Nice To Meet You Too
Can you believe it?! It's Nino's Birthday!!! Dedicated to this lovely boy~ But I couldn't resist adding in my ichiban XD Sorry, the timeline might be a bit whack, but bear with me.
I remember a moment when, for the first time, I saw who I would be partnered up with for the rest of my junior days. I was now officially in a band called MAIN. I have a habit of judging people straight away and so my eyes trailed to Ikuta Toma. A best friend, I decided. I moved to Aiba Masaki this time. A brother, I thought. My eyes flew to the youngest member. Matsumoto Jun- with his cute smile and buck teeth grinned, held up his hands up in a peace sign- was someone I could not judge no matter how hard I tried.
Matsumoto Jun was…different.
“I’m Matsumoto Junnnn! Please take care of me!” he told me excitedly.
“It’s Nino.”
Hey, it was an introduction.
Unfortunately, he did not seem deterred in the least.
“What’s your favourite television show? Mine is GTO!” he asked again.
“I hate it.”
“…Oh.”
For a while, he quieted down and I felt a guilty feeling clawing at my stomach. I had to make some sort of start to a conversation so I quietly asked,
“Hey…have we met before?”
There.
I had blurted it out.
The thing that had been gnawing at my mind the whole day.
He seemed just as confused though because he replied with, “No, I’m sorry, I don’t think we have unless we passed each other without realising.”
“Oh…” I felt humiliated, “Let’s just forget this conversation.”
“No,” he said with a shake of his head, “Let’s meet now.”
Another memorable moment was when we found out we were going to be in a band called Arashi. I felt excited, overly excited, but I managed to put on a look of indifference. Jun was swinging his legs on top of the table like crazy and I had to smile. The others were elsewhere and so I climbed on to the table beside him.
“Are you excited?” I asked.
He nodded, his head bopping so much, it should have hurt.
“YEAH!” then he hesitated, “I’m a little scared though…”
I nodded, “Yeah, me too.” He rolled his eyes and laughed.
“You know Kazu…”
I nodded for him to continue.
“You and I are going to be best friends!”
I kicked him.
There were times though that I would rather not have happened. Most of those times were in the period when Jun changed. I remember the conversation that probably changed Jun’s life. I was just passing his room when I heard voices. It was his manager.
“Jun, you need a new look. You don’t look cute anymore; it’s ruining your ratings. Besides, Aiba’s got the cute look.”
“But…this is who I am.”
“Make a new you then.”
“Can’t I stay true to myself?”
“Not in this business. Now come on we have Hana Yori Dango to shoot.”
Jun must have been stressed because when he came out of the room, he did not even spare me a glance. Day after day, he stayed holed up in his room reading his script. The only time he came out was to do with something for work. Jun was feeling pressured and overworked, anyone could tell. It left him in a bad mood and soon even the fans could tell. He lost some fans during those times, but he gained many more. Everyone loved the ‘cool Jun’, the ‘suave Jun’ and the ‘handsome Jun’. Jun and ‘cute’ didn’t go in the same sentence anymore. We made it as if this was just part of his personality all along, but in reality I could never forgive his manager for that. Jun, who took up HanaDan for us, was losing himself.
It totally sucked.
“Look,” I told him one day, “Will you just stop brooding and actually have fun?”
So it wasn’t the most comforting of word choices, but it got the point across.
He looked at me like I was a pest and snapped, “Piss off.”
Yeah, Jun was completely different.
A few months later after ages of trying to get Jun to smile, I went out to find a new best friend. It was then that I met Satoshi. Well, I met him already, but, like, really talk to him.
“You’re a really good artist,” I told him.
Satoshi looked up from his painting to smile, “Thanks.”
“Do you have any other hobbies?”
Satoshi looked down, “Recently, I’ve liked fishing.”
“Really?” I replied, “Maybe you could teach me some time.”
“Sure.”
He smiled. I smiled.
Ohmiya was created by the fans.
However, it was not happily ever after when I got a new best friend. In fact, the whole time I was just scared for my life. Every time I smiled at Satoshi, a threatening glance would be thrown my way. Finally, after I couldn’t take it anymore, I marched up to the person in charge of those death stares.
“YOU!” I growled, “Why can’t you just leave me alone?!” He looked at me and sniffed.
“I am leaving you alone,” he replied calmly.
“Then you aren’t the perpetrator of all the glares?” I told him smugly.
Then, for the first time since this ‘change’, Jun actually blushed.
“I didn’t mean it,” he mumbled.
“Why did you do it?”
It was then he burst.
“YOU’RE MY BEST FRIEND! NOT OHNO’S!” he yelled at me.
…
“Are you that childish?” I asked after a moment of silence. He huffed and turned around, his face now the colour of a tomato.
“No,” I told him, “Wait.”
He stopped.
“I’m sorry,” I told him, “But you lost the spot of best friend.”
He looked at me sadly, “Please?”
“I’m sorry.”
He then looked at me firmly, “Then I’ll be you’re boyfriend.”
.
.
.
WHAT?!
“Did I just hear you correctly?” I asked him, bewildered.
He grabbed my hands and whispered in my ear, “You’re mine. If I can’t be your best friend, then I’ll be your boyfriend. It’s actually pretty simple.”
“B-but,” I stuttered, (where was the old Jun? I thought), “I-I don’t e-even like y-you that w-way!”
He smirked, “You’ll learn too.”
The first date was awkward.
Because we didn’t have time and we had to stay out of the media’s eye, we had dinner at his house. He cooked.
“I didn’t know you could cook this well,” I told him in amazement.
“Had to learn to act in ‘Bambino~’,” he told me shrugging.
“Oh.”
It was awkward once more.
After many more awkward times, he finally gave up.
“Can we just act like how we used to be?” he asked me.
I glanced up at him nervously. I don’t know…
“I guess,” I shrugged.
It was hard to get back to the routine of things, but slowly but surely we lost that awkwardness. A month later, he kissed me.
And it was the most amazing thing ever.
Way better than Mario.
But, the best thing was, Jun was happier.
Now, here I am, at the hospital.
My heart was beating faster than it should be. Tears were gathering in my eyes, but those many years of perfecting the poker face were in use. I had arrived here as fast as possible, but I still had to finish up my filming of Nino san before I could leave. Everyone was already there in the room. The doctor came out (there was something about him…) when he saw me, his face was grave.
“We managed to save him,” I felt like soaring, “But…”
There was always a ‘but’.
However, for a minute I could not help but feel elated. Jun was alive from that crash.
J was alive.
I entered with a scared feeling.
I noticed all the members crowding around a bed. Their faces were upset, Aiba was crying. Jun was alive…right?
They turned towards me sadly and then moved aside. Jun was there alright, but his face looked blank.
“Hey…” he asked me softly, “Have we met before?”
No.
No, no, no, no, no.
My poker face slipped as I felt a sob come out, “Duh, you stupid,” I managed to choke out.
And then something happened.
J began to grin, “I’m not that stupid to forget, Nino. Take me more for granted.”
Huh?
The Arashi members (Satoshi too?!) began to laugh.
“We’re actors, Nino, remember that. He was just a bit scratched up, that’s all,” Sho told me with a smirk.
I wanted to punch them all.
So I did because I can.
“But,” I managed to spit out, “How did you get the doctor to agree to this?”
“The doctor already left,” said ‘the doctor’. The doctor pulled down his hair revealing a wig. He took off his now fake moustache and smiled.
It was J’s manager.
I knew I had a reason to hate the manager.
I remember a moment when, for the first time, I saw who I would be partnered up with for the rest of my junior days. I was now officially in a band called MAIN. I have a habit of judging people straight away and so my eyes trailed to Ikuta Toma. A best friend, I decided. I moved to Aiba Masaki this time. A brother, I thought. My eyes flew to the youngest member. Matsumoto Jun- with his cute smile and buck teeth grinned, held up his hands up in a peace sign- was someone I could not judge no matter how hard I tried.
Matsumoto Jun was…different.
“I’m Matsumoto Junnnn! Please take care of me!” he told me excitedly.
“It’s Nino.”
Hey, it was an introduction.
Unfortunately, he did not seem deterred in the least.
“What’s your favourite television show? Mine is GTO!” he asked again.
“I hate it.”
“…Oh.”
For a while, he quieted down and I felt a guilty feeling clawing at my stomach. I had to make some sort of start to a conversation so I quietly asked,
“Hey…have we met before?”
There.
I had blurted it out.
The thing that had been gnawing at my mind the whole day.
He seemed just as confused though because he replied with, “No, I’m sorry, I don’t think we have unless we passed each other without realising.”
“Oh…” I felt humiliated, “Let’s just forget this conversation.”
“No,” he said with a shake of his head, “Let’s meet now.”
Another memorable moment was when we found out we were going to be in a band called Arashi. I felt excited, overly excited, but I managed to put on a look of indifference. Jun was swinging his legs on top of the table like crazy and I had to smile. The others were elsewhere and so I climbed on to the table beside him.
“Are you excited?” I asked.
He nodded, his head bopping so much, it should have hurt.
“YEAH!” then he hesitated, “I’m a little scared though…”
I nodded, “Yeah, me too.” He rolled his eyes and laughed.
“You know Kazu…”
I nodded for him to continue.
“You and I are going to be best friends!”
I kicked him.
There were times though that I would rather not have happened. Most of those times were in the period when Jun changed. I remember the conversation that probably changed Jun’s life. I was just passing his room when I heard voices. It was his manager.
“Jun, you need a new look. You don’t look cute anymore; it’s ruining your ratings. Besides, Aiba’s got the cute look.”
“But…this is who I am.”
“Make a new you then.”
“Can’t I stay true to myself?”
“Not in this business. Now come on we have Hana Yori Dango to shoot.”
Jun must have been stressed because when he came out of the room, he did not even spare me a glance. Day after day, he stayed holed up in his room reading his script. The only time he came out was to do with something for work. Jun was feeling pressured and overworked, anyone could tell. It left him in a bad mood and soon even the fans could tell. He lost some fans during those times, but he gained many more. Everyone loved the ‘cool Jun’, the ‘suave Jun’ and the ‘handsome Jun’. Jun and ‘cute’ didn’t go in the same sentence anymore. We made it as if this was just part of his personality all along, but in reality I could never forgive his manager for that. Jun, who took up HanaDan for us, was losing himself.
It totally sucked.
“Look,” I told him one day, “Will you just stop brooding and actually have fun?”
So it wasn’t the most comforting of word choices, but it got the point across.
He looked at me like I was a pest and snapped, “Piss off.”
Yeah, Jun was completely different.
A few months later after ages of trying to get Jun to smile, I went out to find a new best friend. It was then that I met Satoshi. Well, I met him already, but, like, really talk to him.
“You’re a really good artist,” I told him.
Satoshi looked up from his painting to smile, “Thanks.”
“Do you have any other hobbies?”
Satoshi looked down, “Recently, I’ve liked fishing.”
“Really?” I replied, “Maybe you could teach me some time.”
“Sure.”
He smiled. I smiled.
Ohmiya was created by the fans.
However, it was not happily ever after when I got a new best friend. In fact, the whole time I was just scared for my life. Every time I smiled at Satoshi, a threatening glance would be thrown my way. Finally, after I couldn’t take it anymore, I marched up to the person in charge of those death stares.
“YOU!” I growled, “Why can’t you just leave me alone?!” He looked at me and sniffed.
“I am leaving you alone,” he replied calmly.
“Then you aren’t the perpetrator of all the glares?” I told him smugly.
Then, for the first time since this ‘change’, Jun actually blushed.
“I didn’t mean it,” he mumbled.
“Why did you do it?”
It was then he burst.
“YOU’RE MY BEST FRIEND! NOT OHNO’S!” he yelled at me.
…
“Are you that childish?” I asked after a moment of silence. He huffed and turned around, his face now the colour of a tomato.
“No,” I told him, “Wait.”
He stopped.
“I’m sorry,” I told him, “But you lost the spot of best friend.”
He looked at me sadly, “Please?”
“I’m sorry.”
He then looked at me firmly, “Then I’ll be you’re boyfriend.”
.
.
.
WHAT?!
“Did I just hear you correctly?” I asked him, bewildered.
He grabbed my hands and whispered in my ear, “You’re mine. If I can’t be your best friend, then I’ll be your boyfriend. It’s actually pretty simple.”
“B-but,” I stuttered, (where was the old Jun? I thought), “I-I don’t e-even like y-you that w-way!”
He smirked, “You’ll learn too.”
The first date was awkward.
Because we didn’t have time and we had to stay out of the media’s eye, we had dinner at his house. He cooked.
“I didn’t know you could cook this well,” I told him in amazement.
“Had to learn to act in ‘Bambino~’,” he told me shrugging.
“Oh.”
It was awkward once more.
After many more awkward times, he finally gave up.
“Can we just act like how we used to be?” he asked me.
I glanced up at him nervously. I don’t know…
“I guess,” I shrugged.
It was hard to get back to the routine of things, but slowly but surely we lost that awkwardness. A month later, he kissed me.
And it was the most amazing thing ever.
Way better than Mario.
But, the best thing was, Jun was happier.
Now, here I am, at the hospital.
My heart was beating faster than it should be. Tears were gathering in my eyes, but those many years of perfecting the poker face were in use. I had arrived here as fast as possible, but I still had to finish up my filming of Nino san before I could leave. Everyone was already there in the room. The doctor came out (there was something about him…) when he saw me, his face was grave.
“We managed to save him,” I felt like soaring, “But…”
There was always a ‘but’.
However, for a minute I could not help but feel elated. Jun was alive from that crash.
J was alive.
I entered with a scared feeling.
I noticed all the members crowding around a bed. Their faces were upset, Aiba was crying. Jun was alive…right?
They turned towards me sadly and then moved aside. Jun was there alright, but his face looked blank.
“Hey…” he asked me softly, “Have we met before?”
No.
No, no, no, no, no.
My poker face slipped as I felt a sob come out, “Duh, you stupid,” I managed to choke out.
And then something happened.
J began to grin, “I’m not that stupid to forget, Nino. Take me more for granted.”
Huh?
The Arashi members (Satoshi too?!) began to laugh.
“We’re actors, Nino, remember that. He was just a bit scratched up, that’s all,” Sho told me with a smirk.
I wanted to punch them all.
So I did because I can.
“But,” I managed to spit out, “How did you get the doctor to agree to this?”
“The doctor already left,” said ‘the doctor’. The doctor pulled down his hair revealing a wig. He took off his now fake moustache and smiled.
It was J’s manager.
I knew I had a reason to hate the manager.