Close
Title: Close
Group/pairing: NEWS / Tegomassu and KoyaShige
Prompt: #37 - Remain
Word Count: 1234 (I did not make that up)
Rating: G
Summary: Sharing is caring-that’s what friends are for. Sequel/Related to Pillows
----
I woke up to the sound of the alarm, but couldn’t help hitting the snooze button. I don’t know how many more minutes I remained in half-sleep, but then I heard Massu walk past my bed, so I opened my eyes. He was already dressed and was just finishing packing up.
“Ohayo.” He says to me, and I give out a tired, “Ohayo.”
“You should probably wake up soon. We have to leave in an hour.”
“Umph” I mumble into my pillow. Massu moved from his bed to mine and sat on me, probably hoping to get me up, but it didn’t really work. I lay there trying to endure the weight.
“You’re not going to have enough time to pack and get ready, you know. Your hair’s going to be a mess and-“
“Fine. I’m getting up. But hey, just so you know, Shige re-dos my hair when we get there any way.”
“Mm.”
Massu always does that. He would just answer with ‘mm’ with a slight questioning tone to it, but he never follows it up with a question or a statement. It kind of bugs me, but I guess I’ve gotten used to just replacing it with “Sou desu ka?” in my mind.
He probably turns half the words I say into something else in his mind too, because he’ll end up telling me something about how paperclips work best, when I’ve asked him if my hair looks okay. That’s what’s become of our friendship, at least. We don’t complete each other’s sentences, but we like to change them. In a way, that’s how we harmonize. We won’t seem to be talking on the same wave length, but we’ll still understand one way or another. If I can translate paperclip into “it’s a little bendy in one spot,” I can safely say that we’re pretty close friends.
I’m ready and packed within half an hour and I grab a granola bar to munch on before we head to the concert hall. The night before is mostly fresh on my mind and I plan to find out the secret behind Koyama’s pillow obsession. Shige might’ve explained a side of it, but there’s got to be more than just Koyama liking Shige’s pillows. It’s got to be more than just them being super close friends. I had brought the concert DVDs with me to watch during breaks between rehearsals so I could further examine it. And, if anyone asks, I could just say I’m watching to revise my dance moves or to see if I can do something unique during tonight’s performance.
It’s noon and NEWS is having lunch. With some curry and rice in front of me, I plug in my headphones and watch the mini-DVD player screen intently. I went straight to the scene Shige told me last night. ”Koyama said it was my pillow. You were there, you don’t remember?” I’m at the scene, and right after Shige’s line, I finally notice Koyama’s, “I want my Shigeaki na~” and I don’t know if anyone in the dressing room noticed, but hearing that sentence made me press the pause button super hard.
Before I know what to think, Ryo gets out of his seat and asks me what’s going on. I didn’t want anyone else asking me questions so I quietly answer, “I’m just watching some of our past concert DVDs.”
“Why?”
After a moment, I figure I can trust Ryo not to say something stupid, so I confide in him my mission. He laughs at me for a few minutes, and then says, “So Koyama is a freak for pillows, big deal. Massu’s a freak for cleanliness, and you’re probably a freak for something too; why do you care?”
“Well, don’t you think it’s weird that Koyama only takes Shige’s pillows?”
“No. They’re glued to the hip, and besides, it’s always been like that.”
“What, really?”
“Well, it’s hard not to notice. Sometimes, their ‘love’ is really disgusting, but I guess it’s what happens when you’ve been through growing up in Johnny’s together.”
“Well, we’re not like that.” I point out. We’ve all been through growing up in Johnny’s together and I may be really close to all our members now, but I don’t have any weird fetishes connected to any particular person.
“Remember when you wanted to quit?” I nod. “Well, those dorks went through the same thing, but back then, they had each other even before NEWS, so they used each other for support and shared things with each other. They weren’t like you and Massu, who you only became close to after the formation of NEWS and Tegomass.” Ryo was sounding super smart to me right about now, but I wanted to argue about how close me and Massu actually are, even if we’ve known each other for a shorter period of time.
Ryo saw the expression on my face and quickly added, “But hey, you guys are stronger than ever, ne.”
“Thanks Nishikido-kun!” I reply with a huge smile.
He ruffled my hair and smiled back, “Don’t think too hard, okay? It gives you wrinkles.”
“Eh?” I laugh to myself and turn the DVD off.
I take a final bite of my curry and scan the room. Massu’s on his second plate of food, munching as he reads our recent magazine layout. Ryo’s gone back to doing crunches with Yamapi. And Koyama and Shige never fail to be together. I smile and laugh at their strange friendship. I never quite understand Shige any way, but when you add Koyama, their conversations just get really random.
I’m about to throw my plate away when I notice Koyama taking a sweater off the chair and wearing it. It’s a little too big for him, but he puts it on and sits comfortably on the couch. Normally, something like that would go unnoticed by me, but I’m starting to think everything Koyama does is related to Shige somehow, and vice versa. I’m about to head over and ask Koyama if he wants my sweater instead, because it might fit him better, but then Shige steps into view.
I throw my plate away and when I turn around, I see Shige wearing a sweater that’s slightly too tight on him, but he doesn’t seem to care. And then I realize that they’ve switched sweaters with each other, for whatever reason, even when their sizes don’t quite match.
I contemplate going over there and joking about how they need to stop taking each others’ things, but I think back to Nishikido-kun’s comment and stop myself. They seem to have been doing it for a long time, and being so close for so long, it would be strange if they didn’t start taking a piece of something from each other.
Mystery solved. I just have to think back to how strange me and Massu’s conversations might seem to others, who don’t understand that topics of paperclips and hair could go together, and I understand Koyama and Shige’s relationship. It makes sense now, the fact that they just like to horde the others’ items for however brief the time; it’s something close only they can share. There is just something that stays in the physical object that they hold dear to each other. Perhaps love is the word I’m looking for. And maybe I’ve just never noticed, but it’s always been this way.
------------------
Author’s Note: SO-uh…what do you think? ;)
I’m sorry-I may have started off with the prompt in mind, but then it twisted itself into other things, and I’m sorry, but I tried to keep ‘remain’ in the ending thought :) lol
I actually had something totally different in mind, that had a better ‘remain’ theme, which I’ll post at the bottom, but I really like the finished draft above too:)
*dedicated to unfenced_fire because her fic. made me want to write something about sweaters*
Alternate Ending
I’m about to throw my plate away when I notice Koyama taking Shige’s sweater off the chair and wearing it. It’s a little too big for him, but he puts it on and sits comfortably on the couch. Normally, something like that would go unnoticed by me, but I’m starting to think everything Koyama does is related to Shige somehow, and vice versa. I’m about to head over and ask Koyama if he wants my sweater instead, because it might fit him better, when Shige walks up to me with a knowing smile.
“Tegoshi, can I borrow your sweater? I accidentally sprayed too much cologne on mine and the smell is too strong.”
It takes me a second, but it dawns on me. Shige’s cologne…sweater…Koyama wearing it…
I try to sound subtle when answering, so he doesn’t notice that I’ve possibly figured them out. “Uh sure. Ma, Koyama doesn’t seem to mind the cologne, ne.”
Shige laughs. “Somehow, that sounded rather superior-like.”
“What?” I blurt out and laugh nervously. “I’m just saying that he’s wearing your sweater, so it doesn’t seem like he minds.” I see now, he was trying to change the subject.
“I think he’s got another cold coming on so he can’t smell it.” Shige answers.
I look over his shoulder and see Koyama sniffling (or is it sniffing) and wrapping himself tighter in the sweater. Again, I answer with my best subtle tone, “Ah, well, it looks like he’s taken more of your stuff again, huh?”
Shige smiles again, with an impish glint in his eyes. “Yep, he likes to do that.”
I try to find my voice and ask, “Any pillows…lately?”
“No, he’s gone back to just stealing sweaters.”
“…Gone back?” I asked, and I’m pretty sure Nishikido-kun was right.
“Yea. Remember our Ya-ya-yah shootings? He used to steal my sweater back-stage and I’d be searching for it for ages.”
“Uwah-you’re right!” I laugh genuinely at the fond memory.
Shige nods and it’s getting a little awkward, because I think he knows that I’ve figured it out. “Let me get my sweater from my locker; I’ll be right back.”
I guess if Koyama’s been doing it since the Ya-ya-yah days, it means they’ve been doing it for a lot longer. I may start noticing it now, but I guess they’ve always been this way. Mystery solved.
Group/pairing: NEWS / Tegomassu and KoyaShige
Prompt: #37 - Remain
Word Count: 1234 (I did not make that up)
Rating: G
Summary: Sharing is caring-that’s what friends are for. Sequel/Related to Pillows
----
I woke up to the sound of the alarm, but couldn’t help hitting the snooze button. I don’t know how many more minutes I remained in half-sleep, but then I heard Massu walk past my bed, so I opened my eyes. He was already dressed and was just finishing packing up.
“Ohayo.” He says to me, and I give out a tired, “Ohayo.”
“You should probably wake up soon. We have to leave in an hour.”
“Umph” I mumble into my pillow. Massu moved from his bed to mine and sat on me, probably hoping to get me up, but it didn’t really work. I lay there trying to endure the weight.
“You’re not going to have enough time to pack and get ready, you know. Your hair’s going to be a mess and-“
“Fine. I’m getting up. But hey, just so you know, Shige re-dos my hair when we get there any way.”
“Mm.”
Massu always does that. He would just answer with ‘mm’ with a slight questioning tone to it, but he never follows it up with a question or a statement. It kind of bugs me, but I guess I’ve gotten used to just replacing it with “Sou desu ka?” in my mind.
He probably turns half the words I say into something else in his mind too, because he’ll end up telling me something about how paperclips work best, when I’ve asked him if my hair looks okay. That’s what’s become of our friendship, at least. We don’t complete each other’s sentences, but we like to change them. In a way, that’s how we harmonize. We won’t seem to be talking on the same wave length, but we’ll still understand one way or another. If I can translate paperclip into “it’s a little bendy in one spot,” I can safely say that we’re pretty close friends.
I’m ready and packed within half an hour and I grab a granola bar to munch on before we head to the concert hall. The night before is mostly fresh on my mind and I plan to find out the secret behind Koyama’s pillow obsession. Shige might’ve explained a side of it, but there’s got to be more than just Koyama liking Shige’s pillows. It’s got to be more than just them being super close friends. I had brought the concert DVDs with me to watch during breaks between rehearsals so I could further examine it. And, if anyone asks, I could just say I’m watching to revise my dance moves or to see if I can do something unique during tonight’s performance.
It’s noon and NEWS is having lunch. With some curry and rice in front of me, I plug in my headphones and watch the mini-DVD player screen intently. I went straight to the scene Shige told me last night. ”Koyama said it was my pillow. You were there, you don’t remember?” I’m at the scene, and right after Shige’s line, I finally notice Koyama’s, “I want my Shigeaki na~” and I don’t know if anyone in the dressing room noticed, but hearing that sentence made me press the pause button super hard.
Before I know what to think, Ryo gets out of his seat and asks me what’s going on. I didn’t want anyone else asking me questions so I quietly answer, “I’m just watching some of our past concert DVDs.”
“Why?”
After a moment, I figure I can trust Ryo not to say something stupid, so I confide in him my mission. He laughs at me for a few minutes, and then says, “So Koyama is a freak for pillows, big deal. Massu’s a freak for cleanliness, and you’re probably a freak for something too; why do you care?”
“Well, don’t you think it’s weird that Koyama only takes Shige’s pillows?”
“No. They’re glued to the hip, and besides, it’s always been like that.”
“What, really?”
“Well, it’s hard not to notice. Sometimes, their ‘love’ is really disgusting, but I guess it’s what happens when you’ve been through growing up in Johnny’s together.”
“Well, we’re not like that.” I point out. We’ve all been through growing up in Johnny’s together and I may be really close to all our members now, but I don’t have any weird fetishes connected to any particular person.
“Remember when you wanted to quit?” I nod. “Well, those dorks went through the same thing, but back then, they had each other even before NEWS, so they used each other for support and shared things with each other. They weren’t like you and Massu, who you only became close to after the formation of NEWS and Tegomass.” Ryo was sounding super smart to me right about now, but I wanted to argue about how close me and Massu actually are, even if we’ve known each other for a shorter period of time.
Ryo saw the expression on my face and quickly added, “But hey, you guys are stronger than ever, ne.”
“Thanks Nishikido-kun!” I reply with a huge smile.
He ruffled my hair and smiled back, “Don’t think too hard, okay? It gives you wrinkles.”
“Eh?” I laugh to myself and turn the DVD off.
I take a final bite of my curry and scan the room. Massu’s on his second plate of food, munching as he reads our recent magazine layout. Ryo’s gone back to doing crunches with Yamapi. And Koyama and Shige never fail to be together. I smile and laugh at their strange friendship. I never quite understand Shige any way, but when you add Koyama, their conversations just get really random.
I’m about to throw my plate away when I notice Koyama taking a sweater off the chair and wearing it. It’s a little too big for him, but he puts it on and sits comfortably on the couch. Normally, something like that would go unnoticed by me, but I’m starting to think everything Koyama does is related to Shige somehow, and vice versa. I’m about to head over and ask Koyama if he wants my sweater instead, because it might fit him better, but then Shige steps into view.
I throw my plate away and when I turn around, I see Shige wearing a sweater that’s slightly too tight on him, but he doesn’t seem to care. And then I realize that they’ve switched sweaters with each other, for whatever reason, even when their sizes don’t quite match.
I contemplate going over there and joking about how they need to stop taking each others’ things, but I think back to Nishikido-kun’s comment and stop myself. They seem to have been doing it for a long time, and being so close for so long, it would be strange if they didn’t start taking a piece of something from each other.
Mystery solved. I just have to think back to how strange me and Massu’s conversations might seem to others, who don’t understand that topics of paperclips and hair could go together, and I understand Koyama and Shige’s relationship. It makes sense now, the fact that they just like to horde the others’ items for however brief the time; it’s something close only they can share. There is just something that stays in the physical object that they hold dear to each other. Perhaps love is the word I’m looking for. And maybe I’ve just never noticed, but it’s always been this way.
------------------
Author’s Note: SO-uh…what do you think? ;)
I’m sorry-I may have started off with the prompt in mind, but then it twisted itself into other things, and I’m sorry, but I tried to keep ‘remain’ in the ending thought :) lol
I actually had something totally different in mind, that had a better ‘remain’ theme, which I’ll post at the bottom, but I really like the finished draft above too:)
*dedicated to unfenced_fire because her fic. made me want to write something about sweaters*
Alternate Ending
I’m about to throw my plate away when I notice Koyama taking Shige’s sweater off the chair and wearing it. It’s a little too big for him, but he puts it on and sits comfortably on the couch. Normally, something like that would go unnoticed by me, but I’m starting to think everything Koyama does is related to Shige somehow, and vice versa. I’m about to head over and ask Koyama if he wants my sweater instead, because it might fit him better, when Shige walks up to me with a knowing smile.
“Tegoshi, can I borrow your sweater? I accidentally sprayed too much cologne on mine and the smell is too strong.”
It takes me a second, but it dawns on me. Shige’s cologne…sweater…Koyama wearing it…
I try to sound subtle when answering, so he doesn’t notice that I’ve possibly figured them out. “Uh sure. Ma, Koyama doesn’t seem to mind the cologne, ne.”
Shige laughs. “Somehow, that sounded rather superior-like.”
“What?” I blurt out and laugh nervously. “I’m just saying that he’s wearing your sweater, so it doesn’t seem like he minds.” I see now, he was trying to change the subject.
“I think he’s got another cold coming on so he can’t smell it.” Shige answers.
I look over his shoulder and see Koyama sniffling (or is it sniffing) and wrapping himself tighter in the sweater. Again, I answer with my best subtle tone, “Ah, well, it looks like he’s taken more of your stuff again, huh?”
Shige smiles again, with an impish glint in his eyes. “Yep, he likes to do that.”
I try to find my voice and ask, “Any pillows…lately?”
“No, he’s gone back to just stealing sweaters.”
“…Gone back?” I asked, and I’m pretty sure Nishikido-kun was right.
“Yea. Remember our Ya-ya-yah shootings? He used to steal my sweater back-stage and I’d be searching for it for ages.”
“Uwah-you’re right!” I laugh genuinely at the fond memory.
Shige nods and it’s getting a little awkward, because I think he knows that I’ve figured it out. “Let me get my sweater from my locker; I’ll be right back.”
I guess if Koyama’s been doing it since the Ya-ya-yah days, it means they’ve been doing it for a lot longer. I may start noticing it now, but I guess they’ve always been this way. Mystery solved.