Passing Seasons
Title: Passing Seasons
Rating: PG13
Pairing: Nino/Ohno, Jun/Aiba
Genre: General
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Summary: Johnny’s Entertainment falls apart and the group is left to find new careers.
Note: I’d better call this AU because we all know this will NEVER happen.
Turned out that Johnny Kitagawa was a bastard.
Well, if you had ever met him you would probably think that anyway, but now it was official.
He had liquidated the company.
The old man, for reasons unknown, had cashed in on the few assets Johnny’s Entertainment had, taken the money and hadn’t resurfaced since.
Of course, there were a lot of rumors going around as to why one of the idol industry monopolies had suddenly been disposed of. The most outrageous was that Johnny’s ex-wife had demanded a settlement of some tens of billions of dollars in order to not expose Johnny’s darker secrets, while the most realistic was that one of his rival companies in Korea had paid him off. And since Johnny was the primary shareholder of the company, it didn’t really matter what had happened because what he said went. He may have just had a bad (really really astronomically bad) day. Even his board of directors and hired executives couldn’t convince Johnny to retract his decision.
And when it came time to take care of his boys, the man’s heartlessness was revealed. It was true than many businessmen were motivated by greed, but this…this was pure cruelty.
There was a clause in each of his contracts that stated that an ex-Johnny couldn’t work for another company that had anything to do with the idol market for two years after their employment was terminated. This was to insure that no other companies were using Johnny’s as a “scouting” source, offering his idols more money to do essentially what they were doing at JE.
Well, even though everyone knew that Johnny could have dismissed this clause when the company dissolved, he didn’t, either because it was one of his ex-wife’s demands or part of his agreement with the Korean company.
The day after the announcement, Johnny’s office had been flooded with high paid lawyers demanding that there was no company, how could this contract still be valid? But Johnny had his own team of lawyers defending his actions, and after another five days of hashing it out, they had decided that by the time it had gotten through the legal system, the two years would be up anyway.
Suddenly the job market was saturated with hundreds of male idols that were unemployed. They excelled at singing, dancing, and looking pretty, but otherwise, not many of them had other career skills.
Arashi included.
Although there were still a few other companies intact that offered jobs to actors and other entertainers, there was a little skirting around to be done on how close you could get to being an idol without really being an idol. The hired lawyers were put to good use as questions of the definition of what an idol was, exactly, down to what kind of clothes they were required to wear, were hammered out.
After they got over the initial shock of the news, the five members of Arashi immediately took to planning out the rest of their lives. Yes, they could probably find new jobs as actors or sign under a new record label and restore their success with a little effort and searching, but there was an unsaid agreement between them that maybe it was time to move on.
They loved their fans, of course. Each of them agreed that it would be the biggest downside in the shift-they were created by the fans after all. There would be no more sitting around hotels rooms together discussing what sort of dance moves would make the audience scream, no more debating about which lyrics were most inspiring, no more playful skits on air to see what kind of a reaction they would receive.
But there would also be no more late night rehearsals that only ended when Aiba’s breathing became so uneven that Ohno forced them to stop, no more quadruple bookings that only proceeded because Jun had down three cups of coffee in an hour, no more missed weddings of a childhood friend for Sho or unfinished video game competitions for Nino.
Arashi continued to smile, almost as if they were glad for the mid-life crisis.
There was still a chance for a reunion tour in two years, after all.
Sho had immediately been offered a new contract with NewsZero, since the one with Johnny’s had become void, and he accepted it without a second thought. He was one of about half of the job-searching idols with any sort of college education and that coupled with his business and political experience left the newscaster feeling confident that the transition would go smoothly.
Jun hadn’t floundered either. He had joined a prominent modeling agency and had continued to audition for television dramas, full length movies, and the occasional advertisement. Although he had to work far harder to get these jobs than he had when Johnny’s had still been around, the name Matsumoto Jun still held a heavy connotation in the industry and companies were still jumping to put the ex-idol to use.
Aiba had looked thoughtful for about a week straight (which had worried Nino enough that he suggested to Ohno that they take him to a physiatrist) before he had announced to the group over dinner one night that he was going to go to school to be a veterinarian. He planned to move out of the apartment he’d been renting up until then and back in with his parents in order to keep whatever savings he’d put aside intact. From that point onward he was going to dedicate himself to studying, catching up on what he had forgotten from high school, and then taking tests to get into a college.
They had all been surprised at his decision, to say the least. Sho had blinked at him with worry, wondering if he should lecture his friend on the seriousness of going back to school. Ohno had smiled after a few seconds of staring blankly, and then congratulated him, telling him to try his best and if there was anything he could do to help let him know. Nino had looked dumbfounded and then made a snide comment that sounded like do you really think you can make it through school, veterinarians have to be there for a while, you know. Jun had given him a bright smile and pulled him into a tight hug, congratulating him like Ohno had, and gave him a few reassuring words.
A few minutes after Aiba’s surprising announcement, when they had been served a second round of beers, Nino tentatively cleared his throat and said he and Ohno had one too. They were going on a sightseeing trip, his voice was embarrassed, now that they had the time. Maybe China, Korea, Singapore, Australia would be fun, and definitely America. They might stop in Europe on their way back, England, Germany, Italy, all those big names. If they had time they would visit India and eat some curry.
It wasn’t a big deal, Nino continued to explain. They had the money, they’d been meaning to for a while, and now they had the time as well. It would only be for three months and then they would come back and find jobs like good Japanese citizens, but they had to take the chance while they had it.
Ohno had simply nodded and smiled while Nino explained their plan.
The other three friends beamed at the couple and immediately agreed it was a wonderful idea.
And so Arashi officially split up.
+++
It started about a year later.
Sho had kept his original apartment, a large flat with a top floor view of the city and more room that he could possibly ever use, but in his business you had to show people you had money in order for them to take you seriously. His living room was larger than most apartments in Tokyo with a beautiful hard wood floor and a stylized red couch with two matching recliners. His television was longer than Sho when he was laying down and took up most of the wall on that side; it was another item he didn’t really need or at least he could have dealt with a smaller one, but his sempai* at work had assured him it was one of the better investments he could make, even though his business partners would probably never see it.
He also had his own room along with an oversized bed and fluffy beige carpet. It looked slightly less bare than the rest of his house due to the few things from Arashi he’d gathered over the years: a drawing from Ohno (the rapper had never figured why Ohno had been inspired to draw him a bulky foreigner with Sho’s name on his hat), a figure that Aiba had brought him back from Africa (it had broken in the suitcase and Sho had never worked out what it was supposed to be), a candle that smelled deliciously like coffee that Jun had randomly brought over (Sho tried not to take the sudden action as a hint that his apartment stunk) as well as the DVD that Nino had first used to learn magic (Sho was pretty sure the present had just been an excuse not to buy him something else, but he had kept it anyway). And that wasn’t mentioning all of the souvenirs that had piled up from their group trips. Sho also had some memorabilia from the Olympics in Beijing, his wisdom teeth proudly on display, and a sizeable collection of CDs in the corner along with an expensive stereo and disk remixer.
There was also an extra room that Sho used as an office, equipped with a chic looking desk and a computer on top, a short shelf full of papers and a few text books, as well as a bulletin board that the newscaster would periodically post articles or reports on.
Plainly put: Sho had more room that he knew what to do with.
So when Nino had asked him out to dinner one night and suggested that maybe Sho could use a roommate, the newscaster didn’t refuse.
After Nino and Ohno had returned from their long trip (arms full of souvenirs and a million pictures to show), the two of them had moved back home with their respective parents. Beforehand, they had sort of been sharing an apartment (Sho wasn’t sure on the details) which they had let go just before their sightseeing adventure.
Once they were back in Japan and looking into their options, Nino had somehow been able to open his own stage show in Aoyama and Sho suspected their old manager had taken some part in it. The newscaster had gone to see it opening week with Jun, Aiba, and Ohno, and he had to admit that he was impressed that Nino had incorporated so much of himself into the production. He had asked Ohno during the intermission why he wasn’t performing with his boyfriend and Leader had just shrugged and said something like he would rather simply watch Nino instead.
The first act started with Nino welcoming the audience and telling a few jokes, then moved into a few musical numbers, ones that Sho discovered the actor had written himself. Part two was a magic show in which the newscaster almost pissed himself laughing so hard, and it ended with Nino singing and dancing to a classy song with two showgirls while wearing a sparkly suit and top hat.
Although most of the attendees were probably old Arashi fans, the show continued to be sold out every night, even weeks later (Nino only did shows on the weekend as to not cut in to his video game time). Sho wasn’t sure what kind of revenues he was pulling in, but it was obviously enough for Nino to offer to pay half of Sho’s bills (which were quite substantial, although not unreasonable for his income bracket).
And so Nino had moved in with Sho, who was actually relieved to have another person at his house, if only for the fact it would be taken care of while the newscaster was out of town on one of his many business trips. Sho had moved his things out of the office and set up in a corner of the living room, which wasn’t much of a problem since he liked the open space better anyway, and Nino had filled the room with his own belonging. He slept on a futon on the carpet and Sho allowed him to use the short shelf for his massive collection of video games (which didn’t fit on it at all-and Sho found out a little later that Nino had only brought half of what he actually owned). He had also allowed Nino to set up his consols in front of the oversized television (he didn’t care how his friend used it as long as Sho got to occasionally watch the news at night).
After everything was said and done, Sho’s apartment seemed a little fuller and definitely homier.
+++
The news that Aiba had gotten into a pre-vet program came a little while later. Sho tried to tell himself that it was certainly due to the fact that Aiba had so much experience with animals and not simply because he had been frighteningly famous a year ago. The new student would have to go through two years of math and science and all those things that he already knew but couldn’t answer test questions about before he would then have to apply for the school itself.
Sho was impressed he’d lasted as long has he had, but Aiba definitely had more than a few years ahead of him.
Although the animal lover had done better than expected on his own, once he was attending classes and had a schedule for the tests he would be taking, he had immediately come to Sho for help.
Sho knew next to nothing about the functions of animals, but he still knew a lot about studying.
Since he didn’t have a job and was dedicating every part of his life to school, Aiba’s books and papers had ended up at Sho’s apartment, taking over the small office he had made in the corner. The student was there most days; when he wasn’t studying he was either trying to explain to Nino how a cow’s digestive system worked (they have four stomachs, Nino, four!) or creating a mess in Sho’s kitchen with one of his usual experiments.
Eventually he started sleeping on the couch at night. Sometimes his parents would call Sho’s cell phone to make sure he was there and offer to bring over some Chinese food, but the newscaster would always politely refuse and assure them their son was perfectly fine (he was sure Aiba’s family was just as weirded out by the man’s sudden study habits as much as Sho and Nino were).
+++
One day Sho came back from a two week business trip to find Ohno lounging on the couch with Nino practically lying on top of him.
The newscaster blinked at him unexpectedly, as it had been the first time he’d seen Ohno inside of his apartment since the pair had gotten back from their trip.
There was a tense silence in which Sho didn’t move, and finally Ohno greeted him with a “Yo”.
Sho replied with the same word, then toed off his shoes and placed his traveling bag by the door.
“Oh-chan came over, I hope you don’t mind,” Nino mumbled, looking at his roommate sleepily.
Sho thought it was a little late for the explanation.
Ohno had taken up a job at the dock, which the newscaster realized had probably been his dream for a while. The hours were terrible, lasting from around 3 to 4 a.m. until late morning, and the pay had to be significantly less than their previous wage, but Ohno never complained and, in fact, seemed more light-hearted than when he had been an idol, from what Sho could see. He would consistently send different kinds of fish home with Nino (Aiba would immediately explain which organs had been removed and why this fish had a longer nose than the others) and spent his plentiful free time painting and sleeping in. He knew that Nino and Ohno were still hanging around each other like they were attached at the hip, but Sho hadn’t actually ever seen the fisherman within his apartment, probably because of their mismatch of schedules.
Sho was glad for that, since he wasn’t sure what kind of noises he would hear from Nino’s room if Ohno was there as much as Aiba was.
The businessman had crashed on his oversized bed, and when he had woken up several hours later, he found that Ohno was still there, cooking up a fillet of fish for dinner with Nino in the kitchen.
+++
Jun was the last one to show up.
Out of all of them, he was the busiest worker, having a schedule similar to what the idols had followed when they were still working for Johnny’s.
He was starring in a drama right now, after a year of building a resume that had previous just come with working for JE. It was insanely popular, as the production of dramas had waned for a while after the blip in the idol market at the loss of Johnny’s, and Jun was more famous now than he had ever been. He often had photo shoots booked in week blocks for his drama, advertisements, and his base work as a fashion model, without a break in his schedule. His days off would come sporadically and he often spent them in his bed in his own apartment. As often as the broken-up group got together, the only time Sho had seen the youngest star had been when they had attended Nino’s show together and a dinner to celebrate Arashi’s debut anniversary a few months later.
The doorbell rang that night and Sho, being the nearest, had answered it. Aiba jumped up and darted across the room as Jun entered the apartment with a bottle of wine and a takeout box of kara-age. Sho had stared distractedly, but Jun didn’t bother to offer an explanation and the two of them (him and Aiba) were now busy in the kitchen, busting open the chicken and popping the cork off the expensive looking bottle of wine.
Apparently there was enough of the snack to go around, because Aiba offered some to Nino and Ohno who had been sitting in front of the television playing video games. Well, Nino was playing, Ohno was simply watching with a dazed expression.
The gamer paused and elbowed Ohno, and they also entered the kitchen. The pair stood next to Aiba and Jun and began eating the food without bothering to pull out chopsticks. Jun politely asked Sho where his wine glasses were kept and the newscaster was finally pulled out of his trance.
He jolted into the kitchen and pulled five glasses out of the cupboard and lined them on the counter as Jun poured the alcohol. After a few minutes Sho began bring out any other snack food he had on hand; chips that had been sitting on the counter, left over fish that had been in the fridge, and, when they got desperate, Nino and Ohno ran down the street for some sushi.
Jun had apologized and left right before midnight and afterwards the rest of the group had chatted (somewhat drunkenly as the pair had brought back beer, too) about the ad that Jun had been in recently and what the tabloids were saying about him and his costar (which was mostly facilitated by Aiba).
Although they were all too familiar with that world that they had left, none of them sounded envious or regretful of what Jun had made for himself. Instead it seemed like they were genuinely happy that things had gone the way they had.
+++
After his next business trip, Sho had come home in the middle of the night. Knowing that someone was probably asleep in the apartment somewhere (Ohno had taken to sleeping over in Nino’s room, whether it was during the normal hours of the night or sometime during the day), the newscaster had been polite enough to stumble through the living room in the dark and feel his way back to his bedroom instead of flipping on the overhead light.
The door was open, as he usually left it, but when Sho began to walk somewhat confidently towards his bed, he tripped over a big pile of fluff on the floor. He had stopped immediately and felt the rest of the way to his destination, where there was a lamp on top of a low dresser. The newscaster turned it on, trying to figure out if he had accidentally left something there or if it belonged to someone else, and found that Aiba and Jun were sleeping in a futon together on his floor.
After processing the scene, Sho turned the light back off and decided he wasn’t going to ask.
+++
The next day the newscaster woke up earlier than he wanted to (since he had gotten home so late last night), because the blinds on his window had accidentally been left open and the rising sun was somehow piercing through the fort of blankets he had made around himself. Sho turned as he heard a sound coming from the space beside him and only then remembered that for some reason Aiba and Jun had been sharing a futon on his bedroom floor.
Turned out the noise was Aiba moaning as Jun’s forced his tongue into his mouth.
Sho really had not needed to see that.
Without saying anything the newscaster threw the blankets over the top of his head and closed his eyes, trying to fall back asleep.
After another five minutes of the sound of Aiba moaning and Jun’s suction-y kisses made Sho finally throw his covers off and sit up straight in his bed, staring at the two of them.
At the sudden movement, both pairs of eyes turned to gape at him, looking surprised and very, very guilty.
“Ah, Sho-chan… you’re home…?” Aiba asked nervously from his place underneath Jun, who was simply smiling and trying to pretend that they weren’t doing what they really were doing on the floor of Sho’s room.
“At least keep quiet!” Sho replied curtly, then pulled his blanket back over his head.
After that incident, Jun had begun staying over almost every night with Aiba. The pair had moved into Sho’s bed with him, the animal fanatic insisting that there was plenty of room for two more and besides, Sho’s extra futon was a little small and it would never do in winter when it got colder. Of course Sho couldn’t argue once Aiba gave him the proper puppy dog eyes, and Jun said that he would pitch in for the rent of the apartment if he needed to.
For the most part this wasn’t too disturbing, since Aiba and Jun kept to their own side of the mattress in the beginning, but as Sho got used to the crowded bed, they seemed to moved closer.
One day, Sho woke up to discover that he was squished in the middle of them, Aiba cuddling up under Sho’s chin and Jun’s arms around his waist.
It was strange, but Sho hadn’t bothered to wake either of them up.
+++
It was several months later that Sho made his realization.
He had just come home from work. It had been two years exactly from when Johnny’s had closed, and NewsZero was doing a story on the anniversary and asking Sho about Arashi’s future. They had pulled out a bunch of old pictures of the band to show during the segment and had asked Sho where his comrades were now. The newscaster had complied and shared a few stories about the other members and what they were doing with their lives, but he had said (honestly) that he didn’t know much of the details about his friends’ new careers.
He, of course, left out the fact that they all seemed to be living in Sho’s apartment, which was infinitely more crowded since they had “broken up”.
When he came home that day, running through the show in his head and trying to remember details to pass on to his roommates, the newscaster had stopped for a second in the living room, which was deserted. Nino’s bedroom door was closed, which probably meant that he had locked himself up with Ohno (but there were no noises, so it was safe to assume that Leader was asleep and Nino playing his gameboy next to him). Jun was probably at work, and if the newscaster remembered correctly, Aiba had had a test scheduled that afternoon.
As he put his briefcase down, it hit Sho just how much his apartment had changed since Nino had moved in.
In front of his oversized television was a pile of consols, wires, and controllers belonging to Nino.
In the corner next to that was a box of tackle and Ohno’s favorite fishing pole, which he now only used when he went out by himself on the occasional Sunday afternoon.
Aiba’s papers were still piled on top of his desk, drowning his computer, and there was a poseable figure of a horse on top, shaped in an awkward position.
Making a full rotation, Sho then noticed that there was a considerably large pile of unwatched movies sitting on the shelf below the television, which no doubt belonged to Jun.
Sho smiled. It was true that Arashi had disbanded two years ago.
But it was also true that they had gotten back together.
+++
*Sempai refers to one's senior or superior
A/N: As you probably noticed, you got redirected to a community! Unfortunately, I'm having a few minor formatting issues right now, so bear with me! >.<
Instead of starting up a new account to post my fanfiction, I thought this would be easier. So, if you want to, you can follow this community to get updates or to easily look through what I've already written. I think this is much more convenient!
As for this story... I know Arashi will never break up like this. Johnny will stay around as long as he's making money and even if the company went away, Arashi would just go through someone else. =.=; As I admitted to yarukizero, this was basically an excuse for me to do an AU.
By the way, yarukizero really helped me push this from something half-assed to what it is now, which I believe is at least readable. It was really a mess when she first saw it. =.=;;;
Slowly posting again, so watch for some more!
Rating: PG13
Pairing: Nino/Ohno, Jun/Aiba
Genre: General
Disclaimer: I guess Johnny’s technically owns Arashi, huh? Not me.
Summary: Johnny’s Entertainment falls apart and the group is left to find new careers.
Note: I’d better call this AU because we all know this will NEVER happen.
Turned out that Johnny Kitagawa was a bastard.
Well, if you had ever met him you would probably think that anyway, but now it was official.
He had liquidated the company.
The old man, for reasons unknown, had cashed in on the few assets Johnny’s Entertainment had, taken the money and hadn’t resurfaced since.
Of course, there were a lot of rumors going around as to why one of the idol industry monopolies had suddenly been disposed of. The most outrageous was that Johnny’s ex-wife had demanded a settlement of some tens of billions of dollars in order to not expose Johnny’s darker secrets, while the most realistic was that one of his rival companies in Korea had paid him off. And since Johnny was the primary shareholder of the company, it didn’t really matter what had happened because what he said went. He may have just had a bad (really really astronomically bad) day. Even his board of directors and hired executives couldn’t convince Johnny to retract his decision.
And when it came time to take care of his boys, the man’s heartlessness was revealed. It was true than many businessmen were motivated by greed, but this…this was pure cruelty.
There was a clause in each of his contracts that stated that an ex-Johnny couldn’t work for another company that had anything to do with the idol market for two years after their employment was terminated. This was to insure that no other companies were using Johnny’s as a “scouting” source, offering his idols more money to do essentially what they were doing at JE.
Well, even though everyone knew that Johnny could have dismissed this clause when the company dissolved, he didn’t, either because it was one of his ex-wife’s demands or part of his agreement with the Korean company.
The day after the announcement, Johnny’s office had been flooded with high paid lawyers demanding that there was no company, how could this contract still be valid? But Johnny had his own team of lawyers defending his actions, and after another five days of hashing it out, they had decided that by the time it had gotten through the legal system, the two years would be up anyway.
Suddenly the job market was saturated with hundreds of male idols that were unemployed. They excelled at singing, dancing, and looking pretty, but otherwise, not many of them had other career skills.
Arashi included.
Although there were still a few other companies intact that offered jobs to actors and other entertainers, there was a little skirting around to be done on how close you could get to being an idol without really being an idol. The hired lawyers were put to good use as questions of the definition of what an idol was, exactly, down to what kind of clothes they were required to wear, were hammered out.
After they got over the initial shock of the news, the five members of Arashi immediately took to planning out the rest of their lives. Yes, they could probably find new jobs as actors or sign under a new record label and restore their success with a little effort and searching, but there was an unsaid agreement between them that maybe it was time to move on.
They loved their fans, of course. Each of them agreed that it would be the biggest downside in the shift-they were created by the fans after all. There would be no more sitting around hotels rooms together discussing what sort of dance moves would make the audience scream, no more debating about which lyrics were most inspiring, no more playful skits on air to see what kind of a reaction they would receive.
But there would also be no more late night rehearsals that only ended when Aiba’s breathing became so uneven that Ohno forced them to stop, no more quadruple bookings that only proceeded because Jun had down three cups of coffee in an hour, no more missed weddings of a childhood friend for Sho or unfinished video game competitions for Nino.
Arashi continued to smile, almost as if they were glad for the mid-life crisis.
There was still a chance for a reunion tour in two years, after all.
Sho had immediately been offered a new contract with NewsZero, since the one with Johnny’s had become void, and he accepted it without a second thought. He was one of about half of the job-searching idols with any sort of college education and that coupled with his business and political experience left the newscaster feeling confident that the transition would go smoothly.
Jun hadn’t floundered either. He had joined a prominent modeling agency and had continued to audition for television dramas, full length movies, and the occasional advertisement. Although he had to work far harder to get these jobs than he had when Johnny’s had still been around, the name Matsumoto Jun still held a heavy connotation in the industry and companies were still jumping to put the ex-idol to use.
Aiba had looked thoughtful for about a week straight (which had worried Nino enough that he suggested to Ohno that they take him to a physiatrist) before he had announced to the group over dinner one night that he was going to go to school to be a veterinarian. He planned to move out of the apartment he’d been renting up until then and back in with his parents in order to keep whatever savings he’d put aside intact. From that point onward he was going to dedicate himself to studying, catching up on what he had forgotten from high school, and then taking tests to get into a college.
They had all been surprised at his decision, to say the least. Sho had blinked at him with worry, wondering if he should lecture his friend on the seriousness of going back to school. Ohno had smiled after a few seconds of staring blankly, and then congratulated him, telling him to try his best and if there was anything he could do to help let him know. Nino had looked dumbfounded and then made a snide comment that sounded like do you really think you can make it through school, veterinarians have to be there for a while, you know. Jun had given him a bright smile and pulled him into a tight hug, congratulating him like Ohno had, and gave him a few reassuring words.
A few minutes after Aiba’s surprising announcement, when they had been served a second round of beers, Nino tentatively cleared his throat and said he and Ohno had one too. They were going on a sightseeing trip, his voice was embarrassed, now that they had the time. Maybe China, Korea, Singapore, Australia would be fun, and definitely America. They might stop in Europe on their way back, England, Germany, Italy, all those big names. If they had time they would visit India and eat some curry.
It wasn’t a big deal, Nino continued to explain. They had the money, they’d been meaning to for a while, and now they had the time as well. It would only be for three months and then they would come back and find jobs like good Japanese citizens, but they had to take the chance while they had it.
Ohno had simply nodded and smiled while Nino explained their plan.
The other three friends beamed at the couple and immediately agreed it was a wonderful idea.
And so Arashi officially split up.
+++
It started about a year later.
Sho had kept his original apartment, a large flat with a top floor view of the city and more room that he could possibly ever use, but in his business you had to show people you had money in order for them to take you seriously. His living room was larger than most apartments in Tokyo with a beautiful hard wood floor and a stylized red couch with two matching recliners. His television was longer than Sho when he was laying down and took up most of the wall on that side; it was another item he didn’t really need or at least he could have dealt with a smaller one, but his sempai* at work had assured him it was one of the better investments he could make, even though his business partners would probably never see it.
He also had his own room along with an oversized bed and fluffy beige carpet. It looked slightly less bare than the rest of his house due to the few things from Arashi he’d gathered over the years: a drawing from Ohno (the rapper had never figured why Ohno had been inspired to draw him a bulky foreigner with Sho’s name on his hat), a figure that Aiba had brought him back from Africa (it had broken in the suitcase and Sho had never worked out what it was supposed to be), a candle that smelled deliciously like coffee that Jun had randomly brought over (Sho tried not to take the sudden action as a hint that his apartment stunk) as well as the DVD that Nino had first used to learn magic (Sho was pretty sure the present had just been an excuse not to buy him something else, but he had kept it anyway). And that wasn’t mentioning all of the souvenirs that had piled up from their group trips. Sho also had some memorabilia from the Olympics in Beijing, his wisdom teeth proudly on display, and a sizeable collection of CDs in the corner along with an expensive stereo and disk remixer.
There was also an extra room that Sho used as an office, equipped with a chic looking desk and a computer on top, a short shelf full of papers and a few text books, as well as a bulletin board that the newscaster would periodically post articles or reports on.
Plainly put: Sho had more room that he knew what to do with.
So when Nino had asked him out to dinner one night and suggested that maybe Sho could use a roommate, the newscaster didn’t refuse.
After Nino and Ohno had returned from their long trip (arms full of souvenirs and a million pictures to show), the two of them had moved back home with their respective parents. Beforehand, they had sort of been sharing an apartment (Sho wasn’t sure on the details) which they had let go just before their sightseeing adventure.
Once they were back in Japan and looking into their options, Nino had somehow been able to open his own stage show in Aoyama and Sho suspected their old manager had taken some part in it. The newscaster had gone to see it opening week with Jun, Aiba, and Ohno, and he had to admit that he was impressed that Nino had incorporated so much of himself into the production. He had asked Ohno during the intermission why he wasn’t performing with his boyfriend and Leader had just shrugged and said something like he would rather simply watch Nino instead.
The first act started with Nino welcoming the audience and telling a few jokes, then moved into a few musical numbers, ones that Sho discovered the actor had written himself. Part two was a magic show in which the newscaster almost pissed himself laughing so hard, and it ended with Nino singing and dancing to a classy song with two showgirls while wearing a sparkly suit and top hat.
Although most of the attendees were probably old Arashi fans, the show continued to be sold out every night, even weeks later (Nino only did shows on the weekend as to not cut in to his video game time). Sho wasn’t sure what kind of revenues he was pulling in, but it was obviously enough for Nino to offer to pay half of Sho’s bills (which were quite substantial, although not unreasonable for his income bracket).
And so Nino had moved in with Sho, who was actually relieved to have another person at his house, if only for the fact it would be taken care of while the newscaster was out of town on one of his many business trips. Sho had moved his things out of the office and set up in a corner of the living room, which wasn’t much of a problem since he liked the open space better anyway, and Nino had filled the room with his own belonging. He slept on a futon on the carpet and Sho allowed him to use the short shelf for his massive collection of video games (which didn’t fit on it at all-and Sho found out a little later that Nino had only brought half of what he actually owned). He had also allowed Nino to set up his consols in front of the oversized television (he didn’t care how his friend used it as long as Sho got to occasionally watch the news at night).
After everything was said and done, Sho’s apartment seemed a little fuller and definitely homier.
+++
The news that Aiba had gotten into a pre-vet program came a little while later. Sho tried to tell himself that it was certainly due to the fact that Aiba had so much experience with animals and not simply because he had been frighteningly famous a year ago. The new student would have to go through two years of math and science and all those things that he already knew but couldn’t answer test questions about before he would then have to apply for the school itself.
Sho was impressed he’d lasted as long has he had, but Aiba definitely had more than a few years ahead of him.
Although the animal lover had done better than expected on his own, once he was attending classes and had a schedule for the tests he would be taking, he had immediately come to Sho for help.
Sho knew next to nothing about the functions of animals, but he still knew a lot about studying.
Since he didn’t have a job and was dedicating every part of his life to school, Aiba’s books and papers had ended up at Sho’s apartment, taking over the small office he had made in the corner. The student was there most days; when he wasn’t studying he was either trying to explain to Nino how a cow’s digestive system worked (they have four stomachs, Nino, four!) or creating a mess in Sho’s kitchen with one of his usual experiments.
Eventually he started sleeping on the couch at night. Sometimes his parents would call Sho’s cell phone to make sure he was there and offer to bring over some Chinese food, but the newscaster would always politely refuse and assure them their son was perfectly fine (he was sure Aiba’s family was just as weirded out by the man’s sudden study habits as much as Sho and Nino were).
+++
One day Sho came back from a two week business trip to find Ohno lounging on the couch with Nino practically lying on top of him.
The newscaster blinked at him unexpectedly, as it had been the first time he’d seen Ohno inside of his apartment since the pair had gotten back from their trip.
There was a tense silence in which Sho didn’t move, and finally Ohno greeted him with a “Yo”.
Sho replied with the same word, then toed off his shoes and placed his traveling bag by the door.
“Oh-chan came over, I hope you don’t mind,” Nino mumbled, looking at his roommate sleepily.
Sho thought it was a little late for the explanation.
Ohno had taken up a job at the dock, which the newscaster realized had probably been his dream for a while. The hours were terrible, lasting from around 3 to 4 a.m. until late morning, and the pay had to be significantly less than their previous wage, but Ohno never complained and, in fact, seemed more light-hearted than when he had been an idol, from what Sho could see. He would consistently send different kinds of fish home with Nino (Aiba would immediately explain which organs had been removed and why this fish had a longer nose than the others) and spent his plentiful free time painting and sleeping in. He knew that Nino and Ohno were still hanging around each other like they were attached at the hip, but Sho hadn’t actually ever seen the fisherman within his apartment, probably because of their mismatch of schedules.
Sho was glad for that, since he wasn’t sure what kind of noises he would hear from Nino’s room if Ohno was there as much as Aiba was.
The businessman had crashed on his oversized bed, and when he had woken up several hours later, he found that Ohno was still there, cooking up a fillet of fish for dinner with Nino in the kitchen.
+++
Jun was the last one to show up.
Out of all of them, he was the busiest worker, having a schedule similar to what the idols had followed when they were still working for Johnny’s.
He was starring in a drama right now, after a year of building a resume that had previous just come with working for JE. It was insanely popular, as the production of dramas had waned for a while after the blip in the idol market at the loss of Johnny’s, and Jun was more famous now than he had ever been. He often had photo shoots booked in week blocks for his drama, advertisements, and his base work as a fashion model, without a break in his schedule. His days off would come sporadically and he often spent them in his bed in his own apartment. As often as the broken-up group got together, the only time Sho had seen the youngest star had been when they had attended Nino’s show together and a dinner to celebrate Arashi’s debut anniversary a few months later.
The doorbell rang that night and Sho, being the nearest, had answered it. Aiba jumped up and darted across the room as Jun entered the apartment with a bottle of wine and a takeout box of kara-age. Sho had stared distractedly, but Jun didn’t bother to offer an explanation and the two of them (him and Aiba) were now busy in the kitchen, busting open the chicken and popping the cork off the expensive looking bottle of wine.
Apparently there was enough of the snack to go around, because Aiba offered some to Nino and Ohno who had been sitting in front of the television playing video games. Well, Nino was playing, Ohno was simply watching with a dazed expression.
The gamer paused and elbowed Ohno, and they also entered the kitchen. The pair stood next to Aiba and Jun and began eating the food without bothering to pull out chopsticks. Jun politely asked Sho where his wine glasses were kept and the newscaster was finally pulled out of his trance.
He jolted into the kitchen and pulled five glasses out of the cupboard and lined them on the counter as Jun poured the alcohol. After a few minutes Sho began bring out any other snack food he had on hand; chips that had been sitting on the counter, left over fish that had been in the fridge, and, when they got desperate, Nino and Ohno ran down the street for some sushi.
Jun had apologized and left right before midnight and afterwards the rest of the group had chatted (somewhat drunkenly as the pair had brought back beer, too) about the ad that Jun had been in recently and what the tabloids were saying about him and his costar (which was mostly facilitated by Aiba).
Although they were all too familiar with that world that they had left, none of them sounded envious or regretful of what Jun had made for himself. Instead it seemed like they were genuinely happy that things had gone the way they had.
+++
After his next business trip, Sho had come home in the middle of the night. Knowing that someone was probably asleep in the apartment somewhere (Ohno had taken to sleeping over in Nino’s room, whether it was during the normal hours of the night or sometime during the day), the newscaster had been polite enough to stumble through the living room in the dark and feel his way back to his bedroom instead of flipping on the overhead light.
The door was open, as he usually left it, but when Sho began to walk somewhat confidently towards his bed, he tripped over a big pile of fluff on the floor. He had stopped immediately and felt the rest of the way to his destination, where there was a lamp on top of a low dresser. The newscaster turned it on, trying to figure out if he had accidentally left something there or if it belonged to someone else, and found that Aiba and Jun were sleeping in a futon together on his floor.
After processing the scene, Sho turned the light back off and decided he wasn’t going to ask.
+++
The next day the newscaster woke up earlier than he wanted to (since he had gotten home so late last night), because the blinds on his window had accidentally been left open and the rising sun was somehow piercing through the fort of blankets he had made around himself. Sho turned as he heard a sound coming from the space beside him and only then remembered that for some reason Aiba and Jun had been sharing a futon on his bedroom floor.
Turned out the noise was Aiba moaning as Jun’s forced his tongue into his mouth.
Sho really had not needed to see that.
Without saying anything the newscaster threw the blankets over the top of his head and closed his eyes, trying to fall back asleep.
After another five minutes of the sound of Aiba moaning and Jun’s suction-y kisses made Sho finally throw his covers off and sit up straight in his bed, staring at the two of them.
At the sudden movement, both pairs of eyes turned to gape at him, looking surprised and very, very guilty.
“Ah, Sho-chan… you’re home…?” Aiba asked nervously from his place underneath Jun, who was simply smiling and trying to pretend that they weren’t doing what they really were doing on the floor of Sho’s room.
“At least keep quiet!” Sho replied curtly, then pulled his blanket back over his head.
After that incident, Jun had begun staying over almost every night with Aiba. The pair had moved into Sho’s bed with him, the animal fanatic insisting that there was plenty of room for two more and besides, Sho’s extra futon was a little small and it would never do in winter when it got colder. Of course Sho couldn’t argue once Aiba gave him the proper puppy dog eyes, and Jun said that he would pitch in for the rent of the apartment if he needed to.
For the most part this wasn’t too disturbing, since Aiba and Jun kept to their own side of the mattress in the beginning, but as Sho got used to the crowded bed, they seemed to moved closer.
One day, Sho woke up to discover that he was squished in the middle of them, Aiba cuddling up under Sho’s chin and Jun’s arms around his waist.
It was strange, but Sho hadn’t bothered to wake either of them up.
+++
It was several months later that Sho made his realization.
He had just come home from work. It had been two years exactly from when Johnny’s had closed, and NewsZero was doing a story on the anniversary and asking Sho about Arashi’s future. They had pulled out a bunch of old pictures of the band to show during the segment and had asked Sho where his comrades were now. The newscaster had complied and shared a few stories about the other members and what they were doing with their lives, but he had said (honestly) that he didn’t know much of the details about his friends’ new careers.
He, of course, left out the fact that they all seemed to be living in Sho’s apartment, which was infinitely more crowded since they had “broken up”.
When he came home that day, running through the show in his head and trying to remember details to pass on to his roommates, the newscaster had stopped for a second in the living room, which was deserted. Nino’s bedroom door was closed, which probably meant that he had locked himself up with Ohno (but there were no noises, so it was safe to assume that Leader was asleep and Nino playing his gameboy next to him). Jun was probably at work, and if the newscaster remembered correctly, Aiba had had a test scheduled that afternoon.
As he put his briefcase down, it hit Sho just how much his apartment had changed since Nino had moved in.
In front of his oversized television was a pile of consols, wires, and controllers belonging to Nino.
In the corner next to that was a box of tackle and Ohno’s favorite fishing pole, which he now only used when he went out by himself on the occasional Sunday afternoon.
Aiba’s papers were still piled on top of his desk, drowning his computer, and there was a poseable figure of a horse on top, shaped in an awkward position.
Making a full rotation, Sho then noticed that there was a considerably large pile of unwatched movies sitting on the shelf below the television, which no doubt belonged to Jun.
Sho smiled. It was true that Arashi had disbanded two years ago.
But it was also true that they had gotten back together.
+++
*Sempai refers to one's senior or superior
A/N: As you probably noticed, you got redirected to a community! Unfortunately, I'm having a few minor formatting issues right now, so bear with me! >.<
Instead of starting up a new account to post my fanfiction, I thought this would be easier. So, if you want to, you can follow this community to get updates or to easily look through what I've already written. I think this is much more convenient!
As for this story... I know Arashi will never break up like this. Johnny will stay around as long as he's making money and even if the company went away, Arashi would just go through someone else. =.=; As I admitted to yarukizero, this was basically an excuse for me to do an AU.
By the way, yarukizero really helped me push this from something half-assed to what it is now, which I believe is at least readable. It was really a mess when she first saw it. =.=;;;
Slowly posting again, so watch for some more!