Gift fic for impynymph
Welcome to the start of this year's K8 Exchange posting! We'll be posting 2 fics a day for 9 days, for a total of 18 shiny new fics. Enjoy, tell your friends, and please comment so the writers know their hard work is appreciated! :)
Title: Color Coded
Pairing/Characters: RyoUchi, also featuring wannabe-therapist!Yasu and softie!Hina, with guest-appearances by grumpy, but cheesy Subaru, wise Ohkura, whiny Yoko and mature&fun Maru.
Rating: NC-17 to be safe (no PWP of course)
Warnings: It might start a bit angsty. Boys being boys :D
Notes: To impynymph with lots of love. I tried to keep the angst down and make it fluffy and fun at some points. I hope you will like this <3
Summary: Reaching the dead end of their relationship, they only have two options: Break up or fight the demons that are hunting them. Choosing the 2nd option, Ryo and Uchi take a mental travel back in time, as their ranger alter-egos and with the help of their friends, to find out what went wrong in their relationship.
“Maybe, this is the end…”
Yellow looks at Pink directly now, not sure if he is supposed to feel sad or angry or disappointed now. “Yes,” he finally answers. “Maybe.”
When Ryo looked down at these sentences, written down on the sheet of paper in his own messy letters, he blinked at its intensity. It was worse than hearing it. And in fact, he had heard it. Just last week when he and Uchi had the exact same conversation.
Tears were burning in his eyes. And it’s only then that he realized that Uchi was crying, too.
~~~~~
“So this is how it works.” Yasu looked at his friends encouragingly, eyes gleaming. He was clearly motivated, much to Uchi’s and Ryo’s annoyance. And also much to Hina’s displeasure. Meddling with other’s business had never been Hina’s kind of thing. Or maybe it was his kind of thing, but there was a point where he preferred it to back out. When he looked into Ryo’s and Uchi’s eyes, this was exactly the point he had been talking about.
“You are sitting on a chair opposite to each other,” Yasu explained, ignoring that his friends were obviously rather sceptical about this. “Then you talk about each other. Only one sentence each turn. Every time you say something positive or when you agree, you stand up, take your chair and take a step towards each other. If you don’t agree or say something negative, you step apart. The rules: Don’t yell, don’t raise your voice, no curses, no insults. Got it?”
Ryo sighed slightly. “Okay.” He wasn’t even hiding the fact that he wasn’t too excited about this.
You are bossy.
A step away from each other.
You are too whiny.
A step away.
You smoke too much. I can’t even breathe properly.
A step away.
You are very eager to criticize others, but whenever someone criticises you, you crumble.
A step away.
You are not letting me do anything…
A step away.
…because you let ME do everything. You just love to be pampered.
A step away.
You hardly talk about your problems. You are so closed, it’s almost ridiculous!
A step away.
Complaining! All the time. I can’t even hear it any more. You cry about everything.
A step away.
“Wow,” Hina snorted towards Yasu. “Your idea is working. Like hell.” He didn’t even try to hide his sarcasm. When Yasu had tugged him along to Uchi’s and Ryo’s place he had already known that this here would be disastrous.
What use did it have to meddle with someone else’s business? What if it was inevitable that they broke apart? What if their relationship wasn’t supposed to last? What if this was the end? The only reason why in the end he came along was that he wanted them to be happy, no matter how tiny the chance was.
Yasu glared at Hina, deciding to ignore his friend from now on. He focused on Ryo and Uchi again, they had top priority. “Did you do the little homework I assigned you to do.”
“You are way too into this,” Hina mumbled, too silent for Yasu to hear it. Gladly. If Ryo and Uchi needed a couples therapist, they should search advice from one, but not from Yasu. “It’s not like you are getting money for this. Or rather… it’s not like you actually know what you are doing.”
Uchi looked away from Ryo when he heard Yasu’s questions, tears burning in his eyes. “Yes.”
Ryo had waited for Uchi’s reaction first, before he said something himself. He saw the tears, clearly, he could always tell when Uchi was about to cry. There was a time when he fell in love with his tears, when he would hurry to Uchi’s side immediately, wiping them away, hugging and kissing and apologizing, because Uchi’s tears were the saddest thing for him. But now, it was different. Things had changed. Ryo swallowed at that thought, suddenly recalling the conversation Uchi and he had written down. Yasu’s homework. Something inside him was tugging and pulling at him painfully.
I don’t want it to end. Not like that.
The other three looked at him in surprise. He hadn’t even realized that he had said it, maybe he hadn’t even known that he felt that way. But he said it. And now it was out, standing in the room, making all of them look at him puzzled. Ryo winced a bit, a blush crawling over his face.
Me neither.
Uchi’s voice was even more silent than Ryo’s, but nevertheless he had said it. Clearly. For all of them to hear.
A bright smile appeared on Yasu’s lips and a surprised one on Hina’s. “Good,” he chirped. “Then here is what you do from now on. Until we meet next Sunday, sit down together and continue the story…backwards, writing as your alter-egos.”
“What?” Ryo blinked. His eyes were showing clear bewilderment now.
“From the moment of your last conversation back to where you started. Get back to the moments you think that were drawing you apart. Once you found such a moment, you will have to decide: Is it something the both of you encountered together? Then try to regather the memory together. Stay away from insults and unnecessary anger, just keep it how it was. Keep it real. But maybe, at one point, you will reach a memory that will only involve one of you or that will affect you differently, then sit down on your own and write it down from your point of view. Sometimes your points of view will be the same, sometimes one of you will feel that something is important to him while the other didn’t even know that he did something wrong,” Yasu told them, secretly congratulating himself to his genius mind and his wonderful ideas. When his friends nodded warily, he turned around to face Hina. “You are right, I should get money out of this.”
Hina was pretty sure that this would turn out disastrous. For real.
~~~~~
“You asked Yasu for help!?” Subaru looked at Ryo in horror, but before he could say anything else he was pushed to the side by Yoko. “WHAT!?”
“I didn’t ask for help,” Ryo grumbled. “He just was there, in our apartment, all of a sudden. I don’t know,” He shrugged. “Suddenly I thought: Why not giving it a try?”
“YASU!? Why not me!?” Yoko sounded whiny, clearly, making the others grin.
“Yes,” Hina snorted. “I wonder why…”
“…maybe because your relationships are always a mess?” Subaru suggested nonchalantly, grinning when Yoko was glaring at him. “And because people associate you with dokkiris? Better over-confident Yasu, than a dokkiri.”
“Exactly my thoughts,” Hina agreed.
Yoko grumbled about how this was no fair, but was successfully ignored by the others. On top of that some of their other co-workers and friends had already heard about Yasu’s success and were asking him for help in their relationships.
“I can’t believe that,” Ohkura sighed a bit. “Out of all…Yasu?”
“What?” Yasu snorted, a dangerous glint in his eyes. “I’ve been very popular lately. But top priority goes to Ryo and Uchi at the moment, I can only work with one client at a time. Then it’s Maru and then…”
“Wait!” Ohkura breathed out. “OUR Maru?”
“Yes.”
Hina sighed. “That’s gonna be a…”
“…a disaster. I know.” Yasu waved him off before he successfully avoided Hina’s smack.
~~~~~
“Are you going out?” Pink looked at Yellow warily, clear doubt in his eyes.
Yellow didn’t miss it, of course not. His eyes went small for a moment. “I’m meeting Pi. You've known that since days ago already. What’s the problem now?”
Pink shrugged, not saying anything. Keeping silent would tick Yellow off completely, he knew that. “It’s your choice who you meet.”
“You know what?” Yellow huffed. “Your jealousy is making me feel sick.”
“I,” Pink’s eyes grew wide. He hadn’t known that Yellow would look through him that easily. “I just want to…”
“You want to tell me who I am allowed to meet and who not,” Yellow answered coldly, before he angled for some clothes and his keys.
“What are you doing now?” Pink’s voice sounded miserable.
Yellow didn’t look at Pink, knowing that he would stay if he saw his sad eyes… and make things even worse by staying. “I’ll be staying at Pi’s. Or maybe visit my sister.” With that he closed the door, leaving Pink behind.
Pink bit down on his lips, sitting down on the sofa. For a moment he stayed entirely motionless, before he started to sob into his hands.
Ryo stayed quiet after they had written down their lines. For a moment he looked out of the window, it was raining, a perfect picture of his mood. “You cried?” he finally asked.
Uchi blushed slightly. “Not because of you!”
“No? Because of what did you cry then?” For a moment Ryo had to grin, he had almost forgotten how it was to tease Uchi. Then he got earnest again, because he also remembered how he used to love Uchi’s tears, not because he was sad then, but because he loved to comfort him. He had always done that and then it had suddenly stopped. Why?
He felt uncomfortable all of a sudden. Already fearing the next session. What would it reveal then?
~~~~~
Yasu nodded his head when he listened to this little text his friends prepared. There was a frown between his eyes. This here was only hinting to something. Something that was lying deep beneath the surface.
Hina was staying quiet most of the time. He had listened carefully. The reason why he joined Yasu again was because he felt worried. He didn’t want things to become even worse… hence he tugged along again and since it was his own choice had no right to be annoyed by it. It was against his principles.
~~~~~
The next situation was for Uchi only. Ryo hadn’t been at home back then.
Pink was bored, so bored that he decided to clean up their apartment. Actually there wasn’t that much to do. At one point in his life, or rather in their life together, Ryo had actually learned to keep his own stuff together and clean up himself.
Pink sighed slightly when he bent down to angle for some post-its lying on the floor. When he turned them over his eyes widened. There were telephone numbers on them, names he hadn’t heard. Girls’ names.
It didn’t leave his mind any more. Every time Yellow went out or visited one of his friends, he was trying to fight the urge to check on him. Sometimes he was successful, sometimes not.
“Well,” Yasu begun, but got interrupted by Ryo. His eyes were gleaming in fury. “ARE YOU NUTS, HIRO!? What are you thinking of me!?”
“But…the numbers…and…”
“Don’t give me that kind of shit. You know it yourself when you go out that people tend to simply drop their numbers into your pocket or something like that. Oh damn, it even happens to Maru! (Hina felt mean when he grinned at that, because it was not a funny situation at all. But he couldn’t help it… poor Maru.) I can’t believe you never trusted me, though I didn’t do anything.”
“That’s actually true. Jealousy is bad. So is mistrust.” Yasu tilted his head a bit, a thoughtful expression on his face “There is more to that, am I right? Something had to happen before…or afterwards?”
Uchi blushed a bit, while Ryo furrowed his brows. “I think for me it was before this and before our fight. As for Hiro,” he shot him a glare. “It had to be afterwards.”
“You know?” Uchi asked silently.
“Of course,” Ryo frowned. “Do you really think I would miss it? You are an open book to read.”
Uchi grew pale at that. He hadn’t realized how much Ryo knew. Or maybe he had realized, but decided to ignore the signs.
~~~~~
“If I ever need a definition of gloomy,” Okura stated nonchalantly. “I will point to you.”
“Shut up,” Ryo huffed.
The younger one laughed at that. “Glad that you are still yourself.” He turned away from his TV and his perfect nachos with cheese and crawled on top of Ryo to tickle him. They both giggled like mad at that, until Ryo could feel it. The air was heavier than before, the tension a tiny bit higher. He blinked. Had Ohkura always had these beautiful hazelnut-brown eyes? He was tall… and Ryo liked tall. Always did. Uchi was tall too…
At this thought Ryo sighed slightly, the tension was away again. No matter what Uchi did or what was standing between them, he couldn’t end it like that. If they had to end it, it would be a proud and dignified ending. Not a pathetic one.
They themselves were already pathetic enough after all.
Ohkura smacked Ryo playfully, before he crawled down from his hips. “You are dozing off, again! Honestly girl, hopefully Yasu is really as good as he pretends to be.”
“He is not that bad,” Ryo answered, wisely ignoring the fact that Ohkura had just called him girl, but he was flirting with his nachos again, so there was no use in discussing it. Besides that he was also calling Yasu, Maru and Yoko like that. So it was okay, maybe.
~~~~~
Yellow tried to ignore the shadows that were following him. He tried to stay confident and strong, for both of them, for him and Pink. But at one point he couldn’t. He could almost see it right in front of his eyes. How it crumbled.
This night when Pink came home, much too late as that Yellow’s mind could make up any excuses or reasons for that, he knew it.
It was crumbling.
But instead of asking, he merely looked at Pink and wrapped his arms around him. “Okaeri,” He mumbled into his ear. The storm inside him was almost breaking him, but he had always been good at acting.
The body in his arms felt cold, but the arms holding on to his back were almost clinging to him. In a strange and unacceptable way it did make him feel a bit relieved that Pink was still able to cling to him.
Yasu swallowed a bit when Ryo had read out his text. “Uchi?” he asked carefully. “What’s your version of this evening? Can you read it out loud?”
“No,” Uchi’s voice was shaking slightly.
“Why not?”
“I don’t know how,” he explained nervously. He clenched his fists, not looking towards Ryo.
For a moment all of them stayed quiet, then Yasu looked at Ryo. “You should ask,” he advised. “You should have asked all the time. Now might be the last moment…”
Ryo swallowed at that, obviously fighting with himself here, then he looked at Uchi directly. “Did you cheat on me?”
“I,” Uchi’s eyes were twitching, his voice sounded hoarse. Never in his life had he wished more to be far far away. “I didn’t have sex. It was only… he kissed me, then I left.”
The power of this statement almost swamped over Ryo. He was so relieved that Uchi didn’t have sex with someone that he was almost crying. But things weren’t perfect, not at all. “But you wanted to?”
“Yes,” Uchi admitted honestly. “It was my original plan.”
Also this statement hit Ryo. “You planned it? So it was for… what? What was it for?”
When Uchi didn’t answer, Yasu sighed slightly, rubbing his temples. “You wanted to cheat on Ryo because you wanted his attention? Because you felt neglected? Is that how it is?”
Uchi looked down at his fingers, nodding his head. “Yes.”
~~~~~
“This here,” Subaru made a wide dramatic gesture. “Is for us to have fun. Since Yasu opened his therapy-club, it’s getting very gloomy.”
“I just don’t understand why I have to be the one accompanying him,” Hina sighed. “Just because of the one time we hang out together and talked about Uchi and Ryo. Then he suddenly decided that he has to help them.”
Maru grinned. “You just can’t help it. You could easily back out again, but you are such a softie. Well,” he giggled. “You can be proud to be his assistant. Yasu’s Save your Relationship company is definitely flourishing.”
“Yes,” Yoko chuckled. “It’s a rising business.”
“Now you are laughing,” Ohkura suddenly interrupted them, sounding both wary and thoughtful. “But fact is that he is helping.”
Hina nodded his head. “Actually Ohkura is right. You guys would be surprised, really.”
“Isn’t it too late already?” Yoko asked carefully. “I mean, if two people already are at this point, won’t it save them a lot of pain to just… you know… separate?”
“No,” Hina shook his head. “They will make it.”
“How do you know?”
Hina chuckled. “Because they want it. Never underestimate two people, three if you include Yasu, who really want to work on something. They could rip out trees like that. At this point in a relationship, after so many years, you don’t just leave.”
“Uchi didn’t cheat on him,” Subaru mused. “So maybe you are right.”
“It’s not about the cheating,” Ohkura answered. “None of them actually did anything wrong. You can’t point out one moment that almost destroyed. You can’t say it’s because one of them betrayed the other. But it’s about the fact that they were so desperate to get to this point where they have done nothing but hurt each other.”
For a moment it was awkwardly silent then Maru coughed to distract the tension. “On another note,” he frowned at the huge amount of beer Subaru had brought along. “Whom did you invite?”
“Everyone,” Subaru answered calmly.
“Everyone?” Maru blinked. “As in…”
“Everyone.”
Maru soon learned that when Subaru said everyone, he really meant everyone. At one point when Nagase started table-dancing together with Subaru and Yasu, Maru decided it would be best to leave for the kitchen and get another drink.
When he reached the kitchen he blinked. He was surprised to see these two there. They had both come to this party, Subaru had been very careful in how he had set them up. With so many people being here it meant that it was safe for these two to be in a room together. In the end, his everyone actually meant a lot more than only a huge party.
But still, Maru was surprised that they really were in a room together alone. Ryo was leaning against the window, looking outside. Uchi leaning against the chair, a glass in his hand, twisting it in his hands.
“You know,” Ryo broke the silence. “It’s been raining for days already.”
Uchi coughed a bit. “Yes,” he answered. “You hate the rain.”
Maru sighed slightly, deciding to retreat back into the living room and watch these idiots table-dancing. Now if he could convince Hina to join them… he would at least have some nice abs to look at.
~~~~~
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m filling in for Hina today,” Subaru’s lips turned into something like a smile while he tried not to sound offensive by the not really warm welcome. “Hi.”
“Great,” Uchi mumbled.
“Hey,” Subaru grumbled. “It’s not my fault that he caught a cold. And I even brought along cake.”
“Cake?” Uchi looked somewhat pleased “Self-made?”
“Well, I tried it,” Subaru answered diplomatically.
“Great,” Uchi beamed. “Ryo hasn’t baked anything in months. He,” he paused here, remembering that this here wasn’t the moment to complain about anything. “Nevermind. Come in.”
“Really guys,” Yasu looked at his two friends with displeasure. “I’m not giving you this homework just for fun. You need to do this!”
Uchi blushed slightly. “I just didn’t know what to write. I don’t know what else happened… and Ryo didn’t tell me. I just, well, last week… More I can’t tell you.”
“Alright. I can accept that.” Yasu nodded his head, before he turned around to look at Ryo. “And you?”
Ryo stayed quiet, not only for a moment, but for minutes. So long that Uchi shifted around nervously and Subaru started to feel tired by the lack of action. “I can’t,” Ryo finally answered.
“What is it you can’t tell us?” Yasu wanted to know.
The frown on Ryo’s forehead grew, so did the wary expression in his eyes. “I heard something.”
“When?”
“Around the same time Uchi planned to cheat on me.”
The other three blinked now, exchanging some glances. “What did you hear, Ryo-kun?” Yasu asked carefully,
“Next to him I sometimes feel so low. It’s like he can do anything.” Pink sounded worked up. “But I on the other side can’t do anything. It sucks to know that in comparison to the person you are together with you are totally hopeless. Sometimes I wonder if he is actually enjoying that… to be so high above me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Pink! I’m sure he doesn’t feel like that.”
“That’s not the point,” Pink answered sadly. “But I feel that way. I wonder what this is. When things turned out like that. When our relationship started to suck. I just don’t get it how…”
“What don’t you get?”
“…how he can stay together with me. Why? He doesn’t seem to like to be with me any more.”
“But you love each other, remember?” the other voice sounded pretty worked up at this point. But Yellow didn’t even want to know who the other person was, he just wished he had never bumped into them.
“At this point I’m not even sure if we ever truly loved each other. If he loved me.”
“But that’s,” Uchi grew pale. “I didn’t… I mean…”
“What didn’t you mean!?” Ryo huffed. “That you don’t love me? That I’m making you feel low? That I’m enjoying it to make you feel small and useless? That I’m some sort of jerk who is pulling you down? That I don’t love you?”
Uchi swallowed at that, rubbing his hands against his trousers nervously. His palms felt wet. For a moment he wondered if it was any use to cry here, but then he fought his tears back. It wouldn’t help them now. Not at all. “We had a fight before that, remember? And I ran and stayed at Fujie’s place for a night. When I came back you were away… and you didn’t come back for days,” he admitted silently. “I was upset, I felt like I had been right, while in fact none of us was. That’s why I said that. It was unfair.”
Subaru felt like he was getting a headache here. How much more complicated could this shit possibly get? And how could Hina come along every week? This was so depressing!
Meanwhile Yasu considered his choice of words wisely, before he looked at Ryo insistently. “Do you really think that he felt that way? For real?”
Ryo bit his lips at that, wondering what he should answer now. Then he shook his head. “Now that I’m sitting here, no. But back then and for months I felt that it was true. I was too deep inside of this shit,” he paused. “Then I started doing stupid things.”
“Like what?”
“Going out a lot, not being at home much, taking every opportunity to sleep at a friend’s place, working till late at night so that I wouldn’t need to be at home. To…see him.” He paused. “I was running away.”
“Yes,” Yasu said softly. “You both were.”
“I should have asked Uchi about this and talked about it. Today, I would,” Ryo mumbled. “But back then I decided to hide and let things escalate. It’s not only his fault… it’s ours.”
Yasu smiled a bit, feeling like he did some progress here, by having Ryo admit that he didn’t think Uchi alone was at fault, but that this here was their mess. They created it together. “Is there more left between you? More that’s been unspoken?”
“There for sure is,” Ryo mumbled. “But this here is the core of it.”
Uchi nodded his head, his fingers clinging to the table now that everything had come out. “Ryo heard me talking about him… I didn’t know that. I was just depressed about my own life and about my career and about our last fight.”
“I neglected Hiro.”
“And I thought he was cheating on me…”
“…which I didn’t.”
“As a revenge I wanted to cheat on him too.”
“Which you didn’t.”
Subaru had listened to the others in surprise. He looked up at the ceiling, thanking god that he was still single. Well, at the same time it did bother him that he didn’t have such a deep relationship like these two idiots, because despite their stupid unnecessarily messed up situation, they were still sticking together.
Yasu nodded his head. “You need to talk more to each other, you know that, right? This whole mess could have been avoided if you had been more honest to each other. Honest, as in talking and sharing your worries.”
“Yes,” Uchi agreed tiredly. “None of us is really good at that.”
“Well, about time you learn it then,” Yasu answered firmly. “What did you do the other five years? Seriously, at one point you need to be able to live together and with each other’s flaws. If you can’t talk, you won’t be able to lead a relationship. Fighting is alright, it’s also part of it, but after a fight don’t just go back to how it was before. Talk about why you fought.”
“Yes,” Subaru agreed, much to his own surprise, because he hadn’t planned at all to intervene here. “Yasu is right. So many misunderstandings… now look at you. If you take a step back, nothing actually happened. You could try other approaches, if you have difficulties with talking,” he looked at Ryo thoughtfully. “I know how it feels not to be able to share your problems. But you could always write letters to each other. Or share an exchange diary. Whatever helps.”
For a moment they both stayed quiet, then Ryo nodded his head carefully. “I could write letters… or in a diary…”
“See!” Yasu’s was sounding seriously relieved. “This is good, guys. And believe me, once you solve this here, the other problems will disappear too. As for now, to get you back to where you have been once,” he paused. “Let’s try another approach.”
“What?” Uchi asked hopefully.
Yasu smiled warmly. “We’ve talked about your problems and the things separating you. Now let’s do it the other way round. We’ll think of the things that connect you, the ones that made you fall in love. Your history, before all this happened.”
~~~~~
“Is it true?” Ryo looked at Uchi nervously. Yasu and Subaru had left them one hour ago but there was still something bothering him. “That you felt like I didn’t love you?”
Uchi sighed slightly at that. For a moment he wondered if he should lie but then he decided to be honest. Lies had gotten them into this situation. Things that weren’t even so big at the beginning. They could have solved them immediately, without any bigger damage, but they decided to hide and run, instead of being honest and talk. At this point, back then, maybe they had been too young and inexperienced to understand, but now Uchi swore to never be that stupid again. “Sometimes,” he answered. “I wonder if you ever really loved me.”
The look in Ryo’s eyes was dark and for a moment Uchi thought that Ryo would hit him, but then the latter only grabbed his shoulders, pressing his lips against his. It was tempting to get engulfed into this wary kiss, though it was an almost painful one. And when Ryo drew back, he looked sad, and it almost made Uchi burst into tears.
They stayed silent, not moving, before Ryo leaned his head against Uchi’s chest. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t love you. Would I?”
“No,” Uchi mumbled, his hands wandering over Ryo’s back soothingly. “You wouldn’t. I’m so sorry… for even thinking something like that.” He paused, his chin resting on Ryo’s head. “Please, Ryo, don’t go… don’t sleep at Pi’s place today. Please stay.”
Ryo felt like fighting for a moment, but after months he felt like leaning on Uchi again. It felt warm, at least a bit. “Alright.”
~~~~~
“That’s going to be fun,” Maru mused, hiding his grin as best as he could. “Why again do you want to go surfing?”
Yoko raised his head a bit to give a more dignified expression. He nodded towards Ryo whom he had convinced to teach him some surfing. “I always like to spend some time with my Juniors.”
“Ah,” Maru grinned. “I see. Of course.” He twinkled towards Yasu who was lying next to Uchi in the sand. Someone’s jealous of Yasu and Hina. He whispered towards them, making them giggle.
Then he dropped down next to his friends, deciding to enjoy the scene. With Yoko dropping into the water several times.
Meanwhile Uchi had sat up, watching Ryo and Yoko properly. Yoko was trying his best to not fail completely, but though he was quite good with ball games and bicycling, surfing was something entirely different. Uchi could tell that it was hell for him. He grinned a bit before he looked at Ryo. His body was tanned and beautifully toned.
Uchi blushed. He hadn’t looked at Ryo’s body properly in months, if not a whole year. He had always been stunning, always trained. In Uchi’s eyes he was perfect. Now standing in the water, his skin wet, it sent tingles through Uchi’s body.
His eyes widened in surprise, joy filling him up. He wanted Ryo. He was longing for him, for his touches. He wanted to have sex! It had been months since he had felt lust or want towards his lover and it made his heart fill with joy now that he was feeling it again.
~~~~~
Yellow’s fingers were lying on Pink’s hand while he was moving it over the strings of his guitar. It felt almost idyllic, or maybe it was idyllic for real. Only a willow tree next to them, a slight breeze and nothing else. Pink chuckled slightly when he felt Yellow’s breath against his neck. “You are supposed to teach me how to play the guitar, not to seduce me.”
“Oh,” Yellow mock-mused. “But there are still so many things I can teach you.”
Pink giggled. “Perv.”
“Where’s that from?” Hina wanted to know, earning him a glare from Yasu. It was his therapy session after all.
For a moment Ryo and Uchi stayed quiet, then Ryo cleared his throat. “It’s our special place.”
“Why is it special?” Hina asked softly, but Yasu shook his head. “Not today. We’ll talk about this next week, or maybe the one after, alright?”
~~~~~
“What are you doing here?”
“Cooking.”
“Oh really?” Uchi snorted. “Smartass. I couldn’t tell.”
Ryo frowned slightly. “Are you making fun of me?” Much to his annoyance Uchi merely pulled an eyebrow up, laughing at Ryo’s grumpy expression. The next moment Ryo had already grabbed a bowl with flour throwing it towards Uchi. He chuckled when he saw Uchi, looking like a ghost. A tall ghost.
The revenge came immediately afterwards. Uchi had grabbed another package with flour, emptying it over Ryo’s head.
They kept this game up for a few minutes, until they were exhausted. They were laughing, when they dropped down next to each other. The flour spread through the living room, covering their bodies and faces. It would be one hell of a job to clean up again, but when Uchi looked at Ryo lying next to him, he decided that it was definitely worth it.
He smiled when Ryo reached out his hands, touching his cheek to wipe away the flour. He was about to pull it away again when Uchi angled for his hand, holding it tightly. They didn’t need any kiss here, this here was more intimate.
~~~~~
“Alright guys,” Yasu looked at them sternly. “Is this here all you wrote?”
It had to be his darkest hour, worse than anything else he had encountered till now. Pink hid his head behind his arms, not wanting to hear or see anyone. But someone was next to him, wrapping his arms around him and keeping him warm. It was this warmth that gave him back hope and faith. The warmth that never left his side.
Not one single day passed that Yellow didn’t call him. He called every day. And he met up with him as often as he could.
This was the reason for Pink to continue to fight. For his and for Yellow’s sake.
“Yes,” Uchi answered calmly. “There is nothing else I want to say about this. It doesn’t matter anymore. The important thing here was the person at my side. And I can’t pay it proper credit with simple words being written down.”
Yasu nodded his head sympathetically. “I see. So tell us, Uchi,“ he pushed his friend a bit. “How did you feel back then? What was the most important thing?”
“I thought that I will never forget that,” Uchi admitted. “That I will never forget what he did for me, how he stayed at my side. No matter what happened and how bad it was, I would always remember this, because this was beyond love. It was real friendship. I swore to myself to always cherish this person and never forget what he did for me. No matter what would happen in the future. This was something I wanted to always remember. I broke it. My promise.”
“No,” Ryo answered before Yasu could say something. “You didn’t break it. You might have forgotten it for a while. But you never broke it. I promised to always be at your side. Maybe I’ve also forgotten it.”
At this moment Hina didn’t even realize how he was crying. Stupid bothersome annoying kids, for real.
~~~~~
“Stay still,” Ryo grumbled, while Uchi was shifting around.
The complaint came immediately afterwards. “But it hurts.”
“Of course it does!” Ryo mumbled. “You’ve been too careless, really.”
Uchi winced for a moment when he felt Ryo’s hands on his skin, then he sighed contently. “That’s good. More,” he begged. “Move your hands up a bit. More. Ah, harder…”
Ryo rolled his eyes. “Demanding.”
“Really, Ryo, you are holding your grudges forever, right?”
“Yes,” Ryo sneered. “I’ll make you suffer.” He moved down a bit, sitting on Uchi’s legs now. He angled for the cream, putting some of it on his hands and brushed over Uchi’s shoulder. “You know you have sensitive skin. Next time use some sun protection, really. Your whole back is burnt and your shoulders. Stupid idiot.”
“Shut up,” Uchi grumbled in annoyance, but couldn’t help but make a content sigh when he felt the cold liquid on his skin. “It’s all your fault. I stayed in the sun to watch you, because you were looking so freaking hot.”
Ryo stilled his movements for a moment, blinking at that. “What?”
“Just saying,” Uchi stuttered.
~~~~~
“You know,” Yellow lay down next to Pink. He raised his eyes to the sky, watching the birds. “It’s going to be a warm summer.”
“It’s going to be an awesome summer,” Pink corrected his little ranger-friend.
“LITTLE!?” Ryo grumbled, interrupting Uchi’s reading. “Whom are you calling little here? You didn’t tell me that you were including that when we wrote this together.”
“SH!” Hina complained. “I want to listen to what happened.”
“Talking about,” Uchi frowned, turning his head towards Subaru. “What are you doing here?”
“Hey,” Subaru frowned. “Just trying to help.”
“With your mere presence or what?” Uchi snorted. “Seriously, I feel like I’m a threatened species.”
“Okay, pink prince,” Subaru teased. “Last time was fun and since I’m not having a life at the moment I thought it would be better to hang out with you guys than to stay alone at home.”
Uchi nodded his head, not able to hide his content smile. “Then it’s okay,” he answered generously. “May I continue now?”
“Yes, of course,” Yasu nodded his head, glaring at Subaru and Hina. They were interrupting his therapy session after all.
“This is going to be cheesy,” Hina mused. “I bet it will.”
“I don’t mind cheesy,” Subaru argued.
“Silence!” Yasu huffed. “We are working here!”
“Sorry…”
“So,” Yellow broke the silence. “Why are we here?”
“I got into a fight with Green.”
“Wow,” Yellow snorted. “Something new.”
Pink pouted slightly. “You are not really being any help.”
“Sorry. I’m not good with these things.”
It sounded so genuine that Pink blinked in surprise. “On a second thought,” he mused, turning around to look at Yellow. “You are helping, somehow.” His fingers brushed over Yellow’s cheek carefully. “Is it okay to tell the others that we are together?”
“Eh?” Yellow blinked, rolling his eyes slightly. “We are together?” he snorted. “I didn’t know.”
“Was about time to tell you then,” Pink answered, his voice trembling slightly, giving away his nervousness.
Yellow sat up out of a sudden, looking at Pink insistently. “Together…”
“Well, if you don’t want to,” Pink answered warily. “It’s not like I’m forcing you.”
Yellow chuckled. “And already you are freaking out.” He grinned, moving closer towards Pink and wrapping his arms around him. He kissed his nose teasingly, before he moved down, capturing Pink’s pouty lips. He had had dreams of these lips for months, now he could finally taste them for real. He smiled contently against Pink’s lips, when he felt two warm arms being wrapped around his hips. Pink’s lips were warm and soft, tasting almost sweet.
When Yellow drew back, Pink grinned contently. “Good, so I finally have someone to cook for me.” He giggled when Yellow kicked him, pulling him into another kiss before he could complain.
“Why are you stopping here?” Subaru asked.
Uchi glared at them. “Because it’s getting too intimate.” He paused. “Ryo?” he asked out of a sudden. “Am I really complaining too much?”
Ryo blushed slightly at that, remembering the first game Yasu had made them play. “Not really. Am I too difficult for you?”
Uchi’s cheeks flushed a bit with joy. “Of course not.”
“But you didn’t tell us why this is your favourite place,” Hina insisted, ignoring the way Yasu gloated as he showed interest.
Uchi and Ryo stayed silent for a moment, exchanging some nervous glances, then Ryo coughed a bit. “It’s our place. For everything.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“We’ll go there for everything that’s important to us. After a fight, when we make up. When one of us is sad. When we share a very happy moment. Cheesy stuff like that.”
Yasu blinked in surprise. “How did you find this place?”
For a moment they both blushed, before Uchi answered, trying to sound as casual as possible. “It’s been our place for all our first times. The first time we kissed. The first time we fought. The first time we…”
“…had sex?” Hina wanted to know.
“No,” Ryo shook his head, chuckling slightly. “We decided a bed would be important for our first time. But it was the place we got together. That’s why it is important to us.”
Yasu tilted his head, lost in his thoughts. “You haven’t been there in a while, am I right?” When his friends nodded, he smiled. “Why don’t you go there now? Didn’t you say it… how it is an important place for you. A place for first times and place for special moments. Wouldn’t it also be a place to start anew?”
~~~~~~
“Take that off,” Ryo sounded seriously impatient when he tugged at Uchi’s shirt, almost ripping it from his body. Uchi stumbled a bit, trying to help him as best as he could until their clothes were lying on the floor. Then he grabbed Ryo’s hips, pushing him against the wall. “I swear,” he mumbled against Ryo’s neck. “I’ve been waiting for this.”
Ryo chuckled, a teasing smile on his lips. “So you think I’m hot?”
“Oh please. As if you don’t know that yourself,” Uchi snorted, closing Ryo’s mouth with his hand while he moved his lips over the other’s neck and chest. His fingers were pinching and teasing Ryo’s nipples until Ryo was arching his back and bit into his hand teasingly.
“Seriously, if you are going to tease me, I’m locking myself into the bathroom and finishing it alone. And you can stay outside.”
Uchi grinned. “Back to normal I guess.”
“I thought you missed me oh-so-much,” Ryo snickered. “And that I’m so hot.” He laughed when Uchi tugged him along to their bed until they dropped down there.
He had forgotten how it felt. Uchi’s hands on his skin, teasing and pleasuring him. After all this time they both knew each other’s bodies so well, every tiny little erogenous zone. They had tried a bunch of different things in bed over the past years, but today it was different. Ryo was almost clinging to Uchi, not willing to let him go again.
Uchi’s fingers were pressed against his opening, slowly pushing in. “So tight.”
“Don’t complain.” Ryo’s breath was hitching. “Or I won’t let you top me and top you instead.”
“You can still do that afterwards,” Uchi offered, taking the wind out of Ryo’s sails with that. Ryo merely leaned back, deciding to keep the bickering and arguing for later. Instead he wanted to feel it all. Uchi’s fingers found his spot soon, rubbing and pushing against it, soon making him forget the uncomfortable feeling of having something inside him after so many months.
“Long sex-breaks are for shit,” he grumbled, when he pulled Uchi closer, encouraging him to move on.
Uchi chuckled against Ryo’s neck, his tongue moving over it teasingly. “I agree.” He bit his lips when he pressed his cock against Ryo’s hole, pushing into it. He tried not to move too fast, but with Ryo’s arms clinging to him, his lips moving over his shoulders, kissing his neck, biting his nipples, Uchi couldn’t hold back too long.
His moves were getting more desperate, trying to make up for all the times they had missed to get closer to each other.
He pulled Ryo up into his arms, letting him ride him for a moment, his lips pressed against Ryo’s chest. “God…”
Ryo chuckled. “You can call me Ryo, you know?”
“Right,” Uchi snorted. “I forget how modest you are.”
“Are you finishing me any time soon, or do I really need to do it myself?” Ryo teased, enjoying every moment.
Uchi giggled, pushing Ryo down to the mattress again, his hands angling for Ryo’s cock, stroking it with swift fingers. Ryo hadn’t lied, he was already pretty close the moment Uchi started to stroke him. It only took him a few strong strokes until he came over Uchi’s hand.
Uchi thought that it was beautiful to finally hear Ryo call and moan out his name again.
Two warm arms were suddenly wrapped around his neck, pulling him down and encouraging him to finish as well. Ryo’s whispers and words were sweet and hot against his skin, making Uchi shiver in anticipation. The world got blurry for a moment, his sight spinning. He could only hear Ryo’s gasps, his voice vibrating against his skin and his lips kissing him. Then he came as well, his body shivering from its intensity. It’s been too long, really.
Uchi was still catching his breath, when he chuckled slightly. “You are right, long sex-breaks are for shit.”
Ryo grinned. “Give us 10 minutes then we can start again. I still have this handcuff set Subaru gave us for my birthday last year.”
“Right,” Uchi mused. “We never used that. And the pink singing vibrator we got from Ohkura…”
Ryo grinned. “I almost forgot about that.” He jumped out of the bed. “I’m going to get some things. It’s my turn to top.”
“You are always so full of energy,” Uchi mock-complained, but sounded way too eager himself. “Just hurry, okay?”
~~~~~
Their hands were holding each other tightly. Whenever one of them looked down to eye their fingers, entwined with each other, he couldn’t tell any more. Which was his? And which was the other’s? Their hands had become one.
The warm feeling that spread through their bodies, whenever they realized this, and whenever they encounter such a little moment between them, was beyond their comprehension.
It was simply fate, Pink would say, or something like that. Because fate sounded too surreal, even to his own ears.
They had made a tiny fire, before they threw the sheets of papers with their story into it. To burn the things that had been standing between them. Ryo smiled when Uchi took his hand. He looked down at their fingers and at one point he couldn’t tell any more… which one was his hand and which Uchi’s?
~~~~~
Aftermath:
“Hey, Yasu?”
Yasu blinked, looking at Subaru in surprise. “Yes?”
“It’s just,” the latter coughed, before he let out a sigh of frustration. “Oh damn, whatever. I have a problem.”
“And?”
“Could you and Hina therapy it?”
The smile on Yasu’s face would have been annoying to Subaru, if it hadn’t been so genuine.
Title: Color Coded
Pairing/Characters: RyoUchi, also featuring wannabe-therapist!Yasu and softie!Hina, with guest-appearances by grumpy, but cheesy Subaru, wise Ohkura, whiny Yoko and mature&fun Maru.
Rating: NC-17 to be safe (no PWP of course)
Warnings: It might start a bit angsty. Boys being boys :D
Notes: To impynymph with lots of love. I tried to keep the angst down and make it fluffy and fun at some points. I hope you will like this <3
Summary: Reaching the dead end of their relationship, they only have two options: Break up or fight the demons that are hunting them. Choosing the 2nd option, Ryo and Uchi take a mental travel back in time, as their ranger alter-egos and with the help of their friends, to find out what went wrong in their relationship.
“Maybe, this is the end…”
Yellow looks at Pink directly now, not sure if he is supposed to feel sad or angry or disappointed now. “Yes,” he finally answers. “Maybe.”
When Ryo looked down at these sentences, written down on the sheet of paper in his own messy letters, he blinked at its intensity. It was worse than hearing it. And in fact, he had heard it. Just last week when he and Uchi had the exact same conversation.
Tears were burning in his eyes. And it’s only then that he realized that Uchi was crying, too.
~~~~~
“So this is how it works.” Yasu looked at his friends encouragingly, eyes gleaming. He was clearly motivated, much to Uchi’s and Ryo’s annoyance. And also much to Hina’s displeasure. Meddling with other’s business had never been Hina’s kind of thing. Or maybe it was his kind of thing, but there was a point where he preferred it to back out. When he looked into Ryo’s and Uchi’s eyes, this was exactly the point he had been talking about.
“You are sitting on a chair opposite to each other,” Yasu explained, ignoring that his friends were obviously rather sceptical about this. “Then you talk about each other. Only one sentence each turn. Every time you say something positive or when you agree, you stand up, take your chair and take a step towards each other. If you don’t agree or say something negative, you step apart. The rules: Don’t yell, don’t raise your voice, no curses, no insults. Got it?”
Ryo sighed slightly. “Okay.” He wasn’t even hiding the fact that he wasn’t too excited about this.
You are bossy.
A step away from each other.
You are too whiny.
A step away.
You smoke too much. I can’t even breathe properly.
A step away.
You are very eager to criticize others, but whenever someone criticises you, you crumble.
A step away.
You are not letting me do anything…
A step away.
…because you let ME do everything. You just love to be pampered.
A step away.
You hardly talk about your problems. You are so closed, it’s almost ridiculous!
A step away.
Complaining! All the time. I can’t even hear it any more. You cry about everything.
A step away.
“Wow,” Hina snorted towards Yasu. “Your idea is working. Like hell.” He didn’t even try to hide his sarcasm. When Yasu had tugged him along to Uchi’s and Ryo’s place he had already known that this here would be disastrous.
What use did it have to meddle with someone else’s business? What if it was inevitable that they broke apart? What if their relationship wasn’t supposed to last? What if this was the end? The only reason why in the end he came along was that he wanted them to be happy, no matter how tiny the chance was.
Yasu glared at Hina, deciding to ignore his friend from now on. He focused on Ryo and Uchi again, they had top priority. “Did you do the little homework I assigned you to do.”
“You are way too into this,” Hina mumbled, too silent for Yasu to hear it. Gladly. If Ryo and Uchi needed a couples therapist, they should search advice from one, but not from Yasu. “It’s not like you are getting money for this. Or rather… it’s not like you actually know what you are doing.”
Uchi looked away from Ryo when he heard Yasu’s questions, tears burning in his eyes. “Yes.”
Ryo had waited for Uchi’s reaction first, before he said something himself. He saw the tears, clearly, he could always tell when Uchi was about to cry. There was a time when he fell in love with his tears, when he would hurry to Uchi’s side immediately, wiping them away, hugging and kissing and apologizing, because Uchi’s tears were the saddest thing for him. But now, it was different. Things had changed. Ryo swallowed at that thought, suddenly recalling the conversation Uchi and he had written down. Yasu’s homework. Something inside him was tugging and pulling at him painfully.
I don’t want it to end. Not like that.
The other three looked at him in surprise. He hadn’t even realized that he had said it, maybe he hadn’t even known that he felt that way. But he said it. And now it was out, standing in the room, making all of them look at him puzzled. Ryo winced a bit, a blush crawling over his face.
Me neither.
Uchi’s voice was even more silent than Ryo’s, but nevertheless he had said it. Clearly. For all of them to hear.
A bright smile appeared on Yasu’s lips and a surprised one on Hina’s. “Good,” he chirped. “Then here is what you do from now on. Until we meet next Sunday, sit down together and continue the story…backwards, writing as your alter-egos.”
“What?” Ryo blinked. His eyes were showing clear bewilderment now.
“From the moment of your last conversation back to where you started. Get back to the moments you think that were drawing you apart. Once you found such a moment, you will have to decide: Is it something the both of you encountered together? Then try to regather the memory together. Stay away from insults and unnecessary anger, just keep it how it was. Keep it real. But maybe, at one point, you will reach a memory that will only involve one of you or that will affect you differently, then sit down on your own and write it down from your point of view. Sometimes your points of view will be the same, sometimes one of you will feel that something is important to him while the other didn’t even know that he did something wrong,” Yasu told them, secretly congratulating himself to his genius mind and his wonderful ideas. When his friends nodded warily, he turned around to face Hina. “You are right, I should get money out of this.”
Hina was pretty sure that this would turn out disastrous. For real.
~~~~~
“You asked Yasu for help!?” Subaru looked at Ryo in horror, but before he could say anything else he was pushed to the side by Yoko. “WHAT!?”
“I didn’t ask for help,” Ryo grumbled. “He just was there, in our apartment, all of a sudden. I don’t know,” He shrugged. “Suddenly I thought: Why not giving it a try?”
“YASU!? Why not me!?” Yoko sounded whiny, clearly, making the others grin.
“Yes,” Hina snorted. “I wonder why…”
“…maybe because your relationships are always a mess?” Subaru suggested nonchalantly, grinning when Yoko was glaring at him. “And because people associate you with dokkiris? Better over-confident Yasu, than a dokkiri.”
“Exactly my thoughts,” Hina agreed.
Yoko grumbled about how this was no fair, but was successfully ignored by the others. On top of that some of their other co-workers and friends had already heard about Yasu’s success and were asking him for help in their relationships.
“I can’t believe that,” Ohkura sighed a bit. “Out of all…Yasu?”
“What?” Yasu snorted, a dangerous glint in his eyes. “I’ve been very popular lately. But top priority goes to Ryo and Uchi at the moment, I can only work with one client at a time. Then it’s Maru and then…”
“Wait!” Ohkura breathed out. “OUR Maru?”
“Yes.”
Hina sighed. “That’s gonna be a…”
“…a disaster. I know.” Yasu waved him off before he successfully avoided Hina’s smack.
~~~~~
“Are you going out?” Pink looked at Yellow warily, clear doubt in his eyes.
Yellow didn’t miss it, of course not. His eyes went small for a moment. “I’m meeting Pi. You've known that since days ago already. What’s the problem now?”
Pink shrugged, not saying anything. Keeping silent would tick Yellow off completely, he knew that. “It’s your choice who you meet.”
“You know what?” Yellow huffed. “Your jealousy is making me feel sick.”
“I,” Pink’s eyes grew wide. He hadn’t known that Yellow would look through him that easily. “I just want to…”
“You want to tell me who I am allowed to meet and who not,” Yellow answered coldly, before he angled for some clothes and his keys.
“What are you doing now?” Pink’s voice sounded miserable.
Yellow didn’t look at Pink, knowing that he would stay if he saw his sad eyes… and make things even worse by staying. “I’ll be staying at Pi’s. Or maybe visit my sister.” With that he closed the door, leaving Pink behind.
Pink bit down on his lips, sitting down on the sofa. For a moment he stayed entirely motionless, before he started to sob into his hands.
Ryo stayed quiet after they had written down their lines. For a moment he looked out of the window, it was raining, a perfect picture of his mood. “You cried?” he finally asked.
Uchi blushed slightly. “Not because of you!”
“No? Because of what did you cry then?” For a moment Ryo had to grin, he had almost forgotten how it was to tease Uchi. Then he got earnest again, because he also remembered how he used to love Uchi’s tears, not because he was sad then, but because he loved to comfort him. He had always done that and then it had suddenly stopped. Why?
He felt uncomfortable all of a sudden. Already fearing the next session. What would it reveal then?
~~~~~
Yasu nodded his head when he listened to this little text his friends prepared. There was a frown between his eyes. This here was only hinting to something. Something that was lying deep beneath the surface.
Hina was staying quiet most of the time. He had listened carefully. The reason why he joined Yasu again was because he felt worried. He didn’t want things to become even worse… hence he tugged along again and since it was his own choice had no right to be annoyed by it. It was against his principles.
~~~~~
The next situation was for Uchi only. Ryo hadn’t been at home back then.
Pink was bored, so bored that he decided to clean up their apartment. Actually there wasn’t that much to do. At one point in his life, or rather in their life together, Ryo had actually learned to keep his own stuff together and clean up himself.
Pink sighed slightly when he bent down to angle for some post-its lying on the floor. When he turned them over his eyes widened. There were telephone numbers on them, names he hadn’t heard. Girls’ names.
It didn’t leave his mind any more. Every time Yellow went out or visited one of his friends, he was trying to fight the urge to check on him. Sometimes he was successful, sometimes not.
“Well,” Yasu begun, but got interrupted by Ryo. His eyes were gleaming in fury. “ARE YOU NUTS, HIRO!? What are you thinking of me!?”
“But…the numbers…and…”
“Don’t give me that kind of shit. You know it yourself when you go out that people tend to simply drop their numbers into your pocket or something like that. Oh damn, it even happens to Maru! (Hina felt mean when he grinned at that, because it was not a funny situation at all. But he couldn’t help it… poor Maru.) I can’t believe you never trusted me, though I didn’t do anything.”
“That’s actually true. Jealousy is bad. So is mistrust.” Yasu tilted his head a bit, a thoughtful expression on his face “There is more to that, am I right? Something had to happen before…or afterwards?”
Uchi blushed a bit, while Ryo furrowed his brows. “I think for me it was before this and before our fight. As for Hiro,” he shot him a glare. “It had to be afterwards.”
“You know?” Uchi asked silently.
“Of course,” Ryo frowned. “Do you really think I would miss it? You are an open book to read.”
Uchi grew pale at that. He hadn’t realized how much Ryo knew. Or maybe he had realized, but decided to ignore the signs.
~~~~~
“If I ever need a definition of gloomy,” Okura stated nonchalantly. “I will point to you.”
“Shut up,” Ryo huffed.
The younger one laughed at that. “Glad that you are still yourself.” He turned away from his TV and his perfect nachos with cheese and crawled on top of Ryo to tickle him. They both giggled like mad at that, until Ryo could feel it. The air was heavier than before, the tension a tiny bit higher. He blinked. Had Ohkura always had these beautiful hazelnut-brown eyes? He was tall… and Ryo liked tall. Always did. Uchi was tall too…
At this thought Ryo sighed slightly, the tension was away again. No matter what Uchi did or what was standing between them, he couldn’t end it like that. If they had to end it, it would be a proud and dignified ending. Not a pathetic one.
They themselves were already pathetic enough after all.
Ohkura smacked Ryo playfully, before he crawled down from his hips. “You are dozing off, again! Honestly girl, hopefully Yasu is really as good as he pretends to be.”
“He is not that bad,” Ryo answered, wisely ignoring the fact that Ohkura had just called him girl, but he was flirting with his nachos again, so there was no use in discussing it. Besides that he was also calling Yasu, Maru and Yoko like that. So it was okay, maybe.
~~~~~
Yellow tried to ignore the shadows that were following him. He tried to stay confident and strong, for both of them, for him and Pink. But at one point he couldn’t. He could almost see it right in front of his eyes. How it crumbled.
This night when Pink came home, much too late as that Yellow’s mind could make up any excuses or reasons for that, he knew it.
It was crumbling.
But instead of asking, he merely looked at Pink and wrapped his arms around him. “Okaeri,” He mumbled into his ear. The storm inside him was almost breaking him, but he had always been good at acting.
The body in his arms felt cold, but the arms holding on to his back were almost clinging to him. In a strange and unacceptable way it did make him feel a bit relieved that Pink was still able to cling to him.
Yasu swallowed a bit when Ryo had read out his text. “Uchi?” he asked carefully. “What’s your version of this evening? Can you read it out loud?”
“No,” Uchi’s voice was shaking slightly.
“Why not?”
“I don’t know how,” he explained nervously. He clenched his fists, not looking towards Ryo.
For a moment all of them stayed quiet, then Yasu looked at Ryo. “You should ask,” he advised. “You should have asked all the time. Now might be the last moment…”
Ryo swallowed at that, obviously fighting with himself here, then he looked at Uchi directly. “Did you cheat on me?”
“I,” Uchi’s eyes were twitching, his voice sounded hoarse. Never in his life had he wished more to be far far away. “I didn’t have sex. It was only… he kissed me, then I left.”
The power of this statement almost swamped over Ryo. He was so relieved that Uchi didn’t have sex with someone that he was almost crying. But things weren’t perfect, not at all. “But you wanted to?”
“Yes,” Uchi admitted honestly. “It was my original plan.”
Also this statement hit Ryo. “You planned it? So it was for… what? What was it for?”
When Uchi didn’t answer, Yasu sighed slightly, rubbing his temples. “You wanted to cheat on Ryo because you wanted his attention? Because you felt neglected? Is that how it is?”
Uchi looked down at his fingers, nodding his head. “Yes.”
~~~~~
“This here,” Subaru made a wide dramatic gesture. “Is for us to have fun. Since Yasu opened his therapy-club, it’s getting very gloomy.”
“I just don’t understand why I have to be the one accompanying him,” Hina sighed. “Just because of the one time we hang out together and talked about Uchi and Ryo. Then he suddenly decided that he has to help them.”
Maru grinned. “You just can’t help it. You could easily back out again, but you are such a softie. Well,” he giggled. “You can be proud to be his assistant. Yasu’s Save your Relationship company is definitely flourishing.”
“Yes,” Yoko chuckled. “It’s a rising business.”
“Now you are laughing,” Ohkura suddenly interrupted them, sounding both wary and thoughtful. “But fact is that he is helping.”
Hina nodded his head. “Actually Ohkura is right. You guys would be surprised, really.”
“Isn’t it too late already?” Yoko asked carefully. “I mean, if two people already are at this point, won’t it save them a lot of pain to just… you know… separate?”
“No,” Hina shook his head. “They will make it.”
“How do you know?”
Hina chuckled. “Because they want it. Never underestimate two people, three if you include Yasu, who really want to work on something. They could rip out trees like that. At this point in a relationship, after so many years, you don’t just leave.”
“Uchi didn’t cheat on him,” Subaru mused. “So maybe you are right.”
“It’s not about the cheating,” Ohkura answered. “None of them actually did anything wrong. You can’t point out one moment that almost destroyed. You can’t say it’s because one of them betrayed the other. But it’s about the fact that they were so desperate to get to this point where they have done nothing but hurt each other.”
For a moment it was awkwardly silent then Maru coughed to distract the tension. “On another note,” he frowned at the huge amount of beer Subaru had brought along. “Whom did you invite?”
“Everyone,” Subaru answered calmly.
“Everyone?” Maru blinked. “As in…”
“Everyone.”
Maru soon learned that when Subaru said everyone, he really meant everyone. At one point when Nagase started table-dancing together with Subaru and Yasu, Maru decided it would be best to leave for the kitchen and get another drink.
When he reached the kitchen he blinked. He was surprised to see these two there. They had both come to this party, Subaru had been very careful in how he had set them up. With so many people being here it meant that it was safe for these two to be in a room together. In the end, his everyone actually meant a lot more than only a huge party.
But still, Maru was surprised that they really were in a room together alone. Ryo was leaning against the window, looking outside. Uchi leaning against the chair, a glass in his hand, twisting it in his hands.
“You know,” Ryo broke the silence. “It’s been raining for days already.”
Uchi coughed a bit. “Yes,” he answered. “You hate the rain.”
Maru sighed slightly, deciding to retreat back into the living room and watch these idiots table-dancing. Now if he could convince Hina to join them… he would at least have some nice abs to look at.
~~~~~
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m filling in for Hina today,” Subaru’s lips turned into something like a smile while he tried not to sound offensive by the not really warm welcome. “Hi.”
“Great,” Uchi mumbled.
“Hey,” Subaru grumbled. “It’s not my fault that he caught a cold. And I even brought along cake.”
“Cake?” Uchi looked somewhat pleased “Self-made?”
“Well, I tried it,” Subaru answered diplomatically.
“Great,” Uchi beamed. “Ryo hasn’t baked anything in months. He,” he paused here, remembering that this here wasn’t the moment to complain about anything. “Nevermind. Come in.”
“Really guys,” Yasu looked at his two friends with displeasure. “I’m not giving you this homework just for fun. You need to do this!”
Uchi blushed slightly. “I just didn’t know what to write. I don’t know what else happened… and Ryo didn’t tell me. I just, well, last week… More I can’t tell you.”
“Alright. I can accept that.” Yasu nodded his head, before he turned around to look at Ryo. “And you?”
Ryo stayed quiet, not only for a moment, but for minutes. So long that Uchi shifted around nervously and Subaru started to feel tired by the lack of action. “I can’t,” Ryo finally answered.
“What is it you can’t tell us?” Yasu wanted to know.
The frown on Ryo’s forehead grew, so did the wary expression in his eyes. “I heard something.”
“When?”
“Around the same time Uchi planned to cheat on me.”
The other three blinked now, exchanging some glances. “What did you hear, Ryo-kun?” Yasu asked carefully,
“Next to him I sometimes feel so low. It’s like he can do anything.” Pink sounded worked up. “But I on the other side can’t do anything. It sucks to know that in comparison to the person you are together with you are totally hopeless. Sometimes I wonder if he is actually enjoying that… to be so high above me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Pink! I’m sure he doesn’t feel like that.”
“That’s not the point,” Pink answered sadly. “But I feel that way. I wonder what this is. When things turned out like that. When our relationship started to suck. I just don’t get it how…”
“What don’t you get?”
“…how he can stay together with me. Why? He doesn’t seem to like to be with me any more.”
“But you love each other, remember?” the other voice sounded pretty worked up at this point. But Yellow didn’t even want to know who the other person was, he just wished he had never bumped into them.
“At this point I’m not even sure if we ever truly loved each other. If he loved me.”
“But that’s,” Uchi grew pale. “I didn’t… I mean…”
“What didn’t you mean!?” Ryo huffed. “That you don’t love me? That I’m making you feel low? That I’m enjoying it to make you feel small and useless? That I’m some sort of jerk who is pulling you down? That I don’t love you?”
Uchi swallowed at that, rubbing his hands against his trousers nervously. His palms felt wet. For a moment he wondered if it was any use to cry here, but then he fought his tears back. It wouldn’t help them now. Not at all. “We had a fight before that, remember? And I ran and stayed at Fujie’s place for a night. When I came back you were away… and you didn’t come back for days,” he admitted silently. “I was upset, I felt like I had been right, while in fact none of us was. That’s why I said that. It was unfair.”
Subaru felt like he was getting a headache here. How much more complicated could this shit possibly get? And how could Hina come along every week? This was so depressing!
Meanwhile Yasu considered his choice of words wisely, before he looked at Ryo insistently. “Do you really think that he felt that way? For real?”
Ryo bit his lips at that, wondering what he should answer now. Then he shook his head. “Now that I’m sitting here, no. But back then and for months I felt that it was true. I was too deep inside of this shit,” he paused. “Then I started doing stupid things.”
“Like what?”
“Going out a lot, not being at home much, taking every opportunity to sleep at a friend’s place, working till late at night so that I wouldn’t need to be at home. To…see him.” He paused. “I was running away.”
“Yes,” Yasu said softly. “You both were.”
“I should have asked Uchi about this and talked about it. Today, I would,” Ryo mumbled. “But back then I decided to hide and let things escalate. It’s not only his fault… it’s ours.”
Yasu smiled a bit, feeling like he did some progress here, by having Ryo admit that he didn’t think Uchi alone was at fault, but that this here was their mess. They created it together. “Is there more left between you? More that’s been unspoken?”
“There for sure is,” Ryo mumbled. “But this here is the core of it.”
Uchi nodded his head, his fingers clinging to the table now that everything had come out. “Ryo heard me talking about him… I didn’t know that. I was just depressed about my own life and about my career and about our last fight.”
“I neglected Hiro.”
“And I thought he was cheating on me…”
“…which I didn’t.”
“As a revenge I wanted to cheat on him too.”
“Which you didn’t.”
Subaru had listened to the others in surprise. He looked up at the ceiling, thanking god that he was still single. Well, at the same time it did bother him that he didn’t have such a deep relationship like these two idiots, because despite their stupid unnecessarily messed up situation, they were still sticking together.
Yasu nodded his head. “You need to talk more to each other, you know that, right? This whole mess could have been avoided if you had been more honest to each other. Honest, as in talking and sharing your worries.”
“Yes,” Uchi agreed tiredly. “None of us is really good at that.”
“Well, about time you learn it then,” Yasu answered firmly. “What did you do the other five years? Seriously, at one point you need to be able to live together and with each other’s flaws. If you can’t talk, you won’t be able to lead a relationship. Fighting is alright, it’s also part of it, but after a fight don’t just go back to how it was before. Talk about why you fought.”
“Yes,” Subaru agreed, much to his own surprise, because he hadn’t planned at all to intervene here. “Yasu is right. So many misunderstandings… now look at you. If you take a step back, nothing actually happened. You could try other approaches, if you have difficulties with talking,” he looked at Ryo thoughtfully. “I know how it feels not to be able to share your problems. But you could always write letters to each other. Or share an exchange diary. Whatever helps.”
For a moment they both stayed quiet, then Ryo nodded his head carefully. “I could write letters… or in a diary…”
“See!” Yasu’s was sounding seriously relieved. “This is good, guys. And believe me, once you solve this here, the other problems will disappear too. As for now, to get you back to where you have been once,” he paused. “Let’s try another approach.”
“What?” Uchi asked hopefully.
Yasu smiled warmly. “We’ve talked about your problems and the things separating you. Now let’s do it the other way round. We’ll think of the things that connect you, the ones that made you fall in love. Your history, before all this happened.”
~~~~~
“Is it true?” Ryo looked at Uchi nervously. Yasu and Subaru had left them one hour ago but there was still something bothering him. “That you felt like I didn’t love you?”
Uchi sighed slightly at that. For a moment he wondered if he should lie but then he decided to be honest. Lies had gotten them into this situation. Things that weren’t even so big at the beginning. They could have solved them immediately, without any bigger damage, but they decided to hide and run, instead of being honest and talk. At this point, back then, maybe they had been too young and inexperienced to understand, but now Uchi swore to never be that stupid again. “Sometimes,” he answered. “I wonder if you ever really loved me.”
The look in Ryo’s eyes was dark and for a moment Uchi thought that Ryo would hit him, but then the latter only grabbed his shoulders, pressing his lips against his. It was tempting to get engulfed into this wary kiss, though it was an almost painful one. And when Ryo drew back, he looked sad, and it almost made Uchi burst into tears.
They stayed silent, not moving, before Ryo leaned his head against Uchi’s chest. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t love you. Would I?”
“No,” Uchi mumbled, his hands wandering over Ryo’s back soothingly. “You wouldn’t. I’m so sorry… for even thinking something like that.” He paused, his chin resting on Ryo’s head. “Please, Ryo, don’t go… don’t sleep at Pi’s place today. Please stay.”
Ryo felt like fighting for a moment, but after months he felt like leaning on Uchi again. It felt warm, at least a bit. “Alright.”
~~~~~
“That’s going to be fun,” Maru mused, hiding his grin as best as he could. “Why again do you want to go surfing?”
Yoko raised his head a bit to give a more dignified expression. He nodded towards Ryo whom he had convinced to teach him some surfing. “I always like to spend some time with my Juniors.”
“Ah,” Maru grinned. “I see. Of course.” He twinkled towards Yasu who was lying next to Uchi in the sand. Someone’s jealous of Yasu and Hina. He whispered towards them, making them giggle.
Then he dropped down next to his friends, deciding to enjoy the scene. With Yoko dropping into the water several times.
Meanwhile Uchi had sat up, watching Ryo and Yoko properly. Yoko was trying his best to not fail completely, but though he was quite good with ball games and bicycling, surfing was something entirely different. Uchi could tell that it was hell for him. He grinned a bit before he looked at Ryo. His body was tanned and beautifully toned.
Uchi blushed. He hadn’t looked at Ryo’s body properly in months, if not a whole year. He had always been stunning, always trained. In Uchi’s eyes he was perfect. Now standing in the water, his skin wet, it sent tingles through Uchi’s body.
His eyes widened in surprise, joy filling him up. He wanted Ryo. He was longing for him, for his touches. He wanted to have sex! It had been months since he had felt lust or want towards his lover and it made his heart fill with joy now that he was feeling it again.
~~~~~
Yellow’s fingers were lying on Pink’s hand while he was moving it over the strings of his guitar. It felt almost idyllic, or maybe it was idyllic for real. Only a willow tree next to them, a slight breeze and nothing else. Pink chuckled slightly when he felt Yellow’s breath against his neck. “You are supposed to teach me how to play the guitar, not to seduce me.”
“Oh,” Yellow mock-mused. “But there are still so many things I can teach you.”
Pink giggled. “Perv.”
“Where’s that from?” Hina wanted to know, earning him a glare from Yasu. It was his therapy session after all.
For a moment Ryo and Uchi stayed quiet, then Ryo cleared his throat. “It’s our special place.”
“Why is it special?” Hina asked softly, but Yasu shook his head. “Not today. We’ll talk about this next week, or maybe the one after, alright?”
~~~~~
“What are you doing here?”
“Cooking.”
“Oh really?” Uchi snorted. “Smartass. I couldn’t tell.”
Ryo frowned slightly. “Are you making fun of me?” Much to his annoyance Uchi merely pulled an eyebrow up, laughing at Ryo’s grumpy expression. The next moment Ryo had already grabbed a bowl with flour throwing it towards Uchi. He chuckled when he saw Uchi, looking like a ghost. A tall ghost.
The revenge came immediately afterwards. Uchi had grabbed another package with flour, emptying it over Ryo’s head.
They kept this game up for a few minutes, until they were exhausted. They were laughing, when they dropped down next to each other. The flour spread through the living room, covering their bodies and faces. It would be one hell of a job to clean up again, but when Uchi looked at Ryo lying next to him, he decided that it was definitely worth it.
He smiled when Ryo reached out his hands, touching his cheek to wipe away the flour. He was about to pull it away again when Uchi angled for his hand, holding it tightly. They didn’t need any kiss here, this here was more intimate.
~~~~~
“Alright guys,” Yasu looked at them sternly. “Is this here all you wrote?”
It had to be his darkest hour, worse than anything else he had encountered till now. Pink hid his head behind his arms, not wanting to hear or see anyone. But someone was next to him, wrapping his arms around him and keeping him warm. It was this warmth that gave him back hope and faith. The warmth that never left his side.
Not one single day passed that Yellow didn’t call him. He called every day. And he met up with him as often as he could.
This was the reason for Pink to continue to fight. For his and for Yellow’s sake.
“Yes,” Uchi answered calmly. “There is nothing else I want to say about this. It doesn’t matter anymore. The important thing here was the person at my side. And I can’t pay it proper credit with simple words being written down.”
Yasu nodded his head sympathetically. “I see. So tell us, Uchi,“ he pushed his friend a bit. “How did you feel back then? What was the most important thing?”
“I thought that I will never forget that,” Uchi admitted. “That I will never forget what he did for me, how he stayed at my side. No matter what happened and how bad it was, I would always remember this, because this was beyond love. It was real friendship. I swore to myself to always cherish this person and never forget what he did for me. No matter what would happen in the future. This was something I wanted to always remember. I broke it. My promise.”
“No,” Ryo answered before Yasu could say something. “You didn’t break it. You might have forgotten it for a while. But you never broke it. I promised to always be at your side. Maybe I’ve also forgotten it.”
At this moment Hina didn’t even realize how he was crying. Stupid bothersome annoying kids, for real.
~~~~~
“Stay still,” Ryo grumbled, while Uchi was shifting around.
The complaint came immediately afterwards. “But it hurts.”
“Of course it does!” Ryo mumbled. “You’ve been too careless, really.”
Uchi winced for a moment when he felt Ryo’s hands on his skin, then he sighed contently. “That’s good. More,” he begged. “Move your hands up a bit. More. Ah, harder…”
Ryo rolled his eyes. “Demanding.”
“Really, Ryo, you are holding your grudges forever, right?”
“Yes,” Ryo sneered. “I’ll make you suffer.” He moved down a bit, sitting on Uchi’s legs now. He angled for the cream, putting some of it on his hands and brushed over Uchi’s shoulder. “You know you have sensitive skin. Next time use some sun protection, really. Your whole back is burnt and your shoulders. Stupid idiot.”
“Shut up,” Uchi grumbled in annoyance, but couldn’t help but make a content sigh when he felt the cold liquid on his skin. “It’s all your fault. I stayed in the sun to watch you, because you were looking so freaking hot.”
Ryo stilled his movements for a moment, blinking at that. “What?”
“Just saying,” Uchi stuttered.
~~~~~
“You know,” Yellow lay down next to Pink. He raised his eyes to the sky, watching the birds. “It’s going to be a warm summer.”
“It’s going to be an awesome summer,” Pink corrected his little ranger-friend.
“LITTLE!?” Ryo grumbled, interrupting Uchi’s reading. “Whom are you calling little here? You didn’t tell me that you were including that when we wrote this together.”
“SH!” Hina complained. “I want to listen to what happened.”
“Talking about,” Uchi frowned, turning his head towards Subaru. “What are you doing here?”
“Hey,” Subaru frowned. “Just trying to help.”
“With your mere presence or what?” Uchi snorted. “Seriously, I feel like I’m a threatened species.”
“Okay, pink prince,” Subaru teased. “Last time was fun and since I’m not having a life at the moment I thought it would be better to hang out with you guys than to stay alone at home.”
Uchi nodded his head, not able to hide his content smile. “Then it’s okay,” he answered generously. “May I continue now?”
“Yes, of course,” Yasu nodded his head, glaring at Subaru and Hina. They were interrupting his therapy session after all.
“This is going to be cheesy,” Hina mused. “I bet it will.”
“I don’t mind cheesy,” Subaru argued.
“Silence!” Yasu huffed. “We are working here!”
“Sorry…”
“So,” Yellow broke the silence. “Why are we here?”
“I got into a fight with Green.”
“Wow,” Yellow snorted. “Something new.”
Pink pouted slightly. “You are not really being any help.”
“Sorry. I’m not good with these things.”
It sounded so genuine that Pink blinked in surprise. “On a second thought,” he mused, turning around to look at Yellow. “You are helping, somehow.” His fingers brushed over Yellow’s cheek carefully. “Is it okay to tell the others that we are together?”
“Eh?” Yellow blinked, rolling his eyes slightly. “We are together?” he snorted. “I didn’t know.”
“Was about time to tell you then,” Pink answered, his voice trembling slightly, giving away his nervousness.
Yellow sat up out of a sudden, looking at Pink insistently. “Together…”
“Well, if you don’t want to,” Pink answered warily. “It’s not like I’m forcing you.”
Yellow chuckled. “And already you are freaking out.” He grinned, moving closer towards Pink and wrapping his arms around him. He kissed his nose teasingly, before he moved down, capturing Pink’s pouty lips. He had had dreams of these lips for months, now he could finally taste them for real. He smiled contently against Pink’s lips, when he felt two warm arms being wrapped around his hips. Pink’s lips were warm and soft, tasting almost sweet.
When Yellow drew back, Pink grinned contently. “Good, so I finally have someone to cook for me.” He giggled when Yellow kicked him, pulling him into another kiss before he could complain.
“Why are you stopping here?” Subaru asked.
Uchi glared at them. “Because it’s getting too intimate.” He paused. “Ryo?” he asked out of a sudden. “Am I really complaining too much?”
Ryo blushed slightly at that, remembering the first game Yasu had made them play. “Not really. Am I too difficult for you?”
Uchi’s cheeks flushed a bit with joy. “Of course not.”
“But you didn’t tell us why this is your favourite place,” Hina insisted, ignoring the way Yasu gloated as he showed interest.
Uchi and Ryo stayed silent for a moment, exchanging some nervous glances, then Ryo coughed a bit. “It’s our place. For everything.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“We’ll go there for everything that’s important to us. After a fight, when we make up. When one of us is sad. When we share a very happy moment. Cheesy stuff like that.”
Yasu blinked in surprise. “How did you find this place?”
For a moment they both blushed, before Uchi answered, trying to sound as casual as possible. “It’s been our place for all our first times. The first time we kissed. The first time we fought. The first time we…”
“…had sex?” Hina wanted to know.
“No,” Ryo shook his head, chuckling slightly. “We decided a bed would be important for our first time. But it was the place we got together. That’s why it is important to us.”
Yasu tilted his head, lost in his thoughts. “You haven’t been there in a while, am I right?” When his friends nodded, he smiled. “Why don’t you go there now? Didn’t you say it… how it is an important place for you. A place for first times and place for special moments. Wouldn’t it also be a place to start anew?”
~~~~~~
“Take that off,” Ryo sounded seriously impatient when he tugged at Uchi’s shirt, almost ripping it from his body. Uchi stumbled a bit, trying to help him as best as he could until their clothes were lying on the floor. Then he grabbed Ryo’s hips, pushing him against the wall. “I swear,” he mumbled against Ryo’s neck. “I’ve been waiting for this.”
Ryo chuckled, a teasing smile on his lips. “So you think I’m hot?”
“Oh please. As if you don’t know that yourself,” Uchi snorted, closing Ryo’s mouth with his hand while he moved his lips over the other’s neck and chest. His fingers were pinching and teasing Ryo’s nipples until Ryo was arching his back and bit into his hand teasingly.
“Seriously, if you are going to tease me, I’m locking myself into the bathroom and finishing it alone. And you can stay outside.”
Uchi grinned. “Back to normal I guess.”
“I thought you missed me oh-so-much,” Ryo snickered. “And that I’m so hot.” He laughed when Uchi tugged him along to their bed until they dropped down there.
He had forgotten how it felt. Uchi’s hands on his skin, teasing and pleasuring him. After all this time they both knew each other’s bodies so well, every tiny little erogenous zone. They had tried a bunch of different things in bed over the past years, but today it was different. Ryo was almost clinging to Uchi, not willing to let him go again.
Uchi’s fingers were pressed against his opening, slowly pushing in. “So tight.”
“Don’t complain.” Ryo’s breath was hitching. “Or I won’t let you top me and top you instead.”
“You can still do that afterwards,” Uchi offered, taking the wind out of Ryo’s sails with that. Ryo merely leaned back, deciding to keep the bickering and arguing for later. Instead he wanted to feel it all. Uchi’s fingers found his spot soon, rubbing and pushing against it, soon making him forget the uncomfortable feeling of having something inside him after so many months.
“Long sex-breaks are for shit,” he grumbled, when he pulled Uchi closer, encouraging him to move on.
Uchi chuckled against Ryo’s neck, his tongue moving over it teasingly. “I agree.” He bit his lips when he pressed his cock against Ryo’s hole, pushing into it. He tried not to move too fast, but with Ryo’s arms clinging to him, his lips moving over his shoulders, kissing his neck, biting his nipples, Uchi couldn’t hold back too long.
His moves were getting more desperate, trying to make up for all the times they had missed to get closer to each other.
He pulled Ryo up into his arms, letting him ride him for a moment, his lips pressed against Ryo’s chest. “God…”
Ryo chuckled. “You can call me Ryo, you know?”
“Right,” Uchi snorted. “I forget how modest you are.”
“Are you finishing me any time soon, or do I really need to do it myself?” Ryo teased, enjoying every moment.
Uchi giggled, pushing Ryo down to the mattress again, his hands angling for Ryo’s cock, stroking it with swift fingers. Ryo hadn’t lied, he was already pretty close the moment Uchi started to stroke him. It only took him a few strong strokes until he came over Uchi’s hand.
Uchi thought that it was beautiful to finally hear Ryo call and moan out his name again.
Two warm arms were suddenly wrapped around his neck, pulling him down and encouraging him to finish as well. Ryo’s whispers and words were sweet and hot against his skin, making Uchi shiver in anticipation. The world got blurry for a moment, his sight spinning. He could only hear Ryo’s gasps, his voice vibrating against his skin and his lips kissing him. Then he came as well, his body shivering from its intensity. It’s been too long, really.
Uchi was still catching his breath, when he chuckled slightly. “You are right, long sex-breaks are for shit.”
Ryo grinned. “Give us 10 minutes then we can start again. I still have this handcuff set Subaru gave us for my birthday last year.”
“Right,” Uchi mused. “We never used that. And the pink singing vibrator we got from Ohkura…”
Ryo grinned. “I almost forgot about that.” He jumped out of the bed. “I’m going to get some things. It’s my turn to top.”
“You are always so full of energy,” Uchi mock-complained, but sounded way too eager himself. “Just hurry, okay?”
~~~~~
Their hands were holding each other tightly. Whenever one of them looked down to eye their fingers, entwined with each other, he couldn’t tell any more. Which was his? And which was the other’s? Their hands had become one.
The warm feeling that spread through their bodies, whenever they realized this, and whenever they encounter such a little moment between them, was beyond their comprehension.
It was simply fate, Pink would say, or something like that. Because fate sounded too surreal, even to his own ears.
They had made a tiny fire, before they threw the sheets of papers with their story into it. To burn the things that had been standing between them. Ryo smiled when Uchi took his hand. He looked down at their fingers and at one point he couldn’t tell any more… which one was his hand and which Uchi’s?
~~~~~
Aftermath:
“Hey, Yasu?”
Yasu blinked, looking at Subaru in surprise. “Yes?”
“It’s just,” the latter coughed, before he let out a sigh of frustration. “Oh damn, whatever. I have a problem.”
“And?”
“Could you and Hina therapy it?”
The smile on Yasu’s face would have been annoying to Subaru, if it hadn’t been so genuine.