~ MASSUPERMAN ~
Massu was always smiling, Shige noted. No matter what life threw at him, the man named Masuda Takahisa always had that bright smile on his face - lips grinning from ear to ear, eyes small and wrinkled, two dimples forming on each cheeks - that smile never fails to brighten up Shige’s day. Whenever Massu flashed that smile, Shige will feel re-energized. No matter how tired or grumpy he felt at that moment, the feelings will be washed away - just because of Massu’s smile.
As Shige sat there on the couch in their dressing room watching Massu doing his usual sit-up routine, he’d thought of those times where that magnificent smile should fade but it didn’t.
“Shige!”
The music stopped. The dancing stopped. Everyone turned to look at Shige. Their choreographer who had shouted his name looked at him with deadly eyes. Shige looked away, concentrating on his band mate’s faces instead.
Ryo looked at him in exasperation, Tegoshi was hiding behind Ryo - scared of the demon that was their choreographer. Yamapi was wondering off somewhere (to the toilet perhaps?), Koyama was walking towards him with sympathetic eyes and as for Massu… well Massu was still dancing, oblivious to the whole tensed situation.
“How many times have I - “ their choreographer started but Shige cut him off.
“I’m sorry,” he said as he bowed.
Their choreographer ran his hand through his hair in frustration before walking out of the room. The door closed with a loud slam, leaving the room in a tensed silence.
“All right, we’ll take a half an hour break,” Ryo said as he ruffled Tegoshi’s hair.
“Shige…” Koyama said but Shige ignored him.
Shige went past the older man and zeroed in on Massu.
The chubby man looked shock when Shige grabbed his arms and pulled him out of the room. Shige made sure they were in a deserted place before stopping, pushing Massu slightly against the wall, although since Massu had a stocky built, it didn’t have much effect.
Shige couldn’t concentrate on his steps just now for a reason. It’s just that something had been bugging him since Massu had walked into their dance studio that morning.
“What’s up?” Massu asked lightly, smiling as usual.
Shige had noted that Massu had worn that smile throughout that whole day.
“You’re hurt aren’t you?”
Massu’s smile dropped for a moment, before it went back up again.
“W…What are you saying Shige? Nothing’s wrong with me. I’m fine,” Massu said, trying to shrug the question away.
He started to walk off but Shige pulled him back.
“Lift up the hem of your pants.”
“What?”
Massu looked alarmed at Shige’s question.
“Lift it up.”
With a resigned sigh, Massu complied. It was then when Shige noted the slight bump on Massu’s left ankle.
A myriad of expressions ran across Shige’s face. First it was awe.
How could Massu have danced so well with a swollen ankle like that?
Then he felt angry. Shige was angry because Massu had put himself through so much pain just because he didn’t want people to worry.
“Look Shige, it’s not as bad as it looks.”
Massu stamped his left foot on the ground to prove his point.
“See.”
Shige didn’t miss the slight wince even though Massu was still smiling. He shook his head and sighed. Saying nothing to the older man, Shige walked off, Massu walking behind him, trying to match his pace.
“I think we should cancel today’s practice,” Shige said as he entered the dance room once again.
Massu who was behind him looked shocked.
“There’s no need for that. The choreographer had already cancelled it,” Ryo said from the corner of the room.
Shige nodded.
“Good. Now you, come with me. You need to get your ankle checked,” he said so softly that only Massu was able to hear.
The rest of NEWS watched on in wonder as the two of them walked off together, with Massu smiling all the while.
That wasn’t the only time when Massu smiled when he shouldn’t. Shige remembered the time when…
NEWS was sitting around Shige’s dining room table, bowls of ramen in front of them. But nobody was saying anything. All of them were trying to avoid Shige’s eyes - until Ryo spoke up.
“It’s horrible!” Ryo said as he clanged his chopsticks on his bowl.
Silence.
“It’s not that bad… You just have to cut down on the salt next time,” Koyama said diplomatically.
“I don’t think it’s the salt Koyama. Hmm… I guess it’s the spices. Maybe there’s too much spice,” Tegoshi added as he poked his chopsticks around the food.
Yamapi cleared his throat, signalling his members to stop complaining. There was silence again, but that was only for a few seconds. There was then a disturbing sound of noodles being slurped deliciously. Everyone looked at the direction where the noise was coming from.
Massu was slurping the noodles Shige made, as if enjoying it. After realizing that five pairs of eyes were on him, Massu looked up, with noodles halfway-slurped in his mouth. He slurped the noodles all the way and after he finished that bit, he grinned.
Shige looked at Massu with a weird expression.
“Massu? Is it really that delicious?” Shige asked.
Massu nodded enthusiastically before continuing to slurp on the ramen again.
The very next day, Massu went down with diarrhoea.
Shige was still daydreaming on the couch when he suddenly felt something heavy landed on his right shoulder.
“Fufufu…” Massu made the usual noise as he laughed.
Shige looked around the room that was unusually quiet, only to find that he was now alone with the mischievous Massu. Shige looked at Massu’s chubby face and blushed. He felt guilty thinking of Massu when the man was still right there in the room.
“Massu, you almost scared the crap out of me.”
The older man looked at him, still smiling.
“Almost,” Shige said as he stood up.
Shige packed up his things and from the corner of his eyes, he could see Massu doing the same thing as well.
“Bye, Massu,” he said as walked towards the door.
Just as he was about to pull open the door, he felt Massu grabbed his arms. Shige turned, one hand still on the doorknob. Massu was standing very close behind him, close enough to invade his personal bubble.
“Massu?”
Massu looked troubled for some reason. He seemed to be searching for words. And finally blurt it out.
“I like you, Shige.”
Not getting the point at all, Shige said, “Well, I like you too, Massu. I mean we’re band mates after all.”
Massu shook his head.
“No. I meant like like you Shige. And I think I love you.”
Shige’s hands dropped from the doorknob. The confession was totally out of the blue, too sudden for his mind to comprehend. He ended up just staring at the older man blankly.
Massu started to fidget around uncomfortably, his arms still on Shige.
“Erm… I… I…don’t know…”
Massu released his grip then. Shige could see the blood creeping up on his cheeks.
“Never mind,” Massu said quickly as he looked away.
Massu then walked out of the room, head bowed low, his bag slung across his right shoulder.
Shige watched the older man walk away helplessly. When Massu had walked out of the room, the smile that he usually wore and the sparkle in his eyes diminished. Shige couldn’t help but feel guilty. He really wanted to see that smile again. And that was when a realization struck him.
It took him too long to realize but he liked Massu too.
And maybe he even loved that chubby guy.
Shige wanted to run to Massu, to tell him how he really felt. But Massu was gone now.
But then again, there was always a tomorrow.
A/N: I kinda fail at writing romance (but still all the plot I came up with have romance in them...) so... yeah...
Hope it's ok :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MASSU!
and he kinda reminds me of winnie the pooh... :)