.
Toma was about to rebut but Kame continued.
“And second of all, how do you know your theory is correct? If Nishikido-kun really thinks that Tat-chan confessed then things are just going to be incredibly awkward between the two of them.”
“We all know it’s bad enough just them being them,” Yamapi said in a muffled voice.
Ueda looked at him but Yamapi just smiled and pretended he didn’t say a word.
Toma laughed heartily and obnoxiously in Kame’s face. Kame wiped his face since Toma apparently spit on him.
“My theory is correct because unlike you, I’ve known Ryo for just over 10 years-I know him very well, to say the least. He’s an idiot and very gullible and I don’t think Tatsuya will have any problem convincing him that it wasn’t a confession-”
“Why would I want to do that?”
Toma turned and stared at Ueda as if the other boy had leprosy or something.
“Why would you want to do that? Um-maybe because if you affirm that it was a confession, Ryo will get freaked out and you’ll never get a chance for him to really hear you out. Ryo gets pretty spooked very easily when it comes to love and feelings and such. He’s not a very emotional guy-at least not with any emotions that aren’t anger, rage, and the like. So if I were you, I’d just go along with whatever he thinks it is and just wait until he seems a little more comfortable before you drop the “L” bomb on him again.”
Yamapi nodded his head in agreement and Kame shrugged his shoulders, suggesting that he didn’t think it was such a bad idea.
Ueda sighed.
Nodding, he replied, “Okay-let’s just hope I’m asleep when he gets home!”
The four of them laughed simultaneously.
The next morning, Ryo and Ueda were getting ready for class, again with an awkward silence between them. As Ueda was buttoning his shirt, he caught Ryo staring at him. The younger boy blushed and looked away.
“Is something the matter, Ryo-kun?”
Ryo looked at him and smiled awkwardly.
“Nothing, I’m completely fine.”
Ueda smiled nervously and went back to getting dressed.
He was startled when Ryo started talking again.
“So, yesterday-”
Ueda stopped buttoning his shirt and gulped. He shyly turned his gaze towards Ryo who was pretending to be very casual about the situation.
“What about yesterday?”
“You know, when we were cleaning the classroom, and you told me that you liked me?”
Ueda gulped again; his hands were now shaking so he tried sticking them in his pockets but he realized he wasn’t wearing his pants. He crossed his arms then uncrossed them and tried his best to remain calm.
“W-What about that?”
Ryo laughed.
“I was right when I said you were talking about liking me as a friend, right?”
Ueda felt the need again to say no but he had remembered what Toma told him just the day before.
“Exactly right-I meant as a friend.”
Ryo sighed with relief, as if he had heard such wonderful news. Ueda felt a little insulted, deep down.
“Okay, good. I was just a little unsure of what you meant. But I’m glad that I was right. I mean, you’re cool and all, Tatsuya-kun, but I’m not into that kind of thing-if you know what I mean.”
Ueda froze. His face froze, his body froze, time seemed to have frozen as well.
“Tatsuya-kun? Ueda? UEDA!?”
Ueda didn’t say anything, nor did he move a muscle. Ryo was oblivious to what his words meant to Ueda.
“UEDA?!”
Ueda moved.
“I’m going to go change in the restroom today. I’ll see you in class, R-Nishikido-kun.”
Ueda grabbed his things and ran to the bathroom.
When he disappeared, it was as if Ryo understood again what an idiot he was made out to be due to his words.
And once again, he screamed, “DAMMIT!”
This time, he knew why he felt guilty. It was like something switched off in his brain.
His eyes opened wider as did his mouth.
“Oh my gawd-Ueda likes me.”
Later on, after he had dressed and before he went to class, Ueda found himself in the headmistress’s office.
“Ueda-kun, shouldn’t you be getting to class?” the older women asked in a soft voice.
Ueda replied, with slightly red eyes and a stern voice.
“Headmistress, I would like to request to change dorm rooms.”
END CHAPTER 12
A/N: Such a long series this is =__= but I'm very thankful that people are enjoying it and reading it :) thank you to everyone who has been following! I appreciate the comments as well! Thank you again!
Author: carcrashheart_8
Pairings: RyoDa, Ryo/OC, PiDa, KameDa [friendship], Akame, PiTakki [one-sided], RyoKame, JinNo, TomaKame
Rating: PG-13 [strong language and sexual references]
Summary: When his parents go overseas to work, Ueda is forced to go to an all-boys boarding school for his high school years. There, he meets Ryo Nishikido, a stubborn, strong-willed boy who ends up becoming his roommate. Ueda quickly falls for the other boy despite Ryo's rude words and bad attitude. Trouble starts up, however, and soon this seemingly one-sided love ends up becoming a love triangle and eventually a love square. Despite it all, Ueda must overcome these obstacles in order to maintain his spot at the elite high school.
Disclaimer: Title taken from "Wish We Were Older" by Metro Station
Chapter 12
It was funny, to say the least, that after almost two years together with Ryo as his roommate and his secret crush, Ueda would finally be exposed by the person he once called his best friend. Ueda’s heartbeat quickened but everything else seemed to go in slow motion. He looked at all the faces of his friends, the faces of Jin and Junno, and of Kame and Ryo. He didn’t know what he could possibly do to stop the situation from occurring. Luckily for Ueda, he wouldn’t have to do a thing.
“What, Kamenashi?” Ryo said in a less-than-thrilled tone of voice.
Kame was about to open his mouth but before he could, Toma planted the biggest kiss Ueda had ever seen right on Kame’s slightly open mouth. Everyone was taken completely off-guard, none more than Kame and certainly none more than Jin.
“WHAT THE HELL?!” the tall man squeaked as Junno prevented him from going over to kill Toma.
Toma and Kame struggled for a bit before Kame finally pushed him off. The two gasped for air for a few seconds, trying to recover from those few seconds of hell. Kame took one look at Toma and then punched the other boy square in the face. Toma went down to the floor while Kame stood with his fist stuck out in front of his body. He wiped his mouth a couple of times, spit on the floor next to Toma and stormed out of the room.
Jin, who was about ready to kill Toma, ran over and only stopped to glare at the other boy. He mouthed some obscenities before running off to join Kame, with Junno in tow.
Yamapi walked over to Toma, held out his hand and said, “What the hell are you on?”
Toma just shrugged his shoulders and struggled to get up. He rubbed his now-swelling cheek and stumbled over to the cafeteria worker for some ice, while Yamapi helped him keep his balance.
Ryo’s shoulders went up and down. Ueda stared at him oddly but was taken aback when the other boy started laughing insanely. Ryo clutched his stomach and cackled like a maniac, as everyone left in the cafeteria stared at him. Ueda could only assume that Ryo was laughing at the fact that Toma had just gotten punched, only proving Ueda’s theory that Ryo was a bit of a sadist.
He continued staring until Ryo turned around and faced him, exhaling deeply as if all the laughter had left his body.
“Seriously-that friend of yours is nuts. Why do you hang out with him?”
Ueda smiled; for some reason, he felt relief at Ryo’s statement even though he knew his roommate had no romantic feelings for Kame. He didn’t respond either but just sat down as if the incidents that had just occurred never took place.
Later that night, while Ryo was in the shower, and Ueda was alone in his room, a knock was heard. Ueda got up from his desk and went to answer it. He was a bit surprised to see that it was Kame, looking very forlorn and guilty.
“What do you want?” Ueda snarled, sounding less like his normally upbeat self.
Kame fiddled with his school jacket, which he was still wearing. He took a deep breath and then looked up at Ueda with tear-filled eyes. Ueda blushed a bit, obviously not completely immune to Kame’s good looks.
“Well, what is it?” he asked, shaking himself out of his Kame-induced stupor.
“I-I just wanted to apologize-for everything-Tat-chan,” he whispered, as he wiped his cheeks.
Ueda tried to remain strong; he didn’t want Kame to see any weakness from him, because it would only leave him vulnerable in future fights, if ever such a thing were to occur. But when Kame began to whimper, Ueda’s upper lip started to tremble and his eyes were watering.
“Ah, Kame, don’t start crying on me! We’re men-we need to act like it,” Ueda said in between sniffles.
Kame started full on wailing as he grabbed onto Ueda, and didn’t let go. But Ueda wasn’t bothered, he just clutched Kame close to him and the pair started crying into each other’s shoulders. They’d been friends for a little more than a decade and it was clear neither one of them wanted to permanently give up on that, especially not over failed romances and budding ones as well.
As they continued bawling in the doorway, Ryo walked down the hallway. He passed by next to him, stopped and shook his head.
“You two are such girls,” he chuckled before going into the room.
After getting a hold of themselves, Kame and Ueda sat on the latter’s bed in order to discuss their falling out. Ryo, on the other hand, was sitting on his own bed, headphones in his ears and a magazine in front of his face.
“Look, Kame, I’m really sorry about rejecting you but you have to understand that I can only ever see you as my friend.”
“Oh, Tat-chan, you said that to me already. I get it,” Kame smirked, gesturing as if it was all behind him.
“What do you mean you ‘get it’? This morning, you were calling me out on it-in front of everyone!”
Kame started to stutter, “Well that-I was just-well, the thing is-okay, that stuff Ikuto-”
“Ikuta,” Ueda corrected him
“Whatever-anyways, what he said really got to me. It was like nothing anyone had ever said to me before that would ever change how I felt. But then he does his little ‘soapbox’ speech and it’s like everything’s become clearer. I felt like there actually was a chance of moving on and I felt like I really could start over.”
Ueda giggled, “You sound like you’ve fallen in love.”
Kame glared at which pointed Ueda stopped giggling.
“I do not like that Ikuto-Ikuta-whatever! He just spoke to me, that’s all! And anyways-you shouldn’t be talking to me about falling in love. It’s clear you’ve got your own-ahem-little thing going on with-” Kame tilted his head in Ryo’s direction, even though the other boy was too distracted to notice.
Ueda gently hit Kame on the head and waved his hand.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. I am not in love-with anyone!”
Kame pulled his legs close to them and clutched them, laughing as he did so.
“Okay, Tat-chan, whatever you say.”
“I’m serious!”
Kame smiled, “Sure, you are.”
He continued smiling as he stared at Ueda, who began to grow a little uncomfortable.
“What-what’s wrong? Do I have something on my face? Tell me, where is it?” he started picking at his face before lunging for a mirror, attempting to clear his face from any unwanted blemishes.
“No-no,” Kame laughed, taking the mirror away and putting it down next to him, “I’m just glad that you and I are okay with each other again. I wasn’t sure if we’d ever be friends again, Tat-chan.”
Ueda sighed, “I’m actually relieved. I’d rather have you as a friend than an enemy, to be honest, Kame. You’re a really scary person!”
Kame just laughed, which encouraged Ueda to do the same thing.
The two continued laughing and Ryo moved his magazine out of his face, and looked at them.
“Idiots,” he mumbled before continuing reading.
After having settled things with Kame and continuing his quest to gain Ryo’s affections, Ueda caught himself daydreaming in class about a week later. Not much had progressed in those seven days; it was weird, since most of the time, Ueda was caught up in some sort of drama.
“Ueda.”
He wasn’t sure why it felt like things were dying down, as if nothing new would occur for him.
“Ueda.”
It was certainly strange for him.
“UEDA!”
“WHAT?!”
Ueda looked at Ryo who was glaring back at him, something he was completely used to doing.
“Didn’t you hear? We just got voted as class reps-which means you and I have to clean the damn classroom right now-all by ourselves!” the younger boy said, sounding as if he wasn’t too happy about being stuck with Ueda.
Ueda, of course, didn’t notice, feeling giddy that he and Ryo would be spending more alone time with one another. The classroom had emptied out pretty quickly and pretty soon, it really was just the two of them. Ryo went into the cupboard and handed Ueda a broom while he took out the dustpan.
“Here, sweep up. I’ll work on cleaning the chalkboard.”
Ueda smiled and nodded; Ryo reacted as if he had been blinded by the sun. His eyes were fluttering and his cheeks were turning a very bright red. He quickly made his way to the board, hoping Ueda hadn’t noticed his reaction.
Several minutes went by with neither one saying a word. Ueda would occasionally look over at Ryo’s turned back and sigh as if he felt hopeless for not being able to speak. Ryo would do the same every so often when the other boy wasn’t looking.
They eventually cleaned up and as they were putting the broom and dustpan away, Ueda cleared his throat. For some reason, he thought that that moment would be the perfect time to actually confess to Ryo.
“What is it?” Ryo mumbled.
Ueda looked at him, with a slight frown and shining eyes. Ryo’s heart jumped.
Ueda looked back down and cleared his throat a second time. He finally managed to spit out some rather incoherent words.
“I really like you, Ryo-kun.”
Ryo’s eyes widened. He dropped the broom and jumped back when it hit the floor. He fumbled for it as Ueda did the same. Their hands touched and Ryo fell backwards, scooting back from the other boy as if his touch was poisonous.
“Ryo-kun, are you okay?”
Ryo shuddered; he struggled to get up off the floor.
When he got up, he replied, “I’m fine. I just-”
He stared at Ueda, who looked concerned for him.
“What did you just say?”
“I said that I really like you-Ryo-kun,” Ueda stated a second time.
Ryo coughed as his hands started shaking. He attempted to run his fingers through his hair but ended up hitting himself on accident. Clearly nervous, he felt the need to sit on the teacher’s desk, as far away as possible from his roommate.
“You-You mean as a friend right? As roommates-and classmates-and stuff-right?”
Ueda felt a smidge of disappointment cross his heart. It was obvious that Ryo was desperate for some affirmation that they were nothing more than platonic friends. Ueda found himself to be too weak to just firmly state that no, he meant as a lover; as someone he wanted to be with more than anyone else.
“Exactly what I meant,” he smiled nervously, chuckling a bit afterwards.
Had he just been rejected? Ueda didn’t want to think that way but with the look Ryo was giving him, he was sure that he had just gotten his first attempt at confessing completely rejected. As the “man” he tried to be, Ueda sucked it up and pretended nothing had just happened.
Ueda smiled even though it was obvious that he was not happy.
“I’m going to go back to the room-I’ll see you later,” he said in a breathy voice, putting the cleaning supplies away. He grabbed his bookbag from his desk and ran out of the room, as tears streamed down his face. Ryo didn’t see them but he was sure that the other boy was crying.
He slammed his hand against the desk and shouted, “Dammit!”
Ryo was feeling guilty; he just wasn’t sure why.
“He rejected you?!”
Ueda sniffled, nodding his head to confirm that Ryo had in fact, rejected him.
Toma looked angry as he sat on Ueda’s bed, along with Yamapi and Kame. Ryo was not there because he had to help his grandmother once again. He was fortunate for that because Toma and Yamapi and even Kame were about ready to kick his ass.
“He’s done some stupid-as-hell things before but this-this takes the cake,” Yamapi growled, practically foaming at the mouth.
“Are you sure he rejected you, Tat-chan?” Kame asked, putting his hand on his friend’s shoulder.
Ueda just nodded.
Toma clicked his tongue and got up off the bed. He started pacing, his hands on his hips and a scowl on his face.
“I’m going to kill him and bury his body in the woods. Who’s with me?!”
Yamapi raised his hand enthusiastically. Kame shook his head.
“That’s why I don’t like people like you-you’re too irrational and you have grammar problems,” Kame sneered.
Toma walked up to Kame and smiled.
“Who said I liked you either?”
Yamapi sighed heavily.
“Now is not the time for you two to be fighting-which reminds me-how the hell did you get over the fact that Toma tongued you?!”
Kame snickered, “It wasn’t easy. I may have to start therapy-but I think I’ll get over it, at least for Tat-chan’s sake.”
“Well, it was harder on me! I was only doing it to get you to shut up! You nearly exposed Tatsuya to Ryo!”
Kame jumped off the bed and faced off with a very annoyed Toma.
“Hey, I said I was sorry already-I don’t need you reminding Tat-chan of my mistakes!”
Ueda sighed gloomily, trying to not so subtly divert the attention back to him.
“Oh, sorry, Tat-chan-what were you saying?” Kame said nervously.
“He wasn’t saying anything, idiot! Weren’t you paying attention?!” Toma snapped.
“Hey-was I talking to you?! And who are you calling an idiot?!” Kame retorted.
“BOTH OF YOU-SHUT UP!”
“Tat-chan!”
“Tatsuya!”
“Wow,” Yamapi laughed.
Ueda sniffled a couple more times before continuing.
“To answer your question before, Kame, I’m sure Ryo-kun rejected me. When I said that I liked him, he got really nervous and asked if I meant just as a friend and as a roommate. I would’ve said no but he seemed really, really uncomfortable, like he wanted me to agree. There was nothing I could do,” Ueda said, sounding utterly defeated.
“Well, that’s just-”
“Bullshit!”
Kame gave Toma an odd look.
“What do you mean ‘bullshit’, you waste of skin and bones?” Kame smiled his sadistic smile.
Toma glared at him, “I mean ‘bullshit’ because Ryo wasn’t exactly rejecting Tatsuya, you human stain. Yeah, it’s true that Tatsuya confessed and yeah, Ryo had a less-than-stellar reaction to the confession. But since Tatsuya played it off as just a friendly thing, Ryo probably thinks that he meant just as friends. Ergo he doesn’t really think that Tatsuya confessed and ergo Ryo did not actually reject Tatsuya!”
Toma seemed mighty pleased with his shoddy analysis but Kame clearly was not.
“First of all, don’t ever say ‘ergo’ again. You’re too stupid for such a fancy word,” Kame scoffed.
Toma was about to rebut but Kame continued.
“And second of all, how do you know your theory is correct? If Nishikido-kun really thinks that Tat-chan confessed then things are just going to be incredibly awkward between the two of them.”
“We all know it’s bad enough just them being them,” Yamapi said in a muffled voice.
Ueda looked at him but Yamapi just smiled and pretended he didn’t say a word.
Toma laughed heartily and obnoxiously in Kame’s face. Kame wiped his face since Toma apparently spit on him.
“My theory is correct because unlike you, I’ve known Ryo for just over 10 years-I know him very well, to say the least. He’s an idiot and very gullible and I don’t think Tatsuya will have any problem convincing him that it wasn’t a confession-”
“Why would I want to do that?”
Toma turned and stared at Ueda as if the other boy had leprosy or something.
“Why would you want to do that? Um-maybe because if you affirm that it was a confession, Ryo will get freaked out and you’ll never get a chance for him to really hear you out. Ryo gets pretty spooked very easily when it comes to love and feelings and such. He’s not a very emotional guy-at least not with any emotions that aren’t anger, rage, and the like. So if I were you, I’d just go along with whatever he thinks it is and just wait until he seems a little more comfortable before you drop the “L” bomb on him again.”
Yamapi nodded his head in agreement and Kame shrugged his shoulders, suggesting that he didn’t think it was such a bad idea.
Ueda sighed.
Nodding, he replied, “Okay-let’s just hope I’m asleep when he gets home!”
The four of them laughed simultaneously.
The next morning, Ryo and Ueda were getting ready for class, again with an awkward silence between them. As Ueda was buttoning his shirt, he caught Ryo staring at him. The younger boy blushed and looked away.
“Is something the matter, Ryo-kun?”
Ryo looked at him and smiled awkwardly.
“Nothing, I’m completely fine.”
Ueda smiled nervously and went back to getting dressed.
He was startled when Ryo started talking again.
“So, yesterday-”
Ueda stopped buttoning his shirt and gulped. He shyly turned his gaze towards Ryo who was pretending to be very casual about the situation.
“What about yesterday?”
“You know, when we were cleaning the classroom, and you told me that you liked me?”
Ueda gulped again; his hands were now shaking so he tried sticking them in his pockets but he realized he wasn’t wearing his pants. He crossed his arms then uncrossed them and tried his best to remain calm.
“W-What about that?”
Ryo laughed.
“I was right when I said you were talking about liking me as a friend, right?”
Ueda felt the need again to say no but he had remembered what Toma told him just the day before.
“Exactly right-I meant as a friend.”
Ryo sighed with relief, as if he had heard such wonderful news. Ueda felt a little insulted, deep down.
“Okay, good. I was just a little unsure of what you meant. But I’m glad that I was right. I mean, you’re cool and all, Tatsuya-kun, but I’m not into that kind of thing-if you know what I mean.”
Ueda froze. His face froze, his body froze, time seemed to have frozen as well.
“Tatsuya-kun? Ueda? UEDA!?”
Ueda didn’t say anything, nor did he move a muscle. Ryo was oblivious to what his words meant to Ueda.
“UEDA?!”
Ueda moved.
“I’m going to go change in the restroom today. I’ll see you in class, R-Nishikido-kun.”
Ueda grabbed his things and ran to the bathroom.
When he disappeared, it was as if Ryo understood again what an idiot he was made out to be due to his words.
And once again, he screamed, “DAMMIT!”
This time, he knew why he felt guilty. It was like something switched off in his brain.
His eyes opened wider as did his mouth.
“Oh my gawd-Ueda likes me.”
Later on, after he had dressed and before he went to class, Ueda found himself in the headmistress’s office.
“Ueda-kun, shouldn’t you be getting to class?” the older women asked in a soft voice.
Ueda replied, with slightly red eyes and a stern voice.
“Headmistress, I would like to request to change dorm rooms.”
END CHAPTER 12
A/N: Such a long series this is =__= but I'm very thankful that people are enjoying it and reading it :) thank you to everyone who has been following! I appreciate the comments as well! Thank you again!