FicWad

Title: Failed
Pairing: Tatsuha/Ryuichi, one sided Ryuichi/Shuichi.
Challenge: Beach Scenario
Notes: My first attempt at this pairing, so I'm really not sure how well it works.

The way the waves brushed up against Ryuichi's toes made Tatsuha envious of the ocean. But it was that wistful look on his idol's face that was causing the young monk the most anxiety. Even though it was supposed to be a beach party for Nittle Grasper and close family and friends, the older man had been unusually distant and had kept himself as far away from the others as possible. Even Shuichi hadn't been able to bring a smile to his face, which meant the apocalypse was on hand.

Tatsuha had been trying to screw up enough courage to go over and talk to him, but unpleasant memories kept weighing his feet down. The prick of thorns from the rose he'd given him, the smell of movie theatre popcorn, the taste of that soft, strong mouth on his, tasting of salt, licorice and butter, followed by a vicious, burning slap to his cheek. Even though their first and only date had happened three years ago, Tatsuha could still imagine the bruise that had long since faded.

Even as he stood there feeling the invisible aches and pains, the slow slump of Ryuichi's shoulders reminded him that there was someone out there who was not just imagining his pain. Reminding himself that he was over it, that they were both over it, Tatsuha made his way towards Ryuichi.

"Hey, what's up?" The way Ryuichi's head jerked back caused Tatsuha's heart to jump and he had to keep himself from swooning. "That's some, er, nice sand, huh?"

The tired look on Ryuichi's face didn't do much to mask his irritation. "Tatsuha, I'd really like to..."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to talk about the sand." He found himself looking at Ryuichi's shoulder and was instantly lost in the slickness of that bare skin. While he no longer turned into a slobbering, brainless mess at the mere thought of Ryuichi's existence, there were still moments when a ripple of lust would pass through him; now wasn't a good time. "You seem down."

Raising a hand to his head and patting it, Ryuichi gave him a dazed look. "Nope, same height as always, so I don't see how I'm down. Maybe you're just too tall."

Making sure he didn't groan, Tatsuha forced himself to make eye contact with Ryuichi and somehow kept his face from flushing and his voice level. "You haven't been yourself. You aren't clinging to Noriko or babbling at Tohma .And you keep avoiding Shuichi." As he said that last name, there was almost a bitter taste, but it quickly passed, despite the look of despair that crossed Ryuichi's face, followed by an angry looking pout.

"You watch me too much."

"I can't help it." The way Ryuichi was hugging his shoulders gave Tatsuha the urge to wrap his arms around him, but he resisted.

"You should try." Turning his eyes towards the ocean again, Ryuichi sighed and then stamped his foot. "Then again, I've never been very good at taking my own advice."

"Is there anything I should know about?" While he doubted that Shuichi would ever cheat on his brother, Eiri was the jealous type and tended to be irrational at times. If his brother was going to try and murder Ryuichi at some point in the future, it'd be nice to know in advance, so that Tatsuha could have more time to agonize over who to support.

"No. That's the problem." He put a hand to his chest, laughing. "I'm doing everything just short of stealing him off in the middle of the night and he doesn't get it."

There was a whooping sound in the distance and Tatsuha found himself looking at the volley ball nets where Shuichi was apparently kicking Suguru's ass. "Shuichi's a bit too stupid to appreciate anything less subtle than "I love you" being screamed in his ear for five minutes straight." Eiri had complained enough to Tatsuha about Shuichi's misunderstandings that it wasn't a complete exaggeration.

Fingering a stray gray hair, Ryuichi looked at it in annoyance. "I'm too old to be waiting around for him to notice me." It was all Tatsuha could do to keep himself from shaking Ryuichi till some sense entered his skull. Yes, the singer may have had a couple of gray hairs by now, but if anything, he thought it looked cute.

Instead, he forced himself to focus on the problem at hand. "And if he did notice?" Nothing good could come of it, Tatsuha knew that much. His own experiences attested to as much. There came a point where you just had to accept that you'd never had anything to begin with.

Laughing, Ryuichi threw his arms wide. "I'd have the whole world in my arms for one whole minute!" He stood like that for a few minutes before he let his arms drop. "Then it would blow up in my face like everything else in my life."

"Not everything you do is a failure." If anyone was the failure, it was Tatsuha, who'd blown his chance like the oversexed idiot he was.

"You say that even though you're one of them." It was hard to say if Tatsuha was more surprised by what had been said or by the somber way Ryuichi had said it. The singer was far from somber.

This time, even though it was probably the wrong thing to do, Tatsuha drew an arm around him. "Failures can be fixed." Ryuichi stared at him, hand still holding onto that gray hair. "You just need to take that second chance."

"You know, I might just decide to take that chance with Shuichi instead of you." Instead of letting the threat get to him, Tatsuha decided to plow ahead, his course now clear.

Squeezing Ryuichi's arm a little tighter, trying to keep his smile from as sweet as possible, Tatsuha made sure that Ryuichi's eyes were locked on his. "Well, before you do that, how about we go out on a second date?"

"Who waits that long for a second date?" The way Ryuichi's eyes widened emboldened Tatsuha, causing a swell of confidence within him.

It might not have been the brightest thing to pull, but Tatsuha decided to take a moment to bring out his Casanova side. "You forget who you're talking to. Us Uesugi men are famous for taking our time." Instead of smiling back at him, Ryuichi gave Tatsuha a sour look.

"What you really mean is you want a chance at me before your brother kills me?" At least the tone in his voice and the pout on his lips gave Tatsuha reason to believe that he hadn't entirely crossed the line.

"You could say that. Though there are other reasons." Actually, he'd been dying for a chance to make up for that disastrous first date for years. It was almost laughable that he was only able to ask for it now.

For a moment, it actually felt like Ryuichi was leaning against him a little. "And if it doesn't work out?"

As far as Tatsuha was concerned, he wasn't going to fail this time. If he did, he might just have to commit a murder-suicide. "I swear I'll help you do whatever it takes to confess to him." Yes, he was definitely not going to screw up on this date, especially if that was the outcome.

"Make who confess?" Ryuichi jumped at the sound of Shuichi's voice, but Tatsuha's arm kept him from running away. He favored Shuichi with an easy smirk and pulled Ryuichi a little closer, even though he knew that his brother's lover wouldn't know to be jealous in a million years.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He saw Ryuichi's lips start to move in what might have possible been the start of a confession. Putting a pair of fingers to Ryuich's mouth, Tatsuha gave him a devilish grin. "Remember, you have to go out with me first."

The stunned look that Shuichi had been giving them the whole time melted away into a smile. "So you guys are going to give it another try?" The way Ryuichi smiled back at Shuichi as they began to babble back and forth at each other, Tatsuha began to wonder if the dagger had been stabbed into the heart of his idol or if he had just stabbed himself with it.