Gazette - Ruki/Reita - Under an Umbrella : Oneshot/ Sidestory to HOT 'N BOTHERED
Title: Under an Umbrella
Genre: AU, Oneshot
Ratings: PG
Pairings: Gazette; Ruki/Reita
Synopsis: Sometimes an umbrella can't protect you from the rain, but other times it may be your last hope.
Note: This is the sidestory to the series [ Hot 'n Bothered ], but it can also be read as a stand-alone.
Comments: Yes, Please do ~♥!
It started out as an okay day, expect for the part when the newscaster said it was going to rain, and Ruki fell off his bed in the morning and hit his head on the corner of his nightstand. No blood or anything, but he got a bruise and he spent twenty minutes fixing his hair to cover it.
He walked out of his apartment with an umbrella on this day, and decided not to take his car. Driving on a rainy days isn't that safe anyway. Life isn't perfect, which isn't news to Ruki, he left the umbrella on the train and got off at the wrong station. He couldn't hear because of his earphones on at the time. It was alright though, Ruki didn't exactly have a set place in mind to go. It was a day off, and usually he would either be staying at home, inviting a friend over or visiting a friend's place, but neither was an option for him.
Walking on the street wasn't that bad, the rain hadn't come down yet, and the dark clouds in the sky resembled something like the imaginary one floating above Ruki’s head. At least that's how Ruki saw it. Later he to stopped at SMELLY , a rather ridiculous name for a cafe, however, quite popular with the young adult crowd.
Ruki doesn't agree with coffee, same as Reita, the friend which he usually invited or visited on days like these. They use to come to this cafe together, and never ordered coffee, instead, got tea and one plate of three muffins to share, which must be blueberry, and they must always fight over the third muffin. Also, the inside of the cafe reeked of grounded coffee beans, so they would sit outside at the tables with umbrellas that kept the sun away, but not the rain.
There was a sudden calm in the air. Ruki felt a moist droplet fell to his arm, another one, and another two, then a shower went off from the sky. People on the streets began to run, and ones who were at the umbrella-ed tables too were leaving. Ruki carried on with his chamomile tea. The rain was coming in, but he didn't care.
A brown jacket flashed by, going into SMELLY. It was a mere two second scene, but Ruki didn't miss a shot of that black & blonde mohawk. From outside the window, looking into the cafe, he saw Reita at a table by the window faced towards his direction. Hoping the other didn't see him, Ruki raced to his tea, taking a long sip, then went for a bite of his muffin, only to find his hand empty and his muffin on the ground drowning in rain water.
A part of Ruki just shrank a little. There was beating and it felt a lot like it's coming from his chest. Along with a memory...
"Ruki, cut it out."
"Quit your acting Reita." Ruki had Reita wrestled to the ground.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Get off of me you little -" Reita had his hand keeping Ruki's face away from his. He managed to roll over to get on top of Ruki.
Swiftly, Ruki thrust Reita up to standing position and bull-rush the latter against a bookshelf. "I don't believe you."
"You are crazy? And get your hand out of my pants." Reita took the opportunity, grabbing both of Ruki's arms forcing the other to back up until they fell on the couch.
"Okay, say I believe what you're saying is true. Then it means you do like me, but you just don't know it yet. Or else we wouldn't be in this position right now."
What Ruki said just dawn on Reita. They were on a big soft couch, which he had Ruki pinned down to, and he was hovering over him with himself kneeled between the other's legs.
Ruki didn't regret what he had done, it's the way he done it that made him wish he could kill himself if he knew a good, clean way to do it. He wanted his confession to be kept civil, but when it came to it something just snap and he jumped Reita like a monkey desperately searching for a banana in a cowboy's jeans.
Someone had joined Reita at the table, a tall bleached-blonde with damp hair, probably came from the rain, in a white collar shirt which also looked wet. At first glance it could of been a girl, but Ruki seen that back before. It wasn't a girl, and it wasn't a guy, it was Uruha. Okay, it's a guy, who happen to be Reita's business partner/roommate/long-time-and-not-so-regular-guy best friend. It was confirmed when this person was standing right there at the window looking at Ruki, along with all the female spectators inside the cafe. Who wouldn't be curious of a guy who sits alone outside a cafe in the pouring rain.
Not acknowledging his audience, Ruki wanted to quickly finish his tea and disappear, but tried not to make it obvious as he looked loser-ish as he was.
"Reita, you gotta come see this." Uruha shouted under his breath from the shop front window, gesturing the other over. "It's Ruki out there."
The name of the person he had been avoiding for weeks caught Reita at a lost for a short second. His eyes wandered to the blueberry muffin he had held in his hand and started twisting it around from side to side in a reminiscent state.
Finally getting there to the window where Uruha made a space for him among the cooing females, he took one look at the sad thing soaking in the rain, and said, "So it is" sounded in languish, then returned to his table.
"That's all you've got to say," said Uruha in follow. "Poor guy, he must be heartbroken, even the sky is crying. I wonder whose the person that did this to him."
Reita knew what the other was going at, and was avoiding it, picking up a muffin from his plate. While he threw short comments to stray from the subject that was at hand. Didn't run so well considering his muffin was taken away, and replaced with an umbrella. Next thing, he was lifted up from his chair and thrown out into the rain with the door held shut at the handle by Uruha, his devious, meddling friend.
"Quit being such a weasel. I'm not letting you in until you settle this thing once and for all, you hear."
"I'm so going to get you for this," Reita's voice was muffled through the glass, but he was shouting.
Letting out occasional grunts of irritation, Reita shook the umbrella a few times before it sprang open, and it almost poked out his eye too. He looked around for a minute, absorbing his new environment, which smelled like the docks, wet and fishy. Aside from that, was pretty okay.
Ruki was right on the other side of the wall of tall potted plants. What am I doing out here?, Reita thought. He looked back behind him, where Uruha was still standing at the door inside the cafe mouthing 'go,go,go' waving a cheering fist. He's so dead when this is over.
Reita took a deep breath then exhaled before he took the plug, landed his foot into a puddle. "Shit!" His brand new sneakers were stained with mud and the rain was beginning to soak the bottom half of his pants.
When he looked up a set of honey brown eyes were gazing at him. "Uh, hey..."
"Hey," Ruki said back, then returned to his tea with extra rain water added. Even his hair had a coating of raindrops over it, that was soaking in as was his jacket and pants. If focusing closer, his hands were shaking a bit.
What the hell is he doing? Being out here, in the rain, drinking tea, and eating... muffins? Has he lost it?
The other seemed to be ignoring him. This was probably Reita's chance to back out of this 'scene'. He could have walked away and pretended he wasn't there, but then his mouth opened. "You know, the girls will probably be all over you if you went inside the cafe like that, all wet, offering you tissue and free drinks or something." He added a small laugh.
Ruki remain quiet, hunched over, staring down at the styrofoam cup, half-emptied. Is that all you wanted to say to me? You're always the funny one aren't you...What a load of crap.
"So why don't you come inside where it's dry. It's not so bad you know," Reita tried to convince him.
That was about enough for Ruki. He got up murmured a 'bye' and went out to the relentless raining sky. And with collar pulled up, and hands in pockets, he quickened his pace, but made sure not to go too fast, not to run, not to run away, not from the rain, not from the annoying imaginary thunder cloud following him - not from anyone.
The rain was coming down hard, so finally Ruki had to stop, and found a good sized tree for shelter under outside a small convenient store.
Reita had caught up to Ruki, who was faster than he thought. Though, what surprised himself most was why he was going after Ruki. Why? Promptly, he remembered it was Uruha who told him to finally get things over with, or straightened out so to speak.
On the opposite side, Ruki had realized a tree wasn't the best place for cover from the rain. It just slows the drenching process. Drip, drop, drip, drop, the rain was coming down through the branches, with the wind blowing it in. If a car drives through the flood at the edge of the sidewalk he'll be in deep shit.
Suddenly the dripping from above had stopped and the sight of lush green leaves and rough brown branches was blocked out by purple and wiry metal. An umbrella. The hand that was holding the handle belonged to no other than Reita. He didn't mean to, but Ruki met Reita's eyes and immediately turned away, then roamed his sights to elsewhere.
"Look," Reita spoke first. "I just want to be friends again."
"It's not that simple," muttered Ruki, looking up at the grey sky.
"Why?"
That word, or maybe the way it was said, provoked Ruki to do something he wasn't meant to do. He cupped Reita's cheek in his hand, and pulled him in for kiss. It lasted five seconds tops, a simple lips touching kiss but it made Reita's lips quiver a little afterwards.
"That's why," Ruki answered, with actual words.
"I see..."
While he was at it, Ruki wanted to say the rest. "I knew when I confessed, I would have to sacrifice our friendship either way. Whether you'll accept me was a big if, but I was willing to take that chance. And now that I know the real answer, I'm absolutely certain that I can't go back to being friends with you. It's going to be too hard. I don't think I’ll be able to do such a thing. So... I want to ask you this last favor, if you see me somewhere, don't talk to me, don't look at me, don’t even get near me. Please. It'll make things much easy that way."
Reita wasn't expecting it to turn out this way. They were suppose to punch each other on the shoulder, then someone would say 'just joking man, where should we eat later'. They'd share that one arm hug thing that guys usually do and that was that. But that wasn't it and Ruki was walking away into the rain once again.
"Wait! At least take this." He took Ruki's hand, placed the umbrella handle in the hand and closed it. "Then I'll agree to your favor." He didn't know what to do, it was all he could come up with.
Ruki didn't know what he was hoping for when Reita called him back. He just took that umbrella handed to him and went on his way. He kept going, going until he stopped at the traffic light and looked back.
Reita stood back against the tree, the jags of the trunk poked at him. He was waiting for the rain to die down, but the sky didn’t seem to want to stop even a second for a breather. He zipped up his jacket and held the material closer. It was getting freezing.
From where he stood, Ruki really didn't know why he couldn't let go of this person withering under that tree. I can let go. I know I can, so why am I not moving. It's not supposed to be this hard. I can do this. I can't, no I can't let this... I don't want to throw everything away. Leaving it all behind... No, I have to. It’s for the best. But it's not. I want to stay by your side. I don't want to go. I have to walk away, before it's all over for me. As Ruki argued over himself in his head, he was already holding out the umbrella over Reita's head.
Ruki managed to stare directly at Reita, and stood firmly on his ground. "Take this back. I feel bad enough. I don't want to take someone's umbrella away too."
"It's okay. I'm fine. Don't have to worry about me. I'm just dandy," Reita said, his voice shook.
With that Ruki took Reita by the hand. "Come with me."
And from there they ran, all around the streets, through roads, traffic, stop lights, and made sharp turns, jumped urban hurtles, pushed people aside, all the while Ruki held on tightly to Reita's hand, as he pulled him along. The final stop was above the subway train station's terminal stairwells.
"Why'd you drag me all the way here?" Reita asked, after he was wheezing from the running spree.
Ruki wasn't doing any better, he had let go of the other's hand, huffing as he steadied himself on the rail and made attempts to swallow. "Let's make a bet?" After calming down he went on, "If the first person, who comes out with a red umbrella... we will go on a date."
"Huh?"
"It starts now."
They both stayed in silence as they waited for the first person to come up from the terminal. The rain got lighter. Ruki had threw the umbrella away somewhere between running through traffic and close to being hit by a car. A minute passed until someone came up, actually two, it was a couple. A boy and a girl, who were holding each other's hand, ran into the rain together with an opened newspaper over their heads each holding one side.
That didn't count, since there were two people who didn't even have an umbrella. Soon, almost instantly, a long haired girl walked up holding nothing but a purse on her shoulder. It doesn't end there though. Just as the girl walked a few feet away from the stariwells she reached into her bag and pulled out a black tube object with an umbrella handle.
That was it. Ruki saw it. The one, first person that came out of the subway train station terminal with an umbrella didn't have a red umbrella. That was his last chance too. It's time to let go.
"Ruki, wait..."
The girl had slide off the nylon tube off the real umbrella, it opened, and showed a brilliant crimson red. She walked to the trash can Reita was standing next to, threw away the black tube, and glanced at the two looking at her, confused. She shrugged and went away with her red umbrella.
"Reita, what were you about to say then?"
"I wanted to say, what if we bet on the second person with a red umbrella..."
____________________________________________
I'm bad at narratives.
I was going for poetic, but it didn't happen.
Worst, it turned out a bit boring...
Anyway, this is like part 8/[and a half] of HOT 'N BOTHERED, so i better start scribbling part 9 soon
Genre: AU, Oneshot
Ratings: PG
Pairings: Gazette; Ruki/Reita
Synopsis: Sometimes an umbrella can't protect you from the rain, but other times it may be your last hope.
Note: This is the sidestory to the series [ Hot 'n Bothered ], but it can also be read as a stand-alone.
Comments: Yes, Please do ~♥!
It started out as an okay day, expect for the part when the newscaster said it was going to rain, and Ruki fell off his bed in the morning and hit his head on the corner of his nightstand. No blood or anything, but he got a bruise and he spent twenty minutes fixing his hair to cover it.
He walked out of his apartment with an umbrella on this day, and decided not to take his car. Driving on a rainy days isn't that safe anyway. Life isn't perfect, which isn't news to Ruki, he left the umbrella on the train and got off at the wrong station. He couldn't hear because of his earphones on at the time. It was alright though, Ruki didn't exactly have a set place in mind to go. It was a day off, and usually he would either be staying at home, inviting a friend over or visiting a friend's place, but neither was an option for him.
Walking on the street wasn't that bad, the rain hadn't come down yet, and the dark clouds in the sky resembled something like the imaginary one floating above Ruki’s head. At least that's how Ruki saw it. Later he to stopped at SMELLY , a rather ridiculous name for a cafe, however, quite popular with the young adult crowd.
Ruki doesn't agree with coffee, same as Reita, the friend which he usually invited or visited on days like these. They use to come to this cafe together, and never ordered coffee, instead, got tea and one plate of three muffins to share, which must be blueberry, and they must always fight over the third muffin. Also, the inside of the cafe reeked of grounded coffee beans, so they would sit outside at the tables with umbrellas that kept the sun away, but not the rain.
There was a sudden calm in the air. Ruki felt a moist droplet fell to his arm, another one, and another two, then a shower went off from the sky. People on the streets began to run, and ones who were at the umbrella-ed tables too were leaving. Ruki carried on with his chamomile tea. The rain was coming in, but he didn't care.
A brown jacket flashed by, going into SMELLY. It was a mere two second scene, but Ruki didn't miss a shot of that black & blonde mohawk. From outside the window, looking into the cafe, he saw Reita at a table by the window faced towards his direction. Hoping the other didn't see him, Ruki raced to his tea, taking a long sip, then went for a bite of his muffin, only to find his hand empty and his muffin on the ground drowning in rain water.
A part of Ruki just shrank a little. There was beating and it felt a lot like it's coming from his chest. Along with a memory...
"Ruki, cut it out."
"Quit your acting Reita." Ruki had Reita wrestled to the ground.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Get off of me you little -" Reita had his hand keeping Ruki's face away from his. He managed to roll over to get on top of Ruki.
Swiftly, Ruki thrust Reita up to standing position and bull-rush the latter against a bookshelf. "I don't believe you."
"You are crazy? And get your hand out of my pants." Reita took the opportunity, grabbing both of Ruki's arms forcing the other to back up until they fell on the couch.
"Okay, say I believe what you're saying is true. Then it means you do like me, but you just don't know it yet. Or else we wouldn't be in this position right now."
What Ruki said just dawn on Reita. They were on a big soft couch, which he had Ruki pinned down to, and he was hovering over him with himself kneeled between the other's legs.
Ruki didn't regret what he had done, it's the way he done it that made him wish he could kill himself if he knew a good, clean way to do it. He wanted his confession to be kept civil, but when it came to it something just snap and he jumped Reita like a monkey desperately searching for a banana in a cowboy's jeans.
Someone had joined Reita at the table, a tall bleached-blonde with damp hair, probably came from the rain, in a white collar shirt which also looked wet. At first glance it could of been a girl, but Ruki seen that back before. It wasn't a girl, and it wasn't a guy, it was Uruha. Okay, it's a guy, who happen to be Reita's business partner/roommate/long-time-and-not-so-regular-guy best friend. It was confirmed when this person was standing right there at the window looking at Ruki, along with all the female spectators inside the cafe. Who wouldn't be curious of a guy who sits alone outside a cafe in the pouring rain.
Not acknowledging his audience, Ruki wanted to quickly finish his tea and disappear, but tried not to make it obvious as he looked loser-ish as he was.
"Reita, you gotta come see this." Uruha shouted under his breath from the shop front window, gesturing the other over. "It's Ruki out there."
The name of the person he had been avoiding for weeks caught Reita at a lost for a short second. His eyes wandered to the blueberry muffin he had held in his hand and started twisting it around from side to side in a reminiscent state.
Finally getting there to the window where Uruha made a space for him among the cooing females, he took one look at the sad thing soaking in the rain, and said, "So it is" sounded in languish, then returned to his table.
"That's all you've got to say," said Uruha in follow. "Poor guy, he must be heartbroken, even the sky is crying. I wonder whose the person that did this to him."
Reita knew what the other was going at, and was avoiding it, picking up a muffin from his plate. While he threw short comments to stray from the subject that was at hand. Didn't run so well considering his muffin was taken away, and replaced with an umbrella. Next thing, he was lifted up from his chair and thrown out into the rain with the door held shut at the handle by Uruha, his devious, meddling friend.
"Quit being such a weasel. I'm not letting you in until you settle this thing once and for all, you hear."
"I'm so going to get you for this," Reita's voice was muffled through the glass, but he was shouting.
Letting out occasional grunts of irritation, Reita shook the umbrella a few times before it sprang open, and it almost poked out his eye too. He looked around for a minute, absorbing his new environment, which smelled like the docks, wet and fishy. Aside from that, was pretty okay.
Ruki was right on the other side of the wall of tall potted plants. What am I doing out here?, Reita thought. He looked back behind him, where Uruha was still standing at the door inside the cafe mouthing 'go,go,go' waving a cheering fist. He's so dead when this is over.
Reita took a deep breath then exhaled before he took the plug, landed his foot into a puddle. "Shit!" His brand new sneakers were stained with mud and the rain was beginning to soak the bottom half of his pants.
When he looked up a set of honey brown eyes were gazing at him. "Uh, hey..."
"Hey," Ruki said back, then returned to his tea with extra rain water added. Even his hair had a coating of raindrops over it, that was soaking in as was his jacket and pants. If focusing closer, his hands were shaking a bit.
What the hell is he doing? Being out here, in the rain, drinking tea, and eating... muffins? Has he lost it?
The other seemed to be ignoring him. This was probably Reita's chance to back out of this 'scene'. He could have walked away and pretended he wasn't there, but then his mouth opened. "You know, the girls will probably be all over you if you went inside the cafe like that, all wet, offering you tissue and free drinks or something." He added a small laugh.
Ruki remain quiet, hunched over, staring down at the styrofoam cup, half-emptied. Is that all you wanted to say to me? You're always the funny one aren't you...What a load of crap.
"So why don't you come inside where it's dry. It's not so bad you know," Reita tried to convince him.
That was about enough for Ruki. He got up murmured a 'bye' and went out to the relentless raining sky. And with collar pulled up, and hands in pockets, he quickened his pace, but made sure not to go too fast, not to run, not to run away, not from the rain, not from the annoying imaginary thunder cloud following him - not from anyone.
The rain was coming down hard, so finally Ruki had to stop, and found a good sized tree for shelter under outside a small convenient store.
Reita had caught up to Ruki, who was faster than he thought. Though, what surprised himself most was why he was going after Ruki. Why? Promptly, he remembered it was Uruha who told him to finally get things over with, or straightened out so to speak.
On the opposite side, Ruki had realized a tree wasn't the best place for cover from the rain. It just slows the drenching process. Drip, drop, drip, drop, the rain was coming down through the branches, with the wind blowing it in. If a car drives through the flood at the edge of the sidewalk he'll be in deep shit.
Suddenly the dripping from above had stopped and the sight of lush green leaves and rough brown branches was blocked out by purple and wiry metal. An umbrella. The hand that was holding the handle belonged to no other than Reita. He didn't mean to, but Ruki met Reita's eyes and immediately turned away, then roamed his sights to elsewhere.
"Look," Reita spoke first. "I just want to be friends again."
"It's not that simple," muttered Ruki, looking up at the grey sky.
"Why?"
That word, or maybe the way it was said, provoked Ruki to do something he wasn't meant to do. He cupped Reita's cheek in his hand, and pulled him in for kiss. It lasted five seconds tops, a simple lips touching kiss but it made Reita's lips quiver a little afterwards.
"That's why," Ruki answered, with actual words.
"I see..."
While he was at it, Ruki wanted to say the rest. "I knew when I confessed, I would have to sacrifice our friendship either way. Whether you'll accept me was a big if, but I was willing to take that chance. And now that I know the real answer, I'm absolutely certain that I can't go back to being friends with you. It's going to be too hard. I don't think I’ll be able to do such a thing. So... I want to ask you this last favor, if you see me somewhere, don't talk to me, don't look at me, don’t even get near me. Please. It'll make things much easy that way."
Reita wasn't expecting it to turn out this way. They were suppose to punch each other on the shoulder, then someone would say 'just joking man, where should we eat later'. They'd share that one arm hug thing that guys usually do and that was that. But that wasn't it and Ruki was walking away into the rain once again.
"Wait! At least take this." He took Ruki's hand, placed the umbrella handle in the hand and closed it. "Then I'll agree to your favor." He didn't know what to do, it was all he could come up with.
Ruki didn't know what he was hoping for when Reita called him back. He just took that umbrella handed to him and went on his way. He kept going, going until he stopped at the traffic light and looked back.
Reita stood back against the tree, the jags of the trunk poked at him. He was waiting for the rain to die down, but the sky didn’t seem to want to stop even a second for a breather. He zipped up his jacket and held the material closer. It was getting freezing.
From where he stood, Ruki really didn't know why he couldn't let go of this person withering under that tree. I can let go. I know I can, so why am I not moving. It's not supposed to be this hard. I can do this. I can't, no I can't let this... I don't want to throw everything away. Leaving it all behind... No, I have to. It’s for the best. But it's not. I want to stay by your side. I don't want to go. I have to walk away, before it's all over for me. As Ruki argued over himself in his head, he was already holding out the umbrella over Reita's head.
Ruki managed to stare directly at Reita, and stood firmly on his ground. "Take this back. I feel bad enough. I don't want to take someone's umbrella away too."
"It's okay. I'm fine. Don't have to worry about me. I'm just dandy," Reita said, his voice shook.
With that Ruki took Reita by the hand. "Come with me."
And from there they ran, all around the streets, through roads, traffic, stop lights, and made sharp turns, jumped urban hurtles, pushed people aside, all the while Ruki held on tightly to Reita's hand, as he pulled him along. The final stop was above the subway train station's terminal stairwells.
"Why'd you drag me all the way here?" Reita asked, after he was wheezing from the running spree.
Ruki wasn't doing any better, he had let go of the other's hand, huffing as he steadied himself on the rail and made attempts to swallow. "Let's make a bet?" After calming down he went on, "If the first person, who comes out with a red umbrella... we will go on a date."
"Huh?"
"It starts now."
They both stayed in silence as they waited for the first person to come up from the terminal. The rain got lighter. Ruki had threw the umbrella away somewhere between running through traffic and close to being hit by a car. A minute passed until someone came up, actually two, it was a couple. A boy and a girl, who were holding each other's hand, ran into the rain together with an opened newspaper over their heads each holding one side.
That didn't count, since there were two people who didn't even have an umbrella. Soon, almost instantly, a long haired girl walked up holding nothing but a purse on her shoulder. It doesn't end there though. Just as the girl walked a few feet away from the stariwells she reached into her bag and pulled out a black tube object with an umbrella handle.
That was it. Ruki saw it. The one, first person that came out of the subway train station terminal with an umbrella didn't have a red umbrella. That was his last chance too. It's time to let go.
"Ruki, wait..."
The girl had slide off the nylon tube off the real umbrella, it opened, and showed a brilliant crimson red. She walked to the trash can Reita was standing next to, threw away the black tube, and glanced at the two looking at her, confused. She shrugged and went away with her red umbrella.
"Reita, what were you about to say then?"
"I wanted to say, what if we bet on the second person with a red umbrella..."
____________________________________________
I'm bad at narratives.
I was going for poetic, but it didn't happen.
Worst, it turned out a bit boring...
Anyway, this is like part 8/[and a half] of HOT 'N BOTHERED, so i better start scribbling part 9 soon