Entry # 3 Chapter 8
Assignment 8: Kusano
For the first time in a long while, Shige and Massu were sitting side-by-side, facing Tegoshi. The last time they did it, they had told Tegoshi, who by then had already been accepted into Waseda, that they were not going to study in Tokyo (of course, they changed their minds after that).
Tegoshi steeled himself for bad news.
“My family is facing some financial difficulties,” Massu went straight to the point. “The costs of doing business have risen, and the company isn’t making enough to cover the extra. My dad is trying to restructure the operations to cut costs, but in the meantime, we’ll have to cut back on family expenses.” Massu’s family ran a small company specialising in the wholesale of sporting goods.
“I’m sorry to hear about that. And your family’s cost-cutting would include your education here in Tokyo?” Tegoshi’s mind processed the information quickly.
Massu nodded. “I asked my parents if I should postpone my studies, but they want me to continue and they say they have enough savings. I’m going to start taking up more part-time jobs to earn my own keep, but…” he trailed off, as if words had suddenly failed him.
“It would help if the apartment was shared by a third person, since rent is our biggest expense item. And it’s actually big enough for 3. So we’re asking if you’d be willing to move in with us,” finished Shige.
“But please don’t feel pressured to agree,” Massu added hurriedly. “We know you like staying with Yamashita-senpai.”
Shige nodded. “As your good friends, what’s most important to us is still what you want to do. But exactly because we’re good friends, we feel that we have to be honest with you.”
Tegoshi smiled at them gratefully. He could be spoilt and domineering, yet he had such great people as friends.
“To be honest, I need to think about it,” he replied, “but for now, I’ll do what I can. Let this be my treat. No, it’s ok,” he added as Massu opened his mouth to protest, “I’m the only one holding down a real job at the moment, so let me.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shige and Massu watched as Tegoshi disappeared around the street corner, rushing for his next assignment.
“Is it really ok to ask him?” Massu asked. “I mean, he says he’ll think about it, but he’ll help in the end. He always does.”
“He’d be angry if we didn’t let him know and he finds out later, so it’s better to tell him early,” Shige replied. Besides, Shige added to himself, it may be a good chance for him to either finally wean himself off Yamashita-senpai, or to discover his true feelings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was 4am in the morning, and all was quiet in the Yamashita house.
Suddenly the doorbell started to ring. Whoever was standing at the door seemed determined to wake the inhabitants; the bell buzzed relentlessly.
Finally 2 figures emerged from the rooms, rubbing their eyes, dragging their feet. The shorter figure shuffled to the taller one, asking in a low voice, “This time of the night, who could it be?”
“Maybe obake,” ventured the taller figure, and ended up scaring himself as well as his younger housemate.
The 2 stared at each other for a while, before Yamapi grabbed Tegoshi’s shoulders and nudged him towards the door. “You go,” he ordered, voice still husky from sleep.
“Why me?” wailed Tegoshi, “You’re stronger and older.”
“I’m your landlord. Now go,” Yamapi hissed, “I’ll be right behind you.”
Small comfort, Tegoshi thought, giving Yamapi a pout before starting off towards the door. He undid the bolt and, taking a deep breath, pushed the door open to find: A straggly-haired figure standing with his head down and with one finger firmly on the doorbell. Before Tegoshi could scream however, the figure looked up.
Yamapi finally let out the breath he did not know he had been holding.
“Kusano.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryo and Koyama arrived at the Yamashita house at 9am to find the houseowner having American breakfast at the dining table.
“What? Nothing for us?” demanded Ryo, putting on a dissatisfied look, before an apron-clad Tegoshi danced out of the kitchen with 2 big plates of bacon, eggs and sandwiches.
“Good morning! Here you go,” said Tegoshi, with his trademark big smile.
Ryo’s eyes widened slightly, while Koyama whined, “Life is unfair! Why don’t I have a cute little maid boy to make my breakfast?”
“You sound like a pervert,” said Yamapi. “Now sit down and have breakfast.”
Ryo and Koyama slipped into their seats, while Tegoshi served up 2 more plates of breakfast. Looking up from the table, Tegoshi spotted a slightly dishevelled figure emerge from the bathroom.
“Good morning, Kusano-kun,” he greeted.
The newcomers’ heads turned.
“Kusano!” they chorused.
As if unable to handle the sudden attention, Kusano stopped in his tracks and said, “Yo!” awkwardly.
“How are you Kusano? Oh you look like you’ve lost weight. Are you ok? How did you get here?” Koyama fired a barrage of questions.
“Let him sit down first,” chided Ryo.
Kusano suddenly grinned, and the pale, thin boy who had looked a shadow of his former self finally seemed to recover a little.
“I missed that. I missed you guys.” Kusano’s first words were heartfelt.
“Stop being so mushy. You’re giving me goosebumps.” Ryo tapped his fork on Kusano’s plate. “If you’re not having this, I’m taking it.”
“Hey!” Kusano shouted, and after making a big show out of jumping into his seat and grabbing his plate, shoved a large piece of bacon into his mouth.
“Delicious!” he praised, and gave Tegoshi a toothy grin.
From across the table, Yamapi nodded his thanks to Ryo.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Thanks,” Kusano bowed slightly to Tegoshi, “and not just for breakfast. Thanks for standing in for me at the RUSS-K show. I wouldn’t have wanted the agency to get into trouble because of me.”
“You’re welcome,” Tegoshi bowed back, suddenly feeling as though Kusano had matured since they last met.
The boys had finished breakfast and were now gathered in the sitting room, to hear Kusano’s story.
“Now can you tell us what happened?” asked Koyama gently.
“I’m sure you already know most of the story. Actually, it was just a matter of time before my parents found out, even if they don’t read fashion magazines. A neighbour saw me in her daughter’s magazine and mentioned it to my mom when they met at the market. But she had to say it on the day of the RUSS-K show. So of course my parents were really mad. All the while they thought I was attending cram school and studying for entrance exams when I was not at home. And I was grounded, I couldn’t go anywhere except cram school. It was just as well that the agency suspended me; I couldn’t have taken on any assignments anyway.”
Kusano continued, “I tried to be a good boy and went to cram school for a while, but I can’t stand it. I just hate studying. I would buy fashion magazines secretly on the way home and pore through the pages to try to make myself feel better. But they just made me miss the life I left behind. Then yesterday, I turned 20. Oh yeah, thanks guys, for the birthday messages. In a way, they helped me make up my mind.”
“I told my parents I wanted to carry on modelling, and as an adult I now had the right to make my own decisions, but they were still against it. I got into a row with them, locked myself in my room, and finally at 2am decided to leave the house. I sneaked out, and well, here I am.”
“So you didn’t resolve the issue with your parents,” Ryo said pointedly. Kusano shook his head. “That’s bad,” Koyama added. It was quite obvious to Tegoshi that the others did not approve of how things turned out between Kusano and his parents.
“What will you do now?” asked Yamapi quietly.
“I will speak to Johnny-san, and tell him I want to continue, under him, and I will take whatever punishment he decides to give. And then, I need a place to stay,” Kusano looked at his friends hopefully. “I promise, I’ll start paying rent when I get paid.”
It was Ryo’s turn to shake his head. “That’s no good. To go on without getting your parents’ understanding.”
“Please,” Kusano beseeched, “I do want to reconcile with my parents. But they’re not listening to me now. I want to show them, that I’m good at what I want to do and I can be successful being a model.”
Ryo and Koyama exchanged looks. “You know we stay in small bachelor pods and can’t help you now, unless you want to rent a bigger apartment with one of us.”
Koyama’s words reminded Tegoshi of Shige and Massu, and then of their conversation a few days ago. Tegoshi’s heart began to hammer inside his chest. If he moved in with Shige and Massu, Kusano could stay with Yamapi. Massu would get some financial relief, and Kusano would have a place to stay. It was the perfect solution. But, Tegoshi frowned at his own selfishness, he did not feel like moving out. Tegoshi raised his head to look at Yamapi, the centre of his new life in Tokyo, the person who stood for everything he wanted to be, and who was the source of so much he had now.
But Tegoshi knew what needed to be done. Shige would have done this if he was me, and Shige is always right.
“I will move out,” Tegoshi declared, “and Kusano-kun can move in with Yamashita-kun.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes:
[1] Class of monster or spirit in Japanese folklore. Literally, a thing that changes, referring to a state of transformation or shapeshifting. (Source: Wikipedia)
For the first time in a long while, Shige and Massu were sitting side-by-side, facing Tegoshi. The last time they did it, they had told Tegoshi, who by then had already been accepted into Waseda, that they were not going to study in Tokyo (of course, they changed their minds after that).
Tegoshi steeled himself for bad news.
“My family is facing some financial difficulties,” Massu went straight to the point. “The costs of doing business have risen, and the company isn’t making enough to cover the extra. My dad is trying to restructure the operations to cut costs, but in the meantime, we’ll have to cut back on family expenses.” Massu’s family ran a small company specialising in the wholesale of sporting goods.
“I’m sorry to hear about that. And your family’s cost-cutting would include your education here in Tokyo?” Tegoshi’s mind processed the information quickly.
Massu nodded. “I asked my parents if I should postpone my studies, but they want me to continue and they say they have enough savings. I’m going to start taking up more part-time jobs to earn my own keep, but…” he trailed off, as if words had suddenly failed him.
“It would help if the apartment was shared by a third person, since rent is our biggest expense item. And it’s actually big enough for 3. So we’re asking if you’d be willing to move in with us,” finished Shige.
“But please don’t feel pressured to agree,” Massu added hurriedly. “We know you like staying with Yamashita-senpai.”
Shige nodded. “As your good friends, what’s most important to us is still what you want to do. But exactly because we’re good friends, we feel that we have to be honest with you.”
Tegoshi smiled at them gratefully. He could be spoilt and domineering, yet he had such great people as friends.
“To be honest, I need to think about it,” he replied, “but for now, I’ll do what I can. Let this be my treat. No, it’s ok,” he added as Massu opened his mouth to protest, “I’m the only one holding down a real job at the moment, so let me.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shige and Massu watched as Tegoshi disappeared around the street corner, rushing for his next assignment.
“Is it really ok to ask him?” Massu asked. “I mean, he says he’ll think about it, but he’ll help in the end. He always does.”
“He’d be angry if we didn’t let him know and he finds out later, so it’s better to tell him early,” Shige replied. Besides, Shige added to himself, it may be a good chance for him to either finally wean himself off Yamashita-senpai, or to discover his true feelings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was 4am in the morning, and all was quiet in the Yamashita house.
Suddenly the doorbell started to ring. Whoever was standing at the door seemed determined to wake the inhabitants; the bell buzzed relentlessly.
Finally 2 figures emerged from the rooms, rubbing their eyes, dragging their feet. The shorter figure shuffled to the taller one, asking in a low voice, “This time of the night, who could it be?”
“Maybe obake,” ventured the taller figure, and ended up scaring himself as well as his younger housemate.
The 2 stared at each other for a while, before Yamapi grabbed Tegoshi’s shoulders and nudged him towards the door. “You go,” he ordered, voice still husky from sleep.
“Why me?” wailed Tegoshi, “You’re stronger and older.”
“I’m your landlord. Now go,” Yamapi hissed, “I’ll be right behind you.”
Small comfort, Tegoshi thought, giving Yamapi a pout before starting off towards the door. He undid the bolt and, taking a deep breath, pushed the door open to find: A straggly-haired figure standing with his head down and with one finger firmly on the doorbell. Before Tegoshi could scream however, the figure looked up.
Yamapi finally let out the breath he did not know he had been holding.
“Kusano.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryo and Koyama arrived at the Yamashita house at 9am to find the houseowner having American breakfast at the dining table.
“What? Nothing for us?” demanded Ryo, putting on a dissatisfied look, before an apron-clad Tegoshi danced out of the kitchen with 2 big plates of bacon, eggs and sandwiches.
“Good morning! Here you go,” said Tegoshi, with his trademark big smile.
Ryo’s eyes widened slightly, while Koyama whined, “Life is unfair! Why don’t I have a cute little maid boy to make my breakfast?”
“You sound like a pervert,” said Yamapi. “Now sit down and have breakfast.”
Ryo and Koyama slipped into their seats, while Tegoshi served up 2 more plates of breakfast. Looking up from the table, Tegoshi spotted a slightly dishevelled figure emerge from the bathroom.
“Good morning, Kusano-kun,” he greeted.
The newcomers’ heads turned.
“Kusano!” they chorused.
As if unable to handle the sudden attention, Kusano stopped in his tracks and said, “Yo!” awkwardly.
“How are you Kusano? Oh you look like you’ve lost weight. Are you ok? How did you get here?” Koyama fired a barrage of questions.
“Let him sit down first,” chided Ryo.
Kusano suddenly grinned, and the pale, thin boy who had looked a shadow of his former self finally seemed to recover a little.
“I missed that. I missed you guys.” Kusano’s first words were heartfelt.
“Stop being so mushy. You’re giving me goosebumps.” Ryo tapped his fork on Kusano’s plate. “If you’re not having this, I’m taking it.”
“Hey!” Kusano shouted, and after making a big show out of jumping into his seat and grabbing his plate, shoved a large piece of bacon into his mouth.
“Delicious!” he praised, and gave Tegoshi a toothy grin.
From across the table, Yamapi nodded his thanks to Ryo.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Thanks,” Kusano bowed slightly to Tegoshi, “and not just for breakfast. Thanks for standing in for me at the RUSS-K show. I wouldn’t have wanted the agency to get into trouble because of me.”
“You’re welcome,” Tegoshi bowed back, suddenly feeling as though Kusano had matured since they last met.
The boys had finished breakfast and were now gathered in the sitting room, to hear Kusano’s story.
“Now can you tell us what happened?” asked Koyama gently.
“I’m sure you already know most of the story. Actually, it was just a matter of time before my parents found out, even if they don’t read fashion magazines. A neighbour saw me in her daughter’s magazine and mentioned it to my mom when they met at the market. But she had to say it on the day of the RUSS-K show. So of course my parents were really mad. All the while they thought I was attending cram school and studying for entrance exams when I was not at home. And I was grounded, I couldn’t go anywhere except cram school. It was just as well that the agency suspended me; I couldn’t have taken on any assignments anyway.”
Kusano continued, “I tried to be a good boy and went to cram school for a while, but I can’t stand it. I just hate studying. I would buy fashion magazines secretly on the way home and pore through the pages to try to make myself feel better. But they just made me miss the life I left behind. Then yesterday, I turned 20. Oh yeah, thanks guys, for the birthday messages. In a way, they helped me make up my mind.”
“I told my parents I wanted to carry on modelling, and as an adult I now had the right to make my own decisions, but they were still against it. I got into a row with them, locked myself in my room, and finally at 2am decided to leave the house. I sneaked out, and well, here I am.”
“So you didn’t resolve the issue with your parents,” Ryo said pointedly. Kusano shook his head. “That’s bad,” Koyama added. It was quite obvious to Tegoshi that the others did not approve of how things turned out between Kusano and his parents.
“What will you do now?” asked Yamapi quietly.
“I will speak to Johnny-san, and tell him I want to continue, under him, and I will take whatever punishment he decides to give. And then, I need a place to stay,” Kusano looked at his friends hopefully. “I promise, I’ll start paying rent when I get paid.”
It was Ryo’s turn to shake his head. “That’s no good. To go on without getting your parents’ understanding.”
“Please,” Kusano beseeched, “I do want to reconcile with my parents. But they’re not listening to me now. I want to show them, that I’m good at what I want to do and I can be successful being a model.”
Ryo and Koyama exchanged looks. “You know we stay in small bachelor pods and can’t help you now, unless you want to rent a bigger apartment with one of us.”
Koyama’s words reminded Tegoshi of Shige and Massu, and then of their conversation a few days ago. Tegoshi’s heart began to hammer inside his chest. If he moved in with Shige and Massu, Kusano could stay with Yamapi. Massu would get some financial relief, and Kusano would have a place to stay. It was the perfect solution. But, Tegoshi frowned at his own selfishness, he did not feel like moving out. Tegoshi raised his head to look at Yamapi, the centre of his new life in Tokyo, the person who stood for everything he wanted to be, and who was the source of so much he had now.
But Tegoshi knew what needed to be done. Shige would have done this if he was me, and Shige is always right.
“I will move out,” Tegoshi declared, “and Kusano-kun can move in with Yamashita-kun.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes:
[1] Class of monster or spirit in Japanese folklore. Literally, a thing that changes, referring to a state of transformation or shapeshifting. (Source: Wikipedia)