Prompt 2: You're Pretty Like A Woman - Team Future
Title: Benefits With Friends (Some Things Still Don't Change)
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Nagase/Koichi
Summary: Nagase is getting married, and Koichi's not sure how he feels about this.
Prompt: "You're pretty like a woman"
Notes: Many thanks to my wonderful betas ♥.
Nagase Tomoya & Aibu Saki: The long-awaited sound of wedding bells
2014.11.12 - Nagase Tomoya (36), actor and member of talent agency Johnny’s Jimusho’s rock band TOKIO, and actress Aibu Saki (29), will finally be tying the knot at Christmas this year.
The celebrity couple, who have been dating since appearing in a television drama together in 2007, have been subject to speculations on their nuptials almost yearly since their relationship was made public. Up to this point, all speculations have been denied by the spokespeople of both parties. However, yesterday, an official announcement of their upcoming marriage was made.
Apparently, the two have been in a long engagement of three years. Nagase proposed romantically on their anniversary, and Aibu happily and immediately accepted. They claim to have put off the wedding because of busy schedules on both their parts.
“Also, we didn’t feel pressured to get married,” said Aibu. “We’re already very close, so it wouldn’t have made much of a difference in our lives. But my mother has been expressing a wish to see me in a wedding dress (laugh), and we both have a bit of time in our schedules at the end of this year, so that’s why.”
When questioned about her ideal wedding, Aibu said, “I’ve always wanted a Western style wedding. I’d like everything to be beautiful, and to create beautiful memories.”
Nagase, who claims to have watched a lot of American movies lately, added mischievously, “Since we’re having a Western style wedding... My best friend should throw me a bachelor party too, don’t you think? (laugh)”
- Nikkansports
~
With a sigh and an intentionally loud rustle of the pages, Koichi closed the entertainment newspaper he was reading. He didn’t even need to look over at his best friend to know that Nagase was grinning at him, overt insinuation sketched out in the arch of his eyebrows and curve of his lips.
“Yes, I get the hint,” Koichi said, taking off his reading glasses and tossing them on top of the table with a long-suffering air.
Nagase beamed. Under the table, he kicked Koichi’s foot a couple of times, by way of a nudge in the right direction.
“But I don’t even like socializing,” complained Koichi, “Get one of your band members to do it or something.”
At this, Nagase looked appalled. “But bachelor parties are always thrown by the groom’s best friend! People will think our friendship is all just a publicity stunt if you don’t do it!” He gave Koichi a Look that he’d clearly learned from that bratty kouhai Tegoshi - big eyes, pouty lips, 45 degree head tilt.
The tactics he was employing were familiar to Koichi, after two decades of being best friends. The sly bastard had played the You-don’t-want-to-be-my-best-friend-anymore-Kou-chan? card countless times in the past, knowing just how much Koichi would do to prove his loyalty.
The real problem was, Koichi reflected, that he still fell for the trick every time.
Not that he was going to admit to it.
“Never mind, I’ll do it.” Koichi kicked back at Nagase’s shin. “I just had a mental image of what it would be like if Matsuoka or someone planned your bachelor party. Lots of hard alcohol and everyone buck naked. Oh lord.”
“But that’s what a bachelor party is supposed to be like,” explained Tsuyoshi, a few days later, while Koichi complained about all the phone calls he’d had to make that week (four already, and it was only Wednesday!) to plan for the party. “Booze and strippers and, I don’t know, stupid hijinks. Basically, whatever TOKIO does on a regular basis.”
“Huh?” says Koichi, absentmindedly. “Strippers? I thought the point of a bachelor party was to hang out with your guy friends? Video games and... nabe? Or something?”
“Ugh, remind me not to have you plan my bachelor party when I get married. Poor Tomoya-Baby.”
At the nickname, Koichi raised his eyebrows. “Are you still calling him that?” he asked, nonchalantly.
“Are you jealous?” replied Tsuyoshi with a mirrored raising of eyebrows.
“Why do you always ask me that? He’s getting married, and I’m throwing him a bachelor party. Isn’t that an indication of how not jealous and not affected I am about this whole thing?”
Tsuyoshi shot him a knowing look, laced with amusement. It was the kind of look Koichi got from Tsuyoshi often, one that heralded some personal revelation that Tsuyoshi always realized about Koichi before Koichi realized it himself. Koichi was starting to dread that look from his partner.
“What?!” he flailed, “What is it?”
“Why don’t you just put on a long-haired wig and appear as the stripper yourself?”
The comment, completely unrelated to the previous topic, certainly sounded like a non sequitur. But since the other man was laughing, Koichi suspected hidden meanings.
“You’re pretty enough to pass as a woman, Ko-chan~.”
If this had been television, Koichi would have pulled a long-suffering face and made an incoherent protest, but it wasn’t, so he slapped Tsuyoshi on the arm (hard) and refused to dignify the comment with a response.
Tsuyoshi just laughed harder.
In the meantime, Nagase was so busy with preparations for his wedding that he didn’t have the time to just hang out anymore. Not that Koichi ever had the urge to go out or anything, but he rather missed the one or two nights a week when the two of them would simply lounge around his apartment, one asleep on the couch and the other playing a video game, enjoying each other’s company in silence.
Playing a video game - or even napping on his couch - just wasn’t quite the same without his best friend’s presence, let alone, well, any other activities they might have indulged in with their penchants for being naked all the time.
“But I’m not dependent on him!” exclaimed Koichi, when confronted by sundry V6 and TOKIO members a handful of days before the bachelor party was to take place. “I’m thirty-five, guys, I know how to be self-sustaining and all.”
Okada made derisive noise.
“You don’t count,” Koichi informed him aloofly, “You’ve spent too much time with Tsuyoshi, your judgment is clouded.”
“Or maybe Tsuyoshi is right,” suggested Inohara.
“He’s been engaged for three years,” Koichi explained patiently. “I’m quite used to the idea, you know. It’s not like we didn’t all know it was going to happen.” He turned to Joushima, “Look, Leader, Gussan got married and you didn’t die.”
“Maa,” murmured Joushima.
“That doesn’t count either,” Matsuoka snorted. “You could put ten thousand marriages in between Anii and Leader, and they’d still be ‘Anii and Leader’.”
“Actually,” Joushima told them in a confidential tone, after a small pause, “Tatsuya has a List.”
“A... list?”
“Right, of people he and Reina decided would be exceptions if they ever want to-”
“Kimutaku taught the two of us that!” interrupted Inohara, proudly. “We’re going to start a new Johnnys tradition.”
Okada cracked up. “Inocchi, that’s hardly original. Some people in the entertainment circle use lists when they’re still dating.”
“...So,” concluded Joushima placidly, “I’m sure Koichi’s the first name on Nagase’s list, ne.”
“You should’ve just put on a long-haired wig and come as a stripper,” Nagase told him, grabbing a couple of beers from behind the bar and handing one to Koichi. He took a swig from his bottle and glanced around at the room that had yet to fill up. “Especially if you were going to be so lazy as to hold this party at my dad’s okami bar.”
Koichi decided he was above responding to the first point. “Not because of laziness, it was merely more efficient. And economical.”
“You’d definitely be really pretty, if you had long hair.” On the other hand, Nagase figured laziness was laziness, and there was no point belaboring a horse everyone knew was long dead. “And your porn name could be like, Ferrari Ichigo or something.”
But before Koichi could speak up in indignation, the party fell tumultuously through the door. Matsuoka was in the lead, cradling four bottles of some foreign hard alcohol in his arms; Taichi came in last, with his arms around a couple of girls wearing little else besides lingerie and stilettos.
“What’s this?” Nagase asked, the grin plastered on his face big and amused and wonderful.
“Girls,” Koichi deadpanned to hide the effect that grin had on his insides. “You know, long hair, sparkly nails, breasts, vagina?”
“Mmm,” murmured the older man, appreciatively. “So I see...” He winked at the tallest one.
Something tugged at Koichi’s chest, just a little bit. So he shoved none-too-gently at Nagase, telling his friend to go enjoy his last night as a free man.
Then, like he always did in a crowd, Koichi faded into a quiet corner. He spent the night watching Nagase interact with the strippers, taking note of every time he spoke to them, or laughed with them, or got too close to their breasts, or adjusted his pants. Just to make sure Nagase was really enjoying this party properly, Koichi told himself.
By the time Tsuyoshi cornered him in a shadowed corner behind the bar, Nagase had taken off with his arm around the girl he'd winked at earlier and the others trailing after them, and Koichi had slammed back enough shots of vodka to consider being honest with himself.
“I’m thinking of getting married too, Ko-chan,” Tsuyoshi told him.
Gut instinct kicked in; Koichi glared. “Fuck you!!”
A handful of people, leaving now that the groom-to-be had gone, paused by the exit and looked over at them, alarmed at the vehemence in Koichi’s raised voice.
To show them that everything was fine, Tsuyoshi leaned forward and stuck his tongue down Koichi’s throat.
“...Sadist,” Koichi complained when they pulled apart, breathing harder than normal. “I’m too drunk to understand your humor right now.”
“I just wanted to see if it was just him, or everyone,” Tsuyoshi explained, Kansai-ben heavier than usual and slurred, thanks to the (sixth) bourbon sour he had in his hand.
Koichi considered, for a brief moment, asking if Tsuyoshi was being the jealous one now, but decided it was too complicated a topic to get into at the moment.
“Everyone,” he said against Tsuyoshi’s lips, tasting whiskey and vodka and sympathy in the breaths that passed between them. “I really thought I was okay with it. I’m not even sure why I care so much now. It’s not like I haven’t seen him go off with girls on his arm at the end of a night before.”
For once, Tsuyoshi didn’t offer him in-depth analyses of his feelings. Instead, he looked at Koichi with the sort of expression he reserved for music making and post-coital cuddling. “You drove with Tomoya here, right? Let’s go, I’ll drop you off.”
Koichi had already taken out his contacts and was brushing his teeth when Nagase came strolling into his apartment after only a preemptory knock on the door. He froze, with the toothbrush in his mouth and toothpaste foam threatening to dribble down his chin, and blinked stupidly at his friend. Pan-chan’s tail wagged frantically in welcome, which was kind of sort of what Koichi’s heart seemed to be doing at the moment as well.
“Yo!” greeted Nagase.
“Urk,” replied Koichi, incoherently, before turning back and spitting out the toothpaste and rinsing. “What are you doing here? What happened to the girls?”
“Sent 'em to a fancy love hotel to enjoy its luxuries.” Ignoring the first question, Nagase came over to lean on the doorframe of the bathroom.
Already tall and well-built, he seemed to take up more than his fair share of the doorway; all the strategically positioned mirrors in Koichi’s bathroom created multiple Nagases, making it seem like he was everywhere, filling up all the empty spaces in Koichi’s apartment. Or maybe it wasn’t the mirrors distorting his vision, but Koichi’s own feelings. He kept his eyes down as he fiddled with his toiletries around the sink, lined them all up perfectly, trying to refrain from looking at one of the many Nagases that were looking at him through the mirrors.
The lighting in his bathroom didn’t help matters either. Koichi had vetoed the bright fluorescent lights people usually used when he’d built this bathroom, choosing soft yellow panels instead, to match the décor. It was softening Nagase’s features, making him look twenty-one and god, so desirable.
Koichi figured now would be a good time to push past the older man, get out of this tiny room with the stupid ambient lighting that was getting to his head.
“Ne, Ko-chan,” Nagase said just then, his voice soft and low, and a lot like the lighting, as well as the kiss he leaned down to place on Koichi’s lips a moment later.
Habit - muscle memory - prompted Koichi to kiss back. It tasted like beer and cigarettes (nothing new or unusual there) and the minty freshness of Koichi’s toothpaste. The taste, banal enough as it was, had Koichi leaning in, kissing harder, wanting more of that familiarity, not able to get enough, not able to ever get enough.
Nagase was the one to pull away first.
“I...’m sorry,” he said, pulling Koichi towards him with one arm so that the younger man is flush against his body. “I’m sorry that it’s affecting you, but I have to get married at some point.” Then, “You, too. You must have marriage on the horizon as well.”
Koichi nodded, almost imperceptibly, and murmured in a voice that’s steadier than the expression he hid in Nagase’s shoulder, “The show must go on.”
Koichi pushed away from Nagase, at first, because he understood quite well what Nagase had meant about marriage. They were both in their mid thirties, far beyond the days when they could drink and drink, and laugh and laugh, and kiss and fall into a tangled mess of limbs on the bed. They were older now, with more things - and people - to take into consideration.
“You shouldn’t,” he said.
His small hand on Nagase’s chest looked like a paltry defense, even to himself, but it was enough. He didn’t know how to put everything (or anything, really) he wanted to say into words, but Nagase had always known how to read him as though he were transparent.
“Well, if you had been one of those girls, that would have been a ‘shouldn’t.’ But, well… Saki and I made these lists, see...”
Similarly, Koichi had learned through the years to read Nagase’s constant half-joking, half-serious way of speaking just as well. “And I’m number one on yours, right?”
The surprised look Nagase gave him was comical, and made Koichi think of their younger years. It reminded him of the reason he’d been attracted to Nagase all those years ago, of Nagase’s constant wide-eyed wonder at the world, and of why he had been willing to consent to this kind of relationship with the older man to begin with.
Their lovemaking, like their friendship, had matured. They’d lost all the impatience of youth, and gained a synchronization with each other that only came with time and intimacy. Tonight, Nagase took his time exploring Koichi’s body all over again, as though it was their first time, stroking and pinching and kneading every inch of skin to ferret out all the sensitive spots all over again.
His guitar-calloused fingertips placed, at the nape of Koichi’s neck, tracing down his spine, trailing along the insides of his thighs, had Koichi twisting his body in pleasure. His mouth traced a different path. With his lips, Nagase caressed all of his own favorite places on Koichi’s body: well-formed nose, pretty lips, the enticing hollow at the bottom of his throat, his peaked nipples, the warm pressure point on the inside of his wrist.
By the time Nagase got as far down as Koichi’s erection, it was already glistening with pre-cum, twitching every once in awhile when Nagase’s hands smoothed over an erogenous zone on his body. An involuntary stiffening of Koichi’s muscles had Nagase pulling back, working against his impending orgasm. Encircling the tip of Koichi’s penis with thumb and forefinger, and gently tugging on his balls with the other hand, Nagase waited until Koichi’s body melted again into the sheets.
“Tomoya,” complained Koichi. “Come on.” He bit down on his bottom lip, trying to even out his erratic breathing by taking deep breaths through his nose.
“Have some patience,” Nagase told him, making them both laugh a little.
But the laugh caught in their throats when Nagase stroked a finger over Koichi’s entrance as Koichi, at the same moment, reached down to tug on Nagase’s own erection.
And really, Koichi smiled to himself, Nagase was one to speak about patience. It only ever took a few strokes from Koichi’s fingers, ghosting lightly over all the other’s sensitive spots, before he had Nagase thrusting involuntarily forward into his hands.
Tonight, however, knowing how quickly he fell apart under the younger man’s touch, Nagase pulled away after only a few moments.
He reached for the little bottle of lubrication (always and endearingly strawberry flavored) that Koichi kept in his nightstand drawer, coated his own fingers liberally with the fluid, then brought them back down to Koichi’s entrance. He inserted a finger, and then two, enjoying the gasps he elicited from the younger man. Koichi could feel himself being stretched, the sensation always a bit alien at first, before the rest of his body relaxed with the loosening of his muscles.
Then one of Nagase’s fingers found and brushed over that spot once, twice, thrice, that made Koichi feel like he was coming apart - and then right when Koichi was about to really come, Nagase withdrew his hand completely.
“Fu-uck,” Koichi’s voice shook with unfulfilled desire. “Why do you keep doing that?”
Nagase’s answer was a chuckle, deep and warm. Koichi couldn’t decide if the impact was stronger on his heart or his groin.
“I’m going to kill you if you stop again, you fucker.”
“Now there’s the truth,” grinned Nagase. As he spoke, he pulled Koichi’s legs up, settling them around his waist, and positioned himself, rolling on a condom. “Ready, Ko-chan?”
All it took, this time, was a smooth, long thrust, and Koichi was at the edge again immediately. The pressure in his body was intense, crushing, so strong that he had to grit his teeth and squeeze his eyes shut in a grimace in order to keep from screaming aloud. But Nagase had stopped for a moment, to let Koichi adjust, and the momentary pain and stillness pulled him back again from the brink.
"Goddamn you!"
“Don’t cry,” Nagase said, brushing his fingers gently at Koichi’s temple.
“I’m not,” denied Koichi. He reached a hand up to his own face and was genuinely surprised to find tears dampening the hair at the side of his face. “I’m not crying,” he insisted anyway.
Nagase had a tender look on his face, like maybe he was going to apologize again or be all gentle and considerate, which exasperated the hell out of Koichi.
“Just ignore them!” he commanded, not bothering to deny his tears anymore. “I’m not a girl all right? Never was, and never will be, so just-”
He gave up on words at this point, letting his body do the talking for him. Koichi tightened his legs around Nagase’s waist and pulled the other man in, deeper. The movement drew a long groan from Nagase, and brought his attention back to the task at hand.
“Stop holding back.” Koichi bucked his hips up, still trying for more movement. “You’re always holding back.” He let out a loud gasp as, mostly by luck, he managed to twist into a position where Nagase’s cock inside him was hitting his prostate again.
Somehow, watching Koichi moving and crying underneath him, Nagase felt his control slipping out of his grasp in a way that had never happened before. “Fuck, Ko-”
“More,” moaned Koichi underneath him, “Tomoya. Fuck me.”
And then suddenly Nagase was doing just that, harder, faster, more than ever before. And Koichi was meeting him halfway, those damn twisty hips snapping up in synchronization. And there was a high whine coming from his throat that he didn’t even recognize himself.
Koichi came first - exploded, more like - curling toes and bucking hips and muscles clamping down hard on Nagase’s cock inside him. Nagase’s orgasm followed immediately after, drawn out by Koichi’s tightness and the rapturous expression on his face.
Lying in bed and counting ceiling tiles with his best friend, after the after-shocks of both their orgasms had faded away, somehow brought clarity to Koichi’s mind. They were friends - friends with benefits - best friends with benefits - which was probably better than a lot of other things that they could be, and easier to handle to boot.
“Lucky for you I’m not a real girl and into cuddling after sex and stuff, huh?” He sat up and pulled on Nagase’s arm until the other man was sitting as well. “You should go. Saki-chan would appreciate it if you didn’t stay out all night, I bet.”
Nagase didn’t argue. As per usual, he tossed his worn clothing into Koichi’s hamper and took out a fresh change of clothing from the bottom drawer of the dresser, where he always kept a couple of shirts and pants for the times he stayed over.
He didn’t offer Koichi any parting words, either, just a quick peck on the top of his head and an over-the-shoulder “don’t be late tomorrow” as he let himself out of the apartment.
And that, thought Koichi, flopping back onto his pillow, was just how things would have to be.
~
Right now in Yokohama, a chaotic love sways
Mid-way between me and you
We can’t help but sense it at just a touch
As we say our parting “Good-night”...
###
Notes:
1. Tsuyoshi randomly calls Nagase "Tomoya Baby" sometimes (Domoto Kyoudai, other similar shows, concert MCs, etc.)
2. TOKIO has been known to call Yamaguchi (Gussan) "Anii" which is an affectionate way of saying "older brother"
3. Nagase's father really owns/runs an okami bar (gay bar), hah
4. end lyrics are from TOKIO's song "Koibito mo Nureru Machikado"
Poll Team Future
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Nagase/Koichi
Summary: Nagase is getting married, and Koichi's not sure how he feels about this.
Prompt: "You're pretty like a woman"
Notes: Many thanks to my wonderful betas ♥.
Nagase Tomoya & Aibu Saki: The long-awaited sound of wedding bells
2014.11.12 - Nagase Tomoya (36), actor and member of talent agency Johnny’s Jimusho’s rock band TOKIO, and actress Aibu Saki (29), will finally be tying the knot at Christmas this year.
The celebrity couple, who have been dating since appearing in a television drama together in 2007, have been subject to speculations on their nuptials almost yearly since their relationship was made public. Up to this point, all speculations have been denied by the spokespeople of both parties. However, yesterday, an official announcement of their upcoming marriage was made.
Apparently, the two have been in a long engagement of three years. Nagase proposed romantically on their anniversary, and Aibu happily and immediately accepted. They claim to have put off the wedding because of busy schedules on both their parts.
“Also, we didn’t feel pressured to get married,” said Aibu. “We’re already very close, so it wouldn’t have made much of a difference in our lives. But my mother has been expressing a wish to see me in a wedding dress (laugh), and we both have a bit of time in our schedules at the end of this year, so that’s why.”
When questioned about her ideal wedding, Aibu said, “I’ve always wanted a Western style wedding. I’d like everything to be beautiful, and to create beautiful memories.”
Nagase, who claims to have watched a lot of American movies lately, added mischievously, “Since we’re having a Western style wedding... My best friend should throw me a bachelor party too, don’t you think? (laugh)”
- Nikkansports
~
With a sigh and an intentionally loud rustle of the pages, Koichi closed the entertainment newspaper he was reading. He didn’t even need to look over at his best friend to know that Nagase was grinning at him, overt insinuation sketched out in the arch of his eyebrows and curve of his lips.
“Yes, I get the hint,” Koichi said, taking off his reading glasses and tossing them on top of the table with a long-suffering air.
Nagase beamed. Under the table, he kicked Koichi’s foot a couple of times, by way of a nudge in the right direction.
“But I don’t even like socializing,” complained Koichi, “Get one of your band members to do it or something.”
At this, Nagase looked appalled. “But bachelor parties are always thrown by the groom’s best friend! People will think our friendship is all just a publicity stunt if you don’t do it!” He gave Koichi a Look that he’d clearly learned from that bratty kouhai Tegoshi - big eyes, pouty lips, 45 degree head tilt.
The tactics he was employing were familiar to Koichi, after two decades of being best friends. The sly bastard had played the You-don’t-want-to-be-my-best-friend-anymore-Kou-chan? card countless times in the past, knowing just how much Koichi would do to prove his loyalty.
The real problem was, Koichi reflected, that he still fell for the trick every time.
Not that he was going to admit to it.
“Never mind, I’ll do it.” Koichi kicked back at Nagase’s shin. “I just had a mental image of what it would be like if Matsuoka or someone planned your bachelor party. Lots of hard alcohol and everyone buck naked. Oh lord.”
“But that’s what a bachelor party is supposed to be like,” explained Tsuyoshi, a few days later, while Koichi complained about all the phone calls he’d had to make that week (four already, and it was only Wednesday!) to plan for the party. “Booze and strippers and, I don’t know, stupid hijinks. Basically, whatever TOKIO does on a regular basis.”
“Huh?” says Koichi, absentmindedly. “Strippers? I thought the point of a bachelor party was to hang out with your guy friends? Video games and... nabe? Or something?”
“Ugh, remind me not to have you plan my bachelor party when I get married. Poor Tomoya-Baby.”
At the nickname, Koichi raised his eyebrows. “Are you still calling him that?” he asked, nonchalantly.
“Are you jealous?” replied Tsuyoshi with a mirrored raising of eyebrows.
“Why do you always ask me that? He’s getting married, and I’m throwing him a bachelor party. Isn’t that an indication of how not jealous and not affected I am about this whole thing?”
Tsuyoshi shot him a knowing look, laced with amusement. It was the kind of look Koichi got from Tsuyoshi often, one that heralded some personal revelation that Tsuyoshi always realized about Koichi before Koichi realized it himself. Koichi was starting to dread that look from his partner.
“What?!” he flailed, “What is it?”
“Why don’t you just put on a long-haired wig and appear as the stripper yourself?”
The comment, completely unrelated to the previous topic, certainly sounded like a non sequitur. But since the other man was laughing, Koichi suspected hidden meanings.
“You’re pretty enough to pass as a woman, Ko-chan~.”
If this had been television, Koichi would have pulled a long-suffering face and made an incoherent protest, but it wasn’t, so he slapped Tsuyoshi on the arm (hard) and refused to dignify the comment with a response.
Tsuyoshi just laughed harder.
In the meantime, Nagase was so busy with preparations for his wedding that he didn’t have the time to just hang out anymore. Not that Koichi ever had the urge to go out or anything, but he rather missed the one or two nights a week when the two of them would simply lounge around his apartment, one asleep on the couch and the other playing a video game, enjoying each other’s company in silence.
Playing a video game - or even napping on his couch - just wasn’t quite the same without his best friend’s presence, let alone, well, any other activities they might have indulged in with their penchants for being naked all the time.
“But I’m not dependent on him!” exclaimed Koichi, when confronted by sundry V6 and TOKIO members a handful of days before the bachelor party was to take place. “I’m thirty-five, guys, I know how to be self-sustaining and all.”
Okada made derisive noise.
“You don’t count,” Koichi informed him aloofly, “You’ve spent too much time with Tsuyoshi, your judgment is clouded.”
“Or maybe Tsuyoshi is right,” suggested Inohara.
“He’s been engaged for three years,” Koichi explained patiently. “I’m quite used to the idea, you know. It’s not like we didn’t all know it was going to happen.” He turned to Joushima, “Look, Leader, Gussan got married and you didn’t die.”
“Maa,” murmured Joushima.
“That doesn’t count either,” Matsuoka snorted. “You could put ten thousand marriages in between Anii and Leader, and they’d still be ‘Anii and Leader’.”
“Actually,” Joushima told them in a confidential tone, after a small pause, “Tatsuya has a List.”
“A... list?”
“Right, of people he and Reina decided would be exceptions if they ever want to-”
“Kimutaku taught the two of us that!” interrupted Inohara, proudly. “We’re going to start a new Johnnys tradition.”
Okada cracked up. “Inocchi, that’s hardly original. Some people in the entertainment circle use lists when they’re still dating.”
“...So,” concluded Joushima placidly, “I’m sure Koichi’s the first name on Nagase’s list, ne.”
“You should’ve just put on a long-haired wig and come as a stripper,” Nagase told him, grabbing a couple of beers from behind the bar and handing one to Koichi. He took a swig from his bottle and glanced around at the room that had yet to fill up. “Especially if you were going to be so lazy as to hold this party at my dad’s okami bar.”
Koichi decided he was above responding to the first point. “Not because of laziness, it was merely more efficient. And economical.”
“You’d definitely be really pretty, if you had long hair.” On the other hand, Nagase figured laziness was laziness, and there was no point belaboring a horse everyone knew was long dead. “And your porn name could be like, Ferrari Ichigo or something.”
But before Koichi could speak up in indignation, the party fell tumultuously through the door. Matsuoka was in the lead, cradling four bottles of some foreign hard alcohol in his arms; Taichi came in last, with his arms around a couple of girls wearing little else besides lingerie and stilettos.
“What’s this?” Nagase asked, the grin plastered on his face big and amused and wonderful.
“Girls,” Koichi deadpanned to hide the effect that grin had on his insides. “You know, long hair, sparkly nails, breasts, vagina?”
“Mmm,” murmured the older man, appreciatively. “So I see...” He winked at the tallest one.
Something tugged at Koichi’s chest, just a little bit. So he shoved none-too-gently at Nagase, telling his friend to go enjoy his last night as a free man.
Then, like he always did in a crowd, Koichi faded into a quiet corner. He spent the night watching Nagase interact with the strippers, taking note of every time he spoke to them, or laughed with them, or got too close to their breasts, or adjusted his pants. Just to make sure Nagase was really enjoying this party properly, Koichi told himself.
By the time Tsuyoshi cornered him in a shadowed corner behind the bar, Nagase had taken off with his arm around the girl he'd winked at earlier and the others trailing after them, and Koichi had slammed back enough shots of vodka to consider being honest with himself.
“I’m thinking of getting married too, Ko-chan,” Tsuyoshi told him.
Gut instinct kicked in; Koichi glared. “Fuck you!!”
A handful of people, leaving now that the groom-to-be had gone, paused by the exit and looked over at them, alarmed at the vehemence in Koichi’s raised voice.
To show them that everything was fine, Tsuyoshi leaned forward and stuck his tongue down Koichi’s throat.
“...Sadist,” Koichi complained when they pulled apart, breathing harder than normal. “I’m too drunk to understand your humor right now.”
“I just wanted to see if it was just him, or everyone,” Tsuyoshi explained, Kansai-ben heavier than usual and slurred, thanks to the (sixth) bourbon sour he had in his hand.
Koichi considered, for a brief moment, asking if Tsuyoshi was being the jealous one now, but decided it was too complicated a topic to get into at the moment.
“Everyone,” he said against Tsuyoshi’s lips, tasting whiskey and vodka and sympathy in the breaths that passed between them. “I really thought I was okay with it. I’m not even sure why I care so much now. It’s not like I haven’t seen him go off with girls on his arm at the end of a night before.”
For once, Tsuyoshi didn’t offer him in-depth analyses of his feelings. Instead, he looked at Koichi with the sort of expression he reserved for music making and post-coital cuddling. “You drove with Tomoya here, right? Let’s go, I’ll drop you off.”
Koichi had already taken out his contacts and was brushing his teeth when Nagase came strolling into his apartment after only a preemptory knock on the door. He froze, with the toothbrush in his mouth and toothpaste foam threatening to dribble down his chin, and blinked stupidly at his friend. Pan-chan’s tail wagged frantically in welcome, which was kind of sort of what Koichi’s heart seemed to be doing at the moment as well.
“Yo!” greeted Nagase.
“Urk,” replied Koichi, incoherently, before turning back and spitting out the toothpaste and rinsing. “What are you doing here? What happened to the girls?”
“Sent 'em to a fancy love hotel to enjoy its luxuries.” Ignoring the first question, Nagase came over to lean on the doorframe of the bathroom.
Already tall and well-built, he seemed to take up more than his fair share of the doorway; all the strategically positioned mirrors in Koichi’s bathroom created multiple Nagases, making it seem like he was everywhere, filling up all the empty spaces in Koichi’s apartment. Or maybe it wasn’t the mirrors distorting his vision, but Koichi’s own feelings. He kept his eyes down as he fiddled with his toiletries around the sink, lined them all up perfectly, trying to refrain from looking at one of the many Nagases that were looking at him through the mirrors.
The lighting in his bathroom didn’t help matters either. Koichi had vetoed the bright fluorescent lights people usually used when he’d built this bathroom, choosing soft yellow panels instead, to match the décor. It was softening Nagase’s features, making him look twenty-one and god, so desirable.
Koichi figured now would be a good time to push past the older man, get out of this tiny room with the stupid ambient lighting that was getting to his head.
“Ne, Ko-chan,” Nagase said just then, his voice soft and low, and a lot like the lighting, as well as the kiss he leaned down to place on Koichi’s lips a moment later.
Habit - muscle memory - prompted Koichi to kiss back. It tasted like beer and cigarettes (nothing new or unusual there) and the minty freshness of Koichi’s toothpaste. The taste, banal enough as it was, had Koichi leaning in, kissing harder, wanting more of that familiarity, not able to get enough, not able to ever get enough.
Nagase was the one to pull away first.
“I...’m sorry,” he said, pulling Koichi towards him with one arm so that the younger man is flush against his body. “I’m sorry that it’s affecting you, but I have to get married at some point.” Then, “You, too. You must have marriage on the horizon as well.”
Koichi nodded, almost imperceptibly, and murmured in a voice that’s steadier than the expression he hid in Nagase’s shoulder, “The show must go on.”
Koichi pushed away from Nagase, at first, because he understood quite well what Nagase had meant about marriage. They were both in their mid thirties, far beyond the days when they could drink and drink, and laugh and laugh, and kiss and fall into a tangled mess of limbs on the bed. They were older now, with more things - and people - to take into consideration.
“You shouldn’t,” he said.
His small hand on Nagase’s chest looked like a paltry defense, even to himself, but it was enough. He didn’t know how to put everything (or anything, really) he wanted to say into words, but Nagase had always known how to read him as though he were transparent.
“Well, if you had been one of those girls, that would have been a ‘shouldn’t.’ But, well… Saki and I made these lists, see...”
Similarly, Koichi had learned through the years to read Nagase’s constant half-joking, half-serious way of speaking just as well. “And I’m number one on yours, right?”
The surprised look Nagase gave him was comical, and made Koichi think of their younger years. It reminded him of the reason he’d been attracted to Nagase all those years ago, of Nagase’s constant wide-eyed wonder at the world, and of why he had been willing to consent to this kind of relationship with the older man to begin with.
Their lovemaking, like their friendship, had matured. They’d lost all the impatience of youth, and gained a synchronization with each other that only came with time and intimacy. Tonight, Nagase took his time exploring Koichi’s body all over again, as though it was their first time, stroking and pinching and kneading every inch of skin to ferret out all the sensitive spots all over again.
His guitar-calloused fingertips placed, at the nape of Koichi’s neck, tracing down his spine, trailing along the insides of his thighs, had Koichi twisting his body in pleasure. His mouth traced a different path. With his lips, Nagase caressed all of his own favorite places on Koichi’s body: well-formed nose, pretty lips, the enticing hollow at the bottom of his throat, his peaked nipples, the warm pressure point on the inside of his wrist.
By the time Nagase got as far down as Koichi’s erection, it was already glistening with pre-cum, twitching every once in awhile when Nagase’s hands smoothed over an erogenous zone on his body. An involuntary stiffening of Koichi’s muscles had Nagase pulling back, working against his impending orgasm. Encircling the tip of Koichi’s penis with thumb and forefinger, and gently tugging on his balls with the other hand, Nagase waited until Koichi’s body melted again into the sheets.
“Tomoya,” complained Koichi. “Come on.” He bit down on his bottom lip, trying to even out his erratic breathing by taking deep breaths through his nose.
“Have some patience,” Nagase told him, making them both laugh a little.
But the laugh caught in their throats when Nagase stroked a finger over Koichi’s entrance as Koichi, at the same moment, reached down to tug on Nagase’s own erection.
And really, Koichi smiled to himself, Nagase was one to speak about patience. It only ever took a few strokes from Koichi’s fingers, ghosting lightly over all the other’s sensitive spots, before he had Nagase thrusting involuntarily forward into his hands.
Tonight, however, knowing how quickly he fell apart under the younger man’s touch, Nagase pulled away after only a few moments.
He reached for the little bottle of lubrication (always and endearingly strawberry flavored) that Koichi kept in his nightstand drawer, coated his own fingers liberally with the fluid, then brought them back down to Koichi’s entrance. He inserted a finger, and then two, enjoying the gasps he elicited from the younger man. Koichi could feel himself being stretched, the sensation always a bit alien at first, before the rest of his body relaxed with the loosening of his muscles.
Then one of Nagase’s fingers found and brushed over that spot once, twice, thrice, that made Koichi feel like he was coming apart - and then right when Koichi was about to really come, Nagase withdrew his hand completely.
“Fu-uck,” Koichi’s voice shook with unfulfilled desire. “Why do you keep doing that?”
Nagase’s answer was a chuckle, deep and warm. Koichi couldn’t decide if the impact was stronger on his heart or his groin.
“I’m going to kill you if you stop again, you fucker.”
“Now there’s the truth,” grinned Nagase. As he spoke, he pulled Koichi’s legs up, settling them around his waist, and positioned himself, rolling on a condom. “Ready, Ko-chan?”
All it took, this time, was a smooth, long thrust, and Koichi was at the edge again immediately. The pressure in his body was intense, crushing, so strong that he had to grit his teeth and squeeze his eyes shut in a grimace in order to keep from screaming aloud. But Nagase had stopped for a moment, to let Koichi adjust, and the momentary pain and stillness pulled him back again from the brink.
"Goddamn you!"
“Don’t cry,” Nagase said, brushing his fingers gently at Koichi’s temple.
“I’m not,” denied Koichi. He reached a hand up to his own face and was genuinely surprised to find tears dampening the hair at the side of his face. “I’m not crying,” he insisted anyway.
Nagase had a tender look on his face, like maybe he was going to apologize again or be all gentle and considerate, which exasperated the hell out of Koichi.
“Just ignore them!” he commanded, not bothering to deny his tears anymore. “I’m not a girl all right? Never was, and never will be, so just-”
He gave up on words at this point, letting his body do the talking for him. Koichi tightened his legs around Nagase’s waist and pulled the other man in, deeper. The movement drew a long groan from Nagase, and brought his attention back to the task at hand.
“Stop holding back.” Koichi bucked his hips up, still trying for more movement. “You’re always holding back.” He let out a loud gasp as, mostly by luck, he managed to twist into a position where Nagase’s cock inside him was hitting his prostate again.
Somehow, watching Koichi moving and crying underneath him, Nagase felt his control slipping out of his grasp in a way that had never happened before. “Fuck, Ko-”
“More,” moaned Koichi underneath him, “Tomoya. Fuck me.”
And then suddenly Nagase was doing just that, harder, faster, more than ever before. And Koichi was meeting him halfway, those damn twisty hips snapping up in synchronization. And there was a high whine coming from his throat that he didn’t even recognize himself.
Koichi came first - exploded, more like - curling toes and bucking hips and muscles clamping down hard on Nagase’s cock inside him. Nagase’s orgasm followed immediately after, drawn out by Koichi’s tightness and the rapturous expression on his face.
Lying in bed and counting ceiling tiles with his best friend, after the after-shocks of both their orgasms had faded away, somehow brought clarity to Koichi’s mind. They were friends - friends with benefits - best friends with benefits - which was probably better than a lot of other things that they could be, and easier to handle to boot.
“Lucky for you I’m not a real girl and into cuddling after sex and stuff, huh?” He sat up and pulled on Nagase’s arm until the other man was sitting as well. “You should go. Saki-chan would appreciate it if you didn’t stay out all night, I bet.”
Nagase didn’t argue. As per usual, he tossed his worn clothing into Koichi’s hamper and took out a fresh change of clothing from the bottom drawer of the dresser, where he always kept a couple of shirts and pants for the times he stayed over.
He didn’t offer Koichi any parting words, either, just a quick peck on the top of his head and an over-the-shoulder “don’t be late tomorrow” as he let himself out of the apartment.
And that, thought Koichi, flopping back onto his pillow, was just how things would have to be.
~
Right now in Yokohama, a chaotic love sways
Mid-way between me and you
We can’t help but sense it at just a touch
As we say our parting “Good-night”...
###
Notes:
1. Tsuyoshi randomly calls Nagase "Tomoya Baby" sometimes (Domoto Kyoudai, other similar shows, concert MCs, etc.)
2. TOKIO has been known to call Yamaguchi (Gussan) "Anii" which is an affectionate way of saying "older brother"
3. Nagase's father really owns/runs an okami bar (gay bar), hah
4. end lyrics are from TOKIO's song "Koibito mo Nureru Machikado"
Poll Team Future