w-inds. fic (oh my god I know)
YIN, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT for being way too sweet and nice and schtuff. this is kind of a thank you for letting me mooch off you continuously, especially with the lastest System of Alive tour which must have taken out a huge chunk of your bandwidth. (god, the concert is so-- it's so recent. I've realized two very important things while watching it: one, omg keita is really hot in concert, and two, dude, these guys are older than me. it's kind of weird, you know, since in the past 6 months, I've seen their music videos from when they were like TWELVE, or at least look like it, and and. And.)
I'm usually against writing RP fiction, but my characterization is so bad that I can't even tell that it's w-inds, so. Ryohei fans, please don't kill me if you read this. I didn't know any better :O!
EDIT// I have a very nasty feeling that I'm getting all the (real) details with w-inds. mixed up, but. yeah. and it's, uh, not even so much as a fic as a character sketch? sort of? ._.;
whispering chambers
Ryohei doesn't meet Keita until after the auditions are over; neither he nor Ryuichi even listened in on the auditions, and neither one of them had any direct influence on the decision. The producers explain it as the dynamics of a formation rather than the addition or completion of a group, with Keita, Ryohei, and Ryuichi each claiming an equal share of the name. W-inds., they say, is not Ryohei and Ryuichi first and then Keita; w-inds. forms ceremoniously, and formally, when the three of them get together for the first time.
All the trouble going into this arrangement still doesn't change the fact that Ryohei and Ryuichi knew each other before Keita was ever mentioned or thought of, nor does it change that the three of them meet knowing that fact in mind.
*
It's hard not conforming to cliques, and Ryohei in particular always strayed a little too much toward familiarity. He and Ryuichi arrive together to meet Keita, which is on the most basic level a mistake, because it results with Ryohei and Ryuichi on one side facing Keita, and even from that distance, even with Ryohei reminding himself forcefully to relax, he can already feel his reluctance to move too far away from Ryuichi.
There's an awkward pause where none of them are sure if they should shake hands or not. Ryohei's eyes drift to the floor; he wishes his body could follow. "It's so good to finally meet you, Tachibana-san," Ryuichi finally is the first to say, and Keita's entire body lets out a ripple of relief.
"Keita's fine," he says (Ryohei has to admit Keita does have a very nice smile), and Ryohei can feel the world move under his feet.
*
"So what do you think of him?" Ryohei asks when he and Ryuichi are both alone in the washroom. Ryohei leans his back against the wall and watches Ryuichi brush his fingers through his hair; it still springs back stubbornly into shape.
"I don't know. What do you mean?" Ryuichi gives up after a few attempts in front of the mirror and turns toward Ryohei. "He's nice, isn't he?"
"Yeah," Ryohei replies distantly, "Yeah, he is. It seems strange though, you know, since we're supposed to be working together from now on, the three of us."
Ryuichi tilts his head to the side and shrugs thoughtfully. "I don't think it matters much."
The words Ryohei wants to say tangle themselves inside his mouth, and his throat closes with a release of breath. Ryuichi catches his reflection in the mirror again and asks, arms stretching over his head, "Our first live interview is next week, isn't it? We're supposed to perform a dance routine." He does an impromptu spin on the tile floor and Ryohei laughs. "Have you ever been on TV before?"
Ryohei shakes his head. "Yeah, me neither," Ryuichi nods. "I've always wanted to be though." He slides across, one foot behind the other, turn, snap, end. Ryohei continues looking at him almost helplessly. Ryohei is not moving, and Ryuichi still begins to turn into static.
*
Things happen.
Keita's easier to grow accustomed too than what Ryohei originally figures, and the three of them catch on rather quickly; similar interests, relative ages, and constant compromise bump relations along and by the release of their first single, Ryohei can say Ryuichi and Keita and w-inds. all the in the same breath without pause. They grow close enough for them to change clothes in the same room without determinedly looking the other way, close enough to brush off sharing food and water between dinners, close enough to argue and tease and trip each other and not have a stifling silence afterwards.
Ryohei and Ryuichi bicker with each other more than Keita; it's nothing harmful or serious, and the arguments mainly surface because of familiarity, but Keita usually ends up breaking them apart. It's okay, the first few times, but after a while Ryohei and Ryuichi share a brief sidelong glance with each other whenever it happens, and a small seed of resentment plants between them. It becomes adjusting to a middle ground that wasn't there before, or, even, adjusting to a middle ground that wasn't ever necessary and instead has now forced itself there.
*
Ryohei likes magazine interviews the most. Television always has a high chance of mess-ups with no sure way of backtracking, and newspaper is more or less too formal, everything structured like drying cement made to be permanent. Magazines allow for more leniencies, and because of that, Ryohei always tries to be as careful with his answers as possible.
Their agents generally have strict guidelines for scheduled appointments, but unexpected reporters have been known to drop by the production offices, randomly, to pull a quote or check progress, and the three of them have learned to ignore the minor interruptions. Most interruptions, at least. A woman shows up in the morning and requests an interview for a magazine; she's persuasive enough to be let into the building, and Keita, Ryohei, and Ryuichi are walking out of the recording studio when she catches up to them. "Twenty minutes max," she promises, "I don't even need all three of you. Just one's enough." Keita and Ryuichi trade a grin and immediately delegate the job to Ryohei with a pressured, "Come on, Ryohei-kun. It's a magazine interview. You're always so good with those." Ryohei thinks about resisting and shrugs. He gives her a lopsided smile. Magazine interviews always were his best.
She tells him her name as they're walking down the hallway, and Ryohei has already forgotten it when they reach an empty room. "This is really just a pre-interview. A generalizing of sorts, if you'll call it. Nothing serious," she tells him. Her lips are a very bright red. "You don't have to be worried." Ryohei nods. He learned a long time ago never to trust reporters.
She asks expected questions ("how long are you usually on the road?"), less expected questions ("what is the main difference between eggplants and squashes?"), unexpected questions that Ryohei should have expected ("what would you do if you got gum stuck in your hair? Not at your chin, Ryohei-kun, higher. Higher still."), and ends with, "What kind of a relationship do the three of you have?"
Ryohei hesitates for authenticity. "We're all very close," he rehearses. "Ryuichi is like a brother to me and
I'm usually against writing RP fiction, but my characterization is so bad that I can't even tell that it's w-inds, so. Ryohei fans, please don't kill me if you read this. I didn't know any better :O!
EDIT// I have a very nasty feeling that I'm getting all the (real) details with w-inds. mixed up, but. yeah. and it's, uh, not even so much as a fic as a character sketch? sort of? ._.;
whispering chambers
Ryohei doesn't meet Keita until after the auditions are over; neither he nor Ryuichi even listened in on the auditions, and neither one of them had any direct influence on the decision. The producers explain it as the dynamics of a formation rather than the addition or completion of a group, with Keita, Ryohei, and Ryuichi each claiming an equal share of the name. W-inds., they say, is not Ryohei and Ryuichi first and then Keita; w-inds. forms ceremoniously, and formally, when the three of them get together for the first time.
All the trouble going into this arrangement still doesn't change the fact that Ryohei and Ryuichi knew each other before Keita was ever mentioned or thought of, nor does it change that the three of them meet knowing that fact in mind.
*
It's hard not conforming to cliques, and Ryohei in particular always strayed a little too much toward familiarity. He and Ryuichi arrive together to meet Keita, which is on the most basic level a mistake, because it results with Ryohei and Ryuichi on one side facing Keita, and even from that distance, even with Ryohei reminding himself forcefully to relax, he can already feel his reluctance to move too far away from Ryuichi.
There's an awkward pause where none of them are sure if they should shake hands or not. Ryohei's eyes drift to the floor; he wishes his body could follow. "It's so good to finally meet you, Tachibana-san," Ryuichi finally is the first to say, and Keita's entire body lets out a ripple of relief.
"Keita's fine," he says (Ryohei has to admit Keita does have a very nice smile), and Ryohei can feel the world move under his feet.
*
"So what do you think of him?" Ryohei asks when he and Ryuichi are both alone in the washroom. Ryohei leans his back against the wall and watches Ryuichi brush his fingers through his hair; it still springs back stubbornly into shape.
"I don't know. What do you mean?" Ryuichi gives up after a few attempts in front of the mirror and turns toward Ryohei. "He's nice, isn't he?"
"Yeah," Ryohei replies distantly, "Yeah, he is. It seems strange though, you know, since we're supposed to be working together from now on, the three of us."
Ryuichi tilts his head to the side and shrugs thoughtfully. "I don't think it matters much."
The words Ryohei wants to say tangle themselves inside his mouth, and his throat closes with a release of breath. Ryuichi catches his reflection in the mirror again and asks, arms stretching over his head, "Our first live interview is next week, isn't it? We're supposed to perform a dance routine." He does an impromptu spin on the tile floor and Ryohei laughs. "Have you ever been on TV before?"
Ryohei shakes his head. "Yeah, me neither," Ryuichi nods. "I've always wanted to be though." He slides across, one foot behind the other, turn, snap, end. Ryohei continues looking at him almost helplessly. Ryohei is not moving, and Ryuichi still begins to turn into static.
*
Things happen.
Keita's easier to grow accustomed too than what Ryohei originally figures, and the three of them catch on rather quickly; similar interests, relative ages, and constant compromise bump relations along and by the release of their first single, Ryohei can say Ryuichi and Keita and w-inds. all the in the same breath without pause. They grow close enough for them to change clothes in the same room without determinedly looking the other way, close enough to brush off sharing food and water between dinners, close enough to argue and tease and trip each other and not have a stifling silence afterwards.
Ryohei and Ryuichi bicker with each other more than Keita; it's nothing harmful or serious, and the arguments mainly surface because of familiarity, but Keita usually ends up breaking them apart. It's okay, the first few times, but after a while Ryohei and Ryuichi share a brief sidelong glance with each other whenever it happens, and a small seed of resentment plants between them. It becomes adjusting to a middle ground that wasn't there before, or, even, adjusting to a middle ground that wasn't ever necessary and instead has now forced itself there.
*
Ryohei likes magazine interviews the most. Television always has a high chance of mess-ups with no sure way of backtracking, and newspaper is more or less too formal, everything structured like drying cement made to be permanent. Magazines allow for more leniencies, and because of that, Ryohei always tries to be as careful with his answers as possible.
Their agents generally have strict guidelines for scheduled appointments, but unexpected reporters have been known to drop by the production offices, randomly, to pull a quote or check progress, and the three of them have learned to ignore the minor interruptions. Most interruptions, at least. A woman shows up in the morning and requests an interview for a magazine; she's persuasive enough to be let into the building, and Keita, Ryohei, and Ryuichi are walking out of the recording studio when she catches up to them. "Twenty minutes max," she promises, "I don't even need all three of you. Just one's enough." Keita and Ryuichi trade a grin and immediately delegate the job to Ryohei with a pressured, "Come on, Ryohei-kun. It's a magazine interview. You're always so good with those." Ryohei thinks about resisting and shrugs. He gives her a lopsided smile. Magazine interviews always were his best.
She tells him her name as they're walking down the hallway, and Ryohei has already forgotten it when they reach an empty room. "This is really just a pre-interview. A generalizing of sorts, if you'll call it. Nothing serious," she tells him. Her lips are a very bright red. "You don't have to be worried." Ryohei nods. He learned a long time ago never to trust reporters.
She asks expected questions ("how long are you usually on the road?"), less expected questions ("what is the main difference between eggplants and squashes?"), unexpected questions that Ryohei should have expected ("what would you do if you got gum stuck in your hair? Not at your chin, Ryohei-kun, higher. Higher still."), and ends with, "What kind of a relationship do the three of you have?"
Ryohei hesitates for authenticity. "We're all very close," he rehearses. "Ryuichi is like a brother to me and