Necessary Expenditures
TITLE: Necessary Expenditures
RATING: G
PAIRING: Ryo/Shige
SUMMARY: Ryo kidnaps Shige, but not really. Also, they talk a lot. And Ryo does some shopping.
NOTES: Whore!verse Part 4. Also, I'm freaking crazy. My body woke up at 8am this morning, refusing to let me sleep. So, I wrote. This and a weird super long drabble about Chinen getting kidnapped, but it has a happy ending. I don't know what's up with me lately. I think it's all the weird discussions I've been having with myself about the logistics of prostitution. Whatever. Fic. Go.
“This is the last time I’m going to say this. I. Don’t. Have. A. Girlfriend.”
Yamashita sighed, “Ryo-chan, it’s okay. You can tell us! We’re happy for you!”
Akanishi leaned over the table and spoke in a hushed tone, “What’s her name? Is she hot? When can we meet her?”
Nishikido glared, “I don’t have a girlfriend.”
Yamashita laughed, “Yeah. You ditched us last week in the middle of the party after calling some one, and then when we called you in the morning, some mysterious person you won’t tell us about answered the phone. That’s not suspicious at all.”
“I didn’t call any one that night.”
“But you were on your phone for five whole minutes right before you left!”
Nishikido frowned, “I can’t call that idiot.”
“Oh!” Akanishi smiled, “Ryo-chan’s shy!”
Nishikido sighed and desperately wished there was something nearby he could throw.
-- -- --
Katou walked down the street, backpack over a shoulder and left hand idly twirling a pencil. Mid-terms were finally over (he was quite happy with how he’d done on them), he didn’t have any work with Nakagawa-sensei for two whole days and the flowers were slowly starting bloom, making the poor neighborhood at least prettier to look at. There were kids playing some game in street - Katou didn’t worry about them since where was little car traffic here. He was looking forward to spending the rest of the day reading, maybe cleaning up a little, and generally relaxing. But when he turned the corner to his complex and saw the black Lexus parked on the street next to the gates, a shiver ran down his back. As if on cue, the driver side door opened, and Nishikido stepped out, frowning.
“Get in.”
Katou didn’t move, “What are you doing here?”
“I’m being generous. Now get in the car, Katou.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea for you to-“
Nishikido stared at Katou, intensely, but didn’t say anything. Katou sighed and stepped to the car, knowing that every one was looking out their windows, watching the guy they all thought was still a whore get into an expensive car with another man. He sat down inside it, feeling awkward about the whole thing.
“Here I am,” Nishikido pulled into the street without looking, “being a kind person and you hesitate.” At the stop sign at the corner, he barely slowed down, “What kind of parents raised you? Hmph, I know what kind. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, Katou.” Turning into the highway, Nishikido cut off another driver, but ignored the honking.
“Um, where are you taking me?”
“We are going shopping.”
“Where are we going that I could possibly afford?” Katou knew that Nishikido knew, but he wasn’t about to admit that he did 90% of his shopping at the ￥100 store.
“Ginza.” Katou chocked, “Maybe Roppongi or Shibuya if there’s nothing good.”
“I can’t afford those places! Why would you bother taking me there?”
Nishikido didn’t say anything right away, but after a minute of tailgating another driver and then flooring the pedal to pass, Katou heard him mutter, “Shut up.”
-- -- --
Katou stepped into the mall and immediately felt like every one had turned to gawk at the poor kid. Nishikido stood beside him, collar popped and hat pulled low over his face.
“I don’t want to be here.”
“Too bad.” Nishikido started walking towards the escalator, “I do.”
Katou caught up with him, “You don’t want to go into any of those stores?”
Nishikido kept looking forward, “The first couple floors are shit.”
Katou followed Nishikido, looking down as they were riding and couldn’t help but watch Coach and Burberry get smaller and smaller. He didn’t complain as Nishikido dragged him into stores, one after the other, each filled with items that he couldn’t buy, even after a year’s worth of work. Nishikido tried on sunglasses and jeans, several pairs of sneakers (he was especially rude to the clerk and didn’t even buy anything), looked at watches in the jewelry store for a while, and almost bought one, but at the last minute, decided he didn’t like it. Without asking Katou, he led them into a café where they were seated by a young girl who gave them menus. Katou didn’t want to open it - he could guess how expensive just a cup of coffee at this kind of place would be.
Nishikido looked up from his menu and gave Katou a funny look, “Have you never been out before? You see, you open it like this,” He reached over, pulling the menu out of Katou’s hands and onto the table where he opened it, “and then you read through it and decide what you want to have.”
Katou closed it without looking down, “I’m not hungry. Or thirsty.”
“We’ve been shopping for hours. Of course you are.”
“You’ve been shopping for hours. I’ve been following you around.”
Nishikido looked a little upset, “You haven’t liked anything? I knew it. Ginza’s no good. After this we’ll go to Shibuya.”
“Of course it’s not good! I can’t afford any of it.” Katou leaned back in the seat and crossed his arms, “Why would I bother looking at anything or liking anything when I know I can’t afford it?”
Nishikido frowned a little bit and turned back to his menu. Neither said anything after that. When the waitress came over, Nishikido ordered a Café Au Lait and told her that Katou didn’t want anything. They sat in silence while Nishikido sipped his coffee and looked through messages on his phone. Katou looked around at all the people weighed down with shopping bags, sitting on benches chatting away. He couldn’t help but wonder how much money everyday people like this wasted. And then, he couldn’t help but wonder how much money Nishikido wasted on useless things. He is an idol after all, Katou said to himself, this is probably really normal for him. Doesn’t he know ￥1,000 Café Au Lait’s in expensive cafés aren’t necessarily better than the canned ones from vending machines?
Nishikido put his cup down and reached into his pocked for his wallet, “Are you sure you don’t want anything? You could get it to go.”
“No.” Katou said softly, watching people by the café, “I don’t want anything.”
Nishikido paid and they walked all the way through the mall and to the car without a word. They got in and Nishikido put the key into the ignition, but he didn’t start the car.
Katou turned towards him, “What? Are you waiting for something?”
Nishikido gripped the steering wheel and thought of the alley, “You know, if… If there had been something you really wanted… I would have…”
“What am I?” Katou scoffed, “Your charity case? Does every idol have one?”
“What?! No!”
Katou gasped and leaned away from Nishikido, “This is about last week!”
“It’s nothing like that!”
“I wouldn’t take your money and now you’re just trying to buy my silence with expensive things! I told you - I’m not going to tell any one.”
Nishikido let go of the steering wheel and turned towards Katou, who’d pushed himself against the passenger door and was blushing, “I just… I’m trying to be nice, Katou! You spend all your money on school stuff so I figured… a day out in Ginza or Shibuya with a nice souvenir would be something you’d appreciate.”
Katou seemed to believe Nishikido, but he was still obviously wary of relaxing, “It’s a nice thought but… I’m not like you, Nishikido-san. Fancy places like this stress me out. Because I know I don’t belong and every one else there knows that too.”
“Then where will you be comfortable?”
“Um… Ikebukuro, I guess.”
“Ikebukuro it is then.”
-- -- --
In Ikebukuro, the roles of Katou and Nishikido switched. Among the shorter skyscrapers and plain-looking storefronts, Katou was significantly happier and led the way. Nishikido walked beside him, hat pulled down even lower and giant sunglasses covering most of his face. In stores, Katou would, if something grabbed his eye, actually take the time to calculate whether or not it was affordable. At Nishikido’s insistence he tried on a few things, but nothing ever ended up being worth its cost. When Nishikido received an urgent sounding phone call, Katou waited for him on a bench, drinking a vending machine-coffee, congratulating himself on his thriftiness.
Nishikido walked back towards Katou looking sullen, “I have to be somewhere in an hour and a half. If you don’t mind, I have an errand I need to run before hand…”
“Oh, okay.” Katou stood up and threw the empty can into the trash, “It’s no problem. I’ll just take the train home.”
“Actually, I was kind of hoping you’d come with me.”
“Uh, sure… Where do you need to go?
“A phone store.”
“DoCoMo? Or…?”
Nishikido shook his head, “It doesn’t matter which carrier. Is there one near here?”
“Yeah, it’s this way.”
Katou turned and led the way, completely oblivious.
-- -- --
Nishikido held up a green flip-phone and a dark blue slider, “Which do you think is better?”
Katou sighed, “Really, it doesn’t matter. Just pick which ever one you think is best.”
Nishikido frowned, “I’m asking you.”
“Fine. The green one.”
“Because it’s a flip-phone or because it’s green.”
“Why does it matter?”
Nishikido kept frowning.
“Uhh,” Katou sighed, “because it’s a flip-phone?”
“Then which color is good? The white’s kind of classy, but this red isn’t so bad either.”
Katou walked up closer to the other man and whispered, “Why did you need me to come with you, Nishikido-san? You can easily pick out a phone on your own. Why are you even getting one? You were talking on yours earlier today. It hasn’t gotten broken since then.”
Nishikido cocked his head, “That’s the second time you’ve called me ‘Nishikido-san’.”
“And?”
“No one calls me that expect for frightened juniors.”
“Juniors?... Oh, from your agency.”
“But you get it, right? I don’t want to have to say it.”
“Get…?”
“Why we’re here.”
“Um,”
“Oh, dear God. I’m buying you a phone. Idiot. How did you get into college?”
Katou sputtered, “What?! Why? Why the hell would you buy me a phone?!”
“So the next time I’m drunk with my friends and I try to call you, you’ll pick up. And then when they bother me about who I was talking to, I can tell them and they’ll get off my case about the girlfriend thing.”
“Wait, you have a girlfriend?”
Nishikido frowned, “Have you heard anything I’ve said? Ever?” He held up the red and white flip-phones, “Pick.”
“Nishikido-san, even if you buy me the phone, I can’t afford the plan. Don’t waste your money.”
“I know. That’s why I’m getting you prepaid cards too. They’re really easy to use.” Nishikido held up the two phones to either side of Katou’s head, “The red one looks atrocious next to you. White it is.”
And without asking or saying anything else, Nishikido gently pushed Katou out of the way and went up the counter to buy prepaid cards and activate the phone.
-- -- --
The entire car ride back, Katou held the phone awkwardly and tried to think of something to say that didn’t sound stupid or trite. Nishikido hummed along with songs on the radio and swerved in and out of traffic, seemingly quite pleased with his purchases of the day (but that mood didn’t come about until after he’d bought Katou’s phone). The only numbers in the phone were his parents’ and Nishikido’s - Katou didn’t think it would be very polite of him to use the gift from Nishikido to talk to classmates and friends who he ended up seeing every couple days. When they pulled up to Katou’s apartment complex, Nishikido grabbed his arm before he could get out.
“Ryo-chan.”
Katou glanced at Nishikido’s hand, and then up at him, “What?”
“That’s what people I’m friendly with call me. Ryo-chan.”
“Oh, so I should…”
“Obviously. Did you pick a good ring tone? Phones always come with a few, but they’re shitty, so just spend the money and get a good ring tone.”
Katou looked down at the phone, “Um, how…”
Nishikido snatched it out of Katou’s hand, pressed several buttons and started scanning through the selection, “Crap. Crap. Crap. She’s a bitch. They suck. Crap. Cra- Here we go!”
Shinpai naitte warau kedo, honto wa naishin bikubiku de
Aseri wo kechirashitekou ya, Kyosei wa otoko no ikiru michi
Kibattekou ze, Yeah Yeah Yeah
Furikittekou ze, Hora Bunbun
Atattekou ze, Yeah Yeah Yeah
Zukkoke otokomichi
“What is this?”
“That second line there is me!” Nishikido happily replied, without actually answering the question.
“Oh, so… this is your group?”
“Of course! And this,” pointing to the phone, but clearly meaning the song, now repeating on loop, “Is ‘Zukkoke Otokomichi’! Your new ring tone!”
And feeling that had been enough of an explanation, Nishikido pushed the phone back into Katou’s hand and smiled. Katou regarded the phone and Nishikido for a minute before opening the door and stepping out, but turned back and leaned down to Nishikido.
“If you care to know… Some people call me ‘Shige’.”
“Shige?”
Katou blushed at hearing Nishikido call him something so familiar, “Yeah.”
Nishikido laughed, “It sounds like an old man’s name!”
Katou frowned and stood up, letting the door slip from his fingers and close.
end
RATING: G
PAIRING: Ryo/Shige
SUMMARY: Ryo kidnaps Shige, but not really. Also, they talk a lot. And Ryo does some shopping.
NOTES: Whore!verse Part 4. Also, I'm freaking crazy. My body woke up at 8am this morning, refusing to let me sleep. So, I wrote. This and a weird super long drabble about Chinen getting kidnapped, but it has a happy ending. I don't know what's up with me lately. I think it's all the weird discussions I've been having with myself about the logistics of prostitution. Whatever. Fic. Go.
“This is the last time I’m going to say this. I. Don’t. Have. A. Girlfriend.”
Yamashita sighed, “Ryo-chan, it’s okay. You can tell us! We’re happy for you!”
Akanishi leaned over the table and spoke in a hushed tone, “What’s her name? Is she hot? When can we meet her?”
Nishikido glared, “I don’t have a girlfriend.”
Yamashita laughed, “Yeah. You ditched us last week in the middle of the party after calling some one, and then when we called you in the morning, some mysterious person you won’t tell us about answered the phone. That’s not suspicious at all.”
“I didn’t call any one that night.”
“But you were on your phone for five whole minutes right before you left!”
Nishikido frowned, “I can’t call that idiot.”
“Oh!” Akanishi smiled, “Ryo-chan’s shy!”
Nishikido sighed and desperately wished there was something nearby he could throw.
-- -- --
Katou walked down the street, backpack over a shoulder and left hand idly twirling a pencil. Mid-terms were finally over (he was quite happy with how he’d done on them), he didn’t have any work with Nakagawa-sensei for two whole days and the flowers were slowly starting bloom, making the poor neighborhood at least prettier to look at. There were kids playing some game in street - Katou didn’t worry about them since where was little car traffic here. He was looking forward to spending the rest of the day reading, maybe cleaning up a little, and generally relaxing. But when he turned the corner to his complex and saw the black Lexus parked on the street next to the gates, a shiver ran down his back. As if on cue, the driver side door opened, and Nishikido stepped out, frowning.
“Get in.”
Katou didn’t move, “What are you doing here?”
“I’m being generous. Now get in the car, Katou.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea for you to-“
Nishikido stared at Katou, intensely, but didn’t say anything. Katou sighed and stepped to the car, knowing that every one was looking out their windows, watching the guy they all thought was still a whore get into an expensive car with another man. He sat down inside it, feeling awkward about the whole thing.
“Here I am,” Nishikido pulled into the street without looking, “being a kind person and you hesitate.” At the stop sign at the corner, he barely slowed down, “What kind of parents raised you? Hmph, I know what kind. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, Katou.” Turning into the highway, Nishikido cut off another driver, but ignored the honking.
“Um, where are you taking me?”
“We are going shopping.”
“Where are we going that I could possibly afford?” Katou knew that Nishikido knew, but he wasn’t about to admit that he did 90% of his shopping at the ￥100 store.
“Ginza.” Katou chocked, “Maybe Roppongi or Shibuya if there’s nothing good.”
“I can’t afford those places! Why would you bother taking me there?”
Nishikido didn’t say anything right away, but after a minute of tailgating another driver and then flooring the pedal to pass, Katou heard him mutter, “Shut up.”
-- -- --
Katou stepped into the mall and immediately felt like every one had turned to gawk at the poor kid. Nishikido stood beside him, collar popped and hat pulled low over his face.
“I don’t want to be here.”
“Too bad.” Nishikido started walking towards the escalator, “I do.”
Katou caught up with him, “You don’t want to go into any of those stores?”
Nishikido kept looking forward, “The first couple floors are shit.”
Katou followed Nishikido, looking down as they were riding and couldn’t help but watch Coach and Burberry get smaller and smaller. He didn’t complain as Nishikido dragged him into stores, one after the other, each filled with items that he couldn’t buy, even after a year’s worth of work. Nishikido tried on sunglasses and jeans, several pairs of sneakers (he was especially rude to the clerk and didn’t even buy anything), looked at watches in the jewelry store for a while, and almost bought one, but at the last minute, decided he didn’t like it. Without asking Katou, he led them into a café where they were seated by a young girl who gave them menus. Katou didn’t want to open it - he could guess how expensive just a cup of coffee at this kind of place would be.
Nishikido looked up from his menu and gave Katou a funny look, “Have you never been out before? You see, you open it like this,” He reached over, pulling the menu out of Katou’s hands and onto the table where he opened it, “and then you read through it and decide what you want to have.”
Katou closed it without looking down, “I’m not hungry. Or thirsty.”
“We’ve been shopping for hours. Of course you are.”
“You’ve been shopping for hours. I’ve been following you around.”
Nishikido looked a little upset, “You haven’t liked anything? I knew it. Ginza’s no good. After this we’ll go to Shibuya.”
“Of course it’s not good! I can’t afford any of it.” Katou leaned back in the seat and crossed his arms, “Why would I bother looking at anything or liking anything when I know I can’t afford it?”
Nishikido frowned a little bit and turned back to his menu. Neither said anything after that. When the waitress came over, Nishikido ordered a Café Au Lait and told her that Katou didn’t want anything. They sat in silence while Nishikido sipped his coffee and looked through messages on his phone. Katou looked around at all the people weighed down with shopping bags, sitting on benches chatting away. He couldn’t help but wonder how much money everyday people like this wasted. And then, he couldn’t help but wonder how much money Nishikido wasted on useless things. He is an idol after all, Katou said to himself, this is probably really normal for him. Doesn’t he know ￥1,000 Café Au Lait’s in expensive cafés aren’t necessarily better than the canned ones from vending machines?
Nishikido put his cup down and reached into his pocked for his wallet, “Are you sure you don’t want anything? You could get it to go.”
“No.” Katou said softly, watching people by the café, “I don’t want anything.”
Nishikido paid and they walked all the way through the mall and to the car without a word. They got in and Nishikido put the key into the ignition, but he didn’t start the car.
Katou turned towards him, “What? Are you waiting for something?”
Nishikido gripped the steering wheel and thought of the alley, “You know, if… If there had been something you really wanted… I would have…”
“What am I?” Katou scoffed, “Your charity case? Does every idol have one?”
“What?! No!”
Katou gasped and leaned away from Nishikido, “This is about last week!”
“It’s nothing like that!”
“I wouldn’t take your money and now you’re just trying to buy my silence with expensive things! I told you - I’m not going to tell any one.”
Nishikido let go of the steering wheel and turned towards Katou, who’d pushed himself against the passenger door and was blushing, “I just… I’m trying to be nice, Katou! You spend all your money on school stuff so I figured… a day out in Ginza or Shibuya with a nice souvenir would be something you’d appreciate.”
Katou seemed to believe Nishikido, but he was still obviously wary of relaxing, “It’s a nice thought but… I’m not like you, Nishikido-san. Fancy places like this stress me out. Because I know I don’t belong and every one else there knows that too.”
“Then where will you be comfortable?”
“Um… Ikebukuro, I guess.”
“Ikebukuro it is then.”
-- -- --
In Ikebukuro, the roles of Katou and Nishikido switched. Among the shorter skyscrapers and plain-looking storefronts, Katou was significantly happier and led the way. Nishikido walked beside him, hat pulled down even lower and giant sunglasses covering most of his face. In stores, Katou would, if something grabbed his eye, actually take the time to calculate whether or not it was affordable. At Nishikido’s insistence he tried on a few things, but nothing ever ended up being worth its cost. When Nishikido received an urgent sounding phone call, Katou waited for him on a bench, drinking a vending machine-coffee, congratulating himself on his thriftiness.
Nishikido walked back towards Katou looking sullen, “I have to be somewhere in an hour and a half. If you don’t mind, I have an errand I need to run before hand…”
“Oh, okay.” Katou stood up and threw the empty can into the trash, “It’s no problem. I’ll just take the train home.”
“Actually, I was kind of hoping you’d come with me.”
“Uh, sure… Where do you need to go?
“A phone store.”
“DoCoMo? Or…?”
Nishikido shook his head, “It doesn’t matter which carrier. Is there one near here?”
“Yeah, it’s this way.”
Katou turned and led the way, completely oblivious.
-- -- --
Nishikido held up a green flip-phone and a dark blue slider, “Which do you think is better?”
Katou sighed, “Really, it doesn’t matter. Just pick which ever one you think is best.”
Nishikido frowned, “I’m asking you.”
“Fine. The green one.”
“Because it’s a flip-phone or because it’s green.”
“Why does it matter?”
Nishikido kept frowning.
“Uhh,” Katou sighed, “because it’s a flip-phone?”
“Then which color is good? The white’s kind of classy, but this red isn’t so bad either.”
Katou walked up closer to the other man and whispered, “Why did you need me to come with you, Nishikido-san? You can easily pick out a phone on your own. Why are you even getting one? You were talking on yours earlier today. It hasn’t gotten broken since then.”
Nishikido cocked his head, “That’s the second time you’ve called me ‘Nishikido-san’.”
“And?”
“No one calls me that expect for frightened juniors.”
“Juniors?... Oh, from your agency.”
“But you get it, right? I don’t want to have to say it.”
“Get…?”
“Why we’re here.”
“Um,”
“Oh, dear God. I’m buying you a phone. Idiot. How did you get into college?”
Katou sputtered, “What?! Why? Why the hell would you buy me a phone?!”
“So the next time I’m drunk with my friends and I try to call you, you’ll pick up. And then when they bother me about who I was talking to, I can tell them and they’ll get off my case about the girlfriend thing.”
“Wait, you have a girlfriend?”
Nishikido frowned, “Have you heard anything I’ve said? Ever?” He held up the red and white flip-phones, “Pick.”
“Nishikido-san, even if you buy me the phone, I can’t afford the plan. Don’t waste your money.”
“I know. That’s why I’m getting you prepaid cards too. They’re really easy to use.” Nishikido held up the two phones to either side of Katou’s head, “The red one looks atrocious next to you. White it is.”
And without asking or saying anything else, Nishikido gently pushed Katou out of the way and went up the counter to buy prepaid cards and activate the phone.
-- -- --
The entire car ride back, Katou held the phone awkwardly and tried to think of something to say that didn’t sound stupid or trite. Nishikido hummed along with songs on the radio and swerved in and out of traffic, seemingly quite pleased with his purchases of the day (but that mood didn’t come about until after he’d bought Katou’s phone). The only numbers in the phone were his parents’ and Nishikido’s - Katou didn’t think it would be very polite of him to use the gift from Nishikido to talk to classmates and friends who he ended up seeing every couple days. When they pulled up to Katou’s apartment complex, Nishikido grabbed his arm before he could get out.
“Ryo-chan.”
Katou glanced at Nishikido’s hand, and then up at him, “What?”
“That’s what people I’m friendly with call me. Ryo-chan.”
“Oh, so I should…”
“Obviously. Did you pick a good ring tone? Phones always come with a few, but they’re shitty, so just spend the money and get a good ring tone.”
Katou looked down at the phone, “Um, how…”
Nishikido snatched it out of Katou’s hand, pressed several buttons and started scanning through the selection, “Crap. Crap. Crap. She’s a bitch. They suck. Crap. Cra- Here we go!”
Shinpai naitte warau kedo, honto wa naishin bikubiku de
Aseri wo kechirashitekou ya, Kyosei wa otoko no ikiru michi
Kibattekou ze, Yeah Yeah Yeah
Furikittekou ze, Hora Bunbun
Atattekou ze, Yeah Yeah Yeah
Zukkoke otokomichi
“What is this?”
“That second line there is me!” Nishikido happily replied, without actually answering the question.
“Oh, so… this is your group?”
“Of course! And this,” pointing to the phone, but clearly meaning the song, now repeating on loop, “Is ‘Zukkoke Otokomichi’! Your new ring tone!”
And feeling that had been enough of an explanation, Nishikido pushed the phone back into Katou’s hand and smiled. Katou regarded the phone and Nishikido for a minute before opening the door and stepping out, but turned back and leaned down to Nishikido.
“If you care to know… Some people call me ‘Shige’.”
“Shige?”
Katou blushed at hearing Nishikido call him something so familiar, “Yeah.”
Nishikido laughed, “It sounds like an old man’s name!”
Katou frowned and stood up, letting the door slip from his fingers and close.
end