Series: Currently none. Misc.
Pairing: Ryo x Aiba
Author: J
Date: 2004
Notes: Alternate Universe. This is actually the omake to a uber crack fic titled “Bokutachi no Heya” that will never be written. XD
Maybe he should have stayed in Osaka.
That was what Ryo had been thinking after looking at another small cramped apartment which he deemed not good enough for him. He had been accepted to the Art and Architecture School of Waseda University, much to his parents’ disappointment, especially since he was also accepted into Osaka University but had turn it down because of his sudden itch to find out what life would be like in Tokyo without servants beckoning to his every need. At least his father wasn’t unreasonable and still agreed to pay for his fees, housing and such. For the past week, he had been staying with his cousin — Yamapi as he was usually called — in Chiba, going to Tokyo every day to look for “the right home” but to no avail.
It also made him realised what a spoilt rich kid he really was.
The sound of laughter caught his attention, bringing him towards the direction of the neighbourhood playground. Some kids were on the monkey bars, others on the swings, but his attention immediately fell on the biggest kid there. Tall, slim, with dyed red hair, the person in question was clad in khakis as well as a large checked shirt over a white tee. Ryo watched him help a kid climb the jungle gym, often whispering encouraging words to the boy. When they reached the top, the two cheered, and the mysterious person smiled proudly at the boy.
Something struck in Ryo, and he continued to watch the other intently. When the two reached the ground safely, all the other kids gathered around the guy, each trying to get him to play with them and not the rest, while he simply laughed and agreed to play with all of them. Ryo had a sudden wish to be one of the kids so that he could be near the other and enjoy the other’s company.
Tokyo wasn’t all that bad after all.
* * * * *
Yamapi passed to Ryo a flyer the next morning. It was an advertisement for rental of an apartment that was located near his university. The rent was quite high, but it was due to its location as well as the fact that apartments in that area were relatively big compared to others. Most students who chose not to live in the hostel would have chosen to live in the cheaper apartments on the other side of the campus though. But Ryo had already taken a look at those apartments and decided he could afford something better. So he took the flyer from his cousin and prepared to take a look at this place.
Having been around that area only once — yesterday at the playground — he had to figure out exactly how to get there. Not that he was worried, since he had a rather good sense of direction. The weather was especially hot that spring day, and his throat felt dry. He walked towards a nearby vending machine, only to realise that he was short of coins. Remembering that he had seen a supermarket nearby yesteday, he headed towards that direction.
As he approached the supermarket, he stopped when he saw someone step out, carrying a few bags including one packed full with a variety of fruits. It was the person he saw yesterday, the one that brightened up his day for some odd reason. Suddenly, the other yelped when an orange dropped onto the pavement and rolled towards Ryo. Ryo bent down to pick up the orange that had stopped at his foot and walked towards the other.
“Yours?” He asked, handing the orange to the other.
“Ah yeah! Arigato!” The other smiled brightly at him. Ryo could have melted right then, but it could be only because of how hot it was that day.
He watched as the other left, part of him wanting to stalk the guy, the other part wanting to get a drink to ease the dryness in his throat. He went with the ‘more sensible’ decision and picked up his drink, before finding his way to where he was supposed to head to in the first place.
“Atsui.” Ryo wiped the sweat off his forehead, as he stood in front of the apartment building, taking in the sight before him. It looked exactly like what he had imagined from the outside. Hopefully what’s inside wouldn’t disappoint.
The apartment that the landlord took Ryo to was on the third floor. Unit 3-A. It was spacious, with two bedrooms, one toilet, a small kitchen area, and a living area big enough for his dvd collection and plasma tv. It was on the front side of the building, meaning he got a good view of the street below. After showing Ryo around, the landlord excused himself, and told Ryo that he could take his time to look around some more and could just drop by at his own unit downstairs once he made up his mind.
This was it. He didn’t really need long to decide. When he was walking down the stairs, he was stopped in his tracks by a familiar voice.
“Hey, it’s you!”
Ryo turned to see the guy he had met earlier at the supermarket. He was standing at the entrance of the unit marked 2-B, a few letters in hand. Surprised, Ryo merely nodded.
“Are you thinking about renting the extra room at Tsuyoshi-san’s place?” The other said, pointing towards the apartment next door.
“Eh?”
The door to the said apartment opened then, a face peering over the side of the door. “Did someone call me?”
“Tsuyoshi-san, I think you’ve found yourself a roommate!” The other stated, pointing towards Ryo.
“Ore?” Ryo pointed towards himself. When did he say that he was gonna rent the room? Wasn’t he renting the apartment unit upstairs? The man, whom Ryo assumed was Tsuyoshi-san, stared at him.
“You looking for a place to stay?”
“Uh, yeah. Uhm, actually I was looking at the apartment upstairs-”
“If you live here it’ll be half the rent for almost the same amount of living space. I don’t take up much anyway. Just one of the bedrooms. And after I graduate you can have the whole apartment to yourself if you can afford it.” Tsuyoshi stated in a deadpan manner. “You’re from Kansai? Name?”
Ryo, who was still a little taken aback by how things had gone, nodded. “Yeah. Uh, Nishikido Ryo desu.”
“K, you can move in anytime you decide to.” Tsuyoshi said, before going back into his house.
“Cool! Nishikido-kun will be our new neighbour.” The other smiled at him.
“Aiba-chan! I didn’t know getting the mail could take so long. Who the heck are you talking to? Dinner’s ready!” A voice from inside shouted out.
“Hai!” Aiba replied, before turning back to Ryo, smiling like a child who was just given some candy. “Sorry, gotta go before Nino threatens to eat everything. Ja. See ya around!”
When the door closed, Ryo took a while to understand what had happened. Apparently, instead of staying in his own apartment upstairs, it looks like he was going to move in with someone called Tsuyoshi-san. Not that he really mind, considering that the guy whom he had been thinking of since yesterday lived in the apartment opposite. Only question was, who was this Nino who lived with Aiba?
* * * * *
“I hear that Nishikido-kun is gonna study architecture at Waseda?” Aiba asked Ryo after their basketball game, both drenched in sweat. Ryo had invited Aiba after finding out that they both had a love for the game. It was also his chance to get to know more about his interesting neighbour.
“Yeah. That’s why I left Osaka.”
“Ah, Nino’s gonna do architecture at Waseda too! So you two will be school mates.” Aiba stated. “But don’t you feel lonely moving out of your home? I mean, Nino and I moved together, so it wasn’t too bad. And anyway, it’s not really that far from our house compared to yours.”
Ryo shrugged. “It’s… something I wanted to try.” When he turned to look at Aiba, all he saw was the latter bending over at a shop window.
“Kawaii!” Aiba pointed at the black puppy in the petshop window they had just passed. Ryo bent forward to look at the puppy that Aiba was so excited about.
“Aiba-san, you like dogs?”
Aiba nodded. “I actually have three big dogs at home.” Aiba gestured. “But they’re kinda old and were so comfortable being at home that I didn’t bring them along when Nino and I moved.”
Before Aiba had even finished his sentence, Ryo walked into the petshop. In a matter of minutes, the two of them were outside the shop, with the black puppy in Ryo’s arms.
“You bought the dog? Are you sure Tsuyoshi-san will be alright with a dog in the house?”
Ryo pondered. “Well, I guess if Tsuyoshi’s really not comfortable with it, I could leave the dog at your house.”
“Eh?!”
“Why not? It’s not really my dog. It’s actually for you, but I guess we could share ownership of it. ” Ryo simply said.
“Nishikido-kun is giving me a dog?”
“Don’t call me Nishikido-kun. Sounds so formal. People who I like call me ‘Ryo-chan’, so Aiba-san should call me ‘Ryo-chan’ too.”
“But ‘Aiba-san’ is so formal too.” Aiba replied, amused.
“Well then, I guess I’ll call you ‘Masaki’.”
“Eh? Very few people call me ‘Masaki’, only my family does, or when someone is angry with me then they’ll go ‘Masaki!’.” Aiba laughed to himself.
Ryo shrugged. “I’ll call you ‘Aiba-chan’ then.”
“Ok.” Aiba smiled to himself. “But why did Ni-, I mean, Ryo-chan give me a dog? I already have 3 at home.”
“Well, those are big, and they’re back at your own house, so why not have a cute, small one like this one,” Ryo passed the puppy to Aiba, “to keep you company? That way you won’t feel so sad about not having your other dogs with you.”
Aiba stroked the puppy. “I wonder what Nino will say. It’s not easy looking after a puppy.”
“That’s why I offered to share it so that I can help look after it too. After all, you like the dog. I like the dog. And I like you…” Ryo paused, before continuing. “So why not share the dog?”
Aiba couldn’t help but smile at the fact that Ryo didn’t finish what he was originally saying. He looked at the black puppy in his hands, then remembered the first time he met Ryo. “Ok, then I’ll name it ‘Orange’.”
“‘Orange’? That’s a cute name…”
“I met you because you helped me pick up the orange that I dropped. So I decided to call it ‘Orange’.”
Ryo smiled. He loved the way that guy thought.
“Ah, we better get back to take a shower before we stink the whole town.” Aiba stated, still carrying Orange in his arms as he walked ahead. “C’mon Ryo-chan. What are you standing there for? Last one back would have to clean up after Orange!”
Ryo watched as Aiba ran off, before realising what that meant. Shit! He thought, as he chased after.
* * * * *
“Nani? Dare?” Nino asked as Aiba returned with a cute black puppy in his arms.
“It’s a puppy.” Aiba replied as he passed the puppy to Nino. “Don’t you like it too? It’s your species after all.”
“I’m not a dog.”
Aiba patted Nino’s head. “Well, it’s cute like you.” He smiled as Nino swatted his hand away.
“Don’t call me a dog, baka!” Nino shot back. “I’ll agree that it’s cute though.”
“Anyway, it’s ‘Orange’.” Aiba stated as he poured a glass of water for himself.
“Uh, Aiba-chan, I know you’re a baka, but I didn’t know you’re colourblind too. This puppy isn’t orange, it’s black.”
“I know it’s black! It’s not named ‘Orange’ cos of it’s colour, it’s cos of the fruit.”
“Eh? Ok, I know it looks a little round and all, but it still doesn’t look like an orange.”
“Nooo… it’s cos I met Ryo-chan because he helped me pick up the orange when I dropped it accidentally. Since I’m sharing the dog with Ryo-chan, I thought I’ll just call it ‘Orange’ na.”
Nino stared at Aiba, before bursting out in laughter. “Haha, that’s just so Aiba-chan! Thinking up of names like that. And anyway, why the hell are you sharing a dog with Nishikido-kun?”
“Well, Ryo-chan said, ‘You like the dog. I like the dog. And I like you. So why not share the dog?’, so that’s why.”
Nino stopped laughing, stared at Aiba after hearing what the latter said, then couldn’t help but continue to laugh out loud. “Man that guy is such a weirdo! Ha, he actually likes you, Aiba-chan. Do you like him too? Must be. Orange, you have such baka owners! Did you hear that? ‘You like the dog. I like the dog. And I like you.’ Oh god, only a baka weirdo like him could have thought of that line.”
Aiba glared at Nino, who was clutching his stomach because he had laughed too hard. “I’m not listening to you, you stupid dog. I’m gonna take a shower. Stop laughing already!”
It just made Nino laugh even harder. Aiba sighed as headed to the toilet, slamming the door on Nino’s childish behaviour.
After a while, Nino finally calmed down. He looked at Orange, who simply stared back at him. It really was darn cute! It even had a tag with the word ‘Orange’ on it. Nino tried to suppress his laughter when there was a knock on the door. Seeing Ryo at the door only made Nino burst out in another fit of laughter as he passed Orange to the latter. “Aiba-chan’s still in the shower.” He managed to say in between.
Ryo simply stared and walked past Nino, taking a seat.
“Hey, Nishikido, I have to say, that was a brilliant line, ‘You like the dog. I like the dog-’.” Nino started, then stopped at Ryo’s glare. He coughed before he continued. “Anyway, how sure are you that Aiba-chan actually likes you too?”
The look on Ryo’s face told Nino that the guy hadn’t even thought about that, and it only made Nino even more amused by Orange’s owners. Nino covered his smile as he ran into his room, closing the door behind him and laughing into his pillow, not able to hold it back in any longer.
Moments later, Ryo’s thoughts about what Nino had said were broken.
“Ryo, you’re here already.” Aiba said as he stepped out of the shower with only a towel covering himself. Ryo swallowed hard, reminding himself that attacking Aiba now wasn’t exactly a good idea. He could wait. For now.
“Yeah… Uh, Aiba-chan, can I ask you a question?”
“Hm?”
“Well, I’ve told you that I like you, but, do you like me as well?”
“Hm?” Aiba turned to Ryo, who appeared to be eagerly waiting for his answer. “If I say ‘no’, will you take Orange away from me?”
There was a pause, before Ryo replied nonchalantly. “Why would you say ‘no’?”
Aiba was taken aback, before he started laughing at how confident Ryo actually was. He stepped forward to pinch the latter’s cheeks. “Ryo-chan is so kawaii, how can anyone not like him?”
On hearing that, Ryo smiled and took the opportunity to lean forward to kiss Aiba.
“Be careful, don’t drop your Orange!”
Aiba grabbed the nearest cushion and threw it at Nino, who slammed the door shut before it hit him.
“Don’t drop your Orange! HAHAHA!” Nino’s muffled laughter continued to ring out from behind his shut door.
* * * * *
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Lucky… His parents almost disagreed, but they still paid for him… Very lucky. But hey – Ryo and art? Funny idea, honestly XD I don’t think he’s patient enough to do any type of art ^__~
So Ryo-chan and Pi-chan were cousins? Cute, imho. I can imagine them arguing all the time when they were younger~ Calling each other girly names and so on.
When Ryo picked up the orange it reminded me of Orange Days~ I think I’m obsessed x___x;
“You are from Kansai? Name?” Somehow it made Tsuyoshi sound like a policeman. Brrr. Almost scary! ^^; It was amusing how Ryo didn’t even say a word and let them decide for him. It mad me laugh for a few good minutes!
I couldn’t believe he bought Aiba-chan a puppy! Ai-chan’s surpried reaction was very cute. But it was even cuter when Ai-chan told nino that it was his own species. Awww~ And Nino was soooo mean. Little monster! *glomps nino* Still, I agree with him. Everything about that relationship and the poor dog was way too to cute not to laugh at it XD
AHAHHAHA “dont drop your orange!!’ AHHAHA sorryyy i think the funniest thing in this fficu is NINO!! i really really love him in your ffics (like double) XDD..
wow ryo as a rich kid…ahhahaa niceeee i can’t really imagine that and TSUYOSHI o__O ..he sounds so…wow hahah its just like. BAM BAM BAM *gone* XDD anyway~ i love this ffic!! i was laughing so hard by the end XDD kant believe in the beginning i was debating whether or not to read it cause theres this weird pairing XDD =PP GANBATTE