Reita/Ruki - Pantophobia: A Fear of Everything - PG - Chapter 02
Title: Pantophobia: A Fear of Everything
Chapter: 02/?
Author:
spinfreeze
Rating: PG (language)
Genre: fluff, AU
Warnings: none
Pairings: Reita/Ruki
Disclaimer: I don't own the GazettE, just the story. I'm not making any profit off of this, either.
Synopsis: Reita wasn’t one of those do-gooder folk who have to butt in everyone’s business, but how was he expected to react to the sight he saw? He wasn't expected to ignore it, was he? At the street corner, there was the most distressed human Reita had ever seen.
Comments: This chapter has a lot of dialogue.
Chapter 01
Reita had no idea where they were going but he saw that they passed by the sweets shop he worked at. He heard whimpers coming from Ruki as people bumped into him, but they weren’t walking very long. They reached an apartment complex that was on the same street as the sweets shop. Reita realized that Ruki hadn’t made it far at all when he found him. He made it to the end of the sidewalk and had an anxiety attack about crossing the street.
“You live here?” Reita asked as Ruki put a key in the door to unlock the building.
“Yes,” Ruki answered shortly. Reita was glad to see that Ruki was much calmer now that he was at his apartment complex.
“Well, I guess I’ll be going now…” Reita said as he turned slowly on his foot.
“Oh?” Ruki stopped fiddling with the door to turn and look at Reita with a surprisingly disappointed expression. “I thought… never mind,” he finished as he unlocked the door.
“No, wait,” Reita said. Ruki turned to look at him questioningly. “You thought what?”
Shrugging, Ruki answered, “I thought you might come up with me.”
Reita furrowed his brow as he asked, “You’d let me in your apartment? You just met me!”
“Look, you stopped to help me when everyone else just walked by. Why shouldn’t I trust you? Besides, I don’t interact with people often…”
Reita supposed helping a whateverphobic cross the street safely would help increase trust levels and he definitely sympathized with Ruki. Plus, this Ruki fellow seemed to be quite the character and Reita would be lying if he said he wasn’t intrigued. Not to mention, Ruki was absolutely harmless; he was scared of crossing the street, for crying out loud! “Alright, I’ll come up with you Ruki-san.”
“You don’t have to call me Ruki-san. Ruki’s okay,” he answered as he held the door open for Reita.
Smiling, Reita nodded and replied, “You can just call me Reita, then,” and followed Ruki up a flight of stairs to his apartment. When Ruki had opened the door to his apartment, Reita stepped inside and took his shoes off as he looked around. He heard noise and looked down to see Ruki neatly placing Reita’s shoes next to Ruki’s; the shoes were lined up perfectly against the wall.
Looking around, Reita realized that everything in Ruki’s apartment was the same as the shoes. Everything had a place and everything was in its place. The books on the bookshelves were lined neatly next to each other, none of them stacked randomly on a counter or table. His DVDs were stored neatly in a special shelf by his TV. As Reita followed Ruki farther into the apartment and into the kitchen, Reita saw that there were no dirty dishes anywhere-not on tables, counters, or in the sink. Everything shined as if it had just been cleaned. “Wow, your apartment is really nice! It’s much neater than mine.”
Reita noticed Ruki blush a little before saying, “I’m ataxophobic.”
“What the hell is ataxophobic?!” Reita asked. Who knows these things?!
“Someone who has a fear of untidiness.” Apparently Ruki knows these things. “Do you want something to drink? Or eat?”
“Do you have any soda?” Reita asked.
“Yes!” Ruki opened his refrigerator and Reita was a little startled to see containers of food stacked neatly on the shelves of his fridge, each of them with a label.
Ruki handed Reita a can of soda and took one out for himself, popping the tab. Reita did the same with his can and then commented, “Your fridge is really well-kept. Are those labels for what’s in the containers?”
Ruki had been sipping his soda but once he had swallowed, he nodded and answered, “Yeah… since I’m dromophobic and demophobic, my friend Kai delivers groceries for me and often cooks me meals. I store them so I can eat them later.”
Reita stared dumbly at Ruki as he let the information sink in and then finally asked, “What the fuck is demophobic?!”
“Someone who has a fear of crowds,” Ruki answered as if he had just been asked the answer to one plus one and then sipped on his soda.
“You’re afraid of crowds, crossing the street, and messes?!” Reita asked incredulously.
Looking at Reita sipping his soda, Ruki nervously nodded and said, “Yeah.”
“But you’re not afraid of me?” Reita asked what he thought was a fair question.
“I’m not afraid of people, Reita!” Ruki defended. “I don’t like lots of people at the same time! You can get lost in a crowd! And people you don’t know are always touching you! You could suffocate by getting smushed!”
“How cute,” Reita thought and he smiled. He decided he better not comment with that, though. Ruki might get angry. So, instead he said, “It wouldn’t be so bad if you had someone in the crowd with you, would it?”
“No! It’s still a crowd!” Ruki said.
Reita smirked. “Okay, okay.” He finished drinking his soda and then threw the can in the trash. Sighing, he said, “Listen, I should probably get home. Thank you for the soda. Why don’t we exchange phone numbers?”
“I don’t have a phone,” Ruki said.
“You don’t have a phone?!”
“I’m telephonophobic!”
“Let me guess. Someone who’s afraid of phones?” Reita asked with a tinge of amusement.
“People could be listening in on your conversation! You never know who could hear what you’re saying! And it's creepy not being able to see who you're talking to! I don't like it,” Ruki explained vehemently.
“That’s it!” Reita said as he threw his arms up. “You can’t be this way.”
Looking at Reita with what Reita would describe as fright, Ruki said, “You don’t want to be friends with me?”
Chuckling, Reita said, “No! I do want to be friends with you! That’s why I’m coming over here after work tomorrow.”
The next day when Reita was finished working he walked straight over to Ruki’s apartment and rang the buzzer.
“Hello?”
“Hey Ruki! It’s Reita. Can I come up?” he asked. There was a loud buzzing noise and then the door unlocked. Reita went inside the building and when he reached Ruki’s apartment, he saw Ruki peering out through a crack in his door. He opened the door wider as Reita got nearer.
“What’s that thing on your face?” Ruki asked as he opened the door wider.
“Oh!” Reita said with surprise as he touched his nose and realized he hadn’t taken off his noseband. “I guess I forgot to take it off.” He untied the cloth from around his nose and shoved it in his pocket, explaining, “I work at the sweets shop just a few buildings down. I don’t like the smell of the sweets so I wear that over my nose.”
Ruki nodded his understanding and then asked, “Do you wanna come inside?”
“I would love to come inside,” Reita said with a bright grin. As soon as he walked in, he removed his shoes and leaned over to line them up neatly beside Ruki’s. He followed Ruki into his living room and sat down beside him on the couch. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his cell phone and immediately received a shriek from Ruki. “Ruki, it’s okay! It won’t bite you! I’m going to call my roommate Uruha, okay?”
Ruki scooted so his back was pressed against the arm of the couch and as far from Reita (and his phone) as he could get while still sitting on the couch. Reita laughed slightly at Ruki’s reaction to the phone, but dialed Uruha’s cell number anyway.
“Hey Reita!”
“Uru! I have a favor to ask…” Reita trailed off.
“Shoot.”
Reita started his explanation with, “I made a friend yesterday. His name is Ruki.”
“Ooh! A new romantic prospect, perhaps?” Uruha cooed.
Blushing, and earning curious yet still fearful glances from Ruki, Reita hissed, “Shut up! I just want you to talk to him, okay?”
Uruha chuckled and asked, “Why do you want me to talk to him?”
“He has a fear of phones.”
“He has a fear of phones?!” Uruha asked incredulously.
Reita said, “Yes. He doesn’t have one so I’m going to let-“
“I DON’T WANT TO!”
“What was that?” Uruha asked.
“That was Ruki. He doesn’t want to talk on the phone,” he explained.
“Well maybe you shouldn’t force him to talk to me, Reita!” Uruha scolded.
“You don’t understand! He doesn’t want to because he’s scared of the phone! He needs to get over it and that’s what I’m trying to help him with,” Reita said in frustration. “Hang on just a minute,” Reita requested and then covered his phone and turned to Ruki. “Ruki, this is for your own good. Don’t you trust me?”
“Yes, but-“
“No buts! Don’t you trust me?” Reita asked more forcefully.
Ruki nodded slowly and then said, “Set it down on the couch.” Reita laughed, set the phone on the couch, and pushed the phone over towards Ruki. Slowly-very slowly-Ruki reached for the phone. As soon as he touched it, he withdrew his hand as if the phone had burned him and let out a whimper.
“Ruki! It’s okay! Uruha’s really nice and I’m sitting right here! Didn’t I help you cross the street yesterday?” Reita tried to reassure Ruki. Glancing nervously at Reita, Ruki nodded. “And you were alright then, weren’t you?” Ruki nodded again. “This is nowhere near as scary as crossing the street. I know you can do it!”
Ruki nodded resolutely and reached out for the phone again. This time when he came in contact with the object, he held on tightly and brought it slowly to his ear. He quietly said, “He-hello?”
“Ruki-san?” Uruha asked.
“Y-yes, that’s me.”
“Hi! I’m Reita’s friend, Uruha. Are you holding up okay?” Uruha asked.
“I-I don’t like it,” Ruki stuttered with distress.
“It’s okay, Ruki-san! Try not to think about it and just talk with me okay? What kinds of things do you like?” Uruha asked, trying to make conversation.
“I like to draw,” he answered quietly. Although Reita could only hear Ruki’s half of the conversation, he listened with interest and hoped to learn more about Ruki.
“What kind of drawings do you do? Like… people? Or what?”
“W-well,” Ruki said, “I work for a tattoo parlor and I design tattoos.”
“So that’s what he does there,” Reita had thought as he listened.
“Are you serious?! That’s awesome!” Uruha said excitedly. “My job isn’t as cool.”
“What do you do Uruha-san?” Ruki asked, his nerves letting up slightly.
“I work at a music shop. I love music, but it’s not really that exciting,” he answered.
“No! That’s a nice job.”
“I guess it isn’t all that bad, hey?” Uruha said with a laugh. “So how did you meet Reita?”
“He found me by the crosswalk on my way to the tattoo parlor,” Ruki explained as he blushed a little.
Confused, Uruha asked, “He found you?”
“It was nice talking to you Uruha-san, but I’m going to give the phone to Reita now,” Ruki said quickly and then handed the phone to Reita.
Smiling, Reita took the phone from Ruki and said, “Thank you Uruha.”
“He seems like a nice guy,” he replied.
“Ruki is a very nice guy! I’ll talk to you later, though, okay?”
“Sure thing! Bye Reita!” Uruha said and then hung up.
Reita beamed at Ruki and said, “Ruki! You did it! You talked on the phone!”
Smiling shyly, Ruki said, “I did talk on the phone, didn’t I? I guess it’s not so bad.”
Reita smiled even wider at Ruki. As he remembered something he heard Ruki say, Reita asked, “So you design tattoos for Aoi?”
Smiling, Ruki nodded. “Sort of. He owns the parlor, but other artists do the tattoos. He just does piercings. I draw new designs and mail them to the tattoo parlor weekly. Aoi was so nice to give me that job. He’s so understanding, letting me mail things in… He even drops off my money every month."
“Let’s set a goal,” Reita suggested.
“What kind of goal?”
“I propose that the next time you need to turn in drawings to Aoi, you deliver them by hand.”
“N-no! No I can’t do that!” Ruki shook his head fervently.
“What?! You’ve crossed the street twice and you’ve even talked on the phone! Ruki, you’re a madman! You can definitely do that!” Reita said with a laugh.
“I’ll… I’ll try, but you have to come with me! Please don’t make me do it by myself!” Ruki begged.
“Of course I’ll go with you,” Reita said gently as he smiled at his new friend. He really didn’t mind at all. In fact, he wanted to go with Ruki. Reita had made it his project to help Ruki overcome his fears and he was determined to succeed.
------------------------------
A/N: Someone please explain to me how the FUCK apple pie is a synonym for NEAT. WTF? WTF WTF WTF? That's not right! "I like to keep my room very apple pie and tidy."
Chapter: 02/?
Author:
spinfreeze
Rating: PG (language)
Genre: fluff, AU
Warnings: none
Pairings: Reita/Ruki
Disclaimer: I don't own the GazettE, just the story. I'm not making any profit off of this, either.
Synopsis: Reita wasn’t one of those do-gooder folk who have to butt in everyone’s business, but how was he expected to react to the sight he saw? He wasn't expected to ignore it, was he? At the street corner, there was the most distressed human Reita had ever seen.
Comments: This chapter has a lot of dialogue.
Chapter 01
Reita had no idea where they were going but he saw that they passed by the sweets shop he worked at. He heard whimpers coming from Ruki as people bumped into him, but they weren’t walking very long. They reached an apartment complex that was on the same street as the sweets shop. Reita realized that Ruki hadn’t made it far at all when he found him. He made it to the end of the sidewalk and had an anxiety attack about crossing the street.
“You live here?” Reita asked as Ruki put a key in the door to unlock the building.
“Yes,” Ruki answered shortly. Reita was glad to see that Ruki was much calmer now that he was at his apartment complex.
“Well, I guess I’ll be going now…” Reita said as he turned slowly on his foot.
“Oh?” Ruki stopped fiddling with the door to turn and look at Reita with a surprisingly disappointed expression. “I thought… never mind,” he finished as he unlocked the door.
“No, wait,” Reita said. Ruki turned to look at him questioningly. “You thought what?”
Shrugging, Ruki answered, “I thought you might come up with me.”
Reita furrowed his brow as he asked, “You’d let me in your apartment? You just met me!”
“Look, you stopped to help me when everyone else just walked by. Why shouldn’t I trust you? Besides, I don’t interact with people often…”
Reita supposed helping a whateverphobic cross the street safely would help increase trust levels and he definitely sympathized with Ruki. Plus, this Ruki fellow seemed to be quite the character and Reita would be lying if he said he wasn’t intrigued. Not to mention, Ruki was absolutely harmless; he was scared of crossing the street, for crying out loud! “Alright, I’ll come up with you Ruki-san.”
“You don’t have to call me Ruki-san. Ruki’s okay,” he answered as he held the door open for Reita.
Smiling, Reita nodded and replied, “You can just call me Reita, then,” and followed Ruki up a flight of stairs to his apartment. When Ruki had opened the door to his apartment, Reita stepped inside and took his shoes off as he looked around. He heard noise and looked down to see Ruki neatly placing Reita’s shoes next to Ruki’s; the shoes were lined up perfectly against the wall.
Looking around, Reita realized that everything in Ruki’s apartment was the same as the shoes. Everything had a place and everything was in its place. The books on the bookshelves were lined neatly next to each other, none of them stacked randomly on a counter or table. His DVDs were stored neatly in a special shelf by his TV. As Reita followed Ruki farther into the apartment and into the kitchen, Reita saw that there were no dirty dishes anywhere-not on tables, counters, or in the sink. Everything shined as if it had just been cleaned. “Wow, your apartment is really nice! It’s much neater than mine.”
Reita noticed Ruki blush a little before saying, “I’m ataxophobic.”
“What the hell is ataxophobic?!” Reita asked. Who knows these things?!
“Someone who has a fear of untidiness.” Apparently Ruki knows these things. “Do you want something to drink? Or eat?”
“Do you have any soda?” Reita asked.
“Yes!” Ruki opened his refrigerator and Reita was a little startled to see containers of food stacked neatly on the shelves of his fridge, each of them with a label.
Ruki handed Reita a can of soda and took one out for himself, popping the tab. Reita did the same with his can and then commented, “Your fridge is really well-kept. Are those labels for what’s in the containers?”
Ruki had been sipping his soda but once he had swallowed, he nodded and answered, “Yeah… since I’m dromophobic and demophobic, my friend Kai delivers groceries for me and often cooks me meals. I store them so I can eat them later.”
Reita stared dumbly at Ruki as he let the information sink in and then finally asked, “What the fuck is demophobic?!”
“Someone who has a fear of crowds,” Ruki answered as if he had just been asked the answer to one plus one and then sipped on his soda.
“You’re afraid of crowds, crossing the street, and messes?!” Reita asked incredulously.
Looking at Reita sipping his soda, Ruki nervously nodded and said, “Yeah.”
“But you’re not afraid of me?” Reita asked what he thought was a fair question.
“I’m not afraid of people, Reita!” Ruki defended. “I don’t like lots of people at the same time! You can get lost in a crowd! And people you don’t know are always touching you! You could suffocate by getting smushed!”
“How cute,” Reita thought and he smiled. He decided he better not comment with that, though. Ruki might get angry. So, instead he said, “It wouldn’t be so bad if you had someone in the crowd with you, would it?”
“No! It’s still a crowd!” Ruki said.
Reita smirked. “Okay, okay.” He finished drinking his soda and then threw the can in the trash. Sighing, he said, “Listen, I should probably get home. Thank you for the soda. Why don’t we exchange phone numbers?”
“I don’t have a phone,” Ruki said.
“You don’t have a phone?!”
“I’m telephonophobic!”
“Let me guess. Someone who’s afraid of phones?” Reita asked with a tinge of amusement.
“People could be listening in on your conversation! You never know who could hear what you’re saying! And it's creepy not being able to see who you're talking to! I don't like it,” Ruki explained vehemently.
“That’s it!” Reita said as he threw his arms up. “You can’t be this way.”
Looking at Reita with what Reita would describe as fright, Ruki said, “You don’t want to be friends with me?”
Chuckling, Reita said, “No! I do want to be friends with you! That’s why I’m coming over here after work tomorrow.”
The next day when Reita was finished working he walked straight over to Ruki’s apartment and rang the buzzer.
“Hello?”
“Hey Ruki! It’s Reita. Can I come up?” he asked. There was a loud buzzing noise and then the door unlocked. Reita went inside the building and when he reached Ruki’s apartment, he saw Ruki peering out through a crack in his door. He opened the door wider as Reita got nearer.
“What’s that thing on your face?” Ruki asked as he opened the door wider.
“Oh!” Reita said with surprise as he touched his nose and realized he hadn’t taken off his noseband. “I guess I forgot to take it off.” He untied the cloth from around his nose and shoved it in his pocket, explaining, “I work at the sweets shop just a few buildings down. I don’t like the smell of the sweets so I wear that over my nose.”
Ruki nodded his understanding and then asked, “Do you wanna come inside?”
“I would love to come inside,” Reita said with a bright grin. As soon as he walked in, he removed his shoes and leaned over to line them up neatly beside Ruki’s. He followed Ruki into his living room and sat down beside him on the couch. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his cell phone and immediately received a shriek from Ruki. “Ruki, it’s okay! It won’t bite you! I’m going to call my roommate Uruha, okay?”
Ruki scooted so his back was pressed against the arm of the couch and as far from Reita (and his phone) as he could get while still sitting on the couch. Reita laughed slightly at Ruki’s reaction to the phone, but dialed Uruha’s cell number anyway.
“Hey Reita!”
“Uru! I have a favor to ask…” Reita trailed off.
“Shoot.”
Reita started his explanation with, “I made a friend yesterday. His name is Ruki.”
“Ooh! A new romantic prospect, perhaps?” Uruha cooed.
Blushing, and earning curious yet still fearful glances from Ruki, Reita hissed, “Shut up! I just want you to talk to him, okay?”
Uruha chuckled and asked, “Why do you want me to talk to him?”
“He has a fear of phones.”
“He has a fear of phones?!” Uruha asked incredulously.
Reita said, “Yes. He doesn’t have one so I’m going to let-“
“I DON’T WANT TO!”
“What was that?” Uruha asked.
“That was Ruki. He doesn’t want to talk on the phone,” he explained.
“Well maybe you shouldn’t force him to talk to me, Reita!” Uruha scolded.
“You don’t understand! He doesn’t want to because he’s scared of the phone! He needs to get over it and that’s what I’m trying to help him with,” Reita said in frustration. “Hang on just a minute,” Reita requested and then covered his phone and turned to Ruki. “Ruki, this is for your own good. Don’t you trust me?”
“Yes, but-“
“No buts! Don’t you trust me?” Reita asked more forcefully.
Ruki nodded slowly and then said, “Set it down on the couch.” Reita laughed, set the phone on the couch, and pushed the phone over towards Ruki. Slowly-very slowly-Ruki reached for the phone. As soon as he touched it, he withdrew his hand as if the phone had burned him and let out a whimper.
“Ruki! It’s okay! Uruha’s really nice and I’m sitting right here! Didn’t I help you cross the street yesterday?” Reita tried to reassure Ruki. Glancing nervously at Reita, Ruki nodded. “And you were alright then, weren’t you?” Ruki nodded again. “This is nowhere near as scary as crossing the street. I know you can do it!”
Ruki nodded resolutely and reached out for the phone again. This time when he came in contact with the object, he held on tightly and brought it slowly to his ear. He quietly said, “He-hello?”
“Ruki-san?” Uruha asked.
“Y-yes, that’s me.”
“Hi! I’m Reita’s friend, Uruha. Are you holding up okay?” Uruha asked.
“I-I don’t like it,” Ruki stuttered with distress.
“It’s okay, Ruki-san! Try not to think about it and just talk with me okay? What kinds of things do you like?” Uruha asked, trying to make conversation.
“I like to draw,” he answered quietly. Although Reita could only hear Ruki’s half of the conversation, he listened with interest and hoped to learn more about Ruki.
“What kind of drawings do you do? Like… people? Or what?”
“W-well,” Ruki said, “I work for a tattoo parlor and I design tattoos.”
“So that’s what he does there,” Reita had thought as he listened.
“Are you serious?! That’s awesome!” Uruha said excitedly. “My job isn’t as cool.”
“What do you do Uruha-san?” Ruki asked, his nerves letting up slightly.
“I work at a music shop. I love music, but it’s not really that exciting,” he answered.
“No! That’s a nice job.”
“I guess it isn’t all that bad, hey?” Uruha said with a laugh. “So how did you meet Reita?”
“He found me by the crosswalk on my way to the tattoo parlor,” Ruki explained as he blushed a little.
Confused, Uruha asked, “He found you?”
“It was nice talking to you Uruha-san, but I’m going to give the phone to Reita now,” Ruki said quickly and then handed the phone to Reita.
Smiling, Reita took the phone from Ruki and said, “Thank you Uruha.”
“He seems like a nice guy,” he replied.
“Ruki is a very nice guy! I’ll talk to you later, though, okay?”
“Sure thing! Bye Reita!” Uruha said and then hung up.
Reita beamed at Ruki and said, “Ruki! You did it! You talked on the phone!”
Smiling shyly, Ruki said, “I did talk on the phone, didn’t I? I guess it’s not so bad.”
Reita smiled even wider at Ruki. As he remembered something he heard Ruki say, Reita asked, “So you design tattoos for Aoi?”
Smiling, Ruki nodded. “Sort of. He owns the parlor, but other artists do the tattoos. He just does piercings. I draw new designs and mail them to the tattoo parlor weekly. Aoi was so nice to give me that job. He’s so understanding, letting me mail things in… He even drops off my money every month."
“Let’s set a goal,” Reita suggested.
“What kind of goal?”
“I propose that the next time you need to turn in drawings to Aoi, you deliver them by hand.”
“N-no! No I can’t do that!” Ruki shook his head fervently.
“What?! You’ve crossed the street twice and you’ve even talked on the phone! Ruki, you’re a madman! You can definitely do that!” Reita said with a laugh.
“I’ll… I’ll try, but you have to come with me! Please don’t make me do it by myself!” Ruki begged.
“Of course I’ll go with you,” Reita said gently as he smiled at his new friend. He really didn’t mind at all. In fact, he wanted to go with Ruki. Reita had made it his project to help Ruki overcome his fears and he was determined to succeed.
------------------------------
A/N: Someone please explain to me how the FUCK apple pie is a synonym for NEAT. WTF? WTF WTF WTF? That's not right! "I like to keep my room very apple pie and tidy."