TGQ fic: Ballroom Dancing
Theme of the week: Continuations
Another continuation of an older project today. This time it's a new fic for 30_dogpile, with my OT3: Ryu/Kyu/Megu. I do intend to string several of these together to make a rough plot. This one would be at the very beginning. Now off to x-post to the proper com!
Note: I haven't actually committed yet on where exactly this falls in the TGQ timeline, other than that it should be somewhere past Hongou-sensei's arrival.
Also, tomorrow will probably be my day without a fic post. I plan to work more on updating my site.
Title: Interpreting Dance
Fandom: Tantei Gakuen Q
Pairing: Mostly Ryu/Kyu and Kyu/Megu
Challenge theme: 30_dogpile, theme: Ballroom Dancing
Words: 2610
Summary: Ryu helps Kyu practice for one of their lessons, and learns more than he wanted from Kyu's body language.
The lesson was probably inevitable. Blending in with one’s surroundings was a crucial skill for a detective, and that didn’t just fall into the area of more conventional camouflage. They would need the ability to blend in among different types of crowds, and attend different social events without attracting undue attention.
They would be getting a little practice on this lesson in blending in soon enough. Ryu was more than ready for their real-world test. It was his classmates who were making him apprehensive.
Well, one of his classmates. Kinta had his own brilliance when it came to the physical, so he had figured out what he was doing almost immediately. Megu had a certain poise when she concentrated, and besides that she was able to memorize the steps she needed to go through almost instantly. Even if she tripped up a little she would come off as cute, not out of place. Kazuma wouldn’t join in on the lesson, but he was obviously too young to blend in on this assignment anyway.
Kyu was the one Ryu worried about. He probably could have guessed that Kyu couldn’t dance, but he hadn’t expected him to be quite so persistently bad at it. He could hardly take a step without colliding with his partner’s toes. Even though he apologized sincerely each time, that wasn’t going to help his cover. Just watching him Ryu could tell Kyu was getting more and more flustered, and it was only making him worse.
It didn’t help when he was paired with Megu. Both of them were obviously distracted, blushing, looking carefully at their feet instead of each other. Even if Ryu hadn’t already guessed the reason it would have been obvious.
When Kyu managed to trip Megu, she squeaked in surprise and fell into him. Kyu didn’t so much catch her as hold her, his hands curling over her shoulders. The expression on his face might have been funny under other circumstances, with his mouth open in surprise and his cheeks suddenly growing so red that they nearly glowed.
As it was, Ryu thought he felt his heart crack, just a tiny bit. . . .
Megu had her hands curled against Kyu’s chest, her head down in embarrassment. For a moment she was just as frozen as he was.
“Can we stop now?” Megu finally asked.
“Sure,” Kyu mumbled. He let her go, but didn’t let his arms drop to his sides. They stayed up, crooked at the elbow, as if he didn’t know what else to do with himself.
“Sorry I keep kicking you,” Kyu managed, just a second late. “I guess I can’t practice with you until I figure it out, huh?”
He laughed, and she smiled, and Ryu looked away.
The reason Kyu’s crush stood out so plainly, maybe the only reason, was because Ryu was looking for it. His eyes and his thoughts were drawn to Kyu, and there was no denying that he had wanted very much to know Kyu’s feelings.
Ryu had thought that he was still resisting the feeling that he was falling in love with Kyu when he made his offer.
“I’ll help you practice later.”
He meant the offer only because Kyu really needed help, and practice, and not because he wanted to see how Kyu would react. Ryu couldn’t pretend to himself that he hadn’t thought what it might be like to hold Kyu against his chest the way Kyu had held Megu, but he could at least keep himself from acting on that curiosity.
“Really?” Kyu had brightened up at the simple suggestion. His fickle energy catching Ryu off guard once again. “Thanks, Ryu!”
Ryu had meant the offer as just a friend or classmate, mostly, but the smile Kyu turned on him came dangerously close to tempting him from that altruistic position.
When Ryu started the music he felt his nerves jump and tense in a way he wasn’t accustomed to. He wasted a moment fiddling with the volume, trying to collect himself, before turning to face Kyu.
Kyu had his arms crossed behind his head, and he was standing a little farther back than Ryu would have expected of someone who actually wanted a lesson. He kept rocking back and forth from toes to heels, his body language betraying an unexpected apprehension.
“We could do this later,” Kyu suggested.
He’d wanted take Ryu home to practice, even when Ryu reminded him that the school already had the music and the space and the general set-up that they needed. Ryu wasn’t at all sure about trying to concentrate on dancing in Kyu’s bedroom, or wherever he chose for them. Besides, he was sure Kyu was just stalling.
Without answering Kyu, Ryu stepped up to him and reached out with both hands, keeping his expression carefully neutral as he waited for Kyu to join him.
Kyu laid both of his hands over Ryu’s, palm-to-palm, clasping them uncertainly.
“Like this,” Ryu reminded him.
He freed his left hand from Kyu’s and laid it with exaggerated care against Kyu’s upper arm. Kyu mimicked him, his hand resting on the safe territory of Ryu’s arm, just below his shoulder. He looked over at his other hand, still clasped around Ryu’s.
For a moment that seemed to take far longer than the few beats of music that measured it, they were both completely still. Ryu was aware the Kyu’s hands were warm, that Kyu’s breath smelled faintly of mint when he let out a sound somewhere between a sigh and a laugh, and that Kyu was looking at him as if he had forgotten every last thing he’d learned that morning.
“You’re leading,” Ryu told him, because he wasn’t moving.
“But you’re taller than me.”
“I’m only here to be your partner. Try doing it normally to start.”
“Okay.”
Kyu lunged forward, so that Ryu barely managed to get his foot out of the way in time.
“On the beat,” he admonished, pushing Kyu back into his original position. “One two three, four five six,” he counted off. He couldn’t even scold Kyu properly.
Kyu picked up the proper tempo fairly quickly. He stepped in time, staring at his feet with great concentration. Ryu periodically gave him verbal reminders of which foot and which direction he was supposed to be moving.
He was doing far better than he had on the first try, making Ryu suspect that his inept performance had been entirely due to standing too close to a pretty girl. Or, perhaps, just because of who that pretty girl happened to be.
Of course he couldn’t completely blame Kyu if it was her. Megu was. . . she was brilliant and strong in a way that Ryu wasn’t sure either of them could even fully appreciate. She was pretty, but Ryu had known a lot of people who were attractive and he hadn’t particularly liked most of them. If she were merely pretty he might have resented so much of Kyu’s attention going to her.
Maybe he was still a little jealous. Maybe he was just a little irritated that Kyu couldn’t be as flustered by touching him. . . especially when he own heart wouldn’t stop pounding as if it wanted to escape his chest.
“Look at me.”
Kyu looked up, startled, so that Ryu suddenly wondered how much his voice might have given away.
“You have to look at your partner, Kyu.”
“I don’t want to step on you.”
“Hm,” was Ryu’s only comment as he narrowly avoided Kyu’s feet.
“I’m really trying not to!” Kyu protested.
“You have to be more confident.” Ryu ignored the skeptical look Kyu was giving him and tried to explain, “It’s important to understand your partner. You have to see what they’re doing and respond. Read their body language. You should be able to tell what they want from their movements and the press of their hands.”
Ryu had never really tried to put something like that into words before. It was just a tiny bit like martial arts. It was trying to predict the next movement and react properly. Kyu was staring at him, somewhere between understanding and unbelieving.
“Show me how you’re going to move, and I’ll respond.”
After saying that, Ryu wasn’t entirely sure he could read Kyu’s movements as well as he had said, but with each step he found he could. Kyu was frowning at him in adorable concentration. The movements of his shoulders and body and the press of his hand in Ryu’s broadcast everything.
Ryu realized that Kyu’s hand had crept from his arm to his back, resting just below his shoulder. He knew they had moved closer to one another. It was just an immeasurably small distance closer. . . he told himself that it was because Kyu’s lesson needed to get to the next step of difficulty, not because he had wanted to let Kyu draw him in.
“You’re right,” Kyu told him after a few moments of looking directly into Ryu’s face. “I can sort of read your body language.”
“It’s an important skill to have as a detective,” Ryu reminded him. Everything always came back to that.
He had hoped Kyu would pick up the trick of focusing on his movements, but not quite this quickly. He would have to be more careful in the future. Kyu was sometimes a little dense to things that were right in front of him, but he was also prone to trying to practice his skills on those closest to him. If he could deduce Ryu’s intentions through slight hints of movement, Ryu would need to be more careful what he allowed to show.
Their song wound down to the end, and Ryu made as if to pull away. He was stopped by Kyu’s hand moving from his shoulder to the small of his back. That was technically where his hand was supposed to be in the closed position their practice called for, but Ryu was only aware of being drawn even closer by having Kyu’s arm around him properly.
“Let’s practice through the next song too.”
Ryu couldn’t seem to find his voice. He could only wait until the music started again, until Kyu picked up the rhythm of it and led him into the dance again.
They moved in the same measured pattern as before. Around and around as they made their way across the floor together. It might have felt more strange to Ryu that he had to do everything backwards, but he was so focused on Kyu. He took each step in response to the press and sway of Kyu’s body, feeling all at once both led and pursued.
They were halfway through before Ryu found his voice again.
“You’re picking it up very quickly. I’m impressed,” he complimented Kyu.
Maybe he was just a little disappointed. Ryu had expected that they would be at it all afternoon, at the very least. Instead Kyu actually seemed to be getting the hang of dancing. Maybe because it had gone from being a physical test to a practice in non-verbal communication, which made it interesting enough for him to honestly apply himself.
Ryu might have liked for Kyu’s lesson to go on a little longer than this.
“It’s really easy with you.”
Ryu curled his fingers around Kyu’s arm, tightening his grip without meaning to. He felt Kyu’s hand grip his a little tighter in response. It was a signal, an unspoken warning that Kyu would close the distance between them a little more.
Once again Ryu was aware of the faint smell of mint. He took a startled breath, and was aware of Kyu’s breath invading his mouth and slipping into his lungs. He realized almost too late that even a deep breath would be enough to bring him into full contact with Kyu, they were so close now.
They were too close, and he could feel Kyu’s scrutiny. Ryu could only think to divert his attention.
“Yet you get so nervous being this close to Megu,” Ryu pointed out.
His comment had the desired effect. . . in a way. Kyu blushed and stumbled, and Ryu felt a sudden spark of jealousy, one that he quickly smothered.
“That’s different. It’s not really-”
“You like her.”
Kyu stumbled over his feet, but maybe that was because Ryu was being careless. He caught Kyu against him, his left arm winding around Kyu’s shoulders even while his right kept holding Kyu’s in the correct position.
“Of course I like her,” Kyu protested. “We’re friends! I mean, we’re classmates and all, and. . . .”
Blood was throbbing in Ryu’s ears, making it difficult to hear Kyu’s excuses. He felt Kyu’s hand curl into a fist against his back, and it kept pressing into him. They were still held together, too close to move properly now.
“Stop,” Ryu heard himself murmur.
He was talking to himself more than to Kyu. At that moment he was all too aware of the way his fingers clutched at the back of Kyu’s shirt. He didn’t want to let go.
“I’m trying to help you,” he told Kyu, and at the same time he was reminding himself.
Kyu’s hand at his back relaxed, and Ryu made himself let go and step away from Kyu. He crossed his arms to shut out the thought of touching Kyu again and looked sideways to avoid meeting Kyu’s eyes. In that moment he wanted to be stone. He wanted to tell Kyu to stop trying to read him. There was nothing to find that Kyu would ever want to know.
“Ryu?”
“You want to be able to dance with her, right?”
Kyu rubbed at the back of his neck. Just the sight of him, nervous and flustered and so caught up in that thought that he had obviously forgotten about reading Ryu’s body language, was enough to decide Ryu.
“Well, maybe a little,” Kyu admitted.
That was enough. Like reading his partner’s moves in a dance, Ryu didn’t need to ask in words to know. He had already known better than to give his own feelings free range, and now he was sure he knew the full nature of Kyu’s feelings.
Ryu stepped away, putting his back to Kyu as he moved to stop the music that had been playing on, unheeded.
“Um, Ryu? I’ve been meaning to ask: Do you-”
“No.”
Ryu had been waiting for the question for some time now. He had seen it once or twice in Kyu’s face, whenever he was close to Megu. ‘Do you like her too?’ Ryu expected Kyu would want to know, but he didn’t want to hear the question.
It wasn’t that simple, because he did like Megu. He cared for her. He would have protected her as fiercely as he would Kyu. He was fairly sure she was the only girl in the world to whom he could have given up Kyu and not hated her for it. But. . . trying to explain all of that would be useless. He didn’t think even Kyu could understand something like that.
“You don’t even know what I was asking!” Kyu protested. “What if I wanted to say, ‘Do you even think I have a chance?’”
“Yes, then,” Ryu answered, and now he had to keep his face turned away from Kyu’s to hide the hint of amusement he could feel playing with his expression.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
There was a pause, only a heartbeat too long, before Kyu said, “You’re a good friend, Ryu.”
A good friend. That was all there was, but it was more precious than anything Ryu could remember having in his life before meeting Kyu. A good friend was exactly what Ryu intended to stay.
Another continuation of an older project today. This time it's a new fic for 30_dogpile, with my OT3: Ryu/Kyu/Megu. I do intend to string several of these together to make a rough plot. This one would be at the very beginning. Now off to x-post to the proper com!
Note: I haven't actually committed yet on where exactly this falls in the TGQ timeline, other than that it should be somewhere past Hongou-sensei's arrival.
Also, tomorrow will probably be my day without a fic post. I plan to work more on updating my site.
Title: Interpreting Dance
Fandom: Tantei Gakuen Q
Pairing: Mostly Ryu/Kyu and Kyu/Megu
Challenge theme: 30_dogpile, theme: Ballroom Dancing
Words: 2610
Summary: Ryu helps Kyu practice for one of their lessons, and learns more than he wanted from Kyu's body language.
The lesson was probably inevitable. Blending in with one’s surroundings was a crucial skill for a detective, and that didn’t just fall into the area of more conventional camouflage. They would need the ability to blend in among different types of crowds, and attend different social events without attracting undue attention.
They would be getting a little practice on this lesson in blending in soon enough. Ryu was more than ready for their real-world test. It was his classmates who were making him apprehensive.
Well, one of his classmates. Kinta had his own brilliance when it came to the physical, so he had figured out what he was doing almost immediately. Megu had a certain poise when she concentrated, and besides that she was able to memorize the steps she needed to go through almost instantly. Even if she tripped up a little she would come off as cute, not out of place. Kazuma wouldn’t join in on the lesson, but he was obviously too young to blend in on this assignment anyway.
Kyu was the one Ryu worried about. He probably could have guessed that Kyu couldn’t dance, but he hadn’t expected him to be quite so persistently bad at it. He could hardly take a step without colliding with his partner’s toes. Even though he apologized sincerely each time, that wasn’t going to help his cover. Just watching him Ryu could tell Kyu was getting more and more flustered, and it was only making him worse.
It didn’t help when he was paired with Megu. Both of them were obviously distracted, blushing, looking carefully at their feet instead of each other. Even if Ryu hadn’t already guessed the reason it would have been obvious.
When Kyu managed to trip Megu, she squeaked in surprise and fell into him. Kyu didn’t so much catch her as hold her, his hands curling over her shoulders. The expression on his face might have been funny under other circumstances, with his mouth open in surprise and his cheeks suddenly growing so red that they nearly glowed.
As it was, Ryu thought he felt his heart crack, just a tiny bit. . . .
Megu had her hands curled against Kyu’s chest, her head down in embarrassment. For a moment she was just as frozen as he was.
“Can we stop now?” Megu finally asked.
“Sure,” Kyu mumbled. He let her go, but didn’t let his arms drop to his sides. They stayed up, crooked at the elbow, as if he didn’t know what else to do with himself.
“Sorry I keep kicking you,” Kyu managed, just a second late. “I guess I can’t practice with you until I figure it out, huh?”
He laughed, and she smiled, and Ryu looked away.
The reason Kyu’s crush stood out so plainly, maybe the only reason, was because Ryu was looking for it. His eyes and his thoughts were drawn to Kyu, and there was no denying that he had wanted very much to know Kyu’s feelings.
Ryu had thought that he was still resisting the feeling that he was falling in love with Kyu when he made his offer.
“I’ll help you practice later.”
He meant the offer only because Kyu really needed help, and practice, and not because he wanted to see how Kyu would react. Ryu couldn’t pretend to himself that he hadn’t thought what it might be like to hold Kyu against his chest the way Kyu had held Megu, but he could at least keep himself from acting on that curiosity.
“Really?” Kyu had brightened up at the simple suggestion. His fickle energy catching Ryu off guard once again. “Thanks, Ryu!”
Ryu had meant the offer as just a friend or classmate, mostly, but the smile Kyu turned on him came dangerously close to tempting him from that altruistic position.
When Ryu started the music he felt his nerves jump and tense in a way he wasn’t accustomed to. He wasted a moment fiddling with the volume, trying to collect himself, before turning to face Kyu.
Kyu had his arms crossed behind his head, and he was standing a little farther back than Ryu would have expected of someone who actually wanted a lesson. He kept rocking back and forth from toes to heels, his body language betraying an unexpected apprehension.
“We could do this later,” Kyu suggested.
He’d wanted take Ryu home to practice, even when Ryu reminded him that the school already had the music and the space and the general set-up that they needed. Ryu wasn’t at all sure about trying to concentrate on dancing in Kyu’s bedroom, or wherever he chose for them. Besides, he was sure Kyu was just stalling.
Without answering Kyu, Ryu stepped up to him and reached out with both hands, keeping his expression carefully neutral as he waited for Kyu to join him.
Kyu laid both of his hands over Ryu’s, palm-to-palm, clasping them uncertainly.
“Like this,” Ryu reminded him.
He freed his left hand from Kyu’s and laid it with exaggerated care against Kyu’s upper arm. Kyu mimicked him, his hand resting on the safe territory of Ryu’s arm, just below his shoulder. He looked over at his other hand, still clasped around Ryu’s.
For a moment that seemed to take far longer than the few beats of music that measured it, they were both completely still. Ryu was aware the Kyu’s hands were warm, that Kyu’s breath smelled faintly of mint when he let out a sound somewhere between a sigh and a laugh, and that Kyu was looking at him as if he had forgotten every last thing he’d learned that morning.
“You’re leading,” Ryu told him, because he wasn’t moving.
“But you’re taller than me.”
“I’m only here to be your partner. Try doing it normally to start.”
“Okay.”
Kyu lunged forward, so that Ryu barely managed to get his foot out of the way in time.
“On the beat,” he admonished, pushing Kyu back into his original position. “One two three, four five six,” he counted off. He couldn’t even scold Kyu properly.
Kyu picked up the proper tempo fairly quickly. He stepped in time, staring at his feet with great concentration. Ryu periodically gave him verbal reminders of which foot and which direction he was supposed to be moving.
He was doing far better than he had on the first try, making Ryu suspect that his inept performance had been entirely due to standing too close to a pretty girl. Or, perhaps, just because of who that pretty girl happened to be.
Of course he couldn’t completely blame Kyu if it was her. Megu was. . . she was brilliant and strong in a way that Ryu wasn’t sure either of them could even fully appreciate. She was pretty, but Ryu had known a lot of people who were attractive and he hadn’t particularly liked most of them. If she were merely pretty he might have resented so much of Kyu’s attention going to her.
Maybe he was still a little jealous. Maybe he was just a little irritated that Kyu couldn’t be as flustered by touching him. . . especially when he own heart wouldn’t stop pounding as if it wanted to escape his chest.
“Look at me.”
Kyu looked up, startled, so that Ryu suddenly wondered how much his voice might have given away.
“You have to look at your partner, Kyu.”
“I don’t want to step on you.”
“Hm,” was Ryu’s only comment as he narrowly avoided Kyu’s feet.
“I’m really trying not to!” Kyu protested.
“You have to be more confident.” Ryu ignored the skeptical look Kyu was giving him and tried to explain, “It’s important to understand your partner. You have to see what they’re doing and respond. Read their body language. You should be able to tell what they want from their movements and the press of their hands.”
Ryu had never really tried to put something like that into words before. It was just a tiny bit like martial arts. It was trying to predict the next movement and react properly. Kyu was staring at him, somewhere between understanding and unbelieving.
“Show me how you’re going to move, and I’ll respond.”
After saying that, Ryu wasn’t entirely sure he could read Kyu’s movements as well as he had said, but with each step he found he could. Kyu was frowning at him in adorable concentration. The movements of his shoulders and body and the press of his hand in Ryu’s broadcast everything.
Ryu realized that Kyu’s hand had crept from his arm to his back, resting just below his shoulder. He knew they had moved closer to one another. It was just an immeasurably small distance closer. . . he told himself that it was because Kyu’s lesson needed to get to the next step of difficulty, not because he had wanted to let Kyu draw him in.
“You’re right,” Kyu told him after a few moments of looking directly into Ryu’s face. “I can sort of read your body language.”
“It’s an important skill to have as a detective,” Ryu reminded him. Everything always came back to that.
He had hoped Kyu would pick up the trick of focusing on his movements, but not quite this quickly. He would have to be more careful in the future. Kyu was sometimes a little dense to things that were right in front of him, but he was also prone to trying to practice his skills on those closest to him. If he could deduce Ryu’s intentions through slight hints of movement, Ryu would need to be more careful what he allowed to show.
Their song wound down to the end, and Ryu made as if to pull away. He was stopped by Kyu’s hand moving from his shoulder to the small of his back. That was technically where his hand was supposed to be in the closed position their practice called for, but Ryu was only aware of being drawn even closer by having Kyu’s arm around him properly.
“Let’s practice through the next song too.”
Ryu couldn’t seem to find his voice. He could only wait until the music started again, until Kyu picked up the rhythm of it and led him into the dance again.
They moved in the same measured pattern as before. Around and around as they made their way across the floor together. It might have felt more strange to Ryu that he had to do everything backwards, but he was so focused on Kyu. He took each step in response to the press and sway of Kyu’s body, feeling all at once both led and pursued.
They were halfway through before Ryu found his voice again.
“You’re picking it up very quickly. I’m impressed,” he complimented Kyu.
Maybe he was just a little disappointed. Ryu had expected that they would be at it all afternoon, at the very least. Instead Kyu actually seemed to be getting the hang of dancing. Maybe because it had gone from being a physical test to a practice in non-verbal communication, which made it interesting enough for him to honestly apply himself.
Ryu might have liked for Kyu’s lesson to go on a little longer than this.
“It’s really easy with you.”
Ryu curled his fingers around Kyu’s arm, tightening his grip without meaning to. He felt Kyu’s hand grip his a little tighter in response. It was a signal, an unspoken warning that Kyu would close the distance between them a little more.
Once again Ryu was aware of the faint smell of mint. He took a startled breath, and was aware of Kyu’s breath invading his mouth and slipping into his lungs. He realized almost too late that even a deep breath would be enough to bring him into full contact with Kyu, they were so close now.
They were too close, and he could feel Kyu’s scrutiny. Ryu could only think to divert his attention.
“Yet you get so nervous being this close to Megu,” Ryu pointed out.
His comment had the desired effect. . . in a way. Kyu blushed and stumbled, and Ryu felt a sudden spark of jealousy, one that he quickly smothered.
“That’s different. It’s not really-”
“You like her.”
Kyu stumbled over his feet, but maybe that was because Ryu was being careless. He caught Kyu against him, his left arm winding around Kyu’s shoulders even while his right kept holding Kyu’s in the correct position.
“Of course I like her,” Kyu protested. “We’re friends! I mean, we’re classmates and all, and. . . .”
Blood was throbbing in Ryu’s ears, making it difficult to hear Kyu’s excuses. He felt Kyu’s hand curl into a fist against his back, and it kept pressing into him. They were still held together, too close to move properly now.
“Stop,” Ryu heard himself murmur.
He was talking to himself more than to Kyu. At that moment he was all too aware of the way his fingers clutched at the back of Kyu’s shirt. He didn’t want to let go.
“I’m trying to help you,” he told Kyu, and at the same time he was reminding himself.
Kyu’s hand at his back relaxed, and Ryu made himself let go and step away from Kyu. He crossed his arms to shut out the thought of touching Kyu again and looked sideways to avoid meeting Kyu’s eyes. In that moment he wanted to be stone. He wanted to tell Kyu to stop trying to read him. There was nothing to find that Kyu would ever want to know.
“Ryu?”
“You want to be able to dance with her, right?”
Kyu rubbed at the back of his neck. Just the sight of him, nervous and flustered and so caught up in that thought that he had obviously forgotten about reading Ryu’s body language, was enough to decide Ryu.
“Well, maybe a little,” Kyu admitted.
That was enough. Like reading his partner’s moves in a dance, Ryu didn’t need to ask in words to know. He had already known better than to give his own feelings free range, and now he was sure he knew the full nature of Kyu’s feelings.
Ryu stepped away, putting his back to Kyu as he moved to stop the music that had been playing on, unheeded.
“Um, Ryu? I’ve been meaning to ask: Do you-”
“No.”
Ryu had been waiting for the question for some time now. He had seen it once or twice in Kyu’s face, whenever he was close to Megu. ‘Do you like her too?’ Ryu expected Kyu would want to know, but he didn’t want to hear the question.
It wasn’t that simple, because he did like Megu. He cared for her. He would have protected her as fiercely as he would Kyu. He was fairly sure she was the only girl in the world to whom he could have given up Kyu and not hated her for it. But. . . trying to explain all of that would be useless. He didn’t think even Kyu could understand something like that.
“You don’t even know what I was asking!” Kyu protested. “What if I wanted to say, ‘Do you even think I have a chance?’”
“Yes, then,” Ryu answered, and now he had to keep his face turned away from Kyu’s to hide the hint of amusement he could feel playing with his expression.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
There was a pause, only a heartbeat too long, before Kyu said, “You’re a good friend, Ryu.”
A good friend. That was all there was, but it was more precious than anything Ryu could remember having in his life before meeting Kyu. A good friend was exactly what Ryu intended to stay.