JOJI♪"FOR GOD'S SAKE, SHIGE, I LOVE YOU!"
Title: “FOR GOD’S SAKE, SHIGE, I LOVE YOU!” (or 4 times Ryo tries to confess to Shige and one time he finally does)
Fandom: JE - NEWS/K8
Pairing: NishiKato
Rating: G
Word Count: 1716
Note: For
ryoshige_thon because there are tonnes of us out there suffering from NishiKato deficiency D< [/pimp pimp pimp] Uh… So! In remedy [and to honour the promise between me and
ryoshige_otp ], here’s the first of my RyoShige-thon entries: prompt 40 “4 times Ryo tries to confess to Shige and one time he finally does”.
Contrary to popular belief, Ryo never hated Shige. Sure, he may have demeaned the younger man and teased him about being very un-Kansai and publicly announced that he didn’t take an interest in the law student and was generally guilty of doing far too many things that seemed to be acts of hatred to both fans and Shige. These were, however, all just cover-ups because at the end of the day, both Uchi (being his best friend) and Ryo himself knew how much the Sexy Osaka Man loved Shige. He loved Shige so much that with NEWS’s return, he decided enough was enough - it was time to show his true colour.
-one-
They were in Osaka for the first leg of the Never Ending Wonderful Story concert tour and filming for the DVD bonus had already finished - now, the 6 members of NEWS were working off last minute nerves. Koyama was in the far corner, practicing his routine in front of the mirror, Massu was eating gyoza nearby, Pi was chatting away on his phone and Ryo was trying to rest in the corner nearest the corner Shige and Tegoshi were occupying. He looked up - the law student was still fiddling with Tegoshi’s hair.
“Oi, Shige,” he voiced gruffly. Shige turned a questioning glance towards his older band mate. “I-” but the words failed to leave his mouth.
“You, what?”
Ryo swallowed. Shit. The rest of NEWS had stopped what they were doing and even Massu seemed to have abandoned his gyozas, his precious, precious gyozas, in favour of this “act of member-ai” (as Koyama so fondly named it later on). “I think you should cut your hair.”
Shige’s brows furrowed as he gave Ryo a weird look. “I know,” he stated, turning back to what he had previously been doing. “You’ve already expressed your sentiments regarding that. You need a new insult.”
-two-
The Never Ending Wonderful Story tour had just ended and NEWS was back in Tokyo, completing day to day administrations. Despite having just finished an entire concert tour and the whole band being extremely tired, their managers had insisted that they come at least once a week to do dance rehearsals so that their dances do not become scratchy.
Much to Ryo and Pi’s relief, rehearsals had finished early that day and they were given the rest of the day off. None of them had much plans - they had all expected to be in practice for the entire day - so the six of them sat around their dressing room, left to their own devices.
“Geshi~”
Ryo cracked an eye open from his couch in the corner, peering through sleep-hazed eyes over at the two-thirds of K.K.K. occupying the sofa in the opposite corner, and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. What on earth was Koyama doing?
“Do you want to go out for dinner?”
The law student looked up at his best friend and smiled apologetically. “Sorry, Keii, but I need to study for an exam tomorrow. Next time, ne?”
Koyama’s expression told him that he totally understood where Shige was coming from.
After the rest of NEWS had gone, and Shige thought he was alone, he got up and stretched, pushing his book into his bag and packing up to leave for the night.
“Where are you going?”
He jumped in surprise. “Nishikido-kun!”
“Where are you going?”
“Home, to study.”
Ryo frowned. “You’re not going to eat?”
“Well, yes, of course,” Shige replied, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, “but why are you so concerned about me? Do you, by any chance, have a secret crush on me?”
Oh, if only you knew, Ryo thought. “Because I…” He couldn’t say it. “Because I’m looking out for NEWS - we can’t have you getting ill and missing practise and making the whole band look bad when we perform on stage, can we?” he quickly made up.
Shige threw him an incredulous look but didn’t question his words. “Um… Thanks, I guess, Nishikido-kun.” His look melted into a bright smile and he waved goodbye to the Osakan. “I’ll see you in a few days. Oyasumi nasai.” The younger man bowed and left the room.
Ryo swore his heart was beating just that little bit faster.
-three-
Kanjani8 has roughly halfway through their 47-Prefecture tour, and exciting though it was, Ryo was beginning to miss Tokyo, and, most of all, Shige.
He looked across the room and laughed at Maru and Yasu’s antics, but for some strange reason, his laugh sounded rather hollow, slightly forced. He didn’t know why, but he had the sudden urge to talk to someone smart. Scrolling through his contact list, he grinned when he found the right person. Meanwhile, Kanjani8 put their activities on pause as they watched Yellow Ranger walk out of the room, his phone pressed to his ear.
“What do you want, Nishikido?”
Ryo grinned. “That’s not a very nice way of greeting your band mate.”
Shige sighed exasperatedly and he could imagine the law student rolling his eyes. “What do you want, Nishikido-kun?”
“To talk to you.” The Sexy Osaka Man could just see Shige’s eyebrows rising.
“What are you?” he asked incredulously. “Tokyo-sick, or something?”
“No,” Ryo grinned. Just suffering from Shige Deficiency. “I can’t talk to my lovely band mate?”
“Not in this day and age.” A pause. “What do you really want? The world doesn’t revolve around you - I was studying for a test.”
“Forever the bookworm,” the Osakan teased. “I just wanted to hear your voice.”
Over the silence, he could hear the distinctive thunk of pencil on paper.
“I know you’re still there.”
“I know you know,” Shige retorted, “but allow me some shred of peace and quiet - I’m trying to help Yamashita-kun solve an extremely complicated cubic equation.” Somewhere in the background, Ryo could hear his best friend say, “It’s Pi, Shige - Pi.” and he wanted to laugh.
“It’s okay, I can’t stay long anyway. I just…” he trailed off, not sure why the words weren’t going to his mouth.
“You what?”
“I just…” GAH! Why is it so hard? “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t overworking yourself,” he rushed before disconnecting, closing his flip-phone and letting his head fall back as he tried to calm his racing heart.
His phone rang. He jumped - it was just a text message.
From: Shige
I didn’t know you cared - thank you.
Ryo smiled and swore his heart skipped a beat.
-four-
Their concert had been scheduled for later that day but because a hurricane had decided to pay Taiwan a visit, it had been pushed to the next day, and NEWS would have to perform two concerts in a day. The entire band decided it was better to rest than be tired the next day.
“I’m bored,” Ryo complained to Shige as he sat down next to Koyama on the latter’s bed.
“Well, don’t look to me for entertainment. I’m trying to sleep.”
“Why?”
“Geshi, ne, spent the whole of yesterday doing the tests that would have come up in these coming days.”
Ryo gaped and pointed an accusing finger at the sleeping lump on the other bed. “I thought I told you not to overwork yourself!” Koyama laughed.
“Glad to know you care, Nishikido-kun,” came Shige’s muffled reply. “And stop laughing, Keii. Why do you care, anyway?”
“Because,” the shorter man said definitely. Koyama leaned in, as though Ryo had mumbled a continuation to his short statement and even the fatigued Shige turned his head to cast a curious glance at the Osakan.
“Why?”
Because I love you. “Because you’re my band mate - I’m just looking out for NEWS.”
“Oh.”
Shit, he cursed, there went my chance.
Later that night, after Pi came out of his shower, the leader looked at Ryo with an abnormally serious expression. “You like, Shige, don’t you?”
Ryo immediately started bashing his head on the pillows below him.
-plus one-
Filming for Shounen Club had ended and Ryo stormed into NEWS’s changing room in a fit.
“What were you thinking today?” he jabbed at Shige as the younger man was packing his bag. “Have you no sense of propriety?”
The others, and the singer himself, stared at the angry Osakan.
“Ryo-chan,” Pi asked, “what’s wrong?”
Ryo turned towards his best friend and threw an accusing finger in Shige’s directions. “He’s what’s wrong! He thinks he can just go on stage and strip in front of the nation.”
Tegoshi sidled up to the older man and hugged his arm. “But, ne, Ryo-chan, you’ve never really cared about Shige before this. What’s with the sudden change of attitude?”
Ryo froze. “Because…” he tried to argue, attempting to formulate a cover-up on the spot. Suddenly, Ryo had that weirdest feeling that all the members of NEWS were leaning in closer to him to catch his words. “Because…” He turned to Shige and said, “Screw this, I can’t hold it any longer!”
Everyone tilted their heads to one side curiously, watching Ryo as he fidgeted, not looking at Shige or Pi or anyone in particular.
“Ireallyreallylikeyou,Shige.”
The world stopped for a second as everyone processed what the Sexy Osaka Man had just said.
“EEEEEEEEEH?”
Immediately, Koyama started flap around, worrying that Ryo would do something really nasty to Shige as Tegoshi jumped back and pulled Massu to the other end of the room. Pi was the only one grinning from ear to ear, looking very satisfied and all-knowing. Shige… Well, no one quite knew what Shige was doing - and Shige’s lack of input and activity was starting to worry Ryo.
“FOR GOD’S SAKE, SHIGE, I LOVE YOU!”
Shige promptly collapsed on the floor. “What?” came the dazed murmur.
Ryo clicked his tongue and pulled him back up onto his feet, bringing him in so that their noses were touching and Shige could smell Ryo’s cologne and feel his breathe fanning across his face. “I really, really, really like you, Kato Shigeaki,” he answered, and captured Shige’s lips in a kiss.
When they broke away, Shige studied the shorter man’s face, judging the sincerity behind his confession, and broke into a smile. “I love you too, Nishikido-kun.”
“Ryo.”
Shige smiled and said, “Ryo”, as he leaned in for another kiss.
Somewhere in the background, Pi cheered.