Chapter Two: Hi, I'm Ruki. Sorry I made your life a living hell

When Aoi got home, he and Uruha made out for a long time on the couch.

"You seem pretty happy today. Any particular reason?" asked Aoi as he playfully nipped Uruha's lower neck. Uruha giggled - a little more cheerfully than usual - and answered: "Because I met someone today."

"Hmm? As long as that someone won't steal you from me", Aoi said and lifted Uruha on his lap.

"Don't worry, he won't. And are we gonna watch that movie or what?" Uruha replied and snuggled against Aoi. The older male chuckled and commanded Uruha to get off him so he could go make popcorn and stuff. Uruha loyally did what Aoi told him to and sat on the couch to wait.

When Aoi came back, he was carrying one huge bowl of popcorn, one huge bowl of potato chips and a medium-sized bowl of candy.

"You seriously think we'll eat all that?" Uruha asked suspiciously.

"Perhaps. Could you put the DVD in?" Aoi answered and handed over the movie. It was a kids' movie Uruha had never even heard of, but all the disney movies were the same for him.

"You know, I had no idea you'd actually rent a kids' movie", Uruha muttered as he put the disc into the player. Aoi shrugged his shoulders and motioned Uruha to come sit with him. The blonde smiled and almost jumped into Aoi's arms.

"This is not a scary movie, cuddling isn't necessary", Aoi pointed out with a grin.

"I don't care", Uruha said shortly and raised the volume up with the remote and started the movie.

.

Next morning Uruha woke up in the bed, where he didn't remember falling asleep in. He figured he must've fallen asleep when they watched the movie and Aoi had carried him to bed.

The reason why Uruha woke up was that someone was calling him. Sleepily he reached his phone and didn't even look who it was when he answered.

"How surprising, you were still asleep", Reita said, being obviously amused of Uruha's sleepy tone.

"Why're you calling me if you know I'm asleep?" Uruha muttered and fell back on the bed.

"Well, back then I always woke you up, so now that I can do it again, I'll do it again", Reita replied. Uruha smiled slightly. It was true Reita had always called him in the morning and woke him up.

"You're such an ", Uruha commented playfully.

"And you're a lazy bum. But waking you up and annoying you wasn't the only reason I called", Reita answered.

"Oh, I thought those two were the reasons you exist", Uruha snapped. He heard Reita chuckle and decided to stop joking already. Laughing right after he woke up was very rare and he didn't like it.

"So, I wanted to ask if you and your boyfriend wanna go on a double date with me and my boyfriend. It was his idea", Reita explained simply.

"I dunno, I gotta ask him. He's at work right now and he'll be back around five", Uruha said.

"Good, we thought we could leave somewhere between six and seven. We could go on a dinner or something and maybe watch a movie", Reita said happily. Uruha heard someone talking in the background and Reita added: "He also says we're not going to any gourmet restaurant, so it's okay to be in normal clothes."

"Okay, I'll ask him. I'll call you when I've got the answer", Uruha said and they finished talking. A double date. The two persons he loved would meet each other. This is going to be horrible, he thought bitterly.

Uruha figured he wouldn't get any sleep anymore, so he got up from the bed and walked to the kitchen. There was a note on the fridge - as always, when Aoi left to work before Uruha woke up - that said:

'I'm probably getting earlier than usual from work, so I'll be home before five. There's some frozen pizza in the freezer, if you get hungry. Love ya, ~Aoi'

Uruha smiled and threw the piece of paper into the trashcan. He wondered if Aoi would come on the date.

Uruha spent this day more happily than usual. Maybe it was because of Reita, or maybe because last night he hadn't seen too bad dreams. Well, the dream had been a flashback, but he actually liked this one.

Uruha was lying on a street not too far away from school. He was full of bruises and his lower lip was bleeding. He didn't get it. He had only mentioned Ruki was the shortest student in the class and BAM, he had been beaten up after school. What frustrated him the most was that Ruki never showed up himself, he just told some other guys beat him.

Normally Uruha would've called Reita, but the guys who beat him up had taken his cellphone and wallet. And he couldn't even move his limbs because it hurt so much. Luckily he was supposed go for a sleepover to Reita's place, so the older blonde would probably be looking for him. Uruha had been beaten up a lot recently, so Reita could quess what had happened.

But it had been almost an hour from the time Reita was supposed to pick him up. Maybe Reita was bored of saving Uruha all the time and wasn't looking for him? Even though Uruha thought this should've happened a long ago, a tear rolled on his cheek. On top of all this, it was winter and he was freezing as he lied on the cold snow.

"Uruha? If you're somewhere around here, please answer!"

Reita's voice made his heart skip a beat. Even though his voice was raspy, he could weakly say: "Over here."

He heard someone running and soon he saw a pair of foot in front of him. Reita helped him up, making him whimper from pain.

"Sorry... I didn't think you'd be this near the school", Reita muttered and lifted Uruha in his arms.

"Don't worry about it... You've always been helping me anyway", Uruha answered quietly. Reita's hold on him tightened and he said: "I parked my car nearby, hold on a while."

Before leaving, Reita wrapped his own jacket around Uruha and then carried him into the car. The drive to Reita's was silent, but when they came into the house, a chaos begun.

"Oh my God, what happened?" Reita's sister asked and gasped at Uruha's abused body. Worried of the fuss, Reita's mother arrived and immediately started babbling. "Thank God Akira picked you up! Are you okay? Do you need anything?"

"Mom, could you bring some hot cocoa to my room? I think Uru needs one", Reita requested and then continued his way to upstairs, where his room was. He laid Uruha on the bed and put his hand on his forehead.

"... You've got fever", Reita said quietly and moved his hand away. "I'm sorry I didn't come earlier."

"It's okay. You should've gotten bored of saving me ages ago", Uruha whimpered.

"Don't say that! And do you know who beat you up?"

Uruha shook his head. "They were from some other school, but I don't remember..."

Reita sighed and cupped Uruha's cheek lightly, muttering: "You shouldn't let them beat you up so easily." Uruha just moved his gaze away from Reita and silence fell upon them. Soon Reita's mother arrived with a cup of hot cocoa and some food.

"Is there anything else you need?" Ms. Suzuki asked kindly. Uruha smiled tiredly and shook his head. Ms. Suzuki placed the tray on Reita's night stand and then left the two boys alone.

"Look... I'm really sorry. I should be able to protect you but..." Reita started, but stopped talking as Uruha interrupted him: "You picked me up from the street, didn't you? That's even more than I want. You've been helping me for years, if you don't protect me once, it's okay."

"It's not okay, Uruha. Some day I might be busy and can't save you and you might die or something", Reita answered worriedly.

"I don't die so easily", Uruha said and chuckled. He positioned himself into a sitting-position and took the tray on his lap. The food Reita's mother made was delicious, as always.

"Uruha... There's something I gotta tell you..." Reita muttered suddenly. Uruha looked at him curiously, but no words came out of the older blonde's mouth.

"I... Nothing. It's not important..." Reita answered, clearly being very upset of something. Uruha frowned and demanded an answer. Reita smiled a little and said: "It's nothing you should be worried about. But... If there comes a time when I'm not able to protect you, do you promise you'll be careful? Ask help, if possible."

"I don't know what you mean by that, but okay. As long as you promise that time won't come", Uruha replied, maybe a little jokingly. For less than a second Reita hesitated it, but then promised.

"Hey, Uru. You're gonna stay over tonight, aren't you?" Reita asked. Uruha nodded.

"Then I'll go get your stuff." Reita was about to stand up when Uruha said: "What?!"

"Why not? I mean, you need clean clothes and stuff, don't you? And a toothbrush and all that ", Reita answered bluntly.

"My parents hate you even more than they hate me! You can't just go to my home and be like 'Hey, some random guys beat your son up and he's staying over, give me some clothes of his.' They'd just kick you out!" Uruha protested.

"Well, you're not in condition to go. And besides, your sister's probably home, she'll protect me", Reita said and grinned. Then he left. Uruha wasn't quite sure if his sister was home, though.

Speaking of sisters, Reita's sister came into the room right after Reita had left. She smiled and asked about Uruha's condition.

"I've been better", Uruha answered, he smiling too. Reita's sister was a pretty good friend of his, even though Reita always complained about her. But Uruha got to know to her pretty soon after meeting Reita because their sisters were best friends. For some reason, Uruha was always the one to go shopping with them and carry their stuff. Oh well, he did some shopping at the same time too.

"You shouldn't get beaten up so easily... Why did they even do it?" Reita's sister asked and sat on the edge of the bed.

"I called Ruki short... The thing that annoys me that he never bothers beating me up himself, he just makes some others do it", Uruha complained.

"That's all you're worrying about?! Jeez, Kou, you should be a little more selfish", Reita's sister said and pouted.

"Why don't you call me Uruha? I've said hundred times I don't like the name Kouyou", Uruha said.

"Because that's my brother's nickname for you! When are you two lovebirds gonna get together anyway?" She had always known how Uruha felt towards Reita and that's why tried helping Uruha out with his problems a lot. But still Uruha hadn't managed confessing his feelings.

"I don't know... I'm just afraid I'm gonna screw everything up if I confess. What if he doesn't like me?" Uruha said worriedly and looked at his friend with puppy eyes. She laughed and answered: "Seriously, I'm surprised he hasn't ed you yet! You should see how he gazes at you!"

"You and your -fantasies..." Uruha muttered bitterly.

"Eeeh? But you would make a great couple! You particularly are a couple!" Reita's sister said and flailed his arms. Have I mentioned she was older than Reita? Yes, she is.

"Hm... You've read a lot of BL, haven't you? How do you think I should tell it to him?" Uruha asked.

"Well, of course BL and reality are a totally separate things, but in BL it just... happens naturally? Reita's the seme, so he would like, suddenly kiss you and you'd be like 'wtf?' and then like 'aaahh' and then..." She couldn't finish because Uruha asked what's a seme.

"Oh, it's nothing for you to worry about", Reita's sister said cheerfully. Uruha glanced at her suspiciously, but didn't get more curious. It was just some stuff anyway.

"Anyway, you should get some rest. Akira should be coming soon", Reita's sister said and then left. Before Uruha could even realize how tired he was, he fell asleep. At some point he felt the bed's other side shift as someone - Reita - laid there. The warmth of Reita's body quickly soothed him back to sleep and he had no dreams at all that night.

You now may be wondering why Uruha liked that certain flashback. He had been beaten up in it, why would he like it? Well, the explanation is simple. That time Uruha had realized how much Reita truly cared.

Uruha lost in his thoughts again, thoughts of Reita. Reita had a boyfriend now. Uruha probably wouldn't stand a chance. He wondered what Reita's boyfriend was like. Cute, probably. Really cute. Not very dark hair, maybe brunette or blonde. Someone who could cook. From this, all Uruha could make up was Kai. Well, not the hair-part, but Kai could cook and was really cute. He seemed to be Reita's type... No. It couldn't be Kai.

Then again, Kai seemed to be a little too cheerful and childish for Reita. Reita liked a little more mature type - which meant Uruha really wouldn't stand a chance. Reita also didn't like cleaning, so his boyfriend would do it for him. The boyfriend was probably not too innocent, considering how erted Reita was.

Uruha now knew he was nothing like Reita's boyfriend - probably - was.

His trail of thought snapped cut as his cellphone ringed. It was Aoi calling him.

"Hi", Uruha answered.

"You answered pretty quickly. How come you're already awake?"

"Um... You remember I told you yesterday I met someone?"

"Yeah."

"Well... That someone was Reita."

"Huh." Aoi didn't seem too pleased, but Uruha decided to continue anyway.

"We went to the café where - you know - and we talked a lot. He called this morning and asked if we wanted to go on a double date with him and his boyfriend."

"Hmph. A guy who hurt you so much you started cutting and almost jumped off a bridge asked you to go on a date and you said yes." Aoi really seemed to be pissed of. Uruha bit his lip.

"I didn't say yes. I said I'd ask you."

"... Fine then. We can go. When?"

"Today, somewhere between six and seven."

"Jeez... I'll do it, but if he dares to hurt you, I swear I-" "Aoi, it's okay! And... Thank you. I really wanted to go."

"..."

"Bye."

"Yeah."

For some reason, Uruha didn't think Aoi was very pleased with his meeting with Reita.

.

Later that day Aoi arrived from work. Uruha had already called Reita and told him they were coming to the date. Aoi still seemed to be pretty pissed off by this, but he tried not to show it to Uruha.

"How was it at work?" Uruha asked as sweetly as he could.

"Fine. Actually, more than fine. My boss gave me a promotion", Aoi answered and gave a kiss on Uruha's cheek. The younger male smiled and said: "That's wonderful!"

"Isn't it? If this keeps going, I'll be the one who's the boss", Aoi joked as he took off his jacket.

"If you keep saying things like that, you'll never be a boss", Uruha said playfully.

"Aren't you in a good mood", Aoi chuckled and ruffled his lover's hair like he was a little kid.

"I guess I am. Did you bring any candy?" Aoi sighed and took a small bag of candies from his jacket's pocket. Something Uruha hadn't seen before.

"Huh? Is that some European candy?" he asked as he took the candy and looked closely at it. Some kind of marshmallows shaped like cars, these ones tasting sour - there probably were other kinds of too.

"Yeah. They're called Bilar, they're Swedish", Aoi answered. "A guy from work gave it to me."

Uruha popped one candy in his mouth and chewed it thoughtfully, deciding it's good and ate more. He had no idea Swedish made so good candy. Aoi grinned and said: "You should be glad it wasn't Finnish. I hear salmiakki tastes terrible."

"This one's good, at least", Uruha mumbled. Aoi laughed and walked to the livingroom and sat on the couch. He turned the TV on and watched some channel with music.

"Aoi-chan, you haven't played your guitar in a long time", Uruha reminded him as he sat next to him.

"You haven't called me Aoi-chan in a long time, so I guess I'll have to play", he said and rose to get one of his guitars from the bedroom.

Aoi used to be a guitarist, but when they moved to Tokyo, he got a job from his father's company. His father unfortunately had died a few years ago and now Aoi was a very important businessman. He had a lot of job to do and he was very stressed because of it, but that way he made much money and could take care of Uruha.

Playing guitar made both Aoi and Uruha feel better. Anytime something bad happened - or they were just really upset of something - Aoi would play a guitar. Sometimes he might've just played because he was so happy, or wanted to make Uruha happy.

As Aoi started playing, Uruha leaned against him and closed his eyes. He loved it. At the moment, he felt like he really didn't have worries. In Uruha's mind at the moment, Reita didn't have a boyfriend. Reita had never left and they had remained friends for all these years. And Aoi. Aoi was still his boyfriend and they lived happily.

Unfortunately Uruha was awoken from this as his cellphone ringed. It was Reita. Uruha smiled a little and answered.

"I forgot to ask if we would meet somewhere or should we some get you or something."

"Just a second... Aoi? Should we meet them at the restaurant or what?" "At the restaurant, I think."

"At the restaurant."

"Okay. See you there."

"What restaurant is it anyway?" Aoi asked as the blonde put his phone away.

"It's the one next to the mall", Uruha answered.

"Huh", was all Aoi said and he continued playing the instrument on his lap.

.

When Aoi and Uruha left, Uruha started feeling nervous. Why had he agreed on this? He didn't want to meet Reita's boyfriend! Reita's boyfriend was - probably - so much better than him, and now he was going to prove it!

"Is something wrong?" Aoi asked.

"I'm fine, just keep driving", Uruha said and laughed nervously.

"You've been in awfully good mood today..." Aoi muttered suspiciously.

"Really? I didn't notice", Uruha said.

"Hmm." They fell silent and stayed like that until they got to the restaurant. Two persons, Reita and someone shorter, were standing there near the parking lot. Uruha grinned and ran straight to Reita, Aoi following him by walking. He was about to say something, but froze as he realized who the person next to Reita was.

Ruki.

Ruki seemed to recognize Uruha as well and just stared at him. Neither of them said anything, they just stared in shock.

"Uruha, you've met Ruki already. He was in your class, right?" Reita said with a smile. Yeah, and he was the main reason why my life was like a living hell.

"So you're Reita", Aoi said coldly and glared at the nosebanded man.

"Uh... Yeah. You must be Aoi."

Ruki and Uruha were still staring at each other. Uruha wanted to leave. He had no idea he would've been Reita's boyfriend! But Uruha couldn't just say 'Hey, that guy was the reason why I was beaten up!'

"Shall we go inside? It's no good standing here", Reita suggested. Still in shock, Uruha followed everyone else inside the restaurant. So many feelings inside him. Hate. Sorrow. Jealousy. Disappointment.

As they sat in the table, Aoi asked, just to break the silence: "So, how did you two meet?"

"That's actually a pretty funny story. Ruki had moved here too without me knowing, so seeing him was quite the surprise. Anyway, he always tends to get into trouble, and one day, when I had just opened my snackshop, he stormed in and hid behind the counter. There were some not-too-friendly-looking guys following him, so I saved him and said he wasn't there. That's how we first met. And the second time was pretty much the same, but this time he hid in the backroom and had different guys chasing him. The third time I decided he got into trouble way too much, so I said he could come to my shop anytime he had to. So he came several times in day. Because of that, we spend a lot of time talking and we eventually fell in love", Reita explained.

"You forgot to mention the fourth time", Ruki said and grinned. It looked like he had gotten over the shock already.

"I'm not mentioning the fourth time in a restaurant", Reita answered. Uruha felt like it had been something really erted. After all, they both were erts.

Suddenly Aoi had to answer a call so he needed to go away for a minute or two and Reita had to go to the bathroom, so Ruki and Uruha were left alone.

"Look... I'm really, really sorry about what I've done. I had no idea I hurt you so much and I... I wish we could be friends from now on", Ruki said as soon as Reita was gone.

"Nine years. Nine years, I got beaten up because of you every day. Do you have any idea how glad I was when you finally moved? And now you ask to be my friend?" Uruha wasn't happy at all. It felt like everything ever happened was Ruki's fault.

"I know and I'm really sorry. I'll do anything you want if you just forgive me." Ruki sounded like he really was sorry. But could Uruha really forgive him? After all those things?

"Anything, you say..." Uruha muttered without Ruki hearing. When people said they'd do anything, there were actually more things they wouldn't do than what they would do. That's why it pissed Uruha off when Ruki said it.

"Could you please forgive me?" Ruki begged. Seriously begged. Uruha could catch it from his tone.

"You'll be in dept", Uruha warned. Ruki smiled and looked like he could hug Uruha. He didn't do so, though, because Aoi came back. He gave a kiss on Uruha's cheek and asked where Reita was.

"In the bathroom", Ruki answered.

After Reita came back, the waitress came to take their order. They had a pretty fun date, actually, if you just exclude the tension between Reita and Aoi and the glances Ruki and Uruha gave to each other every now and then. In the end, Uruha drank too much sake and they had to leave - just like always when there was any alchohol near Uruha.

Yeah. The second chapter. Ta-dah. I don't know why I mentioned those candies in this chapter, but yeah. Bilar is REALLY good, if you ever get a chance to taste it, do it. The sour ones are the best... There are also normal and chocolate ones. And salmiakki is a finnish candy that tastes like . Literally. .