JE/NEWS- "This is Love"
Title: This is Love
Universe: JE/NewS
Theme/Topic: Threesome!
Rating: PG-13
Character/Pairing/s: KoyaxShigexRyo but mostly NewSxNewS
Warnings/Spoilers: OOC, Stupid, CRACK.
Word Count: 7,637
Summary: Koyama wants NewS to fall in love.
Dedication: Originally written for the_suit_case and jthreesome. Special thanks to Ann for the beta and spurious and happiestwhen for running a really smooth challenge! After having a bad one having one that went so well really psyched me up for all the other ones I signed up for. ^_^
A/N: God, this gave me so many problems. I kind of still have problems with it, but I suppose it’s beyond help now. XD But whatever; look to the future, right? LOL Like the Shige birthday fic I haven't started yet. Also, original post here.
Disclaimer: No harm is meant by this!
Prologue- Falling into Member-ai
Koyama wants NewS to fall in love.
From the very moment they’re formed it’s his greatest wish; from the very moment they’re formed he does everything in his power to make it come true. He thinks he does this-wants so hard- because it’s not just a wish he has for his own sake, but a wish that is ultimately for everyone in the group, for all of them together.
He does everything he can to make it happen.
The first thing he learns about loving NewS is that it’s easy to fall in love with Yamapi. Yamapi is naturally chosen as their leader because he’s been there the longest out of all of them and has done the most things and had the most successes. He’s like a hero to each of them that way, strong and capable and at the same time, ultimately kind as well.
Because of all this, love for Yamapi is the kind of love that comes at first sight Koyama thinks, the kind that comes from seeing Yamapi’s first embarrassed smile, from hearing Yamapi laugh through his nose in front of them for the very first time. It’s true love from the first time he looks at them all before a show and says, “Let’s have a safe, injury free performance tonight!” and really means it; it’s love from the first time he’s at ease enough around them to frown and be annoyed. It’s easy to love Yamapi, Koyama thinks, because even though it’s hard to lead, Yamapi still does his best anyway.
Koyama falls in love with Yamapi at first sight.
After that Koyama realizes that falling in love with Tegoshi is easy too, though in a completely different way than falling in love with Yamapi is. Tegoshi is so many things at once, something different to each of them. He’s innocence to Ryo, hopelessness to Shige and youth to Koyama; Massu is the first to see his liveliness and Yamapi eventually learns to love his determination to work hard and catch up to everyone else in the group. And yet, somehow, despite being all of these different things to each of his groupmates at once, Tegoshi also manages to boil down to a single core thing to them as well; when they look at him as he is at the very beginning, raw and unpolished, he reminds them all of themselves from however many years ago, back when everything was still fresh and new, when the jimusho was just as terrifying and mystifying as it was exciting. To them, Tegoshi is the embodiment of all those feelings, wonder and awe and fear and hope. They can’t help but love Tegoshi because they remember what it was like for them to be just like him once, a long, long time ago.
Koyama falls in love with Tegoshi because he can’t help it.
And just like it’s easy to fall in love with a Tegoshi who clings tightly to their sides, Koyama finds that it’s easy to love a Massu who lets Tegoshi cling to him so readily as well. Massu is refreshingly simple like that, easy to read because every emotion is written on his face the moment he’s feeling it. Koyama thinks there’s something pure about that to the members who have been around for a long time, who have seen every manner of fake smile and fake answer and fake personality imaginable since coming to the company. To the members who haven’t been around as long-like Tegoshi- Massu’s openness is a freely given comfort, something that helps cushion their fall into this strange new world.
Koyama falls in love with Massu because when Massu smiles at him, it’s impossible not to.
Koyama falls in love with Ryo just like that too; he laughs at the absurd things that Ryo always says and the way his words are hard but his face is still cute. Koyama also likes the way Ryo cackles without holding anything back; he thinks he likes it so much because Ryo’s laughter is real and from somewhere deep down, even if it’s mean sometimes. Koyama doesn’t even mind how easily angered Ryo gets, because in his heart of hearts, he can’t help but love the sulky little pout that appears on Ryo’s face whenever that happens; Koyama thinks it’s nice to see someone so cool and manly be just a little bit childish in front of them sometimes too.
Koyama falls in love with that part of Ryo in an instant, but then again, he’s always been a sucker for a pretty face.
As for Shige, Koyama can’t say what it is about Shige he fell in love with first except that it’s everything; sometimes it feels like he can’t really remember a time in his life that existed without loving Shige.
Koyama loves Shige because to him, it’s as natural as breathing.
And Koyama thinks he’s easy to love too, in his own way. Maybe it’s because he’s an idiot who falls in love so easily himself; he can’t help but feel that when you love someone else like how he loves the rest of NewS, then maybe some of those warm feelings will be inevitably returned too, somehow. He can’t be completely sure of course, but he thinks he sees it-that love- when Tegoshi sits in his lap and smiles, or when Yamapi clasps his shoulder when no one is looking, or when Massu buys him snacks and doesn’t eat them all himself first. He thinks its there in those moments when Ryo corrects Koyama’s grip on the chopsticks or when Shige calls him an annoying idiot but carefully makes sure to return all of his text messages anyway.
This is how it is with NewS Koyama thinks, and believes that for each of them, love comes in little moments and realizations just like that- two, three, four, five, or even six members at a time.
Koyama thinks he sees Ryo fall for Massu suddenly and without warning one day, when Ryo inadvertently makes Massu cry during a concert rehearsal by saying a few harsh words to the younger boy about his pronunciation. It happens right after that, when everyone else joins in and starts calling Massu on his mistakes as well. Ultimately, it ends up being Ryo who takes one look at Massu’s helpless, teary face before he finds himself gruffly telling the other members to leave Massu alone; “You idiots should worry about yourselves first!” he barks. Koyama thinks Massu falls for Ryo in return in that moment too, through grateful tears as the others are driven back to work by the older boy’s gruff orders.
Koyama is also there to see it when Yamapi falls for Tegoshi some years after that; it happens after Tegoshi tells them all that he wants to sing one of the songs Yamapi wrote for his solo at the next concert. “I really love it!” Tegoshi says, pink-cheeked and hopeful when he asks. Koyama finally sees it then, glinting mysteriously in Yamapi’s eyes when Yamapi looks back at Tegoshi, helpless and flattered at his request. After a moment, Yamapi eventually nods-when he realizes that it’s love after all-and he swallows before telling the youngest member, “Okay…let’s sing it together then!”
It takes a few years and many moments just like those for it to happen, but Koyama eventually realizes that almost everyone has fallen in love with everyone else, in little unexpected moments he decides to call member-ai.
Now, after all this time, it just feels like he’s waiting for Ryo and Shige to catch up with the rest of them.
Because while Ryo and Shige love everyone else, Koyama worries to himself sometimes that they don’t love each other the same way quite yet; he thinks it hasn’t happened because while it’s easy for someone like Ryo to love someone like Yamapi and it’s simple for someone like Shige to love Tegoshi, some love is more complicated, simply because the circumstances are.
Koyama knows that Ryo and Shige are both easy people to love-to him, it’s as natural as waking up in the morning and going to bed at night-but at the same time, Koyama also knows that two people who are easy to love will not easily love each other.
Especially not when they’re so alike.
Because Shige has a sharp tongue just like Ryo has a sharp tongue; Shige’s is derisive and Ryo’s is thoughtless and both of them end up irritating each other that way, by being so alike that it’s like they’re forced to feel the sting of their own bites whenever they exchange words.
Shige is smart and argues until Ryo is angry; when Ryo is angry he says whatever he needs to say to make Shige just as angry as he is.
Today it’s happening again; today the topic is-unbelievably- left-handedness.
“Just because you’re left-handed isn’t an excuse to hog seats.”
Shige snorts. “It’s not an excuse, it’s a fact. ”
“Learn to eat right-handed then,” Ryo snaps back. “Some of us want to be able to sit next to Tego-nyan and Pi during meals too.”
“It’s not that easy to learn that kind of thing!”
Ryo looks superior. “Sure it is.”
Shige stops and thinks. “If it’s so easy,” he begins after a moment, coolly, “then why don’t you learn to eat left handed too? Then you can sit next to Yamashita-kun and Tegoshi instead of complain to me about it.”
It makes sense.
Which makes Ryo sputter while Shige gets smug. “You!” Ryo snaps suddenly, “Your hair is really disgusting! Cut it!”
And then he storms out of the room.
Shige sighs and tucks his bangs behind his ears self-consciously before he goes back to reading his books. In the meantime, Koyama sits on the couch and clings-wide-eyed- to a bottle of tea. He thinks he feels just a little bit helpless right now.
Koyama greatest hope has always been for everyone in NewS to be in love-to be in member-ai-but he realizes that sometimes, it’s not as easy as simply making a wish.
He wonders what it will take to get Shige and Ryo to fall in love.
~~~~~
Later that day, when Yamapi is peacefully, tiredly using Koyama’s shoulder as a pillow while Tegoshi lays his head in Koyama’s lap, the oldest member worriedly asks them, “Do you guys think that maybe Ryo-chan and Shige don’t like each other?”
Yamapi purses his lips and looks thoughtful. “No,” he says after a moment, simply, and yawns. He’s tired and running on very little sleep, just like always.
Tegoshi nods in agreement with Yamapi’s assessment, stretching languidly before smiling up reassuringly at Koyama. “I think,” he says sweetly, “Ryo-tan and Shige’s love is different from how they love the rest of us.”
“Oh,” Koyama sighs. He looks over his shoulder to where Massu is happily munching on the half of Koyama’s bento that he hadn’t been able to finish during lunch.
“I agree,” Massu confirms happily, around a mouthful of rice.
Koyama wonders if maybe they’re just seeing something he’s not.
~~~~~
The next day Shige complains over the phone to Koyama about something Ryo said to him earlier that afternoon for an entire twenty minutes before Koyama can get a single word in. They hang out a little while after that because Shige wants to blow off steam, though Koyama notices it when Shige keeps his brows furrowed in a severe manner the entire time. He tries to distract his best friend from his indignation at Ryo, but Shige doesn’t seem to want to talk about anything else the entire time they’re together.
Ryo’s blog complains about Shige in return later that night-there is an entire section dedicated to telling Shige to get a haircut- and Koyama can’t help but wonder if maybe he’s actually the one who is seeing something Tegoshi, Massu, and Yamapi aren’t.
Shige cuts his hair later that month.
~~~~~
“It’s like this,” Yamapi tries to explain to a worried Koyama one day, “All of us…most of us… the feeling is gentle; like a burning candle, ne?”
Koyama blinks but nods eventually; he supposes he can see it like that. NewS as a steady, glowing warmth.
“But Nishikido-kun and Shige,” Massu adds, as he absently offers Tegoshi half of his meat bun, “are burning in a different way, right?”
Yamapi grins down at him. “Right! It must be that hot Kansai-blood, ne.”
Koyama’s brow furrows. “What do you mean?”
Tegoshi laughs and reaches out to poke Koyama between his eyebrows; smoothing out the wrinkles there. “Kei-chan, if the rest of NewS is like a candle, then Ryo-tan and Shige are definitely fireworks, ne!” he decides, seemingly at random. Yamapi and Massu nod in learned agreement.
Koyama goes a little bit pale when he hears that. “Eh? They’re going to explode!?”
“Into something shiny,” Yamapi finishes, and shifts obligingly when Tegoshi climbs into his lap and offers him half of his half of Massu’s meat bun.
Koyama thinks that maybe the others are trying to comfort him by saying these things, and while he is grateful for their sentiments, he finds that he can’t do anything to get his mind past the whole image of Shige and Ryo exploding now. It starts to worry him even more than before.
He thinks that maybe he can’t wait for it to happen like it did for everyone else; maybe he ought to go out and do something that will help Shige and Ryo along and make them realize what a nice guy the other is. That’s what member-ai is really all about, isn’t it?
Tegoshi just smiles obliviously when Koyama suggests it; he says that if Kei-chan helps, he is sure there will be an even more beautiful explosion than usual afterwards. Yamapi and Massu happily agree around mouthfuls of meat bun.
Koyama thinks that maybe they’re trying to comfort him again; it’s probably his own fault that it isn’t working.
He tells himself he’ll just have to do his best to try and bring Ryo and Shige together, to see what happens from there. He knows that he really loves Ryo and that he really loves Shige; right now it’s his greatest wish that they’ll be able to love each other one day too.
~~~~~
1. Interesting Each Other
Koyama’s first plan is simple; he thinks that maybe if he just talks about each of their good points to the other they’ll be made more aware of them and as such, notice them more on their own from there on out.
So he calls Shige up first, naturally, and asks, “Shige, Shige, shall we hang out today?”
Shige moves the phone and Koyama knows it’s because Shige is looking at his watch; “I have a class today until one, but afterwards I’m free.”
“Great!” Koyama chirps, “Let’s get lunch together at that café that you wanted to try, ne. The one with the paninis? I’ll treat!”
A pause from the other end.
“Are you going to ask me for some sort of ridiculous favor later?” Shige asks, very naturally suspicious.
When he answers, Koyama’s voice pitches higher than he’d intended. “What? No. I just want to treat my best friend to lunch today!”
Shige sighs, and it sounds like he doesn’t believe Koyama a bit. “I’ll be there at one; whatever your ulterior motive is, it better be of equivalent value to a sandwich and dessert.”
Koyama laughs nervously. “I’ll see you later then, Shige.”
~~~~~
They meet at the café around one thirty; it’s because Shige is a little late out of class but Koyama doesn’t mind because he’s been sitting at the table for the last half-hour, trying to run through the things he wants to say about Ryo today so that they sound natural.
Shige looks a little tired and a little grumpy when he gets there; he says it’s because he had a surprise test in class today. Koyama makes all the appropriate sympathy noises and before long, they order.
“So,” Koyama starts, trying to act natural, “last week Ryo-chan was really manly, right?”
Shige blinks, pausing in the middle of sipping his iced tea to give Koyama an odd look. “How so?”
Koyama blinks. “Um, you know. In general. With everything! Like always. Ryo-chan is always cool and manly.”
Shige snorts. “If that’s what you think then you don’t need to put a condition on it when you say it; that just confuses people.”
“Eh?”
“You said last week Nishikido-kun was manly,” Shige says. “So when you put a time stamp on it like that people will expect that you mean to say something out of the ordinary happened. He did something extraordinarily manly instead of something normally manly like he always is. If you simply say he was as manly as usual right after that instead, it’s anti-climactic because I was expecting some sort of story or anecdote to explain what you were talking about in terms of last week. ”
Koyama stares. “Oh. Haha.” Pause. “Well, he just looked cool, don’t you think?” he manages, and quickly takes a big gulp of his own iced tea to give himself time to think.
Shige throws him another odd look, except vaguely surprised this time and not as derisive as usual. “Koyama,” he says after a beat, carefully, “do you like Nishikido-kun or something?”
Koyama spits his mouthful of iced tea all over Shige’s face.
Shige silently drips back at him and does not look pleased.
~~~~~
After that Koyama thinks that maybe he should wait for a while before he takes Shige out again; at least until Shige stops complaining indignantly to everyone who will listen to him about how Koyama inadvertently spit on him yesterday.
In the meantime he focuses on Ryo instead; Ryo’s a little bit easier to read than Shige is anyway.
“Let’s go get lunch together today, Ryo-chan!” Koyama chirps that afternoon, all smiles.
“Sure,” Ryo shrugs, and stretches lazily before eyeing Koyama a bit. “You’re sweating oddly,” he points out casually, before standing. “What do you want to eat?”
Koyama hastily draws the back of his hand over his forehead. “Ahaha…let’s decide while we walk ne? Since we have time.”
A nod. “That’s fine.”
So they take a walk down the streets together, perusing shop windows for menus while Ryo sends text-messages every now and again. In the meantime, Koyama quickly tries to think of something to praise Shige about that does not include some sort of time stamp, as he has since learned his lesson about things like that.
He tries something a little more vague.
“Shige is really cool ne,” he starts suddenly, and earns a blink from Ryo.
“In what way?” Ryo asks after a moment, lip curling upward slightly like he’s thinking “this oughta be good.”
“In every way! Shige’s definitely cool,” Koyama repeats. “Don’t you think, Ryo-chan? I think soon he’ll be a very manly adult too, just like you are, ne. We should do our best to help him get there, as the oldest members of NewS.”
“I think,” Ryo begins after a moment, “if you really wanted to hang out with him today, you should have asked him.” He looks a mixture of annoyed and amused. “He’s not that annoyed about yesterday. Even though it was hysterical.”
Koyama blinks. “Haha,” he begins, and starts sweating all over again, “That’s not what I meant! I definitely want to hang out with Ryo-chan today.”
“Then you should treat me to lunch,” Ryo tells him coolly. He smiles, just a little bit mischievous.
Koyama smiles back and is a lot relieved (without realizing that maybe, he’d just gotten duped). “Okay!” he agrees quickly, “It’s only fair, since I invited Ryo-chan out, ne.”
A few minutes later they pass a restaurant and Koyama gets inspired; “Ah, Shige says this place is good so let’s try it! Shige definitely has good taste in food, after all. That’s just a small part of his coolness, ne.”
Ryo doesn’t respond right away, instead he sighs and reaches into his pocket, pulling out his cell phone. He scrolls through his phonebook and after a minute, hits the call button.
Koyama stares. “Ryo-chan?”
“Hello?” Ryo says into the phone, when someone else picks up. “It’s me. I’m with Koyama, I think he misses you. Study less and take responsibility for your best friend so he doesn’t bother other people! Stop sulking about the past!”
Then Ryo thrusts the phone at Koyama and heads into the restaurant.
“Hello?” Shige’s voice says, sounding sleepy. “What’s going on? Why is Nishikido-kun calling me to yell at me about you? I didn’t even do anything!”
Koyama sighs and follows Ryo. “Hi, Shige,” he says awkwardly, and thinks that maybe this strategy failed.
~~~~~
2. Praising Each Other
Afterwards, Koyama thinks that maybe the way he praises people is too vague for guys who want down and dirty specifics like Shige and Ryo; he decides that maybe he should try and get Shige and Ryo to directly praise each other instead somehow.
So, as any good Shounen Club host would, he comes up with a game.
“Yosh,” he says backstage the following week, holding a pad and pen in hand, “I’ve come up with a new version of the Ii Toko cha-cha for shokura next week; will you guys help me run it through once to see if it works?”
“Isn’t that the stupid game you came up with last year where we had to compliment each other in rhythm?” Shige asks, and looks not-very interested.
Koyama beams. “Yes!”
“Sure we’ll help!” Yamapi agrees, and winks as subtly as he can at Koyama.
\Which means Ryo sees it and is kind of suspicious, up until Tegoshi pokes him in the arm and smiles cutely. “Nishikido-kun definitely won’t lose at a game like this,” he urges him.
Ryo smiles back. “Of course not, Tego-nyan.”
“Great! So then, Ryo-chan and Shige, ne!” Koyama hastily announces, and grabs the back of the chair Shige is sitting in so he can pull him up next to Ryo.
“Hey!” Shige complains; “I didn’t volunteer!”
Ryo smirks and looks amused; “Don’t be such a whiner,” he tells him.
Shige snorts. “You won’t be able to compliment me anyway, so what’s the point?”
“Okay!” Koyama adds quickly, “the rules are like this, ne. You guys have to compliment each other to the rhythm but you can’t compliment each other on the same things. The first one who gets embarrassed or thinks too long loses. The punishment is saying aishiteru to the winner!”
Ryo and Shige both look a little bit horrified when they hear that.
“Ryo-chan can start, ne. Ready? Go!”
Ryo blinks, then quickly faces Shige, “Sometimes you’re not as stupid as you look,” he sing-songs.
Shige sputters and goes next.
“Despite everything else, you have a big personality.”
Ryo glares. “You’re great at being annoying.”
Shige frowns, and from there, neither of them remember anything about rhythm. “You’re very convincing when you lie; it must be from all the practice.”
“Even though you can’t it’s great that you try hard at singing anyway.”
“I admire the graceful way you stand on your toes to look over other people’s shoulders.”
“I think it’s cute how your mother still dresses you.”
“I think that your role in Attention Please was great. Clearly they couldn’t have done the show without you.”
“I admire how you can still have thirty whole fans even though your hair is disgusting.”
Koyama and the others stare as Shige and Ryo continue to compliment each other to the best of their abilities for the next five minutes.
It ends only because they get called in for dance rehearsals.
~~~~~
“Maybe it’s just a kansai thing,” Tegoshi suggests afterwards, patting a distraught Koyama on the shoulder placatingly. “Like yesterday, ne, I saw Yokoyama-kun take Subaru-kun’s phone while he wasn’t looking; I think he switched the last two digits of everyone’s number in Subaru-kun’s phonebook before putting it back.”
“It’s a different kind of love ne,” Yamapi agrees, and gently offers Koyama a sip of his protein jelly.
That night, before bed, Koyama gives himself a stomachache thinking about explosions.
~~~~~
3. Banding Together
Plan number three comes about when Koyama asks Yamapi for help; after some moments Yamapi purses his lips together in thought and replies, “If it’s something you want to see so much, I think Ryo-chan and Shige would definitely join powers if something they both loved was being threatened, ne. That’s the kind of people they are.”
Koyama thinks about that for a while and eventually decides it’s worth a shot; maybe if Shige and Ryo put their sharp-tongues together against a common enemy they will realize how alike they are after all and become a team.
Love can stem from teamwork Koyama knows; it’s how most of NewS fell in love in the first place.
~~~~~
And Koyama knows of at least one thing that Shige and Ryo both love unabashedly, whether they’ll admit it out loud or not.
“Tegoshi,” he says early that morning, “Tegoshi, I’m going to pick on you a little bit today, okay?”
Tegoshi blinks, sad-eyed. “Why?”
“To help make Ryo-chan and Shige fall in love.”
“Oh!” Tegoshi laughs and rests his head on Koyama’s shoulder. “If you want you can, Kei-chan. No matter what happens, I’ll always forgive you, ne.”
Koyama tells himself he doesn’t mind being the bad guy if it means that he can build love from it, but Tegoshi’s reassurance helps anyway.
~~~~~
“You’re so annoying,” Koyama complains sometime later, and pushes Tegoshi away just as Shige and Ryo walk into the dressing room.
The newcomers pause and blink as Tegoshi stretches, sleepy-eyed and bewildered at Koyama’s moodiness. Then he seems to remember something, and nods.
“Oh. Kei-chan, you’re picking on me today, ne.”
Koyama coughs. “Yes! Because you are annoying,” he repeats, and promises with his eyes to make it up to Tegoshi later.
He glances sideways at Ryo and Shige hopefully in the meantime, bracing himself for the verbal onslaught of Tegoshi defense that will undoubtedly come straight at him any second now.
Ryo speaks first, and when he does, it’s gentle and to Tegoshi and not Koyama at all. “Don’t worry Tego-nyan,” he says, comfortingly, “this guy standing next to me is the only one who’s annoying. Koyama just can’t say it to his face because then he’ll sulk all day and ruin our interviews.”
“Hey!” Shige complains, looking annoyed and sleepy, “Don’t put me in the same group as him. I just got here.”
“I’m not putting you in the same group at all,” Ryo tells him, “It would be rude to Tego-nyan.” Then he tosses his bag in the corner and goes to change in preparation for the TV filming they have later that day. Shige mutters in disbelief to himself before doing the same.
In the meantime, Tegoshi laughs and declares that he loves everyone in NewS lots while Koyama sits on the couch beside him and wonders how he was the one who got forgotten in the midst of everything.
~~~~~
“I think,” Yamapi tells Koyama afterwards, “that it’s because they both know you can never really say those kinds of things to Tegoshi and actually mean them from your heart.”
Koyama sighs and supposes that yes, it makes its own sort of sense.
Tegoshi smiles and assures him that it’s just member-ai again, in its own way. Then he makes Koyama promise to take him out shopping this weekend, to make up for the bullying.
Koyama is helpless to do anything but agree.
~~~~~
4. Eating Together
“Eh, if you wanted to see their love for yourself,” Massu starts, looking surprised when he hears about Koyama’s two failed strategies so far, “why didn’t you just invite them to eat out together?”
Koyama blinks.
Massu smiles. “Sharing food is the greatest present in the world, right?” he asks, and is looking at Koyama’s lunch when he does.
Koyama sighs and pushes his plate towards Massu after a moment; he can’t help but smile lopsidedly at the way Massu’s face lights up as he starts to eat. “Maybe you’re right,” he says, and figures it is worth a shot.
~~~~~
“What shall we eat today?” Koyama poses, slinging his arms around both Ryo and Shige’s shoulders. It’s dinnertime and the others have already gone home after receiving a few significant looks from the oldest member; in the meantime, Koyama gamely suggests that the three of them go and grab something to eat since they’re free for a while, before his radio show is supposed to tape tonight.
“You’re not going to spit on me again are you?” Shige asks, and earns a snicker from Ryo.
“I will try my very hardest not to,” Koyama replies, and it’s probably the best that he can do at this point.
Ryo grins. “I don’t know, it was by far the funniest thing I heard all week.”
Shige sighs. “Let’s get yakiniku,” he suggests, because when he thinks about it, large chunks of meet are not particularly spew-able over great distances.
“I want ramen,” Ryo chimes in next, and Koyama has horrible flash forward of his broth all over Shige’s stylish hair.
Shige apparently sees it too, because he scowls. “Didn’t you already have ramen yesterday? Don’t just say you want to eat something because you’re amusing yourself with thoughts of my pain.”
“Yesterday’s ramen was because it was convenient,” Ryo replies, “and today’s ramen is because I actually want it. Because of your pain.”
“Yesterday wasn’t supposed to be ramen at all! Yesterday was my study day,” Shige snorts, and Koyama pauses in the midst of his careful mental planning to wonder-briefly- what the two of them are talking about.
“Well yesterday was my off day,” Ryo retaliates, like that’s all that matters.
“Then spend it productively!” Shige shouts. “Instead of harassing people and eating ramen you don’t actually really want to eat.”
“Eh, I didn’t know Ryo-chan liked ramen so much,” Koyama muses quickly, automatically, because sometimes his mouth works without his brain to accompany it (mostly when people start to raise their voices around him). It’s the MC in him.
As predicted, Ryo and Shige both stop to look at him. Oddly.
“He doesn’t like it that much,” Shige says, at the exact moment Ryo says, “I like yakisoba more.”
“See?” Shige finishes, just as Ryo tells him not to talk at the same time as he is.
“It’s rude.”
“You’re rude!” Shige shoots back; “If you like yakisoba more than ramen then naturally you should suggest eating yakisoba, right?”
“Should we get yakisoba then?” Koyama asks, looking between the two of them and feeling like they are speaking a completely different language suddenly.
“Ramen,” Ryo reiterates, and smiles sweetly at Shige.
“Why do you always get to decide?”
Ryo snorts and starts leading them down the street, to a good ramen shop he knows. “Because if I left it up to you two idiots to choose we’d starve to death on the street.”
Shige sighs resignedly. “I’m sitting next to Koyama,” he says after a while, as he moves to follow after Ryo, “so if he spits again, I won’t be in the line of fire.”
Koyama thinks that maybe it’s not the start of a the nice bonding-dinner he’d been hoping for.
~~~~~
Later, Ryo ends up being the one to spit, when he sees the face Shige makes when Koyama suddenly tells them that he and Ryo are alike in a lot of ways, right in the middle of the meal without any prompting.
Shige, once again, drips.
~~~~~
5. Traveling Together
“Ne,” Tegoshi starts, sounding inspired, “You and me and Shige have been traveling together and you and Yamapi and Uchi have traveled together, but you and Ryo-tan and Shige have never gone anywhere alone together right?”
Koyama nods.
“Maybe you should go on a trip! That would be fun.”
Koyama blinks and thinks about it. “Do you think it’s really a good idea, Tego-nyan?”
Tegoshi pouts. “My ideas are never bad. You should go this weekend. Somewhere summery.”
Koyama smiles helplessly in the face of Tegoshi’s resolve. “I’ll ask them ne.”
~~~~~
“This weekend? Sure, I’m free,” Shige says, when Koyama calls to ask. “Where do you want to go? What do you want to do?”
In the face of Shige’s very normal questions, Koyama suddenly realizes that he hasn’t really thought anything through yet. “Uh…”
“Koyama?” There’s a slight edge to Shige’s voice when he says the older boy’s name, like he’s thinking, “don’t tell me this moron invited me out without even having a plan.”
Koyama hastens to develop a plan.
“Somewhere summery!” he blurts automatically, after a moment of panicked thinking.
“So… anywhere in the northern hemisphere. Great,” Shige replies dryly.
Koyama tries to come up with a good idea before Shige completely loses patience with him (which is usually somewhere in the five second range).
“Osaka!” he decides quickly, “Let’s go to Osaka. There are festivals and things, right? That’s summery.”
A pause. “Why would Nishikido-kun want to go to his hometown for a vacation? That’s not traveling at all.”
Koyama sometimes hates that he talks without thinking.
“Eh…” he murmurs, fidgeting a bit, “then…how about… Disneyland?”
“What are you, five?”
“Disneyland is fun!”
Shige snorts. “You know what, just call Nishikido-kun and ask him where he wants to go. He’ll come up with something.”
Koyama blinks, and remembers a few days ago, where Shige had complained about that very thing. “Eh? Really?”
“Yes! Stop wasting my minutes.”
“Okay!” Koyama chirps after a second, and thinks that if Shige is interested in Ryo’s opinion, then maybe he’s making some progress after all.
He laughs to himself and is glad Tegoshi-sama has such great ideas.
~~~~~
“I have location work with Eito this weekend,” Ryo tells him plainly over the phone a little while later.
“Oh,” Koyama replies, and feels his heart sink.
“Have fun with Shige.”
Ryo hangs up and Koyama holds onto his cell for a while afterwards, listening to the dial tone and wondering if Tegoshi’s powers are taking a vacation this week or something.
~~~~~
Koyama calls Shige back a little while after that; he sighs heavily when he breaks the news.
“Oi, don’t sound so sad to just be going somewhere with me!” Shige complains, but doesn’t sound as irritated as he usually is when it comes to things like this. “Do you still want to go?” he asks after a moment, and seems kind of unsure when he asks.
It’s in moments like these where Koyama can’t help but smile a little and remember why he loves the uncertain young Shige who calls him stupid and makes fun of him all the time.
“Of course I still want to go with you,” he says.
“Well…okay then. I guess I’ll have to be the one to figure something out after all.”
Shige hangs up sounding thoughtful; Koyama wonders what that’s supposed to mean.
~~~~~
On Friday night Shige sends Koyama a text message:
“Meet me at the station at ten. Bring the usual stuff.”
Koyama replies:
“Okay!”
He is packed and ready to go by eight o’clock that evening; he knows that if it’s something Shige planned then it will definitely be fun and he can use the opportunity to relax and come up with new ideas for next week.
Shige and Ryo’s love story is just beginning, after all.
Koyama knows he just has to keep trying hard.
~~~~~
When Koyama gets to the station at ten fifteen on Saturday morning Shige is standing on the platform looking impatient. Koyama laughs and thinks he seems very fresh today, with sunglasses and a horrible hat.
“You’re late,” Shige chides, when he sees him, and Koyama apologizes while grinning.
Shige thrusts a ticket to Osaka at him next, and tries to be very nonchalant about it.
“Eh?” Koyama says, because he can’t help it when he sees. “Osaka? Really? Didn’t Shige just tell me a few days ago that it was a bad idea?”
“It was a bad idea few days ago because you just blurted it without thinking!” Shige defends, looking embarrassed. “At least I have plans, okay?”
Koyama laughs. “Okay, Shige.”
They board the train together with Shige still trying to act cool and Koyama unable to hide his smile.
“Stop smirking!” Shige shouts, eventually.
“I love you, Shige,” Koyama replies, and earns them both odd looks from some of the other passengers.
~~~~~
They arrive at the train station in Osaka roughly three and a half hours later; Koyama had fallen asleep on Shige’s shoulder but managed not to drool this time.
Shige is flipping intently through a small notebook when Koyama opens his eyes.
“Lunch,” Shige declares, when Koyama makes inquisitive, sleepy noises. “There’s this place that we’re going to for lunch on the way to the hotel. Then we’ll check in afterwards.”
Koyama lights up as he stretches and grabs his duffle bag. “What are we eating?”
“Yakisoba,” Shige grunts, and looks mortified for some reason.
~~~~~
The shop they go to is a little hole in the wall noodle shop run by a friendly elderly couple; Koyama wonders what kind of research Shige must have done to find this place because it probably wouldn’t be in any tour books or internet travel sites.
“Is it a memory of your youth?” Koyama whispers, as the old woman toddles by to pour some of the other customers their tea.
Shige gives him a look. “No.”
Koyama laughs. “Eh, Shige’s research abilities are awesome.”
Shige turns red and mutters something unintelligible before putting the menu up between them. “Just order!”
It turns out to be the best yakisoba Koyama has ever had.
~~~~~
After that it’s a short bus ride to the hotel to check in, and after they drop off their luggage, they head straight to the aquarium. Koyama watches in awe as Shige says something to the guy at the ticket booth that gets them both in for the price of one; he can’t help but think to himself that Shige’s research skills are definitely top notch.
Once inside, Koyama rushes in excitedly and promptly presses his nose up against the glass of one of the giant tanks, watching in fascination as the horseshoe crabs scurry around on the floor like giant bugs.
“Eh, I think that one’s bullying the other one,” Koyama marvels worriedly after a moment, when he sees one of the crabs start to chase after the other.
Shige sighs and gives him another one of those looks, the ones that say, “you don’t really know anything, do you? ”
“Ah, he caught him, he caught him!” Koyama shouts. “They don’t eat each other, do they?”
“Koyama, they’re mating,” Shige explains.
Koyama turns red. “Ah. Oh.”
He slowly peels his face away from the glass. “I wonder,” he starts slowly, with a little laugh, “if they know they’re being watched, ne.”
Shige slaps a hand to his forehead and moves on.
~~~~~
At four pm they hop the bus again and head to the market district; Koyama buys souvenirs for everyone (even Ryo) and Shige can’t do anything but shake his head and remind him, “Nishikido-kun lives here,” as he buys a hat from the vendor they’re standing in front of.
“Oh, I know! You two can match!” Koyama squeals, and is suddenly hit by a wave inspiration. “Wouldn’t that be cute?”
“No!” Shige yells, but it’s too late, Koyama buys another one of the hats Shige had just bought and puts it in his bag for Ryo.
“Everyone should have a matching thing with each of their groupmates,” Koyama tells him sagely, “It’s member-ai.”
“Not everyone is you, ” Shige snorts.
“Where to next?” Koyama asks, bouncing a bit on his toes. “Shige’s really planned this out well, ne.”
“We’re staying here a little longer,” Shige informs him, without telling him why.
At five-thirty, Shige’s cell phone goes off and he looks incredibly relieved for some reason.
At five-thirty-eight, Koyama nearly jumps out of his skin when Ryo taps him on the shoulder and says, “Yo.”
~~~~~
“Eh?!” Koyama shouts, in the middle of the marketplace as he looks between the two of them. “Don’t you have work today, Ryo-chan? With Eito?”
“Yeah, we were shooting nearby on location. I ended at five,” Ryo tells him simply, and shrugs. Then he turns to Shige, “Oi, did you go to the…”
“Yes,” Shige sighs.
Ryo grins. “Well?”
“It was good.”
Ryo preens. “I told you.”
Shige snorts but doesn’t say anything.
In the meantime, Koyama blinks some more, looking between the two of them. “Eh?!?!?!” he says again, only louder this time.
In case they’d forgotten he was here.
~~~~~
“This idiot called me,” Ryo explains a few minutes later, after Koyama is all screeched out, “and said you really wanted to go to Osaka this weekend for some reason.”
Shige looks embarrassed. “Nishikido-kun suggested some things we could do, since you were interested.”
“I looked up the addresses for you both,” Ryo corrects, and grins. “Be thankful and praise me appropriately, for staying up all night on the phone with Shige to plan this out for you.”
Shige rolls his eyes. “Okay, so he looked them…”
“And the bus schedule, too,” Ryo adds.
Shige sputters. “Let me finish talking!”
Ryo ignores him. “The yakisoba was good, right?”
“Really good!” Koyama automatically agrees.
“Yeah, it was better than that ramen you made me eat with you when I was supposed to be studying for a test,” Shige can’t help but snipe, sounding bitter but not really.
“You’re lucky I worry about those things for you! If I let you study all day you’d become even more boring. Then you’d have no fans instead of the handful you have now and wouldn’t that just be sad?”
“I don’t need your help!” Shige shouts, and makes Ryo laugh.
In the meantime, Koyama stares. “So the two of you…together. This weekend? Everything? Ehhhh?!?!”
Ryo and Shige stop bickering and turn to blink at him. “It looks like something inside his head popped,” Shige diagnoses, after a beat.
Ryo agrees. “Right, we’re getting dinner,” he says, and between the two of them, they manage to drag a very confused Koyama back onto the bus.
In the meantime, Koyama thinks that maybe he’s been missing something after all.
~~~~~
That night, while Ryo is treating them to okonomiyaki at one of his favorite places, Koyama suddenly gets a text message.
Kei-chan,
I hope you’re having fun in Osaka; Shige said you three were going this weekend! There should be summery things and all sorts of fun stuff happening there right now, ne!
I hope you get to see some great fireworks while you’re there!
Bring me back something nice,
Tegoshi
“Fireworks, huh?” Koyama murmurs to himself ruefully, and turns to look over his shoulder, where Ryo is currently shoving mouthful after mouthful of hot okonomiyaki into Shige’s mouth.
“You idiot!” Ryo cackles as Shige chews, “Oh man, you’re an idiot. I can’t believe that fit! You look like you’re going to throw up.”
“Who’s fault is that?!” Shige screams, after he swallows. “I think my tongue is burnt.”
Ryo just laughs some more, “Drink water, you idiot,” he chortles, and there’s a warmth there that Koyama had somehow missed before, in the middle of all his worrying, “drink water and you’ll be okay.”
“That will just make my stomach feel worse!!” Shige complains, but finds himself drinking the water anyway.
He doesn’t sound particularly annoyed either, not when you really, really listen.
And after a moment Koyama suddenly starts to laugh, phone in hand and Tegoshi’s words in front of his face like some sort of glowing sign from God.
It’s in those moments when he realizes (happily, finally) that he was wrong after all, that there’s been love here all along. It’s in brilliant flashes of light that he’d missed before, because he’d been closing his eyes tightly this whole time, afraid of the loud explosions that came with them. It’s all there, right between the moment when Shige tells Ryo he doesn’t mix the batter well and the moment when he takes it and mixes his for him. It’s between the moment when Ryo tells Shige to eat faster or his food will get cold and the moment when Ryo puts the fresh okonomiyaki on Shige’s plate and takes the bottom one for himself anyway.
It’s in the moment when they both turn and look at him oddly, asking him, “Have you suddenly gone retarded?” at exactly the same time, because he’s sitting there, staring at them while laughing and not eating at all.
Koyama smiles and simply asks for seconds; as he eats he thinks that even though love may not have come to Ryo and Shige as easily as it had to Yamapi or Tegoshi or Massu or himself, even if it isn’t as gentle as their love for Tegoshi or as admiring as their love for Yamapi or as patient as their love for Massu, Koyama thinks that it’s still beautiful anyway.
It’s like fireworks.
~~~~~
Epilogue- By Candlelight
That night, back at the hotel, Koyama lies in his bed looking up at his phone’s gently glowing LCD display as Shige snores in the next bed over and Ryo snoozes in the armchair; he quickly, quietly types out a text message.
He writes:
Tego-nyan,
You’re right; the fireworks I saw in Osaka tonight were beautiful.
I bought you a t-shirt; it has a teddy bear on it.
Love,
Kei-chan
Koyama falls asleep smiling; he thinks to himself that he’s glad NewS was able to fall in love.
END
Universe: JE/NewS
Theme/Topic: Threesome!
Rating: PG-13
Character/Pairing/s: KoyaxShigexRyo but mostly NewSxNewS
Warnings/Spoilers: OOC, Stupid, CRACK.
Word Count: 7,637
Summary: Koyama wants NewS to fall in love.
Dedication: Originally written for the_suit_case and jthreesome. Special thanks to Ann for the beta and spurious and happiestwhen for running a really smooth challenge! After having a bad one having one that went so well really psyched me up for all the other ones I signed up for. ^_^
A/N: God, this gave me so many problems. I kind of still have problems with it, but I suppose it’s beyond help now. XD But whatever; look to the future, right? LOL Like the Shige birthday fic I haven't started yet. Also, original post here.
Disclaimer: No harm is meant by this!
Prologue- Falling into Member-ai
Koyama wants NewS to fall in love.
From the very moment they’re formed it’s his greatest wish; from the very moment they’re formed he does everything in his power to make it come true. He thinks he does this-wants so hard- because it’s not just a wish he has for his own sake, but a wish that is ultimately for everyone in the group, for all of them together.
He does everything he can to make it happen.
The first thing he learns about loving NewS is that it’s easy to fall in love with Yamapi. Yamapi is naturally chosen as their leader because he’s been there the longest out of all of them and has done the most things and had the most successes. He’s like a hero to each of them that way, strong and capable and at the same time, ultimately kind as well.
Because of all this, love for Yamapi is the kind of love that comes at first sight Koyama thinks, the kind that comes from seeing Yamapi’s first embarrassed smile, from hearing Yamapi laugh through his nose in front of them for the very first time. It’s true love from the first time he looks at them all before a show and says, “Let’s have a safe, injury free performance tonight!” and really means it; it’s love from the first time he’s at ease enough around them to frown and be annoyed. It’s easy to love Yamapi, Koyama thinks, because even though it’s hard to lead, Yamapi still does his best anyway.
Koyama falls in love with Yamapi at first sight.
After that Koyama realizes that falling in love with Tegoshi is easy too, though in a completely different way than falling in love with Yamapi is. Tegoshi is so many things at once, something different to each of them. He’s innocence to Ryo, hopelessness to Shige and youth to Koyama; Massu is the first to see his liveliness and Yamapi eventually learns to love his determination to work hard and catch up to everyone else in the group. And yet, somehow, despite being all of these different things to each of his groupmates at once, Tegoshi also manages to boil down to a single core thing to them as well; when they look at him as he is at the very beginning, raw and unpolished, he reminds them all of themselves from however many years ago, back when everything was still fresh and new, when the jimusho was just as terrifying and mystifying as it was exciting. To them, Tegoshi is the embodiment of all those feelings, wonder and awe and fear and hope. They can’t help but love Tegoshi because they remember what it was like for them to be just like him once, a long, long time ago.
Koyama falls in love with Tegoshi because he can’t help it.
And just like it’s easy to fall in love with a Tegoshi who clings tightly to their sides, Koyama finds that it’s easy to love a Massu who lets Tegoshi cling to him so readily as well. Massu is refreshingly simple like that, easy to read because every emotion is written on his face the moment he’s feeling it. Koyama thinks there’s something pure about that to the members who have been around for a long time, who have seen every manner of fake smile and fake answer and fake personality imaginable since coming to the company. To the members who haven’t been around as long-like Tegoshi- Massu’s openness is a freely given comfort, something that helps cushion their fall into this strange new world.
Koyama falls in love with Massu because when Massu smiles at him, it’s impossible not to.
Koyama falls in love with Ryo just like that too; he laughs at the absurd things that Ryo always says and the way his words are hard but his face is still cute. Koyama also likes the way Ryo cackles without holding anything back; he thinks he likes it so much because Ryo’s laughter is real and from somewhere deep down, even if it’s mean sometimes. Koyama doesn’t even mind how easily angered Ryo gets, because in his heart of hearts, he can’t help but love the sulky little pout that appears on Ryo’s face whenever that happens; Koyama thinks it’s nice to see someone so cool and manly be just a little bit childish in front of them sometimes too.
Koyama falls in love with that part of Ryo in an instant, but then again, he’s always been a sucker for a pretty face.
As for Shige, Koyama can’t say what it is about Shige he fell in love with first except that it’s everything; sometimes it feels like he can’t really remember a time in his life that existed without loving Shige.
Koyama loves Shige because to him, it’s as natural as breathing.
And Koyama thinks he’s easy to love too, in his own way. Maybe it’s because he’s an idiot who falls in love so easily himself; he can’t help but feel that when you love someone else like how he loves the rest of NewS, then maybe some of those warm feelings will be inevitably returned too, somehow. He can’t be completely sure of course, but he thinks he sees it-that love- when Tegoshi sits in his lap and smiles, or when Yamapi clasps his shoulder when no one is looking, or when Massu buys him snacks and doesn’t eat them all himself first. He thinks its there in those moments when Ryo corrects Koyama’s grip on the chopsticks or when Shige calls him an annoying idiot but carefully makes sure to return all of his text messages anyway.
This is how it is with NewS Koyama thinks, and believes that for each of them, love comes in little moments and realizations just like that- two, three, four, five, or even six members at a time.
Koyama thinks he sees Ryo fall for Massu suddenly and without warning one day, when Ryo inadvertently makes Massu cry during a concert rehearsal by saying a few harsh words to the younger boy about his pronunciation. It happens right after that, when everyone else joins in and starts calling Massu on his mistakes as well. Ultimately, it ends up being Ryo who takes one look at Massu’s helpless, teary face before he finds himself gruffly telling the other members to leave Massu alone; “You idiots should worry about yourselves first!” he barks. Koyama thinks Massu falls for Ryo in return in that moment too, through grateful tears as the others are driven back to work by the older boy’s gruff orders.
Koyama is also there to see it when Yamapi falls for Tegoshi some years after that; it happens after Tegoshi tells them all that he wants to sing one of the songs Yamapi wrote for his solo at the next concert. “I really love it!” Tegoshi says, pink-cheeked and hopeful when he asks. Koyama finally sees it then, glinting mysteriously in Yamapi’s eyes when Yamapi looks back at Tegoshi, helpless and flattered at his request. After a moment, Yamapi eventually nods-when he realizes that it’s love after all-and he swallows before telling the youngest member, “Okay…let’s sing it together then!”
It takes a few years and many moments just like those for it to happen, but Koyama eventually realizes that almost everyone has fallen in love with everyone else, in little unexpected moments he decides to call member-ai.
Now, after all this time, it just feels like he’s waiting for Ryo and Shige to catch up with the rest of them.
Because while Ryo and Shige love everyone else, Koyama worries to himself sometimes that they don’t love each other the same way quite yet; he thinks it hasn’t happened because while it’s easy for someone like Ryo to love someone like Yamapi and it’s simple for someone like Shige to love Tegoshi, some love is more complicated, simply because the circumstances are.
Koyama knows that Ryo and Shige are both easy people to love-to him, it’s as natural as waking up in the morning and going to bed at night-but at the same time, Koyama also knows that two people who are easy to love will not easily love each other.
Especially not when they’re so alike.
Because Shige has a sharp tongue just like Ryo has a sharp tongue; Shige’s is derisive and Ryo’s is thoughtless and both of them end up irritating each other that way, by being so alike that it’s like they’re forced to feel the sting of their own bites whenever they exchange words.
Shige is smart and argues until Ryo is angry; when Ryo is angry he says whatever he needs to say to make Shige just as angry as he is.
Today it’s happening again; today the topic is-unbelievably- left-handedness.
“Just because you’re left-handed isn’t an excuse to hog seats.”
Shige snorts. “It’s not an excuse, it’s a fact. ”
“Learn to eat right-handed then,” Ryo snaps back. “Some of us want to be able to sit next to Tego-nyan and Pi during meals too.”
“It’s not that easy to learn that kind of thing!”
Ryo looks superior. “Sure it is.”
Shige stops and thinks. “If it’s so easy,” he begins after a moment, coolly, “then why don’t you learn to eat left handed too? Then you can sit next to Yamashita-kun and Tegoshi instead of complain to me about it.”
It makes sense.
Which makes Ryo sputter while Shige gets smug. “You!” Ryo snaps suddenly, “Your hair is really disgusting! Cut it!”
And then he storms out of the room.
Shige sighs and tucks his bangs behind his ears self-consciously before he goes back to reading his books. In the meantime, Koyama sits on the couch and clings-wide-eyed- to a bottle of tea. He thinks he feels just a little bit helpless right now.
Koyama greatest hope has always been for everyone in NewS to be in love-to be in member-ai-but he realizes that sometimes, it’s not as easy as simply making a wish.
He wonders what it will take to get Shige and Ryo to fall in love.
~~~~~
Later that day, when Yamapi is peacefully, tiredly using Koyama’s shoulder as a pillow while Tegoshi lays his head in Koyama’s lap, the oldest member worriedly asks them, “Do you guys think that maybe Ryo-chan and Shige don’t like each other?”
Yamapi purses his lips and looks thoughtful. “No,” he says after a moment, simply, and yawns. He’s tired and running on very little sleep, just like always.
Tegoshi nods in agreement with Yamapi’s assessment, stretching languidly before smiling up reassuringly at Koyama. “I think,” he says sweetly, “Ryo-tan and Shige’s love is different from how they love the rest of us.”
“Oh,” Koyama sighs. He looks over his shoulder to where Massu is happily munching on the half of Koyama’s bento that he hadn’t been able to finish during lunch.
“I agree,” Massu confirms happily, around a mouthful of rice.
Koyama wonders if maybe they’re just seeing something he’s not.
~~~~~
The next day Shige complains over the phone to Koyama about something Ryo said to him earlier that afternoon for an entire twenty minutes before Koyama can get a single word in. They hang out a little while after that because Shige wants to blow off steam, though Koyama notices it when Shige keeps his brows furrowed in a severe manner the entire time. He tries to distract his best friend from his indignation at Ryo, but Shige doesn’t seem to want to talk about anything else the entire time they’re together.
Ryo’s blog complains about Shige in return later that night-there is an entire section dedicated to telling Shige to get a haircut- and Koyama can’t help but wonder if maybe he’s actually the one who is seeing something Tegoshi, Massu, and Yamapi aren’t.
Shige cuts his hair later that month.
~~~~~
“It’s like this,” Yamapi tries to explain to a worried Koyama one day, “All of us…most of us… the feeling is gentle; like a burning candle, ne?”
Koyama blinks but nods eventually; he supposes he can see it like that. NewS as a steady, glowing warmth.
“But Nishikido-kun and Shige,” Massu adds, as he absently offers Tegoshi half of his meat bun, “are burning in a different way, right?”
Yamapi grins down at him. “Right! It must be that hot Kansai-blood, ne.”
Koyama’s brow furrows. “What do you mean?”
Tegoshi laughs and reaches out to poke Koyama between his eyebrows; smoothing out the wrinkles there. “Kei-chan, if the rest of NewS is like a candle, then Ryo-tan and Shige are definitely fireworks, ne!” he decides, seemingly at random. Yamapi and Massu nod in learned agreement.
Koyama goes a little bit pale when he hears that. “Eh? They’re going to explode!?”
“Into something shiny,” Yamapi finishes, and shifts obligingly when Tegoshi climbs into his lap and offers him half of his half of Massu’s meat bun.
Koyama thinks that maybe the others are trying to comfort him by saying these things, and while he is grateful for their sentiments, he finds that he can’t do anything to get his mind past the whole image of Shige and Ryo exploding now. It starts to worry him even more than before.
He thinks that maybe he can’t wait for it to happen like it did for everyone else; maybe he ought to go out and do something that will help Shige and Ryo along and make them realize what a nice guy the other is. That’s what member-ai is really all about, isn’t it?
Tegoshi just smiles obliviously when Koyama suggests it; he says that if Kei-chan helps, he is sure there will be an even more beautiful explosion than usual afterwards. Yamapi and Massu happily agree around mouthfuls of meat bun.
Koyama thinks that maybe they’re trying to comfort him again; it’s probably his own fault that it isn’t working.
He tells himself he’ll just have to do his best to try and bring Ryo and Shige together, to see what happens from there. He knows that he really loves Ryo and that he really loves Shige; right now it’s his greatest wish that they’ll be able to love each other one day too.
~~~~~
1. Interesting Each Other
Koyama’s first plan is simple; he thinks that maybe if he just talks about each of their good points to the other they’ll be made more aware of them and as such, notice them more on their own from there on out.
So he calls Shige up first, naturally, and asks, “Shige, Shige, shall we hang out today?”
Shige moves the phone and Koyama knows it’s because Shige is looking at his watch; “I have a class today until one, but afterwards I’m free.”
“Great!” Koyama chirps, “Let’s get lunch together at that café that you wanted to try, ne. The one with the paninis? I’ll treat!”
A pause from the other end.
“Are you going to ask me for some sort of ridiculous favor later?” Shige asks, very naturally suspicious.
When he answers, Koyama’s voice pitches higher than he’d intended. “What? No. I just want to treat my best friend to lunch today!”
Shige sighs, and it sounds like he doesn’t believe Koyama a bit. “I’ll be there at one; whatever your ulterior motive is, it better be of equivalent value to a sandwich and dessert.”
Koyama laughs nervously. “I’ll see you later then, Shige.”
~~~~~
They meet at the café around one thirty; it’s because Shige is a little late out of class but Koyama doesn’t mind because he’s been sitting at the table for the last half-hour, trying to run through the things he wants to say about Ryo today so that they sound natural.
Shige looks a little tired and a little grumpy when he gets there; he says it’s because he had a surprise test in class today. Koyama makes all the appropriate sympathy noises and before long, they order.
“So,” Koyama starts, trying to act natural, “last week Ryo-chan was really manly, right?”
Shige blinks, pausing in the middle of sipping his iced tea to give Koyama an odd look. “How so?”
Koyama blinks. “Um, you know. In general. With everything! Like always. Ryo-chan is always cool and manly.”
Shige snorts. “If that’s what you think then you don’t need to put a condition on it when you say it; that just confuses people.”
“Eh?”
“You said last week Nishikido-kun was manly,” Shige says. “So when you put a time stamp on it like that people will expect that you mean to say something out of the ordinary happened. He did something extraordinarily manly instead of something normally manly like he always is. If you simply say he was as manly as usual right after that instead, it’s anti-climactic because I was expecting some sort of story or anecdote to explain what you were talking about in terms of last week. ”
Koyama stares. “Oh. Haha.” Pause. “Well, he just looked cool, don’t you think?” he manages, and quickly takes a big gulp of his own iced tea to give himself time to think.
Shige throws him another odd look, except vaguely surprised this time and not as derisive as usual. “Koyama,” he says after a beat, carefully, “do you like Nishikido-kun or something?”
Koyama spits his mouthful of iced tea all over Shige’s face.
Shige silently drips back at him and does not look pleased.
~~~~~
After that Koyama thinks that maybe he should wait for a while before he takes Shige out again; at least until Shige stops complaining indignantly to everyone who will listen to him about how Koyama inadvertently spit on him yesterday.
In the meantime he focuses on Ryo instead; Ryo’s a little bit easier to read than Shige is anyway.
“Let’s go get lunch together today, Ryo-chan!” Koyama chirps that afternoon, all smiles.
“Sure,” Ryo shrugs, and stretches lazily before eyeing Koyama a bit. “You’re sweating oddly,” he points out casually, before standing. “What do you want to eat?”
Koyama hastily draws the back of his hand over his forehead. “Ahaha…let’s decide while we walk ne? Since we have time.”
A nod. “That’s fine.”
So they take a walk down the streets together, perusing shop windows for menus while Ryo sends text-messages every now and again. In the meantime, Koyama quickly tries to think of something to praise Shige about that does not include some sort of time stamp, as he has since learned his lesson about things like that.
He tries something a little more vague.
“Shige is really cool ne,” he starts suddenly, and earns a blink from Ryo.
“In what way?” Ryo asks after a moment, lip curling upward slightly like he’s thinking “this oughta be good.”
“In every way! Shige’s definitely cool,” Koyama repeats. “Don’t you think, Ryo-chan? I think soon he’ll be a very manly adult too, just like you are, ne. We should do our best to help him get there, as the oldest members of NewS.”
“I think,” Ryo begins after a moment, “if you really wanted to hang out with him today, you should have asked him.” He looks a mixture of annoyed and amused. “He’s not that annoyed about yesterday. Even though it was hysterical.”
Koyama blinks. “Haha,” he begins, and starts sweating all over again, “That’s not what I meant! I definitely want to hang out with Ryo-chan today.”
“Then you should treat me to lunch,” Ryo tells him coolly. He smiles, just a little bit mischievous.
Koyama smiles back and is a lot relieved (without realizing that maybe, he’d just gotten duped). “Okay!” he agrees quickly, “It’s only fair, since I invited Ryo-chan out, ne.”
A few minutes later they pass a restaurant and Koyama gets inspired; “Ah, Shige says this place is good so let’s try it! Shige definitely has good taste in food, after all. That’s just a small part of his coolness, ne.”
Ryo doesn’t respond right away, instead he sighs and reaches into his pocket, pulling out his cell phone. He scrolls through his phonebook and after a minute, hits the call button.
Koyama stares. “Ryo-chan?”
“Hello?” Ryo says into the phone, when someone else picks up. “It’s me. I’m with Koyama, I think he misses you. Study less and take responsibility for your best friend so he doesn’t bother other people! Stop sulking about the past!”
Then Ryo thrusts the phone at Koyama and heads into the restaurant.
“Hello?” Shige’s voice says, sounding sleepy. “What’s going on? Why is Nishikido-kun calling me to yell at me about you? I didn’t even do anything!”
Koyama sighs and follows Ryo. “Hi, Shige,” he says awkwardly, and thinks that maybe this strategy failed.
~~~~~
2. Praising Each Other
Afterwards, Koyama thinks that maybe the way he praises people is too vague for guys who want down and dirty specifics like Shige and Ryo; he decides that maybe he should try and get Shige and Ryo to directly praise each other instead somehow.
So, as any good Shounen Club host would, he comes up with a game.
“Yosh,” he says backstage the following week, holding a pad and pen in hand, “I’ve come up with a new version of the Ii Toko cha-cha for shokura next week; will you guys help me run it through once to see if it works?”
“Isn’t that the stupid game you came up with last year where we had to compliment each other in rhythm?” Shige asks, and looks not-very interested.
Koyama beams. “Yes!”
“Sure we’ll help!” Yamapi agrees, and winks as subtly as he can at Koyama.
\Which means Ryo sees it and is kind of suspicious, up until Tegoshi pokes him in the arm and smiles cutely. “Nishikido-kun definitely won’t lose at a game like this,” he urges him.
Ryo smiles back. “Of course not, Tego-nyan.”
“Great! So then, Ryo-chan and Shige, ne!” Koyama hastily announces, and grabs the back of the chair Shige is sitting in so he can pull him up next to Ryo.
“Hey!” Shige complains; “I didn’t volunteer!”
Ryo smirks and looks amused; “Don’t be such a whiner,” he tells him.
Shige snorts. “You won’t be able to compliment me anyway, so what’s the point?”
“Okay!” Koyama adds quickly, “the rules are like this, ne. You guys have to compliment each other to the rhythm but you can’t compliment each other on the same things. The first one who gets embarrassed or thinks too long loses. The punishment is saying aishiteru to the winner!”
Ryo and Shige both look a little bit horrified when they hear that.
“Ryo-chan can start, ne. Ready? Go!”
Ryo blinks, then quickly faces Shige, “Sometimes you’re not as stupid as you look,” he sing-songs.
Shige sputters and goes next.
“Despite everything else, you have a big personality.”
Ryo glares. “You’re great at being annoying.”
Shige frowns, and from there, neither of them remember anything about rhythm. “You’re very convincing when you lie; it must be from all the practice.”
“Even though you can’t it’s great that you try hard at singing anyway.”
“I admire the graceful way you stand on your toes to look over other people’s shoulders.”
“I think it’s cute how your mother still dresses you.”
“I think that your role in Attention Please was great. Clearly they couldn’t have done the show without you.”
“I admire how you can still have thirty whole fans even though your hair is disgusting.”
Koyama and the others stare as Shige and Ryo continue to compliment each other to the best of their abilities for the next five minutes.
It ends only because they get called in for dance rehearsals.
~~~~~
“Maybe it’s just a kansai thing,” Tegoshi suggests afterwards, patting a distraught Koyama on the shoulder placatingly. “Like yesterday, ne, I saw Yokoyama-kun take Subaru-kun’s phone while he wasn’t looking; I think he switched the last two digits of everyone’s number in Subaru-kun’s phonebook before putting it back.”
“It’s a different kind of love ne,” Yamapi agrees, and gently offers Koyama a sip of his protein jelly.
That night, before bed, Koyama gives himself a stomachache thinking about explosions.
~~~~~
3. Banding Together
Plan number three comes about when Koyama asks Yamapi for help; after some moments Yamapi purses his lips together in thought and replies, “If it’s something you want to see so much, I think Ryo-chan and Shige would definitely join powers if something they both loved was being threatened, ne. That’s the kind of people they are.”
Koyama thinks about that for a while and eventually decides it’s worth a shot; maybe if Shige and Ryo put their sharp-tongues together against a common enemy they will realize how alike they are after all and become a team.
Love can stem from teamwork Koyama knows; it’s how most of NewS fell in love in the first place.
~~~~~
And Koyama knows of at least one thing that Shige and Ryo both love unabashedly, whether they’ll admit it out loud or not.
“Tegoshi,” he says early that morning, “Tegoshi, I’m going to pick on you a little bit today, okay?”
Tegoshi blinks, sad-eyed. “Why?”
“To help make Ryo-chan and Shige fall in love.”
“Oh!” Tegoshi laughs and rests his head on Koyama’s shoulder. “If you want you can, Kei-chan. No matter what happens, I’ll always forgive you, ne.”
Koyama tells himself he doesn’t mind being the bad guy if it means that he can build love from it, but Tegoshi’s reassurance helps anyway.
~~~~~
“You’re so annoying,” Koyama complains sometime later, and pushes Tegoshi away just as Shige and Ryo walk into the dressing room.
The newcomers pause and blink as Tegoshi stretches, sleepy-eyed and bewildered at Koyama’s moodiness. Then he seems to remember something, and nods.
“Oh. Kei-chan, you’re picking on me today, ne.”
Koyama coughs. “Yes! Because you are annoying,” he repeats, and promises with his eyes to make it up to Tegoshi later.
He glances sideways at Ryo and Shige hopefully in the meantime, bracing himself for the verbal onslaught of Tegoshi defense that will undoubtedly come straight at him any second now.
Ryo speaks first, and when he does, it’s gentle and to Tegoshi and not Koyama at all. “Don’t worry Tego-nyan,” he says, comfortingly, “this guy standing next to me is the only one who’s annoying. Koyama just can’t say it to his face because then he’ll sulk all day and ruin our interviews.”
“Hey!” Shige complains, looking annoyed and sleepy, “Don’t put me in the same group as him. I just got here.”
“I’m not putting you in the same group at all,” Ryo tells him, “It would be rude to Tego-nyan.” Then he tosses his bag in the corner and goes to change in preparation for the TV filming they have later that day. Shige mutters in disbelief to himself before doing the same.
In the meantime, Tegoshi laughs and declares that he loves everyone in NewS lots while Koyama sits on the couch beside him and wonders how he was the one who got forgotten in the midst of everything.
~~~~~
“I think,” Yamapi tells Koyama afterwards, “that it’s because they both know you can never really say those kinds of things to Tegoshi and actually mean them from your heart.”
Koyama sighs and supposes that yes, it makes its own sort of sense.
Tegoshi smiles and assures him that it’s just member-ai again, in its own way. Then he makes Koyama promise to take him out shopping this weekend, to make up for the bullying.
Koyama is helpless to do anything but agree.
~~~~~
4. Eating Together
“Eh, if you wanted to see their love for yourself,” Massu starts, looking surprised when he hears about Koyama’s two failed strategies so far, “why didn’t you just invite them to eat out together?”
Koyama blinks.
Massu smiles. “Sharing food is the greatest present in the world, right?” he asks, and is looking at Koyama’s lunch when he does.
Koyama sighs and pushes his plate towards Massu after a moment; he can’t help but smile lopsidedly at the way Massu’s face lights up as he starts to eat. “Maybe you’re right,” he says, and figures it is worth a shot.
~~~~~
“What shall we eat today?” Koyama poses, slinging his arms around both Ryo and Shige’s shoulders. It’s dinnertime and the others have already gone home after receiving a few significant looks from the oldest member; in the meantime, Koyama gamely suggests that the three of them go and grab something to eat since they’re free for a while, before his radio show is supposed to tape tonight.
“You’re not going to spit on me again are you?” Shige asks, and earns a snicker from Ryo.
“I will try my very hardest not to,” Koyama replies, and it’s probably the best that he can do at this point.
Ryo grins. “I don’t know, it was by far the funniest thing I heard all week.”
Shige sighs. “Let’s get yakiniku,” he suggests, because when he thinks about it, large chunks of meet are not particularly spew-able over great distances.
“I want ramen,” Ryo chimes in next, and Koyama has horrible flash forward of his broth all over Shige’s stylish hair.
Shige apparently sees it too, because he scowls. “Didn’t you already have ramen yesterday? Don’t just say you want to eat something because you’re amusing yourself with thoughts of my pain.”
“Yesterday’s ramen was because it was convenient,” Ryo replies, “and today’s ramen is because I actually want it. Because of your pain.”
“Yesterday wasn’t supposed to be ramen at all! Yesterday was my study day,” Shige snorts, and Koyama pauses in the midst of his careful mental planning to wonder-briefly- what the two of them are talking about.
“Well yesterday was my off day,” Ryo retaliates, like that’s all that matters.
“Then spend it productively!” Shige shouts. “Instead of harassing people and eating ramen you don’t actually really want to eat.”
“Eh, I didn’t know Ryo-chan liked ramen so much,” Koyama muses quickly, automatically, because sometimes his mouth works without his brain to accompany it (mostly when people start to raise their voices around him). It’s the MC in him.
As predicted, Ryo and Shige both stop to look at him. Oddly.
“He doesn’t like it that much,” Shige says, at the exact moment Ryo says, “I like yakisoba more.”
“See?” Shige finishes, just as Ryo tells him not to talk at the same time as he is.
“It’s rude.”
“You’re rude!” Shige shoots back; “If you like yakisoba more than ramen then naturally you should suggest eating yakisoba, right?”
“Should we get yakisoba then?” Koyama asks, looking between the two of them and feeling like they are speaking a completely different language suddenly.
“Ramen,” Ryo reiterates, and smiles sweetly at Shige.
“Why do you always get to decide?”
Ryo snorts and starts leading them down the street, to a good ramen shop he knows. “Because if I left it up to you two idiots to choose we’d starve to death on the street.”
Shige sighs resignedly. “I’m sitting next to Koyama,” he says after a while, as he moves to follow after Ryo, “so if he spits again, I won’t be in the line of fire.”
Koyama thinks that maybe it’s not the start of a the nice bonding-dinner he’d been hoping for.
~~~~~
Later, Ryo ends up being the one to spit, when he sees the face Shige makes when Koyama suddenly tells them that he and Ryo are alike in a lot of ways, right in the middle of the meal without any prompting.
Shige, once again, drips.
~~~~~
5. Traveling Together
“Ne,” Tegoshi starts, sounding inspired, “You and me and Shige have been traveling together and you and Yamapi and Uchi have traveled together, but you and Ryo-tan and Shige have never gone anywhere alone together right?”
Koyama nods.
“Maybe you should go on a trip! That would be fun.”
Koyama blinks and thinks about it. “Do you think it’s really a good idea, Tego-nyan?”
Tegoshi pouts. “My ideas are never bad. You should go this weekend. Somewhere summery.”
Koyama smiles helplessly in the face of Tegoshi’s resolve. “I’ll ask them ne.”
~~~~~
“This weekend? Sure, I’m free,” Shige says, when Koyama calls to ask. “Where do you want to go? What do you want to do?”
In the face of Shige’s very normal questions, Koyama suddenly realizes that he hasn’t really thought anything through yet. “Uh…”
“Koyama?” There’s a slight edge to Shige’s voice when he says the older boy’s name, like he’s thinking, “don’t tell me this moron invited me out without even having a plan.”
Koyama hastens to develop a plan.
“Somewhere summery!” he blurts automatically, after a moment of panicked thinking.
“So… anywhere in the northern hemisphere. Great,” Shige replies dryly.
Koyama tries to come up with a good idea before Shige completely loses patience with him (which is usually somewhere in the five second range).
“Osaka!” he decides quickly, “Let’s go to Osaka. There are festivals and things, right? That’s summery.”
A pause. “Why would Nishikido-kun want to go to his hometown for a vacation? That’s not traveling at all.”
Koyama sometimes hates that he talks without thinking.
“Eh…” he murmurs, fidgeting a bit, “then…how about… Disneyland?”
“What are you, five?”
“Disneyland is fun!”
Shige snorts. “You know what, just call Nishikido-kun and ask him where he wants to go. He’ll come up with something.”
Koyama blinks, and remembers a few days ago, where Shige had complained about that very thing. “Eh? Really?”
“Yes! Stop wasting my minutes.”
“Okay!” Koyama chirps after a second, and thinks that if Shige is interested in Ryo’s opinion, then maybe he’s making some progress after all.
He laughs to himself and is glad Tegoshi-sama has such great ideas.
~~~~~
“I have location work with Eito this weekend,” Ryo tells him plainly over the phone a little while later.
“Oh,” Koyama replies, and feels his heart sink.
“Have fun with Shige.”
Ryo hangs up and Koyama holds onto his cell for a while afterwards, listening to the dial tone and wondering if Tegoshi’s powers are taking a vacation this week or something.
~~~~~
Koyama calls Shige back a little while after that; he sighs heavily when he breaks the news.
“Oi, don’t sound so sad to just be going somewhere with me!” Shige complains, but doesn’t sound as irritated as he usually is when it comes to things like this. “Do you still want to go?” he asks after a moment, and seems kind of unsure when he asks.
It’s in moments like these where Koyama can’t help but smile a little and remember why he loves the uncertain young Shige who calls him stupid and makes fun of him all the time.
“Of course I still want to go with you,” he says.
“Well…okay then. I guess I’ll have to be the one to figure something out after all.”
Shige hangs up sounding thoughtful; Koyama wonders what that’s supposed to mean.
~~~~~
On Friday night Shige sends Koyama a text message:
“Meet me at the station at ten. Bring the usual stuff.”
Koyama replies:
“Okay!”
He is packed and ready to go by eight o’clock that evening; he knows that if it’s something Shige planned then it will definitely be fun and he can use the opportunity to relax and come up with new ideas for next week.
Shige and Ryo’s love story is just beginning, after all.
Koyama knows he just has to keep trying hard.
~~~~~
When Koyama gets to the station at ten fifteen on Saturday morning Shige is standing on the platform looking impatient. Koyama laughs and thinks he seems very fresh today, with sunglasses and a horrible hat.
“You’re late,” Shige chides, when he sees him, and Koyama apologizes while grinning.
Shige thrusts a ticket to Osaka at him next, and tries to be very nonchalant about it.
“Eh?” Koyama says, because he can’t help it when he sees. “Osaka? Really? Didn’t Shige just tell me a few days ago that it was a bad idea?”
“It was a bad idea few days ago because you just blurted it without thinking!” Shige defends, looking embarrassed. “At least I have plans, okay?”
Koyama laughs. “Okay, Shige.”
They board the train together with Shige still trying to act cool and Koyama unable to hide his smile.
“Stop smirking!” Shige shouts, eventually.
“I love you, Shige,” Koyama replies, and earns them both odd looks from some of the other passengers.
~~~~~
They arrive at the train station in Osaka roughly three and a half hours later; Koyama had fallen asleep on Shige’s shoulder but managed not to drool this time.
Shige is flipping intently through a small notebook when Koyama opens his eyes.
“Lunch,” Shige declares, when Koyama makes inquisitive, sleepy noises. “There’s this place that we’re going to for lunch on the way to the hotel. Then we’ll check in afterwards.”
Koyama lights up as he stretches and grabs his duffle bag. “What are we eating?”
“Yakisoba,” Shige grunts, and looks mortified for some reason.
~~~~~
The shop they go to is a little hole in the wall noodle shop run by a friendly elderly couple; Koyama wonders what kind of research Shige must have done to find this place because it probably wouldn’t be in any tour books or internet travel sites.
“Is it a memory of your youth?” Koyama whispers, as the old woman toddles by to pour some of the other customers their tea.
Shige gives him a look. “No.”
Koyama laughs. “Eh, Shige’s research abilities are awesome.”
Shige turns red and mutters something unintelligible before putting the menu up between them. “Just order!”
It turns out to be the best yakisoba Koyama has ever had.
~~~~~
After that it’s a short bus ride to the hotel to check in, and after they drop off their luggage, they head straight to the aquarium. Koyama watches in awe as Shige says something to the guy at the ticket booth that gets them both in for the price of one; he can’t help but think to himself that Shige’s research skills are definitely top notch.
Once inside, Koyama rushes in excitedly and promptly presses his nose up against the glass of one of the giant tanks, watching in fascination as the horseshoe crabs scurry around on the floor like giant bugs.
“Eh, I think that one’s bullying the other one,” Koyama marvels worriedly after a moment, when he sees one of the crabs start to chase after the other.
Shige sighs and gives him another one of those looks, the ones that say, “you don’t really know anything, do you? ”
“Ah, he caught him, he caught him!” Koyama shouts. “They don’t eat each other, do they?”
“Koyama, they’re mating,” Shige explains.
Koyama turns red. “Ah. Oh.”
He slowly peels his face away from the glass. “I wonder,” he starts slowly, with a little laugh, “if they know they’re being watched, ne.”
Shige slaps a hand to his forehead and moves on.
~~~~~
At four pm they hop the bus again and head to the market district; Koyama buys souvenirs for everyone (even Ryo) and Shige can’t do anything but shake his head and remind him, “Nishikido-kun lives here,” as he buys a hat from the vendor they’re standing in front of.
“Oh, I know! You two can match!” Koyama squeals, and is suddenly hit by a wave inspiration. “Wouldn’t that be cute?”
“No!” Shige yells, but it’s too late, Koyama buys another one of the hats Shige had just bought and puts it in his bag for Ryo.
“Everyone should have a matching thing with each of their groupmates,” Koyama tells him sagely, “It’s member-ai.”
“Not everyone is you, ” Shige snorts.
“Where to next?” Koyama asks, bouncing a bit on his toes. “Shige’s really planned this out well, ne.”
“We’re staying here a little longer,” Shige informs him, without telling him why.
At five-thirty, Shige’s cell phone goes off and he looks incredibly relieved for some reason.
At five-thirty-eight, Koyama nearly jumps out of his skin when Ryo taps him on the shoulder and says, “Yo.”
~~~~~
“Eh?!” Koyama shouts, in the middle of the marketplace as he looks between the two of them. “Don’t you have work today, Ryo-chan? With Eito?”
“Yeah, we were shooting nearby on location. I ended at five,” Ryo tells him simply, and shrugs. Then he turns to Shige, “Oi, did you go to the…”
“Yes,” Shige sighs.
Ryo grins. “Well?”
“It was good.”
Ryo preens. “I told you.”
Shige snorts but doesn’t say anything.
In the meantime, Koyama blinks some more, looking between the two of them. “Eh?!?!?!” he says again, only louder this time.
In case they’d forgotten he was here.
~~~~~
“This idiot called me,” Ryo explains a few minutes later, after Koyama is all screeched out, “and said you really wanted to go to Osaka this weekend for some reason.”
Shige looks embarrassed. “Nishikido-kun suggested some things we could do, since you were interested.”
“I looked up the addresses for you both,” Ryo corrects, and grins. “Be thankful and praise me appropriately, for staying up all night on the phone with Shige to plan this out for you.”
Shige rolls his eyes. “Okay, so he looked them…”
“And the bus schedule, too,” Ryo adds.
Shige sputters. “Let me finish talking!”
Ryo ignores him. “The yakisoba was good, right?”
“Really good!” Koyama automatically agrees.
“Yeah, it was better than that ramen you made me eat with you when I was supposed to be studying for a test,” Shige can’t help but snipe, sounding bitter but not really.
“You’re lucky I worry about those things for you! If I let you study all day you’d become even more boring. Then you’d have no fans instead of the handful you have now and wouldn’t that just be sad?”
“I don’t need your help!” Shige shouts, and makes Ryo laugh.
In the meantime, Koyama stares. “So the two of you…together. This weekend? Everything? Ehhhh?!?!”
Ryo and Shige stop bickering and turn to blink at him. “It looks like something inside his head popped,” Shige diagnoses, after a beat.
Ryo agrees. “Right, we’re getting dinner,” he says, and between the two of them, they manage to drag a very confused Koyama back onto the bus.
In the meantime, Koyama thinks that maybe he’s been missing something after all.
~~~~~
That night, while Ryo is treating them to okonomiyaki at one of his favorite places, Koyama suddenly gets a text message.
Kei-chan,
I hope you’re having fun in Osaka; Shige said you three were going this weekend! There should be summery things and all sorts of fun stuff happening there right now, ne!
I hope you get to see some great fireworks while you’re there!
Bring me back something nice,
Tegoshi
“Fireworks, huh?” Koyama murmurs to himself ruefully, and turns to look over his shoulder, where Ryo is currently shoving mouthful after mouthful of hot okonomiyaki into Shige’s mouth.
“You idiot!” Ryo cackles as Shige chews, “Oh man, you’re an idiot. I can’t believe that fit! You look like you’re going to throw up.”
“Who’s fault is that?!” Shige screams, after he swallows. “I think my tongue is burnt.”
Ryo just laughs some more, “Drink water, you idiot,” he chortles, and there’s a warmth there that Koyama had somehow missed before, in the middle of all his worrying, “drink water and you’ll be okay.”
“That will just make my stomach feel worse!!” Shige complains, but finds himself drinking the water anyway.
He doesn’t sound particularly annoyed either, not when you really, really listen.
And after a moment Koyama suddenly starts to laugh, phone in hand and Tegoshi’s words in front of his face like some sort of glowing sign from God.
It’s in those moments when he realizes (happily, finally) that he was wrong after all, that there’s been love here all along. It’s in brilliant flashes of light that he’d missed before, because he’d been closing his eyes tightly this whole time, afraid of the loud explosions that came with them. It’s all there, right between the moment when Shige tells Ryo he doesn’t mix the batter well and the moment when he takes it and mixes his for him. It’s between the moment when Ryo tells Shige to eat faster or his food will get cold and the moment when Ryo puts the fresh okonomiyaki on Shige’s plate and takes the bottom one for himself anyway.
It’s in the moment when they both turn and look at him oddly, asking him, “Have you suddenly gone retarded?” at exactly the same time, because he’s sitting there, staring at them while laughing and not eating at all.
Koyama smiles and simply asks for seconds; as he eats he thinks that even though love may not have come to Ryo and Shige as easily as it had to Yamapi or Tegoshi or Massu or himself, even if it isn’t as gentle as their love for Tegoshi or as admiring as their love for Yamapi or as patient as their love for Massu, Koyama thinks that it’s still beautiful anyway.
It’s like fireworks.
~~~~~
Epilogue- By Candlelight
That night, back at the hotel, Koyama lies in his bed looking up at his phone’s gently glowing LCD display as Shige snores in the next bed over and Ryo snoozes in the armchair; he quickly, quietly types out a text message.
He writes:
Tego-nyan,
You’re right; the fireworks I saw in Osaka tonight were beautiful.
I bought you a t-shirt; it has a teddy bear on it.
Love,
Kei-chan
Koyama falls asleep smiling; he thinks to himself that he’s glad NewS was able to fall in love.
END