FIC FOR TATOEBA (part 1)
For: tatoeba
From: reiicharu
Title: Cross a Great Divide
Pairing: past Jinda, past Akame, Kameda, past KoKamePi, Nakanishi, ShuKira
Rating: R for angst and sexual content and naked people
Warning:Slashy gen, humour, angst, drama, naked Yamapi, naked people in general, continuous Ryo-Jin banter, plushies.
Notes: tatoeba, I hope you enjoy!
Summary:It starts with the fact that yes, Koki’s apartment needs a clean out, then Nakamaru is caught in between, Taguchi makes puns, Ueda really wishes his band could be sane. Kame and Jin? Well, there’s a plushie involved somewhere.
part 1 || part 2 || part 3 || part 4
To no one’s surprise, Kame’s running around like a chicken with its head cut off because a wardrobe assistant mixed up ‘totally incognito’ for ‘flaming flamingo’. And that’s why Kame has a pair of shocking fuchsia coloured jeans which he’s waving around in the air, ranting and raving to the wardrobe assistant about how he just can’t and won’t wear pink pants.
Well, at least that’s all Koki can take in when he slips into the room.
“You know, he’s going to fall apart and we get to put him back together,” Ueda remarks. “You’re late.”
“I had to drop my brother off,” Koki says defensively. Oi, family first. He’s heard the campaign and he’s not afraid to use it as reasoning. And really… “Whatever Kame’s got in his coffee, I want some of that.”
“You’re late,” Kame snaps.
Koki smiles. Just a bit. Reasoning flies out the window.
He doesn’t blame Kame because the day Kame stops freaking out of punctuality and pink pants, Koki will start freaking the fuck out. “I brought onigiri and bento as a peace offering,” he says, offering Kame the combini bags. “Pokka coffee and Pocky as well.”
His boys are on the bags like a pack of hounds, Taguchi snatching up the Pocky and Nakamaru searching for the canned chocolate milk he knows Koki would buy for him. They’re NTT, that’s how they roll and Koki swells up with pride.
Kame on the other hand just stomps off, muttering about his pink pants.
“Okay, so maybe he’s going overboard,” Koki murmurs to Ueda. “He’s hitting overdrive and we’ll have the concert run and not to mention his weekly Going!Sports segment, the radio gig and that new baseball commentating-I swear this is all about the 2channel posts that I showed him. I’m pretty sure that fans were joking when they say Kame got fat because he’s not. Well. You know.”
Nakamaru snorts. “Koki, all Kame does now is yell. Or makes lists. Or make a list of things to yell about. And when we tell him to stop making lists of things to yell about, he sits in a corner, glaring and yelling and listing inside his head. I don’t even know which is worse.”
“He borrowed my Wii,” Taguchi wails. “He’s playing WiiFii every night and I want my Wii back.”
Ueda and Koki trade dismayed glances.
Wii Fit? Kame? Really?
“Intervention time?” Koki suggests grimly.
They all bump kunckles. Or rings, in Koki’s case.
Koki’s the brave soul (or sacrificial lamb) who sits Kame down at a cafeteria table whilst everyone else sits on the other side of the table, because really Kame does pack a mean punch when agitated. And partially because Koki’s the only one who’s willing to risk himself and Ueda has yet to figure out a way to buy face insurance.
“Kame,” Koki says seriously, “we need to talk.”
“Who got their girlfriend pregnant?”
Nakamaru promptly groans.
“No one has a mistress or a gay sex scandal.” Not yet anyways, Koki thinks. “And no one is getting arrested so you can put your phone away, we don’t need to speed dial a lawyer,” he adds firmly. “We’re just concerned.”
“I’m perfectly fine,” Kame insists vehemently. “I had two hours sleep, plenty of Starbucks and then I took a look at the PV proposal because do you really want to look like hobos again? I swear, wardrobe was giving us the scraps of whatever was left over from last year’s costumes and that’d explain the lack of sequins. And I refuse to wear scraps, I was thinking feathers and-”
Koki slaps his hand over Kame’s mouth. “Kame, breathe. In and out. In and out.”
Kame’s protests are muffled. Agitated for sure, but muffled.
“We’re holding an intervention,” Taguchi carries on with a smile more suited for a birthday party (Koki’s sitting across the table and is too lazy to whack him over the head because Koki’s guessing that Taguchi really, really, really wants his Wii back). “So we’re all in this together, okay Kazuya?”
“Uvcfvbghnjmklkjhgf.”
“Koki,” Ueda says.
Koki takes his hand away.
“What part of perfectly fine don’t you understand?” Kame snaps as Nakamaru gets up to shoo some chibikoJuniors away from the table. “I’m a young, healthy man who doesn’t need so called intervening. This is about the okama bar, isn’t it? I swear I had no idea about the place until I stepped inside to look for directions.
“Koki.”
“Kame, no one is going to judge you for that,” Koki snorts.
“Koki, we have a problem.”
“Of course we have a problem, Kame’s going to drive up-not to mention himself-up the wall within the next hour if he keeps acting like Bugs Bunny on a carrot high.”
“Koki,” Nakamaru says evenly louder than before. He nudges Jyuri forward. “Your little brother needs to talk to you.
Kame is stammering protests and snarls when Koki gets up to leave. “Are you just abandoning me?” he splutters. “I thought you wanted to intervene.”
“Uh, ask Maru. Write a song about it. Or make a dance,” Koki suggests distractedly as Jyuri drags him off. “Hey kiddo, what’s up?”
Jyuri’s face is pale and sick with worry. “You should have picked up your phone! Mom just mailed and she’s twisted her ankle.” He almost flails, clutching onto Koki’s arm and looking up at his big brother with wide eyes. “The commute isn’t that bad, I can take a bus, then a train. But what about everyone else, we has to drop them off and you know how stressed she’ll get and-”
Koki places a firm hand on his kid brother’s hand. Tch, kids these days. “It’ll be fine. I’ll get my place cleaned up and have you stay over. The commute won’t be too bad from here. Everyone else has a carpool, don’t they? With the neighbours?”
He sends Jyuri off on his merry way.
Koki hopes that KAT-TUN is feeling charitable. He’ll need more than a miracle to get his place into shape.
They stare at him like he’s dropped a huge bomb, something worse than the news about Nakamaru losing that external harddrive with 200gb of porn that Nakamaru swore he got from various senpai.
“You, Tanaka Koki, want us to clean your apartment? The very apartment that looks like it’s been trashed by a drunken idol after his debut?” Ueda asks slowly, as though he can’t accept such a reality or in this case, fate. “Do we look suicidal to you? If we go in, we’ll never come out.” He peers over his glasses. “Does this require touching your clothing? I need to get my vaccinations before I do that.”
“The one with the STD wasn’t me,” Koki snaps. “And this is for a good cause, for my little brother. I want him to stay in a clean place.”
“But your place is worse than the rabbit hole,” Taguchi protests. “I don’t want to get lost and wonder which land I ended up in.”
“How about you get lost and never be found,” Koki growls before turning to Nakamaru.
“Oh no, you are not going to drag me into Tanaka Koki’s Twisted Fun House of Junk and Germs,” Nakamaru says warily. “The last time I helped you clean your place, I found a cockroach infestation and-”
“Do you want me to burn your sweaters?”
“So, I’ll bring the disinfectant,” Nakamaru says with much fake cheer. Good man.
Now, just Kame.
Koki turns to Kame, forcing the biggest and brightest smile he can muster. “Kame, my darling whom I love oh so much, you’ll help me won’t you? I mean, I stopped you from having a meltdown when we were in Hokkaido last year for the concerts, not to mention you’re great at getting things tidied up and don’t make me drag Yamashita into this. You know what I know about you that he also knows about you.”
“After work, let’s go to Koki’s place,” Kame says immediately.
Okay, just to clarify the entire thing that Yamashita knows about Kame that Koki also knows about Kame, it really was just an innocent night out that involved ramen. And beer. Lots of beer.
And Kame’skinda just a wine drinker but then he switched to beer. And drank. A lot. Quite a bit.
And somehow, he ended up in bed with Koki and Yamashita.
It was much to Koki’s amusement that Kame didn’t freak out about waking up naked with his bandmate and Yamashita. It was more so:
“WHY DO I HAVE A PIERCING?” Kame howled in absolute and completely dismay in a voice that clearly shows his distress. “MANAGEMENT IS GOING TO KILL ME. I HAVE A NAVAL PIERCING THAT DID NOT EXIST TWENTY-FOUR HOURS AGO. WHY DO I HAVE A PIERCING?”
“Kame, my head hurts,” Yamapi groaned, rolling over and hogging the blankets.
Koki was trying his best not to laugh, mainly because his head was also hurting but also because Kame looked freaked out enough that he’d faint any minute now. “Kame, it’s not that bad. If you don’t like it, you can just take it out.”
“Yeah, that’s what Yamashita said last night,” Kame growled.
Oh, so he remembered.
Although, Kame did remove the naval piercing and swore both Koki and Yamashita to secrecy.
Unknown to Kame, Koki does text with Yamashita about said piercing any time one of them sees Kame without a shirt. It’s just a routine thing, checking up to see if the piercing really did close up after all.
“This is a horrible idea,” Nakamaru hisses as he’s squished next to Taguchi on Koki’s bed. “Kame’s shrieking his head off about the germs and we’re here in bed. Together.”
“Which is why it’s a good idea,” Koki points.
Taguchi nods, pressing a quick kiss to Koki’s shoulder. “Koki’s right. Kame’s distracted. Didn’t you know that turtles don’t leave tracks in water, so we have absolutely nothing to worry about.” He’s affectionate and wonderful like that, silly and loving Taguchi.
Both his boys on either side of him as Kame despairs over the kitchen with Ueda-Koki’s pretty sure this is the good life.
And really, Koki can trust his instincts. He doesn’t need to worry about Kame, Ueda’s got it under control. And Koki wants his quality time with his boys.
Not to mention if Kame’s the guy who could take over Tokyo Dome if he wants to. Because if Koki’s learnt one thing over the years, trying to stand in between Kame on a rampage is just like trying to fly a kite in a cyclone. Very, very danger.
Warm between his boys (NTT, they’re his NTT and they’re amazing like that), they listen to Kame rant about Koki’s Mt Fuji-esque pile of dishes.
“Are you sure this is okay?” Nakamaru asks nervously. “We shouldn’t just let him be. And Ueda might just burn out as well, handling Kame by himself. And well, Kame might get ideas about what we’re doing.”
“Oh, stop fretting, you prude,” Koki retorts. “We’re just lying in bed. Unless that’s what you’re disappointed about.”
Nakamaru glares before snuggling into his corner of the bed.
Koki waits. Smirks.
Nakamaru turns and snuggles up to Koki.
Hah. Game, set and match.
Okay, just to clear the air, they’ve shared a bed before. All three of them. And not just a bed, there’s also the time they shared a tent, a car, a bath-it’s totally not awkward or weird.
Taguchi sighs when Kame’s ranting in the kitchen stops. “Countdown?”
“Countdown,” Nakamaru agrees.
“Three.”
“Two-”
“OH MY GOD WHY ARE YOU THREE LYING HERE, DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW FILTHY THIS HOUSE IS-DO I HAVE TO WASH THE SHEETS, YOU THREE DESECRATED THOSE SHEETS WITH EACH OTHER, DIDN’T YOU? IF YOU DON’T GET INTO THE KITCHEN RIGHT NOW, THIS FEATHER DUSTER IS GOING UP WHERE THE SUN DOESN’T SHINE. YOU BETTER CLEAN THOSE DISHES UNLESS YOU WANT TO FIND USES FOR THIS DUSTER THAT SHOULD NEVER BEEN KNOWN TO MANKIND.”
The three of them roll up their sleeves, grumbling.
“Ready?” Nakamaru asks grimly.
“To what, bang with me?” Koki snorts, looking at the dish stack. “We’re not coming out this alive.”
“Why don’t we be ninja and sneak out of the house? Or be like bandits,” Taguchi exclaims, waving the soapy dishsponge around frantically. “Make-or-Break but we’re Making-for-a-Break!”
“Taguchi, make me wet again and I’ll break your face,” Koki growls, looking at his now foam flecked shirt.
They only managed to conquer half of Mt Fuji of Dishes when Kame slouches into the kitchen and lets himself rest on the now thankfully clean table.
“It’s like he’s run out of things to yell about. Or Red Bull,” Koki smirks as he nudges Kame with the end of a spoon.
“Are you okay, Kame-chan? You’re moving pretty slow,” Taguchi asks before everyone glares at him for the awful joke.
“I’m dirty, I’m sticky and I hope you’re happy now,” Kame mutters before burying his head in his arms. “You can clean up the rest of this apartment whilst I die from the manifestation of germs that are probably invading my immune system as we speak,” he snaps. And then he curls up on the kitchen chair.
Koki tries not to laugh, poking Kame with the spoon. Again. “It’s clean so stop glaring at me. The bathroom’s been done, courtesy of our wonderful Ueda.”
“So?”
“My point is that if you’d gladly relay the message to him that we’re half done here, he could give us some clemency and just let us make this clean up a gradual process that takes two days?”
“Forget clemency, I’m making this my right to be clean,” Kame sniffs before shoving everyone out of the kitchen. “I don’t care anymore, I want to be shiny and clean.”
“Like a virgin?” Koki snickers before he flings open the bathroom door.
And they see Ueda. Soaking in the tub. With a washcloth on his head. Like he’s been there all this while when everyone else has been slaving over dishes and dishes and-
“Get in line,” Ueda says dismissively as Nakamaru stammers protests and Kame starts raging that having the title of ‘Former Leader of KAT-TUN Who Stepped Down Because He Couldn’t Handle the Pressure’ doesn't hold any logic as to why Ueda gets the bathtub first.
Then Koki stares because Taguchi’s taking off his clothes and sliding in, right next to Ueda.
Now there’s a good idea.
“Get out, Taguchi. You’re too big,” Ueda snaps as he slips and slides around, trying to get comfortable with Taguchi invading his personal space. “Koki! Put your clothes back on-get out! Out, all of you cretins, get out!”
Kame sniffs, stealing the washcloth to place his own forehead from where he sits, squished in the corner. “This. This is very uncomfortable.”
“Dude, I’m stuck between Taguchi and Maru and I’ll have you know they’re all about knocking knees and elbows-I really hope that’s your elbow jabbing me, Taguchi or else I’m getting out of the tub. Kame, stop crawling over Yucchi.”
“It’s uncomfortable,” Kame snaps.
“But it’s for the youngest. The corner’s the place in preschool where you sit if you’ve been mean…” Taguchi falters when Kame casts a glare that could freeze seawater.
Kame growls from where he’s sprawled over Nakamaru’s lap, water enveloping most of his tanned body. “I. Don’t. Care.”
“Nobody puts Baby in the corner,” Ueda smirks, resting himself comfortably against Taguchi. “Koki, get the washcloth from him, will you?”
Koki looks at Kame. Then at the long-suffering Maru.And the washcloth that’s hung around Kame’s shoulders. “Yeah, Ueda, I wouldn’t be taking anything from Kame right now. Yucchi?”
“I would take it but Kame’s right on top of me!” Nakamaru complains.
“You try sitting in the corner with a tap jabbing in between your shoulder blades,” Kame growls. “You’re oldest. Take one for the team.”
“A lapful of Kame, how is that for the team?” Nakamaru asks, dismayed.
“Does anyone remember Hawaii?” Koki suddenly recalls because this isn’t the first time they’ve been stuck in a small place together. Naked. “And the shampoo sharing? And how we ended up stuck together in the shower cubicle. And then how our manager explained to Johnny-san why he was paying for damages because Akanishi managed to break off the showerhead?”
“How did it even come loose?”
Ueda ignores Taguchi, looking towards Kame and Koki with a smirk. “How about that time you two and Akanishi were in the karaoke room with some of the older HSJ kids and somehow, when the manager came in, Koki was without a shirt?”
“I have an amazing body,” Koki replies defensively. “Akanishi made me!”
Kame snorts. “Just like how someone made Nakamaru hire an escort over to his place…”
“That wasn’t my fault! It was a joke pulled by someone I know from Waseda,” Nakamaru says defensively. “Kame, you’re squishing-ow, that was my leg you’re trying to move out of the way.”
And somehow, Koki ends up in a human pretzel with Nakamaru and Kame, both of them arguing over ‘THAT HOOKER INCIDENT’ and Kame’s taxi browbeating because what’s worse, the hiring of public service or abuse of it.
“So.”
“So.”
They stare at the empty bathtub mournfully. All except Ueda who had enough of their antics and pulled the plug.
“Does anyone here have a towel? I feel cold and exposed.”
Everyone turns to glare at Nakamaru.
It’s a dilemma when they all want to go to bed and their clothes are in the laundry and everyone’s refusing to borrow anything of Koki’s.
Koki just shrugsand falls into bed, bare as a baby. It’s not his problem if they want to be prissy and accuse his clothes of transmitting strange diseases to them. He’s fine with sleeping naked.
So is Kame apparently. And Taguchi. And Nakamaru. And Ueda.
It’s just that five of them squished on his double bed is very awkward because one, the comforter isn’t big enough and Taguchi’s extremely tall, Nakamaru’s very bony and Kame and Ueda are fighting over the pillow.
Oh and Koki’s on the bottom of the doggy pile, can’t really breathe. But that’s not all that important. Actually it is because Koki’s pretty sure the world is turning fuzzy and-
“OW,” he hollers, smacking the person that managed to shove him onto the floor. “DID YOU JUST KICK ME OUT OF MY OWN BED?”
“Koki. It’s late. Keep it down,” Ueda orders.
“You kicked me out of bed. Naked,” he growls, dragging Nakamaru out by the ankles. “You, join me on the floor and help me find the futon.”
“You’re really going to walk around the house naked?” Taguchi asks doubtfully. “It’s kinda cold.”
“You kicked me out of bed,” Koki yells.
“Everyone shut up, Kame’s asleep,” Ueda says over the noise. And true to his word, they all look at Kame who’s hogging the comforter and fast asleep.
Someone has to wake them up and unfortunately for them, it’s the sound of Kame banging around in the kitchen and then their clothes being flung in their face, freshly laundered and ironed underwear and all.
“You remember that time in Hokkaido?” Koki mumbles. “When Ueda and Maru lost all their luggage and they had to borrow mine and Akanishi’s clothes for a whole trip?”
“And I never want to remember that leg of the tour ever again,” Ueda says icily.
Nakamaru winces. “It was either Akanishi’s clothes or Taguchi’s and I basically would be swimming around in his jeans. Even if Akanishi’s pants are always ten sizes too big for him. Would it kill him to get proper fitted clothes?”
“I think what Yucchi is trying to say is, why doesn’t Akanishi own any sweater vests,” Taguchi snickers as he pulls his shirt on. “I don’t think Akanishi supports Team Argyle. I could always ask him if you want.”
“What’s wrong with argyle?” Nakamaru objects.
Koki just pats Nakamaru on the head. “There, there Yuichi. We have a long day ahead of us.”
Their manager gives them one very long suffering long before sending them all home to change and come back to work in an outfit different from the one they wore yesterday.
Except for Nakamaru. He ends up wearing another sweater vest.
Koki messages everyone to bring extra clothes for when they clean his apartment again that night.
They’re all dead on the floor, staring at the ceiling as all of them try to catch their breaths. Dance rehearsals are exhausting and Koki remembers times when Akanishi could go on for hours, even if his waist hurts him-the rest of them would just glare and hate his natural talent. And then laugh when Akanishi tries to pull Nakamaru up for a waltz.
Koki still has the photos on his phone for blackmail.
“I think someone should buy lunch,” Taguchi murmurs.
“I think someone should be generous to not only walk down to buy it but also pay for it,” Ueda agrees.
“I think someone should volunteer,” Nakamaru adds.
“I think someone should be nice enough because KAT-TUN helped them with a favour,” Kame says pointedly.
Koki mock glares. “Haters,” he accuses before nudging Kame with his foot, much to the annoyance of their resident priss. “Just call a fast food place and have them delivery it here.”
“We can’t order take-out by delivery anymore,” Kame snaps. “Because Hey Say Jump did it last month and ordered enough food to feed an army and had about five people come over and then they held a mini food fest with EbiKisu and that’s why Johnny sent out the notice. Don’t you remember? Do any of you even check your Jimusho email?”
Koki recalls something like that. He also recalls being there for a part of the food fest, letting Fujigaya hand him some free pizza in exchange for his silence.
Very wisely, he just bullies Nakamaru into taking a trip down to the combini with him.
When they turn up with take away curry rice from the izakaya down the road, Kame’s curled up on the sofa in the corner whilst Taguchi and Ueda lend him their coats as a temporary pillow and blanket.
“I told you he’d fall apart,” Ueda says triumphantly.
“He’s still put together,” Koki argues.
“We’re still together,” Taguchi adds with a smile.
Nakamaru puts the rice down and Koki hands everyone a soft drink before waking Kame for lunch.
“Of course we’re together. Now that does mean you’re all going to turn up at my place and get it all cleaned up. You do know that, right?” Koki demands, turning to each of them and looking down at the sleepy Kame. “You too. I have so much dirt on you that Yamashita has as well that there’s no way you’re getting out of doing my laundry.”
“Mexico,” Kame grunts.
Koki shuts up immediately.
Okay, let’s just get this out there: Mexico was Koki’s and Yamapi’s dream when they were in school together. Something about a long drive, a lot of tacos and beautiful women and they actually managed to buy plane tickets once they had the money (i.e post debut, post Uchi and Kusano and THE ALCOHOL INCIDENT, post OMG AMERICA) and their groups had settled down.
Except they booked the tickets when really drunk.
Kame happened to walk in and pointed out the very logical thing: “Why are you buying a plane ticket for 2030?”
Obviously, Koki’s still getting ready for Mexico in say, two decades.
~
There’s sometime special about all of them, especially when they’re happy.
Taguchi likes them happy. He likes Jin happy as well. Sometimes Taguchi wishes Jin could be happy with them and then he remembers that Jin and Nakamaru stood on the same stage once before they took the separate paths from each other and that always makes Taguchi smile. He remembers Yukan Club and recalls that for Jin, standing alone isn’t easy.
He likes being there. Taguchi’s got the shoulders; he’s the best person to lean on.
When they think Kame’s all right, Taguchi can’t help but wonder.
There’s something about Kame’s always been a big mess-artwork type of mess, not bad type of mess. There’s nothing bad about Kame at all.
“You have to pay us back,” Koki insists.
They bicker over the lunch, over the bento prices and Taguchi can’t help but sit out.
Kame’s smiling.
He’s thankful.
He looks at Ueda, thoughtful and a smile curved over his teacup, that’s all right.
Koki is happy when they’re all together. It’s who he is.
Nakamaru…
Somehow, Taguchi wonders how they all can stand when each and everyone of them are all over the place, bits and pieces of their hearts shipped off to America half the time and the other parts of their soul embedded so deeply on Japanese soil.
He does meet up with Jin. By chance-they’re friends, coworkers but Jin’s always been about the glitz and the glamour whilst Taguchi’s not asking for anything. Maybe a job, but more than that, Taguchi’s not sure.
Sometimes, Taguchi’s unsure about the future.
Jin is always smiling, bouncing on the balls of his feet when thinking of his new solos. Last time, that was an odd subject, discussing any secret songs Jin’s written and hidden away on his laptop because really, they’re always in languages from a country away and something that most of them can’t relate to. Jin’s different but in a special way, the best type of way.
“So yeah, that’s what I’ve come up with,” Jin exclaims, shoving Taguchi some song about women and drinking up fake love and remembering only pain. “It’s like a break up type of song. But the message is that you’re not always going to be alone. Something like that.”
“I can’t read English,” Taguchi reminds him. “I can be English, with an accent though.”
“You wrote GIRLS though,” Jin argues.
They sit in a rehearsal room, cross-legged and Jin’s hair pushed back with a pair of aviators and a hoodie thrown over Taguchi’s shoulders. “GIRLS was NTT, not just me.”
“You’ve always been pimp,” Jin scoffs. “If you tried, you could probably steal the spotlight from all of us.”
But I don’t want to, Taguchi wants to protest. He just shrugs. “I suppose. You’d have to look around to spot me, but then again you could definitely find me in the dark.”
“Your puns are still terrible,” Jin grunts before shoving the printed out lyrics at Taguchi. “Read it, tell me what you think. I want to hear it.”
“Why?” He’s puzzled because well-
“You wrote GIRLS!” Jin groans. “I wish I thought of it. It was like…totally ready for the clubs. I’d totally do someone to that song. Well, not really. It’d be creepy to have Koki rapping in the background when I’m about to get it on with a girl, but you get what I mean right? Come on, Taguchi. Give me your opinion. You produced it. You gave birth to some art form named NTT.”
Even for Jin, that’s a bit crazy.
But he takes the lyrics with a smile because he does want an excuse to run into Jin again.
So maybe Kame’s a workaholic, even Taguchi can’t deny that.
But work is what keeps Kame going, he doesn’t hold that against him either.
When Kame’s on his fifth cup of coffee for the day, it’s Taguchi that confiscates his cigarettes and coffee and anything that will keep his motor going because if Kame doesn’t get some rest, he’ll sway like a tree in the wind. And the truth is, if Kame makes like a tree, he’ll leave.
Taguchi doesn’t want that.
“You know, you already held an intervention,” Kame argues hotly. “I’m fine! I’m perfectly fine! We have an apartment to clean later on,” he adds.
He managed to run into Jin-literally. Taguchi’s coming back from a bathroom break, Jin’s going for a smoke.
“Come with me,” Jin encourages, handing Taguchi a cigarette and nudging him to the balcony where they used to see senpai dragging on cigarettes and laughing as the smoke floats around their heads. Now they stand there-have stood there for many years. Jin lights the cigarettes, looking at Taguchi with a glint in his eye. “Did you read them?”
“I didn’t have time. We were having meetings and practise,” Taguchi confesses.
Jin pauses and then just shrugs. “It’s fine.” A strange gap of silence. “You know, I wanted to perform in Vegas but they had to take it off the tour schedule.” And Jin tells him all about Vegas, about the endless stretch of neon lights and the showgirls with their sparkly costumes. And then he tells Taguchi about Chicago and its theatre and he shares the time he went to Venice-the one in LA, obviously-and took a million photos but lost his camera at the end of the day.
Jin’s stories, they’re golden. Like hope.
“You could buy a dictionary,” Jin says when Taguchi finds him sitting in a stairwell, empty drink can and a cigarette between his finger. He lets out a small puff of smoke, shaking his head. “Roof’s taken.”
Taguchi would know, Kame’s just gone up there with Koki to complain about how incompetent the production crew is because their ability to autotune is just terrible. Horrible. He’s not not sure what else Kame’s complaining about but he does know that Nakamaru will make faces at how the two of them will reek of nicotine.
“You could just translate with me?” He pauses. “Si’lvous plait?”
“Your French is still awful.” But Jin does translate a part of it, the cigarette burning out as time crawls by.
Taguchi pokes Jin on the shoulder. “Stop smoking, it’ll ruin your voice. Half the group smokes.”
Jin raises an eyebrow. “Really now?” he drawls, lighting up once more.
“Mmhm.”
“Two out of five.”
“Three out of six,” Taguchi corrects.
Kame’s leaning on his shoulder, the taxi home a long ride and Kame tends to fall asleep any place that isn’t filled with papers and music and dance choreography blocking-he’s done with the brow beating for now; for that, Taguchi’s thankful.
“Did you smoke?” Kame murmurs. “Should have joined us.”
“No, I was just talking to someone,” Taguchi says softly, reaching up to pat Kame’s hair gently. “You should rest, we still have five minutes before we reach Koki’s place.” Of course, Ueda’s sharing with Maru and Koki actually drove to work-Taguchi sometimes just prefers a taxi. It’s easier and he can enjoy the ride. “Just rest a bit, Kazuya.”
“You didn’t smoke though.”
“I can’t see through it, the screen is too strong,” Taguchi jokes.
Kame freezes, body tense all over. “But you weren’t the one. It’s second hand.”
“Cheaper that way.”
“Pull over,” Kame says, sitting up immediately and the professional is back. “Can you clean without me? You four can handle it, can’t you? I’ll call you all later.” And he gets out of the taxi, rapping on the rooftop with his knuckles to see Taguchi off.
He doesn’t know how to explain.
Ueda beats him to it. “Why do you smell like second hand smoke? Do you enjoy destroying your lungs?”
“I didn’t smoke,” Taguchi says defensively. Although, he wishes he did. It would have just stopped it from being like this. He doesn’t like this, it’s not nice. It’s almost painful but slightly bitter. “Kame-chan knows though. But he only said he’s sitting out on the cleaning, I’m sure he’s fine.” The lie comes so easily and it hurts so much more. “I’m sure the furthest place he’ll run is his hometown.”
“No,” Ueda says quietly. “Could be Okinawa.”
Oh.
They trawl the streets of Roppongi with scarves around their necks and their coats zipped tightly.
Nakamaru is wringing his hands with worry whilst Koki doesn’t utter a word until he leaves each and every bar and strip club, spitting out a string of curses aimed at no one but himself for not thinking about it, for being so blind and selfish. Ueda crosses each place off the list as they keep walking, avoiding the underaged drinkers and white collar workers.
“I was careless but I don’t care less,” Taguchi says after the tenth place they’ve checked.
“It’s no one’s problem,” Ueda tells him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“You’re a good Leader, Uepi.”
“Haaaaah,” Ueda sighs before chasing off some girls that happened to stop by, just to ask Koki for ‘directions’.
Taguchi settles the tab, it’s the least he can do. He also helps Nakamaru with dragging Kame out of the bar and then placing him on a bench because Kame’s shoes are on the wrong feet.
“You want to talk about it?” Ueda asks slowly, clearly.
Taguchi tugs off Kame’s shoes, placing them on the correct feet. “You know, a classy drunk would keep his clothes on,” he tries to say with all the cheer he can muster. It fails, falling flat like his puns. “Come on, let’s get you a cab.”
“And what if he throws up at night?” Nakamaru worries. “He’s not talking.”
“It’s day one,” Koki reminds him quietly. Day one is always the easiest because it’s not that bad.
Day one never hits Kame that hard-they always hope day one would be the last day because if anything, Taguchi hates seeing Kame-or any of them-saddened for a period of time.
They all stay over at Kame’s place, arms and legs twisted in haphazard knots like a security blanket. They never let go, a human shield from the world but not enough for the heart. Taguchi listens to Kame’s ragged breathing, wincing at the stench of the alcohol but he touches Kame’s hair. It needs conditioner. It’s dry. But Kame’s there, he’s not somewhere else.
Ueda shifts.
Nakamarusnoress.
Koki grunts, he’s probably having a dirty dream.
Taguchi kisses Kame, right on the tip of his nose. “Feel better soon,” he whispers before falling asleep.
Jin hands him a bag of onigiri. “Come on, let’s chat,” he laughs with a smile that’s brighter than sunlight even if his eyes are frosted over, like winter come early. “I haven’t finished translating the song. You’ll like it. I changed the last part. I think I reference to Love Music if that’s okay with you.”
“How?”
“I talk about how much I just love music,” Jin drawls.
“And you say my jokes are bad.”
“You can’t say I didn’t try.”
“You can try all you want if all you want to do is try.”
“Okay, now that’s just bad.”
They find a floor where it’s all just baby Juniors-most of whom were signed up by their sisters or their cousins or mothers and don’t really care for the shiny things that will come in a few years time. They end up sitting in the corridor, legs stretched out for the kids to stop at, bow and then hop over awkwardly.
“So cute,” Jin laughs when one particular seven year old stammers a confused ‘excuse me’ and runs the opposite way. He starts counting the kids, saying hello to some of them and it reaches his eyes, the warmth and the glow as the kids stare at him even if some of them don’t know Akanishi Jin.
Forty-six kids, Taguchi counts as well. Forty-six kids wanted to use that corridor during lunch to go some place-neither of them really asked but well, that’s a lot of baby Juniors.
“Take it,” Jin insists later on, pushing the left over onigiri into Taguchi’s hands. “I bought too much.”
“You’re eating less. You should keep it. Less is not more,” Taguchi reminds him even if he does take an umeboshionigiri. “You can’t lose too much weight. You’ll lose you and disappear.”
Jin seems to tense up before punching him on the shoulder lighter. “Yeah, you wish. I shine more because I’m yellow gold.”
“I get GIRLS though.”
“Shut up.”
“When we were kids, I used to always eat onigiri at lunch but you made fun of me,” Taguchi suddenly remembers when he phones Jin later that night. “You always said I was so boring.”
“I lied.”
“You were so mean,” Taguchi continues as he brushes his teeth. “We’re cleaning Koki’s apartment, you know.”
“And you survived to tell the tale?” Jin says, shocked. “Really?”
“We haven’t finished yet. We’re spreading it over a few days. So it’ll be a really long tale, like a cat’s.”
Jin groans. “You were waiting for that, weren’t you?”
“Yep.”
“Night.”
“Goodnight.”
Day Two doesn’t happen. Yes. Day Two doesn’t happen because Taguchi wakes up after a pleasant night’s sleep. He eats onigiri for breakfast, turns up at work and hugs Kame as tightly as he can because he doesn’t want a cold blooded turtle.
“What the, get off!”
“I was worrying,” Taguchi explains.
“What are you worrying about, we’ll be all right,” Kame mutters in horrible, horrible English.
No, Taguchi realises when he sits on the rooftop with Jin and a flask of hot tea and sandwiches between them. Things aren’t all right, he thinks when Kame stands at the doorway with Koki and a fast fading smile.
“Kame,” Jin says, standing up immediately. “Kame, hey. Koki. You want to eat lunch?”
Taguchi runs past Koki, ignoring Jin’s calls and he jumping down the stairs, using the railing to swing over some of the landing and he’s dashing through a door. But he’s not fast enough.
Kame is perfectly calm later on in the production meeting. All smiles, all pleasantries and nothing seems out of place as he leans over Taguchi to steal his Starbucks. He seems all right. Please let him be okay.
Taguchi’s sharing concerned glances with Koki. His stomach twists and knots and turns when Jin calls and he can’t pick up.
Ueda and Maru, they seem perfectly fine. They’re fine. They have to be.
“We’ll be all right,” he says to Kame when they take a five-minute break. “Right?”
All smiles, totally professional and cold like Antarctica. “Of course,” Kame agrees.
“Beer,” Taguchi exclaims when Koki hands it out. “Thank you!”
“We deserve it,” Ueda says darkly. “Koki, from now on, you’re indebted to us. All of us. I never want to clean your windows ever again and you better not let this place turn into shambles again.”
“I’ll thank you all in the form of my wholesome love and not so sexual affection,” Koki says seriously.
“Please just keep it,” Nakamaru replies, squirming where he sits in the couch. “I don’t need your love addiction, thank you.”
“But why? It’s totally awesome.”
“It’s probably infected,” Ueda mutters.
“Taguchi, you want my love and revenge, don’t you?”
“Koki, we’re just friends,” Taguchi says sadly before taking a swig of beer. “But I’ll take your flatscreen TV if you don’t want it. I mean, that’s another way of expressing your love, right?”
“Taguchi, be glad I’m giving you a place to sleep tonight and throwing you out onto the streets.”
“Lucky me,” Taguchi smiles.
Koki facepalms.
“Get out of bed,” Ueda snaps, whacking them with the pillows and pulling away the comforters. “Get your clothes on-wait, when did you three even get undressed?”
“Wa-whut?” Nakamaru groans as he rolls over onto Taguchi. “Ueda, stop hitting me.”
“We have to go. I just got a call. Kame’s passed out in somewhere and I don’t know where.”
They’re dressed within seconds, stumbling through the door whilst trying to shove on their boots. The night air is freezing, the wind biting their skins. Or maybe they’re just that worried that all of them are shaking, Ueda’s hands gripped tightly over the steering wheel until his knuckles are white.
Day Two arrives at night, Taguchi thinks.
It’s worse than his most failed joke.
-> part 2
From: reiicharu
Title: Cross a Great Divide
Pairing: past Jinda, past Akame, Kameda, past KoKamePi, Nakanishi, ShuKira
Rating: R for angst and sexual content and naked people
Warning:Slashy gen, humour, angst, drama, naked Yamapi, naked people in general, continuous Ryo-Jin banter, plushies.
Notes: tatoeba, I hope you enjoy!
Summary:It starts with the fact that yes, Koki’s apartment needs a clean out, then Nakamaru is caught in between, Taguchi makes puns, Ueda really wishes his band could be sane. Kame and Jin? Well, there’s a plushie involved somewhere.
part 1 || part 2 || part 3 || part 4
To no one’s surprise, Kame’s running around like a chicken with its head cut off because a wardrobe assistant mixed up ‘totally incognito’ for ‘flaming flamingo’. And that’s why Kame has a pair of shocking fuchsia coloured jeans which he’s waving around in the air, ranting and raving to the wardrobe assistant about how he just can’t and won’t wear pink pants.
Well, at least that’s all Koki can take in when he slips into the room.
“You know, he’s going to fall apart and we get to put him back together,” Ueda remarks. “You’re late.”
“I had to drop my brother off,” Koki says defensively. Oi, family first. He’s heard the campaign and he’s not afraid to use it as reasoning. And really… “Whatever Kame’s got in his coffee, I want some of that.”
“You’re late,” Kame snaps.
Koki smiles. Just a bit. Reasoning flies out the window.
He doesn’t blame Kame because the day Kame stops freaking out of punctuality and pink pants, Koki will start freaking the fuck out. “I brought onigiri and bento as a peace offering,” he says, offering Kame the combini bags. “Pokka coffee and Pocky as well.”
His boys are on the bags like a pack of hounds, Taguchi snatching up the Pocky and Nakamaru searching for the canned chocolate milk he knows Koki would buy for him. They’re NTT, that’s how they roll and Koki swells up with pride.
Kame on the other hand just stomps off, muttering about his pink pants.
“Okay, so maybe he’s going overboard,” Koki murmurs to Ueda. “He’s hitting overdrive and we’ll have the concert run and not to mention his weekly Going!Sports segment, the radio gig and that new baseball commentating-I swear this is all about the 2channel posts that I showed him. I’m pretty sure that fans were joking when they say Kame got fat because he’s not. Well. You know.”
Nakamaru snorts. “Koki, all Kame does now is yell. Or makes lists. Or make a list of things to yell about. And when we tell him to stop making lists of things to yell about, he sits in a corner, glaring and yelling and listing inside his head. I don’t even know which is worse.”
“He borrowed my Wii,” Taguchi wails. “He’s playing WiiFii every night and I want my Wii back.”
Ueda and Koki trade dismayed glances.
Wii Fit? Kame? Really?
“Intervention time?” Koki suggests grimly.
They all bump kunckles. Or rings, in Koki’s case.
Koki’s the brave soul (or sacrificial lamb) who sits Kame down at a cafeteria table whilst everyone else sits on the other side of the table, because really Kame does pack a mean punch when agitated. And partially because Koki’s the only one who’s willing to risk himself and Ueda has yet to figure out a way to buy face insurance.
“Kame,” Koki says seriously, “we need to talk.”
“Who got their girlfriend pregnant?”
Nakamaru promptly groans.
“No one has a mistress or a gay sex scandal.” Not yet anyways, Koki thinks. “And no one is getting arrested so you can put your phone away, we don’t need to speed dial a lawyer,” he adds firmly. “We’re just concerned.”
“I’m perfectly fine,” Kame insists vehemently. “I had two hours sleep, plenty of Starbucks and then I took a look at the PV proposal because do you really want to look like hobos again? I swear, wardrobe was giving us the scraps of whatever was left over from last year’s costumes and that’d explain the lack of sequins. And I refuse to wear scraps, I was thinking feathers and-”
Koki slaps his hand over Kame’s mouth. “Kame, breathe. In and out. In and out.”
Kame’s protests are muffled. Agitated for sure, but muffled.
“We’re holding an intervention,” Taguchi carries on with a smile more suited for a birthday party (Koki’s sitting across the table and is too lazy to whack him over the head because Koki’s guessing that Taguchi really, really, really wants his Wii back). “So we’re all in this together, okay Kazuya?”
“Uvcfvbghnjmklkjhgf.”
“Koki,” Ueda says.
Koki takes his hand away.
“What part of perfectly fine don’t you understand?” Kame snaps as Nakamaru gets up to shoo some chibikoJuniors away from the table. “I’m a young, healthy man who doesn’t need so called intervening. This is about the okama bar, isn’t it? I swear I had no idea about the place until I stepped inside to look for directions.
“Koki.”
“Kame, no one is going to judge you for that,” Koki snorts.
“Koki, we have a problem.”
“Of course we have a problem, Kame’s going to drive up-not to mention himself-up the wall within the next hour if he keeps acting like Bugs Bunny on a carrot high.”
“Koki,” Nakamaru says evenly louder than before. He nudges Jyuri forward. “Your little brother needs to talk to you.
Kame is stammering protests and snarls when Koki gets up to leave. “Are you just abandoning me?” he splutters. “I thought you wanted to intervene.”
“Uh, ask Maru. Write a song about it. Or make a dance,” Koki suggests distractedly as Jyuri drags him off. “Hey kiddo, what’s up?”
Jyuri’s face is pale and sick with worry. “You should have picked up your phone! Mom just mailed and she’s twisted her ankle.” He almost flails, clutching onto Koki’s arm and looking up at his big brother with wide eyes. “The commute isn’t that bad, I can take a bus, then a train. But what about everyone else, we has to drop them off and you know how stressed she’ll get and-”
Koki places a firm hand on his kid brother’s hand. Tch, kids these days. “It’ll be fine. I’ll get my place cleaned up and have you stay over. The commute won’t be too bad from here. Everyone else has a carpool, don’t they? With the neighbours?”
He sends Jyuri off on his merry way.
Koki hopes that KAT-TUN is feeling charitable. He’ll need more than a miracle to get his place into shape.
They stare at him like he’s dropped a huge bomb, something worse than the news about Nakamaru losing that external harddrive with 200gb of porn that Nakamaru swore he got from various senpai.
“You, Tanaka Koki, want us to clean your apartment? The very apartment that looks like it’s been trashed by a drunken idol after his debut?” Ueda asks slowly, as though he can’t accept such a reality or in this case, fate. “Do we look suicidal to you? If we go in, we’ll never come out.” He peers over his glasses. “Does this require touching your clothing? I need to get my vaccinations before I do that.”
“The one with the STD wasn’t me,” Koki snaps. “And this is for a good cause, for my little brother. I want him to stay in a clean place.”
“But your place is worse than the rabbit hole,” Taguchi protests. “I don’t want to get lost and wonder which land I ended up in.”
“How about you get lost and never be found,” Koki growls before turning to Nakamaru.
“Oh no, you are not going to drag me into Tanaka Koki’s Twisted Fun House of Junk and Germs,” Nakamaru says warily. “The last time I helped you clean your place, I found a cockroach infestation and-”
“Do you want me to burn your sweaters?”
“So, I’ll bring the disinfectant,” Nakamaru says with much fake cheer. Good man.
Now, just Kame.
Koki turns to Kame, forcing the biggest and brightest smile he can muster. “Kame, my darling whom I love oh so much, you’ll help me won’t you? I mean, I stopped you from having a meltdown when we were in Hokkaido last year for the concerts, not to mention you’re great at getting things tidied up and don’t make me drag Yamashita into this. You know what I know about you that he also knows about you.”
“After work, let’s go to Koki’s place,” Kame says immediately.
Okay, just to clarify the entire thing that Yamashita knows about Kame that Koki also knows about Kame, it really was just an innocent night out that involved ramen. And beer. Lots of beer.
And Kame’skinda just a wine drinker but then he switched to beer. And drank. A lot. Quite a bit.
And somehow, he ended up in bed with Koki and Yamashita.
It was much to Koki’s amusement that Kame didn’t freak out about waking up naked with his bandmate and Yamashita. It was more so:
“WHY DO I HAVE A PIERCING?” Kame howled in absolute and completely dismay in a voice that clearly shows his distress. “MANAGEMENT IS GOING TO KILL ME. I HAVE A NAVAL PIERCING THAT DID NOT EXIST TWENTY-FOUR HOURS AGO. WHY DO I HAVE A PIERCING?”
“Kame, my head hurts,” Yamapi groaned, rolling over and hogging the blankets.
Koki was trying his best not to laugh, mainly because his head was also hurting but also because Kame looked freaked out enough that he’d faint any minute now. “Kame, it’s not that bad. If you don’t like it, you can just take it out.”
“Yeah, that’s what Yamashita said last night,” Kame growled.
Oh, so he remembered.
Although, Kame did remove the naval piercing and swore both Koki and Yamashita to secrecy.
Unknown to Kame, Koki does text with Yamashita about said piercing any time one of them sees Kame without a shirt. It’s just a routine thing, checking up to see if the piercing really did close up after all.
“This is a horrible idea,” Nakamaru hisses as he’s squished next to Taguchi on Koki’s bed. “Kame’s shrieking his head off about the germs and we’re here in bed. Together.”
“Which is why it’s a good idea,” Koki points.
Taguchi nods, pressing a quick kiss to Koki’s shoulder. “Koki’s right. Kame’s distracted. Didn’t you know that turtles don’t leave tracks in water, so we have absolutely nothing to worry about.” He’s affectionate and wonderful like that, silly and loving Taguchi.
Both his boys on either side of him as Kame despairs over the kitchen with Ueda-Koki’s pretty sure this is the good life.
And really, Koki can trust his instincts. He doesn’t need to worry about Kame, Ueda’s got it under control. And Koki wants his quality time with his boys.
Not to mention if Kame’s the guy who could take over Tokyo Dome if he wants to. Because if Koki’s learnt one thing over the years, trying to stand in between Kame on a rampage is just like trying to fly a kite in a cyclone. Very, very danger.
Warm between his boys (NTT, they’re his NTT and they’re amazing like that), they listen to Kame rant about Koki’s Mt Fuji-esque pile of dishes.
“Are you sure this is okay?” Nakamaru asks nervously. “We shouldn’t just let him be. And Ueda might just burn out as well, handling Kame by himself. And well, Kame might get ideas about what we’re doing.”
“Oh, stop fretting, you prude,” Koki retorts. “We’re just lying in bed. Unless that’s what you’re disappointed about.”
Nakamaru glares before snuggling into his corner of the bed.
Koki waits. Smirks.
Nakamaru turns and snuggles up to Koki.
Hah. Game, set and match.
Okay, just to clear the air, they’ve shared a bed before. All three of them. And not just a bed, there’s also the time they shared a tent, a car, a bath-it’s totally not awkward or weird.
Taguchi sighs when Kame’s ranting in the kitchen stops. “Countdown?”
“Countdown,” Nakamaru agrees.
“Three.”
“Two-”
“OH MY GOD WHY ARE YOU THREE LYING HERE, DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW FILTHY THIS HOUSE IS-DO I HAVE TO WASH THE SHEETS, YOU THREE DESECRATED THOSE SHEETS WITH EACH OTHER, DIDN’T YOU? IF YOU DON’T GET INTO THE KITCHEN RIGHT NOW, THIS FEATHER DUSTER IS GOING UP WHERE THE SUN DOESN’T SHINE. YOU BETTER CLEAN THOSE DISHES UNLESS YOU WANT TO FIND USES FOR THIS DUSTER THAT SHOULD NEVER BEEN KNOWN TO MANKIND.”
The three of them roll up their sleeves, grumbling.
“Ready?” Nakamaru asks grimly.
“To what, bang with me?” Koki snorts, looking at the dish stack. “We’re not coming out this alive.”
“Why don’t we be ninja and sneak out of the house? Or be like bandits,” Taguchi exclaims, waving the soapy dishsponge around frantically. “Make-or-Break but we’re Making-for-a-Break!”
“Taguchi, make me wet again and I’ll break your face,” Koki growls, looking at his now foam flecked shirt.
They only managed to conquer half of Mt Fuji of Dishes when Kame slouches into the kitchen and lets himself rest on the now thankfully clean table.
“It’s like he’s run out of things to yell about. Or Red Bull,” Koki smirks as he nudges Kame with the end of a spoon.
“Are you okay, Kame-chan? You’re moving pretty slow,” Taguchi asks before everyone glares at him for the awful joke.
“I’m dirty, I’m sticky and I hope you’re happy now,” Kame mutters before burying his head in his arms. “You can clean up the rest of this apartment whilst I die from the manifestation of germs that are probably invading my immune system as we speak,” he snaps. And then he curls up on the kitchen chair.
Koki tries not to laugh, poking Kame with the spoon. Again. “It’s clean so stop glaring at me. The bathroom’s been done, courtesy of our wonderful Ueda.”
“So?”
“My point is that if you’d gladly relay the message to him that we’re half done here, he could give us some clemency and just let us make this clean up a gradual process that takes two days?”
“Forget clemency, I’m making this my right to be clean,” Kame sniffs before shoving everyone out of the kitchen. “I don’t care anymore, I want to be shiny and clean.”
“Like a virgin?” Koki snickers before he flings open the bathroom door.
And they see Ueda. Soaking in the tub. With a washcloth on his head. Like he’s been there all this while when everyone else has been slaving over dishes and dishes and-
“Get in line,” Ueda says dismissively as Nakamaru stammers protests and Kame starts raging that having the title of ‘Former Leader of KAT-TUN Who Stepped Down Because He Couldn’t Handle the Pressure’ doesn't hold any logic as to why Ueda gets the bathtub first.
Then Koki stares because Taguchi’s taking off his clothes and sliding in, right next to Ueda.
Now there’s a good idea.
“Get out, Taguchi. You’re too big,” Ueda snaps as he slips and slides around, trying to get comfortable with Taguchi invading his personal space. “Koki! Put your clothes back on-get out! Out, all of you cretins, get out!”
Kame sniffs, stealing the washcloth to place his own forehead from where he sits, squished in the corner. “This. This is very uncomfortable.”
“Dude, I’m stuck between Taguchi and Maru and I’ll have you know they’re all about knocking knees and elbows-I really hope that’s your elbow jabbing me, Taguchi or else I’m getting out of the tub. Kame, stop crawling over Yucchi.”
“It’s uncomfortable,” Kame snaps.
“But it’s for the youngest. The corner’s the place in preschool where you sit if you’ve been mean…” Taguchi falters when Kame casts a glare that could freeze seawater.
Kame growls from where he’s sprawled over Nakamaru’s lap, water enveloping most of his tanned body. “I. Don’t. Care.”
“Nobody puts Baby in the corner,” Ueda smirks, resting himself comfortably against Taguchi. “Koki, get the washcloth from him, will you?”
Koki looks at Kame. Then at the long-suffering Maru.And the washcloth that’s hung around Kame’s shoulders. “Yeah, Ueda, I wouldn’t be taking anything from Kame right now. Yucchi?”
“I would take it but Kame’s right on top of me!” Nakamaru complains.
“You try sitting in the corner with a tap jabbing in between your shoulder blades,” Kame growls. “You’re oldest. Take one for the team.”
“A lapful of Kame, how is that for the team?” Nakamaru asks, dismayed.
“Does anyone remember Hawaii?” Koki suddenly recalls because this isn’t the first time they’ve been stuck in a small place together. Naked. “And the shampoo sharing? And how we ended up stuck together in the shower cubicle. And then how our manager explained to Johnny-san why he was paying for damages because Akanishi managed to break off the showerhead?”
“How did it even come loose?”
Ueda ignores Taguchi, looking towards Kame and Koki with a smirk. “How about that time you two and Akanishi were in the karaoke room with some of the older HSJ kids and somehow, when the manager came in, Koki was without a shirt?”
“I have an amazing body,” Koki replies defensively. “Akanishi made me!”
Kame snorts. “Just like how someone made Nakamaru hire an escort over to his place…”
“That wasn’t my fault! It was a joke pulled by someone I know from Waseda,” Nakamaru says defensively. “Kame, you’re squishing-ow, that was my leg you’re trying to move out of the way.”
And somehow, Koki ends up in a human pretzel with Nakamaru and Kame, both of them arguing over ‘THAT HOOKER INCIDENT’ and Kame’s taxi browbeating because what’s worse, the hiring of public service or abuse of it.
“So.”
“So.”
They stare at the empty bathtub mournfully. All except Ueda who had enough of their antics and pulled the plug.
“Does anyone here have a towel? I feel cold and exposed.”
Everyone turns to glare at Nakamaru.
It’s a dilemma when they all want to go to bed and their clothes are in the laundry and everyone’s refusing to borrow anything of Koki’s.
Koki just shrugsand falls into bed, bare as a baby. It’s not his problem if they want to be prissy and accuse his clothes of transmitting strange diseases to them. He’s fine with sleeping naked.
So is Kame apparently. And Taguchi. And Nakamaru. And Ueda.
It’s just that five of them squished on his double bed is very awkward because one, the comforter isn’t big enough and Taguchi’s extremely tall, Nakamaru’s very bony and Kame and Ueda are fighting over the pillow.
Oh and Koki’s on the bottom of the doggy pile, can’t really breathe. But that’s not all that important. Actually it is because Koki’s pretty sure the world is turning fuzzy and-
“OW,” he hollers, smacking the person that managed to shove him onto the floor. “DID YOU JUST KICK ME OUT OF MY OWN BED?”
“Koki. It’s late. Keep it down,” Ueda orders.
“You kicked me out of bed. Naked,” he growls, dragging Nakamaru out by the ankles. “You, join me on the floor and help me find the futon.”
“You’re really going to walk around the house naked?” Taguchi asks doubtfully. “It’s kinda cold.”
“You kicked me out of bed,” Koki yells.
“Everyone shut up, Kame’s asleep,” Ueda says over the noise. And true to his word, they all look at Kame who’s hogging the comforter and fast asleep.
Someone has to wake them up and unfortunately for them, it’s the sound of Kame banging around in the kitchen and then their clothes being flung in their face, freshly laundered and ironed underwear and all.
“You remember that time in Hokkaido?” Koki mumbles. “When Ueda and Maru lost all their luggage and they had to borrow mine and Akanishi’s clothes for a whole trip?”
“And I never want to remember that leg of the tour ever again,” Ueda says icily.
Nakamaru winces. “It was either Akanishi’s clothes or Taguchi’s and I basically would be swimming around in his jeans. Even if Akanishi’s pants are always ten sizes too big for him. Would it kill him to get proper fitted clothes?”
“I think what Yucchi is trying to say is, why doesn’t Akanishi own any sweater vests,” Taguchi snickers as he pulls his shirt on. “I don’t think Akanishi supports Team Argyle. I could always ask him if you want.”
“What’s wrong with argyle?” Nakamaru objects.
Koki just pats Nakamaru on the head. “There, there Yuichi. We have a long day ahead of us.”
Their manager gives them one very long suffering long before sending them all home to change and come back to work in an outfit different from the one they wore yesterday.
Except for Nakamaru. He ends up wearing another sweater vest.
Koki messages everyone to bring extra clothes for when they clean his apartment again that night.
They’re all dead on the floor, staring at the ceiling as all of them try to catch their breaths. Dance rehearsals are exhausting and Koki remembers times when Akanishi could go on for hours, even if his waist hurts him-the rest of them would just glare and hate his natural talent. And then laugh when Akanishi tries to pull Nakamaru up for a waltz.
Koki still has the photos on his phone for blackmail.
“I think someone should buy lunch,” Taguchi murmurs.
“I think someone should be generous to not only walk down to buy it but also pay for it,” Ueda agrees.
“I think someone should volunteer,” Nakamaru adds.
“I think someone should be nice enough because KAT-TUN helped them with a favour,” Kame says pointedly.
Koki mock glares. “Haters,” he accuses before nudging Kame with his foot, much to the annoyance of their resident priss. “Just call a fast food place and have them delivery it here.”
“We can’t order take-out by delivery anymore,” Kame snaps. “Because Hey Say Jump did it last month and ordered enough food to feed an army and had about five people come over and then they held a mini food fest with EbiKisu and that’s why Johnny sent out the notice. Don’t you remember? Do any of you even check your Jimusho email?”
Koki recalls something like that. He also recalls being there for a part of the food fest, letting Fujigaya hand him some free pizza in exchange for his silence.
Very wisely, he just bullies Nakamaru into taking a trip down to the combini with him.
When they turn up with take away curry rice from the izakaya down the road, Kame’s curled up on the sofa in the corner whilst Taguchi and Ueda lend him their coats as a temporary pillow and blanket.
“I told you he’d fall apart,” Ueda says triumphantly.
“He’s still put together,” Koki argues.
“We’re still together,” Taguchi adds with a smile.
Nakamaru puts the rice down and Koki hands everyone a soft drink before waking Kame for lunch.
“Of course we’re together. Now that does mean you’re all going to turn up at my place and get it all cleaned up. You do know that, right?” Koki demands, turning to each of them and looking down at the sleepy Kame. “You too. I have so much dirt on you that Yamashita has as well that there’s no way you’re getting out of doing my laundry.”
“Mexico,” Kame grunts.
Koki shuts up immediately.
Okay, let’s just get this out there: Mexico was Koki’s and Yamapi’s dream when they were in school together. Something about a long drive, a lot of tacos and beautiful women and they actually managed to buy plane tickets once they had the money (i.e post debut, post Uchi and Kusano and THE ALCOHOL INCIDENT, post OMG AMERICA) and their groups had settled down.
Except they booked the tickets when really drunk.
Kame happened to walk in and pointed out the very logical thing: “Why are you buying a plane ticket for 2030?”
Obviously, Koki’s still getting ready for Mexico in say, two decades.
~
There’s sometime special about all of them, especially when they’re happy.
Taguchi likes them happy. He likes Jin happy as well. Sometimes Taguchi wishes Jin could be happy with them and then he remembers that Jin and Nakamaru stood on the same stage once before they took the separate paths from each other and that always makes Taguchi smile. He remembers Yukan Club and recalls that for Jin, standing alone isn’t easy.
He likes being there. Taguchi’s got the shoulders; he’s the best person to lean on.
When they think Kame’s all right, Taguchi can’t help but wonder.
There’s something about Kame’s always been a big mess-artwork type of mess, not bad type of mess. There’s nothing bad about Kame at all.
“You have to pay us back,” Koki insists.
They bicker over the lunch, over the bento prices and Taguchi can’t help but sit out.
Kame’s smiling.
He’s thankful.
He looks at Ueda, thoughtful and a smile curved over his teacup, that’s all right.
Koki is happy when they’re all together. It’s who he is.
Nakamaru…
Somehow, Taguchi wonders how they all can stand when each and everyone of them are all over the place, bits and pieces of their hearts shipped off to America half the time and the other parts of their soul embedded so deeply on Japanese soil.
He does meet up with Jin. By chance-they’re friends, coworkers but Jin’s always been about the glitz and the glamour whilst Taguchi’s not asking for anything. Maybe a job, but more than that, Taguchi’s not sure.
Sometimes, Taguchi’s unsure about the future.
Jin is always smiling, bouncing on the balls of his feet when thinking of his new solos. Last time, that was an odd subject, discussing any secret songs Jin’s written and hidden away on his laptop because really, they’re always in languages from a country away and something that most of them can’t relate to. Jin’s different but in a special way, the best type of way.
“So yeah, that’s what I’ve come up with,” Jin exclaims, shoving Taguchi some song about women and drinking up fake love and remembering only pain. “It’s like a break up type of song. But the message is that you’re not always going to be alone. Something like that.”
“I can’t read English,” Taguchi reminds him. “I can be English, with an accent though.”
“You wrote GIRLS though,” Jin argues.
They sit in a rehearsal room, cross-legged and Jin’s hair pushed back with a pair of aviators and a hoodie thrown over Taguchi’s shoulders. “GIRLS was NTT, not just me.”
“You’ve always been pimp,” Jin scoffs. “If you tried, you could probably steal the spotlight from all of us.”
But I don’t want to, Taguchi wants to protest. He just shrugs. “I suppose. You’d have to look around to spot me, but then again you could definitely find me in the dark.”
“Your puns are still terrible,” Jin grunts before shoving the printed out lyrics at Taguchi. “Read it, tell me what you think. I want to hear it.”
“Why?” He’s puzzled because well-
“You wrote GIRLS!” Jin groans. “I wish I thought of it. It was like…totally ready for the clubs. I’d totally do someone to that song. Well, not really. It’d be creepy to have Koki rapping in the background when I’m about to get it on with a girl, but you get what I mean right? Come on, Taguchi. Give me your opinion. You produced it. You gave birth to some art form named NTT.”
Even for Jin, that’s a bit crazy.
But he takes the lyrics with a smile because he does want an excuse to run into Jin again.
So maybe Kame’s a workaholic, even Taguchi can’t deny that.
But work is what keeps Kame going, he doesn’t hold that against him either.
When Kame’s on his fifth cup of coffee for the day, it’s Taguchi that confiscates his cigarettes and coffee and anything that will keep his motor going because if Kame doesn’t get some rest, he’ll sway like a tree in the wind. And the truth is, if Kame makes like a tree, he’ll leave.
Taguchi doesn’t want that.
“You know, you already held an intervention,” Kame argues hotly. “I’m fine! I’m perfectly fine! We have an apartment to clean later on,” he adds.
He managed to run into Jin-literally. Taguchi’s coming back from a bathroom break, Jin’s going for a smoke.
“Come with me,” Jin encourages, handing Taguchi a cigarette and nudging him to the balcony where they used to see senpai dragging on cigarettes and laughing as the smoke floats around their heads. Now they stand there-have stood there for many years. Jin lights the cigarettes, looking at Taguchi with a glint in his eye. “Did you read them?”
“I didn’t have time. We were having meetings and practise,” Taguchi confesses.
Jin pauses and then just shrugs. “It’s fine.” A strange gap of silence. “You know, I wanted to perform in Vegas but they had to take it off the tour schedule.” And Jin tells him all about Vegas, about the endless stretch of neon lights and the showgirls with their sparkly costumes. And then he tells Taguchi about Chicago and its theatre and he shares the time he went to Venice-the one in LA, obviously-and took a million photos but lost his camera at the end of the day.
Jin’s stories, they’re golden. Like hope.
“You could buy a dictionary,” Jin says when Taguchi finds him sitting in a stairwell, empty drink can and a cigarette between his finger. He lets out a small puff of smoke, shaking his head. “Roof’s taken.”
Taguchi would know, Kame’s just gone up there with Koki to complain about how incompetent the production crew is because their ability to autotune is just terrible. Horrible. He’s not not sure what else Kame’s complaining about but he does know that Nakamaru will make faces at how the two of them will reek of nicotine.
“You could just translate with me?” He pauses. “Si’lvous plait?”
“Your French is still awful.” But Jin does translate a part of it, the cigarette burning out as time crawls by.
Taguchi pokes Jin on the shoulder. “Stop smoking, it’ll ruin your voice. Half the group smokes.”
Jin raises an eyebrow. “Really now?” he drawls, lighting up once more.
“Mmhm.”
“Two out of five.”
“Three out of six,” Taguchi corrects.
Kame’s leaning on his shoulder, the taxi home a long ride and Kame tends to fall asleep any place that isn’t filled with papers and music and dance choreography blocking-he’s done with the brow beating for now; for that, Taguchi’s thankful.
“Did you smoke?” Kame murmurs. “Should have joined us.”
“No, I was just talking to someone,” Taguchi says softly, reaching up to pat Kame’s hair gently. “You should rest, we still have five minutes before we reach Koki’s place.” Of course, Ueda’s sharing with Maru and Koki actually drove to work-Taguchi sometimes just prefers a taxi. It’s easier and he can enjoy the ride. “Just rest a bit, Kazuya.”
“You didn’t smoke though.”
“I can’t see through it, the screen is too strong,” Taguchi jokes.
Kame freezes, body tense all over. “But you weren’t the one. It’s second hand.”
“Cheaper that way.”
“Pull over,” Kame says, sitting up immediately and the professional is back. “Can you clean without me? You four can handle it, can’t you? I’ll call you all later.” And he gets out of the taxi, rapping on the rooftop with his knuckles to see Taguchi off.
He doesn’t know how to explain.
Ueda beats him to it. “Why do you smell like second hand smoke? Do you enjoy destroying your lungs?”
“I didn’t smoke,” Taguchi says defensively. Although, he wishes he did. It would have just stopped it from being like this. He doesn’t like this, it’s not nice. It’s almost painful but slightly bitter. “Kame-chan knows though. But he only said he’s sitting out on the cleaning, I’m sure he’s fine.” The lie comes so easily and it hurts so much more. “I’m sure the furthest place he’ll run is his hometown.”
“No,” Ueda says quietly. “Could be Okinawa.”
Oh.
They trawl the streets of Roppongi with scarves around their necks and their coats zipped tightly.
Nakamaru is wringing his hands with worry whilst Koki doesn’t utter a word until he leaves each and every bar and strip club, spitting out a string of curses aimed at no one but himself for not thinking about it, for being so blind and selfish. Ueda crosses each place off the list as they keep walking, avoiding the underaged drinkers and white collar workers.
“I was careless but I don’t care less,” Taguchi says after the tenth place they’ve checked.
“It’s no one’s problem,” Ueda tells him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“You’re a good Leader, Uepi.”
“Haaaaah,” Ueda sighs before chasing off some girls that happened to stop by, just to ask Koki for ‘directions’.
Taguchi settles the tab, it’s the least he can do. He also helps Nakamaru with dragging Kame out of the bar and then placing him on a bench because Kame’s shoes are on the wrong feet.
“You want to talk about it?” Ueda asks slowly, clearly.
Taguchi tugs off Kame’s shoes, placing them on the correct feet. “You know, a classy drunk would keep his clothes on,” he tries to say with all the cheer he can muster. It fails, falling flat like his puns. “Come on, let’s get you a cab.”
“And what if he throws up at night?” Nakamaru worries. “He’s not talking.”
“It’s day one,” Koki reminds him quietly. Day one is always the easiest because it’s not that bad.
Day one never hits Kame that hard-they always hope day one would be the last day because if anything, Taguchi hates seeing Kame-or any of them-saddened for a period of time.
They all stay over at Kame’s place, arms and legs twisted in haphazard knots like a security blanket. They never let go, a human shield from the world but not enough for the heart. Taguchi listens to Kame’s ragged breathing, wincing at the stench of the alcohol but he touches Kame’s hair. It needs conditioner. It’s dry. But Kame’s there, he’s not somewhere else.
Ueda shifts.
Nakamarusnoress.
Koki grunts, he’s probably having a dirty dream.
Taguchi kisses Kame, right on the tip of his nose. “Feel better soon,” he whispers before falling asleep.
Jin hands him a bag of onigiri. “Come on, let’s chat,” he laughs with a smile that’s brighter than sunlight even if his eyes are frosted over, like winter come early. “I haven’t finished translating the song. You’ll like it. I changed the last part. I think I reference to Love Music if that’s okay with you.”
“How?”
“I talk about how much I just love music,” Jin drawls.
“And you say my jokes are bad.”
“You can’t say I didn’t try.”
“You can try all you want if all you want to do is try.”
“Okay, now that’s just bad.”
They find a floor where it’s all just baby Juniors-most of whom were signed up by their sisters or their cousins or mothers and don’t really care for the shiny things that will come in a few years time. They end up sitting in the corridor, legs stretched out for the kids to stop at, bow and then hop over awkwardly.
“So cute,” Jin laughs when one particular seven year old stammers a confused ‘excuse me’ and runs the opposite way. He starts counting the kids, saying hello to some of them and it reaches his eyes, the warmth and the glow as the kids stare at him even if some of them don’t know Akanishi Jin.
Forty-six kids, Taguchi counts as well. Forty-six kids wanted to use that corridor during lunch to go some place-neither of them really asked but well, that’s a lot of baby Juniors.
“Take it,” Jin insists later on, pushing the left over onigiri into Taguchi’s hands. “I bought too much.”
“You’re eating less. You should keep it. Less is not more,” Taguchi reminds him even if he does take an umeboshionigiri. “You can’t lose too much weight. You’ll lose you and disappear.”
Jin seems to tense up before punching him on the shoulder lighter. “Yeah, you wish. I shine more because I’m yellow gold.”
“I get GIRLS though.”
“Shut up.”
“When we were kids, I used to always eat onigiri at lunch but you made fun of me,” Taguchi suddenly remembers when he phones Jin later that night. “You always said I was so boring.”
“I lied.”
“You were so mean,” Taguchi continues as he brushes his teeth. “We’re cleaning Koki’s apartment, you know.”
“And you survived to tell the tale?” Jin says, shocked. “Really?”
“We haven’t finished yet. We’re spreading it over a few days. So it’ll be a really long tale, like a cat’s.”
Jin groans. “You were waiting for that, weren’t you?”
“Yep.”
“Night.”
“Goodnight.”
Day Two doesn’t happen. Yes. Day Two doesn’t happen because Taguchi wakes up after a pleasant night’s sleep. He eats onigiri for breakfast, turns up at work and hugs Kame as tightly as he can because he doesn’t want a cold blooded turtle.
“What the, get off!”
“I was worrying,” Taguchi explains.
“What are you worrying about, we’ll be all right,” Kame mutters in horrible, horrible English.
No, Taguchi realises when he sits on the rooftop with Jin and a flask of hot tea and sandwiches between them. Things aren’t all right, he thinks when Kame stands at the doorway with Koki and a fast fading smile.
“Kame,” Jin says, standing up immediately. “Kame, hey. Koki. You want to eat lunch?”
Taguchi runs past Koki, ignoring Jin’s calls and he jumping down the stairs, using the railing to swing over some of the landing and he’s dashing through a door. But he’s not fast enough.
Kame is perfectly calm later on in the production meeting. All smiles, all pleasantries and nothing seems out of place as he leans over Taguchi to steal his Starbucks. He seems all right. Please let him be okay.
Taguchi’s sharing concerned glances with Koki. His stomach twists and knots and turns when Jin calls and he can’t pick up.
Ueda and Maru, they seem perfectly fine. They’re fine. They have to be.
“We’ll be all right,” he says to Kame when they take a five-minute break. “Right?”
All smiles, totally professional and cold like Antarctica. “Of course,” Kame agrees.
“Beer,” Taguchi exclaims when Koki hands it out. “Thank you!”
“We deserve it,” Ueda says darkly. “Koki, from now on, you’re indebted to us. All of us. I never want to clean your windows ever again and you better not let this place turn into shambles again.”
“I’ll thank you all in the form of my wholesome love and not so sexual affection,” Koki says seriously.
“Please just keep it,” Nakamaru replies, squirming where he sits in the couch. “I don’t need your love addiction, thank you.”
“But why? It’s totally awesome.”
“It’s probably infected,” Ueda mutters.
“Taguchi, you want my love and revenge, don’t you?”
“Koki, we’re just friends,” Taguchi says sadly before taking a swig of beer. “But I’ll take your flatscreen TV if you don’t want it. I mean, that’s another way of expressing your love, right?”
“Taguchi, be glad I’m giving you a place to sleep tonight and throwing you out onto the streets.”
“Lucky me,” Taguchi smiles.
Koki facepalms.
“Get out of bed,” Ueda snaps, whacking them with the pillows and pulling away the comforters. “Get your clothes on-wait, when did you three even get undressed?”
“Wa-whut?” Nakamaru groans as he rolls over onto Taguchi. “Ueda, stop hitting me.”
“We have to go. I just got a call. Kame’s passed out in somewhere and I don’t know where.”
They’re dressed within seconds, stumbling through the door whilst trying to shove on their boots. The night air is freezing, the wind biting their skins. Or maybe they’re just that worried that all of them are shaking, Ueda’s hands gripped tightly over the steering wheel until his knuckles are white.
Day Two arrives at night, Taguchi thinks.
It’s worse than his most failed joke.
-> part 2