Full House

[yey_yey]

TITLE: Full House
CHARACTER: Ryo-centric. Sort of.
RATING: G
SUMMARY: How Ryo made his family.
NOTES: Sort of remix of Made For You.


Ryo clearly remembers the first time he ever saw a mannequin.

He was probably about seven or eight, and had gone to the Osaka aquarium with his younger sister and father. They'd had their faces nearly pressed against the glass, completely enraptured by the colorful tropical fish, when an older man and a mannequin had come up beside them. Ryo had only meant to glance quickly, to see who was next to them at the glass, but she was more beautiful than the fish, and Ryo couldn't help but stare at her -- slender with just the hint of curves under her dress, curly blonde hair and the face of a foreigner.

Even at that young age, Ryo knew someone so perfect-looking couldn't possibly be a lucky act of nature; it was a mannequin.

The man with her said something, and she giggled, light and airy, and it sounded like music.

Ryo was entranced.

He dreamt of having a mannequin someday, of working hard and putting in an order and the joy he'd feel at someone always to focused on him and so unconditionally loving. He read up about them as much as he could and kept up with the politics, where every year more and more restrictions were placed and new legalities introduced.

"I think you're crazy for wanting one," Koyama always says. "They're so expensive. You'll never be able to afford one."

"I'll find a way," Ryo will snap back. But, he does quietly worry to himself about how he'll pay for it.

When female mannequins are de facto banned -- with only the seedy, unreputable labs continuing to sell them -- Ryo feels heartbroken, like his chance at a mannequin has been forever lost. He's reminded that there are male mannequins, and that they've always been more stable and manageable than the females. And, he knows that, but it was the point -- now, he'll never have a female mannequin, and it feels like something has been lost to him.

He makes a hefty fortune in stocks and bonds, hiring his childhood friends, Koyama and Masuda, to work directly under him, because he needs people he can trust. And, once his back account has more zeros behind the numbers than he ever thought possible, he buys a four bedroom condo and takes a trip to the best mannequin lab in Japan.

"My work leaves me feeling drained and exhausted, so someone energetic and spontaneous with a youthful personality. But, able to be gentle and mature when the times call for it. Honest and loyal. Taller and more muscular than me."

A month later, the mannequin is waiting him for him, wearing just a simple pink hospital robe and looking around the room in awe. When Ryo watches him through the one-way mirror, the mannequin seems almost distracted, like he's got an awfully bad case of ADHD. But, once he walks into the room, it's like the mannequin knows who Ryo is and why he's important. He turns right towards Ryo, smiling and asks, in a clear and bright voice, "Nishikido-san?"

Ryo smiles back and thinks he's done very well. "Yes, but 'Ryo' is fine. We're like family now, so there's no need to address me so formally."

The mannequin's eyes grow wide and he nods, smiling even wider.

Yamashita Tomohisa -- that's the name Ryo gives him a few days later, though a certain nickname based on his pink hospital clothes sticks.

Ryo doesn't know many other people with mannequins and he starts to feel bad about leaving Pi alone all day.

"Don't you get lonely?" Ryo asks, and Pi shakes his head, but he's lying, and it's obvious. "You must."

"No, I'm fine,"

It's such a lie.

Ryo had planned on letting Pi get more settled before he bought another mannequin, but everytime Pi dashes for the door, eyes glittering and excited about Ryo being home, he thinks he might step up the timeline.

"What?! No way!" Koyama shrieks. "You're buying another already just because Yamashita gets lonely?"

"You're crazy," Masuda adds.

"I feel so badly leaving him alone, and I know he's miserable, but he doesn't want to be a burden on me."

"You won't be able to handle two," Masuda says.

But, Ryo is already planning what kind he wants the second to be -- loud, brash, holds nothing back, and almost painfully honest.

"This is Jin," Ryo says, gesturing to the new mannequin at his side, who looks openly bored.

Pi frowns a little, confused. "Hello."

"Do I get my own room?" Jin asks.

"Yes, but you still need to keep it at least somewhat clean."

Jin grumbles, like he's getting a shitty deal.

Pi wants to ask why, after his being there for barely a month and a half, there's suddenly a new mannequin. But, Ryo locks himself in his study and Jin seems strangely aloof, and Pi finds himself growing shy and worried.

Ryo makes plans to go see a concert with the two mannequins, and they meet him at work, waiting quietly in the lobby of the office (though, Jin keeps fidgeting in his seat). They're nearly late to the concert, and afterwards, go out for a few drinks.

Alcohol is still new to Jin and Pi, and it doesn't take much for them to feel it, faces flushing and giggling over every stupid little thing. Ryo keeps ordering drinks for himself and food for the other two (he's worried about them being hungover, but he's not about to admit it). Together they stumble into a taxi. Pi falls asleep, but only because he's stuck in the middle seat, and Jin and Ryo are both warm.

He's groggy and only sort of awake on the trip up to Ryo's penthouse, and Jin makes a beeline for the bathroom. Pi sits on the step of the entryway and struggles with the laces of his shoes.

"Are you going to be okay?" Ryo asks, leaning down, so he's close.

"Yeah. I'm just..." His fingers pick at the knot feebly, and Ryo bats his hands away.

Pi watches him quietly for a long moment and lets his head fall onto Ryo's shoulder. "Do you not like me?"

Ryo jolts, like he'd been hit. "Why would you think that?"

His shoes are finally loose enough to slip his feet out, but he still doesn't get up from the step. "You got Jin so quickly. It doesn't seem normal, unless..."

They both hear Jin stumble loudly from the bathroom to the kitchen, but don't pay him much mind.

"Before I even ordered you, I knew I wanted two. And, you seemed so lonely whenever I'd leave, so I figured, why wait?"

Pi turns to look at Ryo, eyes open and honest and hoping. "Really?"

"Yes, you idiot. Now, get up. I want to go to bed."

Pi smiles and lets Ryo help him up. Jin catcalls at them from the kitchen.

Months later, Ryo catches Koyama flipping through a mannequin catalogue.

"I-I was just bored!" Koyama shrieks, almost defensively. "A woman at the station gave it to me!"

Ryo snatches the catalogue away and frowns when he sees the name of the lab. "This place has no class, Koyama. Buying a mannequin is like buying a house. It's all about location, location, location."

Koyama slouches in his seat and fiddles with the end of his suit jacket.

Koyama's birthday and the anniversary of his hire are in the same week, and Ryo supposes that after all the hard work he's put into the firm, he's earned a big, fat bonus. If that's what he wants, but Ryo doesn't think so.

"Short! And athletic," Koyama says, smiling, chatting as a doctor struggles to keep up with his notes. "Like a little brother! I always wanted a little brother, but I'm the youngest. Almost annoying in how clinging and obnoxious they are. But, only because they know you're reliable."

"What sort of background would you like?" The doctor asks, and Koyama looks confused.

"Anglo, Asian -- they can do whatever," Ryo clarifies.

Koyama makes a face like the answer should be obvious. "Japanese!"

"I don't like him," Jin says in a tense tone.

Ryo leans against the wall in the hall, more than able to hear Koyama prattling on about Tegoshi and the new mannequin asking if they can go to karaoke. "It's not that big of a deal. If you don't want to hang out with him, then don't."

"He's so annoying. What's with that fucking tone of his? No respect at all. Who orders a mannequin like that?"

"It's what he wanted. Koyama is complicated. Don't judge him."

Jin sucks in a breath of fresh air like he wants to keep complaining, but Ryo leaves him and returns to the living room.

"Tegoshi-kun has a lot of energy. Are you sure you can keep up with him, Koyama?" Pi asks, just as Ryo sits down.

"Of course!" They answer at the same time. Koyama squees and pulls Tegoshi into a tight hug.

"This is a good match," Ryo says, trying to ignore Jin in the background acting like a spoiled child who isn't the youngest anymore.

"Get another," Ryo says, when Koyama asks how to alleviate Tegoshi's loneliness.

Koyama frowns. "That would make him feel not special. There's an indoor soccer league at the gym near my place. I think I'll see if he wants to join."

Under the table, Ryo sends Yamapi a text telling him to look out for Tegoshi.

The fourth empty room in the penthouse calls out to Ryo and he can feel a little voice in his mind telling him that three mannequins isn't so extreme. There are Russian and Chinese and Saudi millionaires who have harems in the 20s.

In the kitchen, he can hear Pi making coffee so Ryo will have something to drink while he works late into the night, and Jin pops the top off a beer. They're so different, and he likes that dichotomy, and thinks about making his third a balancer, a medium between the two.

Ryo goes into the lab, all ready to order a third -- even though Jin strongly objected and Yamapi looked like he couldn't understand Ryo's reasoning behind it -- but, the doctors look back at him with a worried expression.

"Nishikido-san, are you aware that after two mannequin orders, all subsequent orders are subject to government oversight and approval? It's not so simple as the first two."

Ryo frowns. "What happened to the free market?"

"T-that's not our place, sir," the doctor says. "If you're determined to order a third, we can put in the paperwork for you, but unless there's a real and legitimate reason for you to have a third, it is unlikely your order will be approved."

Ryo is in a huff for days. Jin does his best to hide his elation over the difficulties of a third mannequin order. But, he does look like he wants to punch Koyama in the throat when he brings up an alternative.

"There are abandoned mannequins, you know."

"I don't want someone else's trash."

"They're just as much mannequins as Pi, or Jin, or Tegoshi."

"Except that we're from the highest ranked lab in the country," Jin adds, voice tense, like he's actually telling Koyama to shut up.

"You'll be helping a mannequin who is on the verge of a Recall and termination for no other reason than they were abandoned and the government doesn't want a bunch of unattached mannequins wandering around," Koyama continues.

"Trash," Jin says, repeating Ryo's earlier sentiment.

"Just think about it," Koyama asks.

Masuda adds another cream to his coffee and tries to figure out why he bothers going out with Ryo and Koyama anymore. The conversation always turns to mannequins.

Ryo can't help but keep hearing the call of the empty room and reads up on abandoned mannequins. There's still something a little off-putting about adopting one, but he knows that there's no reason for his third order to be approved, and so, it won't be.

"Don't," Jin whines when some fliers arrive in the mail from one of the agencies that look after abandoned mannequins.

"It's not up to you."

"Aren't Pi and I enough? What's so important about a third?"

Ryo starts carefully looking over the fliers. "I'm in the middle of something, Jin."

Jin pouts and stalks off. "I'm in the middle of something" is Ryo-speak for "Leave me alone."

"We have to sabotage it," Jin whispers to Pi later in the night.

"... We shouldn't."

"There's no reason for a third! He's busy enough already as it is!"

Pi sighs and closes the book he was attempting to read. "You're scared and jealous and worried. I get it."

Jin frowns. "That's not it all."

"How do you think I felt when you suddenly showed up?"

Jin stumbles over his words for a moment, and then in lieu of anything good to say, snaps his jaw shut.

"I don't like it either," Pi says. "He's already stretched thin. But, if he wants a third so badly that he'd pick up an abandoned one, we should support him."

"You're crazy."

"We exist and are well taken care of because of Ryo-chan's generosity. If the situations were reversed, wouldn't you wish there was someone like Ryo-chan to save you from an unnecessary Recall?"

Jin slouches in his seat, and after a long moment, nods.

That night, Jin crawls into Pi's bed and presses his cold toes against Pi's back.

"Did you really not know I was coming?"

Pi squirms away from Jin's feet. "No. Ryo-chan was worried about me being lonely, so I think you're supposed to be like my pet."

"Hey!"

Pi laughs, and Jin smacks him with a pillow.

Ryo had planned on just going into the agency and talking with one of the specialists, feel out what the adoption procedure was like. Instead, he leaves with a mannequin.

As he's leaving, there's a young, male mannequin being dragged down the hall by a few police. He's screaming and sobbing and trying to wrench himself out of their grips, but it's no use. The agency staff look on with guilty faces and the other mannequins in horror. The moment is raw and emotional, and Ryo understands why Koyama was pressing him to adopt instead of attempt a third order. When the events he's watching catch up with his mind, Ryo finds himself moving, stepping into action, dragging the agency specialist with him down the hall and outside to where the mannequin is being shoved in a squad car.

"Stop!" Ryo shouts and the police look confused. "I'm adopting that mannequin."

Everyone looks confused, until Ryo starts demanding the paperwork and nearly ordering the cops to take his mannequin out of the car.

And, in a few hours, he's the new, legal owner of the mannequin Uchi Hiroki.

It doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize what happened at the agency and why Uchi's eye's are red and his face pale. Yamapi runs him a bath, and Jin digs through his clothes to find something that will fit the slimmer Uchi.

When Ryo tells them the news, Masuda looks bored, and Koyama seems impressed with Ryo's altruism.

"Are Yamapi and Jin being nice to him?" Koyama asks, sounding honestly a little concerned, and Ryo nods.

He gets updates all through the day as the two of them take Uchi out and buy him what he needs and the things he wants for his room.

When Ryo gets home, Uchi is crying again, but this time it's because he's overwhelmed by Ryo's kindness, Yamapi and Jin's soft affection and the sudden, striking realization that he very narrowly cheated death.

"Why don't you have a mannequin, Massu?"

Koyama doesn't correct Tegoshi's overly familiar nickname and it barely even registers to Masuda, who's trying to fix Koyama's laptop.

"No interest."

"None?" Tegoshi asks, like he doesn't believe him. "You must want one at least a little. Everyone you're close friends with has 'em."

"That doesn't mean I do."

"But-"

"Tego," Koyama chides softly from the kitchen. "Massu has his reasons, so don't be rude."

Frowning, Tegoshi murmurs, "I was just curious..."

"Shigemi-chan is really pretty," Uchi says while he fights over counter space in the bathroom with Jin.

"If by that you mean bang-tastic."

"Don't be crass!" Pi yells from the living room, in the midst of helping Ryo straighten up.

Ryo is quiet and looks troubled.

"Do you think.... something'll happen with her?" Pi asks.

"There's a reason they stopped making female mannequins," Ryo mutters in reply.

"You shouldn't have said that, Jin," Uchi snaps after Pi gets up and follows Shigemi out of the restaurant.

"Why do I always get in trouble for saying the things everyone is thinking?"

"Girls are sensitive," Tegoshi says, taking a piece of pork from Pi's plate. "Kei-chan always tells me that it's a mans duty to be gentle towards women."

"You're all in denial," Jin mumbles. "They're totally banging. Masuda wouldn't have made a girl with a rack like that if that wasn't his plan."

Uchi's phone buzzes with a message from Pi; I'm taking Shigemi-chan home.

"I'm telling Ryo-chan on you," Uchi sneers.

"He made me like this, so it's not like he can blame anyone other than himself," Jin whines, and Tegoshi orders more food.

When Ryo mentions Shigemi and a Recall in the same sentence, Uchi freezes and drops a plate full of food for their hot-pot dinner all over the floor. At the table, Yamapi and Jin look horrified, but not quite as much as Uchi.

"Don't look at me like I'm evil for following the law," Ryo says sharply, and Pi gets up to help Uchi clean up the mess and chop new vegetables.

"It can't be so bad that something as horrible as a Recall is necessary," Pi replies, saying for once the thing that Jin can't bring himself to.

"You didn't see her at lunch today."

Uchi still looks upset, but Pi can't tell if it's all the talk of a Recall, or that maybe he understands how deep the love of a mannequin for their owner can be.

"I don't think it's a decision you should make so rashly."

Ryo steels his features. "I'll do what I need to in order to protect Massu."

Uchi helps Pi take the new vegetables to the table, but after that, he claims to have a bad headache, and goes to bed early.

Masuda's resignation and flight out of the country with Shigemi does not go over well with Ryo. He trashes his office like a drunk rocker in a hotel room, and Koyama has to call Ryo's mannequins to come in and try to calm him.

"I know why you're upset," Pi says, softly, slowing creeping towards Ryo. "I get it. But, you can't control the decisions of other people."

Ryo throws a pen at him. It's not heavy enough to hurt when it hits Pi in the shoulder, but they all know Ryo is lashing out at others in lieu of the person -- Masuda -- who he does want to hit. He works himself into such a furious anger that he starts balling and physically trembling. At that point, he doesn't fight it when the three of them come sit near him and wait for him to compose himself before they take him home.

"Massu must love Shigemi a lot," Tegoshi whispers after Koyama tells him what happened.

Koyama nods sadly and swishes his miso soup around in the bowl.

"I'm sure it wasn't any easy decision for him to make. Leaving his home and friends behind..."

"I grew up with him and Ryo-chan. It feels like there's something important missing now..."

Tegoshi pouts and wracks his brain.

"Let's call your sister tomorrow," he finally says. "We haven't gone to visit for a long time, and I have a new soccer trick I want to show your nephews."

Across the table, Koyama sniffles, nods and thanks Tegoshi.

"You're impossible," Shigemi sighs, stalking towards the bug in the corner of the bathroom with a handful of tissues.

"It's giant," Massu shouts from somewhere behind her.

She takes another look at the bug -- yeah, it's a bit on the big side. Then, she smushes it and drops the tissues in the trash.

"Did you not know Indonesia has big bugs?"

Massu frowns, like he can't tell if she's teasing him or not. "I didn't think they be that big."

Shigemi laughs as she washes her hands, and then cuddles close when Massu pulls her into an appreciative hug.

"Where would you put him?" Uchi asks out of the blue one day.

"Who?" Ryo asks, distracted by man teaching a mannequin how to order coffee.

"The fourth. All the rooms in the penthouse are full."

Ryo turns towards Uchi. "You guys have made it very clear how you feel about a fourth."

"I seem to remember being told a story about how Jin and Yamapi didn't want a third, and how did that turn out?"

"There's no room, so it's a moot point. Moving is a pain in the ass." Ryo turns back to the man and the mannequin.

"Jin and Pi could probably be persuaded easily enough to share a room."

"Oh, I'm sure they'd love that," Ryo mutters.

"Ryo-chan has a big heart. I don't think there would be much serious fight in us if there's a fourth."

At the counter, the mannequin makes a face at the taste of the bitter coffee, and Ryo thinks about calling the agency again.