One-shot - Five KoyaShige dramas that never happened
Title: Five KoyaShige dramas that never happened
Pairing: Koyama/Shige
Rating: PG-13
Words: ~7,500
Prompt: #050 - Writers' Choice - Excerpts
A/N: Written for je_prompts. Also, if anyone wants to write one of these plots and turn it into an actual story, THEY ARE FREE FOR THE TAKING.
Summary: Five KoyaShige dramas that totally could have happened, but never did.
1. Area Searched, No Trace
Koyama the rookie cop and Shige the public defence lawyer
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Koyama Keiichiro is a rookie cop who finally gets called out to his first big crime; a gun murder in downtown Tokyo with no trace of any suspects or a weapon at the scene. During a search of the nearby area, Koyama runs off by himself and spots a fleeing man who is in possession of a gun. Koyama chases him down an alley and takes him into custody, and the forensics team find that the gun matches with gunshot wound on the body of the victim.
Enter Kato Shigeaki the public defence lawyer who, though barely out of law school, is hailed as a genius. He and Koyama are immediately at odds. To Shigeaki, Koyama is foolhardy and incompetent. To Koyama, Shigeaki is an insufferable know-it-all. This is compounded by the fact that they’re both on different sides of the murder case, with Shigeaki working as the lawyer for the defendant and Koyama as a witness for the prosecution.
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“Just a moment!”
Shigeaki stopped and turned around, watching with a blank expression as Koyama bounded after him down the courthouse steps, two at a time.
“Do you need something, officer?” Shigeaki asked, and he said it in that deadpan, almost bored tone that Koyama had come to expect from him by now. It really got on his nerves.
“I’m not sure where you get off insulting my intelligence in the middle of a court case, but that’s not very professional of you, is it? This isn’t about embarrassing the other side in public, it’s about justice.”
Not that he’d expect a lawyer to know anything about justice, Koyama thought, but he kept that to himself for fear of being labelled a hypocrite.
Shigeaki regarded him coldly, and the expression on his face made Koyama feel far more like an idiot than anything he might have implied in the courtroom.
“I don’t usually like giving my tactics away to the other side,” He began in a tone sounded drier than a desert, “But since it’s already common knowledge that lawyers use all sorts of tactics to fluster their opposition during questioning. It’s easier to catch people out when they aren’t composed, easier to get them to slip up. So, if you don’t mind me saying so, what I did in there was perfectly professional, at least in my occupation. After all, how else am I supposed to find out if you’re lying or not?”
Koyama opened his mouth, but found that he had nothing to say. Shigeaki watched him in what seemed to be mild amusement.
“Is that all, officer?”
“I wouldn’t lie. You have no reason to try and catch me out.” Koyama finally said. He was surprised when Shigeaki nodded.
“I can tell. But standard procedure is standard procedure, and I do my job by the book because you can’t be too careful.” And then he smiled. It looked wry and fake, but regardless of that, it was still the first time Koyama had seen a smile on his lips since they’d met at the beginning of this court case. “Though rest assured, I can see that you aren’t the lying type. You’re obviously honest and straight forward. Two traits I’m not sure are highly prized in your line of work.”
Koyama felt himself flushing bright red, though from anger or embarrassment he wasn’t sure. “That’s better than trying to get a murderer out of jail. I met the victim’s family. She had a husband and a 6-year-old daughter who are both distraught. I can’t imagine how they’ll feel if you help her killer walk free.”
Shigeaki’s expression grew icy and Koyama felt it suck all the heat and anger out of him. He was suddenly nervous, as though he’d done something very wrong.
“That’s right.” Shigeaki replied, and his tone was calculated, yet somehow still harsh. “So imagine how they’d feel if the wrong man was put in prison and her killer still walked free. I’m sorry to say this officer, but you have an astounding lack of evidence, no witnesses to the crime and a suspect who isn’t even in his right mind with no indication that he has any homicidal tendencies whatsoever.”
Koyama flushed again, but this time he knew it was from humiliation. He wasn’t sure what to do; he had nothing to say, but he couldn’t just slink away in shame either.
“I get the idea that you think you and I are complete opposites, officer,” Shigeaki continued. “But I’ll let you in on a secret: I’m not the lying type either. We’re both aiming towards the same goal. The only difference between us is that one of us is right, and the other is wrong. And I’m willing to bet my life that it’s not me. I’ll see you in court tomorrow.”
And with that, he turned on his heel and walked off, back straight and steps measured, leaving Koyama feeling like he’d missed something very important.
The only problem was that he didn’t know what.
------
In the end the defence loses, but Koyama, still shaken up from his exchanges with Shigeaki, continues to try and pursue the case. He goes back to the place where he apprehended the suspect to do some independent investigation. The suspect was a mentally unstable homeless man with no friends or family to provide character witness, but Koyama eventually manages to find someone who tells him they think that the man wasn’t at the scene of the crime at the time of the shooting. He gets the witness’ name and takes the evidence to his superior, but is told to let I go because the case is nearly over, and he doesn’t need to make any more work for all of them.
Koyama is astounded by the attitude, but there’s nothing he can do to convince his superiors to let him continue pursuing the case. In a fit of desperation, he goes to talk to the only person he can think of who might try to help him out.
Koyama and Shige then embark on a private investigation to discover who the killer was, and why they murdered the woman, while growing closer and learning a bit more about one another in the process.
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He felt awkward, coming to Shigeaki’s apartment for the first time. It was a modest size, the kind that was suitable for one person, but so sparse that it made it feel huge. Koyama felt lonely just from being inside. He wondered if it had the same effect on Shigeaki.
“Make yourself comfy.” Koyama snapped out of his thoughts, and followed Shigeaki’s instructions, going and sitting down on one of the couches. He kept proper posture, sitting primly with his legs together, not relaxed at all.
“You look like you have a stick up your ass.” Shigeaki commented, and flopped unceremoniously down on to the other couch, with his feet up on the cushion.
Koyama couldn’t help but gape.
“Pardon?” He said in a tone that sounded embarrassingly similar to a squeak.
“I said to make yourself comfortable, and you’re doing exactly the opposite. No one’s going to find you here, so stop looking like you’re ready to be ambushed at any second. It’s making me nervous.”
Koyama tried not to stare at Shigeaki incredulously, and forced his limbs to relax. He’d never seen him in his home environment before, and once he got over the weirdness of the usually cold and reserved Kato Shigeaki suddenly being so candid and having a sense of humour, he had to say that he infinitely preferred it. He supposed that no one could be that cold and uptight all the time, but it was still a shock to see a different side of him.
He wondered if it was partly because he’d grown to trust Koyama and didn’t mind letting down his walls down around him, at least a little.
“You’re quite different when you aren’t in the middle of work.” Koyama said, and Shigeaki shrugged, looking away as though he was embarrassed.
“I think everyone is. Though you don’t seem to change much no matter what you’re doing.” He said it in his usual voice, but for some reason there was something about the tone that Koyama couldn’t pinpoint which made it sound like a compliment.
He laughed. “Well if I wasn’t me, I wouldn’t be anyone, so I guess that’s lucky.”
Shigeaki looked away again so that his face wasn’t visible, and Koyama could’ve sworn he heard something that might have passed for a chuckle.
“You say some really odd things.” He said. “I don’t know how someone like you managed to pass their police exam.”
But the insult held no sting. Koyama was too busying vowing to himself that before this independent investigation was up, he would somehow manage to make Shigeaki really, truly smile.
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2. Colourful World
Shige the workaholic businessman and Koyama the part-time cleaner
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Kato Shigeaki is ambitious and fresh from university with a degree in business and straight A’s on his scholastic record. He’s just been employed at his father’s prestigious company where, thanks to his academic success, he has a guaranteed position of one day becoming the company president.
He’s also currently dating a beautiful model who happens to be the daughter of a rich family. They’ve recently started talking about engagement which both their families fully support, and his future couldn’t seem brighter.
That’s when he meets Koyama Keiichiro, the laid-back company cleaner who isn’t sure what he wants to do with his life, and even more strangely to Shige, doesn’t seem to mind.
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Shige patted the back pocket of his pants frantically, but it was no use. His wallet wasn’t there, and no matter how hard he looked for it, it wasn’t going to magically appear.
‘Don’t panic,’ He told himself, ‘Think about this logically. I put it in there this morning. It was there when I stopped off at the vending machine to get my coffee milk. There’s only so much distance that I covered between there and here, so it must have fallen out after I put it back.’
He got out of the elevator once he reached his floor, then waited until no one was around to see before going back down; there probably wasn’t anyone looking, and even if they were, it was doubtful that they’d bother questioning why he was riding the elevator back down right away, but he wanted to avoid any embarrassment possible. He didn’t want to tarnish his image in any way if it could be avoided.
Shige retraced his steps back to the vending machine, but his wallet was nowhere to be found. He forced himself to stay calm. That was okay, perhaps someone had picked it up and handed it in to reception or to the police or…
“Ah!”
At first Shige was too preoccupied to pay any attention to the exclamation on a nearby stranger, but as they got closer to him he looked up.
He could tell at first glance from their uniform that they were a cleaner. It was the standard outfit that the company provided; blue, a little baggy, certainly not flattering to the figure, and after looking at his face Shige couldn’t help but they didn’t suit this man at all. He was young, fresh faced and handsome, with dyed brown hair. Shige thought that he seemed like the kind of person whose personal taste in clothes would be somewhere between stylish and flashy. He was so caught up in these thoughts that he didn’t notice the wallet being held out to him until the stranger spoke.
“Is this yours? I think I saw you drop it just before.”
“Uh… yes. Thank you.” Shige accepted it with a smile of gratitude and an immense feeling of relief. “It would’ve been very troublesome if I’d lost it. Thank you so much.”
The cleaner just shook his head and smiled, eyes crinkling up so much that it almost looked as though they were closed.
“I tried to give it back to you before, but you got into the elevator too quickly. I thought I’d hand it in to the reception desk and see if they could find you, but here you are.”
Shige nodded, making sure to put it back carefully this time so it couldn’t fall out.
“Well, I really appreciate it. Thank you again, er…”
“Koyama. Koyama Keiichiro.” The cleaner replied, bowing.
“Koyama-san. I’m Kato Shigeaki. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you.” Koyama echoed, smile not leaving his face for a second. He reminded Shige of warmth, from his sunshine smile to his tan skin, to his soothing voice. He seemed so charismatic that Shige thought it was a waste for him to be a cleaner.
Then, realizing that he was doing nothing but hanging around staring, said, “Well, I’d better get back to work. Sorry for the trouble.”
“Not at all.” Koyama replied with a soft, nasal chuckle. “I guess we’ll see each other around.”
And as Shige took the elevator back up to his office, he couldn’t help hoping that they would.
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He finds himself drawn to him, enthralled and puzzled by how unlike any of the other people in his life Koyama is. As he slowly gets to know the cheerful, friendly man with seemingly no ambitions, Shige becomes fascinated with this different view of the world that Koyama has introduced him to and starts to question his own perspective on life.
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“Seriously Koyama, where are we going?” Shige finally asked again. “We’ve been driving for over an hour now.”
“We’re nearly there.” Koyama replied, tone light and carefree. “It won’t be long now. Just you wait, you’ll be glad you came.”
Shige fidgeted in his seat and tried to relax. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Koyama, it was just that the man was terribly air-headed and didn’t always think things through properly.
“You know it’s nearly 11 o’clock, right? I have work early tomorrow and a report to submit and now I won’t be back home before midnight unless we turn around right now.”
“A report you’ve already finished.” Koyama said, and even though he kept his eyes on the road Shige knew that he was rolling them. “Come on Shige, live a little! Life is there to be enjoyed, not endured. This is the first time in forever that you haven’t had to work over time.”
Shige sighed. “I still need to double-check the paperwork before I submit it.” But he had to agree. He’d been at work well into the early hours of the morning every night recently. Still, this was a good chance to perfect his report that he was missing just to drive to some unknown location with Koyama.
“You’ll turn into a hermit if you don’t stop this.” Koyama warned him. “Anyway, you can sleep in the car on the way back so don’t worry about being tired tomorrow. Maybe you’ll even have time before work to do your double-checking.”
Shige had no response to that argument, so he just sat back and listened to the soft music coming from Koyama’s car speakers. Even though it was night time, the summer heat was still lingering and he was grateful for the fresh breeze that poured into the open windows as they drove along.
After what felt like the longest and most pointless commute of his live, Koyama finally slowed the car and came to a stop.
“We’re here!” He cheered, throwing the door open before he even had his seatbelt undone properly and jumping out to open Shige’s door for him as well.
“Koyama…” He asked suspiciously as he climbed out of his seat and stretched his legs. It seemed like he’d been sitting down for an eternity. “Why are we at the beach?”
“Why?” Koyama replied, actually sounding a little worried. “Do you not like beaches?”
“No, I…” Shige started to say, but then stopped. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d come to the ocean. He’d seen it from the train window, or looked down on it from planes when he’d gone on business trips with his father, but he had no memories of coming to it in person for leisure. There were photos at home of him with his mother and grandparents at about age three, but he couldn’t remember that day, even if he tried.
“I do like the beach, I guess.” He finally said. “But why are we here?”
Koyama looked at him incredulously as he opened the trunk of the car. “Why? Does everything need a reason behind it? We’re here to have fun! It’s summer time. Summer is the time for beaches and fireworks. Oh, I brought sparklers. Want one?”
He passed one to Shige as they trudged down towards the sand. Shige took it gingerly. It’d almost been a decade since he’d held any kind of firework.
“This still feels kind of childish.” Shige told him as Koyama flicked a lighter and lit their sparklers. The little sticks sputtered into life, spitting out little raindrops of light.
“It’s not childish, it’s fun.” Koyama replied, waving his slightly too close to Shige’s face to be safe.
“Of course you’d think that.” Shige retaliated. “Because you’re childish.”
“I dare you to say that again.” Koyama said, but the glint in his eyes and the smile of his face betrayed that he wasn’t really angry.
“Childish.” Shige repeated, and had to jump out of the way as a still-lit sparkler was swung his way. Koyama lunged at him, giggling as he did, and Shige took off running, kicking off his shoes and digging his toes into the sand before he had the chance to think about what he was doing.
Koyama gave chase, and the two ran down the beach, laughing and shrieking. Koyama gave up first, flopping down onto the sand on his back.
“For someone who spends all his time in a suit at his desk, you run pretty fast.” He said when Shige came jogging back to join him.
“I’ve been spending a lot less time there recently due to your bad influence.” Shige replied, kicking some sand his way.
But as he sat down on the beach with Koyama with the sound of the waves in his ears, he could feel an unfamiliar lightness in his heart and couldn’t bring himself to regret it.
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3. Tanshin Funin - Business Bachelor
Koyama the transfer employee and Shige the company legal advisor
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Koyama Keiichiro works in the customer complaints section of a brewery company, and at the age of 26, has just been promoted to section manager because of his impeccable ability to deal with and relate to clients. Due to this he is given a new assignment which requires for him to move from the Sapporo branch to the Tokyo branch of the company for the next two years. He must leave behind his wife and her ailing father to live by himself in a Tokyo apartment.
In the Tokyo branch of the company, he meets Kato Shigeaki, a freshly graduated but nevertheless brilliant law school student who is working on the company’s legal advisor.
Koyama, who married right after graduation and has never been in a relationship with anyone other than his wife, begins to experience a strange attraction to him which eventually becomes impossible for him to repress.
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They stumbled into Koyama’s tiny apartment, probably reeking of cigarette smoke and beer from their usual after work trip to the bar with their co-workers. It was only the second time that Shige had come back here with him after drinking, and so he stood a little awkwardly next to the couch, not knowing what to do.
“You can sit there if you want.” Koyama said, his speech coming out about half a beat too slow.
Shige wasn’t doing much better, especially when he went to sit down, but misjudged the space between him and the couch and sat down hard on the floor.
He winced but didn’t seem too badly hurt, just looking confused for the most part, as though his brain hadn’t quite caught on to what had just happened to him.
It took Koyama a moment to think of offering to help him, but he did eventually, offering Shige his hand. Shige took it and Koyama pulled him up.
They both lost their balance slightly, and Koyama stumbled, taking Shige with him. Fortunately, there was a wall behind them that stopped either of two from falling over again, but it ended with Shige cradled against Koyama’s chest.
He froze up. Even with alcohol affecting his brain, Koyama knew that this was dangerous; all those feelings he’d being trying to suppress, the strange dreams he’d been having that he’d been trying to forget, they came rushing to the surface. With Shige wrapped in his arms, staring up into his eyes and looking both vulnerable and alluring all at the same time, it was impossible for Koyama to deny the surge of attraction he was feeling.
“I shouldn’t.” He heard his mouth say, and felt like slapping himself. He hadn’t meant to speak and now Shige was looking at him, puzzled.
“Shouldn’t what?” He asked, and Koyama cursed himself for letting Shige come home with him, because he’d known tonight had felt different, had known that he might do something stupid.
He swallowed, brain screaming at his arms to let Shige go, but body not listening. His heartbeat felt like it was speeding up more and more by the second, and it didn’t help when Shige lifted a hand and placed it on his chest. Koyama became painfully aware that Shige’s other hand was on the small of his back, trapped between his body and the wall.
“I think I’m about to make a big mistake.” His voice was unsure, barely above a whisper.
“Koyama…” Shige said softly, in a tone that sounded all too unintentionally sultry, and the words came out without him being able to stop them.
“I want you, Shige.” He murmured. He held on tighter, and Shige just shivered in his embrace, body going slack and melting against him as though he’d been waiting for those words since the first day they’d met.
“Then take me.” He whispered against Koyama’s suit clad shoulder. And Koyama couldn’t help but comply.
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However, part way into their affair, something happens that will force Koyama either to hide away the new side of himself he’s just discovered or give up the comfortable, normal life that he’s built for himself - the only one he’s ever known. When it comes to choosing between family and love, which will he decide on?
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The television was on but muted, and neither one of them was paying attention to it anyway. Shige was lying in Koyama’s lap with his eyes closed, while Koyama stroked his hair, lulling him into a doze.
“I always used to think there was something wrong with me.” Koyama spoke in a soft voice, almost to himself. Shige made a non-committal noise to show that he was still awake and listening, then shifted slightly, nuzzling against Koyama’s stomach. It made him giggle. “I was never interested in girls or the nude magazines that my classmates would nick from their fathers’ rooms. I didn’t even have a girlfriend until university. And then when she and I got married, I still didn’t enjoy doing… you know... Bedroom things with her.”
Shige’s face went a little pink at the mention of sex, but he didn’t make any comment, so Koyama kept talking.
“There’s never been any spark there. I always thought that I was just weird and maybe I didn’t like being physically intimate.”
“You’re not weird.” Shige finally replied, opening his eyes and looking up into Koyama’s. “I mean, I… I fooled around with a girl or two as well, back in high school, and I hated it. It felt completely wrong. Not like it does with you.”
“With me.” Koyama repeated, feeling warm inside and out. There was that fluttery sensation again; that feeling of complete adoration accompanied by a pounding heart and full body tingles. If this was what really being in love was like, he wished it hadn’t taken 26 years for him to find it.
“Yeah.” Shige said, laughing in that strange little way of his that Koyama had grown to love. He cupped Shige’s cheek, stroking it with his thumb, and Shige’s eyes slipped closed again.
Koyama was probably to blame for what happened the next morning - it was Sunday and neither of them had to go in to do overtime, nor did they have any paperwork due. He’d woken up at 9:30, and was just lying in bed with Shige, curled up together and feeling content and satiated. He was just thinking about how everything felt like it was going right for him when the phone rang.
He’d stumbled out of bed, waking Shige who muttered groggily and rubbed his eyes while Koyama picked up the handset from the receiver.
“Hello?” He said in a tone thick with drowsiness.
“Kei? Did I wake you?”
It was his wife. Koyama cast a worried glance at Shige, but quickly figured that he wouldn’t say anything and give them away. Even if he did, it was unlikely that his wife would find it suspicious. It was probably only his own guilt making him nervous.
“No, I was already awake, just still in bed. How are you doing? How’s your dad?”
“He’s fine.” She replied a little dismissively, and he finally noticed that her voice had sounded hurried; slightly urgent.
“Is something wrong?” He asked, feeling a little bit of fear curling in the pit of his stomach. “Did something bad happen?”
“What? Oh, no, no, nothing bad at all. In fact,” She said, a little rushed and out of breath. “I have something good to tell you.”
“What is it?” Koyama asked, now thoroughly perplexed. He had no idea what she was so wound up about.
“Kei…” She said, then took a deep breath that he could even hear over the phone. “I’m pregnant.”
Koyama felt the world come crashing down around him.
4. Secret Agent Girl
Shige the cross-dressing undercover agent and Koyama the rich, spoilt university student
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Kato Shigeaki is a young secret agent who is sent undercover by a rich woman as a bodyguard for her son Koyama Keiichiro. Koyama, though he doesn’t know it, is the child of a powerful crime boss who his mother was once married to before she divorced him and remarried another man. Now that his existence as the only legitimate heir to the family has been discovered, Koyama is being targeted by rival families with a grudge against his father.
Not wanting her son to know of his heritage, his mother refuses to tell him and instead hires Shigeaki to protect him.
However, as the rival families are aware that there will be a bodyguard posted somewhere in the school, Shige is forced to enrol at the private university as a female student as a precaution since the people who are after Koyama will be expecting the undercover agent to be a boy.
------
Shige was worried that he’d be betrayed by his pitch immediately, but the woman behind the desk didn’t seem to have noticed. Those voice training lessons must have really paid off. Even if he didn’t have the most convincing feminine voice, at least it wasn’t a dead giveaway anymore.
He received the key to his dormitory room from the receptionist who smiled at him kindly, obviously mistaking his worry for nerves.
“Don’t worry.” She assured him. “You’ll settle in right away.”
“Thank you.” Shige smiled, hoping that she was right, though in a completely different way to what he meant.
The skirt that he was wearing felt too short, and his shaved legs felt funny. He wasn’t used to his hair being so long - “We’re going to give you extensions, you can’t afford to wear a wig for the actual assignment. It’d be too suspicious if something went wrong and it came off.” - and he desperately wanted to get it cut.
He also didn’t like the feel of makeup. The gloss felt sticky on his lips, the powder on his face felt like it was clogging his pores, and he was terribly worried about the mascara leaving black marks on his face. It didn’t help that he’d managed to stab himself in the eye this morning when he’d been trying to apply it. Shige wasn’t sure why girls bothered.
As expected of an elite private university, at least the dorm rooms were nice. Shige had already known this though, because part of making sure this assignment was a success was knowing this whole campus better than he knew his own face. The more acquainted with it he was, the safer Koyama would be. He already knew for memory how many steps down the hall there was between their rooms, where all the emergency exits were and every possible way there was to get into Koyama’s room.
Unpacking was a nightmare. Not because it was difficult or frustrating, but because he got to see exactly what was in his luggage. All the padded shirts and bras, the huge arrays of makeup and perfumes, the girly underwear.
“Why do I have to go as far as wearing these?” He muttered to himself, finally free to complain now that he was out of earshot of his superiors. Of course he knew perfectly well that the more authentic his disguise as Shigemi was, the better, but that didn’t stop him from cringing at the feeling of the silk and lace in his hand and wishing he still had his good old boxers.
After unpacking his laptop and brand new state of the art hair straightener from the bottom of his last box, Shige figured it was time for a break.
More important than sorting out all his belongings was the task of getting to know Koyama. The sooner they became friends, the easier it would be for Shige to keep watch over him. By now it was quite late in the day, meaning that Koyama would’ve had plenty of time to move into his dorm room and Shige quickly concocted a plan in his head to allow them to meet.
He checked his appearance in the mirror, grimacing at the thought of reapplying his makeup, but doing it anyway. He smoothed his clothes, adjusted his fake breasts, and then headed out the door. Shige rode the elevator down to the bottom floor and then rifled through his purse, pretending to have forgotten something to give him an excuse to go back up.
He knew it was unlikely anyone was watching him, but out of his room he knew he had to act as though he were under constant surveillance. That was how he’d been trained to handle these missions.
He bypassed his room, and instead went to Koyama’s, two doors down from him. He casually pulled his key from his purse and stuck it in the lock, turning it and faking a puzzled expression when it didn’t open.
Almost immediately, he heard movement from inside the room, and the door swung in, and Shige came face to face with Koyama Keiichiro for the first time.
------
However, Shige didn’t count on making such an attractive girl, which leads to all kinds of problems, particularly when Koyama starts to fall for him.
Now he must continue to protect Koyama without letting the two of them get too close, while simultaneously fighting off hordes of irrepressible male suitors, keeping his identity a secret and trying not to fall asleep in his 2 hour-long lectures.
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Shige stiffened and froze up as Koyama’s arms wrapped around him from behind.
“Did you say yes?” He asked, and Shige could feel his face buried in his fair, and feel his warm breath against his scalp.
“Say yes to what?” He responded, wishing his voice didn’t sound so quivery right now.
“When he asked you out.” Koyama whispered, hugging a little tighter. “Did you say yes to him?”
Shige felt his face turn pink. He hadn’t, but should he tell Koyama that? If he said he had, then that would solve the problem of them getting too close to each other.
Then again, if he said no, it was more likely that Koyama wouldn’t suddenly start avoiding him.
“I’m… I’m thinking about it.” He lied, and for some reason it made him feel filthy. He wondered why he’d had no trouble lying to Koyama in the beginning, but couldn’t do it without feeling like a terrible human being now.
“Please don’t.” Koyama pleaded, and Shige felt a strange flutter in his stomach that he hadn’t experienced for many years. “I know you think that I’m spoilt and that I always get what I want when I ask for it, but… please don’t, Shige. I don’t want you to be…”
“Koyama.” Shige said, cutting him off. He felt a little agitated, and wondered if he was getting too into his role. “Am I not allowed to date just because you don’t want me to?”
“No!” Koyama spun him around, and Shige was surprised by the panic he saw in his eyes now that they were facing each other. “Shige, I just… he won’t be able to… none of them will be able to make you happy. Not like I can.”
It suddenly felt like it was hard to breathe.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to say.” Shige said harshly, knowing full well what Koyama meant. He’d suspected it for weeks now, but until now Koyama hadn’t ever gotten this close to actually expressing it in words. “Look, it’s getting late and we have a test in two days time, so I should probably go to bed. I’ll see you in class tomorrow, okay?”
But Koyama didn’t let go of him. Instead, he licked his lips nervously, and took a few long, shaky breaths.
“Shige…” He started, not quite meeting his eyes, though he didn’t look away from his face. “I really… I mean, I like… I really like…”
“I have to go.” Shige interrupted, and forcibly pulled from Koyama’s grip. “I’ll see you later.”
And then he tore out of the door, down the hall and back into his own room.
Once the door was shut and locked behind him, Shige leant against the wall with his head in his hands.
Why was it that his heart was beating so fast?
------
5. Until We Meet Again
Koyama and Shige the rival variety show hosts
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In spring 2005, Koyama Keiichiro and Kato Shigeaki are accepted into the Shooting Stars talent agency. The two of them quickly become friends, and promise each other that one day, they’re going to be big celebrities. Five years later, they’re the hosts of the two most popular variety programs on their network. It’s no secret from the public that they don’t like each other, and have been fighting to get the best ratings for years now. Koyama has the natural charisma and talent, and Shigeaki has the smarts and know how, and the two seem to be evenly matched in the clash for success.
However, when their network decides to do an overhaul on their schedule, Koyama and Shige learn that there isn’t any room left for both their programs, and that instead the station has put together a new show that they believe will undoubtedly get even higher ratings, which Koyama and Shigeaki will both host - together.
------
“I was thinking. Maybe I should quit.” Shige said hesitantly to Koyama before he took a bite of ramen. Koyama stopped chewing his and stared at Shige incredulously.
“What are you saying? Didn’t we promise each other that we’d do our best and get famous together? Why do you suddenly want to give up?”
Shige shrugged, eyes downcast, too ashamed to look Koyama in the face.
“It’s just... I’m not getting anywhere. Everyone loves you, because you’re funny and friendly and good at talking. They all think I’m boring and a know-it-all and not even that handsome. How am I supposed to succeed like this?” He sighed and stared down at his half finished bowl. He wasn’t really that hungry anymore. “And you know, I have university and it’s just going to get harder from now on, you know?”
“No way, Shige.” Koyama said firmly, reaching out to grab his hand in what felt like a pseudo handshake. “You’re so smart, you definitely have the wits to make it to the top. And besides, you promised me. You’re not going to just go and break it are you?”
Shige rolled his eyes. “Koyama, seriously, is this all about you or something? Just because of some silly promise I made, I’m not allowed to give up?”
“It’s not silly.” Koyama replied, narrowing his already narrow eyes. “But even if you hadn’t made that promise to me, I still wouldn’t let you. If you gave up on your dream you’d regret it, and I’d regret letting you. So come on. Don’t give up.”
“You really do think this is all about you.” Shige muttered, but he suddenly felt a little more like finishing off his food again. Koyama could always get through to him.
Shige grimaced. There was no way you could argue with solid truth no matter what you did, and it was there in black and white that Koyama’s shows ratings were still ahead of his for the second month in a row. It was probably time to add a new corner, or to invite a big name guest on for an episode or two. He hated being second to a guy like that. Koyama never took these kinds of things into account, he let the producers do most of the thinking for him and did what he felt was a good idea. The problem was, most of his hunches turned out to be right. It was hard to know whether he was lucky, or just very intuitive.
But either one, Shige didn’t like. He couldn’t stand being outsmarted by someone who wasn’t even using any smarts.
He knew that it probably wasn’t right to be so preoccupied with getting better ratings than someone from the same station as him who was in a completely different time slot; he knew he should be concentrating on getting better ratings than the shows from different stations that were in the same time slot as his. But somehow, whenever he saw Koyama’s face either in person or on TV, he forgot about all of that. Koyama was the only person he wanted to compete with. And Shige would beat him.
------
At first the two of them disagree, not wanting to work with each other. But eventually Koyama gives in and Shige, not wanting to seem childish, follows suite. They learn that the show will set-up and feature the reunions of long lost friends, under the guise of being a makeover show, in which Koyama will prepare one of the friends for the big reunion without letting them know what is really happening, while Shige prepares the other one. But while the idea seems foolproof, whether or not the two can get over their long-term rivalry and work together to make the show a success or not is still unsure. And more importantly, can the two break down the barrier they’ve put up between themselves over the past 5 years, or will it be impossible for them to return to their old friendship?
------
Yuya froze as Takahisa was brought into the studio, and Shige noticed that Koyama was immediately on edge. He wasn’t sure why, because even if the two had had a fight years ago in high school, that was a long time ago now. Both were well into their twenties now and if they’d really been such good friends before their falling out, then they should be over that by now.
Still, Koyama was nervous. He wasn’t sure why, but there was something different about the look on Takahisa’s face; it was a look of shock, just like the one that all the guests before him had worn when they’d been introduced to their long-lost friends, but somehow it wasn’t the same.
“I’m leaving.” Takahisa said with a blank face. “I’m sorry, but I can’t stay here.”
He spun on his heel, and tried to walk away, but Koyama grabbed him by his name.
“Hey, hey, wait a second Masuda-san.” He hissed. “What are we going to do about the filming if you just walk out? We won’t be able to finish the episode.”
Takahisa stopped and turned to Koyama with a dour smile.
“I’m very sorry, Koyama-san, but I’m not going to stay in the same room as someone who stole my girlfriend when I thought of him as my friend.”
Everyone in the room went slack jawed. Shige could see the producer out of the corner of his eye looking at Takahisa and Yuya’s families and mouthing, “I didn’t hear anything about this!”
Then for the first time since Takahisa had come into the room, Yuya spoke.
“Massu.” He said, a tentative smile on his face. “I already told you that it didn’t quite happen like that. She told me you two had broken up and I’d liked her for a long time too, so I thought it was okay. If I’d known she was lying, I wouldn’t have…”
“I’m sorry Tegoshi-san.” Takahisa said over the top of him, effectively cutting Yuya off. “But I don’t really think someone who would thoughtless go out with my ex-girlfriend right after we broke up could be considered a very good friend either. I’m sorry Koyama-san, but I would really like to leave. Please let go of my arm.”
The staff were all agape and the producer was wringing his hands. If Takahisa walked out now, they wouldn’t have a very satisfying ending, and they couldn’t air an episode like that.
Yuya wasn’t helping anymore, and Shige had no idea what to do either.
It seemed as though they’d have no choice but to can the episode, when Koyama spoke again.
“Masuda-san, isn’t it time to let your grudge go? I know that it hurts when you feel like someone’s betrayed you, and it feels like you’ll never be able to trust them again. But is something like this really worth losing a friend over? Is Tegoshi-san even with this girl anymore?”
“No.” Tegoshi replied, and he was smiling despite the situation. “I don’t like liars. I didn’t stay with her after I found out that they hadn’t broken up.”
Koyama nodded.
“See, Masuda-san? Maybe it wasn’t right of him to date her even though he thought she was your ex-girlfriend, but that was in high school. People make mistakes and do silly things when they’re teenagers that they wouldn’t do when they’re adults. There are some times when you just need to forgive and forget, especially when it’s a friend. You can fight and break up with a girl, but a good friend will always be there for you forever, even if you fight. I think that a close friendship is definitely something that’s too important to lose. If I lost something like that, I think I’d regret it for the rest of my life.”
“I…” Yuya started to once Koyama stopped talking. “I know you hate me for what I did, but I’ve really wanted you to be able to forgive me this whole time. I’ve never forgotten about it, and I hope that maybe one day we can be friends again. I’ve missed Massu. I’ve never stopped thinking of you as my friend.”
There was silence in the studio, and for a moment Koyama was worried that neither of them had gotten through to Takahisa. But when he saw tears welling in his eyes, one slipping silently down his cheek, Koyama knew that it was going to be okay.
They didn’t air Koyama’s speech or Tegoshi and Masuda’s fight on TV.
“I’m kind of glad.” Koyama admitted with a smile once he and Shige watched the final cut. “I said some embarrassing things that I don’t really want on national television.”
Shige snorted. “They weren’t that much more stupid than anything you usually say. I don’t see what would bother you about it.”
Koyama rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help laughing.
“You’re just jealous because you couldn’t come up with something that touching off the top of your head.”
“What,” Shige replied, raising an eyebrow. “I couldn’t think up some cheesy line about friendship being too important to lose?”
This time Koyama really did frown. “I meant it though. I think friendship really is too important to lose.”
And the way Koyama was looking at Shige made him wonder if he’d really just been talking to Massu when he’d said that.
------
Omake:
“Is it just me, or are we gay for each other in pretty much all of these scripts?” Koyama asked sceptically as he put down the enormous stack of paper.
“No, of course not.” One of the staff hurried to reassure them. “It’s just passionate male friendship. Your audience would love it.”
“What about this one?” Shige asked, holding up the script for Tanshin Funin. “This is undeniably gay.”
“Oh… well…” The staff laughed uncomfortably. “That’s just the newest work in progress from Asano Taeko. It’s edgy, bound to be a hit.”
“But everyone will end up getting the wrong idea about our relationship.” Koyama said sadly. “More than they already do. I really don’t know where our fans get those ideas from…”
“I just don’t really want to wear a dress.” Shige sighed. He’d done enough cross dressing for his liking in the past year, and he didn’t need a line up of it in 2010.
“You do make a pretty girl though.” Koyama smiled. “If you really were a girl, I’d date you.”
“I’d be lucky.” Shige laughed, not taking offense. He could tell that Koyama had meant that as a compliment. “You’d make a great boyfriend.”
“Don’t know where your fans get those ideas from, huh…” The staff member muttered under his breath.
Koyama and Shige were too busy sharing a sappy smile to notice.
Pairing: Koyama/Shige
Rating: PG-13
Words: ~7,500
Prompt: #050 - Writers' Choice - Excerpts
A/N: Written for je_prompts. Also, if anyone wants to write one of these plots and turn it into an actual story, THEY ARE FREE FOR THE TAKING.
Summary: Five KoyaShige dramas that totally could have happened, but never did.
1. Area Searched, No Trace
Koyama the rookie cop and Shige the public defence lawyer
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Koyama Keiichiro is a rookie cop who finally gets called out to his first big crime; a gun murder in downtown Tokyo with no trace of any suspects or a weapon at the scene. During a search of the nearby area, Koyama runs off by himself and spots a fleeing man who is in possession of a gun. Koyama chases him down an alley and takes him into custody, and the forensics team find that the gun matches with gunshot wound on the body of the victim.
Enter Kato Shigeaki the public defence lawyer who, though barely out of law school, is hailed as a genius. He and Koyama are immediately at odds. To Shigeaki, Koyama is foolhardy and incompetent. To Koyama, Shigeaki is an insufferable know-it-all. This is compounded by the fact that they’re both on different sides of the murder case, with Shigeaki working as the lawyer for the defendant and Koyama as a witness for the prosecution.
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“Just a moment!”
Shigeaki stopped and turned around, watching with a blank expression as Koyama bounded after him down the courthouse steps, two at a time.
“Do you need something, officer?” Shigeaki asked, and he said it in that deadpan, almost bored tone that Koyama had come to expect from him by now. It really got on his nerves.
“I’m not sure where you get off insulting my intelligence in the middle of a court case, but that’s not very professional of you, is it? This isn’t about embarrassing the other side in public, it’s about justice.”
Not that he’d expect a lawyer to know anything about justice, Koyama thought, but he kept that to himself for fear of being labelled a hypocrite.
Shigeaki regarded him coldly, and the expression on his face made Koyama feel far more like an idiot than anything he might have implied in the courtroom.
“I don’t usually like giving my tactics away to the other side,” He began in a tone sounded drier than a desert, “But since it’s already common knowledge that lawyers use all sorts of tactics to fluster their opposition during questioning. It’s easier to catch people out when they aren’t composed, easier to get them to slip up. So, if you don’t mind me saying so, what I did in there was perfectly professional, at least in my occupation. After all, how else am I supposed to find out if you’re lying or not?”
Koyama opened his mouth, but found that he had nothing to say. Shigeaki watched him in what seemed to be mild amusement.
“Is that all, officer?”
“I wouldn’t lie. You have no reason to try and catch me out.” Koyama finally said. He was surprised when Shigeaki nodded.
“I can tell. But standard procedure is standard procedure, and I do my job by the book because you can’t be too careful.” And then he smiled. It looked wry and fake, but regardless of that, it was still the first time Koyama had seen a smile on his lips since they’d met at the beginning of this court case. “Though rest assured, I can see that you aren’t the lying type. You’re obviously honest and straight forward. Two traits I’m not sure are highly prized in your line of work.”
Koyama felt himself flushing bright red, though from anger or embarrassment he wasn’t sure. “That’s better than trying to get a murderer out of jail. I met the victim’s family. She had a husband and a 6-year-old daughter who are both distraught. I can’t imagine how they’ll feel if you help her killer walk free.”
Shigeaki’s expression grew icy and Koyama felt it suck all the heat and anger out of him. He was suddenly nervous, as though he’d done something very wrong.
“That’s right.” Shigeaki replied, and his tone was calculated, yet somehow still harsh. “So imagine how they’d feel if the wrong man was put in prison and her killer still walked free. I’m sorry to say this officer, but you have an astounding lack of evidence, no witnesses to the crime and a suspect who isn’t even in his right mind with no indication that he has any homicidal tendencies whatsoever.”
Koyama flushed again, but this time he knew it was from humiliation. He wasn’t sure what to do; he had nothing to say, but he couldn’t just slink away in shame either.
“I get the idea that you think you and I are complete opposites, officer,” Shigeaki continued. “But I’ll let you in on a secret: I’m not the lying type either. We’re both aiming towards the same goal. The only difference between us is that one of us is right, and the other is wrong. And I’m willing to bet my life that it’s not me. I’ll see you in court tomorrow.”
And with that, he turned on his heel and walked off, back straight and steps measured, leaving Koyama feeling like he’d missed something very important.
The only problem was that he didn’t know what.
------
In the end the defence loses, but Koyama, still shaken up from his exchanges with Shigeaki, continues to try and pursue the case. He goes back to the place where he apprehended the suspect to do some independent investigation. The suspect was a mentally unstable homeless man with no friends or family to provide character witness, but Koyama eventually manages to find someone who tells him they think that the man wasn’t at the scene of the crime at the time of the shooting. He gets the witness’ name and takes the evidence to his superior, but is told to let I go because the case is nearly over, and he doesn’t need to make any more work for all of them.
Koyama is astounded by the attitude, but there’s nothing he can do to convince his superiors to let him continue pursuing the case. In a fit of desperation, he goes to talk to the only person he can think of who might try to help him out.
Koyama and Shige then embark on a private investigation to discover who the killer was, and why they murdered the woman, while growing closer and learning a bit more about one another in the process.
------
He felt awkward, coming to Shigeaki’s apartment for the first time. It was a modest size, the kind that was suitable for one person, but so sparse that it made it feel huge. Koyama felt lonely just from being inside. He wondered if it had the same effect on Shigeaki.
“Make yourself comfy.” Koyama snapped out of his thoughts, and followed Shigeaki’s instructions, going and sitting down on one of the couches. He kept proper posture, sitting primly with his legs together, not relaxed at all.
“You look like you have a stick up your ass.” Shigeaki commented, and flopped unceremoniously down on to the other couch, with his feet up on the cushion.
Koyama couldn’t help but gape.
“Pardon?” He said in a tone that sounded embarrassingly similar to a squeak.
“I said to make yourself comfortable, and you’re doing exactly the opposite. No one’s going to find you here, so stop looking like you’re ready to be ambushed at any second. It’s making me nervous.”
Koyama tried not to stare at Shigeaki incredulously, and forced his limbs to relax. He’d never seen him in his home environment before, and once he got over the weirdness of the usually cold and reserved Kato Shigeaki suddenly being so candid and having a sense of humour, he had to say that he infinitely preferred it. He supposed that no one could be that cold and uptight all the time, but it was still a shock to see a different side of him.
He wondered if it was partly because he’d grown to trust Koyama and didn’t mind letting down his walls down around him, at least a little.
“You’re quite different when you aren’t in the middle of work.” Koyama said, and Shigeaki shrugged, looking away as though he was embarrassed.
“I think everyone is. Though you don’t seem to change much no matter what you’re doing.” He said it in his usual voice, but for some reason there was something about the tone that Koyama couldn’t pinpoint which made it sound like a compliment.
He laughed. “Well if I wasn’t me, I wouldn’t be anyone, so I guess that’s lucky.”
Shigeaki looked away again so that his face wasn’t visible, and Koyama could’ve sworn he heard something that might have passed for a chuckle.
“You say some really odd things.” He said. “I don’t know how someone like you managed to pass their police exam.”
But the insult held no sting. Koyama was too busying vowing to himself that before this independent investigation was up, he would somehow manage to make Shigeaki really, truly smile.
------
2. Colourful World
Shige the workaholic businessman and Koyama the part-time cleaner
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Kato Shigeaki is ambitious and fresh from university with a degree in business and straight A’s on his scholastic record. He’s just been employed at his father’s prestigious company where, thanks to his academic success, he has a guaranteed position of one day becoming the company president.
He’s also currently dating a beautiful model who happens to be the daughter of a rich family. They’ve recently started talking about engagement which both their families fully support, and his future couldn’t seem brighter.
That’s when he meets Koyama Keiichiro, the laid-back company cleaner who isn’t sure what he wants to do with his life, and even more strangely to Shige, doesn’t seem to mind.
------
Shige patted the back pocket of his pants frantically, but it was no use. His wallet wasn’t there, and no matter how hard he looked for it, it wasn’t going to magically appear.
‘Don’t panic,’ He told himself, ‘Think about this logically. I put it in there this morning. It was there when I stopped off at the vending machine to get my coffee milk. There’s only so much distance that I covered between there and here, so it must have fallen out after I put it back.’
He got out of the elevator once he reached his floor, then waited until no one was around to see before going back down; there probably wasn’t anyone looking, and even if they were, it was doubtful that they’d bother questioning why he was riding the elevator back down right away, but he wanted to avoid any embarrassment possible. He didn’t want to tarnish his image in any way if it could be avoided.
Shige retraced his steps back to the vending machine, but his wallet was nowhere to be found. He forced himself to stay calm. That was okay, perhaps someone had picked it up and handed it in to reception or to the police or…
“Ah!”
At first Shige was too preoccupied to pay any attention to the exclamation on a nearby stranger, but as they got closer to him he looked up.
He could tell at first glance from their uniform that they were a cleaner. It was the standard outfit that the company provided; blue, a little baggy, certainly not flattering to the figure, and after looking at his face Shige couldn’t help but they didn’t suit this man at all. He was young, fresh faced and handsome, with dyed brown hair. Shige thought that he seemed like the kind of person whose personal taste in clothes would be somewhere between stylish and flashy. He was so caught up in these thoughts that he didn’t notice the wallet being held out to him until the stranger spoke.
“Is this yours? I think I saw you drop it just before.”
“Uh… yes. Thank you.” Shige accepted it with a smile of gratitude and an immense feeling of relief. “It would’ve been very troublesome if I’d lost it. Thank you so much.”
The cleaner just shook his head and smiled, eyes crinkling up so much that it almost looked as though they were closed.
“I tried to give it back to you before, but you got into the elevator too quickly. I thought I’d hand it in to the reception desk and see if they could find you, but here you are.”
Shige nodded, making sure to put it back carefully this time so it couldn’t fall out.
“Well, I really appreciate it. Thank you again, er…”
“Koyama. Koyama Keiichiro.” The cleaner replied, bowing.
“Koyama-san. I’m Kato Shigeaki. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you.” Koyama echoed, smile not leaving his face for a second. He reminded Shige of warmth, from his sunshine smile to his tan skin, to his soothing voice. He seemed so charismatic that Shige thought it was a waste for him to be a cleaner.
Then, realizing that he was doing nothing but hanging around staring, said, “Well, I’d better get back to work. Sorry for the trouble.”
“Not at all.” Koyama replied with a soft, nasal chuckle. “I guess we’ll see each other around.”
And as Shige took the elevator back up to his office, he couldn’t help hoping that they would.
------
He finds himself drawn to him, enthralled and puzzled by how unlike any of the other people in his life Koyama is. As he slowly gets to know the cheerful, friendly man with seemingly no ambitions, Shige becomes fascinated with this different view of the world that Koyama has introduced him to and starts to question his own perspective on life.
------
“Seriously Koyama, where are we going?” Shige finally asked again. “We’ve been driving for over an hour now.”
“We’re nearly there.” Koyama replied, tone light and carefree. “It won’t be long now. Just you wait, you’ll be glad you came.”
Shige fidgeted in his seat and tried to relax. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Koyama, it was just that the man was terribly air-headed and didn’t always think things through properly.
“You know it’s nearly 11 o’clock, right? I have work early tomorrow and a report to submit and now I won’t be back home before midnight unless we turn around right now.”
“A report you’ve already finished.” Koyama said, and even though he kept his eyes on the road Shige knew that he was rolling them. “Come on Shige, live a little! Life is there to be enjoyed, not endured. This is the first time in forever that you haven’t had to work over time.”
Shige sighed. “I still need to double-check the paperwork before I submit it.” But he had to agree. He’d been at work well into the early hours of the morning every night recently. Still, this was a good chance to perfect his report that he was missing just to drive to some unknown location with Koyama.
“You’ll turn into a hermit if you don’t stop this.” Koyama warned him. “Anyway, you can sleep in the car on the way back so don’t worry about being tired tomorrow. Maybe you’ll even have time before work to do your double-checking.”
Shige had no response to that argument, so he just sat back and listened to the soft music coming from Koyama’s car speakers. Even though it was night time, the summer heat was still lingering and he was grateful for the fresh breeze that poured into the open windows as they drove along.
After what felt like the longest and most pointless commute of his live, Koyama finally slowed the car and came to a stop.
“We’re here!” He cheered, throwing the door open before he even had his seatbelt undone properly and jumping out to open Shige’s door for him as well.
“Koyama…” He asked suspiciously as he climbed out of his seat and stretched his legs. It seemed like he’d been sitting down for an eternity. “Why are we at the beach?”
“Why?” Koyama replied, actually sounding a little worried. “Do you not like beaches?”
“No, I…” Shige started to say, but then stopped. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d come to the ocean. He’d seen it from the train window, or looked down on it from planes when he’d gone on business trips with his father, but he had no memories of coming to it in person for leisure. There were photos at home of him with his mother and grandparents at about age three, but he couldn’t remember that day, even if he tried.
“I do like the beach, I guess.” He finally said. “But why are we here?”
Koyama looked at him incredulously as he opened the trunk of the car. “Why? Does everything need a reason behind it? We’re here to have fun! It’s summer time. Summer is the time for beaches and fireworks. Oh, I brought sparklers. Want one?”
He passed one to Shige as they trudged down towards the sand. Shige took it gingerly. It’d almost been a decade since he’d held any kind of firework.
“This still feels kind of childish.” Shige told him as Koyama flicked a lighter and lit their sparklers. The little sticks sputtered into life, spitting out little raindrops of light.
“It’s not childish, it’s fun.” Koyama replied, waving his slightly too close to Shige’s face to be safe.
“Of course you’d think that.” Shige retaliated. “Because you’re childish.”
“I dare you to say that again.” Koyama said, but the glint in his eyes and the smile of his face betrayed that he wasn’t really angry.
“Childish.” Shige repeated, and had to jump out of the way as a still-lit sparkler was swung his way. Koyama lunged at him, giggling as he did, and Shige took off running, kicking off his shoes and digging his toes into the sand before he had the chance to think about what he was doing.
Koyama gave chase, and the two ran down the beach, laughing and shrieking. Koyama gave up first, flopping down onto the sand on his back.
“For someone who spends all his time in a suit at his desk, you run pretty fast.” He said when Shige came jogging back to join him.
“I’ve been spending a lot less time there recently due to your bad influence.” Shige replied, kicking some sand his way.
But as he sat down on the beach with Koyama with the sound of the waves in his ears, he could feel an unfamiliar lightness in his heart and couldn’t bring himself to regret it.
------
3. Tanshin Funin - Business Bachelor
Koyama the transfer employee and Shige the company legal advisor
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Koyama Keiichiro works in the customer complaints section of a brewery company, and at the age of 26, has just been promoted to section manager because of his impeccable ability to deal with and relate to clients. Due to this he is given a new assignment which requires for him to move from the Sapporo branch to the Tokyo branch of the company for the next two years. He must leave behind his wife and her ailing father to live by himself in a Tokyo apartment.
In the Tokyo branch of the company, he meets Kato Shigeaki, a freshly graduated but nevertheless brilliant law school student who is working on the company’s legal advisor.
Koyama, who married right after graduation and has never been in a relationship with anyone other than his wife, begins to experience a strange attraction to him which eventually becomes impossible for him to repress.
------
They stumbled into Koyama’s tiny apartment, probably reeking of cigarette smoke and beer from their usual after work trip to the bar with their co-workers. It was only the second time that Shige had come back here with him after drinking, and so he stood a little awkwardly next to the couch, not knowing what to do.
“You can sit there if you want.” Koyama said, his speech coming out about half a beat too slow.
Shige wasn’t doing much better, especially when he went to sit down, but misjudged the space between him and the couch and sat down hard on the floor.
He winced but didn’t seem too badly hurt, just looking confused for the most part, as though his brain hadn’t quite caught on to what had just happened to him.
It took Koyama a moment to think of offering to help him, but he did eventually, offering Shige his hand. Shige took it and Koyama pulled him up.
They both lost their balance slightly, and Koyama stumbled, taking Shige with him. Fortunately, there was a wall behind them that stopped either of two from falling over again, but it ended with Shige cradled against Koyama’s chest.
He froze up. Even with alcohol affecting his brain, Koyama knew that this was dangerous; all those feelings he’d being trying to suppress, the strange dreams he’d been having that he’d been trying to forget, they came rushing to the surface. With Shige wrapped in his arms, staring up into his eyes and looking both vulnerable and alluring all at the same time, it was impossible for Koyama to deny the surge of attraction he was feeling.
“I shouldn’t.” He heard his mouth say, and felt like slapping himself. He hadn’t meant to speak and now Shige was looking at him, puzzled.
“Shouldn’t what?” He asked, and Koyama cursed himself for letting Shige come home with him, because he’d known tonight had felt different, had known that he might do something stupid.
He swallowed, brain screaming at his arms to let Shige go, but body not listening. His heartbeat felt like it was speeding up more and more by the second, and it didn’t help when Shige lifted a hand and placed it on his chest. Koyama became painfully aware that Shige’s other hand was on the small of his back, trapped between his body and the wall.
“I think I’m about to make a big mistake.” His voice was unsure, barely above a whisper.
“Koyama…” Shige said softly, in a tone that sounded all too unintentionally sultry, and the words came out without him being able to stop them.
“I want you, Shige.” He murmured. He held on tighter, and Shige just shivered in his embrace, body going slack and melting against him as though he’d been waiting for those words since the first day they’d met.
“Then take me.” He whispered against Koyama’s suit clad shoulder. And Koyama couldn’t help but comply.
------
However, part way into their affair, something happens that will force Koyama either to hide away the new side of himself he’s just discovered or give up the comfortable, normal life that he’s built for himself - the only one he’s ever known. When it comes to choosing between family and love, which will he decide on?
------
The television was on but muted, and neither one of them was paying attention to it anyway. Shige was lying in Koyama’s lap with his eyes closed, while Koyama stroked his hair, lulling him into a doze.
“I always used to think there was something wrong with me.” Koyama spoke in a soft voice, almost to himself. Shige made a non-committal noise to show that he was still awake and listening, then shifted slightly, nuzzling against Koyama’s stomach. It made him giggle. “I was never interested in girls or the nude magazines that my classmates would nick from their fathers’ rooms. I didn’t even have a girlfriend until university. And then when she and I got married, I still didn’t enjoy doing… you know... Bedroom things with her.”
Shige’s face went a little pink at the mention of sex, but he didn’t make any comment, so Koyama kept talking.
“There’s never been any spark there. I always thought that I was just weird and maybe I didn’t like being physically intimate.”
“You’re not weird.” Shige finally replied, opening his eyes and looking up into Koyama’s. “I mean, I… I fooled around with a girl or two as well, back in high school, and I hated it. It felt completely wrong. Not like it does with you.”
“With me.” Koyama repeated, feeling warm inside and out. There was that fluttery sensation again; that feeling of complete adoration accompanied by a pounding heart and full body tingles. If this was what really being in love was like, he wished it hadn’t taken 26 years for him to find it.
“Yeah.” Shige said, laughing in that strange little way of his that Koyama had grown to love. He cupped Shige’s cheek, stroking it with his thumb, and Shige’s eyes slipped closed again.
Koyama was probably to blame for what happened the next morning - it was Sunday and neither of them had to go in to do overtime, nor did they have any paperwork due. He’d woken up at 9:30, and was just lying in bed with Shige, curled up together and feeling content and satiated. He was just thinking about how everything felt like it was going right for him when the phone rang.
He’d stumbled out of bed, waking Shige who muttered groggily and rubbed his eyes while Koyama picked up the handset from the receiver.
“Hello?” He said in a tone thick with drowsiness.
“Kei? Did I wake you?”
It was his wife. Koyama cast a worried glance at Shige, but quickly figured that he wouldn’t say anything and give them away. Even if he did, it was unlikely that his wife would find it suspicious. It was probably only his own guilt making him nervous.
“No, I was already awake, just still in bed. How are you doing? How’s your dad?”
“He’s fine.” She replied a little dismissively, and he finally noticed that her voice had sounded hurried; slightly urgent.
“Is something wrong?” He asked, feeling a little bit of fear curling in the pit of his stomach. “Did something bad happen?”
“What? Oh, no, no, nothing bad at all. In fact,” She said, a little rushed and out of breath. “I have something good to tell you.”
“What is it?” Koyama asked, now thoroughly perplexed. He had no idea what she was so wound up about.
“Kei…” She said, then took a deep breath that he could even hear over the phone. “I’m pregnant.”
Koyama felt the world come crashing down around him.
4. Secret Agent Girl
Shige the cross-dressing undercover agent and Koyama the rich, spoilt university student
------
Kato Shigeaki is a young secret agent who is sent undercover by a rich woman as a bodyguard for her son Koyama Keiichiro. Koyama, though he doesn’t know it, is the child of a powerful crime boss who his mother was once married to before she divorced him and remarried another man. Now that his existence as the only legitimate heir to the family has been discovered, Koyama is being targeted by rival families with a grudge against his father.
Not wanting her son to know of his heritage, his mother refuses to tell him and instead hires Shigeaki to protect him.
However, as the rival families are aware that there will be a bodyguard posted somewhere in the school, Shige is forced to enrol at the private university as a female student as a precaution since the people who are after Koyama will be expecting the undercover agent to be a boy.
------
Shige was worried that he’d be betrayed by his pitch immediately, but the woman behind the desk didn’t seem to have noticed. Those voice training lessons must have really paid off. Even if he didn’t have the most convincing feminine voice, at least it wasn’t a dead giveaway anymore.
He received the key to his dormitory room from the receptionist who smiled at him kindly, obviously mistaking his worry for nerves.
“Don’t worry.” She assured him. “You’ll settle in right away.”
“Thank you.” Shige smiled, hoping that she was right, though in a completely different way to what he meant.
The skirt that he was wearing felt too short, and his shaved legs felt funny. He wasn’t used to his hair being so long - “We’re going to give you extensions, you can’t afford to wear a wig for the actual assignment. It’d be too suspicious if something went wrong and it came off.” - and he desperately wanted to get it cut.
He also didn’t like the feel of makeup. The gloss felt sticky on his lips, the powder on his face felt like it was clogging his pores, and he was terribly worried about the mascara leaving black marks on his face. It didn’t help that he’d managed to stab himself in the eye this morning when he’d been trying to apply it. Shige wasn’t sure why girls bothered.
As expected of an elite private university, at least the dorm rooms were nice. Shige had already known this though, because part of making sure this assignment was a success was knowing this whole campus better than he knew his own face. The more acquainted with it he was, the safer Koyama would be. He already knew for memory how many steps down the hall there was between their rooms, where all the emergency exits were and every possible way there was to get into Koyama’s room.
Unpacking was a nightmare. Not because it was difficult or frustrating, but because he got to see exactly what was in his luggage. All the padded shirts and bras, the huge arrays of makeup and perfumes, the girly underwear.
“Why do I have to go as far as wearing these?” He muttered to himself, finally free to complain now that he was out of earshot of his superiors. Of course he knew perfectly well that the more authentic his disguise as Shigemi was, the better, but that didn’t stop him from cringing at the feeling of the silk and lace in his hand and wishing he still had his good old boxers.
After unpacking his laptop and brand new state of the art hair straightener from the bottom of his last box, Shige figured it was time for a break.
More important than sorting out all his belongings was the task of getting to know Koyama. The sooner they became friends, the easier it would be for Shige to keep watch over him. By now it was quite late in the day, meaning that Koyama would’ve had plenty of time to move into his dorm room and Shige quickly concocted a plan in his head to allow them to meet.
He checked his appearance in the mirror, grimacing at the thought of reapplying his makeup, but doing it anyway. He smoothed his clothes, adjusted his fake breasts, and then headed out the door. Shige rode the elevator down to the bottom floor and then rifled through his purse, pretending to have forgotten something to give him an excuse to go back up.
He knew it was unlikely anyone was watching him, but out of his room he knew he had to act as though he were under constant surveillance. That was how he’d been trained to handle these missions.
He bypassed his room, and instead went to Koyama’s, two doors down from him. He casually pulled his key from his purse and stuck it in the lock, turning it and faking a puzzled expression when it didn’t open.
Almost immediately, he heard movement from inside the room, and the door swung in, and Shige came face to face with Koyama Keiichiro for the first time.
------
However, Shige didn’t count on making such an attractive girl, which leads to all kinds of problems, particularly when Koyama starts to fall for him.
Now he must continue to protect Koyama without letting the two of them get too close, while simultaneously fighting off hordes of irrepressible male suitors, keeping his identity a secret and trying not to fall asleep in his 2 hour-long lectures.
------
Shige stiffened and froze up as Koyama’s arms wrapped around him from behind.
“Did you say yes?” He asked, and Shige could feel his face buried in his fair, and feel his warm breath against his scalp.
“Say yes to what?” He responded, wishing his voice didn’t sound so quivery right now.
“When he asked you out.” Koyama whispered, hugging a little tighter. “Did you say yes to him?”
Shige felt his face turn pink. He hadn’t, but should he tell Koyama that? If he said he had, then that would solve the problem of them getting too close to each other.
Then again, if he said no, it was more likely that Koyama wouldn’t suddenly start avoiding him.
“I’m… I’m thinking about it.” He lied, and for some reason it made him feel filthy. He wondered why he’d had no trouble lying to Koyama in the beginning, but couldn’t do it without feeling like a terrible human being now.
“Please don’t.” Koyama pleaded, and Shige felt a strange flutter in his stomach that he hadn’t experienced for many years. “I know you think that I’m spoilt and that I always get what I want when I ask for it, but… please don’t, Shige. I don’t want you to be…”
“Koyama.” Shige said, cutting him off. He felt a little agitated, and wondered if he was getting too into his role. “Am I not allowed to date just because you don’t want me to?”
“No!” Koyama spun him around, and Shige was surprised by the panic he saw in his eyes now that they were facing each other. “Shige, I just… he won’t be able to… none of them will be able to make you happy. Not like I can.”
It suddenly felt like it was hard to breathe.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to say.” Shige said harshly, knowing full well what Koyama meant. He’d suspected it for weeks now, but until now Koyama hadn’t ever gotten this close to actually expressing it in words. “Look, it’s getting late and we have a test in two days time, so I should probably go to bed. I’ll see you in class tomorrow, okay?”
But Koyama didn’t let go of him. Instead, he licked his lips nervously, and took a few long, shaky breaths.
“Shige…” He started, not quite meeting his eyes, though he didn’t look away from his face. “I really… I mean, I like… I really like…”
“I have to go.” Shige interrupted, and forcibly pulled from Koyama’s grip. “I’ll see you later.”
And then he tore out of the door, down the hall and back into his own room.
Once the door was shut and locked behind him, Shige leant against the wall with his head in his hands.
Why was it that his heart was beating so fast?
------
5. Until We Meet Again
Koyama and Shige the rival variety show hosts
------
In spring 2005, Koyama Keiichiro and Kato Shigeaki are accepted into the Shooting Stars talent agency. The two of them quickly become friends, and promise each other that one day, they’re going to be big celebrities. Five years later, they’re the hosts of the two most popular variety programs on their network. It’s no secret from the public that they don’t like each other, and have been fighting to get the best ratings for years now. Koyama has the natural charisma and talent, and Shigeaki has the smarts and know how, and the two seem to be evenly matched in the clash for success.
However, when their network decides to do an overhaul on their schedule, Koyama and Shige learn that there isn’t any room left for both their programs, and that instead the station has put together a new show that they believe will undoubtedly get even higher ratings, which Koyama and Shigeaki will both host - together.
------
“I was thinking. Maybe I should quit.” Shige said hesitantly to Koyama before he took a bite of ramen. Koyama stopped chewing his and stared at Shige incredulously.
“What are you saying? Didn’t we promise each other that we’d do our best and get famous together? Why do you suddenly want to give up?”
Shige shrugged, eyes downcast, too ashamed to look Koyama in the face.
“It’s just... I’m not getting anywhere. Everyone loves you, because you’re funny and friendly and good at talking. They all think I’m boring and a know-it-all and not even that handsome. How am I supposed to succeed like this?” He sighed and stared down at his half finished bowl. He wasn’t really that hungry anymore. “And you know, I have university and it’s just going to get harder from now on, you know?”
“No way, Shige.” Koyama said firmly, reaching out to grab his hand in what felt like a pseudo handshake. “You’re so smart, you definitely have the wits to make it to the top. And besides, you promised me. You’re not going to just go and break it are you?”
Shige rolled his eyes. “Koyama, seriously, is this all about you or something? Just because of some silly promise I made, I’m not allowed to give up?”
“It’s not silly.” Koyama replied, narrowing his already narrow eyes. “But even if you hadn’t made that promise to me, I still wouldn’t let you. If you gave up on your dream you’d regret it, and I’d regret letting you. So come on. Don’t give up.”
“You really do think this is all about you.” Shige muttered, but he suddenly felt a little more like finishing off his food again. Koyama could always get through to him.
Shige grimaced. There was no way you could argue with solid truth no matter what you did, and it was there in black and white that Koyama’s shows ratings were still ahead of his for the second month in a row. It was probably time to add a new corner, or to invite a big name guest on for an episode or two. He hated being second to a guy like that. Koyama never took these kinds of things into account, he let the producers do most of the thinking for him and did what he felt was a good idea. The problem was, most of his hunches turned out to be right. It was hard to know whether he was lucky, or just very intuitive.
But either one, Shige didn’t like. He couldn’t stand being outsmarted by someone who wasn’t even using any smarts.
He knew that it probably wasn’t right to be so preoccupied with getting better ratings than someone from the same station as him who was in a completely different time slot; he knew he should be concentrating on getting better ratings than the shows from different stations that were in the same time slot as his. But somehow, whenever he saw Koyama’s face either in person or on TV, he forgot about all of that. Koyama was the only person he wanted to compete with. And Shige would beat him.
------
At first the two of them disagree, not wanting to work with each other. But eventually Koyama gives in and Shige, not wanting to seem childish, follows suite. They learn that the show will set-up and feature the reunions of long lost friends, under the guise of being a makeover show, in which Koyama will prepare one of the friends for the big reunion without letting them know what is really happening, while Shige prepares the other one. But while the idea seems foolproof, whether or not the two can get over their long-term rivalry and work together to make the show a success or not is still unsure. And more importantly, can the two break down the barrier they’ve put up between themselves over the past 5 years, or will it be impossible for them to return to their old friendship?
------
Yuya froze as Takahisa was brought into the studio, and Shige noticed that Koyama was immediately on edge. He wasn’t sure why, because even if the two had had a fight years ago in high school, that was a long time ago now. Both were well into their twenties now and if they’d really been such good friends before their falling out, then they should be over that by now.
Still, Koyama was nervous. He wasn’t sure why, but there was something different about the look on Takahisa’s face; it was a look of shock, just like the one that all the guests before him had worn when they’d been introduced to their long-lost friends, but somehow it wasn’t the same.
“I’m leaving.” Takahisa said with a blank face. “I’m sorry, but I can’t stay here.”
He spun on his heel, and tried to walk away, but Koyama grabbed him by his name.
“Hey, hey, wait a second Masuda-san.” He hissed. “What are we going to do about the filming if you just walk out? We won’t be able to finish the episode.”
Takahisa stopped and turned to Koyama with a dour smile.
“I’m very sorry, Koyama-san, but I’m not going to stay in the same room as someone who stole my girlfriend when I thought of him as my friend.”
Everyone in the room went slack jawed. Shige could see the producer out of the corner of his eye looking at Takahisa and Yuya’s families and mouthing, “I didn’t hear anything about this!”
Then for the first time since Takahisa had come into the room, Yuya spoke.
“Massu.” He said, a tentative smile on his face. “I already told you that it didn’t quite happen like that. She told me you two had broken up and I’d liked her for a long time too, so I thought it was okay. If I’d known she was lying, I wouldn’t have…”
“I’m sorry Tegoshi-san.” Takahisa said over the top of him, effectively cutting Yuya off. “But I don’t really think someone who would thoughtless go out with my ex-girlfriend right after we broke up could be considered a very good friend either. I’m sorry Koyama-san, but I would really like to leave. Please let go of my arm.”
The staff were all agape and the producer was wringing his hands. If Takahisa walked out now, they wouldn’t have a very satisfying ending, and they couldn’t air an episode like that.
Yuya wasn’t helping anymore, and Shige had no idea what to do either.
It seemed as though they’d have no choice but to can the episode, when Koyama spoke again.
“Masuda-san, isn’t it time to let your grudge go? I know that it hurts when you feel like someone’s betrayed you, and it feels like you’ll never be able to trust them again. But is something like this really worth losing a friend over? Is Tegoshi-san even with this girl anymore?”
“No.” Tegoshi replied, and he was smiling despite the situation. “I don’t like liars. I didn’t stay with her after I found out that they hadn’t broken up.”
Koyama nodded.
“See, Masuda-san? Maybe it wasn’t right of him to date her even though he thought she was your ex-girlfriend, but that was in high school. People make mistakes and do silly things when they’re teenagers that they wouldn’t do when they’re adults. There are some times when you just need to forgive and forget, especially when it’s a friend. You can fight and break up with a girl, but a good friend will always be there for you forever, even if you fight. I think that a close friendship is definitely something that’s too important to lose. If I lost something like that, I think I’d regret it for the rest of my life.”
“I…” Yuya started to once Koyama stopped talking. “I know you hate me for what I did, but I’ve really wanted you to be able to forgive me this whole time. I’ve never forgotten about it, and I hope that maybe one day we can be friends again. I’ve missed Massu. I’ve never stopped thinking of you as my friend.”
There was silence in the studio, and for a moment Koyama was worried that neither of them had gotten through to Takahisa. But when he saw tears welling in his eyes, one slipping silently down his cheek, Koyama knew that it was going to be okay.
They didn’t air Koyama’s speech or Tegoshi and Masuda’s fight on TV.
“I’m kind of glad.” Koyama admitted with a smile once he and Shige watched the final cut. “I said some embarrassing things that I don’t really want on national television.”
Shige snorted. “They weren’t that much more stupid than anything you usually say. I don’t see what would bother you about it.”
Koyama rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help laughing.
“You’re just jealous because you couldn’t come up with something that touching off the top of your head.”
“What,” Shige replied, raising an eyebrow. “I couldn’t think up some cheesy line about friendship being too important to lose?”
This time Koyama really did frown. “I meant it though. I think friendship really is too important to lose.”
And the way Koyama was looking at Shige made him wonder if he’d really just been talking to Massu when he’d said that.
------
Omake:
“Is it just me, or are we gay for each other in pretty much all of these scripts?” Koyama asked sceptically as he put down the enormous stack of paper.
“No, of course not.” One of the staff hurried to reassure them. “It’s just passionate male friendship. Your audience would love it.”
“What about this one?” Shige asked, holding up the script for Tanshin Funin. “This is undeniably gay.”
“Oh… well…” The staff laughed uncomfortably. “That’s just the newest work in progress from Asano Taeko. It’s edgy, bound to be a hit.”
“But everyone will end up getting the wrong idea about our relationship.” Koyama said sadly. “More than they already do. I really don’t know where our fans get those ideas from…”
“I just don’t really want to wear a dress.” Shige sighed. He’d done enough cross dressing for his liking in the past year, and he didn’t need a line up of it in 2010.
“You do make a pretty girl though.” Koyama smiled. “If you really were a girl, I’d date you.”
“I’d be lucky.” Shige laughed, not taking offense. He could tell that Koyama had meant that as a compliment. “You’d make a great boyfriend.”
“Don’t know where your fans get those ideas from, huh…” The staff member muttered under his breath.
Koyama and Shige were too busy sharing a sappy smile to notice.