Fic for ender839! (Part 3 of 4)
Fic for ender839 Part 3 of 4
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Chapter 5: The Eight and the Storm
It wasn't one of the easiest phone calls that Taguchi Junnosuke had had to make in his life. But Koki had said he was the best candidate for the job: Kame wouldn't want to ask, Ueda wasn't as close to him, Nakamaru wouldn't know how to ask without being confusing, and Koki himself would probably end up crying. Sure, Taguchi hadn't spoken to him in a while on account of his movie filming, but they were still friends, and that was most likely why he picked up on the first ring.
"Taguchi! When did you get my new number?" Akanishi Jin asked, sounding surprisingly coherent despite the late hour. Taguchi had been counting on Jin being out and about, which would have made the whole thing less awkward. Jin would agree to anything with enough girly cocktails in him.
"Oh, Nishikido-kun gave it to me. I hope that's okay?"
"Of course it's okay!" Jin said happily. "You're never going to believe what I'm doing right now!"
"Jin..."
"It's something called GTL. You know, there's this show on American MTV called Jersey Shore. Well right now I'm doing the L part of it. They call it 'laundry' in English, that's why it's an L. Man, I mean, I've always been pretty laid back when it comes to separating whites and colors, knowing when to use bleach, but I've learned so much. Laundry's like, something everyone does, but when you really take the time to focus, putting all your effort into selecting the best kind of detergent..."
He smiled. If the tabloids knew the real Akanishi Jin, they'd be shocked. "Is this a bad time? To talk, I mean?"
"No, no, it's an awesome time. Things are awesome. Let me just get the machine going." There was a pause on the line as he heard the washing machine kick on. "Okay, great. I'm back."
"So you're going to be in Japan for a while?"
"I don't know, man. I'm back and forth with album stuff, why?"
"Well, what about for New Year's? Do you know where you're going to be then?"
He heard Jin take a breath. "Am I on speaker or something? Is Kame listening?"
"No, Kame's not here. Why?"
Jin sounded almost sad when he spoke again. "I feel kind of left out. I haven't been getting those messages on my phone like you guys. I don't know if it's because of my new number or what. At first I thought Kame was sending them, you know, to like, hint about his birthday ridiculously early or something. You know how he is. But I was out with Pi and Ryo and they had all those 'winter is coming' things too, and they said it was about Countdown, and it just made me...I don't know. Nostalgic. And I never really liked Countdown that much, but seeing those messages..."
This boded well, Taguchi realized. This boded better than well! If Jin was already getting warm and fuzzy feelings about Countdown, it wouldn't even be that hard to talk him into it. "Well, that's actually why we wanted to talk to you. All of us. Well, Kame doesn't know. It was Koki's idea."
Jin hesitated. "About what?"
"About Countdown. I don't want this to be awkward, but we were thinking of ways that would convince Johnny-san to let KAT-TUN host, and Kame's ideas are all kind of..."
"...stuff that makes sense in Kame's mind and nobody else's?" Jin finished for him.
"Exactly. And I'd feel kind of weird if we offered to cover the cost of Johnny-san's overactive bladder meds for a year."
Jin chuckled. "That does sound like something that would only make sense in Kame's head."
Taguchi gathered his courage. They were all counting on him. "Jin, would you host Countdown with us? I mean, if we went to Johnny-san and asked, would you agree to help us?"
"Taguchi..."
He decided to be firm about it. He knew he was one of the only people Jin had ever really listened to, so he had to be really convincing. "Look, Kame's not sleeping because he's been plotting this for weeks. And you know we've never been management's favorites for a while now. We're competing against Arashi and Kanjani8, and with the five of us, I'm really not sure we can make a compelling enough case. But nobody would expect you to show up with us, and I think that's the kind of thing we need to win."
"You know, it's always weird when you get serious."
"I can be plenty serious!" He paused. "Look, it's just an idea, and I think that the rest of us are going to go along with what Kame decides anyway just because he really wants to do this. But I think it would be great if you could be there, too."
Taguchi almost thought Jin had hung up before he heard him reply. "Let me think about it."
"That's all we ask."
"Don't be a stranger," Jin said. "We should have lunch or something."
"We should. Welcome back to Japan, Mister Ronin. I bet it must feel samurai-teous to be home!"
"Some things never change. You're still creepy."
"I missed you, too."
--
In his dreams, Yasu was climbing.
It always seemed so real, like he was on some sort of documentary program. He could feel the numbing winds, could feel the strain in his muscles as he struggled to pull himself upward. But dreams were odd things, Yasu knew. One minute he was scaling a snowy mountain, the next he was climbing a wall with bright colored numbers. And he could never reach the summit. He'd hear voices at the top, angry voices, and then he'd fall.
Ryo didn't bother to look up from the magazine he was reading as Yasu tried to explain his dream. "It sounds like you're on VS Arashi," he said dismissively, turning a page as the two of them waited in their green room. "The colored numbers on the wall."
Yasu scratched his chin. "But I've never been on VS Arashi before. Why would I dream about that?"
Ryo shrugged. "I dunno."
Yasu sighed. "You're no help," he said, unzipping his duffel bag and digging through the pile of books he'd been hauling around ever since he'd gotten out of the hospital. He'd consulted a least a dozen different dream dictionaries, none of which were providing him with the answers he really wanted.
He tried to look up 'climbing' and it told him that he was trying to overcome a great struggle. Well, no kidding, Yasu thought. Stupid dictionary. Yasu's struggle was trying to remember what had happened to him! And everything about climbing mountains had to do with ambition and stuff, and Yasu only considered himself average when it came to being ambitious. He was part of a group after all, so there was little point in trying to outshine his friends.
Yasu flipped through the latest dictionary he'd borrowed from one of the Kansai juniors, whose mom was really into divination and that sort of thing. The entries for climbing and mountains were similar. He sighed, looking up from the text. "Ryo-chan, have you had any dreams lately?"
Ryo finally met his eyes. "Why?"
"I don't know, maybe there's just something I'm not seeing when I read through here. If you told me about one of your own..."
Ryo considered this for a moment before turning back to his magazine without saying anything.
"Oh come on!" Yasu complained, getting up and trying to poke at Ryo's cheek. "Come on, you can tell me. You don't have to tell me if it's a sex dream or anything, I figure that's just normal for you."
Ryo started blushing. "Go away, you're annoying."
"Come on, I have amnesia about a twenty minute period of time. Take pity on me and let me analyze your pervert dreams!" he pleaded, trying to tickle his bandmate.
"If I tell you, will you go away?"
Yasu relented. "Okay. Okay."
Ryo looked back at his magazine. "I...dreamed about...spilling orange juice. All over myself."
"That was your dream?"
"Are you making fun of me?" he grumbled. "You asked, I answered."
"No! No, of course not, Ryo-chan!" Yasu said. Pfft, orange juice. What a stupid dream. At least climbing the VS Arashi wall was interesting. He paged through the dictionary. "Orange juice, orange juice. Okay it says here..." He skimmed the sentence and gasped.
"What?" Ryo asked, suddenly nervous. "What does it mean? Does it symbolize death? I don't want to die! I hate you! I hate you for asking me these stupid questions! Damn you!"
"Oh but it's not that bad, really." Yasu smiled. Talk about being spot on. "It says that if you spill or dump orange juice in your dream, it implies that you need to get out of your shell and be more sociable." He wrapped his arms around Ryo's neck. "See, your dream says you should be nicer to me."
"Get off me. I was lying."
He felt a little better now, having gotten Ryo to cough up some personal information. Any excuse to make Ryo squirm was worth it, even if it didn't solve his problem. In the end, he was just as lost as he'd been before. Climbing and climbing, and someone at the top was angry with him. Someone at the top made him fall. What the hell could that symbolize anyhow?
--
When Nino regained consciousness, he wished he hadn't. He found himself in Yoko's car, which really needed to be cleaned out. There were dozens of fast food wrappers on the floor at his feet, and there was a "Scent of Justice" air freshener hanging off of the rearview mirror with the face of Jack Bauer from 24 cheaply printed on it. Nino soon realized that the Scent of Justice was more like the smell of cinnamon-scented shit.
They were on the highway, and Yoko's hands were pale as they gripped the steering wheel tightly. "This is abduction, you know," Nino pointed out.
"Oh yeah, well attacking Yasu in his hospital room was attempted murder, you little weasel!"
Nino adjusted in the seat. Yoko had been thoughtful enough to buckle him in for safety's sake, at least. But one quick check of his pocket revealed that Yoko had snatched his cell phone. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Those bakeries, Ninomiya. You think we're dumb or something?"
"Do you want me to answer that truthfully?"
Yoko growled, which would have sounded adorable to Nino if Yoko hadn't, you know, just kidnapped him. "Oh, real cute. That's why you and Arashi always get away with stuff. Because you're all cute. Look at my face, right? I always get called in, 'Yoko, that wasn't funny' or 'Yoko, twenty minutes of whining doesn't equal ratings,' but I bet they never say that to you guys."
He sighed. "Where are you taking me? Can I at least tell someone where we're going?"
Yoko signaled and got off the highway at the next exit. "I can't get a hold of Hina. So until I can, you're going to stay put."
"Please say you're at least paying for a hotel." But sadly Nino recognized the neighborhood. Yoko's neighborhood.
Yoko didn't say anything else until he parked in the garage under his building. To Nino's surprise, he realized Yoko was deadly serious when he came over and held out a steak knife when he opened the passenger side door. "Out of the car, let's go."
Stupid Aiba, trying to prank Yasuda at the hospital. Everything was getting way too out of hand for Nino's liking, and now he'd gotten himself abducted. He hadn't done anything wrong, after all. It was all Sho and Jun's ambition that had caused this whole mess. He walked dutifully into the building, Yoko behind him. When they arrived in the apartment, Nino frowned at the mess inside. Not that he kept the cleanest house, but at least he wasn't constantly losing things like Yokoyama was.
"So kidnapping and forced imprisonment. You are going to make some interesting friends in prison."
Yoko cuffed him on the back of the head. "What I do is righteous justice and vengeance for the person you hurt! You hurt my friend, my bandmate! If I ran Aiba-chan down with my car, wouldn't you seek revenge?"
Nino considered it. "Depends. Aiba-chan might have deserved it."
Yoko smacked him again. "Stop being such a dick all the time. Now wait here."
Nino dutifully waited in the living room while Yoko disappeared into his bedroom. A coward would have fled. Hell, a smart man would have fled, but now that he had to be a hostage for Arashi's sake, he'd stew for a while. If anything was going to get Sho and Jun to finally calm the hell down, it was Yoko holding him at knifepoint in his filthy apartment. He hoped.
Yoko returned with a pair of handcuffs, and Nino immediately reconsidered his decision not to flee.
He backed away. "Look, if you're into that kind of thing, give a man a heads up first..."
Yoko instead gestured to his bathroom. "In there. Nothing kinky. This is justice."
"This is you handcuffing me without a lick of evidence against me."
"We found your list of bakeries. We know about the scones, Nino."
Damn, he thought. Sho and Jun were going to be pissed, and as soon as he got out of lock-up here, he knew he'd face whatever punishments his bandmates saw fit to dole out. Even though he had a feeling that Leader had been the one to let the plan slip. He sighed, allowing Yoko to seat him on his toilet and cuff him to the small radiator in his bathroom.
Yoko leaned against the sink, arms crossed. "Okay, so you're trying to find the best scones so Johnny picks you for Countdown."
"The scones aren't for that."
"Oh really?"
It was the only card left that hadn't been played, the only part of the plan that wasn't out in the open. "Us coming to you about Countdown was a courtesy," Nino admitted. "But we never really intended to let you be involved."
Yoko stared at him. "What do you mean involved? That's what Countdown is, it's everyone."
Sho would kill him for telling, but what did Nino even care? He was handcuffed to a radiator and sitting on the lid of a toilet. What Yoko did with this information didn't much matter to him anymore. "Not this year," he explained. "Arashi's going to host Countdown this year, that much is the plan. But the scones were just additional insurance."
"Insurance for what?"
Nino smiled. "Find Johnny-san the best scones he'll ever taste, that's what Jun-kun said. Find those scones, and he'll let Arashi host Countdown this year. An Arashi Countdown. We'll sing every song. And we'll sing them alone."
Yoko looked petrified. "Alone? You mean...you mean a Countdown with just Arashi?"
Jun and Sho were mad with power, and Nino had had enough. He nodded. "A Countdown with just Arashi."
--
Tegoshi and Kei-chan were mad with power, and Shige had had enough. Someone had to think logically for a change. Tegoshi had gone rogue and dragged Massu along for the ride - he was getting messages from Massu almost hourly now, but he knew they'd been sent under Tegoshi's direction.
That if Tegoshi was feeling particularly merciful, Shige, Koyama, and the rest of NEWS would be shipped off to Osaka to perform at Countdown alongside Kanjani8. It would be the best choice for Ryo, but Shige knew it was mostly so Koyama wouldn't be able to steal the spotlight for himself. So much for group unity, Shige thought.
And now Kei-chan was hellbent on overthrowing the creepy alliance that had emerged between Tegoshi and TOKIO. "A Very Koyashige Countdown" was Koyama's newest idea, the two of them co-hosting while everyone from Matchy-san to Arashi to the juniors stayed in the background. Shige didn't necessarily hate the spotlight, but he didn't want everyone to hate him. If word got out to the other groups that NEWS was splintering into vicious factions intent on twisting Countdown to their own selfish ends, it didn't bode well for getting New Years' money from his senpai.
Though Kei-chan had long been one of the people in Shige's life who actually thought things through, Countdown had warped him into someone with a selfish streak a mile wide. He was only thinking about himself, and there'd never be A Very Koyashige Countdown if they didn't get help. They'd lost TOKIO to the Tegomasu faction, so Shige thought long and hard about forming a new alliance.
He knew he had some sway with Arashi. And by some he meant a little. And by a little he meant that at least Ohno liked him. They'd been fishing friends for ages now, and if Shige could get an Arashi endorsement for A Very Koyashige Countdown, then it would make the Tegomasu/TOKIO alliance look kind of sad in comparison. Arashi probably didn't want anything to do with Countdown - maybe they'd get invited back to Kouhaku again. Surely they didn't have time to make much of an appearance at Countdown.
He felt pretty damn clever when he met Ohno at the sporting goods store, right in front of the fishing lures. When they were out on the water, Ohno never talked that much. Shige didn't mind - fishing was about relaxing, about enjoying one another's company in peace. But they had a bond, didn't they, as men of the sea? He could talk with Ohno on a level few others could.
"Oh, Shige," Ohno said, barely making eye contact as he made straight for the salt water lures behind where Shige was standing. "They got the new Daiwa Shoreline Shiner model."
Shige turned, nodding. "Yep. New Megabass Zonk ones too. They're a little cheaper."
"Yeah," Ohno admitted, "but I've got a whole tackle box full of Megabass lures."
Shige was already losing him, seeing Ohno veer off toward the reels. His eyes were darting back and forth, far more alert than usual. "You like the new Saltiga?"
Ohno smiled. "84,000 yen. Do I dare?"
Considering that Ohno was wearing the same t-shirt he'd worn the last time Shige had seen him and the same flip flops on his feet to boot, he had no doubt that Ohno probably had enough money stashed away for such a purchase. It was interesting, the things Arashi's leader would crack open his wallet for.
"I don't know, you can probably get it cheaper online."
"Ah," Ohno admitted, "you're probably right. I should have my manager check Yahoo Auctions. He's better at that than I am."
He took a breath. "So...Ohno-kun..."
Shige nearly took a tumble into the fishing rods when Ohno whirled around to stare up into his face. "Shige-kun, I thought you were better than this."
He panicked as Ohno stared him down. "I...I don't know what you mean..."
Ohno backed away, picking up a lure from the shelf and examining it. "This is all so far over my head, this Countdown business. I thought it was for the fans, you know? Ringing in the New Year for them with songs and all that. But the things that Matsu-nii's told me..."
Shit, Shige thought. He'd forgotten how buddy buddy Ohno was with Matsuoka. And considering how much time Tegoshi had been spending with TOKIO, it wouldn't surprise him if Matsuoka had let the Tegomasu plan slip. Stupid, he told himself. It was stupid to think that he could get through to Ohno by banking on his inability to pay attention to much of anything.
"Well," Shige tried, "I mean, Tegoshi-kun's a bit out of control. Koyama and me, we're trying to keep him from going overboard."
"I don't believe that for a second," Ohno said. He grabbed another lure. "Oh, I like this one."
"So if I was to ask for Arashi's help in securing Countdown for...me and....I mean, for NEWS of course..."
Ohno shook his head. "I'm sorry, Shige. That's just not going to happen."
"Well, why not? Aren't you going to Kouhaku?"
He watched Ohno grab another lure and wander off, and Shige hurried to keep up with him as he headed for the cashier. The negotiations had ended before they'd even gotten started.
"Ohno-kun?" he asked one more time, whipping out his wallet. "What if I bought those lures for you? You couldn't even just hint to Johnny-san?"
Ohno shook his head. "I'm really sorry. It's all out of my hands."
"But you're the leader, aren't you? Don't you decide what Arashi does and does not do?"
Shige only got a sad pat on the shoulder and a frown from Ohno. "You have much to learn about the way things work." He accepted the bag from the cashier. "I'll call you the next time I'm going out on the water, okay?"
And Ohno left him there in the sporting goods store. Shige was more confused than ever.
--
Nishikido Ryo would be a far happier man if he never had to hear the word "Countdown" again. It especially pissed him off because he was in two groups, both of which were acting like a bunch of idiots. On one side he had Kanjani8, who were idiots to begin with, but of a lovable kind of idiocy (not that Ryo would admit it if you asked him as much). But now they were all driven by this desire to overthrow Arashi when they should have just been happy to go to Osaka for New Year's, to go home.
And then on the other side Ryo had NEWS, clamoring and fighting like a bunch of junior high girls trying to win a popularity contest. Ryo hadn't much enjoyed junior high, and not just because most of the girls had been taller than him then and treated him more like their pet than a potential boyfriend. He was sick of Tegoshi trying to get him to pick a side. He was sick of Koyama trying to see if he was more loyal to Kanjani8. Ryo just wanted to be a free agent. He wanted to show up at Countdown, hang out with friends, and be done with it.
Which was why he couldn't understand Jin's pathetic crying right then. They were out at a Roppongi club together, one of their favorites, because now that Jin was back it was so much better to have a wing man he could count on. He'd tried using Yamapi as a wing man a few times, but he sucked at talking Ryo up. He'd be all "Ryo-chan sounds adorable when he sneezes" or "Ryo-chan loves girly cocktails." It wasn't the kind of manly talking up one needed in order to score with a hot foreign chick, so Ryo had initially been happy that Jin was back. If Jin was wasted enough, he'd tell girls that Ryo was hung like an elephant, which was far more helpful than talking about Ryo's sneezes.
But Jin hadn't gotten up from their table in the VIP room for two hours, downing beers and keeping the pair of them from trying their luck on the floor. He tried pulling Jin's newest bottle of beer away, but his friend held onto it stubbornly. "Would you stop being such a loser?" Ryo complained, leaning back against the booth. All around them were girls in skimpy tops, short skirts, and strappy heels, and Jin was being a crazy buzzkill.
"They asked me to come back," Jin was crying. "Isn't that the most beautiful thing ever?"
"I think you were damn lucky to not be included in this shit from the get go. It's a mess, dude. Why would you want to be part of this? You could be screwed over like me, with one group begging you to help them go to bakeries or some shit and the other group trying to get you to chip in to buy Nagase a cattle ranch so he could have a lifetime supply of beef."
Jin rubbed his eyes and sniffled. "But that's friendship, man. They love you and want you to be there. You know, I never really paid attention when I could have, but at this time every year Kame gets all weepy about Countdown. I just thought it was him PMS'ing or something..."
If anyone was PMS'ing, Ryo thought darkly, it was Akanishi Jin, but he didn't say it out loud.
"So it's like, his dream, Ryo. Hosting is Kame's dream," Jin continued. "I got to go to America, I got to follow my own dreams. What kind of dick would I be if I didn't help Kame reach his?"
"A smart one."
Jin shoved him. "You don't mean it, you asshole," Jin laughed. "But really, I mean, Taguchi asked me to help and he wouldn't have gone to the trouble if he didn't mean it. And I guess it might be fun to host, I don't know, maybe I could just ask to go live via satellite and just chill with Tackey the whole night..."
He preferred getting wasted with Akanishi, not being his life choice sounding board. But things were starting to become clear. Things that could make Ryo's life far easier. "Well, if KAT-TUN hosts, it would be a lot of pressure off of me," Ryo realized. "I mean, I wouldn't have Yokoyama telling me to stalk Matsujun at The Body Shop, I wouldn't have Koyama sending me mails every two minutes..."
"Right?" Jin said, seemingly cheered. "So...I mean, do you think it would be weird though, calling Kame and saying I'll help?"
"Oh, it would definitely be weird." Jin smacked him. "But I say go for it."
"Maybe I will..."
Ryo smiled at the girl in the red tube top who'd been eyeing him for a while. He had to look good now, comforting his friend like a sensitive, nice guy. "Great, that's great, Jin. Now that you've stopped crying, maybe you can go tell that girl some awesome things about my tongue..."
--
Ohkura Tadayoshi was not fond of wasting his time. And when Hina had left him an angry voicemail saying he had to go to about ten bakeries in the Osaka metro area, it sounded more like an order than a request. So Hina was just lucky that he'd demanded Ohkura go to bakeries and not any other places. He would have definitely said no to furniture stores or something.
Of course, he and Subaru were still stuck at bakery number one on account of them having the greatest cupcakes he had ever tasted in his life.
"You know," Subaru said, watching Ohkura bite into his ninth cupcake (red velvet!!). "I don't think we're going to make it to all the places Hina said at this rate."
Ohkura rolled his eyes. "So?"
"But Hina said it was important." Subaru sighed. "Do you think we'll be able to make it back to Tokyo tonight?"
"No."
"I've got stuff to do tomorrow, Tacchon."
"So?" Man, the cream cheese frosting on this was clearly sent from heaven, he thought as he took another bite.
"So maybe we should...try a scone? Like we were supposed to?"
"Do you really care about hosting Countdown though?" Ohkura asked him, taking a sip of milk before eyeing the cupcake that was sitting on Subaru's plate, still uneaten. "You're older than Hina, you don't have to obey him. He's not your mom."
"I guess not."
Ohkura didn't want to host Countdown. He was very happy that Kanjani8 got to perform for the fans in Osaka, even though it meant not getting to see everyone in Tokyo. So he didn't understand why Hina, who Ohkura considered to not be an idiot, had gotten it in his head that they had to try and compete with Arashi. He also didn't understand why Yoko, who Ohkura usually did consider an idiot, had gotten it in his head that Kanjani8 had targets on their back.
Speaking of Yoko, Ohkura checked his phone to find 147 unheard messages, all from him. "What the hell?" he grumbled, tossing the phone on the table. Subaru picked it up and put it on speaker while Ohkura helped himself to Subaru's uneaten cupcake.
"First unheard message," his phone announced. "Tacchon, this is Yoko, call me back."
"Second unheard message...Tacchon, Yoko here. Kind of important. Call me!"
Subaru hit the button to advance the messages.
"Heeey Tacchon, if you get this, can you call me back? It's Yoko, really need your help here. Thanks!"
"Tacchon, where are you? I can't get a hold of Hina."
"Tacchon, I can't reach Hina and Maru's filming something or other and Ryo has his phone off and I don't want to put Yasu in harm's way. Call me!"
Subaru scowled at the phone. "And what about me? My phone's been on all day!"
"Tacchon, seriously, pick up your phone. This is urgent anti-Arashi business."
"Ohkura Tadayoshi, answer your phone!"
By the thirtieth message, Yoko was openly weeping over the phone line. "He's in my car, oh my god, oh my god, they hit him with a gumball dispenser!"
Ohkura and Subaru met each other's gazes, increasingly confused. Subaru advanced the messages again.
"Sixty-seventh unheard message...Do you...do you think they got to Hina? I mean, he was staying with Aiba-chan. What if...what if he brought Hina to the zoo and locked him in the gorilla cages? Oh, and call me!"
"Hey Tacchon, Yoko again. Ahh, I think he's going to wake up soon...would you mind looking up some legal stuff for me? About kidnapping? I might be in trouble..."
Ohkura took another bite of his cupcake, shaking his head. Maybe this was some kind of performance art. Subaru skipped ahead again.
"Well, thanks for nothing. I'll be interrogating Nino here until further notice. If you can get Hina on the line, let him know, okay?"
"What was that about?" Ohkura muttered, licking the last bit of frosting from his thumb and taking his phone back. He barely noticed the two members of ABC-Z leaving the bakery behind them.
"It sounds like Yokocho kidnapped Nino-kun," Subaru said, tenting his fingers and looking serious. "Maybe Nino was the one who tried to kill Yasu."
"We should probably tell Hina, let him deal with it," Ohkura admitted.
But then one of the bakery staff came over to the table. "Can we get you any more cupcakes? Half off on double chocolate."
Subaru was about to decline in favor of Kanjani8 business, but Ohkura just beamed at the staff member. "I think we'll take another dozen."
Chapter 6: A Golden Crown
It had been a day blissfully free of drama thanks to turning off his phone and watching DVD after DVD of World Cup highlights from various years on Aiba's TV. His host had gone away on an overnight trip for some location filming, leaving Hina alone. It was an obvious show of trust, or Aiba had the place wired, but Hina didn't much care since he'd spent the entire day ignoring any attempts at human contact. Aiba had nothing on him.
But the time came when he wanted something to eat, and Aiba's refrigerator yielded very little. He thought he'd be safe, going out just after midnight to the 24 hour convenience store down the block, but he supposed he should have known better as Ikuta Toma leapt out at him from behind the netted garbage area beside Aiba's building.
"Hina."
Hina kept walking, bound and determined to ignore his friend.
"Hiiiiiiiiiina."
"I'm just going to get food, Toma-kun. I'm this close to going to the police and getting a restraining order on you."
"As well you could," Toma said. "By the smile on your face I can tell you haven't heard what my little birds have related to me."
"Don't care."
"But it's really interesting, you see, really interesting."
"Still don't care. Unless a member of my group is dead or dying, I really don't care about this shit." He kind of cared, but at this point he'd delegated most of the Countdown mess to Yoko, since he was more keen on plotting and looking for scones. Hina had to be the unknowing one, the one that Arashi couldn't mess with - so when he went to Johnny-san in the end, it would surprise them.
"So if I told you that Kanjani and Arashi aren't the only ones in the game, it wouldn't bother you?"
"Not really."
"KAT-TUN's in play now."
"Let Arashi worry about KAT-TUN. They're no threat to Kanjani8."
"Brave words," Toma said, following him into the convenience store. "And then of course, there's NEWS. Talk about a mess there. Tegoshi and Masuda are trying to curry favor with TOKIO. Koyama and Kato are up to something too, my sources tell me."
"Again, it's just more people for Sho-kun and Matsujun to buy off, it doesn't concern us."
Toma cornered him in the instant ramen aisle. "So if I told you that Yokoyama's abducted Ninomiya, would you still not care?"
Hina stopped, hand clutched around a ramen cup. "Yoko did what?"
"Maybe you should have checked your phone today, Hina. Arashi's definitely not going to take this lying down. It's a blow to their pride, having one of their own locked away. Yoko's got balls, I'll give him that, but if it's been a cold war up until now, I'd say abducting Nino's proof that you've gone on the offensive. As far as my sources tell me, he's got Nino locked in his apartment."
"I didn't say he could do that..." He set the ramen cup down, pulling his phone out of his pocket. 182 unheard messages and 403 unread messages. He clicked down through the list. Yokoyama. Yokoyama. Yokoyama. Yokoyama. Yokoyama. "Oh my god, that idiot." And then as he kept clicking, it grew far more alarming. Yokoyama. Matsumoto. Sakurai. Yokoyama. Sakurai. Sakurai. Matsumoto. Matsumoto. Sakurai. "They know?"
"They know."
Shit.
--
The cell phone had been sitting on his desk for at least twenty minutes now, and Akanishi Jin knew that he had to make the call himself. He couldn't call Nakamaru and con him into doing it. He couldn't call Taguchi and just back out because of fear. No, this was something he had to do. If things in the jimusho had gotten as ridiculous as Ryo had implied, then it really was up to Jin to help KAT-TUN out.
Kame's number had been one of the first he'd programmed into his new phone, but he hadn't dialed it yet. So he hesitated another 20 minutes before finally dialing and hoping for the best.
As Jin expected, Kame didn't answer in the most cheerful manner, but since Taguchi explained how Kame had been torturing himself lately over this Countdown business, Jin decided not to be offended.
"What the hell do you want?"
Well, not too offended.
"Hi Kame, it's me. Jin."
"I know. Taguchi gave me your new number."
"Oh." So maybe the others had already told Kame about their plans. He wondered how Kame had taken it. "So like, I heard that uh, that winter was coming?"
"Are you the one sending the messages? Is it you? Is this all some ploy to promote yourself because it's pretty stupid..."
"No!" he exclaimed, a bit frightened by the paranoia in Kame's voice. He could already imagine him, his friend for so many years, hunkered down in his bedroom in the dark, eyes darting back and forth. "No, it's not me."
"Look Jin, I'm busy..."
"Planning for Countdown, right?"
Kame paused. "...yes."
"Look, I've been talking with some people. About Countdown. And I kind of...would like to be there..."
"I see."
"And I mean, I get the impression that the other groups are going to war and shit over it. That's not cool, so like, uh..."
Kame sounded almost nice then. "Jin, what are you trying to say? Just spit it out."
"I was...hoping that you and the guys would let me, uh, help. I want to help KAT-TUN out. I'm not trying to start shit, and maybe Johnny-san will say no, but...I mean, you guys are important to me, and if there's any way I can help you kick Arashi's or NEWS' or Kanjani's ass..."
"Are you being serious right now?"
He swallowed. This was his last chance to laugh, to tell Kame he was just messing with him. To get hung up on and have to hear about it from Koki later on. But he didn't want to do that. For some reason, he really thought he owed them as much after everything.
"Yes, I'm being serious."
Kame almost sounded like he was going to laugh. "But Jin, you've always hated Countdown. You told me that a small part of you died every time you sang Tackey and Tsubasa's Venus."
"Oh, that hasn't changed."
"Well, okay then. But if you're really going to commit to this, you have to put in a hundred percent effort. We're playing to win." Kame chuckled. "I can't believe you really want to help."
"I miss you guys," he said, sniffling a bit.
"Don't cry, that's too much," Kame said. "Okay, I'll add you to the mailing list. I've got the latest batch of edits to the plan, and they should be going out tonight."
Jin realized that Kame was out of his damn mind, but at least it would feel like old times again. "You got it."
--
This would not stand, Matsumoto Jun vowed as he hung up his phone for the 20th time that hour. Sho was hysterical and panicky, wondering if they ought to just storm Yokoyama's building in a rescue attempt to get Nino away from them, but Jun knew the damage had already been done.
So maybe they'd initially gone too far when it came to Yasuda. He and Sho had done their best to keep everything secret, whether it was the Countdown plot or their relationship, but all their work was getting pissed down the drain. Sure, it was kind of a dick move on Arashi's part to want Countdown all to themselves, but now that they'd committed themselves to the idea it would be cowardly to back out.
After all, he and Sho had all their spies to account for financially, and Arashi always paid their debts. Plus, if they backed out of the plan, they'd obviously lose their kohai's respect. It was a ballsy group indeed that went after what they wanted with the passion Arashi had. And to think, it had all started as a joke in their green room, Nino's offhand comment about Arashi hosting "everything" that year.
Now Nino was in Kanjani8's clutches. Who knew what kinds of methods Yokoyama was employing to get Nino talking? Not that Nino would be that difficult to coerce anyhow. Jun was well aware of Nino's tendency toward self-preservation, quite possibly the highest in their entire group. Nino had probably spilled everything by now if Yoko had threatened him badly enough.
So instead of going directly for Nino, he decided that his best chance at negotiating would be to talk to Murakami while Sho worked on the scones list. Yoko had always been a wild card, and there was no telling what he'd do if Jun broke into his apartment. He used his spare key to open Aiba's door. Masaki wouldn't be home for another day, and Jun frowned at the mess inside. Murakami's things were strewn all around the living room, and about ten different soccer DVD cases littered Aiba's table along with several empty beer cans. While the cat's away, Jun thought, rolling his eyes.
He went into Aiba's bedroom, ignoring the piles of clothes and dirty magazines as he dug through the closet. He finally found what he was looking for, pulling out a long wooden item, hollowed out with noisy beads within. Some rain stick Aiba had picked up on his trip to Africa a few years back. He supposed Aiba's baseball bat would have been threat enough, but he didn't want to actually hurt Murakami. He could at least convince him that the beads inside the rain stick were tiny little bugs that could eat him in his sleep - that would definitely get Hina paranoid.
Taking the rain stick back into the living room, he sat on the couch and worked on his most threatening expression. Within 20 minutes, the door opened, and a shell-shocked Murakami entered with a convenience store bag. He froze as soon as he saw Jun waiting for him on the couch.
"B-b-breaking and entering," Hina accused him, and Jun had to admit that it was kind of funny to see Murakami losing his shit. It wasn't something he got to see every day. But he couldn't really enjoy it when Nino's freedom was at stake.
He wiggled the rain stick. "They make these in Africa. Has Aiba-chan told you about it?"
Hina shook his head.
"You hear the rattle? It's all insect shells. They say that sometimes the bugs aren't always dead when they seal them up in there..."
Hina shuddered and headed for the kitchen, setting down the plastic bag. "Look Matsujun, I don't need this right now. I've got a bug infestation at my own apartment, you're telling me that thing has bugs in it, and now apparently one of my bandmates has gone off the deep end, and it's really all your fault."
"All my fault that Yokoyama had a bunch of nerds stuff Nino in his car? What's next, is he going to send a ransom note? A finger?"
He returned from the kitchen with a beer and none to offer Jun. It was almost as though he'd resigned himself to staying in Aiba's living room. "Well, maybe if you hadn't attacked Yasuda, it wouldn't have come to this."
"I don't know what you mean."
Hina nearly threw his beer can at him. "What happened to us, Matsujun? What the hell? What's with all the scheming? It's just Countdown, it's not like Johnny-san's giving away a cash prize to his most ambitious group."
He couldn't show weakness. Arashi had to stay committed, even if Hina was making a lot of sense. Jun was just too competitive to give in. He shook the rain stick, seeing Hina recoil at the sound of the not bugs within it. "Just have Yoko let Nino go, and we'll be far more agreeable."
"Oh come on," Hina said. "Think of those two. They're probably playing video games right now. It's not really abduction so long as Nino's been fed and entertained."
This was why Jun hated matching wits with Murakami. "Sounds like Stockholm syndrome to me."
"Do you really think anyone could possibly develop Stockholm syndrome if Yokoyama's their kidnapper?"
He shook the rain stick again, far more menacingly.
"Stooooop!" Hina screamed. "Get out of here! Get out, get out, Matsumoto, get out!"
Jun got to his feet. "I look forward to your phone call. When you confirm that Nino's been released, unharmed."
He left the apartment in a huff, coming face to face with Toma, who was casually lurking in the hallway.
"I see you're never far behind," he said, raising an eyebrow.
Jun had always respected Toma. He was smarter than most people gave him credit for. "Ah, when my friends are fighting, I like to make myself available. You know, as a sounding board."
He headed for the elevator. "Yeah, I bet."
Toma stayed in step with him. "I just follow the money, Jun-kun."
"That's from a movie, isn't it?"
"Well..." Toma blushed. "Ah, yeah."
"So you know about Nino then."
"I know everything worth knowing."
"Every day, every hour, this very minute, perhaps, dark forces attempt to penetrate this castle's walls," Jun said darkly. If they were going to have a quoting contest...
"Dark forces?" Toma asked with a smile. "You don't mean me, do you?"
"I'll talk to you later," he said as he got in the elevator.
Toma's face changed. "Wait, was that from Harry Potter? That's so lazy!" Toma complained as the elevator doors closed in his face.
--
Tegoshi didn't necessarily dislike his bandmates. In fact, if he had to answer truthfully, he'd say that he loved Koyama and Shige like they were his brothers. But they'd gone too far, and it was time to rein them back in. Tegoshi was no fool. He knew they were plotting their own Countdown.
So when the news came down from on high and Taichi related it to him, Tegoshi ensured that Shige wasn't told. He convinced Shige's manager that it was something he wanted to "surprise" him with, and the man hadn't questioned it. It was really something that just had to be done so he could see Shige's face. It was great news, after all. Spectacular news, and Tegoshi just had to be there when it happened.
Any worries he had about Koyama and Shige not showing up were slim. Sending out the invitation from Matsuoka and having Nagase include a Polaroid of himself holding an "I love Koyama and Shige!" sign was clearly enough to get the two of them to show up for the party at Taichi's apartment.
Tegoshi thought long before that he'd grow sick of partying with TOKIO. They regularly drank him under the table, but he'd built up a tolerance, and even Massu was starting to come around on the idea of a Tegomasu and TOKIO Countdown. Now he just had to stick it to Koyama, and life would be grander than it could ever be.
He even opened the door and escorted his bandmates inside. "So glad you could make it," he said with a smile as a nervous-looking Shige stepped over the threshold. "Ah, Kei-chan, I'm glad you came, truly."
"This smells like a trap," Shige said. "We should probably refuse any drinks we didn't pour ourselves."
Koyama nodded. "So Tegoshi, what's the big announcement this time? Have you finally talked to Johnny-san about Countdown?"
Actually, there hadn't been a lot of action on that front, not that Tegoshi was too worried. TOKIO partied and worked and partied some more, and Tegoshi was happy to be along for the ride. They could talk to Johnny-san in due time. Taichi had repeatedly ensured him that Arashi would probably give up their ambitions before the month was out due to their numerous commitments. It was all about timing, really.
"If you'll just come this way, I think I'll let Leader fill you guys in."
Joshima was at the center of Taichi's living room, arm around Nagase's waist for moral support. He was openly weeping in his joy, and as soon as he saw Shige approach he ran over to embrace him. Massu came over to him, shaking his head. "It's mean to do it this way. You know this is going to crush him."
"He sold me, you know," he reminded Massu. "Like a piece of meat."
"And you've clearly been suffering," Massu said with a sigh, gesturing to the silver and black skull friendship bracelet on Tegoshi's wrist - a gift from his new BFF for life, Nagase.
"I made the most of my situation, okay? Ugh, you are such a downer sometimes. This is for the both of us, you know."
Shige was still being smashed by Leader's hug while Koyama's eyes were darting all around the room from TOKIO member to TOKIO member. "What's going on?" Koyama finally asked. "What's the good news you said we had to be here for?"
"Our play, Shige! Bitter Orange!" Joshima cried happily. "The company wants us to do more performances!"
"Seriously?" Shige asked, sounding suspicious.
"That's right, Kato-kun," Taichi said slyly. "And you'd best pack warm. I hear it's cold in Hokkaido come January."
"Come January?" Shige squeaked.
Joshima hugged Shige again. "You and me in Sapporo, ringing in the New Year with a week's worth of performances!"
"At New Year's?" Shige asked. "But that means...I'd have to miss Countdown..."
"You!" Koyama accused Tegoshi. "You did this! I don't know how, but you did this!"
Tegoshi feigned surprise. "What? But isn't that great news? Shige, congratulations! I know you'll do great! We'll miss you!"
But there was no faking the surprise when Koyama launched himself at Tegoshi, fingers wrapping around his neck as they fell to Taichi's hardwood floor. "I'll kill you, I swear, I'll kill you! This was supposed to be A Very Koyashige Countdown! You ruined it! You ruined everything with your cute, lovable face!"
Tegoshi gasped, looking up at Massu for help. He halfheartedly tried to pry Koyama off of him, and Shige was still trapped with Joshima.
"How could you do this to me?" Koyama squealed. "We had a contract. We had a contract!"
"These things happen," Taichi said, and Tegoshi was rather distressed to see that none of the members of TOKIO were hurrying to his rescue. As though Koyama strangling Tegoshi on the floor wasn't horrible at all.
"To...Tomoya-chaaan," Tegoshi managed to squeak, and finally his prayers were answered. He gasped as Nagase came and pulled Koyama into his embrace, picking him up like a rag doll.
"Ah, it's great to see you guys," Nagase said, hugging Koyama. "Isn't it great that more people will get to see the play?"
Kei-chan struggled against him. "A Very Koyashige Countdown! You destroyed it!"
"Calm down, Koyama," Taichi said. "You're killing my buzz. Masuda, get me another beer."
Tegoshi got to his feet, rubbing his neck. Thankfully he had a brand new scarf from Nagase that would hide the bruises Koyama had probably left on his skin. "You're just going to let him get away with that?" he asked the members of TOKIO, struggling to breathe.
Matsuoka headed for Taichi's kitchen, reemerging with a bottle of liquor. "Here, it's not a celebration until we do some shots. To Bitter Orange!"
Nagase grabbed the bottle away. "Congratulations, Kato-kun! And Koyama, you should be happier for your friend."
Koyama was hysterical. "I can't be happy! You've all taken my dreams and stomped them into a fine paste! You're all terrible human beings! I have nothing! I have nothing at all!"
Nagase just chuckled. "Aww, poor baby. Thought you had the Countdown crown and it got snatched away. Here, let me make it better. Open your mouth and say 'ahhh,'" Nagase said, trying to hold Koyama still as he opened the bottle of liquor. But Koyama kept his head down, weeping openly.
Tegoshi could only look on in amusement, seeing Massu's horror, Shige's irritation, and TOKIO's disbelief as Nagase poured the entire bottle of Goldschlager over Koyama's head.
On to Part 4
Back to Part 2
Chapter 5: The Eight and the Storm
It wasn't one of the easiest phone calls that Taguchi Junnosuke had had to make in his life. But Koki had said he was the best candidate for the job: Kame wouldn't want to ask, Ueda wasn't as close to him, Nakamaru wouldn't know how to ask without being confusing, and Koki himself would probably end up crying. Sure, Taguchi hadn't spoken to him in a while on account of his movie filming, but they were still friends, and that was most likely why he picked up on the first ring.
"Taguchi! When did you get my new number?" Akanishi Jin asked, sounding surprisingly coherent despite the late hour. Taguchi had been counting on Jin being out and about, which would have made the whole thing less awkward. Jin would agree to anything with enough girly cocktails in him.
"Oh, Nishikido-kun gave it to me. I hope that's okay?"
"Of course it's okay!" Jin said happily. "You're never going to believe what I'm doing right now!"
"Jin..."
"It's something called GTL. You know, there's this show on American MTV called Jersey Shore. Well right now I'm doing the L part of it. They call it 'laundry' in English, that's why it's an L. Man, I mean, I've always been pretty laid back when it comes to separating whites and colors, knowing when to use bleach, but I've learned so much. Laundry's like, something everyone does, but when you really take the time to focus, putting all your effort into selecting the best kind of detergent..."
He smiled. If the tabloids knew the real Akanishi Jin, they'd be shocked. "Is this a bad time? To talk, I mean?"
"No, no, it's an awesome time. Things are awesome. Let me just get the machine going." There was a pause on the line as he heard the washing machine kick on. "Okay, great. I'm back."
"So you're going to be in Japan for a while?"
"I don't know, man. I'm back and forth with album stuff, why?"
"Well, what about for New Year's? Do you know where you're going to be then?"
He heard Jin take a breath. "Am I on speaker or something? Is Kame listening?"
"No, Kame's not here. Why?"
Jin sounded almost sad when he spoke again. "I feel kind of left out. I haven't been getting those messages on my phone like you guys. I don't know if it's because of my new number or what. At first I thought Kame was sending them, you know, to like, hint about his birthday ridiculously early or something. You know how he is. But I was out with Pi and Ryo and they had all those 'winter is coming' things too, and they said it was about Countdown, and it just made me...I don't know. Nostalgic. And I never really liked Countdown that much, but seeing those messages..."
This boded well, Taguchi realized. This boded better than well! If Jin was already getting warm and fuzzy feelings about Countdown, it wouldn't even be that hard to talk him into it. "Well, that's actually why we wanted to talk to you. All of us. Well, Kame doesn't know. It was Koki's idea."
Jin hesitated. "About what?"
"About Countdown. I don't want this to be awkward, but we were thinking of ways that would convince Johnny-san to let KAT-TUN host, and Kame's ideas are all kind of..."
"...stuff that makes sense in Kame's mind and nobody else's?" Jin finished for him.
"Exactly. And I'd feel kind of weird if we offered to cover the cost of Johnny-san's overactive bladder meds for a year."
Jin chuckled. "That does sound like something that would only make sense in Kame's head."
Taguchi gathered his courage. They were all counting on him. "Jin, would you host Countdown with us? I mean, if we went to Johnny-san and asked, would you agree to help us?"
"Taguchi..."
He decided to be firm about it. He knew he was one of the only people Jin had ever really listened to, so he had to be really convincing. "Look, Kame's not sleeping because he's been plotting this for weeks. And you know we've never been management's favorites for a while now. We're competing against Arashi and Kanjani8, and with the five of us, I'm really not sure we can make a compelling enough case. But nobody would expect you to show up with us, and I think that's the kind of thing we need to win."
"You know, it's always weird when you get serious."
"I can be plenty serious!" He paused. "Look, it's just an idea, and I think that the rest of us are going to go along with what Kame decides anyway just because he really wants to do this. But I think it would be great if you could be there, too."
Taguchi almost thought Jin had hung up before he heard him reply. "Let me think about it."
"That's all we ask."
"Don't be a stranger," Jin said. "We should have lunch or something."
"We should. Welcome back to Japan, Mister Ronin. I bet it must feel samurai-teous to be home!"
"Some things never change. You're still creepy."
"I missed you, too."
--
In his dreams, Yasu was climbing.
It always seemed so real, like he was on some sort of documentary program. He could feel the numbing winds, could feel the strain in his muscles as he struggled to pull himself upward. But dreams were odd things, Yasu knew. One minute he was scaling a snowy mountain, the next he was climbing a wall with bright colored numbers. And he could never reach the summit. He'd hear voices at the top, angry voices, and then he'd fall.
Ryo didn't bother to look up from the magazine he was reading as Yasu tried to explain his dream. "It sounds like you're on VS Arashi," he said dismissively, turning a page as the two of them waited in their green room. "The colored numbers on the wall."
Yasu scratched his chin. "But I've never been on VS Arashi before. Why would I dream about that?"
Ryo shrugged. "I dunno."
Yasu sighed. "You're no help," he said, unzipping his duffel bag and digging through the pile of books he'd been hauling around ever since he'd gotten out of the hospital. He'd consulted a least a dozen different dream dictionaries, none of which were providing him with the answers he really wanted.
He tried to look up 'climbing' and it told him that he was trying to overcome a great struggle. Well, no kidding, Yasu thought. Stupid dictionary. Yasu's struggle was trying to remember what had happened to him! And everything about climbing mountains had to do with ambition and stuff, and Yasu only considered himself average when it came to being ambitious. He was part of a group after all, so there was little point in trying to outshine his friends.
Yasu flipped through the latest dictionary he'd borrowed from one of the Kansai juniors, whose mom was really into divination and that sort of thing. The entries for climbing and mountains were similar. He sighed, looking up from the text. "Ryo-chan, have you had any dreams lately?"
Ryo finally met his eyes. "Why?"
"I don't know, maybe there's just something I'm not seeing when I read through here. If you told me about one of your own..."
Ryo considered this for a moment before turning back to his magazine without saying anything.
"Oh come on!" Yasu complained, getting up and trying to poke at Ryo's cheek. "Come on, you can tell me. You don't have to tell me if it's a sex dream or anything, I figure that's just normal for you."
Ryo started blushing. "Go away, you're annoying."
"Come on, I have amnesia about a twenty minute period of time. Take pity on me and let me analyze your pervert dreams!" he pleaded, trying to tickle his bandmate.
"If I tell you, will you go away?"
Yasu relented. "Okay. Okay."
Ryo looked back at his magazine. "I...dreamed about...spilling orange juice. All over myself."
"That was your dream?"
"Are you making fun of me?" he grumbled. "You asked, I answered."
"No! No, of course not, Ryo-chan!" Yasu said. Pfft, orange juice. What a stupid dream. At least climbing the VS Arashi wall was interesting. He paged through the dictionary. "Orange juice, orange juice. Okay it says here..." He skimmed the sentence and gasped.
"What?" Ryo asked, suddenly nervous. "What does it mean? Does it symbolize death? I don't want to die! I hate you! I hate you for asking me these stupid questions! Damn you!"
"Oh but it's not that bad, really." Yasu smiled. Talk about being spot on. "It says that if you spill or dump orange juice in your dream, it implies that you need to get out of your shell and be more sociable." He wrapped his arms around Ryo's neck. "See, your dream says you should be nicer to me."
"Get off me. I was lying."
He felt a little better now, having gotten Ryo to cough up some personal information. Any excuse to make Ryo squirm was worth it, even if it didn't solve his problem. In the end, he was just as lost as he'd been before. Climbing and climbing, and someone at the top was angry with him. Someone at the top made him fall. What the hell could that symbolize anyhow?
--
When Nino regained consciousness, he wished he hadn't. He found himself in Yoko's car, which really needed to be cleaned out. There were dozens of fast food wrappers on the floor at his feet, and there was a "Scent of Justice" air freshener hanging off of the rearview mirror with the face of Jack Bauer from 24 cheaply printed on it. Nino soon realized that the Scent of Justice was more like the smell of cinnamon-scented shit.
They were on the highway, and Yoko's hands were pale as they gripped the steering wheel tightly. "This is abduction, you know," Nino pointed out.
"Oh yeah, well attacking Yasu in his hospital room was attempted murder, you little weasel!"
Nino adjusted in the seat. Yoko had been thoughtful enough to buckle him in for safety's sake, at least. But one quick check of his pocket revealed that Yoko had snatched his cell phone. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Those bakeries, Ninomiya. You think we're dumb or something?"
"Do you want me to answer that truthfully?"
Yoko growled, which would have sounded adorable to Nino if Yoko hadn't, you know, just kidnapped him. "Oh, real cute. That's why you and Arashi always get away with stuff. Because you're all cute. Look at my face, right? I always get called in, 'Yoko, that wasn't funny' or 'Yoko, twenty minutes of whining doesn't equal ratings,' but I bet they never say that to you guys."
He sighed. "Where are you taking me? Can I at least tell someone where we're going?"
Yoko signaled and got off the highway at the next exit. "I can't get a hold of Hina. So until I can, you're going to stay put."
"Please say you're at least paying for a hotel." But sadly Nino recognized the neighborhood. Yoko's neighborhood.
Yoko didn't say anything else until he parked in the garage under his building. To Nino's surprise, he realized Yoko was deadly serious when he came over and held out a steak knife when he opened the passenger side door. "Out of the car, let's go."
Stupid Aiba, trying to prank Yasuda at the hospital. Everything was getting way too out of hand for Nino's liking, and now he'd gotten himself abducted. He hadn't done anything wrong, after all. It was all Sho and Jun's ambition that had caused this whole mess. He walked dutifully into the building, Yoko behind him. When they arrived in the apartment, Nino frowned at the mess inside. Not that he kept the cleanest house, but at least he wasn't constantly losing things like Yokoyama was.
"So kidnapping and forced imprisonment. You are going to make some interesting friends in prison."
Yoko cuffed him on the back of the head. "What I do is righteous justice and vengeance for the person you hurt! You hurt my friend, my bandmate! If I ran Aiba-chan down with my car, wouldn't you seek revenge?"
Nino considered it. "Depends. Aiba-chan might have deserved it."
Yoko smacked him again. "Stop being such a dick all the time. Now wait here."
Nino dutifully waited in the living room while Yoko disappeared into his bedroom. A coward would have fled. Hell, a smart man would have fled, but now that he had to be a hostage for Arashi's sake, he'd stew for a while. If anything was going to get Sho and Jun to finally calm the hell down, it was Yoko holding him at knifepoint in his filthy apartment. He hoped.
Yoko returned with a pair of handcuffs, and Nino immediately reconsidered his decision not to flee.
He backed away. "Look, if you're into that kind of thing, give a man a heads up first..."
Yoko instead gestured to his bathroom. "In there. Nothing kinky. This is justice."
"This is you handcuffing me without a lick of evidence against me."
"We found your list of bakeries. We know about the scones, Nino."
Damn, he thought. Sho and Jun were going to be pissed, and as soon as he got out of lock-up here, he knew he'd face whatever punishments his bandmates saw fit to dole out. Even though he had a feeling that Leader had been the one to let the plan slip. He sighed, allowing Yoko to seat him on his toilet and cuff him to the small radiator in his bathroom.
Yoko leaned against the sink, arms crossed. "Okay, so you're trying to find the best scones so Johnny picks you for Countdown."
"The scones aren't for that."
"Oh really?"
It was the only card left that hadn't been played, the only part of the plan that wasn't out in the open. "Us coming to you about Countdown was a courtesy," Nino admitted. "But we never really intended to let you be involved."
Yoko stared at him. "What do you mean involved? That's what Countdown is, it's everyone."
Sho would kill him for telling, but what did Nino even care? He was handcuffed to a radiator and sitting on the lid of a toilet. What Yoko did with this information didn't much matter to him anymore. "Not this year," he explained. "Arashi's going to host Countdown this year, that much is the plan. But the scones were just additional insurance."
"Insurance for what?"
Nino smiled. "Find Johnny-san the best scones he'll ever taste, that's what Jun-kun said. Find those scones, and he'll let Arashi host Countdown this year. An Arashi Countdown. We'll sing every song. And we'll sing them alone."
Yoko looked petrified. "Alone? You mean...you mean a Countdown with just Arashi?"
Jun and Sho were mad with power, and Nino had had enough. He nodded. "A Countdown with just Arashi."
--
Tegoshi and Kei-chan were mad with power, and Shige had had enough. Someone had to think logically for a change. Tegoshi had gone rogue and dragged Massu along for the ride - he was getting messages from Massu almost hourly now, but he knew they'd been sent under Tegoshi's direction.
That if Tegoshi was feeling particularly merciful, Shige, Koyama, and the rest of NEWS would be shipped off to Osaka to perform at Countdown alongside Kanjani8. It would be the best choice for Ryo, but Shige knew it was mostly so Koyama wouldn't be able to steal the spotlight for himself. So much for group unity, Shige thought.
And now Kei-chan was hellbent on overthrowing the creepy alliance that had emerged between Tegoshi and TOKIO. "A Very Koyashige Countdown" was Koyama's newest idea, the two of them co-hosting while everyone from Matchy-san to Arashi to the juniors stayed in the background. Shige didn't necessarily hate the spotlight, but he didn't want everyone to hate him. If word got out to the other groups that NEWS was splintering into vicious factions intent on twisting Countdown to their own selfish ends, it didn't bode well for getting New Years' money from his senpai.
Though Kei-chan had long been one of the people in Shige's life who actually thought things through, Countdown had warped him into someone with a selfish streak a mile wide. He was only thinking about himself, and there'd never be A Very Koyashige Countdown if they didn't get help. They'd lost TOKIO to the Tegomasu faction, so Shige thought long and hard about forming a new alliance.
He knew he had some sway with Arashi. And by some he meant a little. And by a little he meant that at least Ohno liked him. They'd been fishing friends for ages now, and if Shige could get an Arashi endorsement for A Very Koyashige Countdown, then it would make the Tegomasu/TOKIO alliance look kind of sad in comparison. Arashi probably didn't want anything to do with Countdown - maybe they'd get invited back to Kouhaku again. Surely they didn't have time to make much of an appearance at Countdown.
He felt pretty damn clever when he met Ohno at the sporting goods store, right in front of the fishing lures. When they were out on the water, Ohno never talked that much. Shige didn't mind - fishing was about relaxing, about enjoying one another's company in peace. But they had a bond, didn't they, as men of the sea? He could talk with Ohno on a level few others could.
"Oh, Shige," Ohno said, barely making eye contact as he made straight for the salt water lures behind where Shige was standing. "They got the new Daiwa Shoreline Shiner model."
Shige turned, nodding. "Yep. New Megabass Zonk ones too. They're a little cheaper."
"Yeah," Ohno admitted, "but I've got a whole tackle box full of Megabass lures."
Shige was already losing him, seeing Ohno veer off toward the reels. His eyes were darting back and forth, far more alert than usual. "You like the new Saltiga?"
Ohno smiled. "84,000 yen. Do I dare?"
Considering that Ohno was wearing the same t-shirt he'd worn the last time Shige had seen him and the same flip flops on his feet to boot, he had no doubt that Ohno probably had enough money stashed away for such a purchase. It was interesting, the things Arashi's leader would crack open his wallet for.
"I don't know, you can probably get it cheaper online."
"Ah," Ohno admitted, "you're probably right. I should have my manager check Yahoo Auctions. He's better at that than I am."
He took a breath. "So...Ohno-kun..."
Shige nearly took a tumble into the fishing rods when Ohno whirled around to stare up into his face. "Shige-kun, I thought you were better than this."
He panicked as Ohno stared him down. "I...I don't know what you mean..."
Ohno backed away, picking up a lure from the shelf and examining it. "This is all so far over my head, this Countdown business. I thought it was for the fans, you know? Ringing in the New Year for them with songs and all that. But the things that Matsu-nii's told me..."
Shit, Shige thought. He'd forgotten how buddy buddy Ohno was with Matsuoka. And considering how much time Tegoshi had been spending with TOKIO, it wouldn't surprise him if Matsuoka had let the Tegomasu plan slip. Stupid, he told himself. It was stupid to think that he could get through to Ohno by banking on his inability to pay attention to much of anything.
"Well," Shige tried, "I mean, Tegoshi-kun's a bit out of control. Koyama and me, we're trying to keep him from going overboard."
"I don't believe that for a second," Ohno said. He grabbed another lure. "Oh, I like this one."
"So if I was to ask for Arashi's help in securing Countdown for...me and....I mean, for NEWS of course..."
Ohno shook his head. "I'm sorry, Shige. That's just not going to happen."
"Well, why not? Aren't you going to Kouhaku?"
He watched Ohno grab another lure and wander off, and Shige hurried to keep up with him as he headed for the cashier. The negotiations had ended before they'd even gotten started.
"Ohno-kun?" he asked one more time, whipping out his wallet. "What if I bought those lures for you? You couldn't even just hint to Johnny-san?"
Ohno shook his head. "I'm really sorry. It's all out of my hands."
"But you're the leader, aren't you? Don't you decide what Arashi does and does not do?"
Shige only got a sad pat on the shoulder and a frown from Ohno. "You have much to learn about the way things work." He accepted the bag from the cashier. "I'll call you the next time I'm going out on the water, okay?"
And Ohno left him there in the sporting goods store. Shige was more confused than ever.
--
Nishikido Ryo would be a far happier man if he never had to hear the word "Countdown" again. It especially pissed him off because he was in two groups, both of which were acting like a bunch of idiots. On one side he had Kanjani8, who were idiots to begin with, but of a lovable kind of idiocy (not that Ryo would admit it if you asked him as much). But now they were all driven by this desire to overthrow Arashi when they should have just been happy to go to Osaka for New Year's, to go home.
And then on the other side Ryo had NEWS, clamoring and fighting like a bunch of junior high girls trying to win a popularity contest. Ryo hadn't much enjoyed junior high, and not just because most of the girls had been taller than him then and treated him more like their pet than a potential boyfriend. He was sick of Tegoshi trying to get him to pick a side. He was sick of Koyama trying to see if he was more loyal to Kanjani8. Ryo just wanted to be a free agent. He wanted to show up at Countdown, hang out with friends, and be done with it.
Which was why he couldn't understand Jin's pathetic crying right then. They were out at a Roppongi club together, one of their favorites, because now that Jin was back it was so much better to have a wing man he could count on. He'd tried using Yamapi as a wing man a few times, but he sucked at talking Ryo up. He'd be all "Ryo-chan sounds adorable when he sneezes" or "Ryo-chan loves girly cocktails." It wasn't the kind of manly talking up one needed in order to score with a hot foreign chick, so Ryo had initially been happy that Jin was back. If Jin was wasted enough, he'd tell girls that Ryo was hung like an elephant, which was far more helpful than talking about Ryo's sneezes.
But Jin hadn't gotten up from their table in the VIP room for two hours, downing beers and keeping the pair of them from trying their luck on the floor. He tried pulling Jin's newest bottle of beer away, but his friend held onto it stubbornly. "Would you stop being such a loser?" Ryo complained, leaning back against the booth. All around them were girls in skimpy tops, short skirts, and strappy heels, and Jin was being a crazy buzzkill.
"They asked me to come back," Jin was crying. "Isn't that the most beautiful thing ever?"
"I think you were damn lucky to not be included in this shit from the get go. It's a mess, dude. Why would you want to be part of this? You could be screwed over like me, with one group begging you to help them go to bakeries or some shit and the other group trying to get you to chip in to buy Nagase a cattle ranch so he could have a lifetime supply of beef."
Jin rubbed his eyes and sniffled. "But that's friendship, man. They love you and want you to be there. You know, I never really paid attention when I could have, but at this time every year Kame gets all weepy about Countdown. I just thought it was him PMS'ing or something..."
If anyone was PMS'ing, Ryo thought darkly, it was Akanishi Jin, but he didn't say it out loud.
"So it's like, his dream, Ryo. Hosting is Kame's dream," Jin continued. "I got to go to America, I got to follow my own dreams. What kind of dick would I be if I didn't help Kame reach his?"
"A smart one."
Jin shoved him. "You don't mean it, you asshole," Jin laughed. "But really, I mean, Taguchi asked me to help and he wouldn't have gone to the trouble if he didn't mean it. And I guess it might be fun to host, I don't know, maybe I could just ask to go live via satellite and just chill with Tackey the whole night..."
He preferred getting wasted with Akanishi, not being his life choice sounding board. But things were starting to become clear. Things that could make Ryo's life far easier. "Well, if KAT-TUN hosts, it would be a lot of pressure off of me," Ryo realized. "I mean, I wouldn't have Yokoyama telling me to stalk Matsujun at The Body Shop, I wouldn't have Koyama sending me mails every two minutes..."
"Right?" Jin said, seemingly cheered. "So...I mean, do you think it would be weird though, calling Kame and saying I'll help?"
"Oh, it would definitely be weird." Jin smacked him. "But I say go for it."
"Maybe I will..."
Ryo smiled at the girl in the red tube top who'd been eyeing him for a while. He had to look good now, comforting his friend like a sensitive, nice guy. "Great, that's great, Jin. Now that you've stopped crying, maybe you can go tell that girl some awesome things about my tongue..."
--
Ohkura Tadayoshi was not fond of wasting his time. And when Hina had left him an angry voicemail saying he had to go to about ten bakeries in the Osaka metro area, it sounded more like an order than a request. So Hina was just lucky that he'd demanded Ohkura go to bakeries and not any other places. He would have definitely said no to furniture stores or something.
Of course, he and Subaru were still stuck at bakery number one on account of them having the greatest cupcakes he had ever tasted in his life.
"You know," Subaru said, watching Ohkura bite into his ninth cupcake (red velvet!!). "I don't think we're going to make it to all the places Hina said at this rate."
Ohkura rolled his eyes. "So?"
"But Hina said it was important." Subaru sighed. "Do you think we'll be able to make it back to Tokyo tonight?"
"No."
"I've got stuff to do tomorrow, Tacchon."
"So?" Man, the cream cheese frosting on this was clearly sent from heaven, he thought as he took another bite.
"So maybe we should...try a scone? Like we were supposed to?"
"Do you really care about hosting Countdown though?" Ohkura asked him, taking a sip of milk before eyeing the cupcake that was sitting on Subaru's plate, still uneaten. "You're older than Hina, you don't have to obey him. He's not your mom."
"I guess not."
Ohkura didn't want to host Countdown. He was very happy that Kanjani8 got to perform for the fans in Osaka, even though it meant not getting to see everyone in Tokyo. So he didn't understand why Hina, who Ohkura considered to not be an idiot, had gotten it in his head that they had to try and compete with Arashi. He also didn't understand why Yoko, who Ohkura usually did consider an idiot, had gotten it in his head that Kanjani8 had targets on their back.
Speaking of Yoko, Ohkura checked his phone to find 147 unheard messages, all from him. "What the hell?" he grumbled, tossing the phone on the table. Subaru picked it up and put it on speaker while Ohkura helped himself to Subaru's uneaten cupcake.
"First unheard message," his phone announced. "Tacchon, this is Yoko, call me back."
"Second unheard message...Tacchon, Yoko here. Kind of important. Call me!"
Subaru hit the button to advance the messages.
"Heeey Tacchon, if you get this, can you call me back? It's Yoko, really need your help here. Thanks!"
"Tacchon, where are you? I can't get a hold of Hina."
"Tacchon, I can't reach Hina and Maru's filming something or other and Ryo has his phone off and I don't want to put Yasu in harm's way. Call me!"
Subaru scowled at the phone. "And what about me? My phone's been on all day!"
"Tacchon, seriously, pick up your phone. This is urgent anti-Arashi business."
"Ohkura Tadayoshi, answer your phone!"
By the thirtieth message, Yoko was openly weeping over the phone line. "He's in my car, oh my god, oh my god, they hit him with a gumball dispenser!"
Ohkura and Subaru met each other's gazes, increasingly confused. Subaru advanced the messages again.
"Sixty-seventh unheard message...Do you...do you think they got to Hina? I mean, he was staying with Aiba-chan. What if...what if he brought Hina to the zoo and locked him in the gorilla cages? Oh, and call me!"
"Hey Tacchon, Yoko again. Ahh, I think he's going to wake up soon...would you mind looking up some legal stuff for me? About kidnapping? I might be in trouble..."
Ohkura took another bite of his cupcake, shaking his head. Maybe this was some kind of performance art. Subaru skipped ahead again.
"Well, thanks for nothing. I'll be interrogating Nino here until further notice. If you can get Hina on the line, let him know, okay?"
"What was that about?" Ohkura muttered, licking the last bit of frosting from his thumb and taking his phone back. He barely noticed the two members of ABC-Z leaving the bakery behind them.
"It sounds like Yokocho kidnapped Nino-kun," Subaru said, tenting his fingers and looking serious. "Maybe Nino was the one who tried to kill Yasu."
"We should probably tell Hina, let him deal with it," Ohkura admitted.
But then one of the bakery staff came over to the table. "Can we get you any more cupcakes? Half off on double chocolate."
Subaru was about to decline in favor of Kanjani8 business, but Ohkura just beamed at the staff member. "I think we'll take another dozen."
Chapter 6: A Golden Crown
It had been a day blissfully free of drama thanks to turning off his phone and watching DVD after DVD of World Cup highlights from various years on Aiba's TV. His host had gone away on an overnight trip for some location filming, leaving Hina alone. It was an obvious show of trust, or Aiba had the place wired, but Hina didn't much care since he'd spent the entire day ignoring any attempts at human contact. Aiba had nothing on him.
But the time came when he wanted something to eat, and Aiba's refrigerator yielded very little. He thought he'd be safe, going out just after midnight to the 24 hour convenience store down the block, but he supposed he should have known better as Ikuta Toma leapt out at him from behind the netted garbage area beside Aiba's building.
"Hina."
Hina kept walking, bound and determined to ignore his friend.
"Hiiiiiiiiiina."
"I'm just going to get food, Toma-kun. I'm this close to going to the police and getting a restraining order on you."
"As well you could," Toma said. "By the smile on your face I can tell you haven't heard what my little birds have related to me."
"Don't care."
"But it's really interesting, you see, really interesting."
"Still don't care. Unless a member of my group is dead or dying, I really don't care about this shit." He kind of cared, but at this point he'd delegated most of the Countdown mess to Yoko, since he was more keen on plotting and looking for scones. Hina had to be the unknowing one, the one that Arashi couldn't mess with - so when he went to Johnny-san in the end, it would surprise them.
"So if I told you that Kanjani and Arashi aren't the only ones in the game, it wouldn't bother you?"
"Not really."
"KAT-TUN's in play now."
"Let Arashi worry about KAT-TUN. They're no threat to Kanjani8."
"Brave words," Toma said, following him into the convenience store. "And then of course, there's NEWS. Talk about a mess there. Tegoshi and Masuda are trying to curry favor with TOKIO. Koyama and Kato are up to something too, my sources tell me."
"Again, it's just more people for Sho-kun and Matsujun to buy off, it doesn't concern us."
Toma cornered him in the instant ramen aisle. "So if I told you that Yokoyama's abducted Ninomiya, would you still not care?"
Hina stopped, hand clutched around a ramen cup. "Yoko did what?"
"Maybe you should have checked your phone today, Hina. Arashi's definitely not going to take this lying down. It's a blow to their pride, having one of their own locked away. Yoko's got balls, I'll give him that, but if it's been a cold war up until now, I'd say abducting Nino's proof that you've gone on the offensive. As far as my sources tell me, he's got Nino locked in his apartment."
"I didn't say he could do that..." He set the ramen cup down, pulling his phone out of his pocket. 182 unheard messages and 403 unread messages. He clicked down through the list. Yokoyama. Yokoyama. Yokoyama. Yokoyama. Yokoyama. "Oh my god, that idiot." And then as he kept clicking, it grew far more alarming. Yokoyama. Matsumoto. Sakurai. Yokoyama. Sakurai. Sakurai. Matsumoto. Matsumoto. Sakurai. "They know?"
"They know."
Shit.
--
The cell phone had been sitting on his desk for at least twenty minutes now, and Akanishi Jin knew that he had to make the call himself. He couldn't call Nakamaru and con him into doing it. He couldn't call Taguchi and just back out because of fear. No, this was something he had to do. If things in the jimusho had gotten as ridiculous as Ryo had implied, then it really was up to Jin to help KAT-TUN out.
Kame's number had been one of the first he'd programmed into his new phone, but he hadn't dialed it yet. So he hesitated another 20 minutes before finally dialing and hoping for the best.
As Jin expected, Kame didn't answer in the most cheerful manner, but since Taguchi explained how Kame had been torturing himself lately over this Countdown business, Jin decided not to be offended.
"What the hell do you want?"
Well, not too offended.
"Hi Kame, it's me. Jin."
"I know. Taguchi gave me your new number."
"Oh." So maybe the others had already told Kame about their plans. He wondered how Kame had taken it. "So like, I heard that uh, that winter was coming?"
"Are you the one sending the messages? Is it you? Is this all some ploy to promote yourself because it's pretty stupid..."
"No!" he exclaimed, a bit frightened by the paranoia in Kame's voice. He could already imagine him, his friend for so many years, hunkered down in his bedroom in the dark, eyes darting back and forth. "No, it's not me."
"Look Jin, I'm busy..."
"Planning for Countdown, right?"
Kame paused. "...yes."
"Look, I've been talking with some people. About Countdown. And I kind of...would like to be there..."
"I see."
"And I mean, I get the impression that the other groups are going to war and shit over it. That's not cool, so like, uh..."
Kame sounded almost nice then. "Jin, what are you trying to say? Just spit it out."
"I was...hoping that you and the guys would let me, uh, help. I want to help KAT-TUN out. I'm not trying to start shit, and maybe Johnny-san will say no, but...I mean, you guys are important to me, and if there's any way I can help you kick Arashi's or NEWS' or Kanjani's ass..."
"Are you being serious right now?"
He swallowed. This was his last chance to laugh, to tell Kame he was just messing with him. To get hung up on and have to hear about it from Koki later on. But he didn't want to do that. For some reason, he really thought he owed them as much after everything.
"Yes, I'm being serious."
Kame almost sounded like he was going to laugh. "But Jin, you've always hated Countdown. You told me that a small part of you died every time you sang Tackey and Tsubasa's Venus."
"Oh, that hasn't changed."
"Well, okay then. But if you're really going to commit to this, you have to put in a hundred percent effort. We're playing to win." Kame chuckled. "I can't believe you really want to help."
"I miss you guys," he said, sniffling a bit.
"Don't cry, that's too much," Kame said. "Okay, I'll add you to the mailing list. I've got the latest batch of edits to the plan, and they should be going out tonight."
Jin realized that Kame was out of his damn mind, but at least it would feel like old times again. "You got it."
--
This would not stand, Matsumoto Jun vowed as he hung up his phone for the 20th time that hour. Sho was hysterical and panicky, wondering if they ought to just storm Yokoyama's building in a rescue attempt to get Nino away from them, but Jun knew the damage had already been done.
So maybe they'd initially gone too far when it came to Yasuda. He and Sho had done their best to keep everything secret, whether it was the Countdown plot or their relationship, but all their work was getting pissed down the drain. Sure, it was kind of a dick move on Arashi's part to want Countdown all to themselves, but now that they'd committed themselves to the idea it would be cowardly to back out.
After all, he and Sho had all their spies to account for financially, and Arashi always paid their debts. Plus, if they backed out of the plan, they'd obviously lose their kohai's respect. It was a ballsy group indeed that went after what they wanted with the passion Arashi had. And to think, it had all started as a joke in their green room, Nino's offhand comment about Arashi hosting "everything" that year.
Now Nino was in Kanjani8's clutches. Who knew what kinds of methods Yokoyama was employing to get Nino talking? Not that Nino would be that difficult to coerce anyhow. Jun was well aware of Nino's tendency toward self-preservation, quite possibly the highest in their entire group. Nino had probably spilled everything by now if Yoko had threatened him badly enough.
So instead of going directly for Nino, he decided that his best chance at negotiating would be to talk to Murakami while Sho worked on the scones list. Yoko had always been a wild card, and there was no telling what he'd do if Jun broke into his apartment. He used his spare key to open Aiba's door. Masaki wouldn't be home for another day, and Jun frowned at the mess inside. Murakami's things were strewn all around the living room, and about ten different soccer DVD cases littered Aiba's table along with several empty beer cans. While the cat's away, Jun thought, rolling his eyes.
He went into Aiba's bedroom, ignoring the piles of clothes and dirty magazines as he dug through the closet. He finally found what he was looking for, pulling out a long wooden item, hollowed out with noisy beads within. Some rain stick Aiba had picked up on his trip to Africa a few years back. He supposed Aiba's baseball bat would have been threat enough, but he didn't want to actually hurt Murakami. He could at least convince him that the beads inside the rain stick were tiny little bugs that could eat him in his sleep - that would definitely get Hina paranoid.
Taking the rain stick back into the living room, he sat on the couch and worked on his most threatening expression. Within 20 minutes, the door opened, and a shell-shocked Murakami entered with a convenience store bag. He froze as soon as he saw Jun waiting for him on the couch.
"B-b-breaking and entering," Hina accused him, and Jun had to admit that it was kind of funny to see Murakami losing his shit. It wasn't something he got to see every day. But he couldn't really enjoy it when Nino's freedom was at stake.
He wiggled the rain stick. "They make these in Africa. Has Aiba-chan told you about it?"
Hina shook his head.
"You hear the rattle? It's all insect shells. They say that sometimes the bugs aren't always dead when they seal them up in there..."
Hina shuddered and headed for the kitchen, setting down the plastic bag. "Look Matsujun, I don't need this right now. I've got a bug infestation at my own apartment, you're telling me that thing has bugs in it, and now apparently one of my bandmates has gone off the deep end, and it's really all your fault."
"All my fault that Yokoyama had a bunch of nerds stuff Nino in his car? What's next, is he going to send a ransom note? A finger?"
He returned from the kitchen with a beer and none to offer Jun. It was almost as though he'd resigned himself to staying in Aiba's living room. "Well, maybe if you hadn't attacked Yasuda, it wouldn't have come to this."
"I don't know what you mean."
Hina nearly threw his beer can at him. "What happened to us, Matsujun? What the hell? What's with all the scheming? It's just Countdown, it's not like Johnny-san's giving away a cash prize to his most ambitious group."
He couldn't show weakness. Arashi had to stay committed, even if Hina was making a lot of sense. Jun was just too competitive to give in. He shook the rain stick, seeing Hina recoil at the sound of the not bugs within it. "Just have Yoko let Nino go, and we'll be far more agreeable."
"Oh come on," Hina said. "Think of those two. They're probably playing video games right now. It's not really abduction so long as Nino's been fed and entertained."
This was why Jun hated matching wits with Murakami. "Sounds like Stockholm syndrome to me."
"Do you really think anyone could possibly develop Stockholm syndrome if Yokoyama's their kidnapper?"
He shook the rain stick again, far more menacingly.
"Stooooop!" Hina screamed. "Get out of here! Get out, get out, Matsumoto, get out!"
Jun got to his feet. "I look forward to your phone call. When you confirm that Nino's been released, unharmed."
He left the apartment in a huff, coming face to face with Toma, who was casually lurking in the hallway.
"I see you're never far behind," he said, raising an eyebrow.
Jun had always respected Toma. He was smarter than most people gave him credit for. "Ah, when my friends are fighting, I like to make myself available. You know, as a sounding board."
He headed for the elevator. "Yeah, I bet."
Toma stayed in step with him. "I just follow the money, Jun-kun."
"That's from a movie, isn't it?"
"Well..." Toma blushed. "Ah, yeah."
"So you know about Nino then."
"I know everything worth knowing."
"Every day, every hour, this very minute, perhaps, dark forces attempt to penetrate this castle's walls," Jun said darkly. If they were going to have a quoting contest...
"Dark forces?" Toma asked with a smile. "You don't mean me, do you?"
"I'll talk to you later," he said as he got in the elevator.
Toma's face changed. "Wait, was that from Harry Potter? That's so lazy!" Toma complained as the elevator doors closed in his face.
--
Tegoshi didn't necessarily dislike his bandmates. In fact, if he had to answer truthfully, he'd say that he loved Koyama and Shige like they were his brothers. But they'd gone too far, and it was time to rein them back in. Tegoshi was no fool. He knew they were plotting their own Countdown.
So when the news came down from on high and Taichi related it to him, Tegoshi ensured that Shige wasn't told. He convinced Shige's manager that it was something he wanted to "surprise" him with, and the man hadn't questioned it. It was really something that just had to be done so he could see Shige's face. It was great news, after all. Spectacular news, and Tegoshi just had to be there when it happened.
Any worries he had about Koyama and Shige not showing up were slim. Sending out the invitation from Matsuoka and having Nagase include a Polaroid of himself holding an "I love Koyama and Shige!" sign was clearly enough to get the two of them to show up for the party at Taichi's apartment.
Tegoshi thought long before that he'd grow sick of partying with TOKIO. They regularly drank him under the table, but he'd built up a tolerance, and even Massu was starting to come around on the idea of a Tegomasu and TOKIO Countdown. Now he just had to stick it to Koyama, and life would be grander than it could ever be.
He even opened the door and escorted his bandmates inside. "So glad you could make it," he said with a smile as a nervous-looking Shige stepped over the threshold. "Ah, Kei-chan, I'm glad you came, truly."
"This smells like a trap," Shige said. "We should probably refuse any drinks we didn't pour ourselves."
Koyama nodded. "So Tegoshi, what's the big announcement this time? Have you finally talked to Johnny-san about Countdown?"
Actually, there hadn't been a lot of action on that front, not that Tegoshi was too worried. TOKIO partied and worked and partied some more, and Tegoshi was happy to be along for the ride. They could talk to Johnny-san in due time. Taichi had repeatedly ensured him that Arashi would probably give up their ambitions before the month was out due to their numerous commitments. It was all about timing, really.
"If you'll just come this way, I think I'll let Leader fill you guys in."
Joshima was at the center of Taichi's living room, arm around Nagase's waist for moral support. He was openly weeping in his joy, and as soon as he saw Shige approach he ran over to embrace him. Massu came over to him, shaking his head. "It's mean to do it this way. You know this is going to crush him."
"He sold me, you know," he reminded Massu. "Like a piece of meat."
"And you've clearly been suffering," Massu said with a sigh, gesturing to the silver and black skull friendship bracelet on Tegoshi's wrist - a gift from his new BFF for life, Nagase.
"I made the most of my situation, okay? Ugh, you are such a downer sometimes. This is for the both of us, you know."
Shige was still being smashed by Leader's hug while Koyama's eyes were darting all around the room from TOKIO member to TOKIO member. "What's going on?" Koyama finally asked. "What's the good news you said we had to be here for?"
"Our play, Shige! Bitter Orange!" Joshima cried happily. "The company wants us to do more performances!"
"Seriously?" Shige asked, sounding suspicious.
"That's right, Kato-kun," Taichi said slyly. "And you'd best pack warm. I hear it's cold in Hokkaido come January."
"Come January?" Shige squeaked.
Joshima hugged Shige again. "You and me in Sapporo, ringing in the New Year with a week's worth of performances!"
"At New Year's?" Shige asked. "But that means...I'd have to miss Countdown..."
"You!" Koyama accused Tegoshi. "You did this! I don't know how, but you did this!"
Tegoshi feigned surprise. "What? But isn't that great news? Shige, congratulations! I know you'll do great! We'll miss you!"
But there was no faking the surprise when Koyama launched himself at Tegoshi, fingers wrapping around his neck as they fell to Taichi's hardwood floor. "I'll kill you, I swear, I'll kill you! This was supposed to be A Very Koyashige Countdown! You ruined it! You ruined everything with your cute, lovable face!"
Tegoshi gasped, looking up at Massu for help. He halfheartedly tried to pry Koyama off of him, and Shige was still trapped with Joshima.
"How could you do this to me?" Koyama squealed. "We had a contract. We had a contract!"
"These things happen," Taichi said, and Tegoshi was rather distressed to see that none of the members of TOKIO were hurrying to his rescue. As though Koyama strangling Tegoshi on the floor wasn't horrible at all.
"To...Tomoya-chaaan," Tegoshi managed to squeak, and finally his prayers were answered. He gasped as Nagase came and pulled Koyama into his embrace, picking him up like a rag doll.
"Ah, it's great to see you guys," Nagase said, hugging Koyama. "Isn't it great that more people will get to see the play?"
Kei-chan struggled against him. "A Very Koyashige Countdown! You destroyed it!"
"Calm down, Koyama," Taichi said. "You're killing my buzz. Masuda, get me another beer."
Tegoshi got to his feet, rubbing his neck. Thankfully he had a brand new scarf from Nagase that would hide the bruises Koyama had probably left on his skin. "You're just going to let him get away with that?" he asked the members of TOKIO, struggling to breathe.
Matsuoka headed for Taichi's kitchen, reemerging with a bottle of liquor. "Here, it's not a celebration until we do some shots. To Bitter Orange!"
Nagase grabbed the bottle away. "Congratulations, Kato-kun! And Koyama, you should be happier for your friend."
Koyama was hysterical. "I can't be happy! You've all taken my dreams and stomped them into a fine paste! You're all terrible human beings! I have nothing! I have nothing at all!"
Nagase just chuckled. "Aww, poor baby. Thought you had the Countdown crown and it got snatched away. Here, let me make it better. Open your mouth and say 'ahhh,'" Nagase said, trying to hold Koyama still as he opened the bottle of liquor. But Koyama kept his head down, weeping openly.
Tegoshi could only look on in amusement, seeing Massu's horror, Shige's irritation, and TOKIO's disbelief as Nagase poured the entire bottle of Goldschlager over Koyama's head.
On to Part 4