...CHAPTERS?!
So, I'm gonna come out and admit already that I wrote this response (and part 2 XD) to the drabble meme. But I had so much fun doing it (and I usually hate AUs!) that...I wanted to keep it up XD So I wrote more. And will write more after this too, because Tuti's not even technically in this "chapter" yet XD;;;
Title: Nothing yet, but probably something really cheesy (mmm curry with cheese) like "Special Delivery", chapter 2 of til-I-realize-I've-gotten-myself-in-deep
Rating: PG I guess?
Pairing(s): Eventual Tuti/Nagayan, established Eiji/Daiki
Warnings: AU! Nagayan is a delivery boy for Gain's Curry House (LOOK! We even have a logo thanks to eiko_c!) and catches the eye of Tsuchiya Yuuichi who obsessively orders curry from him (WHAT XD). Pretty much just the normal stuff except Nagayan...is a curry delivery boy. Tuti's still an actor, still with *pnish*, and I swear it's not gonna be Medium if I can help it at all XD;;;
"That'll be 1,800yen, please," the girl behind the table chirped cheerily, taking the bills from Nagayama and giving him his change along with the pamphlet he'd just purchased. He nodded his thanks and hastily slid out of line, very much aware that he was one of only a few men in the whole theater. Hell, he'd dare to suspect that there were more men making up the theater staff than among the ticket holders for the show.
He frowned, clutching his stub like a lifeline, and rearranged the pamphlet and flyers he carried in his arms to let him check the ticket once more. He was on an aisle, he realized, checking it against a seat map on the wall, about halfway back. He wondered if Tsuchiya-san had picked it out especially for him, or just drawn it at random...he really didn't want to think too hard on it.
Geez, what had he been thinking when he'd agreed to come? He could've made up any number of excuses--dinner with a friend, dinner with a more-than-friend, big project for a class coming up, taking care of his sick mother, anything! But no, instead he was plodding down the aisles, searching for Row 9 seat 15, dressed like he'd just stepped out of one of those idol magazines because he'd wanted to look nice--why?! What did it matter?!
It was just a stupid play (probably something he wouldn't even understand), a random extra ticket Tsuchiya-san had probably meant to give to his roomate--or his girlfriend, or his neighbor, or had been on his way to throw out--that didn't mean anything. And certainly didn't mean Nagayama needed to have spent 30 minutes styling his hair, or another 30 trying on every pair of pants he owned--twice--or needed to call Gakkun from their Modern Fashion in Western Society class to ask if he thought brown or black boots went best with tartan.
To distract himself from the wild thoughts running through his mind, Nagayama pushed his bag under his seat and flipped through the pamphlet. He frowned when he saw it was an entirely male cast--and not a very large one. Tsuchiya-san ("Yuuichi..." Nagayama marveled at his given name; it seemed to fit, but he wasn't sure why he even cared) was billed a few names down, just under a, "Moriyama Eiji"-san and just above a, "Kitamura Eiki"-san. He wondered if any of the actors were friends. Tsuchiya-san never seemed to have anyone over, and never mentioned anyone specific other than, "the cast," so it was a legitimate question.
It was a nice pamphlet--with a really professional-looking photoshoot. Tsuchiya-san was wearing clothes far nicer than he'd even seen the man in before, but his hair was still the usual mess, if not a little more styled than usual. It suited him, nonetheless, and his eyes trailed over the Q&A section each cast member had to answer. He read the words, Tsuchiya-san's words, and an image of the man began to form in his mind, now slightly more three-dimensional and real than before. It was strange--just reading a few words from him in a booklet told Nagayama more about Tsuchiya-san than he probably could've gleaned in a week's worth of deliveries. He smiled softly and sank a bit deeper into his chair.
The lights flashed overhead, and a voice came over the loudspeakers calmly announcing that the show would start in ten minutes, and detailed the theater rules--a long list of do's and don't's that Nagayama tried to pay attention to but was quickly distracted from by loud babbling coming up the aisle from behind him.
"What'd you do with the tickets? I forget which row we're on."
A pause. "Here--Eiji said it was on the aisle, but I just checked it against the map and we're two in--should be..." Nagayama turned around at the last moment and barely missed the pair lowering their voices as they neared him, "--there, that must be the ticket Tsuchiya gave away..."
"Row 9, huh?" The first man checked the ticket his companion held, then spotted Nagayama and smiled like he recognized him, picking up his pace as he jogged down the incline of the theater. "Are you the friend Tsuchiya invited?" Nagayama looked around, confused, as if the man in front of him could've possible been speaking to anyone else, then let his mouth just flap open and shut as he thought about how to respond. "Tsuchiya?" the man supplied again helpfully, "Tallish, frizzy black hair, really loud, big forehead?"
"Give him a break, Daiki-chan, who else would be sitting in that seat?" The other man smiled apologetically at Nagayama, pushing his friend towards the aisle, and Nagayama slid back in his seat to let them by.
When the first man--Daiki-chan?--had settled into his seat next to Nagayama (why oh why couldn't he be sitting beside the other guy? He seemed a lot calmer...), he proceeded to dole out introductions like free samples at the local open market. "I'm Sano, but everyone calls me Daiki-chan. And this guy--" He jerked a thumb over at his much-quieter friend, "--is Wasshi."
"Washio," the man introduced himself, giving a small nod of the head by way of bowing.
"I'm Nagayama," he finally managed to return, "Are you...friends of Tsuchiya-san's?"
Sano-san--Daiki-chan, he corrected himself--nodded proudly. "We work with him. And Moriyama Eiji, too--" he leaned over and flipped forward a page in Nagayama's pamphlet which sat open on his lap, tapping the page of another actor. "We're in a theater unit together."
"...Theater unit?" He hoped these people didn't think he had any idea about play-going, because this was probably the most cultured event he'd been to outside of art shows. "So...you..."
"We put on plays together," Wasshi-san supplied helpfully, sympathetic to Nagayama's confusion, "Tsuchiya and Eiji are the other two members of our group. We do shows with just the four of us usually, but now and then one or two of us will be in outside shows like this one. We all try and come by to support them--"
"--and get drunk at the uchiage afterwards, too," Daiki-chan added with a leer. "So Tsuchiya invited you?" Nagayama nodded, starting to adjust to the conversation now that Wasshi-san seemed to have slowed it down so he could keep up. "Have you two...worked together before or something?"
"Eh? Oh no, no, I just..." He blushed a bit, now painfully aware of how stupid he was about to sound, "I...I'm a delivery boy for Gain's Curry House. I bring Tsuchiya-san curry whenever he orders from our branch. He...he gave me this ticket last week and asked me to come..."
The pair were silent for a moment, obviously turning over the information in their minds. "...He just...gave you a ticket, out of the blue?"
"Well--" Nagayama felt a little defensive, it wasn't like they were total strangers or anything. "--We've known each other for a few months now, and he knew I was in art school, so maybe he thought this would interest me or something..." His voice trailed off, and the two men just stared at him even more strangely.
"Just...how often does Tsuchiya order curry from your shop?"
Nagayama eyed them warily, really not wanting to make a scene. "Four...maybe five times a week?" Daiki-chan and Wasshi-san turned to look at one another, faces blank, then back at Nagayama. "I guess...he really likes curry or something?"
"Or something..." Daiki-chan allowed, then seemed to snap out of whatever had just fallen over him and was all smiles again, "Maa, anyways you're really gonna love the show! Those two haven't shut up about it since the meet-and-greet--lots of our friends are involved in it, see. Are you coming backstage afterwards? Tsuchiya'll wana know what you think, I'm sure."
Nagayama held up his cellphone, ducking a nod. "He told me to text him when I got out into the lobby after the show, that he'd tell one of the staff members to let me back?" He looked at the device worriedly, "Though I don't think he even knows my name, and I'm really not a theater-going person, I wouldn't know the first thing to tell him. And isn't it kind of rude to bother the actors after a show? I'd probably just get in the way or something--"
"Whoa whoa whoa--" Daiki-chan interrupted him, "Tsuchiya--gave you his cellphone info?" Nagayama nodded, and the other man added a low whistle, turning to glance at Wasshi-san. "Well, we'll take you back with us. The staff here've worked our shows a couple of times, they recognize us. That way you can't get lost!" He clapped Nagayama on the shoulder, who returned his gratitude, then settled back in his seat as the lights went down and the show started.
Nagayama would be the first to admit he wasn't any kind of theatre connoiseur, but he really enjoyed the show. It was a comedy overall, with a little action thrown in as well--lots of mistaken identities, betrayals, good guys and bad guys, and everyone went home friends at the end; an enjoyable evening if Nagayama had ever had one. If it hadn't been the final show, he may have well been tempted to try and get another ticket for the next evening, but at the curtain call the entire cast joined hands bowing and thanked everyone for making the run successful.
Confused as to what they should do now, he turned to Daiki-chan next to him, who was whispering something to Wasshi-san. Realizing Nagayama was looking for guidance, the other man shook his head, "Wait five minutes, let the girls all get out first, makes it easier to breath when you're not surrounded by fans."
"Do you ever get people walking up to you when you come out like this?" He was getting the feeling this whole world of theirs was one tight-knit group, and Daiki-chan smiled.
"They usually leave us alone when we're at shows. It's the ones who spot you on the train you have to be careful of." He said this with the utmost gravity, prompting Wasshi-san to give him a shove on the arm.
"Don't listen to him, Nagayama-kun, he wishes fans would come up to him on the train. Eiji and Tsuchiya are the big draws for our group."
"So...Tsuchiya-san's pretty popular then?" The two nodded, and Nagayama let this process.
"Any one of a few hundred girls would give their left hands to be in your shoes right now--let's go!" Daiki-chan shooed him out into the aisle, and Nagayama found himself eyeing the remaining girls in the theater suspiciously. Tsuchiya-san had fans? He was famous? He couldn't discount the fact that Daiki-chan might have been exaggerating, but still...it'd been a packed house, and a small cast. If even only a fraction of them counted themselves as Tsuchiya-san's fans, that was quite a following.
He found himself herded out a side door near the front of the theater, with Daiki-chan pulling on the light jacket he'd removed during the performance, adjusting the cap on his head. Wasshi-san went up to one of the staff stationed at another door further in, and she nodded, opening the door for them to what Nagayama assumed was the backstage area.
It was chaos the moment they stepped over the threshold. He could hear a dozen voices shouting, laughing, calling out congratulations, and extras and theater staff dashed and darted along the hallways that Daiki-chan seemed to navigate with ease. "I'm gonna go find Eiji and Tsuchiya--why don't you two go wait by the refreshment table?" Wasshi-san nodded at him, directing Nagayama to a side hallway and a table filled with all manner of drinks and conbini sweets. He told Nagayama he could help himself, but as his stomach had started doing summersaults in between leaving their seats in the theater and finding themselves backstage, he politely declined, instead continuing to take in the atmosphere surrounding them.
Wasshi-san was obviously used to this by now, nodding his greetings now and then when a friend or acquaintance wandered by. After five minutes, with Daiki-chan still not back, he wondered if perhaps everyone knew they were there by now. "And that--" Wasshi-san pointed out a tall, thin man at the other end of the hall conversing with one of the cast members Nagayama recognized from the pamphlet, Kitamura Eiki-san, "--is Hayashi Shuuji, but everyone calls him Osamu-chan."
"You guys are all so close..."
Wasshi-san shook his head, "Nah, I don't actually know him that well myself. But he was in another show with Eiji and Tsuchiya earlier this year, along with Eiki-kun there." He looked Nagayama over, "Maybe you've heard of it--Rock Musical Bleach?"
"Eh?! Bleach?" He'd never seen it, but it was one of the biggest entertainment events in the nation, there'd even been the occasional cast interview in TV Guide when it aired on television. "I never saw it, but...I have heard of it."
"Ah! Eiji played the character Abarai Renji, and Tsuchiya was Ichimaru Gin." The names didn't mean anything to Nagayama, he wasn't familiar with the show at all, but...wow, maybe Daiki-chan hadn't been exaggerating; these guys were famous! "Daiki-chan tried out, too, for...what was it--oh yeah, Hitsugaya--but well...he's not exactly the best singer. Plus he was too tall. It wound up going to another friend of ours, Hasegawa Tetsurou." Did that mean Tsuchiya-san was a good singer? "Eiji and Tsuchiya are the ones who do musicals in the group," Wasshi-san answered unknowingly. "I sing, but prefer the concert stage myself."
"Oooi~!!" came a loud call from behind them, and the pair turned to see Daiki-chan beckoning them towards him. "Come on, they're taking off their wigs and make-up." Nagayama chuckled to himself; 24 hours ago he wouldn't have been able to imagine the context where hearing something like that wouldn't have sounded strange, but here he was about to go meet some of the most famous faces in theatre. And he brought one of them curry--it almost made his chest puff out in pride.
He once again found himself herded through the maze of backstage corridors, grateful for the guidance of the pair accompanying him. Had Daiki-chan told Tsuchiya-san he was here? Had Tsuchiya-san even asked? Had he forgotten Nagayama was even supposed to come? They hadn't spoken since he'd been given the ticket, but he had clocked in at work a few days before and found someone had left Yamashita-tenchou a note detailing how and when to get to the theater. When he'd asked the man about it, though, Yamashita-tenchou had described a man sounding nothing like Tsuchiya-san at all, and he wondered idly if it'd been one of these two, or the Moriyama-san they kept mentioning.
"We're coming in~!" Daiki-chan announced, knocking rhythmically on a door marked, "dressing room," and when a chorus of, "Come in!"s greeted them in reply, he jerked his head to indicate it was okay and they all filed in. The room was quite large, considering that there only seemed to be three men in there, but they all seemed to have brought their entire apartments with them. There were bags of dirty clothes and trash to be separated out in the corners, a coffee and teamaker along one of the walls (surrounded by stacks of unwashed cups), and the mirror areas were a disaster with empty bottles off foundation, makeup remover, blush, eyeliner, and all manner of things Nagayama couldn't even begin to guess the purpose of. "Geez this place is a pig sty--you were only here five days!"
"You're one to talk!" came a new voice as one of the men situated in front of the mirrors turned around to address them, face a sight different from what he'd seen in the pamphlet. "Your apartment's ten times worse."
"My apartment's ten times smaller," Daiki-chan fired back, grinning nonetheless, and began gingerly picking his way across the room, "I've probably only got a quarter of the mess there you three seemed to have in here."
The man--Moriyama Eiji--waved him off, "Most of it's Tsuchiya's; we can't let him out anymore, he tears up everything he gets near. Na, Eiki?" He leaned around Daiki-chan to direct the question to the other man at the end of the counter who was busy meticulously removing his foundation and offered no response. "He agrees with me." Daiki-chan slapped him on the shoulder for good measure, and Moriyama-san rubbed it, offended, then realized there was a stranger in their midst. "Tsuchiya's in the shower, should be out in a minute." He now turned back to Daiki-chan, "This him?"
"Nagayama-kun, this is Moriyama Eiji!" He spread his arms wide in proclamation, and Nagayama didn't doubt that this Moriyama-san appreciated the gesture, as he stood and magnanimously thrust out a hand to shake, forgoing the usual bow of respect. "Everyone calls him Eiji."
"Except Tsuchiya, because 'Eiji' is too good for him so we make him say, 'Gaju.'" Nagayama suspected there was a history here that was probably too long and complicated to tell in one sitting, and so he didn't question it. "So how'd you like the show?" He directed the question mostly to Nagayama, who opened his mouth to respond, only to find himself cut off abruptly.
"No no no!" Daiki-chan waved his arms like a bird taking flight, disrupting the scene, and Eiji-san turned to stare at him like he really had taken flight. "Tsuchiya should be the first to hear from Nagayama-kun." He nodded firmly, as if affirming his own decision, and when Nagayama thought Eiji-san would wave him off like Wasshi-san had, he was surprised to see the man roll his eyes but obey. "He's his guest, after all." He then began babbling like a brook at Eiji-san, whose attention was focused completely on him now, about concepts far over Nagayama's head, like how Eiji was starting to flub his lines more and maybe they'd been hanging around each other too much, or whether or not Tsuchiya-san had come onto stage late and missed his cue in the second act.
Wasshi-san was preoccupied in conversation with Kitamura-san on the other side of the room, and Nagayama let his attention wander--Tsuchiya-san was in the shower? Rather, they had showers in theaters? Seeing Nagayama's distraction, Eiji-san tore himself away from Daiki-chan and called over, "You should go bang on the door and tell him to hurry up, we're starving out here." A hard thwap told him he'd just been slapped again, and a hissed "Eiji!" confirmed this fact when he turned back to the pair. "Fine, I'll do it."
Eiji-san stood and marched over around the corner where Nagayama realized the shower area was, rapping loudly on the thing plastic-glass door. "Oi, Tsuchiya! You gonna spend the night in there?" There was a loud, muffled response that Nagayama suspected wasn't polite at all and probably involved Eiji-san shoving something in an orifice it didn't belong in. "Nagayama-kun's been waiting out here for ten minutes." A shrieked response now, and a curse he couldn't make out. Fifteen seconds later, he heard the squeaking of a faucet as the water was turned off, and Eiji-san ducked back into the room, jerking a thumb to indicate the shower. "He'll be right out."
Title: Nothing yet, but probably something really cheesy (mmm curry with cheese) like "Special Delivery", chapter 2 of til-I-realize-I've-gotten-myself-in-deep
Rating: PG I guess?
Pairing(s): Eventual Tuti/Nagayan, established Eiji/Daiki
Warnings: AU! Nagayan is a delivery boy for Gain's Curry House (LOOK! We even have a logo thanks to eiko_c!) and catches the eye of Tsuchiya Yuuichi who obsessively orders curry from him (WHAT XD). Pretty much just the normal stuff except Nagayan...is a curry delivery boy. Tuti's still an actor, still with *pnish*, and I swear it's not gonna be Medium if I can help it at all XD;;;
"That'll be 1,800yen, please," the girl behind the table chirped cheerily, taking the bills from Nagayama and giving him his change along with the pamphlet he'd just purchased. He nodded his thanks and hastily slid out of line, very much aware that he was one of only a few men in the whole theater. Hell, he'd dare to suspect that there were more men making up the theater staff than among the ticket holders for the show.
He frowned, clutching his stub like a lifeline, and rearranged the pamphlet and flyers he carried in his arms to let him check the ticket once more. He was on an aisle, he realized, checking it against a seat map on the wall, about halfway back. He wondered if Tsuchiya-san had picked it out especially for him, or just drawn it at random...he really didn't want to think too hard on it.
Geez, what had he been thinking when he'd agreed to come? He could've made up any number of excuses--dinner with a friend, dinner with a more-than-friend, big project for a class coming up, taking care of his sick mother, anything! But no, instead he was plodding down the aisles, searching for Row 9 seat 15, dressed like he'd just stepped out of one of those idol magazines because he'd wanted to look nice--why?! What did it matter?!
It was just a stupid play (probably something he wouldn't even understand), a random extra ticket Tsuchiya-san had probably meant to give to his roomate--or his girlfriend, or his neighbor, or had been on his way to throw out--that didn't mean anything. And certainly didn't mean Nagayama needed to have spent 30 minutes styling his hair, or another 30 trying on every pair of pants he owned--twice--or needed to call Gakkun from their Modern Fashion in Western Society class to ask if he thought brown or black boots went best with tartan.
To distract himself from the wild thoughts running through his mind, Nagayama pushed his bag under his seat and flipped through the pamphlet. He frowned when he saw it was an entirely male cast--and not a very large one. Tsuchiya-san ("Yuuichi..." Nagayama marveled at his given name; it seemed to fit, but he wasn't sure why he even cared) was billed a few names down, just under a, "Moriyama Eiji"-san and just above a, "Kitamura Eiki"-san. He wondered if any of the actors were friends. Tsuchiya-san never seemed to have anyone over, and never mentioned anyone specific other than, "the cast," so it was a legitimate question.
It was a nice pamphlet--with a really professional-looking photoshoot. Tsuchiya-san was wearing clothes far nicer than he'd even seen the man in before, but his hair was still the usual mess, if not a little more styled than usual. It suited him, nonetheless, and his eyes trailed over the Q&A section each cast member had to answer. He read the words, Tsuchiya-san's words, and an image of the man began to form in his mind, now slightly more three-dimensional and real than before. It was strange--just reading a few words from him in a booklet told Nagayama more about Tsuchiya-san than he probably could've gleaned in a week's worth of deliveries. He smiled softly and sank a bit deeper into his chair.
The lights flashed overhead, and a voice came over the loudspeakers calmly announcing that the show would start in ten minutes, and detailed the theater rules--a long list of do's and don't's that Nagayama tried to pay attention to but was quickly distracted from by loud babbling coming up the aisle from behind him.
"What'd you do with the tickets? I forget which row we're on."
A pause. "Here--Eiji said it was on the aisle, but I just checked it against the map and we're two in--should be..." Nagayama turned around at the last moment and barely missed the pair lowering their voices as they neared him, "--there, that must be the ticket Tsuchiya gave away..."
"Row 9, huh?" The first man checked the ticket his companion held, then spotted Nagayama and smiled like he recognized him, picking up his pace as he jogged down the incline of the theater. "Are you the friend Tsuchiya invited?" Nagayama looked around, confused, as if the man in front of him could've possible been speaking to anyone else, then let his mouth just flap open and shut as he thought about how to respond. "Tsuchiya?" the man supplied again helpfully, "Tallish, frizzy black hair, really loud, big forehead?"
"Give him a break, Daiki-chan, who else would be sitting in that seat?" The other man smiled apologetically at Nagayama, pushing his friend towards the aisle, and Nagayama slid back in his seat to let them by.
When the first man--Daiki-chan?--had settled into his seat next to Nagayama (why oh why couldn't he be sitting beside the other guy? He seemed a lot calmer...), he proceeded to dole out introductions like free samples at the local open market. "I'm Sano, but everyone calls me Daiki-chan. And this guy--" He jerked a thumb over at his much-quieter friend, "--is Wasshi."
"Washio," the man introduced himself, giving a small nod of the head by way of bowing.
"I'm Nagayama," he finally managed to return, "Are you...friends of Tsuchiya-san's?"
Sano-san--Daiki-chan, he corrected himself--nodded proudly. "We work with him. And Moriyama Eiji, too--" he leaned over and flipped forward a page in Nagayama's pamphlet which sat open on his lap, tapping the page of another actor. "We're in a theater unit together."
"...Theater unit?" He hoped these people didn't think he had any idea about play-going, because this was probably the most cultured event he'd been to outside of art shows. "So...you..."
"We put on plays together," Wasshi-san supplied helpfully, sympathetic to Nagayama's confusion, "Tsuchiya and Eiji are the other two members of our group. We do shows with just the four of us usually, but now and then one or two of us will be in outside shows like this one. We all try and come by to support them--"
"--and get drunk at the uchiage afterwards, too," Daiki-chan added with a leer. "So Tsuchiya invited you?" Nagayama nodded, starting to adjust to the conversation now that Wasshi-san seemed to have slowed it down so he could keep up. "Have you two...worked together before or something?"
"Eh? Oh no, no, I just..." He blushed a bit, now painfully aware of how stupid he was about to sound, "I...I'm a delivery boy for Gain's Curry House. I bring Tsuchiya-san curry whenever he orders from our branch. He...he gave me this ticket last week and asked me to come..."
The pair were silent for a moment, obviously turning over the information in their minds. "...He just...gave you a ticket, out of the blue?"
"Well--" Nagayama felt a little defensive, it wasn't like they were total strangers or anything. "--We've known each other for a few months now, and he knew I was in art school, so maybe he thought this would interest me or something..." His voice trailed off, and the two men just stared at him even more strangely.
"Just...how often does Tsuchiya order curry from your shop?"
Nagayama eyed them warily, really not wanting to make a scene. "Four...maybe five times a week?" Daiki-chan and Wasshi-san turned to look at one another, faces blank, then back at Nagayama. "I guess...he really likes curry or something?"
"Or something..." Daiki-chan allowed, then seemed to snap out of whatever had just fallen over him and was all smiles again, "Maa, anyways you're really gonna love the show! Those two haven't shut up about it since the meet-and-greet--lots of our friends are involved in it, see. Are you coming backstage afterwards? Tsuchiya'll wana know what you think, I'm sure."
Nagayama held up his cellphone, ducking a nod. "He told me to text him when I got out into the lobby after the show, that he'd tell one of the staff members to let me back?" He looked at the device worriedly, "Though I don't think he even knows my name, and I'm really not a theater-going person, I wouldn't know the first thing to tell him. And isn't it kind of rude to bother the actors after a show? I'd probably just get in the way or something--"
"Whoa whoa whoa--" Daiki-chan interrupted him, "Tsuchiya--gave you his cellphone info?" Nagayama nodded, and the other man added a low whistle, turning to glance at Wasshi-san. "Well, we'll take you back with us. The staff here've worked our shows a couple of times, they recognize us. That way you can't get lost!" He clapped Nagayama on the shoulder, who returned his gratitude, then settled back in his seat as the lights went down and the show started.
Nagayama would be the first to admit he wasn't any kind of theatre connoiseur, but he really enjoyed the show. It was a comedy overall, with a little action thrown in as well--lots of mistaken identities, betrayals, good guys and bad guys, and everyone went home friends at the end; an enjoyable evening if Nagayama had ever had one. If it hadn't been the final show, he may have well been tempted to try and get another ticket for the next evening, but at the curtain call the entire cast joined hands bowing and thanked everyone for making the run successful.
Confused as to what they should do now, he turned to Daiki-chan next to him, who was whispering something to Wasshi-san. Realizing Nagayama was looking for guidance, the other man shook his head, "Wait five minutes, let the girls all get out first, makes it easier to breath when you're not surrounded by fans."
"Do you ever get people walking up to you when you come out like this?" He was getting the feeling this whole world of theirs was one tight-knit group, and Daiki-chan smiled.
"They usually leave us alone when we're at shows. It's the ones who spot you on the train you have to be careful of." He said this with the utmost gravity, prompting Wasshi-san to give him a shove on the arm.
"Don't listen to him, Nagayama-kun, he wishes fans would come up to him on the train. Eiji and Tsuchiya are the big draws for our group."
"So...Tsuchiya-san's pretty popular then?" The two nodded, and Nagayama let this process.
"Any one of a few hundred girls would give their left hands to be in your shoes right now--let's go!" Daiki-chan shooed him out into the aisle, and Nagayama found himself eyeing the remaining girls in the theater suspiciously. Tsuchiya-san had fans? He was famous? He couldn't discount the fact that Daiki-chan might have been exaggerating, but still...it'd been a packed house, and a small cast. If even only a fraction of them counted themselves as Tsuchiya-san's fans, that was quite a following.
He found himself herded out a side door near the front of the theater, with Daiki-chan pulling on the light jacket he'd removed during the performance, adjusting the cap on his head. Wasshi-san went up to one of the staff stationed at another door further in, and she nodded, opening the door for them to what Nagayama assumed was the backstage area.
It was chaos the moment they stepped over the threshold. He could hear a dozen voices shouting, laughing, calling out congratulations, and extras and theater staff dashed and darted along the hallways that Daiki-chan seemed to navigate with ease. "I'm gonna go find Eiji and Tsuchiya--why don't you two go wait by the refreshment table?" Wasshi-san nodded at him, directing Nagayama to a side hallway and a table filled with all manner of drinks and conbini sweets. He told Nagayama he could help himself, but as his stomach had started doing summersaults in between leaving their seats in the theater and finding themselves backstage, he politely declined, instead continuing to take in the atmosphere surrounding them.
Wasshi-san was obviously used to this by now, nodding his greetings now and then when a friend or acquaintance wandered by. After five minutes, with Daiki-chan still not back, he wondered if perhaps everyone knew they were there by now. "And that--" Wasshi-san pointed out a tall, thin man at the other end of the hall conversing with one of the cast members Nagayama recognized from the pamphlet, Kitamura Eiki-san, "--is Hayashi Shuuji, but everyone calls him Osamu-chan."
"You guys are all so close..."
Wasshi-san shook his head, "Nah, I don't actually know him that well myself. But he was in another show with Eiji and Tsuchiya earlier this year, along with Eiki-kun there." He looked Nagayama over, "Maybe you've heard of it--Rock Musical Bleach?"
"Eh?! Bleach?" He'd never seen it, but it was one of the biggest entertainment events in the nation, there'd even been the occasional cast interview in TV Guide when it aired on television. "I never saw it, but...I have heard of it."
"Ah! Eiji played the character Abarai Renji, and Tsuchiya was Ichimaru Gin." The names didn't mean anything to Nagayama, he wasn't familiar with the show at all, but...wow, maybe Daiki-chan hadn't been exaggerating; these guys were famous! "Daiki-chan tried out, too, for...what was it--oh yeah, Hitsugaya--but well...he's not exactly the best singer. Plus he was too tall. It wound up going to another friend of ours, Hasegawa Tetsurou." Did that mean Tsuchiya-san was a good singer? "Eiji and Tsuchiya are the ones who do musicals in the group," Wasshi-san answered unknowingly. "I sing, but prefer the concert stage myself."
"Oooi~!!" came a loud call from behind them, and the pair turned to see Daiki-chan beckoning them towards him. "Come on, they're taking off their wigs and make-up." Nagayama chuckled to himself; 24 hours ago he wouldn't have been able to imagine the context where hearing something like that wouldn't have sounded strange, but here he was about to go meet some of the most famous faces in theatre. And he brought one of them curry--it almost made his chest puff out in pride.
He once again found himself herded through the maze of backstage corridors, grateful for the guidance of the pair accompanying him. Had Daiki-chan told Tsuchiya-san he was here? Had Tsuchiya-san even asked? Had he forgotten Nagayama was even supposed to come? They hadn't spoken since he'd been given the ticket, but he had clocked in at work a few days before and found someone had left Yamashita-tenchou a note detailing how and when to get to the theater. When he'd asked the man about it, though, Yamashita-tenchou had described a man sounding nothing like Tsuchiya-san at all, and he wondered idly if it'd been one of these two, or the Moriyama-san they kept mentioning.
"We're coming in~!" Daiki-chan announced, knocking rhythmically on a door marked, "dressing room," and when a chorus of, "Come in!"s greeted them in reply, he jerked his head to indicate it was okay and they all filed in. The room was quite large, considering that there only seemed to be three men in there, but they all seemed to have brought their entire apartments with them. There were bags of dirty clothes and trash to be separated out in the corners, a coffee and teamaker along one of the walls (surrounded by stacks of unwashed cups), and the mirror areas were a disaster with empty bottles off foundation, makeup remover, blush, eyeliner, and all manner of things Nagayama couldn't even begin to guess the purpose of. "Geez this place is a pig sty--you were only here five days!"
"You're one to talk!" came a new voice as one of the men situated in front of the mirrors turned around to address them, face a sight different from what he'd seen in the pamphlet. "Your apartment's ten times worse."
"My apartment's ten times smaller," Daiki-chan fired back, grinning nonetheless, and began gingerly picking his way across the room, "I've probably only got a quarter of the mess there you three seemed to have in here."
The man--Moriyama Eiji--waved him off, "Most of it's Tsuchiya's; we can't let him out anymore, he tears up everything he gets near. Na, Eiki?" He leaned around Daiki-chan to direct the question to the other man at the end of the counter who was busy meticulously removing his foundation and offered no response. "He agrees with me." Daiki-chan slapped him on the shoulder for good measure, and Moriyama-san rubbed it, offended, then realized there was a stranger in their midst. "Tsuchiya's in the shower, should be out in a minute." He now turned back to Daiki-chan, "This him?"
"Nagayama-kun, this is Moriyama Eiji!" He spread his arms wide in proclamation, and Nagayama didn't doubt that this Moriyama-san appreciated the gesture, as he stood and magnanimously thrust out a hand to shake, forgoing the usual bow of respect. "Everyone calls him Eiji."
"Except Tsuchiya, because 'Eiji' is too good for him so we make him say, 'Gaju.'" Nagayama suspected there was a history here that was probably too long and complicated to tell in one sitting, and so he didn't question it. "So how'd you like the show?" He directed the question mostly to Nagayama, who opened his mouth to respond, only to find himself cut off abruptly.
"No no no!" Daiki-chan waved his arms like a bird taking flight, disrupting the scene, and Eiji-san turned to stare at him like he really had taken flight. "Tsuchiya should be the first to hear from Nagayama-kun." He nodded firmly, as if affirming his own decision, and when Nagayama thought Eiji-san would wave him off like Wasshi-san had, he was surprised to see the man roll his eyes but obey. "He's his guest, after all." He then began babbling like a brook at Eiji-san, whose attention was focused completely on him now, about concepts far over Nagayama's head, like how Eiji was starting to flub his lines more and maybe they'd been hanging around each other too much, or whether or not Tsuchiya-san had come onto stage late and missed his cue in the second act.
Wasshi-san was preoccupied in conversation with Kitamura-san on the other side of the room, and Nagayama let his attention wander--Tsuchiya-san was in the shower? Rather, they had showers in theaters? Seeing Nagayama's distraction, Eiji-san tore himself away from Daiki-chan and called over, "You should go bang on the door and tell him to hurry up, we're starving out here." A hard thwap told him he'd just been slapped again, and a hissed "Eiji!" confirmed this fact when he turned back to the pair. "Fine, I'll do it."
Eiji-san stood and marched over around the corner where Nagayama realized the shower area was, rapping loudly on the thing plastic-glass door. "Oi, Tsuchiya! You gonna spend the night in there?" There was a loud, muffled response that Nagayama suspected wasn't polite at all and probably involved Eiji-san shoving something in an orifice it didn't belong in. "Nagayama-kun's been waiting out here for ten minutes." A shrieked response now, and a curse he couldn't make out. Fifteen seconds later, he heard the squeaking of a faucet as the water was turned off, and Eiji-san ducked back into the room, jerking a thumb to indicate the shower. "He'll be right out."