Painful Days and Stormy Nights Chapter 13

[lilly0]

Title: Painful Days and Stormy Nights Chapter 13: Interrogation
Pairing: RyoJin, Ohno/Aiba, KimuShingo, Takki/Sakamoto, Sakumiya, Nagase/Koichi and one-sided Miyake/Sakamoto (As for the others I don't know yet... (PiKame or TegoPi? KameUchi? What's with Jun?)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, family, friendship, romance, angst, drama
Multi-chapter
Disclaimer: I don't own them or anything else JE-related. But the story is mine of course^^
Summary: Nino and Sho almost clash with each other, while Miyake tries to approach his beloved Sakamoto.
And then there is the big family-showdown with Ryo and his brothers...but no matter what they ask or do, Ryo's lips are sealed. Why?

“Oh dear…” Takuya breathed out, his fingers gently moving over Ryo’s face. Carefully touching Ryo’s bruises. To his relief apparently someone had already taken care of some of the wounds… they had been disinfected properly, some band-aids being placed on a few bigger bruises…

Subaru shook his head in disbelief, he grabbed one of Ryo’s arms, carefully turning it around and checking on the bruises that were covering him there. “Ryo…” he said softly. “That looks horrible.” He turned around to Takuya. “Maybe we should go and take him to a doctor?”

Ryo shook his head a bit. “Not necessary…”

Takuya sighed a bit, looking at his little brother firmly. “Ryo, what happened?”

Ryo bit his lips, nervousness spreading through his body. He wasn’t exactly sure why and what it was but something made it almost impossible for him to breath. He coughed a bit, eyes tearing up slightly, a dry feeling burning in his throat. “Nothing…” he mumbled, eyes twitching a bit.

“Don’t be stubborn now…” Takuya’s voice sounded angry. “Your face doesn’t look like ‘nothing’. So don’t give us this attitude…”

Ryo wanted to glare at the other, but something in Takuya’s eyes made it impossible for him to react like that…  He so wanted to tell him what happened, he wanted to hear from his brothers that everything would turn out to be alright. But something in his mind started to work on his own, not wanting his brothers to know what he really did, that he actually had helped Maru. He didn’t know why, but somehow he felt better when they were angry at him, thinking that he was at fault. But then…he also didn’t want that to happen. His lips started to form the words he wanted to say to explain everything, but they were closed… in a strange way. He couldn’t help it… something inside his chest kept pressing him down, letting him gasp for air. He touched his throat a bit. It felt like this guy was still pressing it…

“Hey Takuya, did you see…” Takki paused when he came to the room, his eyes widening in utter shock as he saw Ryo sitting on the sofa, his face swollen and full of bruises.

Ryo looked at him a bit sheepishly, but also a bit scared.

“What happened!?” Takki called out in shock.

 

******

“Sakamoto-san?”

Sakamoto turned around in surprise. He had just left the Club to get some things for the upcoming night and for a special event they were holding. He blinked at the young guy in front of him. “You are…” he paused for a moment, remembering his lunch with Koichi and this weird Nagase-kun and his friends. “Miyake-kun?”

Miyake beamed at that, happy that Sakamoto remembered his name. “Yes.” He bowed a bit. “Nice to meet you, Sir!”

Sakamoto sighed a bit. “No need to be that polite…” Then he smirked. “Though I like polite people of course.”

Miyake blushed a bit, looking at the ground nervously. “Are you on your way to your work?” he asked, trying to push away his nervousness.

Sakamoto nodded his head. “I need to buy some things…” He smiled a bit at Miyake. He couldn’t help a soft feeling for this young guy… his flushed face, his nervousness, his youth… his looks. Sakamoto frowned a bit as the picture of another young guy, exactly like this in front of him popped up in his mind. He sighed, he had never wanted to be remembered at this… But Miyake’s appearance… he looked exactly like…

“Sakamoto-san?” Miyake looked at the older one through questioning eyes.

Sakamoto shoved his gloomy thoughts aside, smiling inscrutably. “I just remembered something… sorry, Miyake-kun, I have to go now.” He padded the younger one’s shoulder, showing him a warm smile. “I hope to see you again.” Then he turned around and walked back to his car. His breath was going faster as he sat down on his seat, gripping the steering wheel. He almost laughed when he started to drive away. This kid…  how did he even know where to find him? Was it really a coincidence? As if… Today’s youth was really something… He smiled slightly, he didn’t even want to know where Miyake got his information from. Tender feelings? Well... he didn't feel much for the boy, there was just a slight feeling of protecting this guy who remembered him so much of his own son.

 

******

“Well, well…” Sho laughed a bit. “You aren’t bad at all.”

Nino grinned at that, smiling at Sho. It was fun, he thought, how much they hid the truth. Nino’s chess game was catastrophic, no practicing with Takki had helped… and both of them, he and Sho knew it. But they were enjoying this light moment way too much than to complain.

“Checkmate.” Sho smiled a bit, leaning back in his chair, grinning at how Nino eyed his chess pieces grumpily. They both stayed quiet for a moment, but it was not an awkward way of being quiet, they simply enjoyed it to sit together, their thoughts wandering around on their own. Then Sho shifted his attention back to Nino. “So… everything alright at home?”

Nino rolled his eyes a bit. “Kind of…” he sighed. “Subaru and Takki made up. And Ryo is…well…my bratty little brother.”

Sho grinned at that. “All little brothers are bratty!”

“I guess you are right.” Nino grinned. “Just that my little brothers are all stubborn.”

“All of you brothers are stubborn.” Sho answered teasingly, before he sighed a bit. “I would have loved to have siblings…”

“Ah.” Nino made, his attention immediately caught. His eyes caught Sho piercingly. “You hardly talk about your family.”

Sho’s gaze became inscrutable again, his smile forced. “There is not much to tell you…” Well, that wasn’t even a lie. Not that his life was extremely tragic… but it wasn’t that happy either. When he started to work here he had thought that nothing in the world could make him envious again… until he had met Nino… and his brothers… and they didn’t even cherish it much. Or maybe they did… Sho knew that they did… it was just easier to be grumpy when he thought that they didn’t.

Nino’s eyes were scanning him now. “Sho?” he asked firmly, leaving the suffix.

The other puzzled at that. “Eh…”

“You are always acting all awkward when I ask you about your private life!” Nino said straight-forwardly, his voice soft but also firm.

“Leave me…” Sho sighed out.

“What am I for you?” Nino asked instead.

Sho glared at him, his heat hammering against his chest. He had never been good with people who tried to push their way into his mind. “Not much…” he breathed out. He knew it was not nice, he knew it would hurt Nino, and he felt sorry for saying it, because it wasn’t true, but even more he wanted to not talk about anything concerning his past.

Nino looked at the other thoroughly, swallowing down a hurt expression. “Alright, if I’m nothing for you, you can tell me! It’s easier to tell people who don’t mean anything for you…”

Sho stared at him in disbelief, his mind starting to do strange things to him. He wanted to tell Nino that he was wrong, that he did mean something to him, then he wanted to hit him for pushing him like that, he wanted to hurt him for being so confident, he wanted to be comforted by him… With a swift movement Sho pushed the chess board from the desk.

Nino blinked at the other in surprise, Sho’s angry glance surprising him a bit, but he just kept looking at the other calmly, not saying anything.

“Damn!” Sho grumbled, his normal calm and good-mannered attitude totally gone. “Truth is, I have no family. Since I’m small… It’s not really a big deal anymore for me. But I can’t help and envy you for your brothers, though they are difficult and stubborn and bratty… I never had a home. Is that enough for you to know?” His eyes sparkled with anger.

Nino looked at him for a moment, taking in all the information he got, then he bent forward, laying his hand on Sho’s. His voice sounded soft. “I’m sorry that you don’t have a family…” he paused for a moment, a sad look on his face. “Sometimes loneliness can be strong, becoming a part of our every day life, without us realising it.” He smiled a bit. “You shouldn’t let it overwhelm you… Because I’m sure you can make your own home now. Get over it and start to live your life, alright? You just have to feel comfortable somewhere…”

Sho blinked, totally surprised by Nino’s superior and calm attitude. “I feel pretty comfortable here…” he admitted, blushing a bit.

Nino smiled at that. “See. And if you envy us, you can always join us. Another stupid brother would do no harm.” He pulled his hand away from Sho’s, realising that he had hold Sho’s hand almost too long… Then he bent down, searching for the chess pieces that were lying on the floor now.

Sho sighed a bit. “Sorry…” he mumbled. “For yelling at you. It’s not your fault.”

“It’s okay…” Nino smiled, though somewhere in his mind there were still these words cursing around… You don’t mean much… Did Sho really mean that? Nino decided to better not think about it. “How about playing another game?”

Sho rolled his eyes a bit. “You really want to get beaten again?”

“I’m not that bad!” Nino pouted.

Sho grinned, happy that they were back to their normal, cheerful selves. “You are the worst player ever!”

“I’m not!” Nino blurt out stubbornly. “And I’ll show you!”

 

******

 

Ryo sighed tiredly, his head dropped to the side a bit, looking out of the window, though he was still talking to his brothers. He felt this strange feeling overwhelming him again… the same as before. Takki was looking at him firmly right now, wanting him to tell him what happened. But as much as his mind told him to say what happened….that Nagase had helped them… that he had just tried to help someone…he couldn’t. The words just didn’t come out his mouth. It wasn’t exactly his stubbornness that held him back, but something that was lying much deeper. And to his own surprise he felt fear towards this thing buried inside him. He didn’t want it to come to the surface.

He felt Takki’s hand on his face, softly forcing him to turn his head around to look at him again. He bit on his tongue, holding back the wish to simply cling at something and cry.

Takki sighed a bit, scanning his little brother carefully. “Tell us what happened.” He demanded carefully, trying to keep his temper back. At least he had learned a bit form their last crash.

Ryo shook his head a bit, looking at the other trough inscrutable eyes, his face wearing a strange expression.

Takuya got up and sighed. “I’ll get you some ice. I still don’t like it how your face looks like… you should cool it a bit.” With that he left the room.

“Hey guys, sorry I’m late. I was just…” Nino blinked for a moment as he stepped into the room, then he gasped in surprise. “SHIT! What happened to Ryo-chan?”

Right behind him Okada’s head popped up. He had just accompanied Nino to hand some documents to Takki, because the latter had his free day today. But due to his normal calm attitude, Okada couldn’t help but gasp in surprise. “Holy cow!” he bit his lips a bit, feeling slightly nervous. “Well…” he mumbled, not sure what to say. In the end he decided to better leave the brothers alone and just handed the folder to Takki. “See you…eh…tomorrow.” he mumbled, his eyes still scanning Ryo’s face in shock.

When Nino heard how Okada closed the door, he shifted his attention towards Ryo. “How… how did that happen!?” he breathed out.

“Nice that you ask…” Subaru grumbled. “That’s what we want to know too. But he won’t tell us…”

“Why won’t he tell you?” Nino called out, glaring at Subaru like it was Subaru’s fault.

Subaru frowned at that, shaking his head at Nino’s question. “How should I know!? He hasn’t said anything since two hours.”

Takuya came back, handing the ice over to Ryo, grabbing his shoulders and looking at him insistently. “You have to tell us! What happened?”

“Nothing…” Ryo mumbled tiredly, hiding his shaky hands behind a pillow.

“Okay.” Takki breathed out, getting slightly impatient already. “Let’s change it then…” He paused for a moment. “Someone jumped you from behind and beat you up?”

Ryo shook his head.

“You accidentally fell down from somewhere?”

Ryo shook his head weakly.

“You…” Takki paused for a moment, then he sighed in frustration. “Don’t tell me you jumped someone purposely, starting a fistfight.”

Ryo shrugged helplessly. Well…actually this was true, wasn’t it? Somehow… there was still more to the story of course.

“Ryo-chan!”  Nino called out. “We don’t want you to have fistfights. That’s not okay… Just think of the guys that start such a thing… What are they?”

“He is right.” Subaru agreed. “It’s not only dangerous, but also wrong. Guys who start fights are no good.”

“Okay…” Takki took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “Tell us why you did it.”

Ryo stared at Takki, realising that this here was his last chance. His thoughts were rushing around madly inside his mind, like he was going crazy… He just wanted to lie down and be alone, no one bothering or caring about him… Slightly he wondered when everything became so dark for him… Why he couldn’t answer any of his brothers’ questions here in this situation though they were asking him friendly and trying to talk to him. But the headache inside his head started to spread, pictures from things popping up in his mind that had happened long ago, mixing up with the recent incident of him fighting those guys who were bullying Maru. He felt a strange dry feeling in his throat, not able to chase it away. Crazy. It was easier, he thought, if they were angry… it was different then, easier to bear for him than their caring attitude. He wondered slightly since when this feeling inside him was so strong… maybe Jin was right and he was too stubborn or too proud. But occasionally he couldn’t help the darkness overwhelming him, taking his breath away. Maybe it was a bad coincidence that one of these dark moments was right now, he could still feel the hands of the guy he was fighting with a few hours before on his throat, taking away all his breath, a slight feeling of panic spreading inside him. So he didn’t answer…

That was basically it for Takki, he jumped up in anger, giving away to his temper. “Alright!” he yelled. “Then don’t answer. But I tell you something, this time it was a step too far… You are grounded…” he paused. “for… for… for… the rest of your life!”

Ryo didn’t even answer to that, he just took a deep breath, feeling how some air flooded through his lungs again. Then he jumped up and rushed out of the room. He closed the door of his room behind him, dropping down on the ground there. “Die! Why don’t you die!?” He rubbed over his head a bit. What the heck was that? Where did these voices and pictures come from?

 

“Great…” Subaru mumbled. “Well…that was one huge success, right?”

“Totally.” Takuya mumbled. “One of our best successes…” he sighed. “He reacted like a little mouse that was being surrounded by cats…”

“Exactly.” Nino shook his head, then a tiny smirk appeared on his face. He turned around, looking at Takki. “You grounded him for the rest of his life?” he grinned.

Subaru rolled his eyes. “Yeah… maybe he will make lesser problems in 80 years.”

Takuya nodded his head. “At least he won’t have any problems then… because the four of us will be dead then.” He paused for a moment. “You know what makes me wonder a bit…” Takuya started, but got interrupted by someone opening the entrance door forcefully and smashing it again.

“SORRY!” Jin yelled. “I just met Junichi and he told me that Ryo-chan is… is… oh no! I’m so sorry Takki-kun.” He bowed deeply.

Takki stared at him in disbelief. “Why are you sorry?”

“You have to believe me!” Jin begged. “I didn’t know it was that dangerous. He promised me he wouldn’t go alone… or tell one of you guys if it was too dangerous… Such an idiot…” Jin paused for a moment, looking around desperately. His hair totally messy, his face pale. “Where is he? In his room?” he didn’t even wait for an answer but just ran upstairs towards Ryo’s room.

“What was that??” Takki blinked in shock.

“How should I know!?” Nino shook his head in surprise, looking at the others through questioning eyes.

Takuya shrugged helplessly. “I have no idea what this boy was talking about right now…”

But before they could discuss this any further the doorbell rang, pulling all of them out of their thoughts.

“Why are we so busy today?” Subaru grumbled.

“Really…” Nino agreed. “There are days when no one drops by and today there is some huge coming and going…”