just because...
TITLE: Learning from the Yoda
CHARACTERS: Matsumoto Jun, Inoue Mao, Takaki Yuya, Shida Mirai, Yamashita Tomohisa, Yamada Ryosuke
PAIRING: Jun/Mao
RATINGS: PG
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
AUTHOR'S NOTE: this isn't a one shot but it isn't a novel either... it's somewhere in between... and i promise i'm not dropping One Chance...
SUMMARY: she needed to learn about men to avoid getting hurt severely ever again... his brother said he knew the right choice...
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, offshot, Chapter 3, Chapter 4
Chapter 5
“You know, I think I haven’t told you the two most important elements of all…” Jun said.
They were walking back to her apartment, the two of them having decided to have a stroll at the park at the subdivision she and Yuya was staying at.
“Oh really…” she smiled cheekily, something she’d been doing a lot lately as she turned around to walk backwards, facing him. “So what’re these great lessons you’re about to teach me?”
“I don’t think I’m actually teaching you…” Jun chuckled, shaking his head as he held her by the arm, steering her to walk properly next to him, his hand not leaving her elbow even if she already did.
“So what are you doing?”
“I’m reminding you…” he replied. “I’m sure you already know all about those stuff I told you… You either just forgot or never knew how and when to use it…”
“So you’re my reminder, instead of my teacher?” she asked playfully.
“I’m being serious here…” he sighed, his hand dropping to his side.
“I know…” Mao smiled, anchoring her arm on his as they neared their gate. “So what are these important elements you’re talking about?”
Jun stopped walking for a while, making her stop too, as he turned to look at her.
“Love yourself…”
“Huh?”
“That’s the most important thing…” he added as they started walking again. “Because you should be the first one to love yourself before anybody else could… You should love yourself more, even more than the guy who’d say he loves you with all his heart…”
Mao was rendered speechless for a while. She didn’t know what to say, but she knew he’s right so she nodded.
“And the second thing, which is actually quite connected to the first one I just said, is leave something for yourself…” he said, they were already by their gate then.
“Of course…” she chuckled lightly. “Because if I don’t, I’d be unable to love myself, right?”
“Part of it… But you see, love is like a heist…” he said.
“What?” she almost chuckled. She thought she was following him until he mentioned the word ‘heist’.
“Love is like a heist… Getting in is easy… It’s the get away that can get you caught… The hardest part of loving is trying to move on after loving someone with all your heart…” he added meaningfully.
Mao’s eyebrows furrowed, there was something meaningful with what he just told her, more meaningful than his usual words of wisdom. It’s almost as if he was speaking from experience.
She was about to ask him that when somebody suddenly cleared his throat on the other side of the gate. When she turned around, she almost jumped in shock.
Standing in front of her, albeit on the other side of the gate, was the man she barely even remembered the past few days. He looked sad, and lost, even with the flowers in his hands. Yamashita Tomohisa.
-----
“Why didn’t you let Yamapi in earlier?” Mao asked Yuya the moment she went down to the kitchen and saw him there for the first time that night. Yuya had pretended, it seems, that he was already asleep by the time she and Yamapi finished with their talk.
“I didn’t see the point…” he replied blandly, still staring at his glass.
Mao frowned. Yamapi, out of all her past relationships had always been the closest to Yuya. For one thing, Yuya did consent to joining them for dinner or a chat whenever Yamapi dropped by, unlike in the past when he’d usually just grunt and head off to his room, only emerging once he, whoever the guy is, is gone or he feels that it’s time for the guy to leave.
She realized immediately though that it’d be a bit too much to expect that Yuya would receive Yamapi the same way he usually does in the past. Because Yamapi did say that Yuya said she wasn’t home and that if he wanted to wait for her, then he should wait for her outside.
“He asked for a second chance, you know…” she started conversationally as she poured herself a glass of milk. “That’s why he came here…”
“I’m sorry…” those were the first words that left his lips the moment she turned around and saw him standing there. He didn’t even seem to notice that Jun was standing next to her. Yamapi’s eyes were only on her. “Can we talk?”
She hesitated, turning to face Jun. Part of her didn’t want to talk to her ex but there’s also a part that tells her that she should listen to him. Jun nodded understandingly and smiled. “I guess we could continue this talk some other time…” he said lightly, although she noticed that his eyes were suddenly guarded. “If you still need to… Good night Mao-chan…”
Jun had turned around before she could even say anything. And she watched him walk to his car while he did. He only turned back to Yamapi when Jun’s car was out of sight.
“You’re giving it to him?” Yuya asked.
“You don’t want me to?” she asked back.
“It’s your choice…” Yuya shrugged, looking at her. “Did you?”
“I did… I think I want to…” she admitted. “He said he realized his mistake…”
“I still love you…” those were Yamapi’s exact words the moment they sat down on the stairs in front of the door. He was looking directly into her eyes, his free hand clutching hers. “And I can’t believe I’ve been stupid enough to take you for granted… I know I’m at fault… I realized my mistake… And I want to make it up to you… Please give me a chance to make it up to you…”
Yuya heaved a deep sigh. He didn’t say it but there’s something like disappointment in there. When he stood up though, and walked towards her, there was nothing but support in his face.
He pulled her to him for a tight hug.
“This is your choice… And I will support you no matter what… But if he hurts you again, I promise I will kill him myself…” he told her in that hug. They stayed like that for a while until he loosened his hold and went back to his room.
Mao didn’t say it, she couldn’t say it, but as she stared at the glass her brother had left behind, she suddenly felt like she had made a wrong choice.
-----TBC-----
updated late (in terms of hors as compared to my previous updates) because i wanted to add this....
TITLE: Collaboration
CHARACTERS: Joushima Shigeru, Yamaguchi Tatsuya, Kokubun Taichi, Matsuoka Masahiro, Nagase Tomoya, Ohno Satoshi, Sakurai Sho, Aiba Masaki, Ninomiya Kazunari, Matsumoto Jun
PAIRING: OhnoxYuka (hinted), ShoxMaki (hinted), AibaxBecky, NinoxT.Erika (hinted), JunxMao
RATINGS: PG
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
AUTHOR'S NOTE: written because i was inspired when i found out about the two-some collaboration between Tokio and Arashi for the new year's special...
Arashi and Tokio have a few things in common. Both are Johnny debuted groups, both have five members, and both can be as crazy as hell. But one more thing in common that they have is this: each and every one of those five members can cause chaos on his own.
But when one member of one group goes one on one with a member of the other, amusing things are bound to happen. Amusing for whom?
-----
“Thanks for today!” Ohno dutifully greeted when he stopped by Taichi’s greenroom, already ready to leave, after their brief appearance for the show Zoom-in to promote the New Year’s ArashixTokio collaboration.
Taichi felt himself feeling irrationally happy, seeing Ohno like that. For a split second, he realized it was great being him because while being him meant that the younger idol would most probably always outsell him, there is one thing that can’t be taken away from him, one thing that only a few of them has the privilege of being. Being a part of Tokio means he’s a sempai, Arashi’s sempai.
“You’re leaving already?” he asked, noting the bag on the shoulders of the younger idol.
“Yeah…” Ohno smiled.
“Good…” Taichi grinned. “Let’s go out for a drink…”
“But…”
“Come on… I don’t think I’ve ever gone out drinking with you…” Taichi said with a smug smile on his lips. He knew that the younger idol doesn’t necessarily do things just because it is a norm-and agreeing to a sempai’s invitation is definitely a norm-but he also knew that no kouhai yet has been able to resist his brand of persuasion.
-----
The drink with Taichi eerily reminds Ohno of the first time he went on Shounen Club Premium, when he was there on his own. It’s almost similar to that, except that Taichi isn’t asking him questions tht are more or less safe to be aired on national television and that they weren’t the only Johnny’s in the bar Taichi chose.
Joushima and Nino were already in there when the two of them entered, and he’s not even sure if those two noticed. Actually, he isn’t sure why they’re together in the first place. He just vaguely remembers that Nino was told that he’d be pairing up with Joushima for the promotions the same way he’s paired up with Taichi. Taichi said they shouldn’t disturb the two. He agreed, there just seems to be a scary mysterious aura surrounding those two.
But he can’t really ponder on that even if he wanted to (he prefers to think about fishing) with the way Taichi is questioning him.
“So, have you seen Yuka-chan lately?” Taichi was asking.
“Who?” he asked, pulling his mind off of the big fish he caught the week before, vaguely hearing him ask a question.
“Yuka…” Taichi simply repeated.
Ohno had never been really good with memories. He didn’t need to (especially when there are four others, well, okay three, who’s there to remind him). But he didn’t need to rack his mind the moment he heard her name the second time.
“Yukarin?” he asked offhandedly, remembering the pretty actress/host who was his age who became a guest in Arashi no Shukudai-kun once.
But perhaps the name he used once during that Shukudai-kun shoot wasn’t the proper name to use with Taichi around, especially judging by the way the older idol grinned.
“Yukarin huh…” Taichi said. “And here I thought that the name’s just for that one time… I never thought it really is how you call her…”
“Oh… No!” Ohno said immediately, realizing what he is implying. “That really was just one time for that situation… I don’t call her like that…”
“Really?” Taichi asked, obviously unconvinced. “Then why did you mention that name in the first place?”
Ohno opened his mouth, all thoughts of fishes chased out of his brain as he thought of something to counter the older idol with. But before he could come up with anything, Taichi opened his mouth again.
“And you said you don’t call her like that…” Taichi said. “So you two do meet… What is that, like a date?”
“N-no! No, no, no…” he muttered. “I’ve never seen her… Well… No, I did see her… In Ousama no Brunch only… Nothing else…”
“Sure…” Taichi said in that trademark smug smirk of his making Ohno all the more flustered. He knew that the older idol did not believe what he just said, which is actually technically true. But he can’t come up with anything to convince the older idol to believe him.
Because for some reason, the image of Yuka smiling and trying hard not to giggle during that time he called her “Yukarin” kept popping into his head.
-----
They didn’t go there together.
Nino already had all the intention of going to a bar when he bowed his thanks to the leader of the only other originally debuted five member group in the jimusho who was with him when they promoted their upcoming special in Sukkiri. But while Joushima Shigeru was able to leave immediately when they finished with the shoot, he was detained for a bit when he met one of the producers he’d worked with in the past who talked to him for a bit.
It wasn’t even the bar of his original choice. He just felt this sudden pull towards the place when the car he was in stopped in front of the place because of traffic. He thought the place would do, it seemed safe and quiet, just the thing he needed at the moment.
When he stepped in, he was the first person he saw, sitting alone at the far corner of room. It would have looked a bit sad, seeing an idol of his age sitting there, on his own, except that he didn’t look sad. He looked content to a certain point. It intrigued him so much that he asked if he could join the older idol’s table despite wanting to have some alone time.
They ate and drank in comfortable silence for a while, only saying a few words about work or the food or the special. When they were just drinking already and he had extracted the stack of cards he always had in his bag, he finally spoke up.
“Do you always prefer to eat on your own?” he asked.
Joushima smiled his old man smile. “I don’t prefer it… But there’s nothing much I can do about it really… My family’s busy too…” he said and Nino somehow knew that the family he was referring to was the other members of Tokio. “I see that you still do magic…” he added, nodding towards the pack of cards still in his hands.
“Every once in a while…” Nino shrugged, shuffling the cards. “I remember that you do magic too, right?”
“A bit…” Joushima laughed. “But it’s just the simple stuff really… But I don’t do cards… I’ve never learned…”
“It’s all I know…” Nino replied.
“I heard…” Joushima smiled. “I remember your co-star Toda Erika-san saying you’re not good in spoon bending…”
“Oh, that one I learned…” he said proudly.
He received a fair amount of ribbing from the other four (and Nakai) after that recorded interview with his former co-star that he became very determined in unlocking the trick behind that specific bit of magic. And he was able to find out, master and perform it in front of Erika before the shoot for the drama finished.
Joushima chuckled. “Well, men do become determined to do certain things for the woman we love…” he said.
Nino momentarily stopped shuffling his cards and looked up to stare at the older idol. Joushima didn’t look like he’s poking fun at him. In fact, Joushima looked like the words just casually left his mouth but that realization didn’t help Nino tame the sudden erratic beating of his heart.
-----
It was Aiba who suggested they go drinking despite the fact that it hasn’t really been that long since the two of them had seen each other on set, this time for a promo on Pon. Gussan thought it was a good idea so he agreed.
And when they entered the bar, they saw to their surprise two other members of their respective groups with a member of the group of their companion. Gussan suggested that they join Joushima and Nino’s table but Aiba frantically said no. There was something weird and scary about the air of the two at the moment, especially Nino, and he said he feared for his life. He said instead that they could join Ohno and Taichi’s table but Gussan disagreed, saying that Taichi seems to be in his obnoxious interrogating mood and he does not feel like being interrogated at the moment.
This is why they ended up occupying a table of their own to start their drinking session.
“So, how’s everything with Becky-chan?” Gussan started conversationally when Aiba had raised his glass to his lips.
It was a good thing that Aiba hadn’t taken a sip yet because for sure he would have choked the moment he heard the question.
“Why are you asking me?” he managed to ask instead, putting his glass back in the table without taking a drinking. He knew that the older idol had been quite close to his co-host with the number of appearances he’s had in their show.
“Well, you’re co-hosts aren’t you?” Gussan said reasonably and Aiba had to nod that he does have a point. He was about to raise his glass again when Gussan continued “She’s very pretty, isn’t she?”
Aiba blinked furiously a couple of times, downed the contents of his glass before he answered “Yeah… She’s nice... I think…”
“Sure…” Gussan grinned, taking a sip from his own glass as Aiba poured a respectable amount of alcohol in his glass. “I’ve heard a lot of things from Tomomitsu-kun, you know…”
“W-what kind of things?” Aiba managed to ask normally despite the fact that his heart is now pounding so loudly in his chest he’s almost afraid the older idol could hear and despite the fact that he’s almost afraid to hear him answer. Yamaguchi Tomomitsu, after all, enjoys poking fun of him most when they’re on set.
“Oh, various stuff…” Gussan started airily and Aiba breathed. And then he added “Stuff like a certain idol we both know being quite interested in a certain female talento-slash-co-host he has… Of the same certain idol being very concerned where that same female talento is concerned… Of that same certain idol maybe actually harboring a crush on that same female talento…”
Aiba felt himself going extremely red by the second especially when Gussan looked at him with a mischievous smile on his lips. In an effort to do something else and be able to look away, he looked down on his glass and downed its contents again, not even noticing the arrival of two new idols in the area. Gussan saw Mabo and Jun coming in though and nodded simply at them.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” he said with a laugh right after, trying hard to sound unaffected. “Maybe Yamaguchi-kun’s just spinning amusing stories…”
“Oh come on…” Gussan laughed. “I’ve been on TSD often enough to know that what he’s telling me is real… You like your co-host!”
“Of course not! No!” he sputtered but as Gussan simply continued to watch him he stuttered in a small voice “Maybe… Yes…” before adding loudly “I don’t know!”
Gussan chuckled. “Oh yes, you do…”
-----
When Mabo and Jun agreed to go out for a drink after their brief appearance on Don!, neither idol thought they’d be seeing most of their group mates in the same bar they’ve chosen to go to. In any other situation, they would have just gathered the others around to form a bigger group but this time they didn’t. After all, there is a reason why the other six idols hadn’t joined up prior to their arrival.
“So, are you going to Higashiyama-san’s dinner party this weekend?” Mabo asked after they each had downed their first drink, referring to the party that their daisempai had organized both as an early Christmas party and late celebration for his long awaited wedding.
“Yeah, especially considering that his invitation was coupled with a demand…” Jun nodded with a smile.
“Well, it is his wedding celebration…” Mabo pointed out. “Ah… Wedding… When are you getting married anyway?” he asked.
“Me?” Jun chuckled. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that question? You’re the sempai, remember?”
Mabo laughed. “But this sempai still needs to find a girlfriend before he gets married…” he told him. “You, on the other hand, are already in a serious relationship… You’ve been in a what? Three, four year relationship with Inoue Mao-chan already…”
“Three…” Jun corrected. “We didn’t get together until before we started shooting for the movie…”
“Still…” Mabo shrugged. “That’s a long time already… Don’t you have plans?”
“I have plenty…” Jun shrugged, taking a sip from his drink. “But those would still be just plans for a couple more years… You know the rules…”
“Ah… Yes…” Mabo sighed, knowing what he meant. “I sometimes don’t know what to think about that rule… On one hand, it allows us to supposedly make less mistakes since we’re supposedly older by the time we’re allowed to get married, like Higashiyama-san… But then there’s the likes of Nagase and Taichi, who’d been stuck in a waiting-for-marriage relationship for quite a long time that the relationship ended before they could even get there… And then there’s the likes of you…”
“We’re determined to make it work though…” Jun said quietly after a while of pondering what the older idol just said. “We could make it through as long as I have her and she has me…”
“Good for you…” Mabo nodded approvingly. “You’re going to really need each other to survive these next couple of years…”
“Yeah…” Jun smiled. “I even already talked with Johnny-san about this…”
“That’s bound to happen…” Mabo sighed, knowing that their president also had a talk with Nagase, Taichi, and Gussan earlier in their relationships. “What did he say?”
“We came up with an agreement…” Jun smiled contentedly.
“He didn’t oppose?” he asked, quite taken aback. Their president wasn’t really opposed, per se, with the relationships his group mates had gotten themselves into but he obviously wasn’t happy about it.
“Not really…” Jun grinned. “He actually said we kind of look good together… I think Johnny-san is a closet Hanadan fan…”
-----
When Nagase and Sho entered the bar, they already knew that their four other group mates are already in there, it being the reason why they’re there in the first place. Gussan had called Nagase while Aiba invited Sho the moment Aiba realized that Mabo and Jun are already in the bar and thought it’d be just right for Nagase and Sho to drop over too. This is why they went there together after their promo for News Every. They didn’t know, however, that the eight idols weren’t there as a group but in four pairs.
Sho was slightly confused at first at the sight: Nino and Joushima at the far corner with Nino continuously shuffling his cards, Ohno looking quite flustered while taking to a smug-looking Taichi a few tables away, Gussan and Aiba laughing a little farther, and Mabo and Jun in deep conversation.
He was wondering why the others didn’t just join up to form one large group when Nagase placed an arm over his shoulder-more like his neck-and looked at him.
“Why don’t we follow what they started and pair up too?” he said with a wide grin in his face.
Sho could name a couple of reasons why that wasn’t a good idea, his fear of being strangled by the older and bigger idol being the most prominent one, but he couldn’t refuse when Nagase had steered him towards the counter, especially since Nagase’s arm is still over his neck.
But he confirmed that it wasn’t a good idea when Nagase said mischievously and extremely interestedly as they sat down “You know, I’ve hard a lot about you and Horikita Maki-chan…”
-----FIN-----
and that's that... :)
what do you think of the update? what about the one-shot?
btw, i looked at the calendar and realized that if i update every other day for Learning from the Yoda, it would go past Christmas... so i decided that i'm going to end up updating this particular series daily... :)
tell me what you really think...
comments/critics are really loved... :)
CHARACTERS: Matsumoto Jun, Inoue Mao, Takaki Yuya, Shida Mirai, Yamashita Tomohisa, Yamada Ryosuke
PAIRING: Jun/Mao
RATINGS: PG
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
AUTHOR'S NOTE: this isn't a one shot but it isn't a novel either... it's somewhere in between... and i promise i'm not dropping One Chance...
SUMMARY: she needed to learn about men to avoid getting hurt severely ever again... his brother said he knew the right choice...
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, offshot, Chapter 3, Chapter 4
Chapter 5
“You know, I think I haven’t told you the two most important elements of all…” Jun said.
They were walking back to her apartment, the two of them having decided to have a stroll at the park at the subdivision she and Yuya was staying at.
“Oh really…” she smiled cheekily, something she’d been doing a lot lately as she turned around to walk backwards, facing him. “So what’re these great lessons you’re about to teach me?”
“I don’t think I’m actually teaching you…” Jun chuckled, shaking his head as he held her by the arm, steering her to walk properly next to him, his hand not leaving her elbow even if she already did.
“So what are you doing?”
“I’m reminding you…” he replied. “I’m sure you already know all about those stuff I told you… You either just forgot or never knew how and when to use it…”
“So you’re my reminder, instead of my teacher?” she asked playfully.
“I’m being serious here…” he sighed, his hand dropping to his side.
“I know…” Mao smiled, anchoring her arm on his as they neared their gate. “So what are these important elements you’re talking about?”
Jun stopped walking for a while, making her stop too, as he turned to look at her.
“Love yourself…”
“Huh?”
“That’s the most important thing…” he added as they started walking again. “Because you should be the first one to love yourself before anybody else could… You should love yourself more, even more than the guy who’d say he loves you with all his heart…”
Mao was rendered speechless for a while. She didn’t know what to say, but she knew he’s right so she nodded.
“And the second thing, which is actually quite connected to the first one I just said, is leave something for yourself…” he said, they were already by their gate then.
“Of course…” she chuckled lightly. “Because if I don’t, I’d be unable to love myself, right?”
“Part of it… But you see, love is like a heist…” he said.
“What?” she almost chuckled. She thought she was following him until he mentioned the word ‘heist’.
“Love is like a heist… Getting in is easy… It’s the get away that can get you caught… The hardest part of loving is trying to move on after loving someone with all your heart…” he added meaningfully.
Mao’s eyebrows furrowed, there was something meaningful with what he just told her, more meaningful than his usual words of wisdom. It’s almost as if he was speaking from experience.
She was about to ask him that when somebody suddenly cleared his throat on the other side of the gate. When she turned around, she almost jumped in shock.
Standing in front of her, albeit on the other side of the gate, was the man she barely even remembered the past few days. He looked sad, and lost, even with the flowers in his hands. Yamashita Tomohisa.
-----
“Why didn’t you let Yamapi in earlier?” Mao asked Yuya the moment she went down to the kitchen and saw him there for the first time that night. Yuya had pretended, it seems, that he was already asleep by the time she and Yamapi finished with their talk.
“I didn’t see the point…” he replied blandly, still staring at his glass.
Mao frowned. Yamapi, out of all her past relationships had always been the closest to Yuya. For one thing, Yuya did consent to joining them for dinner or a chat whenever Yamapi dropped by, unlike in the past when he’d usually just grunt and head off to his room, only emerging once he, whoever the guy is, is gone or he feels that it’s time for the guy to leave.
She realized immediately though that it’d be a bit too much to expect that Yuya would receive Yamapi the same way he usually does in the past. Because Yamapi did say that Yuya said she wasn’t home and that if he wanted to wait for her, then he should wait for her outside.
“He asked for a second chance, you know…” she started conversationally as she poured herself a glass of milk. “That’s why he came here…”
“I’m sorry…” those were the first words that left his lips the moment she turned around and saw him standing there. He didn’t even seem to notice that Jun was standing next to her. Yamapi’s eyes were only on her. “Can we talk?”
She hesitated, turning to face Jun. Part of her didn’t want to talk to her ex but there’s also a part that tells her that she should listen to him. Jun nodded understandingly and smiled. “I guess we could continue this talk some other time…” he said lightly, although she noticed that his eyes were suddenly guarded. “If you still need to… Good night Mao-chan…”
Jun had turned around before she could even say anything. And she watched him walk to his car while he did. He only turned back to Yamapi when Jun’s car was out of sight.
“You’re giving it to him?” Yuya asked.
“You don’t want me to?” she asked back.
“It’s your choice…” Yuya shrugged, looking at her. “Did you?”
“I did… I think I want to…” she admitted. “He said he realized his mistake…”
“I still love you…” those were Yamapi’s exact words the moment they sat down on the stairs in front of the door. He was looking directly into her eyes, his free hand clutching hers. “And I can’t believe I’ve been stupid enough to take you for granted… I know I’m at fault… I realized my mistake… And I want to make it up to you… Please give me a chance to make it up to you…”
Yuya heaved a deep sigh. He didn’t say it but there’s something like disappointment in there. When he stood up though, and walked towards her, there was nothing but support in his face.
He pulled her to him for a tight hug.
“This is your choice… And I will support you no matter what… But if he hurts you again, I promise I will kill him myself…” he told her in that hug. They stayed like that for a while until he loosened his hold and went back to his room.
Mao didn’t say it, she couldn’t say it, but as she stared at the glass her brother had left behind, she suddenly felt like she had made a wrong choice.
-----TBC-----
updated late (in terms of hors as compared to my previous updates) because i wanted to add this....
TITLE: Collaboration
CHARACTERS: Joushima Shigeru, Yamaguchi Tatsuya, Kokubun Taichi, Matsuoka Masahiro, Nagase Tomoya, Ohno Satoshi, Sakurai Sho, Aiba Masaki, Ninomiya Kazunari, Matsumoto Jun
PAIRING: OhnoxYuka (hinted), ShoxMaki (hinted), AibaxBecky, NinoxT.Erika (hinted), JunxMao
RATINGS: PG
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
AUTHOR'S NOTE: written because i was inspired when i found out about the two-some collaboration between Tokio and Arashi for the new year's special...
Arashi and Tokio have a few things in common. Both are Johnny debuted groups, both have five members, and both can be as crazy as hell. But one more thing in common that they have is this: each and every one of those five members can cause chaos on his own.
But when one member of one group goes one on one with a member of the other, amusing things are bound to happen. Amusing for whom?
-----
“Thanks for today!” Ohno dutifully greeted when he stopped by Taichi’s greenroom, already ready to leave, after their brief appearance for the show Zoom-in to promote the New Year’s ArashixTokio collaboration.
Taichi felt himself feeling irrationally happy, seeing Ohno like that. For a split second, he realized it was great being him because while being him meant that the younger idol would most probably always outsell him, there is one thing that can’t be taken away from him, one thing that only a few of them has the privilege of being. Being a part of Tokio means he’s a sempai, Arashi’s sempai.
“You’re leaving already?” he asked, noting the bag on the shoulders of the younger idol.
“Yeah…” Ohno smiled.
“Good…” Taichi grinned. “Let’s go out for a drink…”
“But…”
“Come on… I don’t think I’ve ever gone out drinking with you…” Taichi said with a smug smile on his lips. He knew that the younger idol doesn’t necessarily do things just because it is a norm-and agreeing to a sempai’s invitation is definitely a norm-but he also knew that no kouhai yet has been able to resist his brand of persuasion.
-----
The drink with Taichi eerily reminds Ohno of the first time he went on Shounen Club Premium, when he was there on his own. It’s almost similar to that, except that Taichi isn’t asking him questions tht are more or less safe to be aired on national television and that they weren’t the only Johnny’s in the bar Taichi chose.
Joushima and Nino were already in there when the two of them entered, and he’s not even sure if those two noticed. Actually, he isn’t sure why they’re together in the first place. He just vaguely remembers that Nino was told that he’d be pairing up with Joushima for the promotions the same way he’s paired up with Taichi. Taichi said they shouldn’t disturb the two. He agreed, there just seems to be a scary mysterious aura surrounding those two.
But he can’t really ponder on that even if he wanted to (he prefers to think about fishing) with the way Taichi is questioning him.
“So, have you seen Yuka-chan lately?” Taichi was asking.
“Who?” he asked, pulling his mind off of the big fish he caught the week before, vaguely hearing him ask a question.
“Yuka…” Taichi simply repeated.
Ohno had never been really good with memories. He didn’t need to (especially when there are four others, well, okay three, who’s there to remind him). But he didn’t need to rack his mind the moment he heard her name the second time.
“Yukarin?” he asked offhandedly, remembering the pretty actress/host who was his age who became a guest in Arashi no Shukudai-kun once.
But perhaps the name he used once during that Shukudai-kun shoot wasn’t the proper name to use with Taichi around, especially judging by the way the older idol grinned.
“Yukarin huh…” Taichi said. “And here I thought that the name’s just for that one time… I never thought it really is how you call her…”
“Oh… No!” Ohno said immediately, realizing what he is implying. “That really was just one time for that situation… I don’t call her like that…”
“Really?” Taichi asked, obviously unconvinced. “Then why did you mention that name in the first place?”
Ohno opened his mouth, all thoughts of fishes chased out of his brain as he thought of something to counter the older idol with. But before he could come up with anything, Taichi opened his mouth again.
“And you said you don’t call her like that…” Taichi said. “So you two do meet… What is that, like a date?”
“N-no! No, no, no…” he muttered. “I’ve never seen her… Well… No, I did see her… In Ousama no Brunch only… Nothing else…”
“Sure…” Taichi said in that trademark smug smirk of his making Ohno all the more flustered. He knew that the older idol did not believe what he just said, which is actually technically true. But he can’t come up with anything to convince the older idol to believe him.
Because for some reason, the image of Yuka smiling and trying hard not to giggle during that time he called her “Yukarin” kept popping into his head.
-----
They didn’t go there together.
Nino already had all the intention of going to a bar when he bowed his thanks to the leader of the only other originally debuted five member group in the jimusho who was with him when they promoted their upcoming special in Sukkiri. But while Joushima Shigeru was able to leave immediately when they finished with the shoot, he was detained for a bit when he met one of the producers he’d worked with in the past who talked to him for a bit.
It wasn’t even the bar of his original choice. He just felt this sudden pull towards the place when the car he was in stopped in front of the place because of traffic. He thought the place would do, it seemed safe and quiet, just the thing he needed at the moment.
When he stepped in, he was the first person he saw, sitting alone at the far corner of room. It would have looked a bit sad, seeing an idol of his age sitting there, on his own, except that he didn’t look sad. He looked content to a certain point. It intrigued him so much that he asked if he could join the older idol’s table despite wanting to have some alone time.
They ate and drank in comfortable silence for a while, only saying a few words about work or the food or the special. When they were just drinking already and he had extracted the stack of cards he always had in his bag, he finally spoke up.
“Do you always prefer to eat on your own?” he asked.
Joushima smiled his old man smile. “I don’t prefer it… But there’s nothing much I can do about it really… My family’s busy too…” he said and Nino somehow knew that the family he was referring to was the other members of Tokio. “I see that you still do magic…” he added, nodding towards the pack of cards still in his hands.
“Every once in a while…” Nino shrugged, shuffling the cards. “I remember that you do magic too, right?”
“A bit…” Joushima laughed. “But it’s just the simple stuff really… But I don’t do cards… I’ve never learned…”
“It’s all I know…” Nino replied.
“I heard…” Joushima smiled. “I remember your co-star Toda Erika-san saying you’re not good in spoon bending…”
“Oh, that one I learned…” he said proudly.
He received a fair amount of ribbing from the other four (and Nakai) after that recorded interview with his former co-star that he became very determined in unlocking the trick behind that specific bit of magic. And he was able to find out, master and perform it in front of Erika before the shoot for the drama finished.
Joushima chuckled. “Well, men do become determined to do certain things for the woman we love…” he said.
Nino momentarily stopped shuffling his cards and looked up to stare at the older idol. Joushima didn’t look like he’s poking fun at him. In fact, Joushima looked like the words just casually left his mouth but that realization didn’t help Nino tame the sudden erratic beating of his heart.
-----
It was Aiba who suggested they go drinking despite the fact that it hasn’t really been that long since the two of them had seen each other on set, this time for a promo on Pon. Gussan thought it was a good idea so he agreed.
And when they entered the bar, they saw to their surprise two other members of their respective groups with a member of the group of their companion. Gussan suggested that they join Joushima and Nino’s table but Aiba frantically said no. There was something weird and scary about the air of the two at the moment, especially Nino, and he said he feared for his life. He said instead that they could join Ohno and Taichi’s table but Gussan disagreed, saying that Taichi seems to be in his obnoxious interrogating mood and he does not feel like being interrogated at the moment.
This is why they ended up occupying a table of their own to start their drinking session.
“So, how’s everything with Becky-chan?” Gussan started conversationally when Aiba had raised his glass to his lips.
It was a good thing that Aiba hadn’t taken a sip yet because for sure he would have choked the moment he heard the question.
“Why are you asking me?” he managed to ask instead, putting his glass back in the table without taking a drinking. He knew that the older idol had been quite close to his co-host with the number of appearances he’s had in their show.
“Well, you’re co-hosts aren’t you?” Gussan said reasonably and Aiba had to nod that he does have a point. He was about to raise his glass again when Gussan continued “She’s very pretty, isn’t she?”
Aiba blinked furiously a couple of times, downed the contents of his glass before he answered “Yeah… She’s nice... I think…”
“Sure…” Gussan grinned, taking a sip from his own glass as Aiba poured a respectable amount of alcohol in his glass. “I’ve heard a lot of things from Tomomitsu-kun, you know…”
“W-what kind of things?” Aiba managed to ask normally despite the fact that his heart is now pounding so loudly in his chest he’s almost afraid the older idol could hear and despite the fact that he’s almost afraid to hear him answer. Yamaguchi Tomomitsu, after all, enjoys poking fun of him most when they’re on set.
“Oh, various stuff…” Gussan started airily and Aiba breathed. And then he added “Stuff like a certain idol we both know being quite interested in a certain female talento-slash-co-host he has… Of the same certain idol being very concerned where that same female talento is concerned… Of that same certain idol maybe actually harboring a crush on that same female talento…”
Aiba felt himself going extremely red by the second especially when Gussan looked at him with a mischievous smile on his lips. In an effort to do something else and be able to look away, he looked down on his glass and downed its contents again, not even noticing the arrival of two new idols in the area. Gussan saw Mabo and Jun coming in though and nodded simply at them.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” he said with a laugh right after, trying hard to sound unaffected. “Maybe Yamaguchi-kun’s just spinning amusing stories…”
“Oh come on…” Gussan laughed. “I’ve been on TSD often enough to know that what he’s telling me is real… You like your co-host!”
“Of course not! No!” he sputtered but as Gussan simply continued to watch him he stuttered in a small voice “Maybe… Yes…” before adding loudly “I don’t know!”
Gussan chuckled. “Oh yes, you do…”
-----
When Mabo and Jun agreed to go out for a drink after their brief appearance on Don!, neither idol thought they’d be seeing most of their group mates in the same bar they’ve chosen to go to. In any other situation, they would have just gathered the others around to form a bigger group but this time they didn’t. After all, there is a reason why the other six idols hadn’t joined up prior to their arrival.
“So, are you going to Higashiyama-san’s dinner party this weekend?” Mabo asked after they each had downed their first drink, referring to the party that their daisempai had organized both as an early Christmas party and late celebration for his long awaited wedding.
“Yeah, especially considering that his invitation was coupled with a demand…” Jun nodded with a smile.
“Well, it is his wedding celebration…” Mabo pointed out. “Ah… Wedding… When are you getting married anyway?” he asked.
“Me?” Jun chuckled. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that question? You’re the sempai, remember?”
Mabo laughed. “But this sempai still needs to find a girlfriend before he gets married…” he told him. “You, on the other hand, are already in a serious relationship… You’ve been in a what? Three, four year relationship with Inoue Mao-chan already…”
“Three…” Jun corrected. “We didn’t get together until before we started shooting for the movie…”
“Still…” Mabo shrugged. “That’s a long time already… Don’t you have plans?”
“I have plenty…” Jun shrugged, taking a sip from his drink. “But those would still be just plans for a couple more years… You know the rules…”
“Ah… Yes…” Mabo sighed, knowing what he meant. “I sometimes don’t know what to think about that rule… On one hand, it allows us to supposedly make less mistakes since we’re supposedly older by the time we’re allowed to get married, like Higashiyama-san… But then there’s the likes of Nagase and Taichi, who’d been stuck in a waiting-for-marriage relationship for quite a long time that the relationship ended before they could even get there… And then there’s the likes of you…”
“We’re determined to make it work though…” Jun said quietly after a while of pondering what the older idol just said. “We could make it through as long as I have her and she has me…”
“Good for you…” Mabo nodded approvingly. “You’re going to really need each other to survive these next couple of years…”
“Yeah…” Jun smiled. “I even already talked with Johnny-san about this…”
“That’s bound to happen…” Mabo sighed, knowing that their president also had a talk with Nagase, Taichi, and Gussan earlier in their relationships. “What did he say?”
“We came up with an agreement…” Jun smiled contentedly.
“He didn’t oppose?” he asked, quite taken aback. Their president wasn’t really opposed, per se, with the relationships his group mates had gotten themselves into but he obviously wasn’t happy about it.
“Not really…” Jun grinned. “He actually said we kind of look good together… I think Johnny-san is a closet Hanadan fan…”
-----
When Nagase and Sho entered the bar, they already knew that their four other group mates are already in there, it being the reason why they’re there in the first place. Gussan had called Nagase while Aiba invited Sho the moment Aiba realized that Mabo and Jun are already in the bar and thought it’d be just right for Nagase and Sho to drop over too. This is why they went there together after their promo for News Every. They didn’t know, however, that the eight idols weren’t there as a group but in four pairs.
Sho was slightly confused at first at the sight: Nino and Joushima at the far corner with Nino continuously shuffling his cards, Ohno looking quite flustered while taking to a smug-looking Taichi a few tables away, Gussan and Aiba laughing a little farther, and Mabo and Jun in deep conversation.
He was wondering why the others didn’t just join up to form one large group when Nagase placed an arm over his shoulder-more like his neck-and looked at him.
“Why don’t we follow what they started and pair up too?” he said with a wide grin in his face.
Sho could name a couple of reasons why that wasn’t a good idea, his fear of being strangled by the older and bigger idol being the most prominent one, but he couldn’t refuse when Nagase had steered him towards the counter, especially since Nagase’s arm is still over his neck.
But he confirmed that it wasn’t a good idea when Nagase said mischievously and extremely interestedly as they sat down “You know, I’ve hard a lot about you and Horikita Maki-chan…”
-----FIN-----
and that's that... :)
what do you think of the update? what about the one-shot?
btw, i looked at the calendar and realized that if i update every other day for Learning from the Yoda, it would go past Christmas... so i decided that i'm going to end up updating this particular series daily... :)
tell me what you really think...
comments/critics are really loved... :)