Chapter 2: The Replacement
Title: The Mister Mask
Author: YINGxsquare
Pairing: Ryosuke/OC (currently)
Hidden Pairing: Yes
Appearance of other members: HSJ
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Fluff, Gender Bender, Mild Angst, Romance, Slight Comedy(?)
Disclaimer: Only the plot and OCs are mine, others belong to Johnny.
Summary: A girl was forced to change her identity and gender due to her family problem. On the other hand, Chinen Yuuri of the famous boy band 'Hey! Say! JUMP' injured himself in one of their rehearsals for the upcoming winter concert. A temporary replacement was found to replace him. Will the other members, especially his good friend - Yamada Ryosuke, be able to accept the fact about his injury and the new member? And who exactly is this mysterious replacer with an unknown past?
Previous Chapters: Chapter 1
"Ryoko, are you feeling alright?" Yuusuke, the manager of Hey! Say! JUMP, asked.
Ryoko nodded her head nervously.
"Alright then. Let’s go," Yuusuke said with a smile and pushed the door open.
Ryoko walked in slowly while staring down at her feet as she felt all eyes on her.
"Ryota, look up. Don't be nervous, it'll be alright," Yuusuke whispered softly and nudged her arm.
Ryoko nodded and looked up slowly. Then she gulped. Seated right in front of her was the currently most famous boy band in Japan, Hey! Say! JUMP. Her eyes darted nervously around the room, trying to avoid any possible eye contacts.
"Guys, this is Nakano Ryota. Nakano-kun will be replacing Chinen-kun temporary until he has fully recovered from his injury," Yuusuke announced, patting lightly on Ryoko's shoulder.
She sighed silently and bits her lips. Why on earth did I even agree to this in the first place?
-Flashback-
"Ittadakimasu!"
The four of them tucked in together. The dining room was in silence except the occasional sound of the chopsticks hitting the plates was heard. Ryoko decided to break the silence.
"Yuusuke-kun, it's rare of you to join us for dinner," Ryoko said with raised eyebrows, while grabbing a piece of meat with her chopsticks.
"Ah, that’s because I miss all of you," Yuusuke replied with a laugh and looked at Mizuki, who flashed him a smile.
Ryoko rolled her eyes and pretended to gag before stuffing another piece of meat into her mouth.
After dinner was over, the girls went back to their own rooms while Natsume and Yuusuke cleared the dirty dishes.
Ryoko plopped onto the bed and closed her eyes. As she was in deep thoughts, she didn't notice someone knocking on the door. When the door clicked open, Ryoko immediately snapped out of her thoughts and sat up.
"Who is it?" she asked, staring at the door.
"It's me," Yuusuke said, appearing at the door.
"Oh," Ryoko replied and shifted her gaze to elsewhere, “Come on in."
Yuusuke sat on her chair and spun it around to face her. He stared at her for a good five minutes.
"Wh-what?" Ryoko stuttered in embarrassment.
She wasn't use to people staring at her in that way. Yuusuke just smiled at her.
"Can I ask you a favour?"
Ryoko looked up at him. She knew she couldn't refuse him for he was her benefactor. She felt that owed him so much that she probably wouldn’t be able to finish repaying him for her entire lifetime.
"Sure, just name it."
"I would like you to be Chinen Yuuri's temporary replacement."
"What?!"
Her eyes widened in shock. She couldn't believe what she had just heard.
"Chinen Yuuri from Hey! Say! JUMP. I want you to be his replacement," Yuusuke repeated slowly while being amused by her reaction.
"W-why?"
"He had fractured his arm during today's practice and their concert is just in two months’ time. Johnny-san thinks that he won't be able to make it for the concert," Yuusuke answered with a sigh and Ryoko bit her lips.
"So we need to find someone to replace him as soon as possible and learn all his dance move parts first," Yuusuke added.
Being soft-hearted, Ryoko decided to do it. She let out a sigh. I don’t think I can refuse this favour.
"I'll do it," she agreed and upon seeing Yuusuke's face brightened up immediately, she added, “But it'll only be temporary."
Yuusuke nodded his head and got off the chair to give Ryoko a hug.
-End of Flashback-
"Erm…Nakano-kun..?"
Ryoko snapped out of her thoughts and stared at the person in front of her. Looking around, she realized that she was left alone with the members.
"Eh? Where did Ito-san go?" she blurted out.
"Oh, he said that Johnny-san was looking for him so he went off first," a tall guy in orange-brown hair answered.
Ryoko then nodded her head nervously. Yuusuke-kun, you could have brought me out with you! Why did you leave me here with them? I’m feeling so…uncomfortable now…
A hand waved in front of her face and she looked up, startled.
"Hello, I'm Arioka Daiki. Just call me Daiki. Nice to meet you," Daiki said cheerfully with a smile and stretched out his hand.
Ryoko placed her hand against his and shook nervously. The members slowly introduced themselves one by one. Then, her gaze landed on the next guy. He was around the same height as her with a cast on his right arm.
He must be Chinen Yuuri.
"I'm Chinen Yuuri! You might have recognized me because of this," he joked while taking a glimpse at his cast before shifted his gaze back to her and added, “Nice to meet you! I'll help you with all the moves, so you don’t have to be worried!”
Ryoko nodded with a smile. Despite him fracturing his arm, he was still cheerful. She really admired that part of him and somehow, she was glad that she had agreed to be his replacement.
The last guy came up to her with a face full of unwillingness. Obviously, she recognized that guy for almost all the girls were flailing about him. He’s Japan's current best male actor and ideal lover, Yamada Ryosuke.
"Yamada Ryosuke," he said with a pause in between and eyed her from head to toe.
“Chii is our best member in acrobatics. You’d better be of the same level as him or even higher. Or else, you aren't worthy of being his replacement,” he continued with a smug look.
"Oi, Yama-chan! Don't be so rude to him," Kota yelled after him, who was already walking his way towards the door.
She watched as he stopped on his tracks and turned around. Fear and anger built up within her that second as she saw the smirk he gave.
"I'm not being rude, Yabu-kun. I was merely stating the fact," he said with the same smug look before shifting his gaze to her and added, “We shall see how good you are tomorrow. So be prepared."
With that, the door slammed shut.
Ryoko's eyes widened in astonishment. She could feel sarcasm in that sentence.
Yamada Ryosuke with that kind of attitude? None of the fan girls would ever believe it.
She wondered if any fan girls would still flail over him after seeing him in this kind of bratty attitude. Then she smiled to herself.
Well, probably yes. Those fan girls who are blinded by their love for him.
Suddenly, she felt a light tap on her shoulder and turned around.
"Oh, Chinen-kun," she said with a smile.
She watched as he lowered his head and clenched his fingers into a fist.
"Are you o-"
"I’m sorry! I’m really sorry. Please forgive me!"
Yuuri bowed down fully and Ryoko, who was confused by his action, immediately tried to stop him.
"Chinen-kun? What’s wrong? Why is Chinen-kun apologizing to me? Chinen-kun didn't do anything wrong!" Ryoko asked quickly and looked at the other members for help.
She watched as Yuto came up and pulled Yuuri away while Daiki and the other members gestured her to take a seat beside them. Still feeling confused by Yuuri’s action earlier, she nodded and took a seat beside Daiki.
"What happened to Chinen-kun?" she asked worriedly.
All the other members shook their heads and sighed in unison.
"Chii was actually apologizing on behalf of Yama-chan for his bad attitude earlier on," Kota answered with another sigh.
"Apologizing on behalf of Yamada-kun?" she repeated the words with a frown and they nodded.
"He changed almost completely into another person after Chii got injured and because of that, Chii had been blaming himself since then," Daiki sighed and shook his head.
-Flashback-
When the BEST members reached the hospital ward that Yuuri was in, they saw the 7 members crowding around the bed. Daiki looked around and frowned.
"Where's Yama-chan?" he asked, catching the rest of 7 members' attention.
"He went to chase after the doctor," Keito replied quietly.
Daiki looked at the other BEST members.
"Chase after doctor?" the BEST members repeated in unison and the 7 members nodded their heads.
Daiki clicked his tongue with a hint of irritation with an uneasy feeling washed over him.
"I'll look for him," he said quickly and rushed out of the door.
After walking around the hospital for half an hour, he still couldn't find Ryosuke.
"Damn! Where on earth is he?!" he cursed silently.
Just as he was about to head back the ward when he spotted a sign that says "Entrance to the rooftop". Something told him that there was a high chance for him to find Ryosuke inside. With a shrug, he pushed open the door and peeked into it.
"Well, this is the only place that I didn't search earlier. Since I've already spent half an hour of my time finding him, I guess I might as well just search in here too," he thought as he walked up the stairs.
Pushing the last door open, a bright beam of light shone onto his face, forcing him to shield his eyes. As his eyes finally got used to the light, he removed his hands and looked around. Then he spotted saw Ryosuke.
Ryosuke was leaning against the railings directly opposite of the door. Daiki clicked his tongue and slowly approached him.
"You know how tiring it is just to find you even though you aren't that small to be miss out," Daiki joked lightly as he leaned against the railing beside him.
From the corner of his eyes, he caught Ryosuke flashing a small smile. Silence soon filled up the atmosphere quickly followed by the breezy wind that came and blew their hair lightly. Daiki turned his body and his back was now leaning against the railing.
"So, why aren't you in the ward?" he asked with closed eyes, feeling the gentle breeze brushing against his skin.
"Chii won't be able to practice with us anymore," Ryosuke said with a pause to take a glance at Daiki and continued with a serious tone.
“He might not participate in our winter concert too."
Daiki's eyes flew open. Refusing to believe it, he let out a fake laugh.
"Yama-chan, that's not funny. It's not good to joke about things like that," Daiki said with his eyebrows furrowed. Or is it really the truth?
Ryosuke clicked his tongue and tilted his body, finally facing Daiki directly.
"I went after the doctor earlier and he told me that Chii will need at least a month to recover his arm. Even after he has recovered, he won't be able to use his right arm that efficiently as before," Ryosuke explained angrily and using his right fist, he banged against the railing so hard that it shook violently.
Daiki’s eyes widened for a few seconds before his gaze softened.
"Yama-chan..."
"Why? Why? Why?! Why didn't I see that coming?" Ryosuke yelled and his right fist banged against the railing again.
Daiki patted his shoulder to calm Ryosuke down and suddenly his phone rang. Immediately, he flipped it open and pressed his ear against it.
“Hello?”
"Dai-chan, where are you? Have you found Yama-chan? Anyway, I've told Ito-san about Chii's condition."
"Oh, Yabu-kun! I’m at the rooftop with him. So what did Ito-san say?"
Then there was a long pause in between and he could feel Ryosuke's stare on him.
"Yabu-kun?"
"He said that he will find a temporary replacement for Chii."
"Temporary replacement?"
He looked at Ryosuke worriedly. He could clearly feel anger rising within him.
"Yeah. He said that Chii won't be able to catch up with the moves in time and so, the replacement will have a high chance of replacing him during concert."
"I see. Alright, I understood."
After exchanging another few sentences, Daiki finally hanged up. Looking at Ryosuke, Daiki saw him clenching his fists tightly.
"Ya-"
Ryosuke flung away Daiki's hand that was about to reach his shoulder.
"Why do we need a replacement? Why can't just postpone the damn concert?!" Ryosuke shouted loudly.
Daiki sighed and put both his hands on Ryosuke's shoulders.
"Yama-chan, the sponsors had already started preparing for the concert a month ago. None of us knew that this will happen. I'm sure Chii will be with us at the backstage," Daiki tried to coo but none of the words could make any sense to him.
"No! I don't want Chii to be at the backstage! I want him to be with us! The stage! On the stage with us!" Ryosuke yelled and shrugged off Daiki's hands angrily.
Then, he stomped off to the door and slammed it shut. Daiki sighed again and ruffled his hair in frustration.
-End of Flashback-
Ryoko listened patiently and attentively while Daiki was narrating out the whole scene to her. Somehow, she managed to put herself in Ryosuke's shoes and understood how he felt.
"I see. So he has been acting like that since then?" she asked, looking at Daiki who nodded his head.
"Yeah. Even Chii can't talk any sense into him. He refused to listen to anyone of us," Yuya added with a sigh and Ryoko nodded her head slowly.
"So we're really sorry if he had said some nonsense to you just now and probably in more in the future," Kota apologized and bowed slightly.
Ryoko immediately waved her hands and stopped him.
"No, no. It’s okay. I’m somehow able to understand how he feels after placing myself in his shoes. If my band mate was also injured like Chinen-kun, I'm sure that I'll be very upset too," Ryoko said truthfully, not noticing that all seven pairs of eyes were staring weirdly at her.
Realizing that there wasn't any reply from them, she looked up and was startled by their stares.
"Wh-what? D-did I say something weird?" she asked with her face flustered in embarrassment.
They shook their heads in unison with an amused expression.
"Not really. It's just that we didn't expect a guy to be able to feel that way and say those words. It's usually the girls who are able to do it," Daiki said, staring at her with hint of suspicion.
Hearing that, Ryoko immediately shook her head.
"A-ah, it's because my Kaa-san always tells me to understand how the party feels first before judging the problem or situation," she explained quickly and the other members nodded their heads.
"Well, we're happy that you are able to understand how he feels. We would also like you to do us a little favour," Kei asked and the other members stared at her again.
Ryoko felt relieved for she had almost exposed herself. Having the seven members to stare at her again, she couldn’t help but to feel slightly uncomfortable.
"S-sure, j-just name it," she stammered and Kei smiled.
Somehow, she had a strange feeling about the little favour through their stares.
"We would like you to try to bring our old Yama-chan back if possible," Kei said with the same smile still plastered across his face and Ryoko's eyes widened.
"B-bring the o-old Yamada-kun back?" Ryoko stuttered and the members nodded their heads.
"I really hope you can, Nakano-kun," a voice suddenly spoke.
She turned around and realized that Yuuri and Yuto were standing behind her. Thinking about how Yuuri was blaming himself for causing Ryosuke to have that current attitude, she bit her lips and let out a heavy sigh.
"I guess I've no other choice but to accept it. Seriously, I can't believe I'm doing this," she muttered under her breath.
"Pardon?"
She looked up and realized that nine pairs of eyes were on her for the third time.
"Ah, it’s nothing. I said that I would be more than willing to accept your favour," she answered with a smile.
"Ah! Thank you, Nakano-kun!" Yuuri thanked with his trademark smile.
Ryoko waved her hands, indicating that it's okay.
"I'll do my best!" she said with the action that caused the members to laugh.
However, none of them noticed that the door was slightly opened and someone was listening to their whole conversation.
"Well, well, we will see about that then. I'll be sure to make it into an exciting and tough ride for you."
And the shadowy figure disappeared.
Next Chapter
A/N: Yay, it's another update! :D Alrights, here's chapter 2! I hope I haven't lose any readers yet! xD Comments are definitely and extremely welcome! :D