52 Weeks, chapter 2
Title: 52 Weeks
Chapter 2/?
Author: mage_of_time
Fandom: Johnny's Entertainment (KAT-TUN/NewS)
Pairing: Ryo/Ueda (Side: Kame/Jin, Tegoshi/Massu, Maru/Junno)
Genre: Romance/mild AU
Rating: PG (some language)
Summary: Ryo hates Ueda. Ueda hates Ryo. However, after a rabid fan, a media explosion, and an angry Johnny, they must pretend to be in love and dating for one year.... or else.
Notes: Inspired by a prompt from
thewhiteprophet : fake boyfriend fic: when one of ryo's insane stalkers actually manages to make her way into his life, he freaks out. she approaches him one day while he's standing near kat-tun, and when she touches his arm he screams at her that he's dating someone. "who?" she hisses, eyes narrowed. he grabs the hand of the first person he sees, and when he actually sees who it is, he wants to cry. and ueda, whose hand he's squeezing, is already on the verge of angry tears. Thanks for letting me steal this. <3
chapter 1
AHH, this one was out fast. Thanks for all the feedback, guys.
IN THIS CHAPTER...
Week One, Monday
"So they're talking to Johnny right now.”
"Yes, Junno."
"Meaning they're in there right now."
"Yes, Junno."
"And they're talking to him-"
"Right now, Junno."
Junno suddenly slammed his fist down on the table, causing Maru to jump slightly. "Dammit, Maru, I don't want this to happen!"
"And I'm sure Ueda and Nishikido are thrilled at this turn of events," Maru deadpanned. "Deal with it, okay?"
“But…” Junno laid his head down on the cool wood, staring wide-eyed up at Maru. “Yucchi, I hate being in love.”
"No you don't," sighed Maru, staring at the closed door of Johnny Kitagawa's office. "If you did you wouldn't be so angry about this, would you?"
"I'm very angry," Junno agreed, nodding. "Hmm. Does that mean I'm really, truly in love?"
"I suppose so," Maru muttered, glancing down at his hands.
Neither spoke for a moment.
"Hey, Maru?"
"Yes, Junnosuke?"
"Are you in love with anyone?"
Silence.
"Maru?"
He continued to study his palms. "Yeah. But…" He raised his head, smiling slightly. "The person I love doesn't love me back."
"Oh." A beat. "Do you think they ever will?"
He continued to smile, a bit shyly, a bit sadly. "They're in love with someone else, and it seems like they will be for a while. So… No, I suppose not."
Junno frowned. "I'm sorry, Maru. That person really needs to wake up. I mean, anyone would fall in love with you. You're… Maru! And that means awesome."
"No it doesn't," muttered Maru. Junno ignored him.
"You're amazing, Maru. You're like a pirate, or a samurai. A samurai… love attack!" He paused, then nodded, as if that settled the matter.
Maru stared at him. "Um… Thanks, Junno. But… You'd be surprised. Some people just… can't see things staring them right in the face." He glanced at Junno across the table. The younger boy just stared back at him with wide eyes, looking troubled.
"I'm sorry for you, Nakamaru."
"Thank you, Junno."
They both looked down at the table.
The silence returned.
*
"What. The. Fucking. Hell."
"Language, please," murmured Johnny Kitagawa, solemnly staring at the irate boy before him. "It's not that bad, really. I could've done much, much worse."
Ueda bit his lip, trying very hard not to imagine what 'much much worse' could possibly constitute. When he opened his mouth to speak, his voice was calm, although his hands trembled slightly as they gripped the edges of the chair.
"What I think Ryo means," he said, not responding as Ryo shot him a furious glare, "is… this isn't exactly the best solution. I mean, making us pretend to be in love for a year? It's highly improbable that we'll be able to keep up the act for more than a day, let alone fifty-two weeks. And besides," and now he looked down at his lap, smiling slightly, " I'm already in love with someone else." He looked up again at Ryo's indignant cough. "What?" he cried, as the other boy scowled.
"Is it in any way possible-and I know it's hard for your tiny brain to fixate on more than one thing at a time, so make a real effort, okay-but is it possible for you to stop talking about your damn boyfriend for… just an hour? One fucking hour."
"Language…" said Johnny quietly, ignored by the other two.
Ueda stared steadily at him. "Well, it's just that… Thinking of Junno is the one thing that really keeps me going. His face is the only thing that can make me feel better throughout the day, especially after having to stare at something as ugly as you for two hours straight."
"Oh, wow, nice one, little fairy. I'm crying on the inside, promise. Did it take you long to think that one up?"
"Shut up."
"Once again, a flash of brilliance delivered by the ever astute Ueda Tatsuya."
"Go to hell, Nishikido."
"Shove it, princess."
"QUIET."
It wasn't often that Johnny Kitagawa raised his voice, and the rare sound froze both boys mid-punch.
Slowly they turned to see their manager silently surveying them, body relaxed, eyes flashing.
"Nishikido, you brought this upon yourself. You're going to have to deal with the consequences of your actions. Tatsuya, I'm sorry, but this is the only way either of you will be able to continue to work with Johnny's." He sighed and motioned the both of them to sit down, which they did (albeit scowling fiercely.) "Listen, it's already all over Japan that two JE boys are having a secret, intimate affair. The media's at it like vultures, the Internet is going haywire, everyone's clamoring for a statement. Thing is, in this small amount of time both NewS's and KAT-TUN's singles have reached numbers one and two respectively-stop smirking, Nishikido, it's unbecoming-and god knows how much publicity this has brought to Johnny's. There were even mentions in the American media, and you know how invisible we are to them. It's all over the place. I've already sent out Yamashita and Kazuya to do damage control, and no doubt MatsuJun and Ohno will be bombarded with questions at their press conference today. I've given them express orders to play this up as much as possible."
He smiled serenely at the horrified expressions that greeted him. "Listen, despite the fact that you, Nishikido, couldn’t say a civil word to your grandmother, and you, Tatsuya, are brooding, unreasonable, and untouchable, the general consensus is that you're both really just innocent boys on the inside. People like you. And amazingly enough, people seem to be accepting the fact that two young, beautiful, mainstream pop-stars that both happen to be male are in love. Most of them, in fact, are actually rooting for you."
He leaned forward slightly, and Ueda felt himself unconsciously shift back. "This is, boys, the most important moment in your careers, and guess what? You made it this way. You have no one to blame but yourself for what's going to happen, so wipe those snively little expressions off your faces and start acting like what you are-two mature, professional singers.
"Now. One year. That's all I want, boys, one year. In public, for twelve months, you are in love. I don't care how much you hate each other. I don't care how much you're in love with Taguchi, Ueda. For one year, you're publicly in love with Ryo. No breaking up, no declarations of hatred, no telling anyone the truth except those that anyone know. Got that?"
"… Yes,” muttered Ryo, looking very much like he would love to punch something.
“And at the end of one year?” Ueda asked quickly.
"We'll make something up. You fought, Ryo left you for Massu-are you all right, Ryo? You seem to be choking--- we'll figure it out."
“And I… I can still be with Junno?” he asked quietly, ignoring Ryo’s exasperated sigh.
“Of course. Just… keep it private, okay?” They nodded. “Good. Dismissed.”
The old man watched them shuffle out, muttering their mutual distaste for the other. As the door swung shut, he buried his head in his hands, and slowly, oddly, began to chuckle.
“Oh, god,” he muttered to himself, “this had better work.”
*
“So you’ll come by later? Right, Tat-chan? Please?”
Ueda smiled, softly prying Junno’s fingers from his arm. “Of course. I’ll be over in an hour, promise. I’ll bring food, so don’t worry about it.” He turned to Nakamaru, who stood a little off to the side, and muttered, “Keep him company until then, would you? I’d really appreciate it.”
Maru smiled sympathetically. “Of course, Ueda. I’ll distract him with Soul Calibur, or something. You… are going to be okay, right?”
Ueda laughed. “It’ll only be a year. I don’t have to be in love with him. I just… have to smile, and hold his hand, and pretend like I don’t want to kill him. It’ll be over in 365 days.” He nodded, as if confirming it for himself. “365 days.”
Maru smiled again. “Good luck,” he muttered, before grabbing the hand of a very lost looking Junno and leading him towards the elevator.
Alone now in the empty hallway, Ueda sighed deeply, rubbing his temples. “Fuck,” he whispered, leaning his head against the wall. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
Footsteps around the corner, and Ryo came into view, looking just as pissed. His glower deepened as he saw the other boy. “Why are you still here, princess?” he snapped, drawing closer. “I thought you left with Yuichi and Taguchi.”
“I have to do some stuff downstairs,” he muttered, looking away. “Why are you still here?”
“I missed you.”
Ueda glanced up quickly, to see Ryo leaning against the wall, trademark smirk on his face. “Made you look.”
“Whatever,” muttered Ueda, turning the other way and walking off. He was only a few steps away before he heard the running of feet, felt an arm sling around his shoulders, Ryo’s voice: “Tat-chan, why are you running away from me?”
He shrugged out of the younger boy’s hold and sped up. Ryo trailed after him, voice half-loving, half-mocking. “Oh, Ueda, I’m so glad we can be together. I’m so glad that I get to spend this time with you…”
“It’s your own damn fault, don’t take it out on me,” Ueda called out, still walking. The footsteps behind him didn’t stop.
“Ueda, Ueda, aren’t you happy, too? We get to spend an entire fucking year together. I get to spend an entire year pretending that I have any emotions about you, when in actuality… I try and try to feel something, but there’s nothing there.”
Don’t listen to him.
“But it’s great that I get to pretend for an entire year that every single time I look at you, I don’t want to vomit.”
He’s just an idiot.
“I get to spend a whole year pretending that I don’t hate you, your group, your prissy little boyfriend, everything about all of you. For a whole year, I get to make everyone think that I could ever lower myself to want you.”
Don’t be provoked.
“I get to spend an entire year pretending that I love you-“
Shit.
It was like he didn’t have control of his body anymore. With one fluid motion, he grabbed Ryo’s shoulders, pinning him against the wall, hands tight around his upper arms, knees cutting into knees. He leaned in close, until their noses were almost touching. Eye to eye, they stared at each other, Ueda breathing heavily, Ryo watching him with cautious distaste.
For a moment they stayed there, interlocked against the wall, motionless, wordless, the only sound the white noise.
“Never. Say that. Again,” spat Ueda finally, before releasing Ryo’s shoulders and spinning around, stalking off towards the elevator. Ryo leaned against the wall, rubbing his neck slightly, the faintest blush on his cheeks.
He didn’t move for a long time. When he did, it was carefully, tenderly touching the marks on his arms and wincing with each step. Still, there was the slightest hint of a smile on his face, and anyone who knew Nishikido Ryo would tell you, with an uncertain voice and worried eyes, that an idea was forming.
“This…” he murmured to himself, watching the shadows of the still fuming boy disappear around the corner, “is going to be fun.”
AN: Am I updating too fast? Sorry if you want them to be spaced out, I was just so pumped after yesterday. Tell me if there’s anything I should fix, okay?
Notes for the Informed and Wise
+Yes, the person Maru is talking about is Junno. No, in response to last chapter, I don’t hate Junno. (He’s my second favorite KAT-TUN member, after Nakamaru.) Yes, something will ZOMG HAPPEN! between them. Not for a while, though.
+Johnny is NOT a pedophile in this fic. Promise.
+Erm… This chapter wasn’t beta’d, because I couldn’t reach the person who did last chapter. Would anyone volunteer? Updates (probably) won’t come as quickly, but I’d love it if someone could glance over it before I post. I revised it myself, but… I love second opinions.
COMING SOON! Tego is very, very angry, Ryo just wants his damn ice cream, and Kame expresses his utter and complete distaste of the city of Los Angeles.
Chapter 2/?
Author: mage_of_time
Fandom: Johnny's Entertainment (KAT-TUN/NewS)
Pairing: Ryo/Ueda (Side: Kame/Jin, Tegoshi/Massu, Maru/Junno)
Genre: Romance/mild AU
Rating: PG (some language)
Summary: Ryo hates Ueda. Ueda hates Ryo. However, after a rabid fan, a media explosion, and an angry Johnny, they must pretend to be in love and dating for one year.... or else.
Notes: Inspired by a prompt from
thewhiteprophet : fake boyfriend fic: when one of ryo's insane stalkers actually manages to make her way into his life, he freaks out. she approaches him one day while he's standing near kat-tun, and when she touches his arm he screams at her that he's dating someone. "who?" she hisses, eyes narrowed. he grabs the hand of the first person he sees, and when he actually sees who it is, he wants to cry. and ueda, whose hand he's squeezing, is already on the verge of angry tears. Thanks for letting me steal this. <3
chapter 1
AHH, this one was out fast. Thanks for all the feedback, guys.
IN THIS CHAPTER...
Week One, Monday
"So they're talking to Johnny right now.”
"Yes, Junno."
"Meaning they're in there right now."
"Yes, Junno."
"And they're talking to him-"
"Right now, Junno."
Junno suddenly slammed his fist down on the table, causing Maru to jump slightly. "Dammit, Maru, I don't want this to happen!"
"And I'm sure Ueda and Nishikido are thrilled at this turn of events," Maru deadpanned. "Deal with it, okay?"
“But…” Junno laid his head down on the cool wood, staring wide-eyed up at Maru. “Yucchi, I hate being in love.”
"No you don't," sighed Maru, staring at the closed door of Johnny Kitagawa's office. "If you did you wouldn't be so angry about this, would you?"
"I'm very angry," Junno agreed, nodding. "Hmm. Does that mean I'm really, truly in love?"
"I suppose so," Maru muttered, glancing down at his hands.
Neither spoke for a moment.
"Hey, Maru?"
"Yes, Junnosuke?"
"Are you in love with anyone?"
Silence.
"Maru?"
He continued to study his palms. "Yeah. But…" He raised his head, smiling slightly. "The person I love doesn't love me back."
"Oh." A beat. "Do you think they ever will?"
He continued to smile, a bit shyly, a bit sadly. "They're in love with someone else, and it seems like they will be for a while. So… No, I suppose not."
Junno frowned. "I'm sorry, Maru. That person really needs to wake up. I mean, anyone would fall in love with you. You're… Maru! And that means awesome."
"No it doesn't," muttered Maru. Junno ignored him.
"You're amazing, Maru. You're like a pirate, or a samurai. A samurai… love attack!" He paused, then nodded, as if that settled the matter.
Maru stared at him. "Um… Thanks, Junno. But… You'd be surprised. Some people just… can't see things staring them right in the face." He glanced at Junno across the table. The younger boy just stared back at him with wide eyes, looking troubled.
"I'm sorry for you, Nakamaru."
"Thank you, Junno."
They both looked down at the table.
The silence returned.
*
"What. The. Fucking. Hell."
"Language, please," murmured Johnny Kitagawa, solemnly staring at the irate boy before him. "It's not that bad, really. I could've done much, much worse."
Ueda bit his lip, trying very hard not to imagine what 'much much worse' could possibly constitute. When he opened his mouth to speak, his voice was calm, although his hands trembled slightly as they gripped the edges of the chair.
"What I think Ryo means," he said, not responding as Ryo shot him a furious glare, "is… this isn't exactly the best solution. I mean, making us pretend to be in love for a year? It's highly improbable that we'll be able to keep up the act for more than a day, let alone fifty-two weeks. And besides," and now he looked down at his lap, smiling slightly, " I'm already in love with someone else." He looked up again at Ryo's indignant cough. "What?" he cried, as the other boy scowled.
"Is it in any way possible-and I know it's hard for your tiny brain to fixate on more than one thing at a time, so make a real effort, okay-but is it possible for you to stop talking about your damn boyfriend for… just an hour? One fucking hour."
"Language…" said Johnny quietly, ignored by the other two.
Ueda stared steadily at him. "Well, it's just that… Thinking of Junno is the one thing that really keeps me going. His face is the only thing that can make me feel better throughout the day, especially after having to stare at something as ugly as you for two hours straight."
"Oh, wow, nice one, little fairy. I'm crying on the inside, promise. Did it take you long to think that one up?"
"Shut up."
"Once again, a flash of brilliance delivered by the ever astute Ueda Tatsuya."
"Go to hell, Nishikido."
"Shove it, princess."
"QUIET."
It wasn't often that Johnny Kitagawa raised his voice, and the rare sound froze both boys mid-punch.
Slowly they turned to see their manager silently surveying them, body relaxed, eyes flashing.
"Nishikido, you brought this upon yourself. You're going to have to deal with the consequences of your actions. Tatsuya, I'm sorry, but this is the only way either of you will be able to continue to work with Johnny's." He sighed and motioned the both of them to sit down, which they did (albeit scowling fiercely.) "Listen, it's already all over Japan that two JE boys are having a secret, intimate affair. The media's at it like vultures, the Internet is going haywire, everyone's clamoring for a statement. Thing is, in this small amount of time both NewS's and KAT-TUN's singles have reached numbers one and two respectively-stop smirking, Nishikido, it's unbecoming-and god knows how much publicity this has brought to Johnny's. There were even mentions in the American media, and you know how invisible we are to them. It's all over the place. I've already sent out Yamashita and Kazuya to do damage control, and no doubt MatsuJun and Ohno will be bombarded with questions at their press conference today. I've given them express orders to play this up as much as possible."
He smiled serenely at the horrified expressions that greeted him. "Listen, despite the fact that you, Nishikido, couldn’t say a civil word to your grandmother, and you, Tatsuya, are brooding, unreasonable, and untouchable, the general consensus is that you're both really just innocent boys on the inside. People like you. And amazingly enough, people seem to be accepting the fact that two young, beautiful, mainstream pop-stars that both happen to be male are in love. Most of them, in fact, are actually rooting for you."
He leaned forward slightly, and Ueda felt himself unconsciously shift back. "This is, boys, the most important moment in your careers, and guess what? You made it this way. You have no one to blame but yourself for what's going to happen, so wipe those snively little expressions off your faces and start acting like what you are-two mature, professional singers.
"Now. One year. That's all I want, boys, one year. In public, for twelve months, you are in love. I don't care how much you hate each other. I don't care how much you're in love with Taguchi, Ueda. For one year, you're publicly in love with Ryo. No breaking up, no declarations of hatred, no telling anyone the truth except those that anyone know. Got that?"
"… Yes,” muttered Ryo, looking very much like he would love to punch something.
“And at the end of one year?” Ueda asked quickly.
"We'll make something up. You fought, Ryo left you for Massu-are you all right, Ryo? You seem to be choking--- we'll figure it out."
“And I… I can still be with Junno?” he asked quietly, ignoring Ryo’s exasperated sigh.
“Of course. Just… keep it private, okay?” They nodded. “Good. Dismissed.”
The old man watched them shuffle out, muttering their mutual distaste for the other. As the door swung shut, he buried his head in his hands, and slowly, oddly, began to chuckle.
“Oh, god,” he muttered to himself, “this had better work.”
*
“So you’ll come by later? Right, Tat-chan? Please?”
Ueda smiled, softly prying Junno’s fingers from his arm. “Of course. I’ll be over in an hour, promise. I’ll bring food, so don’t worry about it.” He turned to Nakamaru, who stood a little off to the side, and muttered, “Keep him company until then, would you? I’d really appreciate it.”
Maru smiled sympathetically. “Of course, Ueda. I’ll distract him with Soul Calibur, or something. You… are going to be okay, right?”
Ueda laughed. “It’ll only be a year. I don’t have to be in love with him. I just… have to smile, and hold his hand, and pretend like I don’t want to kill him. It’ll be over in 365 days.” He nodded, as if confirming it for himself. “365 days.”
Maru smiled again. “Good luck,” he muttered, before grabbing the hand of a very lost looking Junno and leading him towards the elevator.
Alone now in the empty hallway, Ueda sighed deeply, rubbing his temples. “Fuck,” he whispered, leaning his head against the wall. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
Footsteps around the corner, and Ryo came into view, looking just as pissed. His glower deepened as he saw the other boy. “Why are you still here, princess?” he snapped, drawing closer. “I thought you left with Yuichi and Taguchi.”
“I have to do some stuff downstairs,” he muttered, looking away. “Why are you still here?”
“I missed you.”
Ueda glanced up quickly, to see Ryo leaning against the wall, trademark smirk on his face. “Made you look.”
“Whatever,” muttered Ueda, turning the other way and walking off. He was only a few steps away before he heard the running of feet, felt an arm sling around his shoulders, Ryo’s voice: “Tat-chan, why are you running away from me?”
He shrugged out of the younger boy’s hold and sped up. Ryo trailed after him, voice half-loving, half-mocking. “Oh, Ueda, I’m so glad we can be together. I’m so glad that I get to spend this time with you…”
“It’s your own damn fault, don’t take it out on me,” Ueda called out, still walking. The footsteps behind him didn’t stop.
“Ueda, Ueda, aren’t you happy, too? We get to spend an entire fucking year together. I get to spend an entire year pretending that I have any emotions about you, when in actuality… I try and try to feel something, but there’s nothing there.”
Don’t listen to him.
“But it’s great that I get to pretend for an entire year that every single time I look at you, I don’t want to vomit.”
He’s just an idiot.
“I get to spend a whole year pretending that I don’t hate you, your group, your prissy little boyfriend, everything about all of you. For a whole year, I get to make everyone think that I could ever lower myself to want you.”
Don’t be provoked.
“I get to spend an entire year pretending that I love you-“
Shit.
It was like he didn’t have control of his body anymore. With one fluid motion, he grabbed Ryo’s shoulders, pinning him against the wall, hands tight around his upper arms, knees cutting into knees. He leaned in close, until their noses were almost touching. Eye to eye, they stared at each other, Ueda breathing heavily, Ryo watching him with cautious distaste.
For a moment they stayed there, interlocked against the wall, motionless, wordless, the only sound the white noise.
“Never. Say that. Again,” spat Ueda finally, before releasing Ryo’s shoulders and spinning around, stalking off towards the elevator. Ryo leaned against the wall, rubbing his neck slightly, the faintest blush on his cheeks.
He didn’t move for a long time. When he did, it was carefully, tenderly touching the marks on his arms and wincing with each step. Still, there was the slightest hint of a smile on his face, and anyone who knew Nishikido Ryo would tell you, with an uncertain voice and worried eyes, that an idea was forming.
“This…” he murmured to himself, watching the shadows of the still fuming boy disappear around the corner, “is going to be fun.”
AN: Am I updating too fast? Sorry if you want them to be spaced out, I was just so pumped after yesterday. Tell me if there’s anything I should fix, okay?
Notes for the Informed and Wise
+Yes, the person Maru is talking about is Junno. No, in response to last chapter, I don’t hate Junno. (He’s my second favorite KAT-TUN member, after Nakamaru.) Yes, something will ZOMG HAPPEN! between them. Not for a while, though.
+Johnny is NOT a pedophile in this fic. Promise.
+Erm… This chapter wasn’t beta’d, because I couldn’t reach the person who did last chapter. Would anyone volunteer? Updates (probably) won’t come as quickly, but I’d love it if someone could glance over it before I post. I revised it myself, but… I love second opinions.
COMING SOON! Tego is very, very angry, Ryo just wants his damn ice cream, and Kame expresses his utter and complete distaste of the city of Los Angeles.