Snapshots
Title: Snapshots
Group/pairings NEWS, gen. and multiple pairings
Prompt: #13- Life
Word Count: 4,597
Rating: PG
Summary: 50 moments out of a lifetime
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the words.
Author’s Note: Inspired by catskilt's work :) I had a lot of fun coming up with something for each prompt, and it’s even got appearances from Uchi and Kusano. So, I’m happy with it and I hope you’ll enjoy it too:)
This turned out to be longer than I thought it would be:p
001. New
Through some random form of logic, Koyama states that NEWS is like a lot of ‘new’ things put together; ‘new’ but plural. Like new chances, new dreams, new friendships, new everything.
Shige gives him a weird look, but as he goes to put his concert wear away, he can’t help but think Koyama’s right.
002.Pain
The aching in the muscles start becoming noticeable after 3 hours of dance practice. Dull at first, but growing. Ryo wonders if he’s secretly DoM for wanting to push himself further, until his steps are flawless, until no one can avert their eyes from his perfection.
003.Need
Sometimes, Shige wonders what things would have been like if Nishikido-san hadn’t gone to the bathroom at that precise moment. That time when he couldn’t hold it in anymore and cried his eyes out in an empty bathroom stall. Shige’s glad that even the most popular idols become normal in the face of everyday necessities. Not that he didn’t know that before, it was just that it was the first time he didn’t feel so alone.
004.Spring
‘Allergies are the worst thing in the world,’ Shige thinks as he blows his nose. The constant sniffling and eyes watering was not conducive to life, let alone touring and studying, etcetera etcetera. The only good thing about Spring was the warmer weather, and sharing it with the one you love.
Someone standing beside him suddenly sneezes too.
“Here Koyama,” Shige offers him a tissue, and smiles.
005.Trip
Koyama admits his body is rather uncoordinated, but he seems to have overcome this through lots of practice. Yet, sometimes he still slips up while walking across the street, somehow stumbling on just air. He counts himself lucky that he doesn’t fall off the stage when performing on days like these. But when he does fall off, he’s grateful the fans are there to catch him.
006.Sky remixed by bananyphophany: Facts of Life [The 'Why, yes, I AM perfect' Remix]
It would not be surprising to find the “Koizora” manga in Tegoshi’s big man purse. He is a sucker for love stories and a romanticist after all. He hopes to gain ideas and learn proper actions in order to win over the one he loves. The only problem is that his love is not for a girl, and that that person is completely oblivious to his surroundings. Tegoshi wonders how he ever fell in love with Massu in the first place.
007.Laundry
Massu runs into Kusano while heading to the laundry mat.
“Hey,” Massu says with a timid smile.
“Yo,” Kusano answers.
“I see you’re back from America.”
“Yea…”
“How are things?”
“Alright, should be seeing you around soon, ne.” Kusano chuckles a little, nodding his head, and putting his hand on the back of his neck.
“Ohhuhuh” Massu replies, something between a “yes,” and a nervous laugh.
“We should catch up some time,” Kusano adds with a straight face.
“Oh yea.” Massu nods. “That would be nice.”
They both mean what they say, even when masked in those few, awkward words. Massu senses a change, and he’s willing to step out of his comfort zone to rebuild his friendship with the fellow NEWS member. Kusano understands the way Massu talks, even if it’s been awhile, he still sees it.
‘Bonds like these are hard to break,’ he thinks as they go their separate ways.
008.Picnic
Massu is the most down-to-earth idol you could ever meet. Come on, who else would admit to wanting a date at the local swimming pool? Only Massu would, and he’s even said so on national television. It’s sometimes embarrassing being his best friend, but Tegoshi knows that Massu is probably the only thing grounding him.
“Massu is like gravity, ne~” Tegoshi says out loud, while they were having a picnic. The other NEWS members were eating happily, finally glad to be back, filming the “Hoshi wo Mezashite” DVD.
Massu looks up from his bento and stares at Tegoshi. “Huh?”
Tegoshi smiles and continues eating. He thinks that given the chance to reach the stars, even in limitless space and time, he would still want to bring Massu along.
009.Boundaries
From the outside, Johnny’s Jimusho just sounds like a training camp for young boys to become the stars of tomorrow. On taking a closer look inside, Johnny’s becomes a place for youngsters learning to become proper adults, and adults learning to have fun once in awhile. Along the way, they also have to work hard and to decide on difficult things, but that can’t be helped. Johnny’s Jimusho is like a world of its own, and most of the time, it’s the only haven from the outside world.
010.Rush
The rush of adrenaline only comes after their group huddle, about to pour themselves out to the fans in yet another concert. Yamapi is glad he’s there to lead and bring this group to the pinnacle, because if not for this high, he may not be the person he is today.
011.Sweet
Massu wonders what it is about Tegoshi that everyone sees as DoS, because the only thing Tegoshi obviously is, is sweet.
012.Cloud
Shige generally makes good decisions, but when it comes to anything dealing with Koyama, his judgments are all skewed. Whether he should wear particularly fashionable socks while they go out to bowl, or whether he should send some flowers to Koyama when he’s sick, makes him wonder where his logic has gone.
013.First
The first time I met you, I thought ‘who do you think you are, debuting before all these other people who are probably more deserving than you?’ And then I heard your voice. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why I fell in love with you, but sometimes, I wonder why you chose my raspy voice over anyone else’s.
014.Yes
The answer to all the questions you don’t know on a test is always C. But, you can’t really apply that to things like ‘should I kiss him?’ or ‘should I ask him out?’ or ‘does he like me back?’
Koyama doesn’t know what to do, and his confusion is obvious on his face. Shige laughs at him, and simply says, “The answer will always be ‘yes,’ Koyama. Yes.”
Koyama barely hides his shock and wonders if Shige has mind reading capabilities. But, he takes Shige’s words to be the truth, and figures that Shige surely does.
Poor Koyama is shocked for the wrong reasons. He doesn’t realize until he gets home, that the ‘yes’ was meant for something else.
015.Tell
“Don’t lie to me!” Ryo screams at Yamapi, who was half way out the door.
“Who says I’m lying?” Yamapi says with a calm exterior.
“Because there’s always that face you make.” Ryo replies. “You bite your lip once on each side before you say it, your eyebrow twitches, and then you look me in the eye.”
“How is that a face? More like a tell than anything else,” Yamapi mumbles that last part, still facing the door.
“You can’t lie to yourself forever, face it.” Ryo states bluntly. “I stopped denying it a long time ago, Tomo.”
“Don’t call me that.” Yamapi barely lets out. He sighs, his fists clenching at his side. “Tell me how to stop this.”
“I won’t. I can’t.” Ryo whispers.
016.Forgive
It’s hard to forgive the people who might have cost you your career. But Ryo can’t forgive himself for even thinking that for one second.
017.Questions
Tegoshi is surprised when he reads Yamapi’s recent interviews. How he can simply say on national television or in a magazine, how he doesn’t think he’ll be able to make anyone happy. Or perhaps, meaning that relationships and marriage don’t necessarily mean happiness for him. The simple factor that Yamapi can answer such questions with ease amazes Tegoshi. After so many years of admiring and performing by Yamashita-san’s side, Tegoshi is still star struck every day, and maybe it’ll stay this way for a very long time. As long as Yamapi continues to be his earnest self, Tegoshi is determined to listen, witness, and learn from this man’s journey in life.
018.Tomorrow
Tomorrow is a series of events that will make up the present and past, and this revolving cycle is never ending. Lying in bed, pillows separating the two bodies, Shige thinks that he doesn’t want tomorrow to come just yet. He doesn’t want this moment, where Koyama’s arm has unknowingly landed itself gently onto Shige’s, to move forward. He doesn’t want this to become a past that he may never be able to revisit. Yet with every passing second, he knows that it’s already too late.
019.Paper
NEWS was once just names written on a paper. The acronym didn’t even represent the members’ names, but just proved that they were meant to go in separate directions.
Today, NEWS is still written on papers everywhere, thanks to Johnny-san’s intuition, knowing that Yamashita Tomohisa, Nishikido Ryo, Koyama Keiichiro, Kato Shigeaki, Masuda Takahisa, Tegoshi Yuya, and even Uchi Hiroki and Kusano Hironori, would grow into the name someday.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 years later, it’s still big NEWS.
020.Hand
Koyama notices how Shige is nursing his left hand in his right as long they walk back to the dressing room after their final concert.
“Hey Shige, what’s wrong with your hand?”
“You, baka; you squeezed it too tight.” Shige answers without looking up from his hands.
“Oh,” Koyama barely replies, “I’m sorry-“
“No, I’m glad.” Shige interrupts and then promptly shuts his mouth.
“Eh? Why?”
“I’m not telling you, it’s just silly.” Shige mutters while walking away from him.
Koyama catches up to him and grabs him by the shoulders. “Hey, that’s not fair. You know I’ll pester you anyways, so tell me. Please?”
Shige curses himself for not being stronger and resisting Koyama’s pout.
“I’m glad you held it,” he simply says, looking away from Koyama.
Koyama visibly blushes and fumbles with the shirt tied loosely around his waist.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” Shige asks timidly.
Koyama turns to look at Shige and their eyes meet. “I’m glad too.”
021.Believe
Koyama believes everything and anything that is told to him, but in recent years, he’s been more cautious about that. Koyama receives a text from Shige to meet up around the end of March. Koyama didn’t find this strange, because they made plans like this all the time, so he went along with it. The day they meet up, Shige confesses to Koyama, but he’s reluctant to believe it. He laughs it off saying something about an early April Fool’s prank, but Shige’s expression doesn’t change.
“You can drop the act,” Koyama laughs nervously, after Shige hasn’t said anything.
“You know how horrible my acting is,” Shige responds with a sad smile.
Koyama stares at Shige for a moment, and then honestly asks, “You won’t laugh at me if I believe you, right?”
Shige nods and then Koyama smiles. “Then I believe you…I just need time…”
Shige nods again.
“I’m really going to try, Shige.” Koyama says earnestly, and Shige knows, he believes.
022.Vague
Shige and Koyama just got back from the beach in Hawaii, and settling into their hotel rooms. Koyama’s already a well-toasted color after one day under the sun, and Shige’s rather tan as well. Shige’s enjoying the early evening breeze that’s coming from the balcony and heads out to watch as other people begin to head home. Koyama steps onto the balcony with Shige, and watches as the clouds move with the wind.
“Look,” Koyama points to a spot by the setting sun, “doesn’t that look like an ice-cream cone? And then doesn’t it look like it’s cupping the sun?”
“Um,” Shige responds and decides against protesting. “Sure.”
“Come on, Shige. What else do you see?”
Shige rolls his eyes thinking this was too much of a children’s game. He plays along, because this’ll be the only way to stop Koyama.
“There’s a heart.”
Koyama agrees excitedly, so Shige continues pointing out things. “And there looks like two people. There’s a triangle, and then it looks like those people are heading towards that heart.”
Koyama starts creating stories about a love triangle, or how the two people are drifting towards the heart away from the triangle. Shige has stopped talking, but is smiling to himself.
He wonders if he should start clueing Koyama in on the actual story.
023.Corner
“This is where the newbies sit,” Ryo states, standing in the corner of the room.
All but Yamashita-san and Uchi are staring at him in anxiety and fear. Tegoshi gladly obeys and plops himself happily on the floor.
Kato exchange looks with Koyama and Kusano, and finally at Massu. They couldn’t believe it. If this was what it was like being in this group, they were calling it quits sooner or later.
At that moment, they each had personal borders and walls to overcome. But little did they know, that years later, their bonds would slowly pull together forming an unbreakable knot.
024.Away
Please leave a message after the beep.”
Ryo snapped his phone shut. “What the hell!? The only good thing about you is that you and your phone are supposed to be glued to the hip; where the hell are you?”
The rest of Kanjani8 are staring at him from different seats on the tour bus, but are too afraid to say anything.
Ryo continues mumbling something about “stupid boyfriends” and decides to text the person in question instead.
Dear Boyfriend,
you suck. No really. Where the hell are you? Don’t expect me to call you again, you bastard.
No love,
me.
Ryo snapped his phone again, only to open it up again to read a new text message.
Ba~ka,
I’m busy preparing you a hot meal when you get home ^^
ﾋﾟ
Ryo smiles and types back.
You are forgiven ♥
025.Busy
Yamapi and Ryo were too alike; they both worked hard to drown out the past. Perhaps that was why they didn’t see the fact that they were slowly falling in love with each other.
026.Change
Shige finds out that Ryo likes to mess with peoples’ things; first stealing the blow dryer (or just unplugging it while he’s using it), hiding keys, taking phones and renaming addresses, and the list could go on. But if there’s one thing that Shige takes note most of all, is that Ryo changes words to songs that he really likes.
Dreams: “Me no mae ni NEWS ga iru. Mada daremo shiranai NEWS ga…” (NEWS is before your eyes, a NEWS that you haven’t known before)
Best Friend: “Kore kara mo koe ni dasu koto wa nai to omou kedo…” (From now on, I probably won’t say this out loud)
And even the subtle change of “asobi” to “asobu” from Shige’s solo, “Kakao.”
Shige doesn’t know whether he finds this annoying, or simply the kind of praise only Nishikido Ryo can give out.
027.Scream
Nightmares plague Yamapi after filming ends for “Code Blue.” Ryo wakes up shaking after filming “Last Friends.” With more than the weight of the world on their shoulders, they comfort each other in the darkness of their hotel room.
028.Pillow
The first and last thing Koyama’s head feels is the pillow. But sometimes, on sporadic occasions, he may move around and land himself completely off the pillow, or even onto the floor. On those kinds of days, Koyama’s glad that there’s someone in bed with him who’s willing to hold on, so he doesn’t hurt himself too much.
Sometimes, the first and last thing Koyama’s head feels is the steady thrum coming from Shige’s body.
029.Silence
The NEWS members place their microphones down, and chatter among themselves as they figure out how they are going to face the fans circled around them. The fans are buzzing with anticipation, because they know these were the final moments they would share with their idols.
Some invisible force moves the members into position; Shige’s left hand grabs Koyama’s firmly, while his right pinky is hooked with Tegoshi’s. He finds it oddly comfortable that they can discuss so little of this beforehand, and still pull off a perfect formation for the final note.
Yamapi gestures for the crowd to be silent, and the message spreads around the concert hall. They wait until everyone is practically holding their breath, and then, they scream it as loud as their voices will go,
“Arigatougozaimashita!!!”
030.Dreams
Tegoshi’s glad that the sweat from his face masked the unshed tears from his eyes. He feels slightly guilty for not crying like Koyama or Massu, but he had felt the moment and held it in as long as he could. He wanted to sing his heart out, to show the fans that they deserved to be back. This was their dream, they chose this path, and they were going to continue forging it, until they couldn’t sing any longer.
031.Alone
Solos convey the message of the heart at that very moment, but performing as a group, sends the message of the soul in its entirety.
032.Ordinary
People always wonder why Ryo’s solo titles are in English, and he merely says that speaking in another language is like adopting a new life. Now, whenever Yamapi watches Ryo perform “Code,” “ordinary,” or “potential,” he notices what Ryo means.
033.Hate
There is no stronger word in the dictionary than “hate.” Even the word “strength,” is not as powerful as “hate.” Koyama notices this while studying for university entrance exams, and decides that he’s going to build up strength within himself to never use that word again.
034.Denial
“Ryo’s just a fluffy teddy bear in denial of his true nature.” Yamapi blurts out one night. The next day, he has bruises all over his body.
035.Flame
Ryo’s love for Shige was burning him from the inside out. But like a moth to the flame, he couldn’t care less. It was enough that Shige burned along with him.
036.Name
Massu was annoyed that Tegoshi was calling him Taka, not because it was disrespectful, but because it reminded him too much of the love he was trying to push away.
037.Remain
When everything is said and done, even when the CDs and DVDs no longer play, they will remember the time they shared together. Even when their memories wear out of old age, something remains familiar in the simple presence of each other.
038.Taste
If it’s the one thing Shige refuses to do, it’s kissing Koyama. Because once he has a taste, there’s no going back.
When asked about the end of the world, the boys talk about mom’s cooking and eating their hearts out. But when the world actually ends, the NEWS members cling to memories of each other as one last chance at living.
039. Stare
Tegoshi couldn’t help but stare at Massu’s haircut. “Wow,” he breathed.
“I know,” Massu says with a disappointed face. “It’s too short.”
“That’s okay, it’s for a drama, ne” Tegoshi cheers up instantly. “The only problem is…”
“What?” Massu asks anxiously.
“…We can’t use the same Vibrations Rap anymore.” Tegoshi says with a teasing smile.
Massu holds back the urge to use his muscles for something other than rescuing innocent people. Massu eventually lets out a sigh and smiles, though. Tegoshi was just trying to say that change was necessary, but not necessarily bad. Massu ruffles Tegoshi’s hair as he ventures out into the hall to find food. Tegoshi smiles and attempts to fix his hair.
040.Bone
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” I chant in my head, trying to hold back the tears brimming at my eyes.
“I don’t love you…like that,” repeats in my mind, louder than my mantra. I blink and it’s over.
I would rather have him punch me a million times over, just so the pounding would reach my ears and drown out those damn words.
041.Escape
Ryo lights a cigarette and offers Yamapi one, who gladly takes it.
“Don’t you ever just want to stop this shit?” Ryo ponders.
“Yea, but I signed up for this, and I’m pretty happy with it.” Yamapi answers. “Besides, who am I talk? You, with your two bands, commuting, and over-workaholic-ness.”
“That’s a mouthful,” Ryo states.
“Yeah, well, I’m just saying.” Yamapi flicks the ash to the side of the building.
“I get to do a lot of things people don’t get to do. I escape the confines of reality.”
“Me too. I guess we share this reality together then, ne~” Yamapi says, back to his random mode. “You can’t escape from me.” Yamapi says in sing-song fashion, while grabbing Ryo and hugging the crap out of him.
“Can’t. Breathe.” Ryo lets out.
“That’s what you get for smoking.”
“What?!”
“Just kidding. But we should stop, before it ruins our perfect voices.” Yamapi jokes.
“Hah! Says you, my voice is meant to be raspy.”
042.Link
Yamapi watches a clip from Dream Boys, the part where Jin and crew are singing “Kizuna.”
“I wish NEWS could be in a play like this. You’re lucky, Ryo-chan.”
“You just want to sing this song.”
“Of course! It’s epic.”
“Yeah! It’s the epitome of Member-Ai yo, “ Koyama adds in.
“Probably the main reason we shouldn’t sing this then,” Shige mumbles in the background.
Koyama hears him and asks, “Why?” with an almost hurt feeling.
“Because, we have our own bond, and we don’t need to be singing someone else’s song. Okay?”
“Grumble, grumble. Always the usual from Kato-san,” Ryo mocks.
*
A few years later, NEWS writes “Share.” And everyone couldn’t be more proud of it; this was the epitome of their bond.
043.Bend
Tegoshi can’t seem to match everyone’s dance steps for “Akaku Moyuru Taiyou,” and he’s getting frustrated. He can’t really ask for help, even though he needs it desperately; he doesn’t want to hold the group back.
Uchi notices this, and goes over to help him. “Just bend your knee like this, Tegoshi-kun. That way you can change positions more readily.” Uchi instructs with ease.
“Wow, thank you so much Uchi-kun.” Tegoshi beams, and Uchi can’t help but like the kid immediately.
Tegoshi repeats the moves several times without a hitch, while Uchi walks back to chat with Ryo.
“What’s up with the kid?” Ryo asks, sounding not particularly interested.
“Oh, he was just trying to improve his steps.” Uchi explains. “That kid sure knows how to make you happy.”
“What?” Ryo asks, wondering if he should be wary of this kid stealing his best friend away.
“He smiles like there’s no care in the world, even when there’s so much pressure on him, dude.”
Ryo nods. Tegoshi waves and bows from across the room. His smile, though shy at first, grows as Uchi smiles back.
044.Surface
Koyama cuts himself while preparing the salad for dinner one night. Koyama’s mom notices and rushes to get the first aid kit. Shige walks over, chuckles a little, and washes Koyama’s ‘injured’ finger under the water, lightly soothing the cut with his own fingers.
“Don’t worry,” Shige says, “you just cut a little below the skin.”
Koyama nods and smiles, calmed by Shige’s ministrations.
Goosebumps start to form on Koyama’s arm, and he’s glad that Shige doesn’t notice. There’s just something below the surface of his skin that craves Shige’s gentle touches.
Koyama’s mom arrives with a band aid at that moment, and he’s forced to get that thought of out his head.
045.Relax
Ryo can only relax in the comfort of his own apartment. He bought the place, he’s turned it into what it is now, and no other person could have the same kind of living space. Except now, he’s sharing it with Shige. Sometimes, Ryo wonders what part of it is exactly that he finds the most relaxing.
046.Class
Massu wonders how everyone manages school while maintaining their idol activities. He used to be able to relate to Nakamaru with this issue, because they both share the same kind of pace in life, but ever since Nakamaru’s decision to go to university, Massu’s been quite lonely. He finds himself turning to Ryo for some sort of reassurance, but they both know that he’s too busy for anything but work.
But once in awhile, Ryo will indulge in going out with Massu, even if the man’s random and ‘my pace’ nature does not suit Ryo very much. He finds himself enjoying bowling, eating out, and waking up early to go on shopping extravaganzas, to the point when he wonders how he could’ve lived life without indulging in these sorts of things before.
047.Work
Ryo gets tired of his job sometimes. Nobody would blame him, with the sort of schedule he carried. But, Ryo never regrets a single day of it. He may treat whatever he does as work, and completes it to the best of his abilities, but he will always see it as a part of making music, and music was his life.
048.Even
Uchi and Kusano both suffered tremendously while going through NEWS’ hiatus. They both shared the burden of guilt and trying to figure out how to make it up to the other members. They promised themselves to make the best out of their mistakes and to push through until they were back on the stage together someday. When Uchi got his solo comeback, and performed with 6-nin NEWS for 2008-2009 Countdown, both of them felt like they were one step closer to their dreams. So much gratitude and hope grew out of that performance. Now, there was only one more step before Kusano could say, “It’s me again; I’m back.”
049.Memories
Shige takes pictures, because he knows that those are moments he’ll never get back. He doesn’t want to risk the chance of ever forgetting.
50. Close
Yamapi flipped through the pages of Koyama’s scrapbook. Pages and pages of magazine articles, shop photos, newspaper clippings, and even a section for the CD’s NEWS has released.
Ryo looked over Yamapi’s shoulder, and said, “You’re crazy, Koyama. When did you find time to do this?”
Yamapi nodded eagerly, while handing the book over to Tegoshi and Massu.
“Well, I would just add to the collection when something new came up. Every moment before and after NEWS debuted has been precious, and I always wanted to save some thing, in case…”
“I know what you mean. There was always a chance that our next project was going to be our last,” Shige chimed in.
Tegoshi laughed. “Why in the world are there pictures of me and Ryo with our hands down our pants?”
Massu was laughing hysterically at this too.
“Oh,” Koyama chuckled. “I found those online.”
Everyone started to gather around Koyama who had the scrap book in hand now, and they all started to reminisce about old fashion styles, hair color, periods where they were finding their identities and roles, and it was just amazing how time flew by.
When they reached the end of the book, and closed it, Tegoshi noticed how there were some things missing from their time line.
“Oh, I just grabbed this randomly off the shelf.” Koyama answered.
“What?!” Ryo yelled. “There’s more!?”
“Yea, do you want me to grab the others?” Koyama asked.
Yamapi smiled and looked around the room fondly. “Maybe another time.”
And by then, Koyama would have many more things to add to his collection of memories created and shared with his greatest friends.
Group/pairings NEWS, gen. and multiple pairings
Prompt: #13- Life
Word Count: 4,597
Rating: PG
Summary: 50 moments out of a lifetime
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the words.
Author’s Note: Inspired by catskilt's work :) I had a lot of fun coming up with something for each prompt, and it’s even got appearances from Uchi and Kusano. So, I’m happy with it and I hope you’ll enjoy it too:)
This turned out to be longer than I thought it would be:p
001. New
Through some random form of logic, Koyama states that NEWS is like a lot of ‘new’ things put together; ‘new’ but plural. Like new chances, new dreams, new friendships, new everything.
Shige gives him a weird look, but as he goes to put his concert wear away, he can’t help but think Koyama’s right.
002.Pain
The aching in the muscles start becoming noticeable after 3 hours of dance practice. Dull at first, but growing. Ryo wonders if he’s secretly DoM for wanting to push himself further, until his steps are flawless, until no one can avert their eyes from his perfection.
003.Need
Sometimes, Shige wonders what things would have been like if Nishikido-san hadn’t gone to the bathroom at that precise moment. That time when he couldn’t hold it in anymore and cried his eyes out in an empty bathroom stall. Shige’s glad that even the most popular idols become normal in the face of everyday necessities. Not that he didn’t know that before, it was just that it was the first time he didn’t feel so alone.
004.Spring
‘Allergies are the worst thing in the world,’ Shige thinks as he blows his nose. The constant sniffling and eyes watering was not conducive to life, let alone touring and studying, etcetera etcetera. The only good thing about Spring was the warmer weather, and sharing it with the one you love.
Someone standing beside him suddenly sneezes too.
“Here Koyama,” Shige offers him a tissue, and smiles.
005.Trip
Koyama admits his body is rather uncoordinated, but he seems to have overcome this through lots of practice. Yet, sometimes he still slips up while walking across the street, somehow stumbling on just air. He counts himself lucky that he doesn’t fall off the stage when performing on days like these. But when he does fall off, he’s grateful the fans are there to catch him.
006.Sky remixed by bananyphophany: Facts of Life [The 'Why, yes, I AM perfect' Remix]
It would not be surprising to find the “Koizora” manga in Tegoshi’s big man purse. He is a sucker for love stories and a romanticist after all. He hopes to gain ideas and learn proper actions in order to win over the one he loves. The only problem is that his love is not for a girl, and that that person is completely oblivious to his surroundings. Tegoshi wonders how he ever fell in love with Massu in the first place.
007.Laundry
Massu runs into Kusano while heading to the laundry mat.
“Hey,” Massu says with a timid smile.
“Yo,” Kusano answers.
“I see you’re back from America.”
“Yea…”
“How are things?”
“Alright, should be seeing you around soon, ne.” Kusano chuckles a little, nodding his head, and putting his hand on the back of his neck.
“Ohhuhuh” Massu replies, something between a “yes,” and a nervous laugh.
“We should catch up some time,” Kusano adds with a straight face.
“Oh yea.” Massu nods. “That would be nice.”
They both mean what they say, even when masked in those few, awkward words. Massu senses a change, and he’s willing to step out of his comfort zone to rebuild his friendship with the fellow NEWS member. Kusano understands the way Massu talks, even if it’s been awhile, he still sees it.
‘Bonds like these are hard to break,’ he thinks as they go their separate ways.
008.Picnic
Massu is the most down-to-earth idol you could ever meet. Come on, who else would admit to wanting a date at the local swimming pool? Only Massu would, and he’s even said so on national television. It’s sometimes embarrassing being his best friend, but Tegoshi knows that Massu is probably the only thing grounding him.
“Massu is like gravity, ne~” Tegoshi says out loud, while they were having a picnic. The other NEWS members were eating happily, finally glad to be back, filming the “Hoshi wo Mezashite” DVD.
Massu looks up from his bento and stares at Tegoshi. “Huh?”
Tegoshi smiles and continues eating. He thinks that given the chance to reach the stars, even in limitless space and time, he would still want to bring Massu along.
009.Boundaries
From the outside, Johnny’s Jimusho just sounds like a training camp for young boys to become the stars of tomorrow. On taking a closer look inside, Johnny’s becomes a place for youngsters learning to become proper adults, and adults learning to have fun once in awhile. Along the way, they also have to work hard and to decide on difficult things, but that can’t be helped. Johnny’s Jimusho is like a world of its own, and most of the time, it’s the only haven from the outside world.
010.Rush
The rush of adrenaline only comes after their group huddle, about to pour themselves out to the fans in yet another concert. Yamapi is glad he’s there to lead and bring this group to the pinnacle, because if not for this high, he may not be the person he is today.
011.Sweet
Massu wonders what it is about Tegoshi that everyone sees as DoS, because the only thing Tegoshi obviously is, is sweet.
012.Cloud
Shige generally makes good decisions, but when it comes to anything dealing with Koyama, his judgments are all skewed. Whether he should wear particularly fashionable socks while they go out to bowl, or whether he should send some flowers to Koyama when he’s sick, makes him wonder where his logic has gone.
013.First
The first time I met you, I thought ‘who do you think you are, debuting before all these other people who are probably more deserving than you?’ And then I heard your voice. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why I fell in love with you, but sometimes, I wonder why you chose my raspy voice over anyone else’s.
014.Yes
The answer to all the questions you don’t know on a test is always C. But, you can’t really apply that to things like ‘should I kiss him?’ or ‘should I ask him out?’ or ‘does he like me back?’
Koyama doesn’t know what to do, and his confusion is obvious on his face. Shige laughs at him, and simply says, “The answer will always be ‘yes,’ Koyama. Yes.”
Koyama barely hides his shock and wonders if Shige has mind reading capabilities. But, he takes Shige’s words to be the truth, and figures that Shige surely does.
Poor Koyama is shocked for the wrong reasons. He doesn’t realize until he gets home, that the ‘yes’ was meant for something else.
015.Tell
“Don’t lie to me!” Ryo screams at Yamapi, who was half way out the door.
“Who says I’m lying?” Yamapi says with a calm exterior.
“Because there’s always that face you make.” Ryo replies. “You bite your lip once on each side before you say it, your eyebrow twitches, and then you look me in the eye.”
“How is that a face? More like a tell than anything else,” Yamapi mumbles that last part, still facing the door.
“You can’t lie to yourself forever, face it.” Ryo states bluntly. “I stopped denying it a long time ago, Tomo.”
“Don’t call me that.” Yamapi barely lets out. He sighs, his fists clenching at his side. “Tell me how to stop this.”
“I won’t. I can’t.” Ryo whispers.
016.Forgive
It’s hard to forgive the people who might have cost you your career. But Ryo can’t forgive himself for even thinking that for one second.
017.Questions
Tegoshi is surprised when he reads Yamapi’s recent interviews. How he can simply say on national television or in a magazine, how he doesn’t think he’ll be able to make anyone happy. Or perhaps, meaning that relationships and marriage don’t necessarily mean happiness for him. The simple factor that Yamapi can answer such questions with ease amazes Tegoshi. After so many years of admiring and performing by Yamashita-san’s side, Tegoshi is still star struck every day, and maybe it’ll stay this way for a very long time. As long as Yamapi continues to be his earnest self, Tegoshi is determined to listen, witness, and learn from this man’s journey in life.
018.Tomorrow
Tomorrow is a series of events that will make up the present and past, and this revolving cycle is never ending. Lying in bed, pillows separating the two bodies, Shige thinks that he doesn’t want tomorrow to come just yet. He doesn’t want this moment, where Koyama’s arm has unknowingly landed itself gently onto Shige’s, to move forward. He doesn’t want this to become a past that he may never be able to revisit. Yet with every passing second, he knows that it’s already too late.
019.Paper
NEWS was once just names written on a paper. The acronym didn’t even represent the members’ names, but just proved that they were meant to go in separate directions.
Today, NEWS is still written on papers everywhere, thanks to Johnny-san’s intuition, knowing that Yamashita Tomohisa, Nishikido Ryo, Koyama Keiichiro, Kato Shigeaki, Masuda Takahisa, Tegoshi Yuya, and even Uchi Hiroki and Kusano Hironori, would grow into the name someday.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 years later, it’s still big NEWS.
020.Hand
Koyama notices how Shige is nursing his left hand in his right as long they walk back to the dressing room after their final concert.
“Hey Shige, what’s wrong with your hand?”
“You, baka; you squeezed it too tight.” Shige answers without looking up from his hands.
“Oh,” Koyama barely replies, “I’m sorry-“
“No, I’m glad.” Shige interrupts and then promptly shuts his mouth.
“Eh? Why?”
“I’m not telling you, it’s just silly.” Shige mutters while walking away from him.
Koyama catches up to him and grabs him by the shoulders. “Hey, that’s not fair. You know I’ll pester you anyways, so tell me. Please?”
Shige curses himself for not being stronger and resisting Koyama’s pout.
“I’m glad you held it,” he simply says, looking away from Koyama.
Koyama visibly blushes and fumbles with the shirt tied loosely around his waist.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” Shige asks timidly.
Koyama turns to look at Shige and their eyes meet. “I’m glad too.”
021.Believe
Koyama believes everything and anything that is told to him, but in recent years, he’s been more cautious about that. Koyama receives a text from Shige to meet up around the end of March. Koyama didn’t find this strange, because they made plans like this all the time, so he went along with it. The day they meet up, Shige confesses to Koyama, but he’s reluctant to believe it. He laughs it off saying something about an early April Fool’s prank, but Shige’s expression doesn’t change.
“You can drop the act,” Koyama laughs nervously, after Shige hasn’t said anything.
“You know how horrible my acting is,” Shige responds with a sad smile.
Koyama stares at Shige for a moment, and then honestly asks, “You won’t laugh at me if I believe you, right?”
Shige nods and then Koyama smiles. “Then I believe you…I just need time…”
Shige nods again.
“I’m really going to try, Shige.” Koyama says earnestly, and Shige knows, he believes.
022.Vague
Shige and Koyama just got back from the beach in Hawaii, and settling into their hotel rooms. Koyama’s already a well-toasted color after one day under the sun, and Shige’s rather tan as well. Shige’s enjoying the early evening breeze that’s coming from the balcony and heads out to watch as other people begin to head home. Koyama steps onto the balcony with Shige, and watches as the clouds move with the wind.
“Look,” Koyama points to a spot by the setting sun, “doesn’t that look like an ice-cream cone? And then doesn’t it look like it’s cupping the sun?”
“Um,” Shige responds and decides against protesting. “Sure.”
“Come on, Shige. What else do you see?”
Shige rolls his eyes thinking this was too much of a children’s game. He plays along, because this’ll be the only way to stop Koyama.
“There’s a heart.”
Koyama agrees excitedly, so Shige continues pointing out things. “And there looks like two people. There’s a triangle, and then it looks like those people are heading towards that heart.”
Koyama starts creating stories about a love triangle, or how the two people are drifting towards the heart away from the triangle. Shige has stopped talking, but is smiling to himself.
He wonders if he should start clueing Koyama in on the actual story.
023.Corner
“This is where the newbies sit,” Ryo states, standing in the corner of the room.
All but Yamashita-san and Uchi are staring at him in anxiety and fear. Tegoshi gladly obeys and plops himself happily on the floor.
Kato exchange looks with Koyama and Kusano, and finally at Massu. They couldn’t believe it. If this was what it was like being in this group, they were calling it quits sooner or later.
At that moment, they each had personal borders and walls to overcome. But little did they know, that years later, their bonds would slowly pull together forming an unbreakable knot.
024.Away
Please leave a message after the beep.”
Ryo snapped his phone shut. “What the hell!? The only good thing about you is that you and your phone are supposed to be glued to the hip; where the hell are you?”
The rest of Kanjani8 are staring at him from different seats on the tour bus, but are too afraid to say anything.
Ryo continues mumbling something about “stupid boyfriends” and decides to text the person in question instead.
Dear Boyfriend,
you suck. No really. Where the hell are you? Don’t expect me to call you again, you bastard.
No love,
me.
Ryo snapped his phone again, only to open it up again to read a new text message.
Ba~ka,
I’m busy preparing you a hot meal when you get home ^^
ﾋﾟ
Ryo smiles and types back.
You are forgiven ♥
025.Busy
Yamapi and Ryo were too alike; they both worked hard to drown out the past. Perhaps that was why they didn’t see the fact that they were slowly falling in love with each other.
026.Change
Shige finds out that Ryo likes to mess with peoples’ things; first stealing the blow dryer (or just unplugging it while he’s using it), hiding keys, taking phones and renaming addresses, and the list could go on. But if there’s one thing that Shige takes note most of all, is that Ryo changes words to songs that he really likes.
Dreams: “Me no mae ni NEWS ga iru. Mada daremo shiranai NEWS ga…” (NEWS is before your eyes, a NEWS that you haven’t known before)
Best Friend: “Kore kara mo koe ni dasu koto wa nai to omou kedo…” (From now on, I probably won’t say this out loud)
And even the subtle change of “asobi” to “asobu” from Shige’s solo, “Kakao.”
Shige doesn’t know whether he finds this annoying, or simply the kind of praise only Nishikido Ryo can give out.
027.Scream
Nightmares plague Yamapi after filming ends for “Code Blue.” Ryo wakes up shaking after filming “Last Friends.” With more than the weight of the world on their shoulders, they comfort each other in the darkness of their hotel room.
028.Pillow
The first and last thing Koyama’s head feels is the pillow. But sometimes, on sporadic occasions, he may move around and land himself completely off the pillow, or even onto the floor. On those kinds of days, Koyama’s glad that there’s someone in bed with him who’s willing to hold on, so he doesn’t hurt himself too much.
Sometimes, the first and last thing Koyama’s head feels is the steady thrum coming from Shige’s body.
029.Silence
The NEWS members place their microphones down, and chatter among themselves as they figure out how they are going to face the fans circled around them. The fans are buzzing with anticipation, because they know these were the final moments they would share with their idols.
Some invisible force moves the members into position; Shige’s left hand grabs Koyama’s firmly, while his right pinky is hooked with Tegoshi’s. He finds it oddly comfortable that they can discuss so little of this beforehand, and still pull off a perfect formation for the final note.
Yamapi gestures for the crowd to be silent, and the message spreads around the concert hall. They wait until everyone is practically holding their breath, and then, they scream it as loud as their voices will go,
“Arigatougozaimashita!!!”
030.Dreams
Tegoshi’s glad that the sweat from his face masked the unshed tears from his eyes. He feels slightly guilty for not crying like Koyama or Massu, but he had felt the moment and held it in as long as he could. He wanted to sing his heart out, to show the fans that they deserved to be back. This was their dream, they chose this path, and they were going to continue forging it, until they couldn’t sing any longer.
031.Alone
Solos convey the message of the heart at that very moment, but performing as a group, sends the message of the soul in its entirety.
032.Ordinary
People always wonder why Ryo’s solo titles are in English, and he merely says that speaking in another language is like adopting a new life. Now, whenever Yamapi watches Ryo perform “Code,” “ordinary,” or “potential,” he notices what Ryo means.
033.Hate
There is no stronger word in the dictionary than “hate.” Even the word “strength,” is not as powerful as “hate.” Koyama notices this while studying for university entrance exams, and decides that he’s going to build up strength within himself to never use that word again.
034.Denial
“Ryo’s just a fluffy teddy bear in denial of his true nature.” Yamapi blurts out one night. The next day, he has bruises all over his body.
035.Flame
Ryo’s love for Shige was burning him from the inside out. But like a moth to the flame, he couldn’t care less. It was enough that Shige burned along with him.
036.Name
Massu was annoyed that Tegoshi was calling him Taka, not because it was disrespectful, but because it reminded him too much of the love he was trying to push away.
037.Remain
When everything is said and done, even when the CDs and DVDs no longer play, they will remember the time they shared together. Even when their memories wear out of old age, something remains familiar in the simple presence of each other.
038.Taste
If it’s the one thing Shige refuses to do, it’s kissing Koyama. Because once he has a taste, there’s no going back.
When asked about the end of the world, the boys talk about mom’s cooking and eating their hearts out. But when the world actually ends, the NEWS members cling to memories of each other as one last chance at living.
039. Stare
Tegoshi couldn’t help but stare at Massu’s haircut. “Wow,” he breathed.
“I know,” Massu says with a disappointed face. “It’s too short.”
“That’s okay, it’s for a drama, ne” Tegoshi cheers up instantly. “The only problem is…”
“What?” Massu asks anxiously.
“…We can’t use the same Vibrations Rap anymore.” Tegoshi says with a teasing smile.
Massu holds back the urge to use his muscles for something other than rescuing innocent people. Massu eventually lets out a sigh and smiles, though. Tegoshi was just trying to say that change was necessary, but not necessarily bad. Massu ruffles Tegoshi’s hair as he ventures out into the hall to find food. Tegoshi smiles and attempts to fix his hair.
040.Bone
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” I chant in my head, trying to hold back the tears brimming at my eyes.
“I don’t love you…like that,” repeats in my mind, louder than my mantra. I blink and it’s over.
I would rather have him punch me a million times over, just so the pounding would reach my ears and drown out those damn words.
041.Escape
Ryo lights a cigarette and offers Yamapi one, who gladly takes it.
“Don’t you ever just want to stop this shit?” Ryo ponders.
“Yea, but I signed up for this, and I’m pretty happy with it.” Yamapi answers. “Besides, who am I talk? You, with your two bands, commuting, and over-workaholic-ness.”
“That’s a mouthful,” Ryo states.
“Yeah, well, I’m just saying.” Yamapi flicks the ash to the side of the building.
“I get to do a lot of things people don’t get to do. I escape the confines of reality.”
“Me too. I guess we share this reality together then, ne~” Yamapi says, back to his random mode. “You can’t escape from me.” Yamapi says in sing-song fashion, while grabbing Ryo and hugging the crap out of him.
“Can’t. Breathe.” Ryo lets out.
“That’s what you get for smoking.”
“What?!”
“Just kidding. But we should stop, before it ruins our perfect voices.” Yamapi jokes.
“Hah! Says you, my voice is meant to be raspy.”
042.Link
Yamapi watches a clip from Dream Boys, the part where Jin and crew are singing “Kizuna.”
“I wish NEWS could be in a play like this. You’re lucky, Ryo-chan.”
“You just want to sing this song.”
“Of course! It’s epic.”
“Yeah! It’s the epitome of Member-Ai yo, “ Koyama adds in.
“Probably the main reason we shouldn’t sing this then,” Shige mumbles in the background.
Koyama hears him and asks, “Why?” with an almost hurt feeling.
“Because, we have our own bond, and we don’t need to be singing someone else’s song. Okay?”
“Grumble, grumble. Always the usual from Kato-san,” Ryo mocks.
*
A few years later, NEWS writes “Share.” And everyone couldn’t be more proud of it; this was the epitome of their bond.
043.Bend
Tegoshi can’t seem to match everyone’s dance steps for “Akaku Moyuru Taiyou,” and he’s getting frustrated. He can’t really ask for help, even though he needs it desperately; he doesn’t want to hold the group back.
Uchi notices this, and goes over to help him. “Just bend your knee like this, Tegoshi-kun. That way you can change positions more readily.” Uchi instructs with ease.
“Wow, thank you so much Uchi-kun.” Tegoshi beams, and Uchi can’t help but like the kid immediately.
Tegoshi repeats the moves several times without a hitch, while Uchi walks back to chat with Ryo.
“What’s up with the kid?” Ryo asks, sounding not particularly interested.
“Oh, he was just trying to improve his steps.” Uchi explains. “That kid sure knows how to make you happy.”
“What?” Ryo asks, wondering if he should be wary of this kid stealing his best friend away.
“He smiles like there’s no care in the world, even when there’s so much pressure on him, dude.”
Ryo nods. Tegoshi waves and bows from across the room. His smile, though shy at first, grows as Uchi smiles back.
044.Surface
Koyama cuts himself while preparing the salad for dinner one night. Koyama’s mom notices and rushes to get the first aid kit. Shige walks over, chuckles a little, and washes Koyama’s ‘injured’ finger under the water, lightly soothing the cut with his own fingers.
“Don’t worry,” Shige says, “you just cut a little below the skin.”
Koyama nods and smiles, calmed by Shige’s ministrations.
Goosebumps start to form on Koyama’s arm, and he’s glad that Shige doesn’t notice. There’s just something below the surface of his skin that craves Shige’s gentle touches.
Koyama’s mom arrives with a band aid at that moment, and he’s forced to get that thought of out his head.
045.Relax
Ryo can only relax in the comfort of his own apartment. He bought the place, he’s turned it into what it is now, and no other person could have the same kind of living space. Except now, he’s sharing it with Shige. Sometimes, Ryo wonders what part of it is exactly that he finds the most relaxing.
046.Class
Massu wonders how everyone manages school while maintaining their idol activities. He used to be able to relate to Nakamaru with this issue, because they both share the same kind of pace in life, but ever since Nakamaru’s decision to go to university, Massu’s been quite lonely. He finds himself turning to Ryo for some sort of reassurance, but they both know that he’s too busy for anything but work.
But once in awhile, Ryo will indulge in going out with Massu, even if the man’s random and ‘my pace’ nature does not suit Ryo very much. He finds himself enjoying bowling, eating out, and waking up early to go on shopping extravaganzas, to the point when he wonders how he could’ve lived life without indulging in these sorts of things before.
047.Work
Ryo gets tired of his job sometimes. Nobody would blame him, with the sort of schedule he carried. But, Ryo never regrets a single day of it. He may treat whatever he does as work, and completes it to the best of his abilities, but he will always see it as a part of making music, and music was his life.
048.Even
Uchi and Kusano both suffered tremendously while going through NEWS’ hiatus. They both shared the burden of guilt and trying to figure out how to make it up to the other members. They promised themselves to make the best out of their mistakes and to push through until they were back on the stage together someday. When Uchi got his solo comeback, and performed with 6-nin NEWS for 2008-2009 Countdown, both of them felt like they were one step closer to their dreams. So much gratitude and hope grew out of that performance. Now, there was only one more step before Kusano could say, “It’s me again; I’m back.”
049.Memories
Shige takes pictures, because he knows that those are moments he’ll never get back. He doesn’t want to risk the chance of ever forgetting.
50. Close
Yamapi flipped through the pages of Koyama’s scrapbook. Pages and pages of magazine articles, shop photos, newspaper clippings, and even a section for the CD’s NEWS has released.
Ryo looked over Yamapi’s shoulder, and said, “You’re crazy, Koyama. When did you find time to do this?”
Yamapi nodded eagerly, while handing the book over to Tegoshi and Massu.
“Well, I would just add to the collection when something new came up. Every moment before and after NEWS debuted has been precious, and I always wanted to save some thing, in case…”
“I know what you mean. There was always a chance that our next project was going to be our last,” Shige chimed in.
Tegoshi laughed. “Why in the world are there pictures of me and Ryo with our hands down our pants?”
Massu was laughing hysterically at this too.
“Oh,” Koyama chuckled. “I found those online.”
Everyone started to gather around Koyama who had the scrap book in hand now, and they all started to reminisce about old fashion styles, hair color, periods where they were finding their identities and roles, and it was just amazing how time flew by.
When they reached the end of the book, and closed it, Tegoshi noticed how there were some things missing from their time line.
“Oh, I just grabbed this randomly off the shelf.” Koyama answered.
“What?!” Ryo yelled. “There’s more!?”
“Yea, do you want me to grab the others?” Koyama asked.
Yamapi smiled and looked around the room fondly. “Maybe another time.”
And by then, Koyama would have many more things to add to his collection of memories created and shared with his greatest friends.