Merry Christmas!
All Massu Wants For Christmas Is...
Johnny's Entertainment
G; NEWS gen but I guess you can read pairings in it if you want; in all its unbeta-ed glory! warnings for stupidity, but that's NEWS for you.
Characters/Pairings: NEWS!
Summary: Massu is left by himself for Christmas and he's out of gyoza.
A/N: Christmas fic for everybody, but mostly dedicated to rockthecliche who loves Massu like no other. The title is a reference to the Mariah Carey song, so I guess in a way, I'm still serenading her for ripping the LIVEx3 DVD. Which everyone should go watch. LIKE NOW.
“Taka, are you sure you’re going to be all right by yourself?”
Massu just smiles in the face of his mother’s worry with far more confidence than he really felt. “I’ll be fine, Mom.”
“Are you sure?” she asks again. “It feels wrong to leave you alone for two weeks. During the holidays, no less.”
But Massu knows how long his family has waited for this trip out of town and how excited they have been. It’s really a shame that everything fell into place during that time of year when he definitely has to be at work. So there’s nothing left for him to do but be strong. “It’s okay. Go and have fun for me. And be sure to watch me on TV if you can.”
“Well… All right. If you say you’ll be fine, I believe you.” She fiddles with the buttons on the front of his shirt. “There’s plenty of gyoza in the fridge.”
In response, Massu grins, with all the blinding radiance of the newly-risen sun.
*
Massu’s mother makes the best gyoza ever.
*
“Gentlemen, we have a problem,” Koyama says gravely, opening the special super-secret emergency NEWS meeting. He looks at each of the other four seriously, trying to impress upon them the gravity of the situation.
Three pairs of eyes return his look with equal gravity and Koyama shakes his head. “Somebody poke Yamapi.”
“I’m awake,” Yamapi grumbles, opening his eyes. He looks around the practice room sleepily. “Shouldn’t we wait for Massu before we start?”
Tegoshi clears his throat. “This meeting is about Massu.”
Yamapi blinks. “Well, that’s kind of rude.”
Shige fidgets guiltily in his seat. “It’s not like we’re going to say bad things about him.”
“Speak for yourself,” Ryo sniffs. “He told me to shut up and stop making ‘those noises’ on my guitar. Noises. What kind of fu-”
Koyama coughs loudly. “Right. I’m sure we all know the situation. Massu’s been in a terrible mood for the past few days.”
“He hasn’t been eating,” Yamapi says, concerned. “I mean, not as much.”
“He’s impatient during rehearsals,” Shige complains, remembering how Massu snapped at him after Shige asked to be taught a particular move for the nth time.
“Does anyone know why?” Koyama asks.
“His family left him by himself,” Shige muses.
“They have been gone a week,” Tegoshi says.
All five of them fall silent, considering this information.
“Right,” Yamapi says, energetically slamming his fist on the table. “We can’t have a sulky Massu on Christmas. We can’t have a sulky Massu period. So I suggest, for the sake of member ai, that we go out there, and we fix this.”
Shige sighs, Koyama applauds at the mention of member ai, Tegoshi slams his own fist onto the table to show solidarity with his leader, and Ryo just very slowly shakes his head.
*
“I don’t see why we have to go see Massu together,” Shige says, staring at Tegoshi just outside Massu’s front door.
“Stop pretending you don’t love me, Shige,” Tegoshi smirks. “Nobody believes you.”
Shige huffs and rings the bell.
“What’s in your bag,” Tegoshi asks.
“Fish, of course,” Shige says. “What’s in yours?”
“Pasta.”
Shige frowns. “Pasta doesn’t really go well with what I’m planning to make.”
“Guess you should just save it for later then.”
“What? I caught this fish specifically for Massu! That’s what you said! ‘Shige, go catch a fish and let’s make Massu a lunch he’ll never forget!’ I woke up at the crack of dawn.”
“Then maybe you should have thought of a fish…dish that goes well with pasta,” Tegoshi shrugs.
“You should have told me you were going to make pasta!”
Tegoshi snaps his fingers. “I know! We’ll make both and let Massu decide which one he wants to eat!”
“What?”
Tegoshi smiles sweetly. “May the best chef win!”
*
Massu isn’t sure why his kitchen has turned into a battlefield. If he’d known this was going to happen, he would never have let them in. As it is, they’ve already ruined his mother’s carefully organized spice rack.
“Ugh, Shige! You left fish slime all over the cutting board!”
“You can’t use that pot for your pasta!”
Too late. Water splashes as Tegoshi drops noodles into a pot.
Massu twitches.
“Tegoshi, those are my onions! Go slice your own!”
“I’ll go watch TV,” Massu says in a strangled voice.
“We’ll call you when lunch is ready!” Tegoshi calls.
Massu doesn’t trust himself to speak.
*
As it turns out, they’re showing World Cup reruns on TV and Tegoshi overcooks his pasta and Shige spends too much time laughing at Tegoshi to notice his fish is burning.
*
In the end, Massu busies himself with putting the spice rack back in order while Tegoshi and Shige argue over which pizza place delivers faster.
Massu stares at the mess of soggy, limp noodles and burned fish in the sink and tries very, very hard not to cry.
*
“Massu’s lucky you didn’t set his house on fire,” Ryo says between gales of laughter, flailing in the back of their van where they were having yet another super-secret emergency meeting away from Massu’s eyes.
Shige glares at him. “I’d like to see you do better.”
Ryo grins. “Massu and I are going out tonight. You’ll see. Tomorrow he’ll be happy and smiling again.”
Koyama makes a small doubtful noise but Ryo just glowers at them.
“He wants to go out with me. He says so all the time!”
“If you say so.” Tegoshi looks worried, though, which annoys Ryo.
“People happen to like going out with me!” Ryo says loudly. “Just ask Pi!”
Shige glances at Yamapi, who has pressed one side of his face up against one of the windows and is fast asleep.
“Ask him when he’s awake, then,” Ryo says.
Koyama looks at Ryo thoughtfully. “Maybe I should go with you. Just in case.”
Ryo scowls at his members’ complete lack of faith and almost kicks Pi awake, just to have someone to vouch for him. “Fine! I don’t care. You’ll see. Massu and I will have a great time!”
*
Ryo acts like he owns the booth they’re sitting in. Actually, he acts like he owns the whole place. He shoves a menu in Massu’s direction with a wink. “Here! Order something. It’s my treat!”
Massu wrinkles his nose as his hands touch the laminated cardboard. The menu’s kind of sticky, and he’s trying to inhale as little of the cigarette-smoke thick air as possible. “Nishikido-kun…”
“Hmm?”
“This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. Can’t we go shopping instead?”
“It’s not so bad, Massu!” Koyama says from his other side, eyes bright as he watches a tall girl stride past, her eyes briefly meeting his. “Why don’t we stay for a few minutes more? You might change your mind.”
“But I-”
Ryo slides closer and drapes an arm around Massu’s shoulder. “I’ll tell you a secret,” he says, mouth practically against Massu’s ear.
Massu pulls away a little to look at him.
“This place serves the best gyoza in Roppongi!” Ryo says. It’s a complete and utter lie, and he feels guilty as soon as he says it, especially since Massu’s now staring at him with shining, hopeful eyes.
“Really?”
A blonde sashays past and Ryo is momentarily distracted from those awful, complicated feelings. “Really, really,” he nods. “And you know what goes with gyoza?”
“What?”
“Beer. Lots and lots of beer.”
Massu glances at Koyama, who nods emphatically. “I guess I can stay for a bit.”
*
Massu kind of loves beer, and Koyama kind of loves the brunette he met twenty minutes ago currently giving him a lap dance.
Ryo knocks back another beer and just keeps on loving himself.
*
Massu kind of hates Ryo just a little.
“I think I’m going to die,” he says into his cell phone the following morning. “And I think Nishikido-kun stole my pants.”
“You’re not going to die,” Shige replies, prudently ignoring the part about the pants.
“Not even if I want to?”
Shige sighs. “Unfortunately.”
A loud noise suddenly comes from the vicinity of the Massu’s floor. It sounds like a dying cow.
“What’s that?” Shige asks, overhearing.
“I think it’s Kei-chan.”
A pause. “I don’t really want to know. Look, just take some pain relievers and rest, Massu.”
Massu hangs up. His head has never hurt so much in his life, and his stomach feels funny, like it’s doing back flips and pirouettes. He can’t even remember the taste of last night’s gyoza, isn’t quite sure if Ryo had been honest or not.
He rolls over, groans, and makes a mental note to never go out with Ryo again. At least not without a proper adult present.
“Ngargh. Massu, have you seen my pants?”
Koyama obviously doesn’t count.
*
“It’s just getting worse,” Yamapi says at the next emergency meeting. “I smiled at Massu today and he just grimaced at me.”
“Ow, Shige. That’s my foot,” Tegoshi complains in a muffled voice.
“Move over then!”
“I can’t. There’s no more room, unless I step on Yamashita-kun!”
“Please don’t step on me.”
“Can’t we find a better place for super-secret emergency meetings than a broom closet?” Shige says.
“You people just need to think of better ideas for cheering Massu up,” Ryo says, ignoring the minor scuffle that has erupted a few feet away from him.
“Says the guy who came up with the worst idea ever,” Shige points out.
Ryo stomps down hard.
“Ouch! That was me! ”
“…Sorry, Pi. Anyway, how was I supposed to know Massu was such a lightweight?”
“Massu wants his pants back.”
“Too late. Burned it.”
“I hope you didn’t burn my pants, Ryo-chan,” Koyama says.
“I have no idea what you did with your pants.”
Yamapi sighs. “I guess it’s my turn next.”
“Good luck, leader!”
Shige winces. “Right in my ear, Tegoshi!”
*
“Eh?!”
Yamapi gives Massu a thumbs up. “Yo.”
Massu blinks. He can’t recall the last time Yamapi showed up at his house, mostly because it’s never happened before. He’s surprised Yamapi even knows where he lives.
“Can I come in?”
Massu steps aside. “But what are you doing here?” he asks, then wonders if that may have been rude.
Yamapi doesn’t seem too bothered. “I brought you dinner.”
“Dinner?”
Yamapi steps out of his shoes in the genkan and hands Massu a brown paper bag. The unmistakeable scent of gyoza is emanating from it, and Massu inhales deeply. He knows at once that this is quality gyoza.
“I love Yamashita-kun,” Massu says with a smile, moved.
Yamapi blinks. “You’re weird, Massu.”
*
Massu thinks Yamapi’s ability to fall asleep anywhere can be useful to have sometimes, but now he realizes that it could also be troublesome. He doesn’t quite know what to do with the other man passed out in a chair at the kitchen table.
He looks down at their empty plates and bowls. The gyoza Yamapi brought had been really good. It was probably really expensive, too, for gyoza. But even though Massu enjoyed it a lot, it still somehow fell short.
He glances at Yamapi, sees he’s still asleep, and walks over to the refrigerator to take out a large, clear plastic container. Inside is a single gyoza, the last of the batch that was supposed to tide him over until his mother’s return. He knows that his mother picks the ingredients from the market herself, knows that while it’s not made from the most expensive pork and flour that money can buy, it’s still pretty good stuff. She mixed them all for him and made each piece with loving care.
And maybe that made all the difference.
He sighs and puts the gyoza back in the refrigerator. “Christmas morning,” he murmurs. “I’ll eat it on Christmas morning.” And that just seems so far away.
Massu turns away from the refrigerator, taking a step back toward the table, then freezes in mid-stride.
Yamapi is awake and looking at him. For a moment, they just stare at each other, and Massu wonders how long he’s been watching and how much he saw.
He opens his mouth to ask but Yamapi is suddenly getting up and stretching.
“Well, I have to go home,” Yamapi says lightly. “I’ll see you at rehearsal for Music Station, Massu!”
And just like that he’s gone.
*
It’s Christmas Eve (technically, it's Christmas morning) and Massu is all alone. Music Station is over and done with, and there have been several invitations from friends asking him to go out with them, but he just can’t be bothered. He doesn’t seem to have much interest in anything other than work lately.
Instead, he spends the time waiting for sunrise in the company of a few boxes of gyoza sampled from random restaurants. None of them have met his standards so far, but maybe the last box-
The bell chimes and Massu looks up with a frown. Whoever it is would have to wait, because gyoza can’t. He reaches for his chopsticks.
The bell chimes again, and this time it’s followed by a familiar, high-pitched voice calling “Massu. We know you’re in there!”
Massu drops his chopsticks and holds his head in his hands with a groan. Tegoshi. And he said we. I’m not in the mood for him and Shige to ruin my Mom’s kitchen again!
Somebody pounds on the door. “Oy! Masuda! It’s cold out here!”
Nishikido-kun?
There’s a murmur of voices - several voices - from the other side of the door. Massu’s curiosity finally gets the better of him and he gets up to answer the persistent bell-ringing and loud knocking.
All of NEWS tumbles through the door, landing in a heap in the genkan.
“I’m going to kill somebody in three seconds, I swear,” Ryo growls from somewhere near the bottom of the pile.
“W-Why are you all here?” Massu asks nervously as they right themselves.
Koyama holds up a paper bag that’s been slightly squashed in their fall. “We figured out what we should give you this Christmas.”
“M-me?”
Tegoshi smiles his bright smile and Massu steps back, wary instead of disarmed. “We’ll make you gyoza!”
“Homemade gyoza,” Shige nods.
Massu looks from one happily smiling face to the next (not counting Ryo, who just looks disgruntled as he straightens his t-shirt). He isn’t sure if the warm feeling in the pit of his stomach is joy or fear.
Koyama drapes an arm around Massu’s shoulders and steers him toward the kitchen. “We’ll make it together. It should be fun, right?”
“Well…”
“Don’t worry,” Yamapi assures him, moving to his other side, arm stealing around Massu’s waist. “We won’t let Tegoshi and Shige wreck the place again,” he promises.
Massu sighs. “All right.”
“Great!” Yamapi exclaims, pulling away and suddenly doing a random, ridiculous pose. “Operation Gyoza is under way!”
There’s a moment of silence as they stare at their normally stoic leader, who has one hand in the air and the other forming a piece sign in front of his face.
Ryo is the first to break, dissolving into a fit of giggles against the kitchen counter. Soon all of NEWS is laughing hysterically, and Massu thinks that maybe, just maybe, things were going to be fine.
*
The gyoza’s a bit too peppery, and the pork was not quite mixed enough so it wasn’t as juicy as he had hoped. But Massu happily chews on a mouthful, surveying his group gathered around the table. Everybody has flour in his hair, and Yamapi even has it along the bridge of his nose.
“You put too much pepper in, Shige,” Tegoshi says critically.
“Shut up. You’re ruining the moment.”
Massu smiles, picking up another piece with his chopsticks. “It’s perfect!” he announces.
Ryo stares at him incredulously. “No, it-ow,” he grunts, looking at Yamapi, who’s chewing placidly. “Did you just kick me?”
Koyama smiles at Massu gently. “More tea?”
“Yes, please!”
And as Koyama pours him more tea, Shige and Tegoshi fight over a particularly large piece, and Ryo glares at Yamapi who finds it easy to ignore him in favor of food, Massu thinks that NEWS’ gyoza is the best gyoza he’s ever had in his life.
Next to his Mom’s, of course.
Johnny's Entertainment
G; NEWS gen but I guess you can read pairings in it if you want; in all its unbeta-ed glory! warnings for stupidity, but that's NEWS for you.
Characters/Pairings: NEWS!
Summary: Massu is left by himself for Christmas and he's out of gyoza.
A/N: Christmas fic for everybody, but mostly dedicated to rockthecliche who loves Massu like no other. The title is a reference to the Mariah Carey song, so I guess in a way, I'm still serenading her for ripping the LIVEx3 DVD. Which everyone should go watch. LIKE NOW.
“Taka, are you sure you’re going to be all right by yourself?”
Massu just smiles in the face of his mother’s worry with far more confidence than he really felt. “I’ll be fine, Mom.”
“Are you sure?” she asks again. “It feels wrong to leave you alone for two weeks. During the holidays, no less.”
But Massu knows how long his family has waited for this trip out of town and how excited they have been. It’s really a shame that everything fell into place during that time of year when he definitely has to be at work. So there’s nothing left for him to do but be strong. “It’s okay. Go and have fun for me. And be sure to watch me on TV if you can.”
“Well… All right. If you say you’ll be fine, I believe you.” She fiddles with the buttons on the front of his shirt. “There’s plenty of gyoza in the fridge.”
In response, Massu grins, with all the blinding radiance of the newly-risen sun.
*
Massu’s mother makes the best gyoza ever.
*
“Gentlemen, we have a problem,” Koyama says gravely, opening the special super-secret emergency NEWS meeting. He looks at each of the other four seriously, trying to impress upon them the gravity of the situation.
Three pairs of eyes return his look with equal gravity and Koyama shakes his head. “Somebody poke Yamapi.”
“I’m awake,” Yamapi grumbles, opening his eyes. He looks around the practice room sleepily. “Shouldn’t we wait for Massu before we start?”
Tegoshi clears his throat. “This meeting is about Massu.”
Yamapi blinks. “Well, that’s kind of rude.”
Shige fidgets guiltily in his seat. “It’s not like we’re going to say bad things about him.”
“Speak for yourself,” Ryo sniffs. “He told me to shut up and stop making ‘those noises’ on my guitar. Noises. What kind of fu-”
Koyama coughs loudly. “Right. I’m sure we all know the situation. Massu’s been in a terrible mood for the past few days.”
“He hasn’t been eating,” Yamapi says, concerned. “I mean, not as much.”
“He’s impatient during rehearsals,” Shige complains, remembering how Massu snapped at him after Shige asked to be taught a particular move for the nth time.
“Does anyone know why?” Koyama asks.
“His family left him by himself,” Shige muses.
“They have been gone a week,” Tegoshi says.
All five of them fall silent, considering this information.
“Right,” Yamapi says, energetically slamming his fist on the table. “We can’t have a sulky Massu on Christmas. We can’t have a sulky Massu period. So I suggest, for the sake of member ai, that we go out there, and we fix this.”
Shige sighs, Koyama applauds at the mention of member ai, Tegoshi slams his own fist onto the table to show solidarity with his leader, and Ryo just very slowly shakes his head.
*
“I don’t see why we have to go see Massu together,” Shige says, staring at Tegoshi just outside Massu’s front door.
“Stop pretending you don’t love me, Shige,” Tegoshi smirks. “Nobody believes you.”
Shige huffs and rings the bell.
“What’s in your bag,” Tegoshi asks.
“Fish, of course,” Shige says. “What’s in yours?”
“Pasta.”
Shige frowns. “Pasta doesn’t really go well with what I’m planning to make.”
“Guess you should just save it for later then.”
“What? I caught this fish specifically for Massu! That’s what you said! ‘Shige, go catch a fish and let’s make Massu a lunch he’ll never forget!’ I woke up at the crack of dawn.”
“Then maybe you should have thought of a fish…dish that goes well with pasta,” Tegoshi shrugs.
“You should have told me you were going to make pasta!”
Tegoshi snaps his fingers. “I know! We’ll make both and let Massu decide which one he wants to eat!”
“What?”
Tegoshi smiles sweetly. “May the best chef win!”
*
Massu isn’t sure why his kitchen has turned into a battlefield. If he’d known this was going to happen, he would never have let them in. As it is, they’ve already ruined his mother’s carefully organized spice rack.
“Ugh, Shige! You left fish slime all over the cutting board!”
“You can’t use that pot for your pasta!”
Too late. Water splashes as Tegoshi drops noodles into a pot.
Massu twitches.
“Tegoshi, those are my onions! Go slice your own!”
“I’ll go watch TV,” Massu says in a strangled voice.
“We’ll call you when lunch is ready!” Tegoshi calls.
Massu doesn’t trust himself to speak.
*
As it turns out, they’re showing World Cup reruns on TV and Tegoshi overcooks his pasta and Shige spends too much time laughing at Tegoshi to notice his fish is burning.
*
In the end, Massu busies himself with putting the spice rack back in order while Tegoshi and Shige argue over which pizza place delivers faster.
Massu stares at the mess of soggy, limp noodles and burned fish in the sink and tries very, very hard not to cry.
*
“Massu’s lucky you didn’t set his house on fire,” Ryo says between gales of laughter, flailing in the back of their van where they were having yet another super-secret emergency meeting away from Massu’s eyes.
Shige glares at him. “I’d like to see you do better.”
Ryo grins. “Massu and I are going out tonight. You’ll see. Tomorrow he’ll be happy and smiling again.”
Koyama makes a small doubtful noise but Ryo just glowers at them.
“He wants to go out with me. He says so all the time!”
“If you say so.” Tegoshi looks worried, though, which annoys Ryo.
“People happen to like going out with me!” Ryo says loudly. “Just ask Pi!”
Shige glances at Yamapi, who has pressed one side of his face up against one of the windows and is fast asleep.
“Ask him when he’s awake, then,” Ryo says.
Koyama looks at Ryo thoughtfully. “Maybe I should go with you. Just in case.”
Ryo scowls at his members’ complete lack of faith and almost kicks Pi awake, just to have someone to vouch for him. “Fine! I don’t care. You’ll see. Massu and I will have a great time!”
*
Ryo acts like he owns the booth they’re sitting in. Actually, he acts like he owns the whole place. He shoves a menu in Massu’s direction with a wink. “Here! Order something. It’s my treat!”
Massu wrinkles his nose as his hands touch the laminated cardboard. The menu’s kind of sticky, and he’s trying to inhale as little of the cigarette-smoke thick air as possible. “Nishikido-kun…”
“Hmm?”
“This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. Can’t we go shopping instead?”
“It’s not so bad, Massu!” Koyama says from his other side, eyes bright as he watches a tall girl stride past, her eyes briefly meeting his. “Why don’t we stay for a few minutes more? You might change your mind.”
“But I-”
Ryo slides closer and drapes an arm around Massu’s shoulder. “I’ll tell you a secret,” he says, mouth practically against Massu’s ear.
Massu pulls away a little to look at him.
“This place serves the best gyoza in Roppongi!” Ryo says. It’s a complete and utter lie, and he feels guilty as soon as he says it, especially since Massu’s now staring at him with shining, hopeful eyes.
“Really?”
A blonde sashays past and Ryo is momentarily distracted from those awful, complicated feelings. “Really, really,” he nods. “And you know what goes with gyoza?”
“What?”
“Beer. Lots and lots of beer.”
Massu glances at Koyama, who nods emphatically. “I guess I can stay for a bit.”
*
Massu kind of loves beer, and Koyama kind of loves the brunette he met twenty minutes ago currently giving him a lap dance.
Ryo knocks back another beer and just keeps on loving himself.
*
Massu kind of hates Ryo just a little.
“I think I’m going to die,” he says into his cell phone the following morning. “And I think Nishikido-kun stole my pants.”
“You’re not going to die,” Shige replies, prudently ignoring the part about the pants.
“Not even if I want to?”
Shige sighs. “Unfortunately.”
A loud noise suddenly comes from the vicinity of the Massu’s floor. It sounds like a dying cow.
“What’s that?” Shige asks, overhearing.
“I think it’s Kei-chan.”
A pause. “I don’t really want to know. Look, just take some pain relievers and rest, Massu.”
Massu hangs up. His head has never hurt so much in his life, and his stomach feels funny, like it’s doing back flips and pirouettes. He can’t even remember the taste of last night’s gyoza, isn’t quite sure if Ryo had been honest or not.
He rolls over, groans, and makes a mental note to never go out with Ryo again. At least not without a proper adult present.
“Ngargh. Massu, have you seen my pants?”
Koyama obviously doesn’t count.
*
“It’s just getting worse,” Yamapi says at the next emergency meeting. “I smiled at Massu today and he just grimaced at me.”
“Ow, Shige. That’s my foot,” Tegoshi complains in a muffled voice.
“Move over then!”
“I can’t. There’s no more room, unless I step on Yamashita-kun!”
“Please don’t step on me.”
“Can’t we find a better place for super-secret emergency meetings than a broom closet?” Shige says.
“You people just need to think of better ideas for cheering Massu up,” Ryo says, ignoring the minor scuffle that has erupted a few feet away from him.
“Says the guy who came up with the worst idea ever,” Shige points out.
Ryo stomps down hard.
“Ouch! That was me! ”
“…Sorry, Pi. Anyway, how was I supposed to know Massu was such a lightweight?”
“Massu wants his pants back.”
“Too late. Burned it.”
“I hope you didn’t burn my pants, Ryo-chan,” Koyama says.
“I have no idea what you did with your pants.”
Yamapi sighs. “I guess it’s my turn next.”
“Good luck, leader!”
Shige winces. “Right in my ear, Tegoshi!”
*
“Eh?!”
Yamapi gives Massu a thumbs up. “Yo.”
Massu blinks. He can’t recall the last time Yamapi showed up at his house, mostly because it’s never happened before. He’s surprised Yamapi even knows where he lives.
“Can I come in?”
Massu steps aside. “But what are you doing here?” he asks, then wonders if that may have been rude.
Yamapi doesn’t seem too bothered. “I brought you dinner.”
“Dinner?”
Yamapi steps out of his shoes in the genkan and hands Massu a brown paper bag. The unmistakeable scent of gyoza is emanating from it, and Massu inhales deeply. He knows at once that this is quality gyoza.
“I love Yamashita-kun,” Massu says with a smile, moved.
Yamapi blinks. “You’re weird, Massu.”
*
Massu thinks Yamapi’s ability to fall asleep anywhere can be useful to have sometimes, but now he realizes that it could also be troublesome. He doesn’t quite know what to do with the other man passed out in a chair at the kitchen table.
He looks down at their empty plates and bowls. The gyoza Yamapi brought had been really good. It was probably really expensive, too, for gyoza. But even though Massu enjoyed it a lot, it still somehow fell short.
He glances at Yamapi, sees he’s still asleep, and walks over to the refrigerator to take out a large, clear plastic container. Inside is a single gyoza, the last of the batch that was supposed to tide him over until his mother’s return. He knows that his mother picks the ingredients from the market herself, knows that while it’s not made from the most expensive pork and flour that money can buy, it’s still pretty good stuff. She mixed them all for him and made each piece with loving care.
And maybe that made all the difference.
He sighs and puts the gyoza back in the refrigerator. “Christmas morning,” he murmurs. “I’ll eat it on Christmas morning.” And that just seems so far away.
Massu turns away from the refrigerator, taking a step back toward the table, then freezes in mid-stride.
Yamapi is awake and looking at him. For a moment, they just stare at each other, and Massu wonders how long he’s been watching and how much he saw.
He opens his mouth to ask but Yamapi is suddenly getting up and stretching.
“Well, I have to go home,” Yamapi says lightly. “I’ll see you at rehearsal for Music Station, Massu!”
And just like that he’s gone.
*
It’s Christmas Eve (technically, it's Christmas morning) and Massu is all alone. Music Station is over and done with, and there have been several invitations from friends asking him to go out with them, but he just can’t be bothered. He doesn’t seem to have much interest in anything other than work lately.
Instead, he spends the time waiting for sunrise in the company of a few boxes of gyoza sampled from random restaurants. None of them have met his standards so far, but maybe the last box-
The bell chimes and Massu looks up with a frown. Whoever it is would have to wait, because gyoza can’t. He reaches for his chopsticks.
The bell chimes again, and this time it’s followed by a familiar, high-pitched voice calling “Massu. We know you’re in there!”
Massu drops his chopsticks and holds his head in his hands with a groan. Tegoshi. And he said we. I’m not in the mood for him and Shige to ruin my Mom’s kitchen again!
Somebody pounds on the door. “Oy! Masuda! It’s cold out here!”
Nishikido-kun?
There’s a murmur of voices - several voices - from the other side of the door. Massu’s curiosity finally gets the better of him and he gets up to answer the persistent bell-ringing and loud knocking.
All of NEWS tumbles through the door, landing in a heap in the genkan.
“I’m going to kill somebody in three seconds, I swear,” Ryo growls from somewhere near the bottom of the pile.
“W-Why are you all here?” Massu asks nervously as they right themselves.
Koyama holds up a paper bag that’s been slightly squashed in their fall. “We figured out what we should give you this Christmas.”
“M-me?”
Tegoshi smiles his bright smile and Massu steps back, wary instead of disarmed. “We’ll make you gyoza!”
“Homemade gyoza,” Shige nods.
Massu looks from one happily smiling face to the next (not counting Ryo, who just looks disgruntled as he straightens his t-shirt). He isn’t sure if the warm feeling in the pit of his stomach is joy or fear.
Koyama drapes an arm around Massu’s shoulders and steers him toward the kitchen. “We’ll make it together. It should be fun, right?”
“Well…”
“Don’t worry,” Yamapi assures him, moving to his other side, arm stealing around Massu’s waist. “We won’t let Tegoshi and Shige wreck the place again,” he promises.
Massu sighs. “All right.”
“Great!” Yamapi exclaims, pulling away and suddenly doing a random, ridiculous pose. “Operation Gyoza is under way!”
There’s a moment of silence as they stare at their normally stoic leader, who has one hand in the air and the other forming a piece sign in front of his face.
Ryo is the first to break, dissolving into a fit of giggles against the kitchen counter. Soon all of NEWS is laughing hysterically, and Massu thinks that maybe, just maybe, things were going to be fine.
*
The gyoza’s a bit too peppery, and the pork was not quite mixed enough so it wasn’t as juicy as he had hoped. But Massu happily chews on a mouthful, surveying his group gathered around the table. Everybody has flour in his hair, and Yamapi even has it along the bridge of his nose.
“You put too much pepper in, Shige,” Tegoshi says critically.
“Shut up. You’re ruining the moment.”
Massu smiles, picking up another piece with his chopsticks. “It’s perfect!” he announces.
Ryo stares at him incredulously. “No, it-ow,” he grunts, looking at Yamapi, who’s chewing placidly. “Did you just kick me?”
Koyama smiles at Massu gently. “More tea?”
“Yes, please!”
And as Koyama pours him more tea, Shige and Tegoshi fight over a particularly large piece, and Ryo glares at Yamapi who finds it easy to ignore him in favor of food, Massu thinks that NEWS’ gyoza is the best gyoza he’s ever had in his life.
Next to his Mom’s, of course.