Entry tags:

aoi/reita, aoi/uruha, fanfic, reita/ruki, ruki/reita, the gazette, uruha/aoi

Aoi/Uru+Rei/Ruki - Gazette - Thin Walls - AU - 04/??



Thin Walls


Story Written by Tokiko

Wednesday is Uruha's laundry day. Since it's his day off, he goes down to the laundry mat a couple of blocks from his apartment. Lugging his clothes around in a big cloth bag is probably the most annoying. 'I feel like a hobo.'

When Uruha first saw his current apartment, the first down side for him were the thin walls. Coincidentally, on the day he was looking at the unit he found out his next door neighbor was hot, even though he looked kind of pissed off as he passed by the hallway. So that aside, the second thing was the tiny balcony. Every time Uruha walks out there he gets a phobia that the foundation will give out and he'll go crashing down from the three stories. There are lots more stuff too but let's get back to the main topic. The lack of a washer and dryer was a bit of let down. But the place is cheap and within his budget. Plus it was better than most of the rat holes he's looked at.

Well, moving on. Uruha gets to the laundry mat at around 10:30 AM. At the front counter he drops his bag on the floor, and taps the old fashion bell that goes ding as he waits for the attendant. A minute later a jet black haired guy comes out from the back.

"Hey," the attendant says informally just because Uruha knows him well enough. With sleepy panda eyes, he slumps over on a chair behind him, and he leans over on the counter by his elbow. It's like his eye balls are about to roll into the back of his head.

"Tora, man, you look dead." Uruha pokes him on the cheek and his brows twitch. "What happened?"

Tora turns away with a fallen gaze.

"Breakup?"

The dark haired one hangs his head. 'Bingo. Pitiful fool.' Uruha thought Tora was a pretty cool guy before. Then he met that Hiroto kid from the bath house. He didn't know Tora had a shota complex, and Uruha had known this guy since middle school. Although, they did go to different high school afterwards. Something must have happened around there.

Leaving him with his misery, Uruha gets his change in tokens, picks up his bag and heads to the noisy spinning machines through a segregating glass wall and door. Sometimes Uruha wondered how it would be to ride in one of those machines. He tried to when he was 7 in his own home until is mother came back from the supermarket and stopped him. 'She always ruined my fun.' She was also there to witness his first time with a girl (. . . and his first time with a guy).

Uruha decides on a random open washer by the end, inserting the tokens into the slots, pushing in the plate and watching the mechanized waterfall. He sighs, wondering what he should do for the rest of the day other than watching his clothes spinning in the dryer through the portal, as fun as it may sound.

[Bing-Bong]

He turns to the door and sees a person who enters the laundry mat looking just like Aoi. Uruha snaps. It is him. 'What is he doing here?' He's surprised because he didn't know Aoi came here too, who’s now talking to Tora. No actually, he's snapping his fingers at the attendant who must have fallen asleep.

Why is Uruha watching this? He should get back to what he's supposed to be doing, sorting his clothes into the washer and which he does.

Just to get things straight, the person Uruha likes isn't Aoi. Even though he's his type. Uruha has made a policy not to fall in love with a neighbor. Reason being it had happened before and he ended up having to move after finding out the guy was getting married. Nothing actually happened between them but he was still pretty heartbroken.

That's also the time when Uruha became homeless and his understanding boss, Ruki, let him stay at his place. It was probably then Uruha realized he had the greatest/cutest boss in the world and he's had a crush on him ever since. But he has never told Ruki that. Carefree as he might seem but when it comes to someone he really likes, Uruha completely chokes at saying his feelings.

A waving hand appears before him. "Oi! You aren't hypnotized by the spinning dryers, are you?" someone says.

"Woah!" Uruha eyes pop out in shock.

He is standing right there in front him. Aoi. "Here, for you," the other says, and presents Uruha with a shiny black shopping bag with handles.

Uruha opens it and there are clothes neatly folded inside. 'Is this a gift?', he thought, since just last week was his birthday (but how would Aoi know), which was crappy and he got drunk off his ass then woke up at ... Uruha takes a second look inside the bag and the clothes appears vaguely familiar. "Are these-?"

"The clothes you left behind the time you broke into my apartment?" Aoi says the rest. "Yes, they are. I found them yesterday in my stove's oven, which I don't get how. It totally ruined my breakfast."

Uruha doesn't know what to say and sniffs the clothes inside. Surprisingly they smell like a grassy meadow. "Did you clean them?"

"Of course, they stunk of vodka, cigarettes, and something vile. And I had do my laundry anyway, so don't make a big deal out of it," Aoi emphases.

Uruha is somewhat touched by his neighbor's casual gesture. He takes the clothes out from the bag and a slip of paper falls out. He picks it up and sees that it's a receipt. "What's this?"

"That is the bill for the new doorknob I had to replace for the one you broke."

'Am I hearing this right? I actually broke his door knob.' Sounds kinky. "Are you saying I have to pay for it?"

"Obviously," Aoi says with a straight face.

Uruha readily surrenders. "Fine." He packs his clothes back in the bag along with the bill, then notices something missing. "Wait a minute, where's my underwear?"

"Hey, I didn't see any underwear," Aoi answers hastily as if he's afraid Uruha asked if he stole his underwear. It is quite funny. "You sure you wore any?" he adds in with a snort.

Did he? Uruha ponders the times he's ever gone commando, but none comes to mind. Except for maybe when he was a baby. "Anyway, thanks for returning my clothes cleaned."

Aoi smirks. "Yea, whatever." He starts to walk away. Uruha believes he is leaving but the other stops short at the row of chairs lined up against the glass wall that looks out to the streets. Of the seven blue chairs there Aoi picks the one at the end. As he sits down he takes out his cellphone, looking up at the ceiling for a moment then starts dialing. But he is pressing too many numbers so he must be texting a message.

Uruha wants to mind his own business so he finishes loading in the rest of his laundry from his big cloth bag into the washer. It is going to take an hour but he doesn't know what to do with that time. Uruha glances back at Aoi by the chairs sitting all alone. Seems like the other is waiting for a reply to his text. He also appears kind of flustered looking at the phone in his hand, or at the floor, at the ceiling, or outside. While doing so he saw Uruha watching him, then settled on just looking down.

Uruha goes ahead and joins Aoi at the seating area with five empty chairs to separate them. He looks over to Aoi but he still kept his stare at his cellphone. 'It is getting boring.' Uruha is about to leave to go for a walk out on the streets when Aoi makes a move, pressing two keys on his cell and places the receiver up to his ear.

"Hello? Reita, where are you? . . . "

That name gets Uruha's attention. Aoi realizes too and turns his back to him but his vocal volume doesn't decrease much.

"....do you want to have lunch? Like that place we always go to . . . with who? . . . a girl? . . . a guy named Ruki? . . . fine, then-"

Next thing Uruha knows Aoi is sitting only one chair away from him. "Ey, do you know someone named Ruki?"

"Why'd you ask?" Uruha wasn't prepared for this kind of conversation.

"I heard you calling out that name in your sleep that time in my bed," Aoi bluntly says.

Uruha is in an awkward position, but he tries to keep cool. "Oh, um, he's just my boss at the salon I work at."

"You work at a salon?"

"Does that surprise you?"

"Not really," Aoi responses dully. "So what's your boss like?"

Uruha is beginning to wonder if this is an interrogation. "He's a good guy."

"You like him don't you?"

This is dangerous territory for Uruha. "That is personal."

The other trudges on anyway. "You know I have a friend named Reita, right?"

"Yes...?" Uruha doesn't like where this is going.

"How did your boss meet my friend?"

It just got too weird. Uruha should have left when he had the chance. "Destiny? Fate? I don't know! Ask your friend."

They went silent for a moment.

Aoi sighs. "He's avoiding me now."

From that comment Uruha suddenly feels somewhat bad for this guy. It's almost like they're in the same boat, they've sprung a leak and they're sinking slowly. "Must be hard, huh? Feeling something for someone who can't return those feelings."

Uruha feels a warming touch on the side of his cheek as it traces down his jaw to his chin and turns his head to the side. Aoi has moved on the chair right beside his. Uruha is not sure what's going on.

Meanwhile Aoi looks into his eyes which travel down to his mouth. He tilts Uruha's chin and tilts his head to the side. Uruha is experienced enough to know what might happen next. But is this really happening? He shuts his eyes just in case. Then after a three second pause he hears laughing.

"Haha. I'm sorry," Aoi says, turning away cackling. "But wouldn't it be funny if we pretended to be together just to see how the people we like react."

Uruha knows this is supposed to be some sick twisted joke by a heartbroken man but at the same time it sounds pretty interesting. "Let's do it."







Three years ago Ruki left home after a huge argument with his father about his future. Afterwords he tried to cut connections with his parents, changing his numbers six times and moving four times. He even changed his name, but they still found him.

Just recently Ruki has been receiving calls from his parents again. All of sudden they decided to bug him about getting married and then talking about the possibility of setting him up on a marriage interview. Like seriously, what is up with parents forcing their children to get married. The reasons are always the same, 'you're not getting any younger', 'we want you to find happiness' or 'this would be good for our companies relationship.' That's all crap.

Ruki is single and running a successful hair salon. He doesn't see how he can be unhappy. He told them that but they of course don't believe him. They're just so annoying that the other day Ruki just blurted out that he's gay simply to get them off his case.

The fact is he has tried dating guys when he started out as a hairstylist only to fit in better with the other guys he worked with because they were that kind. But the relationships Ruki had never went beyond kissing. You can say he played them but their were some he did like just a bit.

Anyway, his parents doesn't believe he's gay either. They went as far as sending a spy to follow him to make sure of it. Luckily, Ruki instantly found out about it and who the spy was, which bothers him even more. The so-called spy was his high school classmate, Kai. They weren't really friends but Kai always followed him around. He got orders from Ruki's parents to do so because Kai's tuition was paid for by them.

Now to keep the show running Ruki has come up with the idea of using a decoy to throw off his parents. Although, he didn't account that part of not having any friends that are available at the moment to play couples with for a few days.

The only choice he has is his new friend Reita, who seems like such an innocent guy. Ruki doesn't think he'd go along with his plan if he asked so he choose the option of not telling him.



Ruki is waiting in front of Black Moral for Reita like he told him they'd meet for lunch. While taking note his spy (aka Kai) is nearby watching in a black car wearing sunglasses and a hat as he pretends to be reading a magazine that hides his binoculars or maybe camera.

Soon Reita arrives and Ruki gives him his best smile. "Good morning. No, actually it's almost noon huh?"

"Sorry, I'm a little late." The other nods his head apologetically. "I got stuck talking to the landlady."

"No, I was early here." Like an hour ago, but Ruki didn't tell him. "Was something wrong?"

"No. She just dropped her bag of groceries so I helped her and we started talking."

"Oh, okay." Enough with this boring talk. Ruki wonders if Kai is paying attention to this. "Then shall we go?"

As they start walking Ruki trips over his own foot. Clumsy. But he takes advantage of this situation. He grabs Reita by the arm and stumbles again. "Ah!"

Fortunately, he takes the bait and holds Ruki's other arm so the latter won't fully fall on his face. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine." Ruki looks up at Reita with puppy dog eyes. "I was carrying some stuff back in the salon before and sort of fell over something." By a tree, behind them he spots Kai at the corner of his eye. "It's okay." He continues to hold on to the other as he limps.

"You sure?" Reita says with concern. "Maybe you should see a doctor."

With that Ruki lets go of his arm and stands straight. "N-nah, I can walk it off." He shows his runway walk. "See?"



They sit at Gold Rush a restaruant diner that serves hamburgers as their specialty. As Ruki and Reita wait for their orders to be cooked they sip their cherry ice teas.

"So did you originally have any plans today before I suddenly called?" Ruki asks.

Reita smiles, scratching the back of his neck. "Not really. It's my day off so I was going to clean out my refrigerator since I kept smelling something strange inside."

"Interesting you said refrigerator because I'm looking for a new one."

"Me too. Mines has been making some weird knocking noise and sometimes it even shakes."

Ruki laughs. "Must be creepy at night."

"Yea, some nights I wonder if an alien has inhabited my kitchen."

An odd notion pops into Ruki's head. "In that case why don't we go looking for new fridges later."

"That's an idea," Reita agrees (maybe?).

Ruki looks around and finds Kai sitting across the diner from them in a booth, peeking over an open menu. He chuckles at the man in black's crappy spy job and went back to his ice tea. Ruki looks down at the glass and took notice of the cherry at the bottom. A light bulb lights up over his head. He takes the spoon from atop his napkin and scoops the cherry out. Picking it up by its stem, he leans over across the table to Reita and holds the cherry up to the other's mouth. "Do you want my cherry? I don't eat them."

Reita blinks. "Eh? I like them, but-"

"Okay, then say 'ah'."

Reita's confused. "Haa?" His mouth opens so Ruki conveniently puts the cherry in. And once the mouth closes he puts off the stem.

Ruki grins, sneakily. "Is it good?"

Reita chews and swallows with a gulp of his own ice tea. "Yea, thanks," he says, unsure of what just happened.

[*ringtone*]

Ruki knows that isn't his phone's ringtone so he looks at the person across him. Earlier Reita had received a text message as well but he didn't answer it. Ruki had wondered why. "Are you going to answer it?"

Reita picks up his cell. ". . . Aoi, what's up? Where am I? . . . I'm with someone right now . . . no, it's a guy. His name's Ruki. We just met . . . oh look, our foods here . . ."

Ruki watches the other lie through his nostrils and waits till he ends his call. "Was that your girlfriend checking up on you?"

"No, no." Reita shakes his head right to left. "He's my guy friend, named Aoi."

"Oh. Then why were you lying to him, unless I'm really eating an invisible hamburger," Ruki inquires.

"Okay." Reita clears his throat to start. "A while ago he told me something that took me by surprise. And now I don't know how to act around him anymore."

Ruki simply nods. He could take a wild guess at what this guy friend could have said to Reita, but this may ruin his plans so he drops it. And takes a glance across the diner once more at the spy.

"Do you know that guy sitting in that booth?" Reita interrupts him.

Ruki hesitates. "Why?"

"Because I think he has been following us since we were in the street. And you keep looking that way."

'Was I really that obvious' "Yea, I know him," Ruki admits. "He's an old friend of mines. I think I'll go say hi."

Surely, as he said, Ruki walks over to the booth and sits across from the spy. "Hello, Kai," he said smoothly.

The man jumps in his seat, almost spiting out the milkshake he's drinking. "Matsumoto-sama?!"

"Shh. Don't call me that. Makes me sound like my old man."

"Takanori-san?" Kai lowers his voice to a whisper.

"Know one has called me that since high school."

"Ruki-kun?"

"My parents sent you to see who I'm dating, right?"

Kai nods his head up and down. "Do you really like men now?" he asks forwardly.

"You see the guy there?" Folding his arms over his chest, Ruki directs his chin at Reita. "I'm with him now."

Kai knits his eyebrows. "Ruki-san, are you serious about this? He's not exactly..."

"What's wrong with him?" Ruki asks, defensively. "I think he's really cute."

Kai rubs his forehead. "Eh, cute isn't a word usually used on guys."

Ruki doesn't care about that stuff. "Anyway, you're going to report all this to my parents, right?"

Kai exhales. "Yes."

Ruki grins inwardly. ". . . So how've you been?" His tone relaxes.

The other corks an eyebrow at the sudden change of topic. "Good."

"Is you're mother doing well?"

"Yes, she's doing very well. She's recently learning belly dancing. She likes it so much she's even getting my grandma into it."

Ruki sweardrops. "Kai, that's more than I needed to know. I'm getting back."

At his return to the table their orders has already arrived. Two steakhouse burgers with fries on the side. Ruki looks at Reita chomping down on his burger with sauce smeared on the side of his mouth. Ruki smiles. 'Cute'









___________________________________________________
I see people had mistaken from last chapter about who Uruha really liked.
So is anyone surprised that his unrequited love is for Ruki? Anyone?
On the otherhand, I'm really liking how Reita/Ruki's story is developing, just as I imagined.
Awkward cuteness X333
Comments are ♥ as always




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