x-mas request fic gift for HY
This is a request fic for HY. I had some trouble with it and it would be stuck in perpetual editing-dome if not for the fact that the subject matter is time-sensitive. Merry Xmas!!!
(And J & N - if you want me to write you something too, let me know.)
Hitting two birds with one stone, section 4 is dedicated to newshfan who wanted Pi-touching.
Warnings: sap. Like the kind that is probably more cheesy that sappy.
5 Times Uchi and Kusano Return to NewS
1.
After greeting Kusano's family, Uchi headed over to the living room where Kusano sat in front of the television.
"Yo," Kusano said, waving a bottle of green tea in greeting.
"Hey."
The Johnny's 2007-2008 Countdown was going to be aired live in an hour, and they had both agreed to watch it together. After all, no one else would understand how it felt to watch NewS and Kanjani8 perform for a concert that represented Johnny's Entertainment's next year in music.
"Have a seat," Kusano said. "You said you had something you wanted to talk about?"
Uchi fiddled with his hat as he tried to think of a way to tell Kusano that after tonight, he never wanted to watch another Countdown again. In 2006 he had given himself a deadline of one year, and Playzone had been his last hope.
With the Playzone dvd now in perpetual limbo from release and no other work available, Uchi decided he needed to start considering other options. Kusano attended university and had other paths open to him if he ever quit the Jimusho after his graduation, but Uchi didn't want to leave the agency old after being a perpetual trainee forever. If he had to do a career change, he might as well do it while he was still young.
"Hey look, it's an ad for the Countdown!" Kusano exclaimed as a television ad appeared. He pressed his finger against the television screen. "Hey, I think I see Koyama in the background! Look it's Koyama!" The commercial ended, but Kusano's goofy smile stayed on his face.
Uchi's cell phone went off. He recognized the number and picked up with great apprehension.
"YOU, YOU came to Tokyo last weekend. Are YOU still here?"
Kitagawa Johnny himself. Uchi found himself nodding his head so quickly that this neck was starting to hurt. "Yes."
"Good. There's not much time."
--
The matching costumes they received didn't really fit, the make-up artist did a terrible job on them, and Uchi still didn't really understand why Johnny had called them.
"Are we going to be back-up dancers?" Uchi asked Kusano.
Kusano was flapping his arms. "Wow! It's been so long since I've seen sequins on my arms. Look how shiny they are!"
Uchi laughed.
"Ahem," a middle-aged man in a suit said. Uchi did not recognize him. "Kusano-kun, Uchi-kun, can you come here for a minute?"
Kusano and Uchi complied.
"I've just come here to deliver a message to you from Mary-san. NewS will be performing soon, you'll both be joining them. Uchi-kun, stick around afterwards to join Kanjani8's performance."
Kusano, for once, was speechless.
Uchi found his voice first. "Are we-- are we--?"
"Now don't get any strange ideas," the man warned. "You're not officially returning just yet. This will be a probation period. If the next cd's sales rankings go down in NewS, most likely the agency will find that you two engaged in other scandalous activities and you'll be either returned to trainee status or asked to leave the agency permanently. They're not sure how popular you two can still be after all this time.
"Now, NewS is going on in ten minutes. Go find the coordinator and ask her to take you to the stage."
And with that, another staff member guided them away.
--
As it turned out, the decision to have them appear at the concert MUST have been a last-minute one, as none of the other staff members had heard about their reappearance. The staff coordinator looked at them in disbelief, and sent a runner to get confirmation. The runner came back looking confused, and then there were heated discussions on the cell phone before the she gave them the okay and had another staff member give them microphones.
By the time they made it to the back of the stage, they could already hear Tegoshi finishing his first solo from Hoshi wo Mezashite.
Kusano squeezed Uchi's arm, and then went to the door opposite of Uchi's.
They looked at each other and nodded.
"Minna--" NewS began to sing.
Uchi gripped his microphone tightly and ran out.
--
Uchi's voice was unsteady at first-- he was out of practice and he had never sung Hoshi wo Mezashite outside of karaoke with Kusano (Ryo only liked singing the older NewS songs with him), but he managed to reach a pitch that he thought was appropriate.
He had, however, no idea where NewS actually was, and the lights on the stage were so blinding that he couldn't tell from the backs of various groups which shiny costumes he saw belonged to which group. The first six person group he passed by turned out to be KAT-TUN, who gawked, and then all he could really do was continue running blindly in hopes that he would eventually see NewS on the stage.
He could hear the roar of the crowd as he approached the front of one of the platforms and then Ryo hugged him. Kusano jumped onto Shige. Koyama and Massu both started crying and Yamapi and Tegoshi were the only ones still singing with shimmering eyes.
The rest of the concert flew by. Uchi was vaguely aware of the fact that he didn't really know any of the NewS songs, but he did keep up with Kanjani8's songs and his reunion with them involved even more people hugging him.
By the time the Countdown had ended and the host was asking him to say a few words, he was crying so hard that Ryo spoke for him, saying "We're happy to have him back," on behalf of both groups.
Kusano said only, "Thank you," before Koyama began sobbing again.
--
After the concert Yokoyama declared that Ryo and Uchi were theirs for the night in a loud and belligerent voice to the rest of NewS. "If they went with NewS, you guys would do nothing but cry all night," he said, despite the fact that his eyes were watery and Yasuda was crying louder than Koyama. "Besides, you guys have the other drunk."
Which was just as well, Uchi felt closer to Kanjani8 anyway. He turned to look for Ryo and felt a moment of irrational panic when Ryo wasn't next to him-- but it turned out that Ryo was saying a few words to Yamapi, who was nodding. Then Ryo rejoined them and they left to celebrate Uchi's return.
A few hours later-- when all the other members of K8 besides Uchi (who had learned his lesson well) and Ryo (who just refused to drink all evening) were drunk and half-asleep at Ryo's apartment in Tokyo, Ryo glanced at his watch and said, "Let's go."
Uchi, nestled between a sleeping Subaru and a clinging Yasuda said, "Go where?"
"Out."
Uchi nodded. Subaru was starting to rub against him strangely anyway and the arm that Yasuda was clinging to was going numb. Ryo helped pull him out and the two of them left his apartment.
Uchi had assumed that Ryo just wanted to get some fresh air or chat quietly where they couldn't disturb the others, but Ryo strode so quickly and with such a purpose that Uchi actually had to hurry to catch up with him, despite the fact that his legs were much longer.
By the time they got to the subway station, Ryo was practically running. They bought their tickets in a hurry and caught the last subway out to Roppongi Hills.
--
The complex they arrived at looked expensive and spacious. Ryo fished out a key and took Uchi inside.
"Is this some sort of love hotel?" Uchi joked.
"Something like that," Ryo said with a grin.
"Are we going to spy on a couple making out?"
Ryo looked amused. "No, we're going to find a room to make love."
Uchi laughed. Ryo and him were good friends, close friends, but they weren't sex friends, so he had no idea where they were headed.
The glass elevator ride took longer than he expected-- they ended up getting off on the fifteenth floor. He could feel his feet sink as he walked on the carpet and then Ryo led him to a door down the hallway that he pounded on loudly.
"Open up!"
"Ryo-chan," Uchi said uncertainly, "Isn't it kind of late--"
"This place is so filthy rich that the neighbors won't hear us anyway," Ryo snorted. "That's what happens when you have two idiotic and rich idols put their incomes together."
The door swung open and Kusano launched himself at them. Ryo immediately pushed Uchi in front of him and then Uchi found himself in a tight group hug with Koyama, Kusano, Massu, and Tegoshi. Shige didn't join the circle of hugging, but he reached over to pat Uchi awkwardly from the side.
"Why are you the one launching yourself at him?" Ryo asked Kusano. "You saw him more than we did."
Kusano let go of Uchi and grabbed onto Ryo. "I was trying to hug you." Ryo pushed him off and Kusano went back to hugging Uchi.
"You have a very enthusiastic group," someone said, and Uchi looked up to see Akanishi closing the door.
"It's member ai," Yamapi said. He met Uchi's gaze and surprised Uchi with a warm smile.
"All right get off him so he has a chance to breathe," Ryo said. Kusano took this to mean letting go and trying to hug Ryo again, and Ryo pushed him half-heartedly away.
"We were waiting," Massu said in a raw voice.
"I had to take him to Eito first," Ryo said, "Or I'd never hear the end of it from Yokoyama and Murakami."
"No," Koyama said, "We were waiting," and then the tears started leaking again.
"God, don't start crying again," Ryo said, "You're just going to set off a chain-- aww crap." He casually wiped at the corner of his eyes. Uchi thought his own eyes were dry by now, but then the tears started again.
--
"This is ridiculous," Jin said some time afterwards. "Yokoyama was right, at this rate you guys will really do nothing but cry all night."
"Better than us fighting all night," Ryo shot back.
"Right," Yamapi said, and he clapped his hands twice for attention. "Let's get started. Uchi, welcome to me and Jin's apartment. You're welcome to spend the night--"
"Of course he is going to, moron," Ryo cut in.
Yamapi continued unfazed, "Like everyone else--"
"It's a giant sleep over!" Massu exclaimed, "Like a class trip but only instead of a sleeping out in historic places we're at Yamashita-kun and Akanishi-kun's place!"
"Anyway," Yamapi said, looking over at the other members of his group, "Ready? One, two--"
"UCHI AND KUSANO, WELCOME BACK!" they chorused. Jin joined in halfway, and they all clapped at the end.
Uchi and Kusano stammered out apologies and words of gratitude, and the night ended with everyone celebrating until they fell asleep on the floor.
--
The day after New Year's Uchi and Kusano listened to a long lecture about their probation period. It was only for the next three months, and the final judgment would depend on the next single's release. After handing out their schedules, management finally dismissed them.
Uchi's schedule packet was twice as thick as Kusano's.
"I've been idle for so long that I forgot what it was like to be super busy," Uchi said to Ryo, who waited for him outside of the meeting, and showed him his packet.
Ryo put his arm around him and said, "We better get used to it. Once everyone in NewS graduates, I think activities in Tokyo will double."
He was talking about NewS in another few years, a drastic contrast from when Uchi and Ryo used to joke in the early days of NewS that the group would be disbanded faster than KAT-TUN. But KAT-TUN was still going strong, and despite all of the changes, NewS was too.
"We get to go on tour with you guys," Kusano breathed, eyes wide as he looked over his packet. "This is so exciting!"
Uchi started to look at his schedule as well, but then Ryo said, "The other members are waiting," and led them to a break room where the rest of NewS was hanging around. Yamapi was doing push-ups, Massu was drinking juice, Koyama was pacing around, Shige was strumming a guitar, and Tegoshi was sitting next to him, singing. They all stopped moving when Uchi and Kusano stood before them.
"So is it official?" Koyama asked, clutching his chest.
"WE ARE BACK!" Kusano shouted and then threw himself at Koyama, who gave him a hug.
"It's a probationary period, but for now, we're back," Uchi agreed.
They chatted idly for the next half hour; Koyama and Tegoshi asked them random questions about what they were up to, Massu wanted to know if being a trainee meant they got to go to the mountains and fight off wild animals underneath a waterfall, Yamapi asked them if they had heard anything about the status of the Playzone dvd, and Ryo gave random sarcastic interjections.
Shige flipped open Kusano's schedule packet and frowned.
"So basically," Shige said, "We have the rest of today for Uchi-kun and Kusano to get ready to join our performance tomorrow, and a week to prepare them for Tokyo Dome?"
Silence.
Uchi frantically opened his schedule packet. He WAS joining NewS's Winter Concert Tour-- starting January 3rd, the next day, in Yokohama. NewS had a concert every day after until the 6th, followed by a two-day concert at Tokyo Dome on the 9th and 10th. There were three more concert dates after Tokyo Dome.
"This is so exciting!" Kusano cheered.
"Sometimes the higher ups are complete assholes," Ryo said, scowling. "They don't give us any time to prepare them to come back properly into our concerts."
Uchi almost apologized to Ryo, but he knew doing so would only piss Ryo off.
Koyama put his hand on Uchi's shoulder. "Don't worry, we know how tough this is," Koyama said reassuringly. "But everyone will do their best to help you."
"It's too late for us to change anything for the next three concerts," Shige said, "So we should concentrate on integrating them into our dance first, and then they can lip-sing the choruses with us."
Shige pulled out a piece of paper with a list of songs. "Then for the days in-between the concerts on the 6th and the 9th, we'll add them into a few songs for Tokyo Dome. We can re-distribute parts of older songs and songs like Hoshi wo Mezashite, where we have extra solo sequences."
"We can have them start training for the parts now," Yamapi said. "With the next three lives acting as rehearsals for them."
Tegoshi laughed. "It's like when we were back up dancers, ne."
Hearing that from Tegoshi was almost insulting, only he said it with a happy smile, and Uchi knew he was right. In the months as trainees, Uchi and Kusano learned all of NewS' latest dances (and for Uchi, Kanjani8), even though the dance instructor kept wondering aloud if they would ever even be allowed to return. But they had never actually danced with the rest of NewS, or put their practice to use.
"I'll be doing the same," Shige told Kusano and Uchi. "Filming Sugata Sanshiro didn't give me enough time to prepare for a solo. But I really want to do a solo for Tokyo Dome. So we can all practice together."
In the end, that was what they did-- Shige gave suggestions on what songs they should do, Massu was their dance instructor, Tegoshi their vocal trainer, Ryo remembered positions, Koyama gave positive encouragement, and Yamapi--
Yamapi didn't say anything other than, "This is our new start," but that was all he needed to say.
2.
They had been preparing for their return for over two months, and their appearance was rehearsed and planned ahead by everyone. Tokyo Dome was their comeback concert, and after that Uchi and Kusano joined NewS for the rest of their Winter Concert Tour.
The strange thing about returning to a group of people after being separated for two years is that things were the same, yet different. The people were the same-- Massu still smiled with dimples in his cheeks, Tegoshi sang constantly both inside and outside the dressing room, Koyama poured people tea, Shige gave smart suggestions, Yamapi said encouraging things, and Ryo--Ryo who had been there throughout everything still made poisonous remarks to juniors.
But people change and the last two years had changed all of them.
Some differences were obviously apparent-- Shige's hair gave him a "cool" image that made him stand apart from others from their agency; Tegoshi's face was so drastically different that it was no wonder some fans accused him of cosmetic surgery. Others were apparent only if you knew what to look for-- Massu more confident in the limelight, Koyama a better singer, Ryo talking more during interviews, and Yamapi joking around more often on-stage. Many of the things other members had previously liked or been into had now passed.
And some differences were so subtle that Uchi didn't notice them at first. Like how where once he used to be able to laugh along with all of the other members' jokes, now he couldn't join in when they made references to events that he didn't participate in. Uchi used to have more screen time than some of the other members combined, now they all shared time equally in interviews and talk shows. Before his suspension Uchi had many of the main singing parts; now he shared song parts with Kusano rather than extended solos. And had Shige always talked so much when giving input on performances (and the other members listen)?
These changes he could accept; after all some (e.g., Shige's hair although sometimes Uchi missed Tegoshi's former awkwardness) were for the best. As much as Uchi enjoyed being one of the main singers, given the circumstances he had no problems with giving Tegoshi the spotlight now.
But the worst change of all was this new sense of camaraderie in the group, a sense of understanding that all of the other members seemed to share. Member Ai, Koyama called it. A close friendship now linked all of the other members, and Uchi felt awkward whenever he saw evidences of it-- he had been absent from their company for so long that he had almost forgotten how he used to be around him, or how they had been around him. He had only kept in touch with Ryo, Koyama, and Kusano; so seeing how well all of them got along together -- where once there was awkward silences -- was strange for him, especially when he did not feel the same sort of connection.
He wondered how Kusano felt about it. Kusano had changed as well; physically in growth and appearance (their stylist gave Kusano a "mature" look in hopes that such pictures would allow the agency to restore their former statuses), mentally in the same way that Uchi did-- an understanding and appreciation for their jobs.
Kusano danced the way he did before, only now Tegoshi of all people could keep up with him.
The subtle changes bothered Uchi until their next live, when he was sweating under the bright lights in a neon pink sequined shirt, waiting for his turn to sing while dancing next to Koyama and Shige. Right before he made his move, Tegoshi and Massu both turned to smile at him, Koyama and Shige tossed out at him matching grins, Yamapi gave him an encouraging nod, and Ryo pressed his hand against his.
Some changes had been for the best after all. Member-ai, or whatever it was called, meant that even if he did not have the same close bond to the others, the other members were willing to make the effort to see that a new bond was created.
3.
Uchi came back at the Countdown for Kanjani8, but on New Year's Eve Kusano watched the Countdown from a television set.
He then spent the better part of New Year's morning at temples with his mother. Kusano's mother had dragged him to no less than three nearby temples, and at each one she prayed for him and bought him a good luck charm, just like she did last year, and made him record his wish for a successful return at each location. He obeyed, though with less enthusiasm than last year.
Soon after the morning visits to the temple, Kusano met up with Koyama and Shige for tea. Kusano had been disappointed that he was not able to come back, sure, but he wasn't so disappointed that he would depress his friends about it (Koyama was a positive person, but an occasional worrier, and Shige was like an old man whose outlook on life was always more realistic than necessary), especially since the alternative wasn't so bad.
So Kusano kept his head and spirits up. Kusano described an incident during Playzone rehearsal when he had tripped and almost pulled down Uchi's pants with him, Shige countered with a story of how Tegoshi had managed to con all of TOKIO into getting himself gifts for his birthday, and Koyama listened and laughed and joined in during both stories.
When they finished an hour later, Koyama said that there was a place he wanted to go to. Shige hesitated, but Kusano agreed enthusiastically.
It was the same temple that Kusano had already been to that morning. The smell of burning incense was thick in the air, and at Koyama's insistence, they got into the line for making prayers and wishes for the upcoming year. Right before their turn came up, Koyama clasped his hand around Kusano's and squeezed tight.
Kusano wanted to say, "It's okay, don't worry about me." Kusano was a happy person, and he liked everything he did. He liked design work, and his practicum was both interesting and fulfilling. Of course, being an idol would always be his number one career, but he had realized one morning when he had stayed up working on a project-- that the alternative wasn't too bad, either. Working on design projects put him in the same zone that singing and dancing used to.
Instead, he listened as Koyama whispered, "You'll definitely come back this year," and Shige touched his other elbow in agreement.
Kusano realized, as they had moved to the front together, tossed in a few hundred yen, and clasped their hands twice, that while he had come to accept his own absence, the other members hadn't. Shige and Koyama, no matter how much they had improved, still needed him.
So Kusano shut his eyes and prayed quietly too.
==
A month later Kusano officially became an adult.
He did not drink on his twentieth birthday, even though he was finally able to, but he did go out to dinner with Shige, Koyama, Tegoshi, and Massu. Uchi and Ryo were doing activities with Kanjani8, and Yamapi was promoting the Proposal Daisakusen SpeciaL, but they all sent him congratulatory text messages.
He came home to hear a message on the answering machine congratulating his adulthood and telling him to return to work the next day.
"Our prayers were answered," Kusano's mother told him happily. "Someone's looking after you."
And Kusano had to agree with what she said.
4.
They had been preparing for their return for over two months, and their appearance was rehearsed and planned ahead by everyone. Tokyo Dome was their comeback concert, and after that Uchi and Kusano joined NewS for the rest of their Winter Concert Tour.
The biggest change that Kusano noticed wasn't how any particular member looked in appearance or felt in confidence. It was how physically affectionate the other members had become in his absence. Shige often had his arms around Massu, Tegosh sat in people's laps, and Ryo liked to pull Koyama's hair.
This change was most noticeable when it came to Yamapi. Ryo, for example, liked to slap what he could see of Yamapi's butt over his low-riding jeans and cry, "Momo, momo!" Koyama, explaining to Uchi something about the effects of boxing, squeezed Yamapi's pecks. Tegoshi liked to sit in Yamapi's lap facing him. Once when Shige did Yamapi's hair and make-up, he gave him a back massage as well. And Massu shared food with Yamapi, sometimes even using the same pair of chopsticks.
Uchi seemed surprised by the whole thing. "Kanjani8 gets like this sometimes," he confided in Kusano, "But it's kind of strange to see it in NewS. I never thought I'd see so many people touching Yamapi." Uchi glanced at Yamapi's unfazed expression as Ryo slapped his ass, and shrugged.
Kusano thought it looked like fun.
Kusano was also competitive.
By the end of the day he had hugged Ryo's arm (for which he was shoved), sat in Shige's lap (since Tegoshi seemed against it), played three-legged in-door soccer with Tegoshi, gotten a piggyback from Koyama, danced in a circle with his arm linked around Massu's, and slid his hand across Yamapi's lower abs (unclaimed territory).
Kusano liked how the other members accepted his touches (for the most part), and did not find it at all unusual.
Uchi seemed to get it as well-- by the end of the day Tegoshi was sitting in his lap.
5.
They didn't come back in the Johnny's Countdown, and when the realization finally hit, NewS didn't cry over it. Ryo sulked, Tegoshi wouldn't stop clinging to Ryo, Massu stuffed his face with watery eyes, Yamapi told Jin he didn't feel like going out to play afterwards, and Koyama rested his head against Shige's shoulder, but they didn't cry.
Shige didn't cry either; he studied a dejected-looking Akanishi, glanced at Yamapi's Marketing Proposals textbook that he brought to study for exams, and thought, If Tegoshi really was a god...
==
In Jin's mind, the Johnny's 2007-2008 Countdown had been a success. His voice remained steady during high parts of "Keep the Faith," according to staff members KAT-TUN danced in more synchronization than usual, and everyone in KAT-TUN was in high spirits so there were no backstage fights.
The other groups did good, too. He wasn't really able to see NewS and Kanjani8's performances since they had all been on different floating platforms, but "Weeeek" sounded energetic and on-key, and "It's My Soul" sounded-- well, like K8 (minus Uchi) in the studio, which Jin assumed was the best it got.
Afterwards Kame was freaking out over where he had misplaced his gel; Koki wasn't talking to Jin at the moment because the Countdown host had mentioned Jin's LA trip during the MC and mentions of Jin's LA excursion always put Koki in a bad mood; and Junno was talking to a junior. Bored, Jin asked Maru and Ueda if they wanted to visit NewS, but Ueda shook his head and Maru looked at Ueda and decided to stay behind as well.
So Jin went to greet NewS by himself.
Before the concert NewS had been even more energetic than usual, so Jin was a bit surprised to find them now in the complete opposite state. Shige and Koyama were rubbing Massu's back as he ate with a sad expression on his face, Tegoshi and Ryo were missing, and even Yamapi was biting his lower lip.
"What's wrong?" Jin asked.
Yamapi nodded in greeting. "Nothing, we're just a little disappointed, that's all."
"About what?"
Yamapi shrugged. "We thought they'd come back today, but they didn't."
Koyama said, "It's okay. We just have to work harder in 2008 to make sure they come back."
Kato studied Jin thoughtfully. Puzzled, Jin flashed him a smile and then Kato grinned in return, like he had discovered a big secret.
==
For Jin, the year was off to a rought start. With a new drama that involved binge eating and watching his weight, Kame's stress level was at an all new high that left him constantly barking orders and criticizing everyone else; another interview about Jin's study abroad left Koki and Jin speaking only during photoshoots when they were forced to sit next to each other; Maru and Ueda kept taking weekend private trips together without inviting Jin (two so far!); and Junno was as annoying as ever.
Eleven days after Countdown, Jin saw Tegoshi dressed in a suit and carrying a manila envelope.
"Hi, Jin!" Tegoshi said, like he had known Jin forever and it wasn't respectful at all; only Tegoshi was cute, so Jin didn't mind.
"Yo," Jin greeted, as they both got into the Jimusho's elevator. "How was Tokyo Dome?"
"It was so much fun!" Tegoshi said.
Jin smiled and automatically went to press the button for the floor that NewS's dressing room was on.
"Oh it's okay," Tegoshi said, and he pressed the button for the highest floor.
Jin didn't think anything of it.
Not until the next day, when he was called to the office on the highest floor as well.
==
"A new unit?" Ueda asked, and he frowned.
Koki made a sound of disgust. "It's like Shuuji x Akira all over again!"
"I didn't mean to!" Kame protested, but he was ignored.
"It's to promote a drama special," Jin said. "For the Spring drama season. A shoujo manga series."
"You get ANOTHER drama too?" Maru said.
"They must realize what a great actor I am," Jin said, and he struck a pose and held his head up high. Maru and Koki doubled over with laughter. Ueda smiled.
"You're not going to leave our group, right?" Kame asked.
"No, of course not!" Jin said. He paused and then grinned. "See how anxious you made us feel, Shuuji?"
Kame gave him a look, and Jin shrugged. "It's a SECRET unit," Jin said. "So only KAT-TUN and NewS know. Oh wait, no Kanjani8 probably know too."
"Who is it with?" Ueda asked.
Jin grinned. "Kusano and Uchi."
Maru blinked. "Kusano and Uchi? They aren't even back in NewS yet!"
"It's probably," Kame said, "A testing ground for them. Like if they get popular enough then they'll be let back into their real groups." Kame gave Jin a look that Jin felt was unjustly doubtful. "They're giving you a lot of responsibility."
"God," Koki said. "You're gone for six months and you get to do a drama when you come back and now a special unit AND a drama special?" He crossed his arms and glared at Jin. "You know what, I'm not talking to you."
"I'm not talking to you either," Jin told Koki. Apparently this was the wrong tactic to employ, as the result was that neither of them talked to each other for a good five minutes.
"I win!" Junno declared from the couch, and a happy electronic melody played from his Nintendo DS, interrupting silence.
==
"So what's your unit called?" Kame asked Jin the next day, as Jin prepared to leave early to meet Uchi and Kusano.
"It's A-U-K," Jin said.
Koki laughed. "It's AWK?"
"No!" Jin said. "It's A-U-K. Each letter is separate."
Maru made beat boxing noises that sounded suspiciously like chickens clucking in a pen. "Auk, auk," he concluded. Ueda and Koki laughed.
"I will see you all later," Jin said, stomping out in a huff.
==
Kusano was as funny as Jin remembered, though his actions were a bit more restrained. Jin never knew Uchi that well, but he did know that Ryo had promised to kill Jin if anything happened to Uchi, so Jin did his best to get along. For the most part they were both easy going and fun to hang around.
The two-hour drama special that they were starring in was a live action version of a shoujo manga, Here is Greenwood, about a group of four boys that lived in a dormitory. Matsuda Shota was the only main character not played by anyone from Johnny's Entertainment; he was playing a calculating and calm student body president named Shinobu. Jin played Shinobu's roommate and best friend, Mitsuru, a former gang leader and the head of the dorm. Uchi played Shun, a girly boy with long hair (Uchi had to grow his hair out for the role), known to cross-dress. Kusano played the hapless lead character, Hasukawa, Shun's roommate and an awkward youth who was in love with his brother's wife.
Juggling a drama, promotional activities (commercials, photoshoots, interviews, tapings) for two musical units, and rehearsal moves for an upcoming KAT-TUN tour wore Jin out. He liked being busy; it kept him out of the funk that had plagued him in his earlier days when he returned from America (a mid-quarter-life crisis that involved him pondering things like, "Is it too late for me to be a soccer player for a college team," "Why do American women have so much bigger boobs than Japanese women," and "If almost everyone in NewS could go to college then why can't I?").
Being too busy, though, pushed his stress levels through the roof.
Jin complained a few times about his schedule over the phone to Ryo, who was unsympathetic, and then to Yamapi, who was more sympathetic but also constantly asking him how Kusano and Uchi were doing.
Shirota listened encouragingly but pointed out that Yamapi was writing his thesis to graduate from school, finishing up a tour with NewS, and promoting the Kurosagi movie, its accompanying solo single, and the Proposal Daisakusen special, while Ryo was promoting both NewS and Kanjani8 and finishing up touring on one while preparing for a tour on the second.
Jin tried complaining only once to KAT-TUN, but it led to a fight between him, Kame, and Koki. Maru and Ueda stepped in when things got ugly, and Ueda ended up giving everyone a dead arm.
So Jin tried to keep his dissatisfaction in. But it was hard-- while being idle made him wish he wasn't an idol, being too busy made him wish he was back on the laid back Santa Monica beach, walking on the sand as if he had all the time in the world.
"How do you do school and work?" Jin asked Kusano one day. He knew why Yamapi did it, he just didn't know why practically everyone else in NewS was or had been attending school as well. Didn't they see that doing school was what kept NewS from hosting their own TV show and thus kept their popularity lower than other groups?
On the other hand, it made Jin envy them a little. He liked to learn things.
"Both are a lot of fun," Kusano said.
"If you didn't come back by the end of 2008," Jin said, and judging by the way Uchi was watching him Jin was probably stepping on dangerous territory but he didn't really care, "Would you have dropped out of the agency to pursue school full time?"
"Nope!" Kusano said, giving him a goofy grin and not offended at all.
"Why not? Don't you like school? Wouldn't you have gotten tired of being just a trainee?" Sometimes Jin still wished he could pursue school full-time instead of being an idol.
"Don't tell me," Uchi said, "That you're sick of being an idol."
"Not sick," Jin said, "I just get tired sometimes."
"You're allowed to be tired," Uchi started, and Jin thought that maybe Uchi was secretly as nice as Koyama. "But you're stupid," Uchi concluded, and then Jin thought otherwise, that maybe Uchi and Ryo were best friends for a reason.
Uchi said, "You decided that you like being in KAT-TUN best after your studying abroad, right?"
Jin nodded.
Uchi said, "Then you chose this. You don't know how lucky you are to be able to leave and come back by choice."
Kusano nodded. "We'd still be trainees if it wasn't for Shige and Tegoshi." Uchi made a motion for silence, but Kusano just grinned and shrugged.
"What do you mean?" Jin asked.
"A-U-K," Uchi said, "Was apparently Shige's idea. He read Yamapi's marketing book, wrote a proposal, and had Tegoshi deliver it in person."
"That's impossible," Jin said, laughing. "No one ever has a say over cd releases and unit formations."
"Why is it impossible?" Kusano asked.
"Weren't you and Yokoyama just in a drama about turning impossibilities to possibilities?" Uchi asked. "None of us ever think of approaching the higher-ups from a marketing perspective, we're used to just letting them take care of it. Eito just left gaps in pictures and stuff to keep up awareness of my existence to Eito's fans. But Shige was the one who thought of approaching the higher-ups at a level that they'd understand." Uchi shrugged. "We were lucky that our other NewS members go to school too."
"I love school, it's a lot of fun," Kusano said. "But I would have stayed a trainee even if we didn't come back by the end of 2008."
"Why?" Jin asked.
Kusano gave him a thumbs up. "It gives me and Uchi and the rest of NewS hope."
"Oh," Jin said, and he thought about KT-TUN.
==
"Hey Kato-kun," Jin said. "Can we talk?"
"Who is this?" Kato asked, sounding bewildered on the phone.
"Akanishi," Jin said, "I got your number from Yamapi."
"Akanishi-kun," Kato said, sounding no less puzzled. "How are you? How is Kusano and Uchi-kun?"
"We're good. Have you heard the new song?"
"Yes," Kato said. "It's a good song."
"Thank you. We had an interesting talk," Jin said. "Why did you choose me? To form A-U-K."
Kato was silent for a moment.
"Hello?"
"I don't really want anyone else to know about our part in it," Kato said slowly, "Or management will get mad at us."
"You didn't answer my question," Jin pouted.
Kato sighed. "You hung out with Kusano in private before, you're one of the nicer ones in KAT-TUN who is also popular enough to go solo, and your vocal talent is on par if not better than both of them. And," he said, sounding hesitant, "You looked bored at Countdown."
"I looked bored," Jin repeated, and thought that maybe him and the rest of KAT-TUN had some things to talk over.
==
The Here is Greenwood drama special became a popular hit of the season, outshining even Kame's One hundred Pound Gospel drama (much to Kame's displeasure) and Yamapi's special (to Yamapi's vexation). A-U-K's popularity and the Greenwood ending song, "Ordinary Heroes," became a hit sensation, selling over 400,000 copies within the first week (thanks to the three different collectible versions).
"400,000 by week one," Yamapi said to Jin on the phone when he was congratulating him, "That's ordinary for KAT-TUN, Shuuji x Akira, and my solo, but that's better than any record for NewS or Kanjani8."
"Jealous?" Jin teased.
He could tell by the tilt in his voice that Yamapi was smiling. "A little," he admitted. "But mostly excited. They have to be allowed back in now." He chuckled. "And Ordinary Heroes is a good song, I can't wait for them to return and sing it in concert with us."
"I want to sing it too!" Jin said.
"Then come on tour with us!" Yamapi said, and then they both laughed. They had been joking about crashing each other's tours ever since their final groups had formed.
"Maybe I'll just drop by one of the shows and do that," Jin said.
"You're always welcome," Yamapi said smiling. "NewS will always welcome anyone to come to our concerts."
"Especially Uchi and Kusano," Jin said.
"Well, yeah."
"You're all really still waiting," Jin said.
"Of course," Yamapi said. "The six of us aren't the same as the eight of us. We've all changed in the last two years, and when all of us are finally together, we'll be a bigger and better NewS."
"My group waited for me too," Jin said, "And I came back. But I think part of me had still been waiting for them, only now I realize that you shouldn't wait for things that you already have."
"Of course not, Bakanishi," Yamapi said, laughing. "You say some silly things sometimes."
==
"Good, you're here," Kame said in a rush the minute Jin walked in. "Management just called, we're going to be on in ten minutes instead of thirty for an early promotion talk about our dramas and to comment on A-U-K and Uchi and Kusano's return to NewS and Kanjani8." He rustled frantically through his make-up bag. "Did someone take my eyeliner?"
"You're holding it," Maru said, rolling his eyes.
"Oh," Kame said, and then went to put it on.
"Auk, Auk," Koki clucked, and grinned at Jin. He was in a good mood, Jin thought.
Jin took a deep breath. "Thanks for waiting."
"We're not waiting for you," Ueda said calmly as he applied his lipstick, "We're all in a panic about getting ready in time."
"I meant," Jin said, stamping his foot, "Thanks for waiting for me."
"Repeating yourself doesn't make you anymore clear," Maru said at the same time that Junno smiled and said, "You're welcome."
Maru cast Junno a puzzled look. Junno smiled brightly. "We had to," Junno said to Jin.
"I have no idea what you're thanking us for," Koki said to Jin, punching him in the arm, "But we're not going to wait for you if you're going to make us late, so hurry up and get ready."
It was a lie; Jin was the last one to leave the dressing room, but the others waited for him in the hallway.