arashi fiction 69 - whiskers of love

[nicefinalbeam]

Title: The Many Definitions of Perfection
Pairing: Sho/Becky with hints of Jun/Nino and Aiba/Kanjiya Shihori
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Some rules are meant to be broken. AU. Sho and Becky work together, so they cannot be together.
Originally written for natsunonamae at je-whiteday



It wasn't the first time she'd implemented a rule for herself that other people didn't understand. When eighteen-year-old Becky had proclaimed to her closest friends that she wasn't going to date again until she was twenty-five, they'd all told her that Koichi from Kinki Kids was going to get married by then, very nearly convincing her to change her mind. Eventually she'd reached the conclusion that if anyone as swoon-worthy as Koichi entered her life before her twenty-fifth birthday, she could make a reasonable exception, but no one else! Koichi was perfect.

Becky's parents had always told her that she could live her dreams if she was willing to fight for them. If that meant focusing on her career first, then that was what she was going to do. A lot of people assumed that having an English speaking father meant you could be an interpreter right away, but that was insulting given the true level of work involved. You had to know an equal amount of English and Japanese, have an extensive vocabulary, and be prepared for just about anything! It took time and study and sometimes travel, and now that she was actually working? She was finding there were more complicated ins-and-outs of the job, an unexpected challenge of translation every day.

It had been difficult, certainly, to hold steady to her no-dating promise in her social circle. Not because men were falling all over her (not at all), but simply because it's all anyone had ever wanted to talk about and she'd been left out of a lot of girl nights and group dates. But now she was twenty-six, with a great job and amazing new friends, and had been to her fair share of bad dinners and disasters at the zoo/park/movies.

Based on her experiences thus far, she could honestly say it had all been worth it. If this was all she'd missed out on when busy studying for her profession, then she hadn't sacrificed much for her goals.

So, why worry about one more teeny tiny rule? She hadn't steered herself wrong before. Having worked so hard for her job, it only seemed fair to protect and cherish it in any way she could.

"You know I'll always support you," Aya said, "Do your best."

"Do my best?" Becky repeated, laughing and shaking her head. Do her best to what exactly? It wasn't all that likely she would suffer a sudden loss of free will and throw herself at the next available coworker.

"Just... do your best," Aya said again, a smirk on her face that read something like 'You know Koichi will be married by then, right?'.

Whatever Aya thought she knew, it only fired Becky up more. Fine then! It was settled. No dating any of her work colleagues, unless a man of Koichi level swoon-worthiness came along.

Not like Mr. Perfect waiting in the wings to confess his love in two languages anyway.

"Choco?" Sho asked, holding up his chocolate bar.

Becky grinned and leaned over to unclasp the front pocket of her purse. It took some digging, and an embarrassing shuffle of various items to the bottom of the bag (the last thing she needed was for a tampon to fall out), but eventually she pulled out a bar of her own.

"Choco!"

"Chocolate Disco," they said together as their chocolate bars met in a toast. Sharing in quiet laughter and a quick shake of their shoulders, they probably looked far from professional. Becky liked that about these breaks, though. It was nice to be able to relax before another long session of interpreting, and Sho always proved to be refreshing company.

"What next on the agenda for you?" Sho asked, nibbling at his chocolate.

"Lady Gaga," Becky answered as she always did, peeling back the candy wrapper.

“Again? Hasn’t she learned Japanese by now?” Sho joked.

Becky didn’t bother to hide that she was watching as he stretched his arms over his head. She’d never prohibited herself from appreciating a visual, after all, and she was weak to that moment when a man’s shirt lifted juuuust a little and a hint of boxers peeked out from the top of his pants. Not that his did, of course, at least not here. Sho had his shirt expertly tucked in as usual for work. Shame. She lightly smacked his stomach with the back of her palm and sighed.

"Someday it's really going to be Lady Gaga. Or Madonna!"

"Madonna," Sho whispered in echo, nodding his head as if this was a very serious topic.

Times like this, when his eyes said I believe you, but his tone said I'll make-believe with you, Becky honestly couldn't decide if he was incredibly supportive or poking fun. Probably both, but at least it made her smile.

"What about you? Obama?"

Sho gave her a smirk and a salute, as if that said it all. While it wasn't an impossible dream for either of them, it wouldn't happen here. They were mostly interpreting foreign media for a Japanese audience, not the other way around. Becky ultimately aspired to be the go-to interpreter for one of Japan's leading television networks, helping foreign celebrities as they did Japanese promotional tours.

She couldn't remember if they'd ever talked about what his goals were, though. She knew a bit about why he'd taken the job and what he'd studied in university, but his path forward was unclear. Becky could picture him as a corporate executive, shuffling papers around on a desk and saying charming things in English, but never really indicating what it was he actually did - and maybe he got scary every now and then, but deep down he cared about all of his employees. All the office ladies loved him, and all the business men wanted to be him, and at the end of the day he'd loosen his tie and declare that he just wanted to be with the girl of his dreams. For some reason, Becky was having a hard time picturing her, but if she was stubborn and cute, then--

"What are you doing tonight?" Sho asked, completely breaking her from her daydream of what could now only be accurately described as Sho in the lead of a romantic drama.

She might have thought an invitation was coming from his question if it weren't for the way he was still casually consuming chocolate. When her phone beeped and indicated it was time to resume work, she gave a friendly pat to his shoulder.

"Looks like I'm going first. Bye bye!"

The loud THWAK of her purse as she accidentally swung it against her chair was enough to mask Sho's request for one moment more of her time. Purse now rightfully slung across her shoulder, she waved and made her retreat - never once looking behind her.

"And then she said 'I'm going first, bye' and ran away," Sho explained, crossing his arms over his chest. When all he got was a hum in response, he lightly kicked the spot behind Aiba's knee.

"I told you already! Becky and I don't talk about that kind of stuff," he responded in a soft whine, after slipping a little too dramatically against the counter for the amount of force Sho had used (a good thing he wasn't still slicing vegetables and had moved on to putting strange amounts of seasoning on what was meant to be simple noodles). "She wants to talk about Sesame when she's with us, mostly. After that she just tells Shihori how weird it is that she's dating someone not her type and calls my manliness into question."

Sho tried to hide the depth of his amusement, but the fuse was already lit. Soon enough he was bursting into loud, crackling laughter. So harsh he managed to say between gasps for air, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to calm down.

"It's okay," Aiba told him, though Sho hadn't asked, and by the way his eyes crinkled Sho knew he meant it. "It's about the same as a visit from Nino anyway."

Speak of the devil -- Sho felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and knew that it was Nino calling. He was the only other person Sho had accosted through voicemail in the hopes that his friends might have some advice.

"J and I managed to get Aya-chan to talk," Nino spoke slowly, almost sadly. Sho didn't like the sound of it. "If you're serious about this, it's not going to be easy."

Sho nodded vigorously, though Nino couldn't see him, and gulped down the rest of his wine. It wouldn't be the first time he'd had to prove himself. For Becky, he wouldn't hesitate.

"What do I need to do?"

Becky sipped at her thermos of hot water absently, occasionally checking her phone for the time. It wasn't very like Sho not to take a break during the day. She'd once seen him squeeze a convenience store run so expertly into his schedule that she'd come to the reasonable conclusion he was a secret robot with human feelings. Well, probably human feelings, as he laughed a lot and was overly passionate and chatty about some topics - much like Becky herself, actually.

"Sorry!" Sho's voice called from somewhat nearby. Not anticipating anything like an apology, and not needing one, Becky placed a hand to her forehead and scanned the company lobby for him. She nearly dropped her thermos when he suddenly appeared in her line of sight.

"Were you waiting for me?" he asked as he came closer, shoving his hands into his pockets.

How he managed it, Becky couldn't fathom, because she'd thought from a distance that he wasn't wearing pants at all. It looked more like someone had dunked him into a bathtub filled with blue paint.

"No, no no," she answered him, waving a hand dismissively. Not waiting for him! Just taking a break with her beverage and her thoughts. Those might have been thoughts of him just a moment ago, but that was pure coincidence and not a summons.

"I almost didn't recognize you without a suit," Becky said, laughing and dropping her eyes a moment. Somehow in taking time to process the impossible pants she'd missed the leather jacket entirely. "Don't tell me you're going on television! I thought I'd get there before you!"

"No, nothing like that. I had a, er, laundry accident?"

It seemed highly improbable to Becky that any man who'd had an accident with his best work clothes had something like this lying around in his closet. But then, Becky hadn't seen Sho very often outside of work. Maybe this was exactly the kind of thing he wore. Her heart gave a sputter of excitement at that, which she quickly attempted to burn out with a gulp from her hot water. SO WARM.

"Is it flashy? Celebrity-like?" he asked, tugging at the bottom edge of the jacket nervously.

Becky found herself laughing more than talking then, because it was the most impossible question to answer. She'd noticed how different it was, and a leather jacket could definitely be flashy, but was it flashy or was she just not used to seeing him this way? She curled her fingers against her lips, daring to scan his body with her eyes a few more times.

"Celebrity-like," she answered with a nod of approval. "Except for... jzuush."

Jzuush being the ease with which her hands could slip from his shoulders, as she demonstrated with the hand she had available. Most guys would play up their annoyance after that kind of comment, but as Becky began to pull her hand back, Sho stepped closer and linked his arm with hers with an Afternoon, M'lady.

Sho was just being refreshing as usual, that was all - yeah. The only problem here, so far as Becky could tell, was that she had no particular direction to head in at the moment.

"Celebrity-like," she repeated and began an aimless walk, hoping her cheeks weren't turning red.

She hadn't passed any reflective surfaces in the past fifteen minutes, but Becky was fairly certain she was looking her unattractive best right now. Visual confirmation was hardly necessary when she could feel the sticky discomfort of eye make-up and tears against her cheeks.

"Junko-chan, more like... Unko-chan," she muttered, but it was far less amusing leaving her mouth than it had been safely tucked in her mind. Possibly because she'd just wiped her runny nose against her sleeve, and no one with her childish sense of humor was around to reject a high-five in fear of her snot.

It was rare that she be forced into an ugly cry, but then it was also rare for her to even bother visiting any of her former friends. As evidenced by her brief and completely justified emotional outburst, they were mostly awful people who brought nothing but anxiety. Sure, sometimes she politely accepted an invitation to drink with them, but that was clearly because some small part of her still sought acceptance. It was her own fault for getting her hopes up. She stepped willingly into these situations and was still surprised when those girls (politely, coldly) insulted all of her life choices.

She might have allowed them to get under her skin, but there was no point in letting them stay there. Her pride wouldn't let her trudge back to her apartment and continue with her sobfest. No. Instead she was very smartly on her way to visit the far superior Jun in her life.

"Open uuuuuuup. It's cold and I'm hideous!" she ordered, slapping the door in front of her instead of knocking. It was just as effective, so why not?

"Don't say those things, Becky. You're okay enough," a voice reassured as the door slowly opened. Normally she'd laugh and smack his arm, but Becky wasn't really in the mood for Nino's teasing tonight. He seemed to realize his mistake as soon as he got a good look at her features, at least, stepping aside quickly to let her in.

"Where's Matsujun?" she asked immediately.

"J? He's in the shower. Why?"

She might not have responded if she didn't have such a large amount of beer and frustration built up inside of her, but even if Nino could be difficult to get along with at times, he'd always been understanding when she was in distress. Besides, who'd understand her motivation better than he would?

"I just wanted to look at his face for awhile," she admitted as she made herself at home, holding on to Nino's shoulders for support and slipping out of her high heels. "If I'm quiet enough, do you think he'll come out here in his towel?"

Nino sucked in his own top lip as he thought it over.

"I could probably get you full frontal if I said the magic words."

Becky couldn't deny it was a tempting offer, but in the end she decided it was best not to owe Nino any favors. She had every reason to suspect he was the type of person to come collecting at the worst possible moment.

Roooooooobe, they groaned in unison as the man in question appeared, completely covered and staring at them in confusion.

"What? When did Becky get here?"

It was enough to have her laughing again, which was all she'd really wanted. A break from the reminder that not everyone was going to respect the decisions she made for herself was welcome. A chance to temporarily shut down and not think about maybe, possibly being lonely was a happy occasion.

But it was still a little stuffy here, watching Nino and Jun make eyes at each other because they, unlike her, had no trouble letting love be comfortable. If she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, she could picture a gentle breeze against her skin, cool and refreshing.

For a brief moment, before joining her friends for tea and late-night variety shows, Becky wondered if Sho was still awake.

He was confident (after a few beers) that art was the right way to reach her. Becky was too funny, too beautiful for him to just come right out and say what was on his mind - especially when she didn't seem to have him on her radar. He had to be the perfect guy, and apparently for her that meant having some artistic ability and a grand gesture.

"She likes when you draw her things at parties, doesn't she?" Sho pointed out to Ohno in an attempt to justify his current behavior.

Ohno shrugged his shoulders and handed Sho another piece of chalk. That was enough of an agreement for Sho when in semi-drunken confession mode, so he didn't bother asking any straightforward questions about whether he was actually doing the right thing. He was just going to keep pouring his heart into his masterpiece and see where it took him.

"But why is it hairy?" Ohno asked through his uncontrollable laughter, high-pitched giggles in the night that only got louder as he clutched his sides. "It's got whiskers everywhere!"

"Whiskers of love," Sho responded, signing his name to it in a sloppy interpretation of graffiti, "She'll definitely like it."

♪♯~ Chocolate Disco Chocolate Disco Chocolate Disco ~♪♯

"I was just thinking about you!" Becky answered her phone excitedly. It was an embarrassing way to greet someone, but it was like he'd read her mind! Although, with the growing frequency of her thoughts about him lately, he could have called at any time and there was a chance that would be true.

She was pretty sure she'd been thinking about him before she fell asleep on Nino and Jun's couch last night too. Now she had crazy hair and hadn't bathed and was headed home a bit wobbly in her heels, but she felt far less unfortunate than her pathetic form the night before.

"What were you thinking about?"

Becky snorted, biting her lip as she considered what to say next. The truth might be a weird to say in general, let alone in public - but lying was a slippery sloping shoulder.

"I'm wearing tall heels, like that time at Yoko's karaoke party. You remember?"

"Roger."

"When I twisted my ankle, you picked me up and carried me. Like something from a drama."

She hadn't even thought of herself as the type who wanted to be held that way. At the time she'd not really been in the moment, too worried about how badly she'd injured herself and how hard getting to work would be to notice that Sho had brought her all that way without a single complaint. He was a coworker, so it wasn't a romantic opportunity wasted exactly, but maybe she should have thanked him more.

"Don't worry about that time."

"I wasn't worrying! Just thinking, but I'm about to reach the stairs in front of my apartment, so," Becky explained and laughed at first, until she remembered that Sho had been the one to call her and not the other way around. "Oh! Sorry, did you need something?"

"Yeah, listen. I've been meaning to say something for a long time now, but I'm not as brave as I may seem. If you're that close to your apartment then you might--"

"WAIT! HOLD THAT THOUGHT," Becky interrupted when she reached her street, pulling her phone away from her face so she could laugh without restraint. A snowman with porcupine needles had suddenly appeared, smiling at her. What was that on the wall, anyway? Whatever new artist had joined in vandalizing parts of her neighborhood, he couldn't have been more than twelve years old. "Ahhhh so amusing. I need to take a picture of this chalk drawing and send it to you."

"That good, huh?"

Hearing Sho say that over the line so smugly just made Becky laugh harder. That was pretty much the exact opposite of what she'd been thinking, so either he was kidding around with her or the mental connection had been broken.

"No, it's awful. I can't even tell what it is! You'll laugh for sure when you see it."

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"Good to know. I'm just going to... I'll get off the phone now and you can send me those pictures if you want."

There was something different about Sho's tone of voice then. Maybe he hadn't liked being interrupted when he'd taken the time to call. It might have been a frustration with something else entirely, even, and Becky would have listened. But after several offers of being a shoulder to lean on, Sho had promised he was fine and let her go.

Something still felt wrong. It had been days since her phone conversation with Sho, and even though most of those days were the weekend, now a day of work had gone by without him too. She hadn't meant to upset him, whatever it was she'd said, but a creeping feeling of 'the damage has been done' was setting in for Becky. How did you apologize to a person when you were unsure of what you'd done to hurt them?

"It was probably because you insulted the art he'd worked hard on for you," Aiba told her before sliding her a glass of red wine.

If Becky had gotten that wine any earlier, she'd be spitting it in his face about now. There were plenty of possibilities she'd been ready to hear, but that hadn't even come close to crossing her mind. Aiba had to be messing with her now, right? If Shihori had been here, she would have put a stop to it.

But, wait - she had been looking at a chalk drawing when he'd become distraught on the phone.

"Oh-chan gave him supplies, he worked in the night, and then you told him it was awful. He was hurt and embarrassed, probably. He didn't say it to me, but..."

Becky had hoped that a chat with Aiba would make her feel better, not worse. That she'd be told she was over-thinking things as usual and that Sho just had a cold or something. Why would she have ever though that drawing was for her? As guilty as she felt, she couldn't figure out what message it had been trying to send. Of course if he was still talking to her, Sho could have explained. In fact, he probably had been trying to explain when she'd rudely cut him off to make fun of it.

"I can't believe I'm going to ask you this, but Aiba-chan? What do I do?" Becky clasped her hands together tightly and bowed her head as she waited for advice.

If Sho never answered her phone calls, or started ignoring her at work, she might not be able to apologize! And if he was really upset, he might not want to accept her apology even if he heard one - because what kind of friend rejected a surprise so harshly? She'd really messed up this time.

"Sorry, Becky. I don't think you can do anything to stop him now. Sho already told me he's looking for another job," Aiba spoke, reaching out to awkwardly (but affectionately) pat her shoulder.

It wasn't just extra guilt Becky felt in that moment. The thought of Sho working somewhere else just because of her made her sick to her stomach. This couldn't happen! She couldn't let this happen!

"I have to go," Becky told him, emptying half her glass of wine for courage before she was out the door.

"Don't do it! Please, I really... unless you want to do it for yourself, please don't quit your job," Becky called through the door, stopping her knocking to press her ear against it to try and hear him on the other side.

She wasn't sure when she'd stopped being able to picture long days without him. If Sho was ready to change jobs, what if he was willing to change locations too? Move to Canada or America or Europe and charm people on the other side of the world? Maybe he'd never had plans for interpreting Lady Gaga's words on television, but from what she had seen he was a hard worker with endless amounts of enthusiasm. He could be offered a position anywhere. She didn't want to work with anyone else. He needed to stay!

She stepped back as the door was pulled open, taking a moment to let the sight of him pump fresh air through her lungs. Her chance! She could have launched into the 'sorry's and promises she'd had running through her mind on the way over, but one look at his expression and Becky launched herself into Sho's arms instead.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Sho asked her, immediately accepting her into his embrace.

It was funny, really, how she'd had every intent of coming here to apologize to him and reassure him that his artwork (while still awful) was wonderful. But he was the one rubbing her back so soothingly she could easily melt to the floor.

"Why are you worried about me quitting my job all of a sudden? Because I missed a day of work?"

And unlike practically every other man in her life, Sho questioned her without the slightest hint of a tease. It was another reason Becky couldn't stand the thought of losing his companionship. He was serious when it mattered most to her.

"AIBA-SAN!" she growled, though it turned into a slight whine of embarrassment as she hid her face in his chest.

"If Aiba told you that I'm quitting my job, he's being an idiot," Sho stated what was now obvious to Becky. She sighed as he slowly steered her into his apartment, closing the door gently behind them with his foot. "And it would be a bit frustrating, too, after all the effort I've been making to not have to do that."

Becky didn't quite pick up on what he was saying, her mind still agreeing in loud, angry curses that Aiba was impossible. Glad that she at least hadn't broken down into pathetic sobs over misinformation, she very nearly slipped out of the hold Sho had on her - until he caught on and tightened it.

"If I did end up finding another job, I wouldn't have stopped spending time with you."

Listening to Sho's words of comfort, her guard down and her mind open, Becky realized the mistake she'd made in the interpretation of her own panic. She wasn't worried about Sho leaving the job, even if she liked the company he made on chocolate breaks. Her biggest concern hadn't been whether they'd make time for each other after hours. Both of those things were easy to remedy, as Sho had just reminded her. They wouldn't have stopped being friends just because he wanted to work somewhere else.

Suddenly, presented with the idea of Sho leaving, she'd reacted to Sho leaving the country. It was the most extreme possibility that could come from his action and that was what had gotten her riled up. It was as if her brain was pointing out to her, 'Oh yeah, but what if Koichi-san gets married by then?'.

Aiba had only needed to give her the idea once, in passing, for Becky to storm Sho's apartment in a spontaneous attempt to stop him at all costs. The worst case scenario of Sho quitting his job was that he might get away before she'd faced her own feelings.

If Sho had quit his job, it would have made her rule null and void anyway. The reason she'd reacted so strongly was because deep down she knew he was special. Sho was standing in front of her now with Koichi level swoon-worthiness and perfection and she almost hadn't noticed.

It would be wrong not to recognize it now.

"I need you to know something," she spoke up, pushing away from his hold this time only to get a better look at his face.

"I like you. Above anything else, I like you. So if you hear anything about anything from anyone, it just... it doesn't apply. Okay?"

"Okay," Sho agreed, as if he knew exactly what she meant. He didn't ask her anything more about it, or elaborate, or share his thoughts. He just kept smiling at her and pulled her closer again - completely calm.

"I'd still like a confession, though. I mean, if you feel that way and you'd want to tell me about it because I really like wh--"

But Sho wasn't listening. Sho was too busy kissing, and Becky would just have to come to terms with the fact that when it came to her rules and her expectations - Sho was always going to be exceptional.

Most of the time.