[fic] scandal.
title→ scandal.
pairing(s)→ yamashita shoon x yaotome hikaru.
summary→ reality can change with a simple action.
notes→ first part of late birthdayfic for atarashiiyoake ♥
He opened his eyes to look at the crowded practice room. Music and voices and the squeaking of sneakers against the glossy floor felt like another world to him; he had been part of it not so long ago, practicing his steps in front of the mirror, a crowd of back dancers behind him and three familiar figures dancing beside him. He could see the reflection of their faces, shining with sweat, their outfits with a mismatched jacket or shirt over it to hide the sparkly, reflective fabric; if he tried hard enough, it was like he was standing there again to practice his steps, still surrounded by his group and standing at the front with a bright smile.
But he blinked and was suddenly brought back to the harsh reality, where he knew he was almost nothing but an extra, appearing with whatever group suited the management's fancy. He looked down at his outfit, trailing his long fingers on the fabric, before he sighed. Daydreaming of the past, of something that didn't exist any longer, wouldn't get him anywhere. He leaned forward, reaching out his hand to pick up his cellphone beside him and flip it open, distractedly pressing random keys without giving it much attention, but he stopped as he ended up opening a photo.
He didn't know when it was from, even though he could easily check the picture's info and see when it was taken, but he didn't want to see. It was something from a time where he had been happy -not that he wasn't happy now, but it was an entirely different kind of happiness back then - and he didn't want to relive it all when it was impossible to go back to a time like that..
Half of Hikaru's face in the top left corner, bright smile still clear, and his hands pinching a laughing Shoon's cheeks; the photo was taken too close, taken up by mostly Shoon's face, and at a strange angle, which made it obvious Shoon was the one taking the photo himself.
Shoon couldn't help but smile, remembering how much fun it had been. They had just finished an interview together and Shoon had been coerced into taking a photo by Hikaru, who had refused to let go of Shoon's cheeks until he took the photo.
He pressed past a couple of other photos before another photo of Hikaru came onto the screen. Shoon had to force himself to not burst out laughing; Hikaru's first attempt at his 'kimazui' face, which hadn't been as successful as his later attempts. Another press down showed the photo of a laughing Hikaru from the moment right after the previous one, his hand raised slightly in front of the camera, blocking a full view of his face. Shoon continued staring at the photo, his smile slowly slipping off his face. If he had to tell the truth, he wasn't unfamiliar with the jimusho's fondness for playing around with the juniors' groups, but he hadn't expected it to happen to him. He had assumed that the jimusho wouldn't do something like break up what seemed to be their most successful junior group; he had been sorely mistaken. He had to watch, not as a bandmate, not even as a fellow junior, but as their kouhai. He had to smile back at forced smiles with his own fake one, he had to watch Hikaru take a step further away from him. They had been something Shoon wanted to call equals, even though they definitely weren't. Hikaru obviously belonged in the spotlight, in the very center, somewhere everyone could see him - somewhere Shoon could see him.
Shoon pressed the key to go past a few more photos of various people and things, then stopped at a blurry, dark photo of the other three Ya-Ya-yah members and him gathered extremely close for all of them to fit in the camera. He himself was smiling, Hikaru beside him making a funny face, Yabu looking at something in the side and Taiyou's expression something caught in between asking Inoo if he was going to take the picture and a smile. He could still feel it, that moment backstage in the Budokan concert - the screams of the crowd and the flashes of light and the sweat making his outfit feel slick and uncomfortable against his skin, even more so with Hikaru's warm face and body pressed up against him, the bright spotlight on Inoo's face casting dark shadows on it, Inoo's smile as he held up Shoon's phone and took the picture without any warning, Tottsu's yell to distract Yabu, who immediately looked towards him, Taiyou's distressed voice after the picture had been taken, complaining about how silly he looked - but he was once again brought back to reality with a blink, the entire memory disappearing in an instant. Shoon shook his head and closed his cellphone cover for a few seconds before flipping it back open, running his fingers over the small screen. He had gotten over the dissolution of Ya-Ya-yah, but it didn't mean it was any easier to be alone. It was hard without Taiyou's smile, without Yabu's voice filling the silence with his singing, without Hikaru's jokes and weird faces and pranks and his long fingers intertwined with Shoon's.
He continued pressing down, past pictures of his leather work in progress, past pictures of his graduation diploma, past pictures of photo shoot sets he had liked, past pictures of Reon practicing at home, until he reached a picture of a TV. He stared confusedly at it, trying to remember what it was, before realization dawned on him.
Hey!Say!JUMP's first performance on Music Station; he had been lucky enough to get a shot of the few seconds of a Hikaru close-up. It was not clear at all and a little too bright to make it out that well, but Shoon could see it like it was right in front of him. He had been so proud and so happy for Hikaru and Yabu, singing a song not as juniors, but as members of a debuted group. He could remember sitting in front of the TV, watching the performance intently, analyzing their expressions and smiling whenever he caught Hikaru or Yabu smiling.
Shoon continued a couple more pictures down to a recent picture of Hikaru and him backstage after a Shokura recording; if he lingered at the Music Station photo too long, he'd be asking for the feelings of disappointment and despair to well up again. The pride and happiness of watching Yabu and Hikaru back then had disappeared, having lost the fight against Shoon's realization of his failure against the pair's success. Shoon shook away the feelings, his reminiscing interrupted by someone leaning over him and a hand reaching out to take the cellphone away from him.
“Isn't that rude?” Shoon scolded, but without any strictness in his voice, while looking up at Hikaru. Hikaru made a face at Shoon in response, not bothering to answer before he looked back at the picture on the cellphone.
“Ah, I remember this. Oh, look, you can almost see the top of Dai-chan's head,” Hikaru said jokingly as he dropped down beside Shoon. He was pointing at something that looked like a fluffy black scarf situated at just the right distance behind them so that it really did seem like it was the top of someone's head. Shoon shook his head, laughing and raising his eyes to Daiki - who was standing on the other side of the room - and watched as the younger boy sneezed and immediately turned his eyes to stare accusingly at Hikaru, who shrugged and tried to look innocent, despite that there wasn't a shred of innocence in his mischievous smile.
“Anyway, you've been spending too long sitting here. Were you just staring at photos of me?” Hikaru asked, giving Shoon a suspicious glare before nodding as if to answer his own question. He looked at the cellphone in his hand and quickly closed the photos to open the camera, then he flipped the cellphone over and raised it over them while leaning closer to Shoon. “Silly fanboy. If you wanted a photo with me that bad, all you had to do was ask.”
“Hey, who's the fanboy here?” Shoon retorted, but smiled up at the camera as he saw Hikaru shift his fingers to be able to press the key to take the picture. His smile grew wider as he leaned to the side, pressing his cheek against Hikaru's just before the younger boy pressed the key and the flash blinded them both.
“Hikaru-kun and Shoon-kun are being all raburabu!” Taiga's high-pitched voice announced to the entire practice room before Hikaru could even react to Shoon leaning against him like that. Taiga, surrounded by a dozen chibi juniors, was staring at them with an expression of repulsion, almost exactly like the time Nikaido had forced him to watch Tatta Hitotsu no Koi in one sitting. Shoon groaned inwardly, smiling awkwardly at the chibi juniors before he looked over at Hikaru, who was slowly pushing himself up with an evil expression on his face.
Before Shoon could ask what Hikaru was doing, Hikaru had jumped up and began chasing a panicked, squeaking Taiga - and the crowd of tiny juniors who had been surrounding him - around the practice room. “I only want to spread the raburabu, Kyomoto! There's no reason for you or your five dozen groupies to run away! You can't have a proper purikura scandal if you don't know the ways of raburabu!”
Shoon couldn't help but laugh as if he hadn't laughed in years. He felt like he was in the middle of a romantic drama that Taiga hated so much, letting himself be charmed by the rather untypical hero, who was busy trying to teach Taiga and Anderson the right - according to him - way to 'raburabu hug'.
But Shoon didn't really mind.
Especially when said hero was signaling to him to come demonstrate the proper way of 'raburabu hug' to the pair of chibi juniors.
pairing(s)→ yamashita shoon x yaotome hikaru.
summary→ reality can change with a simple action.
notes→ first part of late birthdayfic for atarashiiyoake ♥
He opened his eyes to look at the crowded practice room. Music and voices and the squeaking of sneakers against the glossy floor felt like another world to him; he had been part of it not so long ago, practicing his steps in front of the mirror, a crowd of back dancers behind him and three familiar figures dancing beside him. He could see the reflection of their faces, shining with sweat, their outfits with a mismatched jacket or shirt over it to hide the sparkly, reflective fabric; if he tried hard enough, it was like he was standing there again to practice his steps, still surrounded by his group and standing at the front with a bright smile.
But he blinked and was suddenly brought back to the harsh reality, where he knew he was almost nothing but an extra, appearing with whatever group suited the management's fancy. He looked down at his outfit, trailing his long fingers on the fabric, before he sighed. Daydreaming of the past, of something that didn't exist any longer, wouldn't get him anywhere. He leaned forward, reaching out his hand to pick up his cellphone beside him and flip it open, distractedly pressing random keys without giving it much attention, but he stopped as he ended up opening a photo.
He didn't know when it was from, even though he could easily check the picture's info and see when it was taken, but he didn't want to see. It was something from a time where he had been happy -not that he wasn't happy now, but it was an entirely different kind of happiness back then - and he didn't want to relive it all when it was impossible to go back to a time like that..
Half of Hikaru's face in the top left corner, bright smile still clear, and his hands pinching a laughing Shoon's cheeks; the photo was taken too close, taken up by mostly Shoon's face, and at a strange angle, which made it obvious Shoon was the one taking the photo himself.
Shoon couldn't help but smile, remembering how much fun it had been. They had just finished an interview together and Shoon had been coerced into taking a photo by Hikaru, who had refused to let go of Shoon's cheeks until he took the photo.
He pressed past a couple of other photos before another photo of Hikaru came onto the screen. Shoon had to force himself to not burst out laughing; Hikaru's first attempt at his 'kimazui' face, which hadn't been as successful as his later attempts. Another press down showed the photo of a laughing Hikaru from the moment right after the previous one, his hand raised slightly in front of the camera, blocking a full view of his face. Shoon continued staring at the photo, his smile slowly slipping off his face. If he had to tell the truth, he wasn't unfamiliar with the jimusho's fondness for playing around with the juniors' groups, but he hadn't expected it to happen to him. He had assumed that the jimusho wouldn't do something like break up what seemed to be their most successful junior group; he had been sorely mistaken. He had to watch, not as a bandmate, not even as a fellow junior, but as their kouhai. He had to smile back at forced smiles with his own fake one, he had to watch Hikaru take a step further away from him. They had been something Shoon wanted to call equals, even though they definitely weren't. Hikaru obviously belonged in the spotlight, in the very center, somewhere everyone could see him - somewhere Shoon could see him.
Shoon pressed the key to go past a few more photos of various people and things, then stopped at a blurry, dark photo of the other three Ya-Ya-yah members and him gathered extremely close for all of them to fit in the camera. He himself was smiling, Hikaru beside him making a funny face, Yabu looking at something in the side and Taiyou's expression something caught in between asking Inoo if he was going to take the picture and a smile. He could still feel it, that moment backstage in the Budokan concert - the screams of the crowd and the flashes of light and the sweat making his outfit feel slick and uncomfortable against his skin, even more so with Hikaru's warm face and body pressed up against him, the bright spotlight on Inoo's face casting dark shadows on it, Inoo's smile as he held up Shoon's phone and took the picture without any warning, Tottsu's yell to distract Yabu, who immediately looked towards him, Taiyou's distressed voice after the picture had been taken, complaining about how silly he looked - but he was once again brought back to reality with a blink, the entire memory disappearing in an instant. Shoon shook his head and closed his cellphone cover for a few seconds before flipping it back open, running his fingers over the small screen. He had gotten over the dissolution of Ya-Ya-yah, but it didn't mean it was any easier to be alone. It was hard without Taiyou's smile, without Yabu's voice filling the silence with his singing, without Hikaru's jokes and weird faces and pranks and his long fingers intertwined with Shoon's.
He continued pressing down, past pictures of his leather work in progress, past pictures of his graduation diploma, past pictures of photo shoot sets he had liked, past pictures of Reon practicing at home, until he reached a picture of a TV. He stared confusedly at it, trying to remember what it was, before realization dawned on him.
Hey!Say!JUMP's first performance on Music Station; he had been lucky enough to get a shot of the few seconds of a Hikaru close-up. It was not clear at all and a little too bright to make it out that well, but Shoon could see it like it was right in front of him. He had been so proud and so happy for Hikaru and Yabu, singing a song not as juniors, but as members of a debuted group. He could remember sitting in front of the TV, watching the performance intently, analyzing their expressions and smiling whenever he caught Hikaru or Yabu smiling.
Shoon continued a couple more pictures down to a recent picture of Hikaru and him backstage after a Shokura recording; if he lingered at the Music Station photo too long, he'd be asking for the feelings of disappointment and despair to well up again. The pride and happiness of watching Yabu and Hikaru back then had disappeared, having lost the fight against Shoon's realization of his failure against the pair's success. Shoon shook away the feelings, his reminiscing interrupted by someone leaning over him and a hand reaching out to take the cellphone away from him.
“Isn't that rude?” Shoon scolded, but without any strictness in his voice, while looking up at Hikaru. Hikaru made a face at Shoon in response, not bothering to answer before he looked back at the picture on the cellphone.
“Ah, I remember this. Oh, look, you can almost see the top of Dai-chan's head,” Hikaru said jokingly as he dropped down beside Shoon. He was pointing at something that looked like a fluffy black scarf situated at just the right distance behind them so that it really did seem like it was the top of someone's head. Shoon shook his head, laughing and raising his eyes to Daiki - who was standing on the other side of the room - and watched as the younger boy sneezed and immediately turned his eyes to stare accusingly at Hikaru, who shrugged and tried to look innocent, despite that there wasn't a shred of innocence in his mischievous smile.
“Anyway, you've been spending too long sitting here. Were you just staring at photos of me?” Hikaru asked, giving Shoon a suspicious glare before nodding as if to answer his own question. He looked at the cellphone in his hand and quickly closed the photos to open the camera, then he flipped the cellphone over and raised it over them while leaning closer to Shoon. “Silly fanboy. If you wanted a photo with me that bad, all you had to do was ask.”
“Hey, who's the fanboy here?” Shoon retorted, but smiled up at the camera as he saw Hikaru shift his fingers to be able to press the key to take the picture. His smile grew wider as he leaned to the side, pressing his cheek against Hikaru's just before the younger boy pressed the key and the flash blinded them both.
“Hikaru-kun and Shoon-kun are being all raburabu!” Taiga's high-pitched voice announced to the entire practice room before Hikaru could even react to Shoon leaning against him like that. Taiga, surrounded by a dozen chibi juniors, was staring at them with an expression of repulsion, almost exactly like the time Nikaido had forced him to watch Tatta Hitotsu no Koi in one sitting. Shoon groaned inwardly, smiling awkwardly at the chibi juniors before he looked over at Hikaru, who was slowly pushing himself up with an evil expression on his face.
Before Shoon could ask what Hikaru was doing, Hikaru had jumped up and began chasing a panicked, squeaking Taiga - and the crowd of tiny juniors who had been surrounding him - around the practice room. “I only want to spread the raburabu, Kyomoto! There's no reason for you or your five dozen groupies to run away! You can't have a proper purikura scandal if you don't know the ways of raburabu!”
Shoon couldn't help but laugh as if he hadn't laughed in years. He felt like he was in the middle of a romantic drama that Taiga hated so much, letting himself be charmed by the rather untypical hero, who was busy trying to teach Taiga and Anderson the right - according to him - way to 'raburabu hug'.
But Shoon didn't really mind.
Especially when said hero was signaling to him to come demonstrate the proper way of 'raburabu hug' to the pair of chibi juniors.