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The fact there was no answer to his knock at the door didn’t surprise Shin. More likely than not, Ryo was still deeply asleep.
Sleeping was about the only thing he did those days, not that Shin would be casting stones any time soon. All the Troopers had been exhausted by that last fight against Arago. Already pushed to their physical limits as the fighting increased while they made their way through deserted Tokyo and then to Arago’s palace, getting beaten black and blue by a giant, physical version of the Youja and absorbed into him had left them all in bad shape.
Most of them had nightmares about it, even if they tried to pretend they didn’t.
Shin couldn’t remember much of the actual battle, just that he clung to consciousness and himself and desperately tried to encourage Ryo to take down Arago once for all and damn the consequences for HIM, but…
That was already enough.
That was already too much.
Ryo had been the last one grabbed… and the first to break out, thank to that mysterious white armor.
And while Shin wanted to cheer for the other Trooper and the fact he had saved them all, at the core of himself, he felt uneasy. They knew next to nothing about that new armor and how it had formed or WHY, just that it was powerful. Very powerful.
So powerful that just summoning and wearing it for a handful of minutes had promptly knocked out Ryo for days.
If you added in the other Troopers’ exhaustion and own bruises and injuries, well… It was lucky for them that they had Nasutei and Jun – and Byakuen, of course, couldn’t forget the white tiger, Shin thought with a small smile as he balanced the tray he carried on one arm and reached to open the door.
Nasutei had provided them with a shelter, opening her Grandfather’s house for them, letting them crash on beds that felt incredibly comfy after weeks of rough ‘camping’ and sleeping on the ground with someone keeping watch (truly, it was a stroke of luck the house was so big they could all room comfortably, though it meant sharing a bedroom with at least one other person – and they didn’t mind). As for Jun, even though he was a child, he had taken very seriously to ‘keeping watch’ and doing all the little things he could around the house to make sure his ‘niichan’ weren’t bothered, from handling basic cleaning and even cooking with pre-made stuff.
How adorable – though Shin ought to show him how to prepare something edible with fresh products, just so the boy knew how. Canned and frozen things were good in a pinch, but a growing boy like Jun ought to eat fresh stuff in priority.
That being said, all in one, Shin thought they were recuperating fine. They could get up and move around with just a few aches, and even that was fading. They were eating healthily, some of them as if they had been starved for weeks (and surprisingly, Shuu wasn’t the biggest contender here, no; it was Touma, and Seiji had showed himself quite ravenous too, at least the first two or three days).
The only one of them who had yet to make an apparition around breakfast, lunch or dinner’s table was Ryo.
He still slept most of the time, though they all acknowledged he was getting better. Ryo had regained consciousness, after all, even if he dowsed off easily. He had regained colors, too, when he had been awfully pale the first time he had collapsed after the white armor disappeared, and though he didn’t eat with everybody, he still ate plenty when someone took a plate up in his room.
It was, admittedly, a point of contention between Ryo and the rest of the Troopers. While the black-haired boy kept insisting he was strong enough to go down the stairs and share the meals with everybody, nobody believed him, and three out of four Troopers insisted that he should keep resting, especially after the one attempt Ryo made at taking the stairs almost ended with him falling down the steps.
Thanks the Gods, Byakuen was quick.
He was also heavy, and if Ryo protested too much, the white tiger had no qualms about climbing on the bed and resting his head and his front paws on his ‘master’s’ legs to force him to stay sitting.
(Nasutei had winced when she had seen it, mumbling about the beds and weight limits, but that was another story.)
So, they were at a stalemate here. Ryo had grudgingly acknowledged that he needed more rest and shouldn’t presume of his strength, and the Troopers relayed themselves to keep an eye on him to make sure he was indeed resting and to bring him his meals in his room until they were satisfied he wasn’t going to fall down after a few steps.
Which was exactly what Shin was doing right now.
Though his stomach was already full, he couldn’t help but enjoy the smell of the Hayashi rice Nasutei had cooked for them. It had been tasty and Shin was sure Ryo would enjoy it. Curry aside, he seemed to favor dishes of rice and sauce, or so Seiji had reported after bringing Ryo his lunch a few days ago. Combined with a miso soup and some tsukemono, it made for a hearty meal that their convalescing friend was sure to enjoy.
“Ryo?” he called softly as the door creaked. “Ryo, are you aw…?”
He paused, blinking.
Ryo wasn’t in bed.
Well, no, he was in bed but he wasn’t asleep, as Shin had suspected from the lack of reaction to his knock at the door.
Instead, the shirtless black-haired boy (Shin’s cheeks colored slightly at the sight; it wasn’t indecent, they were between boys in the house except for Nasutei, but the way his eyes kept going back to check Ryo’s chest and shoulders felt unsettling. Especially he wouldn’t help but think that Ryo was rather handsome…) was sitting with a notebook open in his lap, drawing into it with colored pencils and a look of deep concentration making his eyebrows crease.
Where he had gotten them, Shin had no idea, for he couldn’t remember anyone mentioning they had brought Ryo anything to pass time during his convalescence (which, come to think, was a lapse on their part; yes, Ryo spent more time asleep than awake, but it must have been boring for him; Shin would have to correct the oversight), and it was the first time he saw them. The Suiko bearer’s eyes drifted to the ground, where Byakuen was lying quietly, and his eyebrows went up.
Hmm. Perhaps he had the ‘guilty’ party right there. It was either him or Jun.
Coughing, he cleared his voice and signaled his presence.
No wonder Ryo hadn’t heard him coming if he was anything like Shin’s Mom, the green-eyed boy thought fondly as Ryo blinked and startled. She too could forget the rest of the world existed if she was focused enough on the pottery she was trying to bring to life.
The unexpected comparison made Shin smile wider even as he came in and pushed the door back with one foot, showing off the tray to the younger boy.
“Sorry to interrupt, but it’s lunch time,” he said as Ryo flushed and quickly pushed notebook and pencils aside.
“Shin! Sorry, I didn’t hear you,” Ryo flushed, installing himself more comfortably before Shin put the tray in his lap. Ryo still had dark circles under his eyes, which made Shin frown because they looked darker than before, but he didn’t comment. Just because Ryo slept didn’t mean his sleep was any easier than the other Troopers’ after all.
“I had noticed,” he said dryly, going to sit on the other bed and absently petting Byakuen’s head as he did so, the tiger having risen to claim a few seconds of his attention. “But there’s no harm. If anything, I am sorry to have interrupted you while you were busy,” he nodded toward Ryo’s discarded notebook as the other teen dug into his plate.
If Ryo was practicing a hobby like drawing or reading whenever he was awake for a stretch of time, then it was yet another good sign for his recovery.
And he also had a good appetite, the Suiko bearer thought with affection, lips twitching as Ryo practically moaned in delight at the first taste of sauce over steaming rice. On the floor, Byakuen growled, and Shin gave him a look.
“It’s not that I didn’t think of you, Byakuen, but last I’ve checked, human food isn’t for you,” he chided the animal in good humor, making Ryo chuckle.
“I tell him that all the time,” he said with amusement in-between two spoons. His voice sounded a little off to Shin’s ears, though, and he wouldn’t be otherwise surprised if the black-haired Trooper fell asleep the moment he was left alone. “I think he’s just trying to make a point. If you’re hungry, you need to go hunt, buddy,” he said to the tiger sternly. “I can stay alone for a bit.”
The look Byakuen gave him back make Shin guffaw. “I don’t think he’s very convinced by your argument,” he teased as Ryo groaned. “And you wouldn’t be alone; we’re all here,” he added with a raised eyebrow.
Ryo flushed. “Well, yes, of course, that’s not…! I didn’t mean…!”
Shin just chuckled. “I know, I know,” he said soothingly, eyes trailing back toward Ryo’s notebook. It looked a lot like the ones Nasutei kept in her office and Shin knew Jun had grabbed one to doodle. The chance he was the one who brought it to Ryo had just climbed to 90%, minimum. “I was just teasing. You’re feeling better?” he questioned.
Ryo rolled his eyes. “Every single time, you guys ask me the same thing and I keep telling you, I’m much better,” he insisted.
“Much better, yes,” Shin acknowledged readily. “But fine? Now, that’s where we find the point debatable. Do try and tell me you’re not feeling like crashing the moment your stomach will be full,” he dared.
Ryo’s shoulders slumped. “I’m not weak or helpless, Shin,” he gave the older boy a look that was part frustration, part conviction.
“Nobody said you were,” Shin said softly, rising to come and put his hands on Ryo’s shoulders briefly, squeezing. “But wherever you want to acknowledge it or not, you just went through a very rough ordeal. Your body itself is telling you to slow down and rest; shouldn’t that tell you something?”
“And yours doesn’t?” the Rekka bearer protested weakly, but he didn’t try to break Shin’s weak hold. Instead, he seemed to lean into it, food forgotten.
“It’s not the same,” Shin eluded, though he had to admit Ryo wasn’t wrong to worry either. Still, he WAS recuperating more slowly than them. Probably because he had put himself in even more dangerous situation than the other Troopers: getting blinded and poisoned by Naaza, jumping on the equivalent of a canon ball to seek Touma in space,… “Still, you shouldn’t complain too much; you get a room all for yourself and Byakuen, and you are finally able to practice your hobbies, aren’t you?” he nodded toward the notebook.
“My hobbies?” Ryo blinked, sounding uncertain before he followed Shin’s eyes and his lips twitched. “Oh, that! It’s not so much a hobby than a long ingrained habit when I’m bored,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Drawing helps pass time.”
“Mind if I take a look?” Shin asked gently. He couldn’t help but be curious. He wasn’t expecting masterpieces, but he hadn’t known Ryo drew at all. Trust to be told, there was still a lot he didn’t know about all of his new friends, things he longed to learn about to get a better picture of what everybody liked or not, and wherever they could bond further on similar interest.
Seiji, for example, had a passing interest in Ikebana, even if he didn’t practice it himself, favoring instead the care of bonsai. Shuu and Shin had easily bonded over a love of cooking (and in Shuu’s case, eating as well). Shin knew how to play Go, which had allowed him to discuss with Touma about the latest tournaments and break the ice.
Ryo was the only one Shin didn’t know all that much about – yet.
But if he liked drawing, well, it was always something the two of them could discuss. Shin wasn’t half-bad in art class, perhaps they could trade tips and stories about school projects?
“Have a blast,” Ryo dismissed, going back to his plate after yawning. “But honestly, it’s not that good,” he mumbled.
Shin browsed slowly through the pages, eyebrows slowly rising as he did so. “Not that good?” he asked in disbelief, glancing between the notebook, Ryo’s face and Byakuen. “Ryo, I’d be unable to do something half as neat!”
He wasn’t kidding, either. Ryo’s lines belied more confidence than Shin owned whenever he grabbed a pen. He could see next to no rubber marks, no wavering. And the subjects…
A bouquet of flowers in a vase, copied from a real one that Shin himself had brought a few days earlier to lighten the place. A bee standing on a long leaf from the same bouquet, done in a rendition of colors, delicate wings stretched, looking ready to take flight. Two birds, standing on the balcony Ryo could see from his bed, the curtain waving with the wind.
Byakuen, rolled in a ball, sitting on the floor, putting his head on the bed. Close-up and details of his eyes, his snout, his paws, his tail and rump.
They looked as if the drawings would come alive.
“Your sketches of Byakuen are awesome,” he praised, astonished.
Ryo’s lips twitched. “Thank, but it’s nothing. I’ve grown used to draw him over the years,” he glanced at the tiger, pushing the tray away from his lap. He hadn’t finished the Hayashi rice, to Shin’s annoyance, but at least he had cleared the rest. It was still progress, so he said nothing.
“Is that so?” Shin asked, glancing at the tiger again. He could have sworn Byakuen was preening…
“Yeah. He’s the first live-model I’ve ever attempted and I’ve never really stopped,” the blue-eyed teen nodded. “Before that, I mostly copied animals and landscapes from my Dad’s pictures – he’s a professional photographer, so he keeps a lot of his work at home,” he explained. “My place is… it’s a bit isolated,” he coughed as Shin looked at him questioningly. “I got to walk a bit to get to the village proper and we don’t get a great TV signal to begin with, so I had to find stuff to occupy myself when the weather was bad or the snow too high to risk going on a hike. I took to drawing to fill the time and, well, I still do from time to time,” he mumbled, yawning again.
“Ever did humans?” Shin couldn’t help but ask even as he eyed how Ryo kept blinking, certain that his suspicion Ryo would crash was coming true.
He wasn’t too sure why he had asked that.
Perhaps because he wanted to see more of Ryo’s obvious talent for live-drawing in action.
Perhaps because he wanted Ryo to realize his ‘not-exactly-a-hobby’ was actually fabulous.
(Ryo’s father was a photographer; did that mean Ryo practice photography as a hobby, too? If so, he was even more the artistic guy than Shin had ever suspected, and it was intriguing and genuinely fascinating.)
Perhaps because he wanted a chance to better bond with the other boy, and time spent taking poses and being sketched might grant him that. Hell, for all Shin knew, perhaps the other Troopers would love that too.
(A group picture made by Ryo’s hand might be an awesome thing to keep in the future, too...)
“Hmm? Oh, no, not really… though I wouldn’t mind trying, I guess?” Ryo shrugged, or tried to. It looked quite sluggish.
Shaking his head, Shin put the notebook on the nightstand alongside the handful of pencils and helped Ryo settle on his back. It was probably redundant, but the other boy didn’t protest – Shin had no proof, but he was all but certain Ryo longed for the brief contacts and, besides, it helped sooth Shin as well, making sure everybody was alright and comfortable.
“Well, if you ever want to try, I’ll be happy to be your model,” he smiled as Ryo snuggled against the pillow.
“You’d do?” he questioned, eyes half-closed. “Oh… I guess… I guess it’d be nice,” he yawned again, then closed his eyes entirely. His breathing started to slow. If he wasn’t already asleep, he would soon be.
“Told you so,” Shin murmured, not daring to raise his voice further as he took the tray back. He glanced down at Byakuen, who was watching him with eyes that seemed to pierce right through him. “Hey, I don’t have any hidden intention here,” he informed the tiger sternly. “Really,” he insisted when the tiger looked like he was snorting. “N… never mind,” he shook his head. “Just keep him company and roar if he needs anything,” he instructed, feeling silly as he quickly left Ryo’s room behind, feeling his cheeks redden despite himself.
He didn’t think Byakuen was truly judging him, but still…
Shin hadn’t been implying anything naughty, after all.
He had just proposed to be Ryo’s model; not to have the other boy draw him in the nude!
(Though perhaps, if Ryo was interested…)
(…)
(Him, nude and alone in a room with Ryo… was it him, or was it hotter than better in the house?)
(… oh. Oooooh.)
(The tiger had very, very good instincts.)
(Damnit.)