HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEROXIDEPEST17
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEROXIDEPEST17!!!!!!
Dedicated to: peroxidepest17, happy birthday!
Pairing: Ryo/Tegoshi
Summary: Tegoshi and Shige bodyswitch.
A/N: God, this pairing is hard to write, but you wrote me RyoShige and Pin, so obviously I had to return the favor.
Tegoshi was half-joking when he said in an interview that he wanted to be Shige. But on the morning of NewS’ half-day off during the start of their tour in Taiwan, he wakes up on Shige's hotel bed, and when he heads over to the bathroom, it's not his own cute face that stares back at him, but Shige's.
Tegoshi is cute and likes being cute, but he has always wondered what it would be like to be handsome. Shige has a handsome face, and the prospect of pretending to be Shige is too great. He laughs.
Shige's still sleeping on the big mattress. (Each room had a big bed and a tiny mattress, so of course Tegoshi got the big bed). Tegoshi hurries over to look at him. Indeed, Tegoshi sees his own body there, as adorable as ever. He feels quite justified, then, in waking Shige up by slapping his own body's cheeks a few times.
"Shige! Shige!"
Shige swats at him grumpily. Tegoshi persists until Shige does wake up, and then Shige looks at him and screams.
--
TEGOSHI DESU!
The day before Tegoshi’s transformation, NewS had spent the day at intensive rehearsal at the arena.
After practice Massu had wanted to go out to eat; Tegoshi wanted to check out the night market. Yamapi, Ryo, and Koyama were hungry as well and they voted to go with Massu, so Tegoshi asked Shige to check out the night market with him because he didn't want to go by himself, and because he knew that Shige was smart so his Chinese was probably good.
Shige sighed and agreed. Tegoshi smiled, and they parted ways with a promised time and place to meet up.
The night market was crowded, hot, and sweaty. They moved slowly as they squeezed by the other walking bodies, and Tegoshi bought snacks for himself and Shige. As he predicted, Shige cheered up considerably after they ate, and they continued merrily looking at all of the dazzling objects on display and being sold.
When the evening drew closer to their agreed time, Tegoshi and Shige headed to the nearest subway station. Underground on their way to the subway platform, the night market continued with booths and carpets full of colorful jewelry and --
Tegoshi spotted it first. It was a booth veered away from the main path, with a picture of a giant hand. The Chinese characters on it were too complicated for him to read, but he did recognize the kanji for the character 'Fate.' It must have been, he concluded, a fortune telling booth.
"Shige! Let's go there!"
"But it's almost time for us to meet up," Shige said.
Tegoshi had already begun to head over to the direction of the booth, knowing that Shige would follow. He was right; Shige protested but followed anyway.
The woman inside the shop was old; her hair was varying shades of silver, and her skin was a shade darker than most of the other Taiwanese natives. She smelled like sweet incense but her eyes had a sharp glint as she gazed upon them serenely, and Tegoshi knew that she was smart.
Tegoshi looked over the sign. It had helpful colorful diagrams next to a slew of complicated characters. He mulled over his choices-- the one with the gold? The one with the ghost? He did a quick calculation in his mind before he ended up pointing to the most expensive picture, the one with the faded pink heart, which cost about as much as a high end bentou in a Japanese convenience store.
The old woman held out her hand and Tegoshi paid up.
Shige laughed. "Why do you want your love fortune told, Tegoshi? Do you like someone?"
"Because it'll be fun!" Tegoshi said brightly, as the lady began examining his left hand, and ignored the second question.
"You're not even going to understand what she says to you," Shige said.
The old woman clicked her tongue in annoyance, looked at Shige, and pointed to the flap in the curtains of the booth. Shige looked embarrassed and mumbled an apology in Chinese before looking at Tegoshi and saying, "I'll wait outside."
"Now then," the woman said slowly in Japanese once he was gone, "What do you want to know?"
Tegoshi blinked in surprise. "You speak Japanese?"
"Taiwan was occupied by the Japanese a long time ago," she said. "I learned."
"Oh," Tegoshi said, embarrassed. He bowed his head. "Sorry!"
She gave a dry chuckle. "You're cute, young one. Do you have a question?"
"Not specifically," Tegoshi admitted. "I just wanted to know about my love fortune."
She rubbed his left hand, slapped it, and examined it. "You have someone you like right now," she said. "Think of this person."
And Tegoshi did. He thought about Ryo and how Ryo babied him; he thought about how he had admired Ryo in the beginning less than he admired Yamapi, before NewS formed; how Ryo and Yamapi didn't talk to him at first but how they both came around, Ryo quicker than Yamapi, at first unfriendly and then teasing. Tegoshi thought about when things began to change; when Ryo grew distant at first when Uchi was caught, but then really tried to comfort him and Shige and Koyama when Kusano was gone; how Ryo had really began to take care of them on the last few days of the tour before the suspension, treating them to food and poking fun gently at Shige and trying to cheer Yamapi up.
Then the start of it-- when Ryo had invited Tegoshi to the Mr. Children and The Pillows concert, though he could have easily invited anyone else. Ryo wore a black tank top that said "I RULE" in bright white letters and he slung his arm around Tegoshi during the concert and both of them stayed out late that night, voices hoarse from screaming loudly and bodies sweaty from dancing.
THIS had been the first time Tegoshi had seen Ryo so excited about anything, and he realized that while Ryo sang pop enka with K8 and Swedish melodies with NewS, his favorite music was and would always be, rock. They got into a few serious discussions about music after that, before Tegoshi left with Massu to Europe, where Tegoshi found himself missing Ryo, and even when he returned Ryo was busy with K8 activities and Tegoshi was busy promoting TegoMass, so they didn't see each other much. Tegoshi was very surprised and touched when he read about himself on Ryo's jweb.
And it was first at their reunion at Johnny's countdown, where Ryo had seemed more mature and grown up and he had smiled at Tegoshi, that Tegoshi's mouth went dry, his stomach light and airy, and his heart beat faster.
Tegoshi’s mind settled on other events: himself joking when he first sat in Koyama's lap, but then there didn't seem anything wrong with sitting in Yamapi's either. Ryo saw and then invited Tegoshi to sit in his lap as well, and Tegoshi did and Ryo didn't mind at all, he even continued inviting him thereafter; Ryo sneaking in touches at concerts-- his arms, his back, his shoulders; Ryo exchanging smiles with him as they sang Hoshi wo Mezashite; and Ryo practicing at rehearsal, topless.
"Why don't you tell this person?" The old woman inquired, startling him out of his thoughts.
Tegoshi swallowed. He was sure that she was using some kind of cold reading techniques, he read about it in his psychology textbooks, but he wondered anyway if she actually could see anything.
"With that person," Tegoshi said, "I don't think I'm thought of as anything more than a younger brother."
She massaged his right hand, and closed it. "By not telling that person, you're safe with the way things are."
Tegoshi blinked and nodded.
She said, "So you want to be..."
"Taller," Tegoshi sighed. "And handsome."
The woman smiled. "Like the person outside."
She must have been referring to Shige. Tegoshi remembered the interview where Ryo picked Shige as the most attractive of the group, "for some reason or the other," and nodded eagerly. "Right."
"Well," the woman said, "You'll get your chance tomorrow."
Of course he had no idea what she actually meant.
--
Tegoshi thinks that all in all, this was obviously not what he wanted. When he said he wanted to be taller and more handsome, he meant that in a wistful, look-I've-grown kind of way, not in a look-I'm-Shige kind of way. There is no point in confessing or hitting on Ryo while he's in Shige's body; if Ryo responded positively, it would only crush Tegoshi's spirit.
It didn't mean that he couldn't have a little fun, though.
--
A twenty minute discussion after Shige wakes up (Tegoshi can't understand why Shige is so upset, wasn't he just in a drama about this, and isn't Shige supposed to be the smartest?), Shige recovers enough and they both discuss options.
The first question, Shige insists, is finding out if it was just them or everyone else. Tegoshi thinks of the woman in the subway station but sees no reason to share this information.
They head over to Massu and Koyama's room first. Koyama is in the bathroom. Massu is eating while doing sit-ups, and Shige decides that it's Massu after all.
Tegoshi is pleased because Massu don't seem particularly suspicious, so his acting must be pretty good. Shige pulls Tegoshi aside and says that he wants to tell Koyama immediately so that they have another mind to help them think of a solution; Tegoshi argues that it’s a chance to see how good they can pretend to be each other if it carries on longer than planned.
Tegoshi wins when he threatens to pretend to not know what Shige's talking about, and he smiles when Shige caves, because he knows that Shige realizes that in Tegoshi's body he lacks credibility. People see how cute Tegoshi is and tend to overlook how smart he actually is.
"Don't be so nervous," Tegoshi tells Shige, "This will be great fun!"
Koyama returns from the bathroom and doesn't seem to notice anything. Shige looks almost disappointed. Tegoshi is trying not to crow with joy.
They meet up with Yamapi and Ryo next. After Ryo makes a few comments about finding roaches in the hotel that send Massu into almost a fit of panic, Shige whispers to Tegoshi that Ryo is himself. And if Yamapi is someone else-- well, Shige can't really tell, his face was as expressionless as ever.
They go shopping next. Ryo immediately says that he does not want to shop with Massu after the Los Angeles incident, so they agree on a set time to meet up for lunch, and Ryo leaves with Yamapi.
Massu appears oblivious to anything, and he remains as indecisive as ever in the next clothing shop they stop at. After fifteen minutes, Tegoshi, Shige, and Koyama wait outside for him.
Although he told Shige that they should try to pretend to be each other, Tegoshi decides that he might as well take full advantage of the fact that he looks like Shige. Shige sometimes didn't utilize all of his capabilities, and maybe by showing Shige what he COULD do in his own body, when things switch back, Shige would do the same too.
So Tegoshi struts as he walks in a big circle, long confident strides. He smiles at ladies that pass by. Heads turn, and scattered whispers.
Koyama laughs. "Shige, you're acting ridiculous," he says to Tegoshi, and Shige turns red.
Tegoshi meanwhile is having a ball. Being taller is great. Being handsome is great. Being cute is wonderful, of course, and it's not as if Tegoshi didn't normally get heads turning for him either-- with TegoMass he is more recognizable than Shige. It’s just that now he can do sexy moves, like lean against the wall and stare at a girl and lick his lips and the response would shy glances and a blush, whereas if he did the same thing in his own body the girl would most likely buy him ice cream and pat him on the head.
Tegoshi begins to think of bigger implications. Shige could take all of his upcoming exams, no problem, and Tegoshi is pretty sure he could figure something out for Shige's. And if he did badly, well surely Shige would be able to take make up exams after the entire event was over.
"Is something wrong with Tegoshi?" Koyama asks, looking at Shige who is looking at his feet.
Tegoshi looks at Shige. "Cheer up," he says brightly. Koyama stares at him, and Tegoshi smiles brightly.
Shige looks at the sky and sighs. Then he looks at Tegoshi and promptly latches onto Koyama's arm.
"Ne, Kei-chan!" Shige says. "Can you buy me that." He points randomly at a window and Koyama asks, "Buy you what?"
"Er," Shige looks around, "That." It's a NT$2000 television.
Koyama laughs. "Sorry, Tegoshi, but I can't afford it."
"Oh really?" Shige asks, making his voice pitiful and whiny. "But I really want it, and I own the universe."
Koyama laughs and pats him on the head. "We can look inside the store, if you like." He heads for the store.
"How do you like it?" Shige asks.
Tegoshi blinks. "Like what? Oh, Shige, I'm glad we're both having so much fun!" He smiles brightly and Shige laughs and says, "Well okay, this can be entertaining."
--
Eventually Koyama says, "Shige, you're acting strange," when Tegoshi insists that they all take sticker pictures.
"But I look so cool," Tegoshi says, striking a pose with sunglasses, and Shige looks embarrassed.
"Can you just--just stop?" Shige asks.
"Why not?" Tegoshi asks innocently. "Come on! And you look so cute, right?"
"This isn't happening," Shige says to himself.
Koyama looks at both of them amused. "Have you two been drinking? You're both acting weird. Massu, aren't they acting strange?" He looks at Massu, but Massu is wandering away, looking over at a rack of t-shirts, and does not respond.
Shige says, "Oh thank god, I make fun of you for being dumb but if you really hadn't noticed anything, I think I would have cried."
"Or," Tegoshi says, "Maybe Koyama's Yamapi too."
This gets Shige's attention, he stares at Koyama and asks him strange verification questions, like "What do you like to put in your ramen? What is Shige's parent's names?" and other questions that Tegoshi has no answers for. When Koyama answers them all apparently correctly, Shige looks relieved.
"I was joking," Tegoshi says.
Koyama, however, is now frowning. "How do you know all those questions you asked me?" he asks Shige. Shige sighs.
Tegoshi decides a demonstration is in order. He holds his right hand up to his face in his signature introduction given to him by Kinki Kid's Tsuyoshi, and Koyama promptly drops all of the bags of souvenirs that Shige had asked him to hold.
--
Koyama accepts it pretty easily, all things considered. Tegoshi suspects that Koyama is just humoring them and thinks that they are only pretending to act like each other, but Tegoshi doesn't say this because Shige looks so hopeful at the prospect that his best friend can see him through his physical form that Tegoshi doesn't want to disillusion him. Shige, for all of his intelligence, is not as smart about people as Tegoshi, and Tegoshi's conclusion is this: no matter how much Shige and Tegoshi did not act like themselves, people would see their physical form and think that that was them.
Tegoshi asks that Koyama not say anything as a formality anyway-- he's having too much fun pretending to be Shige, and Koyama agrees. Koyama worries aloud how to change them back, and he and Shige begin discussing possibilities in huddled whispers.
Tegoshi still thinks that Koyama is just humoring Shige.
Massu is oblivious. He sees Koyama and Shige talk about things he doesn't understand, so he goes back to shopping and deciding on which shirts to buy.
They end up bumping into Ryo and Yamapi in a different store, and its close enough to the time that they were supposed to meet up that it makes sense for them to leave the store together.
Tegoshi for once is actually finding clothes that he wants to buy, and he looks up to see Shige staring at him thoughtfully as well. They pick out clothes and end up going to the dressing room together. It's a tiny room separated only by heavy gold curtains, but they both manage to squeeze in.
They try on the clothes that they had picked for their own original bodies, and model them together. Shige had picked out other clothes as well, stuff that he said might look good on Tegoshi's original body, and demonstrates by putting it on and Tegoshi agrees to the ones that he likes. Tegoshi decides that shopping this way is so much easier than looking in a mirror, he can see where creases and lines form on his back and on his ass, and can make sure that the clothes look right on him. And Shige did have a good sense of style-- so it was nice to see that taste applied to him.
Shige says, "We should probably get going," but Tegoshi insists that Shige try another different combination of clothes one last time before he agrees.
Ryo is waiting outside when they leave. He smiles at Shige when they step out, but gives Tegoshi a dirty look.
Tegoshi doesn't know why he's on the receiving end. "What?"
Ryo rolls his eyes. "What, you're so indecisive that you need Tego-nyan to be in the same changing stall as you?" He pauses. "Try to be a little more considerate of other people's time."
Tegoshi smiles disarmingly. "Okay!"
Ryo frowns then. "You better not be doing anything strange to Tegoshi," he warns.
Tegoshi blinks. "Strange? Like what?"
Ryo flushes slightly, and mutters, "Let's get going."
Tegoshi doesn't know what Ryo is referring to, but he's touched all the same that Ryo is worried about him. He nods and fights back a bigger smile.
Ryo's frown deepens.
Tegoshi tries not to laugh.
--
For lunch they go to a noodle shop and order a bowl of beef noodles. Their orders arrive and Tegoshi picks up his chopsticks with his right hand. He finds, however, that his right hand's grip is weak and as he tries to hold the noodles with them, his fingers twitch and send the chopsticks flying to the floor, splashing up soup in the process.
Koyama immediately gets a napkin and helps clean up. Shige tries to ask for another pair of chopsticks in Chinese, but the server just looks at him and smiles, so Shige sighs and grabs a pair from another table.
Ryo and Yamapi, meanwhile, stare at Tegoshi. Massu keeps eating.
"Are you trying to eat with your right hand?" Ryo asks, amused. "Trying to be like everyone else now?"
"You can do it!" Yamapi encourages. "After all, I learned how to eat chopsticks with my left hand." He looks worried. "But you don't have to change yourself like this, Shige. You're fine as a left-handed person, ne. It's cool."
"Oh that's right," Tegoshi exclaims. "Left-handed." And Koyama and Shige promptly burst into giggles. Tegoshi does know how to eat with his left hand, he just forgot that Shige was left-handed, and he uses his chopsticks easily enough.
At the end of the meal, Ryo has three leftover beef meat balls. "Open up," he tells Tegoshi, and Tegoshi obediently opens his mouth. Ryo crams all of them in, and Tegoshi thinks that it’s fun to have Ryo feed him; when he's back in his body he will request it more often.
--
After lunch, they're taken by bus to the arena of their upcoming concert for their one last rehearsal.
When they arrive in the dressing room, Ryo sits down on the bench. "Tego-nyan, come sit in my lap," he says, and pats his legs. Tegoshi, who was behind him, moves automatically towards him.
Ryo gives him a look and laughs. "Shige, we told you before, the thought of you sitting on my lap is too funny. That's a no."
Massu smiles and Yamapi says, "Shige, do you really want to? You can sit in my lap."
Tegoshi doesn't respond. He's not sure how he feels about this. On one hand, being rejected hurts; on the other being rejected in favor of himself was kind of flattering.
"Tego-nyan," Ryo says, a bit more impatiently now.
Shige slowly comes over and sits awkwardly in Ryo's lap. He tries to sit on the outer edge of Ryo's thighs, but he almost falls off and Ryo pulls him in closer.
"Now what's wrong," Ryo asks in a gentle voice, "You haven't talked to me all day."
"Um," Shige says, and then he turns his face aside and blushes. "Ah, I can't do this." He gets off Ryo's lap. "Sorry."
Shige's head is bent low so he doesn't see it, but Tegoshi sees a flicker of something on Ryo's face, before the expression changes to concern.
"What's wrong?" Ryo asks. "You're acting strange."
"He's fine," Koyama says. "Tegoshi, sit in my lap." He looks at Shige meaningfully, and Shige moves over and sits into his.
"See?" Koyama asks, gripping Shige's legs so he doesn't fall off. "Perfectly normal." And he and Shige laugh, albeit nervously.
That expression again flickers onto Ryo's face-- a bit of hurt, uncertainty, and jealousy. Tegoshi immediately feels cheered up.
"What's going on?" Ryo demands.
Yamapi laughs. "Ryo-chan, don't be jealous. Here." Yamapi comes over and sits in Ryo's lap.
"Pi, you're too heavy!" Ryo exclaims, and tries to push him off, but Yamapi grabs onto him and they both look ridiculous since Yamapi is larger. A struggle ensues and Yamapi eventually falls off his lap in a fit of laughter. Ryo's laughing too, and the awkwardness in the situation earlier passes.
--
It's later then, when Tegoshi begins to sing to himself, that he realizes how bad it is to be in Shige's body. Because Shige's voice is low, he has very little stamina, and the sounds coming out don't sound right to Tegoshi at all.
He tries a few dance moves, and his mind remembers how to do them properly after his intensive training with Massu, but his body lags. He does a hip thrust and feels awkward, it's like he’s learning how to dance all over again.
Ryo sees him and laughs non-stop. "What are you trying to do?" he asks, in between breaths.
Tegoshi tries to sing the second "Ikou!" from Hoshi wo Mezashite; he runs quickly out of breath and, worst of all, his voice cracks.
Ryo laughs and mimics the same lines he does, deliberately cracking his voice as well.
It is distressing to have Ryo laugh at him, but not nearly distressing as the possibility that he would never be as musically talented as he once was.
"Shige!" Tegoshi cries, alarmed, "Shige, this is TERRIBLE!"
Ryo says, "You're not a person who can pull off talking about himself in the third person."
Yamapi stares at Tegoshi. "It's not that bad, Shige, don't worry about it." He asks in a careful voice, "Are you worried about the concert tomorrow? Don't worry, your parts are pre-recorded anyway, and you're doing better."
Tegoshi remembers then: most of Shige's parts in concerts are lip-synched. What more, Shige hardly got solo parts in songs at all.
He can't help it-- the tears well up and he rushes out of the practice room. The practice room next door is empty; he goes in, sits on a bench, and cries.
Koyama immediately comes in, followed by Shige.
"I'm sorry," Shige apologizes in a rush, "My stamina's like that of a little boy. Don't cry, we'll figure something out."
Koyama sits down next to him, rubs his back comfortingly, and hands him a tissue.
"Shige, you need to do more exercises!" Tegoshi says in-between sobs, "How can you sing if you have no power?"
Shige has a horrible look of guilt on Tegoshi's face. Tegoshi cries harder, he misses being cute, too.
"Shige-- Shige, I should've told you, it was the old woman in the subway station. I said I wanted to be taller and more handsome and she said I'd have my chance tomorrow. But what if it's not only for today? I don't know any of your solo dancing parts," Tegoshi rambles, "And then you'll have to sing my solo, live! What are we going to do?"
Koyama is looking back and forth at them strangely, in the back of his mind Tegoshi thinks, Ha I was right, he was just humoring Shige.
Ryo enters then, walking slowly in.
"Look," Ryo says uncertainly, "When I pick on you, you're supposed to make your comebacks. You're acting as sensitive as Ueda. What's wrong with you?"
"IT SUCKS BEING SHIGE!" Tegoshi cries. He buries his face into his hands. "Shige is smart and handsome and tall but he can't sing nearly as well as Tegoshi!"
"Ah...I'm sorry," Shige says awkwardly.
Tegoshi hears Ryo say, "It's not your fault, Tego-nyan," and the words would've been comforting if he knew they weren't directed at Shige.
Ryo says, "Why are you comparing yourself to Tegoshi all of a sudden? He's obviously our best singer."
"I KNOW," Tegoshi wails.
--
Tegoshi calms down ten minutes later, when Shige hands him a wet towel, a bottle of water, and begins telling him a detailed plan on how they were going to go back, find that old lady, and demand their bodies to be switched back properly.
Shige's determination is comforting. Also uplifting was when Shige first handed him the towel and said, "Normally you look really cute crying, but god do I look ugly when I'm crying."
Tegoshi sniffs, wipes his face, and Shige sits down next to him. Ryo and Koyama by then had stepped outside on Shige's request.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Shige asks. "That it was her."
Tegoshi shrugs and doesn't answer. Shige doesn't press.
Tegoshi peers at Shige. He sees himself-- up close in three dimensions, and he can look at himself in ways that a mirror did not represent. The change in his cheeks since the reunion is clearly more evident, and his jaw line is more prominent. Then Tegoshi gets an idea.
"Hey," Tegoshi says, "Come sit in my lap."
"What?" Shige sputters. "No."
"Come on," Tegoshi whines, "I've always sat in other people's laps, I've never seen what it's like to have me in a lap."
"You've never sat in my lap," Shige says, horrified. "And we are not going to start now."
But Tegoshi is persuasive and finally, ever so reluctantly, Shige climbs into his lap.
"This is so weird," Shige says, because now he can't help but look at his original body. "I've never seen myself so--so up close."
"Right?" Tegoshi asks. It's strange on the other end, sort of like a cross between a hug and holding a child. He's comforted by the fact that his original body doesn't feel all that heavy.
Then Ryo walks in with Koyama. Koyama smiles at the sight of them; Ryo just stares.
So Tegoshi does the logical thing and gives Shige a quick kiss.
It's a peck really, and it wasn't even really on the lips, just the corner of the mouth, but several things happen at once:
Ryo stomps out of the room and slams the door.
Shige shouts and falls backward onto his butt.
Koyama laughs really, really hard.
"What was that for?" Shige cries, and wipes at his mouth with his sleeve.
Tegoshi and Koyama are both laughing too hard to say anything.
"I'm sorry-- I'm sorry," Tegoshi says in-between breaths of laughter, "I just, I just have really kissable lips."
Shige glares at him while Koyama helps him up, and Tegoshi laughs until his stomach is weak.
--
After rehearsals end, Yamapi is hungry and suggests they go out to eat. Shige glances at Tegoshi and Shige still looks irritated, but he says, "Te--Shige and I are going to the night market."
"Something happen, Tego-nyan?" Ryo asks, moving to stand suddenly very close to Shige. Shige takes a step back and mumbles, "I just saw something I wanted to get yesterday, that's all."
Ryo nods in understanding, then declares, "I'll go with you both."
Shige stammers that it's not necessary, but when Ryo decides that he wants to go, Yamapi says aloud that the staff did mention there being street vendors, and then in the end everyone in NewS decides to go together.
--
Tegoshi lags when changing into street clothes and is the slowest at getting ready to leave, mostly because he forgets for a moment where Shige's locker is. He's about to leave when Ryo comes in and corners him. Ryo is shorter than Shige, so Tegoshi is looking down on him, but Ryo looks up with fierce eyes anyway.
"You better not be doing anything weird to Tego-nyan," Ryo says.
It's the same thing he said in the shop. Tegoshi can't help it-- he smiles and says the same words he said then too, "Like what?"
Just like in the shop, Ryo looks embarrassed, and then Tegoshi gets it.
Tegoshi takes a step forward, and Ryo, surprised, takes a step back and Tegoshi thinks that he can only get away with this when he's taller than Ryo. So he takes another step forward, then another, and continues until he has backs Ryo up against the locker. Ryo has a look of incredulity on his face the entire time, like he can't believe that Shige dares to invade his personal space.
Tegoshi leans forward. Rather than leaning toward Tegoshi or away, Ryo stares at him in disbelief.
Tegoshi says brightly, "We've grown up now, ne."
Ryo blinks and frowns. Tegoshi thinks it's very cute, Ryo really did resemble a rabbit.
"You're not cute at all," Ryo says with a scowl. "And your bizarre mood swings must be a sign that your brain is melting. Try not to overexert yourself, stupid."
Tegoshi is so happy that he thinks his heart will burst; Ryo's not interested in Shige at all.
--
Tegoshi and Shige eventually do find the booth again, however the woman maintaining it this time is young and while she stares at them with starry eyes, it's clear that she doesn't speak a word of Japanese.
So Shige struggles with Chinese and stumbles over words, trying to convey what happened with short phrases and large gestures. His tones are all off, but his vocabulary is better than Tegoshi's, so Tegoshi listens carefully and repeats what Shige says, only with the proper tones.
It's all in vain, however; the woman stares at them blankly before trying to sell them a love charm "for forbidden relationships."
Shige sighs in exasperation. Tegoshi buys the charm anyway, he thinks it's cute.
"We should tell the others," Shige says to Tegoshi. "Even if only Koyama believes us. It's not only us anymore, Tegoshi. If we have to perform tomorrow like this, then they have to know so that they can help us cover up our mistakes."
And Tegoshi doesn't want to admit it, but he knows that Shige's right.
They find Yamapi with Massu, buying meat from a street vendor. They find Ryo and Koyama browsing a shop selling cheap souvenirs for inexpensive omiyage.
Koyama looks at them worriedly. "Any luck?"
"What's wrong, Tego-nyan?" Ryo asks, looking at Shige's downcast expression.
"There's something we need to tell you guys," Shige says.
--
"I think," Massu concludes back in their hotel room after a long silence, "You're making this all up."
Shige snickers, but says, "We're not."
"Prove it," Ryo says slowly.
"What kind of proof can I give you?" Shige says, rolling his eyes. "Hey look at me, I'm Shige in Tegoshi's body. My proof is that I'm too embarrassed to do the hip thrusts in his new style of sexy dancing. Also, while the world revolves around Tegoshi, somehow being Tegoshi does not make it stop spinning."
Koyama laughs. The sarcastic expression that Shige gives Ryo shuts him up; Tegoshi cannot recall ever seeing himself look like that on any TV show.
"Uwaa," Yamapi says, "It IS Shige. Body switching? Weird."
"I was just in a drama about this, but they never had to prove it, they hid it," Shige says. "We're only telling you this because we're not used to these bodies, and it might affect the live performance tomorrow."
"Ah, this is bad," Yamapi says solemnly.
Shige pulls out a copy of the concert line up.
"Can you try doing the second 'Ikou'?" Ryo asks.
Shige tries. He hits the right notes without cracking, but his voice wavers and is unsteady. Tegoshi knows that Shige's control isn't as good as his.
"You're really not Tegoshi," Ryo says in amazement. Tegoshi feels a rush of triumph.
Koyama elbows Tegoshi. "So what's it like being Shige?"
"It's good when it's Shige being Shige," Tegoshi says truthfully, "But otherwise it sucks."
Koyama laughs. Shige shrugs.
Massu's face is pinched in concentration from thinking about the whole thing too hard. "So," he says, "If Shige is Tegoshi and Tegoshi is Shige, does that mean I'll be singing Miso Soup with Shige?"
Yamapi rubs his eyes and examines the list that Shige brought out. The line up is long. "So we don't know how long this might last," he says.
Koyama says, "What if we all switch around parts? The audience might find it funny."
"A Japanese audience that has seen our shows might. But for our first performance in Taiwan, it might seem like we're not trying our best?" Yamapi shrugs. "Guess it can't be helped."
"We might have to use pre-recordings of Tegoshi for Shige," Ryo says slowly, looking horrified at the thought. Tegoshi feels a strong rush of love for him.
They do a test run to see the extent of Tegoshi and Shige's current abilities. The results make everyone worried and wince. Tegoshi, after a few warm up practices, can sing a little better than before (and to his own ears he sounds better than Shige normally sounds like in Shige's own body), but he's definitely not on the level of how he used to be. Shige's control isn't good enough for the second "Ikou!" but is good enough for simple verses. Fortunately, they both knew each other's solo songs and they stay up that night, planning out ways with the other members to cover up where they are otherwise lacking.
--
"God," Ryo groans when they finally finish past two in the morning. "Why didn't you guys tell us earlier? We could've spent rehearsal doing this instead of wasting our time now." He glares at Shige, but can't maintain it.
"I told Tegoshi we should," Shige says, "He didn't want to."
"Sorry," Tegoshi says.
"It's okay," Ryo says automatically. He does not, however, make eye contact with Tegoshi.
When Tegoshi thinks about it, Ryo has stopped making eye contact with him since the explanation.
So he catches Ryo's arm as they're heading back to their rooms and says, "Ryo-tan, can we talk?"
Ryo laughs awkwardly. "It sounds weird to hear you say that, Tego-nyan, in Shige's voice."
But he automatically puts an arm around Tegoshi's shoulder and together they go to Ryo's room where Ryo sends Yamapi out to Shige's.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier," Tegoshi says. He has no idea how his pleading face works now since it's Shige's face, and Ryo isn't really looking at him anyway, but Ryo nods.
"It must've been hard on you, Tego-nyan."
Tegoshi wants to say, It was! People like Shige and Shige can do all sorts of things, but no one really touches Shige's arms or back or shoulder encouragingly except for Koyama, so I miss the other members’ comfort. Also Shige needs to take vocal training and improve his stamina.
But it sounds lame in his head so instead he just nods. He thinks about how he can't sing in tomorrow's concert, that he's going to be faking it, and he finds himself sniffling a little.
Ryo sits down on the edge of his bed. "Here, come sit in my lap." He pats his lap and then adds, "But don't face me."
Tegoshi obeys. It's not as awkward as he thinks it would be; Shige is taller than Ryo but somehow Tegoshi manages to sit in what feels like the position that he usually takes in Ryo's lap.
"Why don't you want me to face you?" Tegoshi asks, pouting. "Shige's handsome and mature and has a nice face."
"Stupid," Ryo says to his ear, "Shige's not nearly as cute as you and only cute people can sit in my lap. So I'm imagining that it's you in order to give you my permission."
Tegoshi feels a blossoming of happiness in his chest, and he chuckles. "Okay."
Very gently, Ryo wraps his arms around Tegoshi. He's warm and comforting and Tegoshi sighs happily and wraps his arms around Ryo's.
"It'll be okay, Tego-nyan," Ryo murmurs, stifling a yawn, and Tegoshi closes his eyes and hopes its true.
They both end up falling asleep on the Ryo's bed; Ryo falls asleep first in a sprawl and Tegoshi uses his stomach as a pillow.
--
Tegoshi wakes up the next morning to the sound of an alarm and snoring. He's on Shige's small mattress and the snoring is coming from the big mattress. A closer inspection reveals Yamapi on the big mattress.
Tegoshi blinks and runs to the bathroom. It's himself-- big eyes, slightly chubby cheeks, small mouth, and Tegoshi sings at the top of his lungs, "IKOOOUUUU~," and wakes Yamapi up.
--
His next job, of course, is to make sure that Shige isn't doing anything with Ryo, so he fishes the keys to Ryo's room from Yamapi's belongings on the table and is on the verge of letting himself into Ryo's room when Shige comes out, face red.
"You-- wha-what were you doing in Nishikido-kun's bed last night?" Shige asks, flushing. "Yamashita-kun has a perfectly good bed in there too, you know."
Tegoshi distracts him. "Look, Shige! We're back to normal!"
"Yeah, I noticed," Shige says, but Tegoshi sees him smile anyway. Shige pats Tegoshi's head before heading back to his room.
Tegoshi lets himself into Ryo's room. Ryo is lying on the bed; Tegoshi kicks off his shoes and snuggles into bed with him, planning to reclaim Ryo's stomach as his pillow for a few minutes before waking him up.
"Tego-nyan," Ryo mumbles, "Is that you?"
"Yep," Tegoshi says with a bright smile. Ryo sees it, and smiles sleepily as well.
"Come here," Ryo says, and he slings an arm around Tegoshi and pulls him close. Tegoshi happily complies and he finds himself resting his head against Ryo's chest.
Tegoshi feels warm and happy and it seems only natural, then, to move his head up and kiss Ryo lightly.
He feels the edges of Ryo's smile, at first. Then Ryo starts kissing him back. Somehow along the way Tegoshi finds himself on his back, with Ryo's tongue in his mouth and Ryo's hands in his hair, and he feels absolutely wonderful and happy and--
"RYO-CHAN!" Yamapi shouts, banging on the door. "I need to change, and I thought I had my keys but I don't. Hurry up and open the door!"
Tegoshi personally would've been willing to ignore Yamapi, but Ryo stops kissing him and sighs and mutters a curse. He gives Tegoshi another soft kiss. Then gets off the bed, grabs a shirt and a pair of jeans from the closet, heads to the bathroom, comes out with a towel, and opens the door and throws it all at Yamapi before slamming it shut.
Tegoshi laughs, and when Ryo returns to the bed, Tegoshi gives him a big hug.
"I thought you thought I was just a little kid," Tegoshi says.
Ryo fluffs his hair. "I'm not an idiot. Anyone can see that your face has gotten a lot more manlier and your dancing has gotten sexy. I just figured you were touchy feely with everyone." He thinks about it and adds, "Which you kind of are."
Tegoshi chuckles. "But I love Ryo-tan best!" he says, and Ryo smiles broadly, perfect teeth showing.
"Me too," Ryo says, and he fluffs Tegoshi's hair again.
"RYO-CHAN!" Yamapi shouts from behind the door. "I need to pee!"
------
Inspired by translations from:
http://jbs-babe.livejournal.com/100908.html (Read #4, #15, and #16)
http://paaaaan.livejournal.com/11267.html
http://jweb85.blog48.fc2.com/blog-entry-919.html
edit:http://community.livejournal.com/pichan_daccha/77049.html - you have to join to read this one, but it is so, so worth it and I'm happy that I found it again to link to it.
which are all fun to read, so check them out.
Dedicated to: peroxidepest17, happy birthday!
Pairing: Ryo/Tegoshi
Summary: Tegoshi and Shige bodyswitch.
A/N: God, this pairing is hard to write, but you wrote me RyoShige and Pin, so obviously I had to return the favor.
Tegoshi was half-joking when he said in an interview that he wanted to be Shige. But on the morning of NewS’ half-day off during the start of their tour in Taiwan, he wakes up on Shige's hotel bed, and when he heads over to the bathroom, it's not his own cute face that stares back at him, but Shige's.
Tegoshi is cute and likes being cute, but he has always wondered what it would be like to be handsome. Shige has a handsome face, and the prospect of pretending to be Shige is too great. He laughs.
Shige's still sleeping on the big mattress. (Each room had a big bed and a tiny mattress, so of course Tegoshi got the big bed). Tegoshi hurries over to look at him. Indeed, Tegoshi sees his own body there, as adorable as ever. He feels quite justified, then, in waking Shige up by slapping his own body's cheeks a few times.
"Shige! Shige!"
Shige swats at him grumpily. Tegoshi persists until Shige does wake up, and then Shige looks at him and screams.
--
TEGOSHI DESU!
The day before Tegoshi’s transformation, NewS had spent the day at intensive rehearsal at the arena.
After practice Massu had wanted to go out to eat; Tegoshi wanted to check out the night market. Yamapi, Ryo, and Koyama were hungry as well and they voted to go with Massu, so Tegoshi asked Shige to check out the night market with him because he didn't want to go by himself, and because he knew that Shige was smart so his Chinese was probably good.
Shige sighed and agreed. Tegoshi smiled, and they parted ways with a promised time and place to meet up.
The night market was crowded, hot, and sweaty. They moved slowly as they squeezed by the other walking bodies, and Tegoshi bought snacks for himself and Shige. As he predicted, Shige cheered up considerably after they ate, and they continued merrily looking at all of the dazzling objects on display and being sold.
When the evening drew closer to their agreed time, Tegoshi and Shige headed to the nearest subway station. Underground on their way to the subway platform, the night market continued with booths and carpets full of colorful jewelry and --
Tegoshi spotted it first. It was a booth veered away from the main path, with a picture of a giant hand. The Chinese characters on it were too complicated for him to read, but he did recognize the kanji for the character 'Fate.' It must have been, he concluded, a fortune telling booth.
"Shige! Let's go there!"
"But it's almost time for us to meet up," Shige said.
Tegoshi had already begun to head over to the direction of the booth, knowing that Shige would follow. He was right; Shige protested but followed anyway.
The woman inside the shop was old; her hair was varying shades of silver, and her skin was a shade darker than most of the other Taiwanese natives. She smelled like sweet incense but her eyes had a sharp glint as she gazed upon them serenely, and Tegoshi knew that she was smart.
Tegoshi looked over the sign. It had helpful colorful diagrams next to a slew of complicated characters. He mulled over his choices-- the one with the gold? The one with the ghost? He did a quick calculation in his mind before he ended up pointing to the most expensive picture, the one with the faded pink heart, which cost about as much as a high end bentou in a Japanese convenience store.
The old woman held out her hand and Tegoshi paid up.
Shige laughed. "Why do you want your love fortune told, Tegoshi? Do you like someone?"
"Because it'll be fun!" Tegoshi said brightly, as the lady began examining his left hand, and ignored the second question.
"You're not even going to understand what she says to you," Shige said.
The old woman clicked her tongue in annoyance, looked at Shige, and pointed to the flap in the curtains of the booth. Shige looked embarrassed and mumbled an apology in Chinese before looking at Tegoshi and saying, "I'll wait outside."
"Now then," the woman said slowly in Japanese once he was gone, "What do you want to know?"
Tegoshi blinked in surprise. "You speak Japanese?"
"Taiwan was occupied by the Japanese a long time ago," she said. "I learned."
"Oh," Tegoshi said, embarrassed. He bowed his head. "Sorry!"
She gave a dry chuckle. "You're cute, young one. Do you have a question?"
"Not specifically," Tegoshi admitted. "I just wanted to know about my love fortune."
She rubbed his left hand, slapped it, and examined it. "You have someone you like right now," she said. "Think of this person."
And Tegoshi did. He thought about Ryo and how Ryo babied him; he thought about how he had admired Ryo in the beginning less than he admired Yamapi, before NewS formed; how Ryo and Yamapi didn't talk to him at first but how they both came around, Ryo quicker than Yamapi, at first unfriendly and then teasing. Tegoshi thought about when things began to change; when Ryo grew distant at first when Uchi was caught, but then really tried to comfort him and Shige and Koyama when Kusano was gone; how Ryo had really began to take care of them on the last few days of the tour before the suspension, treating them to food and poking fun gently at Shige and trying to cheer Yamapi up.
Then the start of it-- when Ryo had invited Tegoshi to the Mr. Children and The Pillows concert, though he could have easily invited anyone else. Ryo wore a black tank top that said "I RULE" in bright white letters and he slung his arm around Tegoshi during the concert and both of them stayed out late that night, voices hoarse from screaming loudly and bodies sweaty from dancing.
THIS had been the first time Tegoshi had seen Ryo so excited about anything, and he realized that while Ryo sang pop enka with K8 and Swedish melodies with NewS, his favorite music was and would always be, rock. They got into a few serious discussions about music after that, before Tegoshi left with Massu to Europe, where Tegoshi found himself missing Ryo, and even when he returned Ryo was busy with K8 activities and Tegoshi was busy promoting TegoMass, so they didn't see each other much. Tegoshi was very surprised and touched when he read about himself on Ryo's jweb.
And it was first at their reunion at Johnny's countdown, where Ryo had seemed more mature and grown up and he had smiled at Tegoshi, that Tegoshi's mouth went dry, his stomach light and airy, and his heart beat faster.
Tegoshi’s mind settled on other events: himself joking when he first sat in Koyama's lap, but then there didn't seem anything wrong with sitting in Yamapi's either. Ryo saw and then invited Tegoshi to sit in his lap as well, and Tegoshi did and Ryo didn't mind at all, he even continued inviting him thereafter; Ryo sneaking in touches at concerts-- his arms, his back, his shoulders; Ryo exchanging smiles with him as they sang Hoshi wo Mezashite; and Ryo practicing at rehearsal, topless.
"Why don't you tell this person?" The old woman inquired, startling him out of his thoughts.
Tegoshi swallowed. He was sure that she was using some kind of cold reading techniques, he read about it in his psychology textbooks, but he wondered anyway if she actually could see anything.
"With that person," Tegoshi said, "I don't think I'm thought of as anything more than a younger brother."
She massaged his right hand, and closed it. "By not telling that person, you're safe with the way things are."
Tegoshi blinked and nodded.
She said, "So you want to be..."
"Taller," Tegoshi sighed. "And handsome."
The woman smiled. "Like the person outside."
She must have been referring to Shige. Tegoshi remembered the interview where Ryo picked Shige as the most attractive of the group, "for some reason or the other," and nodded eagerly. "Right."
"Well," the woman said, "You'll get your chance tomorrow."
Of course he had no idea what she actually meant.
--
Tegoshi thinks that all in all, this was obviously not what he wanted. When he said he wanted to be taller and more handsome, he meant that in a wistful, look-I've-grown kind of way, not in a look-I'm-Shige kind of way. There is no point in confessing or hitting on Ryo while he's in Shige's body; if Ryo responded positively, it would only crush Tegoshi's spirit.
It didn't mean that he couldn't have a little fun, though.
--
A twenty minute discussion after Shige wakes up (Tegoshi can't understand why Shige is so upset, wasn't he just in a drama about this, and isn't Shige supposed to be the smartest?), Shige recovers enough and they both discuss options.
The first question, Shige insists, is finding out if it was just them or everyone else. Tegoshi thinks of the woman in the subway station but sees no reason to share this information.
They head over to Massu and Koyama's room first. Koyama is in the bathroom. Massu is eating while doing sit-ups, and Shige decides that it's Massu after all.
Tegoshi is pleased because Massu don't seem particularly suspicious, so his acting must be pretty good. Shige pulls Tegoshi aside and says that he wants to tell Koyama immediately so that they have another mind to help them think of a solution; Tegoshi argues that it’s a chance to see how good they can pretend to be each other if it carries on longer than planned.
Tegoshi wins when he threatens to pretend to not know what Shige's talking about, and he smiles when Shige caves, because he knows that Shige realizes that in Tegoshi's body he lacks credibility. People see how cute Tegoshi is and tend to overlook how smart he actually is.
"Don't be so nervous," Tegoshi tells Shige, "This will be great fun!"
Koyama returns from the bathroom and doesn't seem to notice anything. Shige looks almost disappointed. Tegoshi is trying not to crow with joy.
They meet up with Yamapi and Ryo next. After Ryo makes a few comments about finding roaches in the hotel that send Massu into almost a fit of panic, Shige whispers to Tegoshi that Ryo is himself. And if Yamapi is someone else-- well, Shige can't really tell, his face was as expressionless as ever.
They go shopping next. Ryo immediately says that he does not want to shop with Massu after the Los Angeles incident, so they agree on a set time to meet up for lunch, and Ryo leaves with Yamapi.
Massu appears oblivious to anything, and he remains as indecisive as ever in the next clothing shop they stop at. After fifteen minutes, Tegoshi, Shige, and Koyama wait outside for him.
Although he told Shige that they should try to pretend to be each other, Tegoshi decides that he might as well take full advantage of the fact that he looks like Shige. Shige sometimes didn't utilize all of his capabilities, and maybe by showing Shige what he COULD do in his own body, when things switch back, Shige would do the same too.
So Tegoshi struts as he walks in a big circle, long confident strides. He smiles at ladies that pass by. Heads turn, and scattered whispers.
Koyama laughs. "Shige, you're acting ridiculous," he says to Tegoshi, and Shige turns red.
Tegoshi meanwhile is having a ball. Being taller is great. Being handsome is great. Being cute is wonderful, of course, and it's not as if Tegoshi didn't normally get heads turning for him either-- with TegoMass he is more recognizable than Shige. It’s just that now he can do sexy moves, like lean against the wall and stare at a girl and lick his lips and the response would shy glances and a blush, whereas if he did the same thing in his own body the girl would most likely buy him ice cream and pat him on the head.
Tegoshi begins to think of bigger implications. Shige could take all of his upcoming exams, no problem, and Tegoshi is pretty sure he could figure something out for Shige's. And if he did badly, well surely Shige would be able to take make up exams after the entire event was over.
"Is something wrong with Tegoshi?" Koyama asks, looking at Shige who is looking at his feet.
Tegoshi looks at Shige. "Cheer up," he says brightly. Koyama stares at him, and Tegoshi smiles brightly.
Shige looks at the sky and sighs. Then he looks at Tegoshi and promptly latches onto Koyama's arm.
"Ne, Kei-chan!" Shige says. "Can you buy me that." He points randomly at a window and Koyama asks, "Buy you what?"
"Er," Shige looks around, "That." It's a NT$2000 television.
Koyama laughs. "Sorry, Tegoshi, but I can't afford it."
"Oh really?" Shige asks, making his voice pitiful and whiny. "But I really want it, and I own the universe."
Koyama laughs and pats him on the head. "We can look inside the store, if you like." He heads for the store.
"How do you like it?" Shige asks.
Tegoshi blinks. "Like what? Oh, Shige, I'm glad we're both having so much fun!" He smiles brightly and Shige laughs and says, "Well okay, this can be entertaining."
--
Eventually Koyama says, "Shige, you're acting strange," when Tegoshi insists that they all take sticker pictures.
"But I look so cool," Tegoshi says, striking a pose with sunglasses, and Shige looks embarrassed.
"Can you just--just stop?" Shige asks.
"Why not?" Tegoshi asks innocently. "Come on! And you look so cute, right?"
"This isn't happening," Shige says to himself.
Koyama looks at both of them amused. "Have you two been drinking? You're both acting weird. Massu, aren't they acting strange?" He looks at Massu, but Massu is wandering away, looking over at a rack of t-shirts, and does not respond.
Shige says, "Oh thank god, I make fun of you for being dumb but if you really hadn't noticed anything, I think I would have cried."
"Or," Tegoshi says, "Maybe Koyama's Yamapi too."
This gets Shige's attention, he stares at Koyama and asks him strange verification questions, like "What do you like to put in your ramen? What is Shige's parent's names?" and other questions that Tegoshi has no answers for. When Koyama answers them all apparently correctly, Shige looks relieved.
"I was joking," Tegoshi says.
Koyama, however, is now frowning. "How do you know all those questions you asked me?" he asks Shige. Shige sighs.
Tegoshi decides a demonstration is in order. He holds his right hand up to his face in his signature introduction given to him by Kinki Kid's Tsuyoshi, and Koyama promptly drops all of the bags of souvenirs that Shige had asked him to hold.
--
Koyama accepts it pretty easily, all things considered. Tegoshi suspects that Koyama is just humoring them and thinks that they are only pretending to act like each other, but Tegoshi doesn't say this because Shige looks so hopeful at the prospect that his best friend can see him through his physical form that Tegoshi doesn't want to disillusion him. Shige, for all of his intelligence, is not as smart about people as Tegoshi, and Tegoshi's conclusion is this: no matter how much Shige and Tegoshi did not act like themselves, people would see their physical form and think that that was them.
Tegoshi asks that Koyama not say anything as a formality anyway-- he's having too much fun pretending to be Shige, and Koyama agrees. Koyama worries aloud how to change them back, and he and Shige begin discussing possibilities in huddled whispers.
Tegoshi still thinks that Koyama is just humoring Shige.
Massu is oblivious. He sees Koyama and Shige talk about things he doesn't understand, so he goes back to shopping and deciding on which shirts to buy.
They end up bumping into Ryo and Yamapi in a different store, and its close enough to the time that they were supposed to meet up that it makes sense for them to leave the store together.
Tegoshi for once is actually finding clothes that he wants to buy, and he looks up to see Shige staring at him thoughtfully as well. They pick out clothes and end up going to the dressing room together. It's a tiny room separated only by heavy gold curtains, but they both manage to squeeze in.
They try on the clothes that they had picked for their own original bodies, and model them together. Shige had picked out other clothes as well, stuff that he said might look good on Tegoshi's original body, and demonstrates by putting it on and Tegoshi agrees to the ones that he likes. Tegoshi decides that shopping this way is so much easier than looking in a mirror, he can see where creases and lines form on his back and on his ass, and can make sure that the clothes look right on him. And Shige did have a good sense of style-- so it was nice to see that taste applied to him.
Shige says, "We should probably get going," but Tegoshi insists that Shige try another different combination of clothes one last time before he agrees.
Ryo is waiting outside when they leave. He smiles at Shige when they step out, but gives Tegoshi a dirty look.
Tegoshi doesn't know why he's on the receiving end. "What?"
Ryo rolls his eyes. "What, you're so indecisive that you need Tego-nyan to be in the same changing stall as you?" He pauses. "Try to be a little more considerate of other people's time."
Tegoshi smiles disarmingly. "Okay!"
Ryo frowns then. "You better not be doing anything strange to Tegoshi," he warns.
Tegoshi blinks. "Strange? Like what?"
Ryo flushes slightly, and mutters, "Let's get going."
Tegoshi doesn't know what Ryo is referring to, but he's touched all the same that Ryo is worried about him. He nods and fights back a bigger smile.
Ryo's frown deepens.
Tegoshi tries not to laugh.
--
For lunch they go to a noodle shop and order a bowl of beef noodles. Their orders arrive and Tegoshi picks up his chopsticks with his right hand. He finds, however, that his right hand's grip is weak and as he tries to hold the noodles with them, his fingers twitch and send the chopsticks flying to the floor, splashing up soup in the process.
Koyama immediately gets a napkin and helps clean up. Shige tries to ask for another pair of chopsticks in Chinese, but the server just looks at him and smiles, so Shige sighs and grabs a pair from another table.
Ryo and Yamapi, meanwhile, stare at Tegoshi. Massu keeps eating.
"Are you trying to eat with your right hand?" Ryo asks, amused. "Trying to be like everyone else now?"
"You can do it!" Yamapi encourages. "After all, I learned how to eat chopsticks with my left hand." He looks worried. "But you don't have to change yourself like this, Shige. You're fine as a left-handed person, ne. It's cool."
"Oh that's right," Tegoshi exclaims. "Left-handed." And Koyama and Shige promptly burst into giggles. Tegoshi does know how to eat with his left hand, he just forgot that Shige was left-handed, and he uses his chopsticks easily enough.
At the end of the meal, Ryo has three leftover beef meat balls. "Open up," he tells Tegoshi, and Tegoshi obediently opens his mouth. Ryo crams all of them in, and Tegoshi thinks that it’s fun to have Ryo feed him; when he's back in his body he will request it more often.
--
After lunch, they're taken by bus to the arena of their upcoming concert for their one last rehearsal.
When they arrive in the dressing room, Ryo sits down on the bench. "Tego-nyan, come sit in my lap," he says, and pats his legs. Tegoshi, who was behind him, moves automatically towards him.
Ryo gives him a look and laughs. "Shige, we told you before, the thought of you sitting on my lap is too funny. That's a no."
Massu smiles and Yamapi says, "Shige, do you really want to? You can sit in my lap."
Tegoshi doesn't respond. He's not sure how he feels about this. On one hand, being rejected hurts; on the other being rejected in favor of himself was kind of flattering.
"Tego-nyan," Ryo says, a bit more impatiently now.
Shige slowly comes over and sits awkwardly in Ryo's lap. He tries to sit on the outer edge of Ryo's thighs, but he almost falls off and Ryo pulls him in closer.
"Now what's wrong," Ryo asks in a gentle voice, "You haven't talked to me all day."
"Um," Shige says, and then he turns his face aside and blushes. "Ah, I can't do this." He gets off Ryo's lap. "Sorry."
Shige's head is bent low so he doesn't see it, but Tegoshi sees a flicker of something on Ryo's face, before the expression changes to concern.
"What's wrong?" Ryo asks. "You're acting strange."
"He's fine," Koyama says. "Tegoshi, sit in my lap." He looks at Shige meaningfully, and Shige moves over and sits into his.
"See?" Koyama asks, gripping Shige's legs so he doesn't fall off. "Perfectly normal." And he and Shige laugh, albeit nervously.
That expression again flickers onto Ryo's face-- a bit of hurt, uncertainty, and jealousy. Tegoshi immediately feels cheered up.
"What's going on?" Ryo demands.
Yamapi laughs. "Ryo-chan, don't be jealous. Here." Yamapi comes over and sits in Ryo's lap.
"Pi, you're too heavy!" Ryo exclaims, and tries to push him off, but Yamapi grabs onto him and they both look ridiculous since Yamapi is larger. A struggle ensues and Yamapi eventually falls off his lap in a fit of laughter. Ryo's laughing too, and the awkwardness in the situation earlier passes.
--
It's later then, when Tegoshi begins to sing to himself, that he realizes how bad it is to be in Shige's body. Because Shige's voice is low, he has very little stamina, and the sounds coming out don't sound right to Tegoshi at all.
He tries a few dance moves, and his mind remembers how to do them properly after his intensive training with Massu, but his body lags. He does a hip thrust and feels awkward, it's like he’s learning how to dance all over again.
Ryo sees him and laughs non-stop. "What are you trying to do?" he asks, in between breaths.
Tegoshi tries to sing the second "Ikou!" from Hoshi wo Mezashite; he runs quickly out of breath and, worst of all, his voice cracks.
Ryo laughs and mimics the same lines he does, deliberately cracking his voice as well.
It is distressing to have Ryo laugh at him, but not nearly distressing as the possibility that he would never be as musically talented as he once was.
"Shige!" Tegoshi cries, alarmed, "Shige, this is TERRIBLE!"
Ryo says, "You're not a person who can pull off talking about himself in the third person."
Yamapi stares at Tegoshi. "It's not that bad, Shige, don't worry about it." He asks in a careful voice, "Are you worried about the concert tomorrow? Don't worry, your parts are pre-recorded anyway, and you're doing better."
Tegoshi remembers then: most of Shige's parts in concerts are lip-synched. What more, Shige hardly got solo parts in songs at all.
He can't help it-- the tears well up and he rushes out of the practice room. The practice room next door is empty; he goes in, sits on a bench, and cries.
Koyama immediately comes in, followed by Shige.
"I'm sorry," Shige apologizes in a rush, "My stamina's like that of a little boy. Don't cry, we'll figure something out."
Koyama sits down next to him, rubs his back comfortingly, and hands him a tissue.
"Shige, you need to do more exercises!" Tegoshi says in-between sobs, "How can you sing if you have no power?"
Shige has a horrible look of guilt on Tegoshi's face. Tegoshi cries harder, he misses being cute, too.
"Shige-- Shige, I should've told you, it was the old woman in the subway station. I said I wanted to be taller and more handsome and she said I'd have my chance tomorrow. But what if it's not only for today? I don't know any of your solo dancing parts," Tegoshi rambles, "And then you'll have to sing my solo, live! What are we going to do?"
Koyama is looking back and forth at them strangely, in the back of his mind Tegoshi thinks, Ha I was right, he was just humoring Shige.
Ryo enters then, walking slowly in.
"Look," Ryo says uncertainly, "When I pick on you, you're supposed to make your comebacks. You're acting as sensitive as Ueda. What's wrong with you?"
"IT SUCKS BEING SHIGE!" Tegoshi cries. He buries his face into his hands. "Shige is smart and handsome and tall but he can't sing nearly as well as Tegoshi!"
"Ah...I'm sorry," Shige says awkwardly.
Tegoshi hears Ryo say, "It's not your fault, Tego-nyan," and the words would've been comforting if he knew they weren't directed at Shige.
Ryo says, "Why are you comparing yourself to Tegoshi all of a sudden? He's obviously our best singer."
"I KNOW," Tegoshi wails.
--
Tegoshi calms down ten minutes later, when Shige hands him a wet towel, a bottle of water, and begins telling him a detailed plan on how they were going to go back, find that old lady, and demand their bodies to be switched back properly.
Shige's determination is comforting. Also uplifting was when Shige first handed him the towel and said, "Normally you look really cute crying, but god do I look ugly when I'm crying."
Tegoshi sniffs, wipes his face, and Shige sits down next to him. Ryo and Koyama by then had stepped outside on Shige's request.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Shige asks. "That it was her."
Tegoshi shrugs and doesn't answer. Shige doesn't press.
Tegoshi peers at Shige. He sees himself-- up close in three dimensions, and he can look at himself in ways that a mirror did not represent. The change in his cheeks since the reunion is clearly more evident, and his jaw line is more prominent. Then Tegoshi gets an idea.
"Hey," Tegoshi says, "Come sit in my lap."
"What?" Shige sputters. "No."
"Come on," Tegoshi whines, "I've always sat in other people's laps, I've never seen what it's like to have me in a lap."
"You've never sat in my lap," Shige says, horrified. "And we are not going to start now."
But Tegoshi is persuasive and finally, ever so reluctantly, Shige climbs into his lap.
"This is so weird," Shige says, because now he can't help but look at his original body. "I've never seen myself so--so up close."
"Right?" Tegoshi asks. It's strange on the other end, sort of like a cross between a hug and holding a child. He's comforted by the fact that his original body doesn't feel all that heavy.
Then Ryo walks in with Koyama. Koyama smiles at the sight of them; Ryo just stares.
So Tegoshi does the logical thing and gives Shige a quick kiss.
It's a peck really, and it wasn't even really on the lips, just the corner of the mouth, but several things happen at once:
Ryo stomps out of the room and slams the door.
Shige shouts and falls backward onto his butt.
Koyama laughs really, really hard.
"What was that for?" Shige cries, and wipes at his mouth with his sleeve.
Tegoshi and Koyama are both laughing too hard to say anything.
"I'm sorry-- I'm sorry," Tegoshi says in-between breaths of laughter, "I just, I just have really kissable lips."
Shige glares at him while Koyama helps him up, and Tegoshi laughs until his stomach is weak.
--
After rehearsals end, Yamapi is hungry and suggests they go out to eat. Shige glances at Tegoshi and Shige still looks irritated, but he says, "Te--Shige and I are going to the night market."
"Something happen, Tego-nyan?" Ryo asks, moving to stand suddenly very close to Shige. Shige takes a step back and mumbles, "I just saw something I wanted to get yesterday, that's all."
Ryo nods in understanding, then declares, "I'll go with you both."
Shige stammers that it's not necessary, but when Ryo decides that he wants to go, Yamapi says aloud that the staff did mention there being street vendors, and then in the end everyone in NewS decides to go together.
--
Tegoshi lags when changing into street clothes and is the slowest at getting ready to leave, mostly because he forgets for a moment where Shige's locker is. He's about to leave when Ryo comes in and corners him. Ryo is shorter than Shige, so Tegoshi is looking down on him, but Ryo looks up with fierce eyes anyway.
"You better not be doing anything weird to Tego-nyan," Ryo says.
It's the same thing he said in the shop. Tegoshi can't help it-- he smiles and says the same words he said then too, "Like what?"
Just like in the shop, Ryo looks embarrassed, and then Tegoshi gets it.
Tegoshi takes a step forward, and Ryo, surprised, takes a step back and Tegoshi thinks that he can only get away with this when he's taller than Ryo. So he takes another step forward, then another, and continues until he has backs Ryo up against the locker. Ryo has a look of incredulity on his face the entire time, like he can't believe that Shige dares to invade his personal space.
Tegoshi leans forward. Rather than leaning toward Tegoshi or away, Ryo stares at him in disbelief.
Tegoshi says brightly, "We've grown up now, ne."
Ryo blinks and frowns. Tegoshi thinks it's very cute, Ryo really did resemble a rabbit.
"You're not cute at all," Ryo says with a scowl. "And your bizarre mood swings must be a sign that your brain is melting. Try not to overexert yourself, stupid."
Tegoshi is so happy that he thinks his heart will burst; Ryo's not interested in Shige at all.
--
Tegoshi and Shige eventually do find the booth again, however the woman maintaining it this time is young and while she stares at them with starry eyes, it's clear that she doesn't speak a word of Japanese.
So Shige struggles with Chinese and stumbles over words, trying to convey what happened with short phrases and large gestures. His tones are all off, but his vocabulary is better than Tegoshi's, so Tegoshi listens carefully and repeats what Shige says, only with the proper tones.
It's all in vain, however; the woman stares at them blankly before trying to sell them a love charm "for forbidden relationships."
Shige sighs in exasperation. Tegoshi buys the charm anyway, he thinks it's cute.
"We should tell the others," Shige says to Tegoshi. "Even if only Koyama believes us. It's not only us anymore, Tegoshi. If we have to perform tomorrow like this, then they have to know so that they can help us cover up our mistakes."
And Tegoshi doesn't want to admit it, but he knows that Shige's right.
They find Yamapi with Massu, buying meat from a street vendor. They find Ryo and Koyama browsing a shop selling cheap souvenirs for inexpensive omiyage.
Koyama looks at them worriedly. "Any luck?"
"What's wrong, Tego-nyan?" Ryo asks, looking at Shige's downcast expression.
"There's something we need to tell you guys," Shige says.
--
"I think," Massu concludes back in their hotel room after a long silence, "You're making this all up."
Shige snickers, but says, "We're not."
"Prove it," Ryo says slowly.
"What kind of proof can I give you?" Shige says, rolling his eyes. "Hey look at me, I'm Shige in Tegoshi's body. My proof is that I'm too embarrassed to do the hip thrusts in his new style of sexy dancing. Also, while the world revolves around Tegoshi, somehow being Tegoshi does not make it stop spinning."
Koyama laughs. The sarcastic expression that Shige gives Ryo shuts him up; Tegoshi cannot recall ever seeing himself look like that on any TV show.
"Uwaa," Yamapi says, "It IS Shige. Body switching? Weird."
"I was just in a drama about this, but they never had to prove it, they hid it," Shige says. "We're only telling you this because we're not used to these bodies, and it might affect the live performance tomorrow."
"Ah, this is bad," Yamapi says solemnly.
Shige pulls out a copy of the concert line up.
"Can you try doing the second 'Ikou'?" Ryo asks.
Shige tries. He hits the right notes without cracking, but his voice wavers and is unsteady. Tegoshi knows that Shige's control isn't as good as his.
"You're really not Tegoshi," Ryo says in amazement. Tegoshi feels a rush of triumph.
Koyama elbows Tegoshi. "So what's it like being Shige?"
"It's good when it's Shige being Shige," Tegoshi says truthfully, "But otherwise it sucks."
Koyama laughs. Shige shrugs.
Massu's face is pinched in concentration from thinking about the whole thing too hard. "So," he says, "If Shige is Tegoshi and Tegoshi is Shige, does that mean I'll be singing Miso Soup with Shige?"
Yamapi rubs his eyes and examines the list that Shige brought out. The line up is long. "So we don't know how long this might last," he says.
Koyama says, "What if we all switch around parts? The audience might find it funny."
"A Japanese audience that has seen our shows might. But for our first performance in Taiwan, it might seem like we're not trying our best?" Yamapi shrugs. "Guess it can't be helped."
"We might have to use pre-recordings of Tegoshi for Shige," Ryo says slowly, looking horrified at the thought. Tegoshi feels a strong rush of love for him.
They do a test run to see the extent of Tegoshi and Shige's current abilities. The results make everyone worried and wince. Tegoshi, after a few warm up practices, can sing a little better than before (and to his own ears he sounds better than Shige normally sounds like in Shige's own body), but he's definitely not on the level of how he used to be. Shige's control isn't good enough for the second "Ikou!" but is good enough for simple verses. Fortunately, they both knew each other's solo songs and they stay up that night, planning out ways with the other members to cover up where they are otherwise lacking.
--
"God," Ryo groans when they finally finish past two in the morning. "Why didn't you guys tell us earlier? We could've spent rehearsal doing this instead of wasting our time now." He glares at Shige, but can't maintain it.
"I told Tegoshi we should," Shige says, "He didn't want to."
"Sorry," Tegoshi says.
"It's okay," Ryo says automatically. He does not, however, make eye contact with Tegoshi.
When Tegoshi thinks about it, Ryo has stopped making eye contact with him since the explanation.
So he catches Ryo's arm as they're heading back to their rooms and says, "Ryo-tan, can we talk?"
Ryo laughs awkwardly. "It sounds weird to hear you say that, Tego-nyan, in Shige's voice."
But he automatically puts an arm around Tegoshi's shoulder and together they go to Ryo's room where Ryo sends Yamapi out to Shige's.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier," Tegoshi says. He has no idea how his pleading face works now since it's Shige's face, and Ryo isn't really looking at him anyway, but Ryo nods.
"It must've been hard on you, Tego-nyan."
Tegoshi wants to say, It was! People like Shige and Shige can do all sorts of things, but no one really touches Shige's arms or back or shoulder encouragingly except for Koyama, so I miss the other members’ comfort. Also Shige needs to take vocal training and improve his stamina.
But it sounds lame in his head so instead he just nods. He thinks about how he can't sing in tomorrow's concert, that he's going to be faking it, and he finds himself sniffling a little.
Ryo sits down on the edge of his bed. "Here, come sit in my lap." He pats his lap and then adds, "But don't face me."
Tegoshi obeys. It's not as awkward as he thinks it would be; Shige is taller than Ryo but somehow Tegoshi manages to sit in what feels like the position that he usually takes in Ryo's lap.
"Why don't you want me to face you?" Tegoshi asks, pouting. "Shige's handsome and mature and has a nice face."
"Stupid," Ryo says to his ear, "Shige's not nearly as cute as you and only cute people can sit in my lap. So I'm imagining that it's you in order to give you my permission."
Tegoshi feels a blossoming of happiness in his chest, and he chuckles. "Okay."
Very gently, Ryo wraps his arms around Tegoshi. He's warm and comforting and Tegoshi sighs happily and wraps his arms around Ryo's.
"It'll be okay, Tego-nyan," Ryo murmurs, stifling a yawn, and Tegoshi closes his eyes and hopes its true.
They both end up falling asleep on the Ryo's bed; Ryo falls asleep first in a sprawl and Tegoshi uses his stomach as a pillow.
--
Tegoshi wakes up the next morning to the sound of an alarm and snoring. He's on Shige's small mattress and the snoring is coming from the big mattress. A closer inspection reveals Yamapi on the big mattress.
Tegoshi blinks and runs to the bathroom. It's himself-- big eyes, slightly chubby cheeks, small mouth, and Tegoshi sings at the top of his lungs, "IKOOOUUUU~," and wakes Yamapi up.
--
His next job, of course, is to make sure that Shige isn't doing anything with Ryo, so he fishes the keys to Ryo's room from Yamapi's belongings on the table and is on the verge of letting himself into Ryo's room when Shige comes out, face red.
"You-- wha-what were you doing in Nishikido-kun's bed last night?" Shige asks, flushing. "Yamashita-kun has a perfectly good bed in there too, you know."
Tegoshi distracts him. "Look, Shige! We're back to normal!"
"Yeah, I noticed," Shige says, but Tegoshi sees him smile anyway. Shige pats Tegoshi's head before heading back to his room.
Tegoshi lets himself into Ryo's room. Ryo is lying on the bed; Tegoshi kicks off his shoes and snuggles into bed with him, planning to reclaim Ryo's stomach as his pillow for a few minutes before waking him up.
"Tego-nyan," Ryo mumbles, "Is that you?"
"Yep," Tegoshi says with a bright smile. Ryo sees it, and smiles sleepily as well.
"Come here," Ryo says, and he slings an arm around Tegoshi and pulls him close. Tegoshi happily complies and he finds himself resting his head against Ryo's chest.
Tegoshi feels warm and happy and it seems only natural, then, to move his head up and kiss Ryo lightly.
He feels the edges of Ryo's smile, at first. Then Ryo starts kissing him back. Somehow along the way Tegoshi finds himself on his back, with Ryo's tongue in his mouth and Ryo's hands in his hair, and he feels absolutely wonderful and happy and--
"RYO-CHAN!" Yamapi shouts, banging on the door. "I need to change, and I thought I had my keys but I don't. Hurry up and open the door!"
Tegoshi personally would've been willing to ignore Yamapi, but Ryo stops kissing him and sighs and mutters a curse. He gives Tegoshi another soft kiss. Then gets off the bed, grabs a shirt and a pair of jeans from the closet, heads to the bathroom, comes out with a towel, and opens the door and throws it all at Yamapi before slamming it shut.
Tegoshi laughs, and when Ryo returns to the bed, Tegoshi gives him a big hug.
"I thought you thought I was just a little kid," Tegoshi says.
Ryo fluffs his hair. "I'm not an idiot. Anyone can see that your face has gotten a lot more manlier and your dancing has gotten sexy. I just figured you were touchy feely with everyone." He thinks about it and adds, "Which you kind of are."
Tegoshi chuckles. "But I love Ryo-tan best!" he says, and Ryo smiles broadly, perfect teeth showing.
"Me too," Ryo says, and he fluffs Tegoshi's hair again.
"RYO-CHAN!" Yamapi shouts from behind the door. "I need to pee!"
------
Inspired by translations from:
http://jbs-babe.livejournal.com/100908.html (Read #4, #15, and #16)
http://paaaaan.livejournal.com/11267.html
http://jweb85.blog48.fc2.com/blog-entry-919.html
edit:http://community.livejournal.com/pichan_daccha/77049.html - you have to join to read this one, but it is so, so worth it and I'm happy that I found it again to link to it.
which are all fun to read, so check them out.