JE - Turkish Delight - Shige/Akun
Title: Turkish Delight
Pairing: Kato Shigeaki / Igo Akun
Rating: PG-13
Author Notes: I ... don't really know where this came from. If anyone doesn't know Akun (who am I kidding...) he is Question?'s guitarist. I'm not sure why I wrote this pairing, but it worked strangely well. So umm, please read? :D :D Guest appearances by the rest of NEWS, Akanishi Jin and Yonemura Daijiro (Question?).
Turkish Delight
Shige is drunk.
It’s not particularly unusual and in fact it happens almost every weekend, but this time Shige is drunk and alone.
In Roppongi.
He vaguely remembers coming here with Yamapi and Akanishi Jin in an attempt to get away from his “usual habitat” (“You mean Koyama by that, right?” Akanishi had slurred at him four drinks into the evening. “Right?!”). Shige’s fuzzy mind procures images of Yamapi handing him tequila shot after tequila shot, of Akanishi slapping his back so enthusiastically that it hurts, of girls with too much make-up and hair higher than Tokyo Tower pressing up against him inappropriately - then, nothing. He has no clue whatsoever how the hell he’d ended up alone.
With an annoyed little huff, Shige realises he only has five hundred and twenty-five yen left in his wallet. And he has no idea where the hell the station is.
He could always ask, of course. But asking comes with the risk of being recognised (admittedly the chance of that happening is considerably small in Shige’s case, but he still doesn’t want to risk it, especially in his scandalously inebriated state), so he fishes his cell phone out of his back pocket and with an exaggerated sigh opts to call Koyama for help. So much for breaking his routine.
Just when he reaches Koyama's entry in his contacts, he stops in his tracks. A distractingly delicious smell has reached his nose and he turns around to see a small stand by the side of the road.
Kebab.
Shige suddenly notices just how hungry he is and decides to get some food immediately. He can always call Koyama later.
The guy at the Kebab stand speaks in accented Japanese and Shige orders an extra-big Kebab for 500 yen (he always gets extremely hungry when wasted) and when the Turkish guy asks him what sauce he would like, Shige blinks in confusion.
"The-- umm, the Turkish one?" he says, uncertainly. It is at exactly that moment when Shige realises he has just used his train money on Kebab. He prays Koyama is going to pick up his phone later.
Someone behind him laughs. "Take the chilli sauce. And that one is on the house." The voice adds something in Turkish.
Shige turns around and is faced with an unexpectedly familiar face.
"I know you!" he practically screams. "I KNOW YOU! Ago Ikun!!"
‘Ago Ikun’ smiles at him lopsidedly and blushes. “It’s Akun!”
“That’s what I said!” Shige replies and nods fervently. “I’ll call you Kebab-chan, okay?” In his muddled brain this both makes sense and is appropriate.
He starts munching on his Kebab and Akun turns and even deeper shade of red. “I think you might have had a little too much to drink, Kato-kun,” he says, uncertainly, the lopsided grin still in place. Shige kind of likes it. It’s cute.
Shige also doesn’t recall any of his kouhai ever calling him ‘Kato-kun’. He feels like he singing a triumphant song. Or doing a happy dance.
As he voices these thoughts out loud, two things happen: Shige sadly realises he can neither sing nor dance, and Akun’s grin turns into a helpless smile. He awkwardly shifts from one foot to another. “You know what, Kato-kun,” he finally says. “Why don’t you come over to my home and I’ll show you what a traditional Turkish breakfast is like.”
Shige thinks it’s the best idea he’s ever heard.
*
It doesn’t take them long to reach the Igo home but Shige doesn’t even make it to breakfast. He collapses on Akun’s bed and falls asleep almost instantly.
Shige dreams of strange birds, of being at the hospital where his doctor turns into a vampire host and bites him and finally of Koyama yelling “YOU GAVE UP RAMEN FOR KEBAB!” over and over again.
When he finally wakes up, his head is pounding and he looks around disoriented, no idea where the hell he is. It certainly isn’t his bed. As Shige is tortured by visions of sleeping with strangers, going home with a hooker (though the room doesn’t look like a hooker’s, really) and other variations of the same scenario, a door opens and Igo Akun of Question? emerges, a towel wrapped around his waist and his bare chest still wet from the shower.
“Oh,” Akun says and flushes bright red. Shige stares. “You’re awake…”
“H-hi,” Shige mumbles in reply. His headache has suddenly and miraculously vanished and he distractedly watches a drop of water run over Akun’s collarbone, down his lean body and disappear into his fluffy white towel -- “I-umm. Hi.”
Shige remembers everything now; where he is and how he ended up there - he blushes as well. “I’m so sorry for causing you trouble!” he shrieks in embarrassment, remembering all too clearly how Akun had to drag him out of their taxi, and looking at the couch he realises Akun must have slept there. “Oh God, I seriously apologise for invading your privacy like that! Honestly I’ll -”
To Shige’s horror, Akun’s face suddenly breaks into an amused grin. “It’s no trouble at all, Kato-kun!” he beams. “You were pretty entertaining, actually! Just get ready and we’ll get some breakfast, ne?”
“NO!” Shige practically screams. “Thanks but I’ve already imposed so much, I couldn’t possible accept anything else! I’ll definitely make it up to you!”
He bows twice, quickly, then flees, leaving behind a confused Akun, wondering what he did wrong.
That night Shige doesn’t dream of birds or vampire doctors or Koyama. He dreams of Akun, fresh out of the shower, in the shower, with and without his towel and in all sorts of completely inappropriate scenarios.
When he wakes up Shige groans again, just like the morning before, though this time it’s just in frustration. Great, he thinks to himself. Having a ridiculous crush on a junior is just what he needs.
*
Shige tries to stay away from Akun after that as much as possible, but when NEWS’s ‘DIAMOND PARTY’ Tour is announced and Question? is the backing band, it’s practically impossible to avoid him.
(Koyama had noticed immediately, had discovered Shige’s new-found obsession, when they’d been watching Shounen Club and Shige had watched Question? with unusual interest.
“What’s with everyone’s sudden fixation on Question? lately?” Koyama had complained loudly. “First my mother and now you?”
When Shige had told him to shut up and listen to the guitar solo, Koyama had put two and two together.)
The first two stops of the tour, Sendai and Fukui, are intensely awkward - Shige and Akun barely talk to each other, just a quick ‘Good morning’ or sometimes a ‘Good work today’ after finishing their concerts for the day.
Shige is embarrassed about it; he’d slept in Akun’s bed for God’s sake, how hard could it possibly be to just have a normal conversation?!
Unfortunately it is hard and unfortunately Koyama can’t keep his mouth shut; after just a few days all of NEWS knows about what soon everyone calls ‘Shige’s little crush’. Most of them, while amused, leave him alone about it, but Tegoshi keeps trying to ‘assist’ Shige by giving him helpful little tips on how to ask Akun out.
“Just ask him out for a beer!”
Tegoshi’s sing-song voice is already grating on Shige’s nerves and he turns red in annoyance when Tegoshi continues, “He looks like he’d enjoy beer! Maybe have a meal together as well, I’m sure he can eat a lot with a strong body like that. He looks really manly, ne? I bet that’s why you’re asking him out on a date-”
“I’M NOT ASKING HIM OUT ON A DATE,” Shige yells.
Just at that moment, Yonemura passes by and gives Shige a confused look. “Well thanks for letting us know,” he says dryly. “I’ll pass on the information to everyone.”
Shige wants to cry.
*
He finally breaks around a week later; NEWS is in Sapporo now and Ryo is driving him fucking insane.
“Tell him you want him to be your Turkish Delight,” Ryo cackles. He’s sprawled out on a couch across from Shige, his legs crossed and a towel wrapped around his head. Shige doesn’t understand how he can be so energetic after just finishing the second concert that day. “He’ll like that, he’ll let you-”
“Shut up,” Shige says, willing his voice to sound bored and unaffected. As usual, it doesn’t quite work out - he sounds annoyed and desperate.
“Tell him you want to eat his delicious man-Kebab,” Ryo continues, grinning at Shige in that infuriating insane way that all the fans seem to love. Shige just doesn’t understand the world sometimes.
“God, shut up,” Shige repeats. “Shut up already, I’ll ask him out, okay?”
“Can’t wait,” Ryo says and crosses his arms over his chest, apparently satisfied for now. “Can’t wait to see you fail, Shige. It’ll be hilarious.”
*
Shige doesn’t exactly ask Akun out; he just invites him for ‘a beer and some Yakiniku’ (he is vaguely annoyed at himself for taking up one of Tegoshi’s lame suggestions, but he really can’t think of anything else) to ‘thank him for his kindness’ and to his surprise Akun readily agrees.
‘Some Yakiniku’ turns into a 3-hour All-you-can-eat course and Shige being utterly wasted yet again. Just like last time, Akun is not drunk, helps Shige into a cab and (this whole part is a little bit fuzzy in Shige's memory) somehow they end up in the hotel room Akun is sharing with Yonemura, on Akun's bed. Yonemura is nowhere to be seen.
“Ne, Kebab-chan,” Shige slurs, placing an uncoordinated hand on Akun's knee that somehow ends up more on his upper thigh. “Is it true?”
Akun looks confused; at least Shige is pretty sure he does, but his vision has gone slightly blurry and he feels more than a little dizzy.
“Is what true?” Akun asks, and he sounds confused too.
“YES!” Shige whisper-yells to himself, triumphant over his ability to still notice these things, even when considerably inebriated. He'd have to brag about it to Ryo later, because Ryo was completely hopeless when drunk, stumbling around and knocking things over, and he'd be so wonderfully, beautifully annoyed if he found out what an awesome, coherent drunk Shige could be.
“Um,” Akun interrupts Shige's sweet little fantasy. “Yes what?”
“Oh.” Shige visibly deflates, instantly discouraged. Maybe not so coherent, after all. He loses his train of thought, then, but looking down at his hand on Akun's thigh, and Akun's large tanned hand right next to it, he suddenly remembers what he was getting at before. “Oh, right. Is it true, you know, what they say about big hands?”
Akun flushes immediately, his eyes wide. “What are you talking about?” he asks, voice shaky, but his cheeks, a deeply crimson colour, tell Shige that the half Turkish junior knows exactly what he's been referring to.
Shige wraps his arms around Akun's neck without asking; he tends to hug people a lot when he's wasted. Once - and Shige doesn't actually remember this, but Koyama had told him (and everyone else) all about it - he had hugged this foreign girl in a club who turned out to be a fan. He'd screamed “I'M SHIGE!!!” at her and apparently the image of a drunk, clingy Kato Shigeaki had spread quickly among foreign fans. Shige doesn't even feel particularly bitter about it. It's just the way his life works.
“I'm talking about your penis,” Shige says, a childish giggle escaping his mouth. He leans in closer, his face merely inches from Akun's now, and repeats in a whisper, “Penis.”
“Kato-kun,” Akun says, but he doesn't move back or push Shige away, and really, that's all the encouragement Shige needs.
He pushes closer, crawls into Akun's lap almost, and presses his lips to Akun's in a heated kiss. Well, in Shige's head it had been supposed to be heated, and passionate, and sexy, but it turns out more along the lines of awkward, clumsy, failure. Akun's lips are damp and motionless against his, in fact Akun seems to have gone completely still. And when finally, miraculously Akun does start moving, starts kissing him back, Shige becomes sleepy, so very sleepy.
He pulls back, stares at Akun out of heavy-lidded eyes, stares at his full, red lips, his outrageously long eyelashes, his big western eyes.
“I'm talking about your penis,” Shige says, and passes out.
*
Shige wishes he'd just decided to skip work - or to actually have a job where he could skip work. As it is, they have two concerts that day (both sold out), they have fans to please, contracts to fulfil. Koyama hadn't even gotten to skip when he was truly ill, so there is no way Shige can stay home just out of embarrassment.
Tegoshi has just walked into their dressing room and Ryo has dissolved into another fit of hysterical laughter. For the seventh time that morning.
“Did you hear, Tegonyan?” Ryo gasps. “Shige has started to harass Turks now!”
“What?” Tegoshi flops down on the couch Ryo is sitting on and tilts his head curiously. “What Turks?”
“Igo Akun from Question?” Massu mumbles around his nikuman.
“HE'S MOLESTING JUNIORS NOW!” Ryo shrieks gleefully, tears of mirth rolling down his face. “HE'S A TOTAL PEDOPHILE!”
Shige wants to point out that he's barely even older than Akun, and how he is certainly not harassing (let alone molesting!) anyone at all, but he knows it's pointless. Ryo has already told Yamapi and Yamapi has told Jin and Jin informed everyone.
He also wants to hit Koyama over the head repeatedly for passing on his horrible, embarrassing secrets to everybody else, but if Shige is honest with himself, he should have known better than tell Koyama about it.
Right now, at this very moment, Shige thinks he'd rather die than ever run into Igo Akun again.
He doesn't have that luxury, of course. He can't even have this one day of not seeing Akun, but surprisingly not much has changed. Akun greets him like he always does, and if it weren't for his cheeks turning slightly pink, Shige might have thought he'd imagined the whole incident.
Strangely enough, he doesn't feel relieved at all. If anything, he feels almost disappointed. Here he had been thinking about how to act around Akun basically non-stop, and Akun doesn't even care? Shige's pride is wounded and he analyses what had happened in his head, over and over again, until his head's spinning. He has a frown on his face for the remainder of the week.
*
“Ne, Shige, you're wracking your brain about how to talk to Akun again, right?” Tegoshi approaches him one day, after another concert in another city. Hiroshima, Shige realises. It's hard to keep track sometimes, but he tries.
Shige groans. How did Tegoshi always guess these things? “I'm doing no such thing!”
“Why yes, you are!” Tegoshi tells him cheerfully and pats Shige's shoulder. “Don't worry, I won't tell anyone! But since my last suggestion worked so well, I came up with more ideas for you!”
“Worked so well?” Shige sputters. “In what universe does that count as working well?! I kissed him and talked about his penis and passed out in his lap and did I mention I talked about his penis?”
Tegoshi smirks. “Of course it could have been handled more smoothly, but it's not a bad start.” He pauses and taps his finger against his chin thoughtfully. Shige is already irritated. Who does Tegoshi think he is, acting like he's his personal love advisor? “Shige, you're trying to learn guitar, right?”
Shige wants to punch Tegoshi in the face. 'Trying', what the hell. Why did he always have to act so fucking superior?
“I don't try, I'm actually already pretty g-”
“Anyway, Akun is Question?'s guitarist, right?” Tegoshi continues, completely ignoring Shige. “You should ask him to give you guitar lessons! Wouldn't that be a great way to break the ice?”
Shige hates the self-satisfied look in Tegoshi's eyes, hates how Tegoshi acts like his older brother even though he's actually younger than Shige, and most of all he hates that Tegoshi is right. It's a brilliant idea. Or it would be, if it didn't involve him having to talk to Akun.
“It's a stupid idea,” Shige says. “And anyway, why are you thinking about it anyway? It's none of your business!”
Tegoshi smirks.
*
What Shige doesn't know is that Tegoshi makes it more his business than Shige can possibly imagine. He doesn't only think about Shige's problems, he also enlists the help of Yamapi and Jin. Help in the form of sending both of them to the Question? dressing room to have a serious talk with Akun.
“Yo, Akun,” Jin says, as they corner him against the door.
“Akun-kun,” Yamapi corrects.
“Akun-kun-kun,” Jin adds and both of them start laughing.
Akun looks a little helpless. Sure, he's stronger than both of them, but he doesn't really understand what his two senpai want from him. He's not even sure why they are here - as far as he knows neither Yamapi nor Jin is guesting on Shounen Club that day. “Yes?”
“So, you and Shige,” Jin starts, tactless as ever and behind them Yonemura starts coughing violently. Jin turns around and narrows his eyes. “Do you mind? This is a private conversation.”
He says the last part in English, and Yonemura stares at him for a moment, face blank, before shrugging and going back to tuning his guitar.
“Kato-kun?” Akun asks. “Um. What about him?”
“Look,” Yamapi says and puts a hand on Akun's shoulder. “Shige is like a delicate flower. You have to treat him with a little - sensitivity--”
“Um, Pi,” Jin interrupts. “Did you just call Shige tasty?!”
“No,” Yamapi says, pursing his lips thoughtfully. “I wouldn't really know about that. Hey, Akun-kun, how does Shige taste?”
Akun turns beet red, his blush reaching the tips of his ears and disappearing into his shirt. “I - um. What? I--”
“It's okay,” Yamapi says, a good-natured expression on his face. “What happens in the jimusho, stays in the jimusho.”
“That's so not true!” Jin shrieks. “What about that one time when I got drunk and tried to hit on Kimutaku and then Shirota asked me about it the week after!! He's totally not in Johnny's!”
Akun's face loses all colour.
“Bakanishi!” Yamapi scolds. “That's the worst comparison ever, because Shirota is one of your best friends, and you told him about it yourself. Anyway,” he turns back to Akun. “Really, don't worry! We have the perfect plan for you!”
*
Shige ends up getting guitar lessons from Akun once a week (as long as work is not in the way), usually before rehearsal or after concerts. The whole thing is nerve-wracking for Shige - he attempts to hide his fear of failure but combined with the awkwardness of hanging out with Akun it just seems to get worse the harder he tries.
He messes up chord after chord, makes the guitar sound even worse than his own singing, but Akun is surprisingly patient. He doesn't snap at Shige, not even once.
Even though Shige knows he'd deserve it.
They're in Fukuoka and it's almost the end of the year when Shige decides to just give it ago and talk about - well whatever needs to be talked over.
As everything with Shige, it's deeply awkward. He tries, tries really hard but all that comes out is an assortment of phrases with no obvious logical connection to them, just a string of words interrupted by coughing and filler words; Shige thinks it's ironic how he's so good at writing, but as soon as he gets nervous he seems to lose his ability to form a coherent sentence out loud.
Akun is looking at him with wide eyes, his brows furrowed in confusion.
“Look, what I'm talking about is--” Shige stops again as he realises he has no clue what the hell he's talking about.
“My penis?” Akun asks, his voice light.
Shige's eyes snap up in surprise; Akun's cheeks are pink, but he has an amused smile on his face and his eyes are full of mirth. “What?” Shige says. “Why - what, no!” He turns red, more so than usual and he bites down on his lip so hard that his eyes water.
“Oh God, I'm sorry if I hurt you,” Akun says quickly, a guilt-stricken expression suddenly on his face. “I was just joking, I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything--”
“What the hell, I am not a girl!” Shige crosses his arms over his chest in the most manly way he can think of.
“Oh.” Akun's face falls. “Well, I thought - because Yamashita-kun said--”
“Oh my God,” Shige breathes, horrified. “Yamapi talked to you?”
“And Akanishi-kun--”
“Oh my God,” Shige repeats. “I think I'm going to leave now.”
Akun grabs his arm. “Kato-kun,” he says.
Considering how often and how loudly Shige complains about no one ever respecting him properly, about everyone always using his nickname, it doesn't feel very satisfying to hear Akun use his last name. It should, though - someone finally takes him seriously, him, the biggest failure of the universe (as Ryo likes to put it), but strangely Shige just feels disappointed at how distanced it sounds.
“It's Shige,” he corrects, “Everyone calls me Shige.”
“Well, Shige,” Akun says. “I think you're really hot.”
Shige is about to admire - mentally - how confident and straight-forward Akun is, when suddenly said Turk drops Shige's hand like a hot potato and pulls his baseball cap deep in his face, cheeks crimson and muttering something about Ishigaki giving the worst advice in the history of ever; Shige is too distracted to really pay attention though. All he can think about is how Akun had called him hot. Akun had called him hot. Akun had called --
“I - umm, will see you later--” Akun suddenly says and moves towards the door.
“What?” Shige shrieks, voice unusually shrill. “You can't go! This - this is your hotel room!”
It's true. Ryo - who for some inexplicable reason was the one Shige was sharing a room with this time around - had told him no 'underage Turks' were allowed in their room, even though Akun was half Japanese, didn't even speak much Turkish and had turned twenty a while ago; Shige couldn't be bothered to argue about it and so they'd ended up always having their lessons in the room Akun shared with Yonemura.
For some reason Shige had never run into Yonemura, though, not even once.
Akun has reached the door and Shige panics. This is probably his one and only chance to, as Ryo had called it, “gorge himself on some underage kebab meat” (Ryo had always been disgusting but recently it had reached all-new heights of ridiculousness), his one chance to make all his inappropriate, not-so-secret dreams come true.
“I THINK YOU'RE HOT TOO,” Shige screams.
Akun stops in his tracks and turns around to look at Shige, eyes wide. Shige isn't drunk, but this time he doesn't hesitate. In three long strides he walks over to Akun and kisses him.
*
Shige wakes up to an alarm that is not his. This in itself is not unusual - he's on tour, he assumes Ryo just changed his alarm tone. But Ryo would leave it ringing forever and ever. Ryo would roll around at least three times, hit Shige in the face with his arm twice in the process and then hit the snooze button. And then, 5 minutes later, the alarm would start ringing again.
There's no rolling around, and Shige's face isn't being attacked. The ringing just stops.
Shige, now more than a little alarmed, slowly opens his eyes - and is yet again faced with a naked Akun. Only this time minus the towel.
“Morning,” Akun says sheepishly.
“Um. Morning,” Shige echoes.
It all comes rushing back to him, suddenly. Dragging Akun to the bed. Long guitar-calloused fingers sliding under his shirt. The feel of Akun's hot skin under his hands, Akun's hot mouth against his; then, an unfamiliar name on his lips, more moaned than spoken, fingers digging into his hips, hot breath against his cheek. Touching, writhing--
“Oh, God,” Shige breathes.
“Oh, great,” comes the reply from the doorway, and Shige shrieks when he sees Yonemura standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, expression blank.
“Should have brought my camera!” A second voice adds - Ryo! Shige realises with great horror - and dissolves into maniac laughter. “I could make some money selling the pictures to Bubka - KATO SHIGEAKI IN SCANDALOUS SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUNG TURK, I can totally see it!” He pauses. “Though it probably wouldn't sell very well, 'cause it's just Shige--”
“Jesus Christ, just get them out of bed, we're late,” Yonemura interrupts, apparently not in the least bothered by either Akun's or Shige's nudity.
Shige, however, is very bothered.
“Do you mind?” he snaps. He hadn't been very comfortable in the first place, waking up naked in Igo Akun's bed - and it's not because he is unhappy about what had happened; in fact he recalls the night before as very pleasant, but that doesn't make the whole situation any less embarrassing - and he sure as hell isn't particularly thrilled about both Ryo and another junior just standing there staring at them.
“Actually, I do mind,” Yonemura replies, dryly. “It's my hotel room, too.”
“It's not like it's your concert, anyway,” Ryo pipes up. “No one would notice if you or the Turk were missing.”
“Actually,” Yonemura says, his tone mocking. “They would, because if we're not there playing guitar you couldn't hide that your guitar is 100% playback and you're just pretending.”
“Fatface,” Ryo hisses.
“Poser,” Yonemura replies.
“Junior,” Ryo finally says, sounding triumphant.
Shige stares at them, completely confused. What the hell? What was going on? Granted, Ryo and Yonemura had never been anywhere near being friendly, but he'd never even heard them talk to each other, let alone argue like that.
“I don't know what's going on,” Akun whispers at him. “But let's just get ready and get to rehearsal.”
Shige doesn't have to be told twice.
*
Rehearsal is awkward, at least to Shige, and he is so distracted that he misses his cue twice, almost falls over a cable and forgets the lyrics to almost every song. It ends in Yamapi looking disappointed, Koyama looking worried, and Ryo muttering about how they all have to suffer just because little Shige got laid.
Massu asks if they can have an early lunch, since Shige obviously needs a break.
Tegoshi just smiles knowingly.
They get their early lunch and as Shige walks past Yonemura he avoids looking at the junior's face. Best to avoid any and all confrontation. Don't look. Don't talk. Keep your eyes on the ground.
He walks right into Akun.
“Oh. Sorry,” Shige sputters.
“Hey,” Akun says, and Shige - though he had been determined to avoid any and all eye-contact - does look up and finds Akun blushing, but with a small smile on his face. “So - you're coming over to my room later? For your - guitar lesson?”
Shige wants to kick himself for actually feeling his heart skip a beat, but it doesn't stop him for breaking into an embarrassingly bright smile, one that the magazine usually don't get, one that reaches his eyes and makes him look a little bit like an idiot. Or a lot. “Yeah,” he says. “Yeah, guitar lesson. I - really need to practice.”
Having a crush on a junior isn't all that bad, Shige decides.
All things considered.
Pairing: Kato Shigeaki / Igo Akun
Rating: PG-13
Author Notes: I ... don't really know where this came from. If anyone doesn't know Akun (who am I kidding...) he is Question?'s guitarist. I'm not sure why I wrote this pairing, but it worked strangely well. So umm, please read? :D :D Guest appearances by the rest of NEWS, Akanishi Jin and Yonemura Daijiro (Question?).
Turkish Delight
Shige is drunk.
It’s not particularly unusual and in fact it happens almost every weekend, but this time Shige is drunk and alone.
In Roppongi.
He vaguely remembers coming here with Yamapi and Akanishi Jin in an attempt to get away from his “usual habitat” (“You mean Koyama by that, right?” Akanishi had slurred at him four drinks into the evening. “Right?!”). Shige’s fuzzy mind procures images of Yamapi handing him tequila shot after tequila shot, of Akanishi slapping his back so enthusiastically that it hurts, of girls with too much make-up and hair higher than Tokyo Tower pressing up against him inappropriately - then, nothing. He has no clue whatsoever how the hell he’d ended up alone.
With an annoyed little huff, Shige realises he only has five hundred and twenty-five yen left in his wallet. And he has no idea where the hell the station is.
He could always ask, of course. But asking comes with the risk of being recognised (admittedly the chance of that happening is considerably small in Shige’s case, but he still doesn’t want to risk it, especially in his scandalously inebriated state), so he fishes his cell phone out of his back pocket and with an exaggerated sigh opts to call Koyama for help. So much for breaking his routine.
Just when he reaches Koyama's entry in his contacts, he stops in his tracks. A distractingly delicious smell has reached his nose and he turns around to see a small stand by the side of the road.
Kebab.
Shige suddenly notices just how hungry he is and decides to get some food immediately. He can always call Koyama later.
The guy at the Kebab stand speaks in accented Japanese and Shige orders an extra-big Kebab for 500 yen (he always gets extremely hungry when wasted) and when the Turkish guy asks him what sauce he would like, Shige blinks in confusion.
"The-- umm, the Turkish one?" he says, uncertainly. It is at exactly that moment when Shige realises he has just used his train money on Kebab. He prays Koyama is going to pick up his phone later.
Someone behind him laughs. "Take the chilli sauce. And that one is on the house." The voice adds something in Turkish.
Shige turns around and is faced with an unexpectedly familiar face.
"I know you!" he practically screams. "I KNOW YOU! Ago Ikun!!"
‘Ago Ikun’ smiles at him lopsidedly and blushes. “It’s Akun!”
“That’s what I said!” Shige replies and nods fervently. “I’ll call you Kebab-chan, okay?” In his muddled brain this both makes sense and is appropriate.
He starts munching on his Kebab and Akun turns and even deeper shade of red. “I think you might have had a little too much to drink, Kato-kun,” he says, uncertainly, the lopsided grin still in place. Shige kind of likes it. It’s cute.
Shige also doesn’t recall any of his kouhai ever calling him ‘Kato-kun’. He feels like he singing a triumphant song. Or doing a happy dance.
As he voices these thoughts out loud, two things happen: Shige sadly realises he can neither sing nor dance, and Akun’s grin turns into a helpless smile. He awkwardly shifts from one foot to another. “You know what, Kato-kun,” he finally says. “Why don’t you come over to my home and I’ll show you what a traditional Turkish breakfast is like.”
Shige thinks it’s the best idea he’s ever heard.
*
It doesn’t take them long to reach the Igo home but Shige doesn’t even make it to breakfast. He collapses on Akun’s bed and falls asleep almost instantly.
Shige dreams of strange birds, of being at the hospital where his doctor turns into a vampire host and bites him and finally of Koyama yelling “YOU GAVE UP RAMEN FOR KEBAB!” over and over again.
When he finally wakes up, his head is pounding and he looks around disoriented, no idea where the hell he is. It certainly isn’t his bed. As Shige is tortured by visions of sleeping with strangers, going home with a hooker (though the room doesn’t look like a hooker’s, really) and other variations of the same scenario, a door opens and Igo Akun of Question? emerges, a towel wrapped around his waist and his bare chest still wet from the shower.
“Oh,” Akun says and flushes bright red. Shige stares. “You’re awake…”
“H-hi,” Shige mumbles in reply. His headache has suddenly and miraculously vanished and he distractedly watches a drop of water run over Akun’s collarbone, down his lean body and disappear into his fluffy white towel -- “I-umm. Hi.”
Shige remembers everything now; where he is and how he ended up there - he blushes as well. “I’m so sorry for causing you trouble!” he shrieks in embarrassment, remembering all too clearly how Akun had to drag him out of their taxi, and looking at the couch he realises Akun must have slept there. “Oh God, I seriously apologise for invading your privacy like that! Honestly I’ll -”
To Shige’s horror, Akun’s face suddenly breaks into an amused grin. “It’s no trouble at all, Kato-kun!” he beams. “You were pretty entertaining, actually! Just get ready and we’ll get some breakfast, ne?”
“NO!” Shige practically screams. “Thanks but I’ve already imposed so much, I couldn’t possible accept anything else! I’ll definitely make it up to you!”
He bows twice, quickly, then flees, leaving behind a confused Akun, wondering what he did wrong.
That night Shige doesn’t dream of birds or vampire doctors or Koyama. He dreams of Akun, fresh out of the shower, in the shower, with and without his towel and in all sorts of completely inappropriate scenarios.
When he wakes up Shige groans again, just like the morning before, though this time it’s just in frustration. Great, he thinks to himself. Having a ridiculous crush on a junior is just what he needs.
*
Shige tries to stay away from Akun after that as much as possible, but when NEWS’s ‘DIAMOND PARTY’ Tour is announced and Question? is the backing band, it’s practically impossible to avoid him.
(Koyama had noticed immediately, had discovered Shige’s new-found obsession, when they’d been watching Shounen Club and Shige had watched Question? with unusual interest.
“What’s with everyone’s sudden fixation on Question? lately?” Koyama had complained loudly. “First my mother and now you?”
When Shige had told him to shut up and listen to the guitar solo, Koyama had put two and two together.)
The first two stops of the tour, Sendai and Fukui, are intensely awkward - Shige and Akun barely talk to each other, just a quick ‘Good morning’ or sometimes a ‘Good work today’ after finishing their concerts for the day.
Shige is embarrassed about it; he’d slept in Akun’s bed for God’s sake, how hard could it possibly be to just have a normal conversation?!
Unfortunately it is hard and unfortunately Koyama can’t keep his mouth shut; after just a few days all of NEWS knows about what soon everyone calls ‘Shige’s little crush’. Most of them, while amused, leave him alone about it, but Tegoshi keeps trying to ‘assist’ Shige by giving him helpful little tips on how to ask Akun out.
“Just ask him out for a beer!”
Tegoshi’s sing-song voice is already grating on Shige’s nerves and he turns red in annoyance when Tegoshi continues, “He looks like he’d enjoy beer! Maybe have a meal together as well, I’m sure he can eat a lot with a strong body like that. He looks really manly, ne? I bet that’s why you’re asking him out on a date-”
“I’M NOT ASKING HIM OUT ON A DATE,” Shige yells.
Just at that moment, Yonemura passes by and gives Shige a confused look. “Well thanks for letting us know,” he says dryly. “I’ll pass on the information to everyone.”
Shige wants to cry.
*
He finally breaks around a week later; NEWS is in Sapporo now and Ryo is driving him fucking insane.
“Tell him you want him to be your Turkish Delight,” Ryo cackles. He’s sprawled out on a couch across from Shige, his legs crossed and a towel wrapped around his head. Shige doesn’t understand how he can be so energetic after just finishing the second concert that day. “He’ll like that, he’ll let you-”
“Shut up,” Shige says, willing his voice to sound bored and unaffected. As usual, it doesn’t quite work out - he sounds annoyed and desperate.
“Tell him you want to eat his delicious man-Kebab,” Ryo continues, grinning at Shige in that infuriating insane way that all the fans seem to love. Shige just doesn’t understand the world sometimes.
“God, shut up,” Shige repeats. “Shut up already, I’ll ask him out, okay?”
“Can’t wait,” Ryo says and crosses his arms over his chest, apparently satisfied for now. “Can’t wait to see you fail, Shige. It’ll be hilarious.”
*
Shige doesn’t exactly ask Akun out; he just invites him for ‘a beer and some Yakiniku’ (he is vaguely annoyed at himself for taking up one of Tegoshi’s lame suggestions, but he really can’t think of anything else) to ‘thank him for his kindness’ and to his surprise Akun readily agrees.
‘Some Yakiniku’ turns into a 3-hour All-you-can-eat course and Shige being utterly wasted yet again. Just like last time, Akun is not drunk, helps Shige into a cab and (this whole part is a little bit fuzzy in Shige's memory) somehow they end up in the hotel room Akun is sharing with Yonemura, on Akun's bed. Yonemura is nowhere to be seen.
“Ne, Kebab-chan,” Shige slurs, placing an uncoordinated hand on Akun's knee that somehow ends up more on his upper thigh. “Is it true?”
Akun looks confused; at least Shige is pretty sure he does, but his vision has gone slightly blurry and he feels more than a little dizzy.
“Is what true?” Akun asks, and he sounds confused too.
“YES!” Shige whisper-yells to himself, triumphant over his ability to still notice these things, even when considerably inebriated. He'd have to brag about it to Ryo later, because Ryo was completely hopeless when drunk, stumbling around and knocking things over, and he'd be so wonderfully, beautifully annoyed if he found out what an awesome, coherent drunk Shige could be.
“Um,” Akun interrupts Shige's sweet little fantasy. “Yes what?”
“Oh.” Shige visibly deflates, instantly discouraged. Maybe not so coherent, after all. He loses his train of thought, then, but looking down at his hand on Akun's thigh, and Akun's large tanned hand right next to it, he suddenly remembers what he was getting at before. “Oh, right. Is it true, you know, what they say about big hands?”
Akun flushes immediately, his eyes wide. “What are you talking about?” he asks, voice shaky, but his cheeks, a deeply crimson colour, tell Shige that the half Turkish junior knows exactly what he's been referring to.
Shige wraps his arms around Akun's neck without asking; he tends to hug people a lot when he's wasted. Once - and Shige doesn't actually remember this, but Koyama had told him (and everyone else) all about it - he had hugged this foreign girl in a club who turned out to be a fan. He'd screamed “I'M SHIGE!!!” at her and apparently the image of a drunk, clingy Kato Shigeaki had spread quickly among foreign fans. Shige doesn't even feel particularly bitter about it. It's just the way his life works.
“I'm talking about your penis,” Shige says, a childish giggle escaping his mouth. He leans in closer, his face merely inches from Akun's now, and repeats in a whisper, “Penis.”
“Kato-kun,” Akun says, but he doesn't move back or push Shige away, and really, that's all the encouragement Shige needs.
He pushes closer, crawls into Akun's lap almost, and presses his lips to Akun's in a heated kiss. Well, in Shige's head it had been supposed to be heated, and passionate, and sexy, but it turns out more along the lines of awkward, clumsy, failure. Akun's lips are damp and motionless against his, in fact Akun seems to have gone completely still. And when finally, miraculously Akun does start moving, starts kissing him back, Shige becomes sleepy, so very sleepy.
He pulls back, stares at Akun out of heavy-lidded eyes, stares at his full, red lips, his outrageously long eyelashes, his big western eyes.
“I'm talking about your penis,” Shige says, and passes out.
*
Shige wishes he'd just decided to skip work - or to actually have a job where he could skip work. As it is, they have two concerts that day (both sold out), they have fans to please, contracts to fulfil. Koyama hadn't even gotten to skip when he was truly ill, so there is no way Shige can stay home just out of embarrassment.
Tegoshi has just walked into their dressing room and Ryo has dissolved into another fit of hysterical laughter. For the seventh time that morning.
“Did you hear, Tegonyan?” Ryo gasps. “Shige has started to harass Turks now!”
“What?” Tegoshi flops down on the couch Ryo is sitting on and tilts his head curiously. “What Turks?”
“Igo Akun from Question?” Massu mumbles around his nikuman.
“HE'S MOLESTING JUNIORS NOW!” Ryo shrieks gleefully, tears of mirth rolling down his face. “HE'S A TOTAL PEDOPHILE!”
Shige wants to point out that he's barely even older than Akun, and how he is certainly not harassing (let alone molesting!) anyone at all, but he knows it's pointless. Ryo has already told Yamapi and Yamapi has told Jin and Jin informed everyone.
He also wants to hit Koyama over the head repeatedly for passing on his horrible, embarrassing secrets to everybody else, but if Shige is honest with himself, he should have known better than tell Koyama about it.
Right now, at this very moment, Shige thinks he'd rather die than ever run into Igo Akun again.
He doesn't have that luxury, of course. He can't even have this one day of not seeing Akun, but surprisingly not much has changed. Akun greets him like he always does, and if it weren't for his cheeks turning slightly pink, Shige might have thought he'd imagined the whole incident.
Strangely enough, he doesn't feel relieved at all. If anything, he feels almost disappointed. Here he had been thinking about how to act around Akun basically non-stop, and Akun doesn't even care? Shige's pride is wounded and he analyses what had happened in his head, over and over again, until his head's spinning. He has a frown on his face for the remainder of the week.
*
“Ne, Shige, you're wracking your brain about how to talk to Akun again, right?” Tegoshi approaches him one day, after another concert in another city. Hiroshima, Shige realises. It's hard to keep track sometimes, but he tries.
Shige groans. How did Tegoshi always guess these things? “I'm doing no such thing!”
“Why yes, you are!” Tegoshi tells him cheerfully and pats Shige's shoulder. “Don't worry, I won't tell anyone! But since my last suggestion worked so well, I came up with more ideas for you!”
“Worked so well?” Shige sputters. “In what universe does that count as working well?! I kissed him and talked about his penis and passed out in his lap and did I mention I talked about his penis?”
Tegoshi smirks. “Of course it could have been handled more smoothly, but it's not a bad start.” He pauses and taps his finger against his chin thoughtfully. Shige is already irritated. Who does Tegoshi think he is, acting like he's his personal love advisor? “Shige, you're trying to learn guitar, right?”
Shige wants to punch Tegoshi in the face. 'Trying', what the hell. Why did he always have to act so fucking superior?
“I don't try, I'm actually already pretty g-”
“Anyway, Akun is Question?'s guitarist, right?” Tegoshi continues, completely ignoring Shige. “You should ask him to give you guitar lessons! Wouldn't that be a great way to break the ice?”
Shige hates the self-satisfied look in Tegoshi's eyes, hates how Tegoshi acts like his older brother even though he's actually younger than Shige, and most of all he hates that Tegoshi is right. It's a brilliant idea. Or it would be, if it didn't involve him having to talk to Akun.
“It's a stupid idea,” Shige says. “And anyway, why are you thinking about it anyway? It's none of your business!”
Tegoshi smirks.
*
What Shige doesn't know is that Tegoshi makes it more his business than Shige can possibly imagine. He doesn't only think about Shige's problems, he also enlists the help of Yamapi and Jin. Help in the form of sending both of them to the Question? dressing room to have a serious talk with Akun.
“Yo, Akun,” Jin says, as they corner him against the door.
“Akun-kun,” Yamapi corrects.
“Akun-kun-kun,” Jin adds and both of them start laughing.
Akun looks a little helpless. Sure, he's stronger than both of them, but he doesn't really understand what his two senpai want from him. He's not even sure why they are here - as far as he knows neither Yamapi nor Jin is guesting on Shounen Club that day. “Yes?”
“So, you and Shige,” Jin starts, tactless as ever and behind them Yonemura starts coughing violently. Jin turns around and narrows his eyes. “Do you mind? This is a private conversation.”
He says the last part in English, and Yonemura stares at him for a moment, face blank, before shrugging and going back to tuning his guitar.
“Kato-kun?” Akun asks. “Um. What about him?”
“Look,” Yamapi says and puts a hand on Akun's shoulder. “Shige is like a delicate flower. You have to treat him with a little - sensitivity--”
“Um, Pi,” Jin interrupts. “Did you just call Shige tasty?!”
“No,” Yamapi says, pursing his lips thoughtfully. “I wouldn't really know about that. Hey, Akun-kun, how does Shige taste?”
Akun turns beet red, his blush reaching the tips of his ears and disappearing into his shirt. “I - um. What? I--”
“It's okay,” Yamapi says, a good-natured expression on his face. “What happens in the jimusho, stays in the jimusho.”
“That's so not true!” Jin shrieks. “What about that one time when I got drunk and tried to hit on Kimutaku and then Shirota asked me about it the week after!! He's totally not in Johnny's!”
Akun's face loses all colour.
“Bakanishi!” Yamapi scolds. “That's the worst comparison ever, because Shirota is one of your best friends, and you told him about it yourself. Anyway,” he turns back to Akun. “Really, don't worry! We have the perfect plan for you!”
*
Shige ends up getting guitar lessons from Akun once a week (as long as work is not in the way), usually before rehearsal or after concerts. The whole thing is nerve-wracking for Shige - he attempts to hide his fear of failure but combined with the awkwardness of hanging out with Akun it just seems to get worse the harder he tries.
He messes up chord after chord, makes the guitar sound even worse than his own singing, but Akun is surprisingly patient. He doesn't snap at Shige, not even once.
Even though Shige knows he'd deserve it.
They're in Fukuoka and it's almost the end of the year when Shige decides to just give it ago and talk about - well whatever needs to be talked over.
As everything with Shige, it's deeply awkward. He tries, tries really hard but all that comes out is an assortment of phrases with no obvious logical connection to them, just a string of words interrupted by coughing and filler words; Shige thinks it's ironic how he's so good at writing, but as soon as he gets nervous he seems to lose his ability to form a coherent sentence out loud.
Akun is looking at him with wide eyes, his brows furrowed in confusion.
“Look, what I'm talking about is--” Shige stops again as he realises he has no clue what the hell he's talking about.
“My penis?” Akun asks, his voice light.
Shige's eyes snap up in surprise; Akun's cheeks are pink, but he has an amused smile on his face and his eyes are full of mirth. “What?” Shige says. “Why - what, no!” He turns red, more so than usual and he bites down on his lip so hard that his eyes water.
“Oh God, I'm sorry if I hurt you,” Akun says quickly, a guilt-stricken expression suddenly on his face. “I was just joking, I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything--”
“What the hell, I am not a girl!” Shige crosses his arms over his chest in the most manly way he can think of.
“Oh.” Akun's face falls. “Well, I thought - because Yamashita-kun said--”
“Oh my God,” Shige breathes, horrified. “Yamapi talked to you?”
“And Akanishi-kun--”
“Oh my God,” Shige repeats. “I think I'm going to leave now.”
Akun grabs his arm. “Kato-kun,” he says.
Considering how often and how loudly Shige complains about no one ever respecting him properly, about everyone always using his nickname, it doesn't feel very satisfying to hear Akun use his last name. It should, though - someone finally takes him seriously, him, the biggest failure of the universe (as Ryo likes to put it), but strangely Shige just feels disappointed at how distanced it sounds.
“It's Shige,” he corrects, “Everyone calls me Shige.”
“Well, Shige,” Akun says. “I think you're really hot.”
Shige is about to admire - mentally - how confident and straight-forward Akun is, when suddenly said Turk drops Shige's hand like a hot potato and pulls his baseball cap deep in his face, cheeks crimson and muttering something about Ishigaki giving the worst advice in the history of ever; Shige is too distracted to really pay attention though. All he can think about is how Akun had called him hot. Akun had called him hot. Akun had called --
“I - umm, will see you later--” Akun suddenly says and moves towards the door.
“What?” Shige shrieks, voice unusually shrill. “You can't go! This - this is your hotel room!”
It's true. Ryo - who for some inexplicable reason was the one Shige was sharing a room with this time around - had told him no 'underage Turks' were allowed in their room, even though Akun was half Japanese, didn't even speak much Turkish and had turned twenty a while ago; Shige couldn't be bothered to argue about it and so they'd ended up always having their lessons in the room Akun shared with Yonemura.
For some reason Shige had never run into Yonemura, though, not even once.
Akun has reached the door and Shige panics. This is probably his one and only chance to, as Ryo had called it, “gorge himself on some underage kebab meat” (Ryo had always been disgusting but recently it had reached all-new heights of ridiculousness), his one chance to make all his inappropriate, not-so-secret dreams come true.
“I THINK YOU'RE HOT TOO,” Shige screams.
Akun stops in his tracks and turns around to look at Shige, eyes wide. Shige isn't drunk, but this time he doesn't hesitate. In three long strides he walks over to Akun and kisses him.
*
Shige wakes up to an alarm that is not his. This in itself is not unusual - he's on tour, he assumes Ryo just changed his alarm tone. But Ryo would leave it ringing forever and ever. Ryo would roll around at least three times, hit Shige in the face with his arm twice in the process and then hit the snooze button. And then, 5 minutes later, the alarm would start ringing again.
There's no rolling around, and Shige's face isn't being attacked. The ringing just stops.
Shige, now more than a little alarmed, slowly opens his eyes - and is yet again faced with a naked Akun. Only this time minus the towel.
“Morning,” Akun says sheepishly.
“Um. Morning,” Shige echoes.
It all comes rushing back to him, suddenly. Dragging Akun to the bed. Long guitar-calloused fingers sliding under his shirt. The feel of Akun's hot skin under his hands, Akun's hot mouth against his; then, an unfamiliar name on his lips, more moaned than spoken, fingers digging into his hips, hot breath against his cheek. Touching, writhing--
“Oh, God,” Shige breathes.
“Oh, great,” comes the reply from the doorway, and Shige shrieks when he sees Yonemura standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, expression blank.
“Should have brought my camera!” A second voice adds - Ryo! Shige realises with great horror - and dissolves into maniac laughter. “I could make some money selling the pictures to Bubka - KATO SHIGEAKI IN SCANDALOUS SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUNG TURK, I can totally see it!” He pauses. “Though it probably wouldn't sell very well, 'cause it's just Shige--”
“Jesus Christ, just get them out of bed, we're late,” Yonemura interrupts, apparently not in the least bothered by either Akun's or Shige's nudity.
Shige, however, is very bothered.
“Do you mind?” he snaps. He hadn't been very comfortable in the first place, waking up naked in Igo Akun's bed - and it's not because he is unhappy about what had happened; in fact he recalls the night before as very pleasant, but that doesn't make the whole situation any less embarrassing - and he sure as hell isn't particularly thrilled about both Ryo and another junior just standing there staring at them.
“Actually, I do mind,” Yonemura replies, dryly. “It's my hotel room, too.”
“It's not like it's your concert, anyway,” Ryo pipes up. “No one would notice if you or the Turk were missing.”
“Actually,” Yonemura says, his tone mocking. “They would, because if we're not there playing guitar you couldn't hide that your guitar is 100% playback and you're just pretending.”
“Fatface,” Ryo hisses.
“Poser,” Yonemura replies.
“Junior,” Ryo finally says, sounding triumphant.
Shige stares at them, completely confused. What the hell? What was going on? Granted, Ryo and Yonemura had never been anywhere near being friendly, but he'd never even heard them talk to each other, let alone argue like that.
“I don't know what's going on,” Akun whispers at him. “But let's just get ready and get to rehearsal.”
Shige doesn't have to be told twice.
*
Rehearsal is awkward, at least to Shige, and he is so distracted that he misses his cue twice, almost falls over a cable and forgets the lyrics to almost every song. It ends in Yamapi looking disappointed, Koyama looking worried, and Ryo muttering about how they all have to suffer just because little Shige got laid.
Massu asks if they can have an early lunch, since Shige obviously needs a break.
Tegoshi just smiles knowingly.
They get their early lunch and as Shige walks past Yonemura he avoids looking at the junior's face. Best to avoid any and all confrontation. Don't look. Don't talk. Keep your eyes on the ground.
He walks right into Akun.
“Oh. Sorry,” Shige sputters.
“Hey,” Akun says, and Shige - though he had been determined to avoid any and all eye-contact - does look up and finds Akun blushing, but with a small smile on his face. “So - you're coming over to my room later? For your - guitar lesson?”
Shige wants to kick himself for actually feeling his heart skip a beat, but it doesn't stop him for breaking into an embarrassingly bright smile, one that the magazine usually don't get, one that reaches his eyes and makes him look a little bit like an idiot. Or a lot. “Yeah,” he says. “Yeah, guitar lesson. I - really need to practice.”
Having a crush on a junior isn't all that bad, Shige decides.
All things considered.