FIC FOR SEKKY_CHAN
For: sekky_chan
From: simourva
Title: Birthday Boys
Pairings/Characters: Mostly gen, but leaning towards Koki/Junno
Rating: Gen
Warnings: None
Notes: Events portrayed in the fic happened around the last quarter of 2010, approximately around the release for Change Ur World.
Summary: Junno had troubles buying presents for Koki for his birthday. Koki had no troubles buying a present for Junno’s birthday.
***
Everybody in the KAT-TUN had resigned to the fact that they would never be able to fully understand Junno. But it was ok -in fact, it had been ok for as long as they had known him- nobody expected them to “bond” by having an exhaustive understanding of each other anyway.
Kame wondered if Junno knew it.
Junno was, to put in a more delicate way, one of those people whose existence everybody would like see diminished in times of crisis. But he had such a persisting presence -almost like an inextinguishable fire- that the others had no choice but deal with him, even if it burnt through the very core of their tolerance. KAT-TUN, as a whole, was never a group of boys who hide their Junno intolerance well, much to the chagrin of various parties (which could have included their managers, past and present, hairdressers, stylists, photographers, ADs, Cartoon KAT-TUN directors, and others who Kame feared listing).
Nevertheless, Kame was fully convinced that the reason why he had never fought with Junno was because they were not the type to start the fight. However, similar as they were, there was the tiny difference being Kame not backing down from brawls of any kind -physical, mental, spiritual, to name just a few possible categories- and Junno not making people feel anything other than wanting to back down from brawls of any kind they attempted to start with him that distinguished Kame from Junno.
The others had also unanimously decided that it was because they were too logical for Junno and they didn’t know if he was strong enough (while they had never actually exchanged punches with him, the thought of engaging him in a fistfight sounded like a silly decision no decent man in their 20s would commit a deadly mistake by seriously attempting, though they would rather die than to admit this).
Junno, of course, decided that this was their way of saying they couldn’t bear to seriously fight with him. “You guys love me too much,” he beamed.
Kame rolled his eyes and tried to magic himself into finding the piece of paper detailing their schedule a million times more interesting than thinking of a way to rebut Junno. Kame liked to think that they ignored him because there was no use in getting back at him - it felt like talking to soundproof wall.
Or so that was what they announced to everyone who asked.
Before you ask, this is not going to be the typical story about How KAT-TUN Members Are So Tsundere for Junno and The Many Ways They Go About Denying Their Affections for Junno, because it really isn’t.
“It must be that crazy zeal of his,” Koki started, “that guy never stops.”
Of course Koki would know. Of course. Without a doubt.
After all, Kame wasn’t the one who got talked into accompanying Junno to buy the latest ero-game.
Or shopping in Mandarake.
Playing billiards.
Playing survival games.
Promising to gatecrash Jin’s concert.
(Koki kind of kicked and screamed and whined and whimpered, but Junno promised to buy Sakura food for the next three months.)
Watching Kame’s last Dream Boys show.
Just to name a few.
“Hey, Kazuya,” Junno poked Kame. “Do you think we can come up with T-T combo rapping in some of the coupling songs?”
Kame had just finished with the track reviewing for Change Ur World, and while he couldn’t really allocate much attention to forecasting the feasibility of having two rappers in the group, he had to admit that Girls was rather awesome. Or maybe really awesome.
“I want in for the next combo project,” he insisted.
Junno grinned.
“Or I’ll talk to Ueda. We’ll come up with something,” Kame tried to sound mischievously threatening.
They both burst out laughing.
This is probably the (fabled) tale on The Many Ways Junno Gets His Love from All His Bandmates. Maybe.
Or replace the “Love” with “Whatever Defines Love For Junno”.
***
Nakamaru would, in a heartbeat, deny with his greatest might if someone told him that Taguchi-kun was a “kind” person. Because he wasn’t, he would never be, and he had never been what people had assumed to be the typical characteristics of a “kind” person. Since forever.
Or as long as Nakamaru had known him (which really was, considering how he had spent more than a third of his life being one of Junno’s bandmates, kind of forever).
Retrospectively, Nakamaru could admit that Taguchi had sort of been a little more than accepting on what other people subjected him with (he could relate with this quite a lot). But really, it was simply due to the way how Junno’s attention towards others and the others’ attention towards him never really intersected - Junno paid too little attention to what others really wish he could have said - done, more like - and the others paid too little attention to him as a whole and when they finally do, they wished they never did.
Nakamaru blamed no one in the slightest.
He was reading some fanletters (selected ones, apparently) along with Koki that day after they had a brief meeting about the upcoming performances schedule. Kame had his usual baseball shooting somewhere in Nagano, Ueda left a while ago for his boxing, and he didn’t know where Junno was, even though he was there about a few minutes ago. Nakamaru was positive that Junno would show up again later, just in time to leave for the day.
“Maybe we should just leave our things here and make Taguchi think we are still around when we leave later,” Koki suggested.
Nakamaru was thinking on what he should leave behind to make Koki’s prank work when he caught the sight of a very amusing letter. He dragged his seat along with his body to share it with Koki.
“Hi, everybody from KAT-TUN,” Koki read. “I went to the concert this summer and I have greatly enjoyed it, thank you very much for working so hard for the sake - Yucchi, what is so amusing about this?”
Nakamaru shushed him up. “Read on.”
Koki tilted his head in compliance. “My friends and I thought that Yucchi has gotten sexier - hey, is this the actual purpose of this letter?”
Nakamaru hit his shoulder.
“Fine, fine,” Koki continued. “-and we thought that maybe it is because Yucchi is getting really good in mingling with others, especially with Kamenashi-kun - should we tell Kame-chan this? - and maybe because the other are not bullying you much this year-“
“Don’t look at me,” Nakamaru said when Koki paused, “I wasn’t the one staging that bungee jump.”
“We also realized that Koki-kun has begun to like Taguchi-kun - WHAT -and we are really happy that Koki-kun likes Taguchi-kun because we always thought that Koki-kun hates Taguchi-kun. Please continue working hard, we will forever -“
“Still here?” Junno burst through the door.
Nakamaru and Koki looked up at him. “Oh, anything interesting?” He skipped towards Koki and grabbed the letter off his hand, read it, then laughed in the usual Junno laugh that Nakamaru envisioned would have gotten a friendly slap on the back if Jin was around.
Junno patted Koki on the back. “Hey Koki, do you think we should do the thing you and Kame used to do? And oh, you did it with Jin too.” He added the second sentence sounding as though he was just hit with an enlightening revelation all of a sudden.
Nakamaru was pretty sure he knew what was coming next.
He made a mental note to consult Ueda if he had suggested something “disgusting” on their radio show a while back.
***
Contrary to the popular opinion, Koki was pretty sure it was Junno who hated him first. After all, Koki did lay a punch on his right cheek (he wasn’t sure if blood was involved, but he was certain it was just because Junno’s guard was turned off, not because he was trying to be a brute) a few moments after he ripped his own alphabet, along with Junno’s, off some of the posters for their first concert out of unreasonable anger.
Koki had insisted that it wasn’t his fault, not at all, because Junno had said something really lame. Like, really, really fucking lame.
“Koki, don’t tear off the posters! Look, we are both Ts and destined to be twins - oh, even twins starts with a T!”
There was a punch to the face, there was Junno limping away, visibly injured and there was the rest of the group frozen in confusion.
Years later, Junno did confess to having not forgotten that incident (Koki secretly hoped that he would, since it had been so many years and there had been so many punches that followed after that - both literally and figuratively) but, to his surprise, Junno wasn’t angry about it.
“Seriously?” Koki was also surprised to find himself being pleased at Junno’s good nature.
It could totally be because they were all legitimately grown up and grown-ups, according to what Koki had just taught Juri a few days prior to this conversation, grown-ups talk their issues over. At that moment, they were facing serious issues with Jin announcing his unorthodox educational stay out of Japan and Koki was struck with the realization that he could lose everything he had fought dearly for.
There was no affection, he insisted. Only pure regret and it made you do things you wouldn’t even dream of seeing yourself doing, he decided.
“Yea, since we will be stuck together forever, it’s better to not keep grudges.”
Lame. So fucking lame.
Still, Koki patted Junno’s back upon hearing that.
He was now in the survival game store in Akihabara, trying to see if he could buy something for Junno’s next birthday (damn those birthday gift competitions!) while getting extremely distracted by the gigantic Asahina Mikuru figure (next to a very distracting Suzumiya Haruhi figure repeating “I have no interest in normal people” in the high-pitched voice that sounded suspiciously like Shokotan) obnoxiously displayed on the newly opened figurine shop next door.
Ueda, who was shopping along with him (Nakamaru had gone to entertain Kame on his rare day off), kept whining about how he didn’t know what to buy. And about how hard it was to buy a simple birthday gift for Taguchi. Koki agreed, but only because Junno had explicitly told him that he had bought each and every new survival game merchandise there was to buy.
It was during their photoshoot for Myojo where Koki was positioned besides Junno and ended up with Koki lying on Junno’s upper thigh (the photographer kept asking Koki to push his head higher up on Junno’s leg), and Junno rambling about his new merchandises to the overly eager Nakamaru.
(Jin was right, Koki thought. Junno was really comfortable to lean on.)
(And really nice to hug, too.)
The giant Asahina Mikuru was looking more and more appealing, if only to solve the perpetual mystery of “what to buy Junno when the survival game stores ran out of new merchandises”.
“That’s quite ingenious of you, Koki. How do you even know that he fancies Mikuru?”
Koki laughed.
“That guy talks a lot when he sleeps, that’s why.”
***
“You should really stop by and eat with us sometime,” Koki said in a sleepy voice that usually signalled the end of his day (Jin’s day was just beginning).
Jin was packing things into his suitcase (he would be flying back to Japan in less than 12 hours). “Are you sure that isn’t because you still want to find an opportunity to kill me?”
“Don’t be silly,” Koki retorted. “Nobody’s going to kill you. We are classier than that.”
“Besides, you still owe us Matsutaka beef for the next 10 years.” Koki added.
“Isn’t that only relevant to your interests?” Jin shouted into the phone and they both took that as a cue to hang up.
For the longest time, Koki was the one Jin had hesitated talking to after his tour plans (it used to be Kame, but apparently Nakamaru convinced Kame otherwise, and Jin bet it involved cooking up various ways to make Jin buy Kame expensive things), and it sucked balls because Koki was Koki and Koki wore his heart on the sleeve and could be the most emotionally vulnerable person ever when he got hurt.
Not long after Koki called, Junno’s name appeared on his phone screen. “Yo, Jin!”
The bouncy voice was so expected of Junno (despite the fact that it should be well past midnight over in Japan), Jin couldn’t help but break in smile at the prospect of dining with ex-bandmates, especially after Junno had cheerily help him into anticipating it.
“We just happened to have some free time, except Kame of course, since promotions for the new single ended and you better make it because it’s not easy to squeeze into Kame’s schedule,” Junno spoke in a single breath. “We’ll see you in the airport later!”
When he arrived in Japan, there were Yamapi and Junno with Koki waiting for him in the parking lot of the airport (they needed to be discreet, who knew who was among the silent lurkers of the airport; fangirls who stole his phone bills came to Jin’s mind immediately and he shuddered at the thought).
Koki gave him a high five. “Congratulations, dude!”
“I knew you’d be amazing.”
Junno grinned from ear to ear. “Tell us about the American chicks! Are they really as fly as the G6?”
That earned him a kick in the shins. “Stop annoying people with that song!”
Jin chattered animatedly in the car despite feeling like every last ounce of his energy drained away from the jetlag. They drilled him about everything - from “how was it like to perform for gaijins”, to “how are the people helping you in your songwriting”, and to “why are you losing weight instead of gaining extra fat from all the hamburgers and French fries”.
Jin felt good to be back. “Tadaima.”
Junno and Koki both slapped each side of his arm.
(Yamapi was driving.)
***
Ueda found himself realizing that he had been quite a popular choice among his bandmates as a company to shop for things. Birthday presents, especially.
“Hey Uepi, what else do you think we can get him?”
They were in the household store which also sold gifts (though in limited variety); Junno seemed to think that the domestic department would miraculously display something that Koki would definitely love.
He was hit with a sudden jolt of déjà vu.
See, not only was he asked (nicely) by Koki to accompany him for a chilling out session that turned out to be an early shopping trip for Junno's birthday, he was also unknowingly dragged into the trainwreck that was Junno’s last-minute shopping for a present for Koki’s birthday. Junno was usually the best person he could ever asked to go shopping with because he was decisive (the bottom-place occupant of the list of most brand-conscious people in Ueda's mind, with Kame coming up first, of course, and Nakamaru somewhere near Junno), and mostly, he wouldn't get annoyed by Ueda's own indecisiveness. Nakamaru too, but Ueda needed him to be dragged by Kame to go shopping with because there was no way in hell Ueda would approach Kame with a ten-foot pole when that guy was in his usual shopaholic mode.
Seemed to him like the roles had been reversed this time around - Ueda's patience thinning by the minute as Junno haphazardly scanned around the gift aisle for another birthday present for Koki because he was late in buying him gifts and therefore, needed to compensate by getting another present for him.
"Taguchi, Koki wouldn't know that you bought him his present a few days before we celebrate," Ueda kindly, but quite sarcastically reminded.
"But I need something more," Junno said as he went through a list of merchandises intensely. "There are prizes to win after all."
"I think I stand a chance to win it, since I've already gotten a point from you," he continued.
Ueda tapped his foot impatiently, slightly regretting his decision to crown Junno the champion for his birthday and entertained himself with the wind chimes while searching for something boxing-related. A few people (mostly girls) passed by and whispered to themselves in uncertainty (it happened to them almost all the time, but at least it wasn't Kame or Jin he was with or else he would have to pick up his feet and run the moment the tell-tale signs of being recognized were spotted) and Junno was still busily reading the catalogue.
He couldn’t deny that watching Junno fidget around various ideas while murmuring “what should I do, what should I do” under his breath was amusing. It reminded him of the expressions of intense concentration that Junno only had on his face when he was playing his games. The type of faces he made when he was about to commit things unthinkable in real life, examples including (but not limited to) obliterating an entire city, sending an army of fighter jets to counter the surprise attack from a rival country, and orchestrating fake suicide missions to trick the enemy into submission. He debated whether he should ask Junno if he was aware about subconsciously likening buying presents for Koki to an activity worthy of virtual demolishment.
"I GOT IT!" Junno declared out of the blue, making Ueda jump in astonishment. He was shocked but also glad, because Junno’s screams of victory hardly mean otherwise.
Junno's eyes beamed in child-like excitement. "Uepi, let's go to Mandarake!"
Ueda’s heart dropped and he let out a sigh.
"Why Mandarake again?"
***
Junno lost to Kame.
He had heard of the saying that the fastest way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, but he hadn’t really been expecting to see Kame appealing directly to Koki’s carnivorous appetite. He had to admit that Kame had displayed one of the best plays in their recent myriad of games (Junno considered the birthday present competition as a game); even his method was unknowingly underhanded at best - like a girl who chose to give her boyfriend a kiss on his birthday instead of a real present.
But he wouldn’t complain. Complaining was never Junno’s way of losing even when he wanted to win so badly to have done everything there was to be done to win.
“As expected from Kame, eh? You can’t go wrong with a star even when it comes to giving birthday presents,” he said with a smile, inviting various forms of physical attacks from his bandmates.
“At least you lost to the best, Taguchi,” Koki justified his choice.
It didn’t matter to Junno. A loss was a loss. That’s how we are, he thought with a slight grin. He thought that he and his bandmates shared a relationship like that of the six (mostly 5, now) warriors of a clan sparring to best themselves, sans the antagonistic crap others thought they were in.
He was therefore, infinitely entertained as he watched his bandmates struggle to buy him gifts during his birthday. The result was really a wacky combination to say the least (there was Jin’s promise to treat him to an all-American dinner, though that was due to Jin being extorted and forced to never live that “American” thing down), with items ranging from geekish to downright domestic to obviously pornographic.
“We didn’t know what to buy!” Kame and Nakamaru, defending their selections. But really, coffee maker and home bakery set? Junno promised himself to remind these two to never again shop together when it comes to buying presents for someone else.
Halfway through snickering at the way Nakamaru and Kame shot accusations at each other, Ueda joined in and blamed Junno himself for their inability to decide what to buy Junno for his birthday.
“Taguchi’s just very hard to please!” Ueda looked at Nakamaru, counting on Nakamaru to validate his claim.
Kame went along. “Right? The second we found something we thought he would like, there will be this nagging feeling it is not the right one for him.”
All of them began speaking on top of each other to form a sentence which Junno supposed sounded like “That’s why we told you to not have so many interests! We were so conflicted, we couldn’t even begin to describe how god-like unpredictable you are.”
However, when Koki spoke, Junno thought it was the crowning moment of his birthday.
“Yea, but really, Taguchi’s not very hard to please,” he said.
Everybody was momentarily dumbstruck.
“That was not what you said when you wanted to buy that huge Mikuru figure!”
“It’s not my fault that I saw this” Koki flailed his fingers towards the arcade game machines he presented as his birthday present for Junno, “soon after! Why didn’t you buy something there?”
“How was I supposed to know that buying similar presents would,” Ueda glared daggers at Nakamaru and Kame, “suddenly become a fad?”
Junno laughed throughout their entire arguing session, with the juniors who passed by their meeting room evidently trying to check if things were alright with their respected sempais (probably also trying to spot tell-tale signs of them heading towards a more physical approach to resolve disagreements), and if they needed to “chill out”. Junno waved them off, trying to distract them from the aggressive verbal violence and assured them that they were just having some sort of lovers’ spat for his sake (which earned him a very united “NO, WE AREN’T!”; it was music to his ears) and they would be heading towards supper very soon.
The supper was no less rowdy; Ueda still insisted that Koki had played dirty by ditching the giant Mikuru, Nakamaru desperately sought for Kame’s confirmation that buying kitchen equipments was very, very practical and they were appealing to the part of Junno that was feasible and sensible (Junno gagged at the polarizing shift in the fundamentals of his arguments), and Koki insisted that Junno was the easiest to buy presents for (Junno truly believed that at this point he was merely arguing to preserve his dignity instead of actually believing in his own case).
“Aren’t we getting along really fine?” Junno grinned, mentally constructing an anecdote to tell Jin on Skype later.
They stopped arguing briefly, then threw down their respective chopsticks to laugh heartily.
“Hey, Taguchi,” Koki wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes with his hands. “Maybe we should try the double rap combo some time.”
Junno thought it was the best birthday he ever had.
***
From: simourva
Title: Birthday Boys
Pairings/Characters: Mostly gen, but leaning towards Koki/Junno
Rating: Gen
Warnings: None
Notes: Events portrayed in the fic happened around the last quarter of 2010, approximately around the release for Change Ur World.
Summary: Junno had troubles buying presents for Koki for his birthday. Koki had no troubles buying a present for Junno’s birthday.
***
Everybody in the KAT-TUN had resigned to the fact that they would never be able to fully understand Junno. But it was ok -in fact, it had been ok for as long as they had known him- nobody expected them to “bond” by having an exhaustive understanding of each other anyway.
Kame wondered if Junno knew it.
Junno was, to put in a more delicate way, one of those people whose existence everybody would like see diminished in times of crisis. But he had such a persisting presence -almost like an inextinguishable fire- that the others had no choice but deal with him, even if it burnt through the very core of their tolerance. KAT-TUN, as a whole, was never a group of boys who hide their Junno intolerance well, much to the chagrin of various parties (which could have included their managers, past and present, hairdressers, stylists, photographers, ADs, Cartoon KAT-TUN directors, and others who Kame feared listing).
Nevertheless, Kame was fully convinced that the reason why he had never fought with Junno was because they were not the type to start the fight. However, similar as they were, there was the tiny difference being Kame not backing down from brawls of any kind -physical, mental, spiritual, to name just a few possible categories- and Junno not making people feel anything other than wanting to back down from brawls of any kind they attempted to start with him that distinguished Kame from Junno.
The others had also unanimously decided that it was because they were too logical for Junno and they didn’t know if he was strong enough (while they had never actually exchanged punches with him, the thought of engaging him in a fistfight sounded like a silly decision no decent man in their 20s would commit a deadly mistake by seriously attempting, though they would rather die than to admit this).
Junno, of course, decided that this was their way of saying they couldn’t bear to seriously fight with him. “You guys love me too much,” he beamed.
Kame rolled his eyes and tried to magic himself into finding the piece of paper detailing their schedule a million times more interesting than thinking of a way to rebut Junno. Kame liked to think that they ignored him because there was no use in getting back at him - it felt like talking to soundproof wall.
Or so that was what they announced to everyone who asked.
Before you ask, this is not going to be the typical story about How KAT-TUN Members Are So Tsundere for Junno and The Many Ways They Go About Denying Their Affections for Junno, because it really isn’t.
“It must be that crazy zeal of his,” Koki started, “that guy never stops.”
Of course Koki would know. Of course. Without a doubt.
After all, Kame wasn’t the one who got talked into accompanying Junno to buy the latest ero-game.
Or shopping in Mandarake.
Playing billiards.
Playing survival games.
Promising to gatecrash Jin’s concert.
(Koki kind of kicked and screamed and whined and whimpered, but Junno promised to buy Sakura food for the next three months.)
Watching Kame’s last Dream Boys show.
Just to name a few.
“Hey, Kazuya,” Junno poked Kame. “Do you think we can come up with T-T combo rapping in some of the coupling songs?”
Kame had just finished with the track reviewing for Change Ur World, and while he couldn’t really allocate much attention to forecasting the feasibility of having two rappers in the group, he had to admit that Girls was rather awesome. Or maybe really awesome.
“I want in for the next combo project,” he insisted.
Junno grinned.
“Or I’ll talk to Ueda. We’ll come up with something,” Kame tried to sound mischievously threatening.
They both burst out laughing.
This is probably the (fabled) tale on The Many Ways Junno Gets His Love from All His Bandmates. Maybe.
Or replace the “Love” with “Whatever Defines Love For Junno”.
***
Nakamaru would, in a heartbeat, deny with his greatest might if someone told him that Taguchi-kun was a “kind” person. Because he wasn’t, he would never be, and he had never been what people had assumed to be the typical characteristics of a “kind” person. Since forever.
Or as long as Nakamaru had known him (which really was, considering how he had spent more than a third of his life being one of Junno’s bandmates, kind of forever).
Retrospectively, Nakamaru could admit that Taguchi had sort of been a little more than accepting on what other people subjected him with (he could relate with this quite a lot). But really, it was simply due to the way how Junno’s attention towards others and the others’ attention towards him never really intersected - Junno paid too little attention to what others really wish he could have said - done, more like - and the others paid too little attention to him as a whole and when they finally do, they wished they never did.
Nakamaru blamed no one in the slightest.
He was reading some fanletters (selected ones, apparently) along with Koki that day after they had a brief meeting about the upcoming performances schedule. Kame had his usual baseball shooting somewhere in Nagano, Ueda left a while ago for his boxing, and he didn’t know where Junno was, even though he was there about a few minutes ago. Nakamaru was positive that Junno would show up again later, just in time to leave for the day.
“Maybe we should just leave our things here and make Taguchi think we are still around when we leave later,” Koki suggested.
Nakamaru was thinking on what he should leave behind to make Koki’s prank work when he caught the sight of a very amusing letter. He dragged his seat along with his body to share it with Koki.
“Hi, everybody from KAT-TUN,” Koki read. “I went to the concert this summer and I have greatly enjoyed it, thank you very much for working so hard for the sake - Yucchi, what is so amusing about this?”
Nakamaru shushed him up. “Read on.”
Koki tilted his head in compliance. “My friends and I thought that Yucchi has gotten sexier - hey, is this the actual purpose of this letter?”
Nakamaru hit his shoulder.
“Fine, fine,” Koki continued. “-and we thought that maybe it is because Yucchi is getting really good in mingling with others, especially with Kamenashi-kun - should we tell Kame-chan this? - and maybe because the other are not bullying you much this year-“
“Don’t look at me,” Nakamaru said when Koki paused, “I wasn’t the one staging that bungee jump.”
“We also realized that Koki-kun has begun to like Taguchi-kun - WHAT -and we are really happy that Koki-kun likes Taguchi-kun because we always thought that Koki-kun hates Taguchi-kun. Please continue working hard, we will forever -“
“Still here?” Junno burst through the door.
Nakamaru and Koki looked up at him. “Oh, anything interesting?” He skipped towards Koki and grabbed the letter off his hand, read it, then laughed in the usual Junno laugh that Nakamaru envisioned would have gotten a friendly slap on the back if Jin was around.
Junno patted Koki on the back. “Hey Koki, do you think we should do the thing you and Kame used to do? And oh, you did it with Jin too.” He added the second sentence sounding as though he was just hit with an enlightening revelation all of a sudden.
Nakamaru was pretty sure he knew what was coming next.
He made a mental note to consult Ueda if he had suggested something “disgusting” on their radio show a while back.
***
Contrary to the popular opinion, Koki was pretty sure it was Junno who hated him first. After all, Koki did lay a punch on his right cheek (he wasn’t sure if blood was involved, but he was certain it was just because Junno’s guard was turned off, not because he was trying to be a brute) a few moments after he ripped his own alphabet, along with Junno’s, off some of the posters for their first concert out of unreasonable anger.
Koki had insisted that it wasn’t his fault, not at all, because Junno had said something really lame. Like, really, really fucking lame.
“Koki, don’t tear off the posters! Look, we are both Ts and destined to be twins - oh, even twins starts with a T!”
There was a punch to the face, there was Junno limping away, visibly injured and there was the rest of the group frozen in confusion.
Years later, Junno did confess to having not forgotten that incident (Koki secretly hoped that he would, since it had been so many years and there had been so many punches that followed after that - both literally and figuratively) but, to his surprise, Junno wasn’t angry about it.
“Seriously?” Koki was also surprised to find himself being pleased at Junno’s good nature.
It could totally be because they were all legitimately grown up and grown-ups, according to what Koki had just taught Juri a few days prior to this conversation, grown-ups talk their issues over. At that moment, they were facing serious issues with Jin announcing his unorthodox educational stay out of Japan and Koki was struck with the realization that he could lose everything he had fought dearly for.
There was no affection, he insisted. Only pure regret and it made you do things you wouldn’t even dream of seeing yourself doing, he decided.
“Yea, since we will be stuck together forever, it’s better to not keep grudges.”
Lame. So fucking lame.
Still, Koki patted Junno’s back upon hearing that.
He was now in the survival game store in Akihabara, trying to see if he could buy something for Junno’s next birthday (damn those birthday gift competitions!) while getting extremely distracted by the gigantic Asahina Mikuru figure (next to a very distracting Suzumiya Haruhi figure repeating “I have no interest in normal people” in the high-pitched voice that sounded suspiciously like Shokotan) obnoxiously displayed on the newly opened figurine shop next door.
Ueda, who was shopping along with him (Nakamaru had gone to entertain Kame on his rare day off), kept whining about how he didn’t know what to buy. And about how hard it was to buy a simple birthday gift for Taguchi. Koki agreed, but only because Junno had explicitly told him that he had bought each and every new survival game merchandise there was to buy.
It was during their photoshoot for Myojo where Koki was positioned besides Junno and ended up with Koki lying on Junno’s upper thigh (the photographer kept asking Koki to push his head higher up on Junno’s leg), and Junno rambling about his new merchandises to the overly eager Nakamaru.
(Jin was right, Koki thought. Junno was really comfortable to lean on.)
(And really nice to hug, too.)
The giant Asahina Mikuru was looking more and more appealing, if only to solve the perpetual mystery of “what to buy Junno when the survival game stores ran out of new merchandises”.
“That’s quite ingenious of you, Koki. How do you even know that he fancies Mikuru?”
Koki laughed.
“That guy talks a lot when he sleeps, that’s why.”
***
“You should really stop by and eat with us sometime,” Koki said in a sleepy voice that usually signalled the end of his day (Jin’s day was just beginning).
Jin was packing things into his suitcase (he would be flying back to Japan in less than 12 hours). “Are you sure that isn’t because you still want to find an opportunity to kill me?”
“Don’t be silly,” Koki retorted. “Nobody’s going to kill you. We are classier than that.”
“Besides, you still owe us Matsutaka beef for the next 10 years.” Koki added.
“Isn’t that only relevant to your interests?” Jin shouted into the phone and they both took that as a cue to hang up.
For the longest time, Koki was the one Jin had hesitated talking to after his tour plans (it used to be Kame, but apparently Nakamaru convinced Kame otherwise, and Jin bet it involved cooking up various ways to make Jin buy Kame expensive things), and it sucked balls because Koki was Koki and Koki wore his heart on the sleeve and could be the most emotionally vulnerable person ever when he got hurt.
Not long after Koki called, Junno’s name appeared on his phone screen. “Yo, Jin!”
The bouncy voice was so expected of Junno (despite the fact that it should be well past midnight over in Japan), Jin couldn’t help but break in smile at the prospect of dining with ex-bandmates, especially after Junno had cheerily help him into anticipating it.
“We just happened to have some free time, except Kame of course, since promotions for the new single ended and you better make it because it’s not easy to squeeze into Kame’s schedule,” Junno spoke in a single breath. “We’ll see you in the airport later!”
When he arrived in Japan, there were Yamapi and Junno with Koki waiting for him in the parking lot of the airport (they needed to be discreet, who knew who was among the silent lurkers of the airport; fangirls who stole his phone bills came to Jin’s mind immediately and he shuddered at the thought).
Koki gave him a high five. “Congratulations, dude!”
“I knew you’d be amazing.”
Junno grinned from ear to ear. “Tell us about the American chicks! Are they really as fly as the G6?”
That earned him a kick in the shins. “Stop annoying people with that song!”
Jin chattered animatedly in the car despite feeling like every last ounce of his energy drained away from the jetlag. They drilled him about everything - from “how was it like to perform for gaijins”, to “how are the people helping you in your songwriting”, and to “why are you losing weight instead of gaining extra fat from all the hamburgers and French fries”.
Jin felt good to be back. “Tadaima.”
Junno and Koki both slapped each side of his arm.
(Yamapi was driving.)
***
Ueda found himself realizing that he had been quite a popular choice among his bandmates as a company to shop for things. Birthday presents, especially.
“Hey Uepi, what else do you think we can get him?”
They were in the household store which also sold gifts (though in limited variety); Junno seemed to think that the domestic department would miraculously display something that Koki would definitely love.
He was hit with a sudden jolt of déjà vu.
See, not only was he asked (nicely) by Koki to accompany him for a chilling out session that turned out to be an early shopping trip for Junno's birthday, he was also unknowingly dragged into the trainwreck that was Junno’s last-minute shopping for a present for Koki’s birthday. Junno was usually the best person he could ever asked to go shopping with because he was decisive (the bottom-place occupant of the list of most brand-conscious people in Ueda's mind, with Kame coming up first, of course, and Nakamaru somewhere near Junno), and mostly, he wouldn't get annoyed by Ueda's own indecisiveness. Nakamaru too, but Ueda needed him to be dragged by Kame to go shopping with because there was no way in hell Ueda would approach Kame with a ten-foot pole when that guy was in his usual shopaholic mode.
Seemed to him like the roles had been reversed this time around - Ueda's patience thinning by the minute as Junno haphazardly scanned around the gift aisle for another birthday present for Koki because he was late in buying him gifts and therefore, needed to compensate by getting another present for him.
"Taguchi, Koki wouldn't know that you bought him his present a few days before we celebrate," Ueda kindly, but quite sarcastically reminded.
"But I need something more," Junno said as he went through a list of merchandises intensely. "There are prizes to win after all."
"I think I stand a chance to win it, since I've already gotten a point from you," he continued.
Ueda tapped his foot impatiently, slightly regretting his decision to crown Junno the champion for his birthday and entertained himself with the wind chimes while searching for something boxing-related. A few people (mostly girls) passed by and whispered to themselves in uncertainty (it happened to them almost all the time, but at least it wasn't Kame or Jin he was with or else he would have to pick up his feet and run the moment the tell-tale signs of being recognized were spotted) and Junno was still busily reading the catalogue.
He couldn’t deny that watching Junno fidget around various ideas while murmuring “what should I do, what should I do” under his breath was amusing. It reminded him of the expressions of intense concentration that Junno only had on his face when he was playing his games. The type of faces he made when he was about to commit things unthinkable in real life, examples including (but not limited to) obliterating an entire city, sending an army of fighter jets to counter the surprise attack from a rival country, and orchestrating fake suicide missions to trick the enemy into submission. He debated whether he should ask Junno if he was aware about subconsciously likening buying presents for Koki to an activity worthy of virtual demolishment.
"I GOT IT!" Junno declared out of the blue, making Ueda jump in astonishment. He was shocked but also glad, because Junno’s screams of victory hardly mean otherwise.
Junno's eyes beamed in child-like excitement. "Uepi, let's go to Mandarake!"
Ueda’s heart dropped and he let out a sigh.
"Why Mandarake again?"
***
Junno lost to Kame.
He had heard of the saying that the fastest way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, but he hadn’t really been expecting to see Kame appealing directly to Koki’s carnivorous appetite. He had to admit that Kame had displayed one of the best plays in their recent myriad of games (Junno considered the birthday present competition as a game); even his method was unknowingly underhanded at best - like a girl who chose to give her boyfriend a kiss on his birthday instead of a real present.
But he wouldn’t complain. Complaining was never Junno’s way of losing even when he wanted to win so badly to have done everything there was to be done to win.
“As expected from Kame, eh? You can’t go wrong with a star even when it comes to giving birthday presents,” he said with a smile, inviting various forms of physical attacks from his bandmates.
“At least you lost to the best, Taguchi,” Koki justified his choice.
It didn’t matter to Junno. A loss was a loss. That’s how we are, he thought with a slight grin. He thought that he and his bandmates shared a relationship like that of the six (mostly 5, now) warriors of a clan sparring to best themselves, sans the antagonistic crap others thought they were in.
He was therefore, infinitely entertained as he watched his bandmates struggle to buy him gifts during his birthday. The result was really a wacky combination to say the least (there was Jin’s promise to treat him to an all-American dinner, though that was due to Jin being extorted and forced to never live that “American” thing down), with items ranging from geekish to downright domestic to obviously pornographic.
“We didn’t know what to buy!” Kame and Nakamaru, defending their selections. But really, coffee maker and home bakery set? Junno promised himself to remind these two to never again shop together when it comes to buying presents for someone else.
Halfway through snickering at the way Nakamaru and Kame shot accusations at each other, Ueda joined in and blamed Junno himself for their inability to decide what to buy Junno for his birthday.
“Taguchi’s just very hard to please!” Ueda looked at Nakamaru, counting on Nakamaru to validate his claim.
Kame went along. “Right? The second we found something we thought he would like, there will be this nagging feeling it is not the right one for him.”
All of them began speaking on top of each other to form a sentence which Junno supposed sounded like “That’s why we told you to not have so many interests! We were so conflicted, we couldn’t even begin to describe how god-like unpredictable you are.”
However, when Koki spoke, Junno thought it was the crowning moment of his birthday.
“Yea, but really, Taguchi’s not very hard to please,” he said.
Everybody was momentarily dumbstruck.
“That was not what you said when you wanted to buy that huge Mikuru figure!”
“It’s not my fault that I saw this” Koki flailed his fingers towards the arcade game machines he presented as his birthday present for Junno, “soon after! Why didn’t you buy something there?”
“How was I supposed to know that buying similar presents would,” Ueda glared daggers at Nakamaru and Kame, “suddenly become a fad?”
Junno laughed throughout their entire arguing session, with the juniors who passed by their meeting room evidently trying to check if things were alright with their respected sempais (probably also trying to spot tell-tale signs of them heading towards a more physical approach to resolve disagreements), and if they needed to “chill out”. Junno waved them off, trying to distract them from the aggressive verbal violence and assured them that they were just having some sort of lovers’ spat for his sake (which earned him a very united “NO, WE AREN’T!”; it was music to his ears) and they would be heading towards supper very soon.
The supper was no less rowdy; Ueda still insisted that Koki had played dirty by ditching the giant Mikuru, Nakamaru desperately sought for Kame’s confirmation that buying kitchen equipments was very, very practical and they were appealing to the part of Junno that was feasible and sensible (Junno gagged at the polarizing shift in the fundamentals of his arguments), and Koki insisted that Junno was the easiest to buy presents for (Junno truly believed that at this point he was merely arguing to preserve his dignity instead of actually believing in his own case).
“Aren’t we getting along really fine?” Junno grinned, mentally constructing an anecdote to tell Jin on Skype later.
They stopped arguing briefly, then threw down their respective chopsticks to laugh heartily.
“Hey, Taguchi,” Koki wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes with his hands. “Maybe we should try the double rap combo some time.”
Junno thought it was the best birthday he ever had.
***