What Has Always Been There, Part Zero
title: What Has Always Been There
author: nihongofrancais
genre: RPS, NEWS
pairing: Koyama/YamaPi
rating: overall PG-13
words: just under 39,000 words
disclaimer: the boys believe they own themselves; really Johnny owns 'em all. *snicker*
summary: Often, we find we don't realize what we have until it's gone. YamaPi struggles to cope in the aftermath of the announcement of NEWS's hiatus.
author's note: a labor of love in the name of my OTP KoyamaPi, originally inspired by YamaPi's February 2007 appearance on Shounen Club Premium and written over the span of one year from March 2007 through March 2008. Thanks to anamuan for betaing the majority of this monster and tinyangl, 4_03_am and jadedfrenzy for being my test readers. There is love for each and every one of you. ♥
part zero | part one | part two | part three | part four | coda |
Spring 2003
"You're Koyama?"
Koyama glanced up from the book propped on his knees to the figure standing over him. Yamashita-kun! "Yes! I'm Koyama!" he replied quickly as a good, obedient kouhai would.
Yamashita smiled and settled down next to the older boy on the stacked tumbling mats. "I'm Yamashita," the younger returned, with a slight bow of his head. "Nice to meet'cha."
"It's nice to meet you too!" Koyama voiced eagerly, bowing his head deeply.
After exchanging introductions, a lull fell in their conversation. Koyama had no idea why his senpai had seen fit to introduce himself today of all days so he anxiously awaited some sort of explanation.
"You're going to college, right?"
"Yes. I'm a first-year at Meiji University in the literature department."
"Oh, really." Yamashita's voice was rather neutral and hard to read. Koyama frowned slightly to himself. What was this all about?
Still perched on the mats next to Koyama, Yamashita continued to stare out into the sea of boys that filled the room. From their vantage point at the back of the rehearsal studio, they could observe the various junior groups-some going hard at their routines in front of the mirrors, others trying on their new costumes, and a few simply gossiping and catching up on the latest dirt amongst their brood. None were thinking quite as hard as Yamashita was in that moment.
"I've been thinking about college for some time." The 4Tops member finally turned back to Koyama, his gaze determined. "I really want to go, but I'm not sure if doing that and being in Johnny's is possible. How has it been for you, Koyama?"
Koyama found himself somewhat taken aback. The last thing he had been expecting was such an honest and serious line of questioning. Yamashita-kun was coming to him for advice! Definitely a role reversal. "Preparing for the entrance exams was difficult. I mean, it's already hard for normal students, but managing studying with rehearsals only adds to the difficulty, I think." Koyama recalled how he had taken a month off from active work right before his tests to really get down to studying. "But I knew I wanted to go to college, so I made it work."
"And now?" Yamashita pressed with honest interest.
"It's exactly like everyone says-the work pays off in the end. You study and study for your entrance exams, but once you pass, college is nothing in comparison. It's manageable, and much more fun." Koyama closed the book he had been reading, and smoothed his palms over the cover. Even Yamashita-kun thought about these things, despite being so popular; how unexpected. "Do you know what schools you want to try to get into, Yamashita-kun? Or what department?"
"I'm pretty sure I want to try for Meiji; do you know anything about testing into the business department?"
"Not really. But the prep school that I went to has a high student acceptance rate for Meiji, so maybe you should go there and talk to them." Koyama grabbed the bag sitting next to his feet and began digging through it for his planner. Once he found it, he tore out a piece of memo paper and wrote down the name of his former prep school as well as where it was located in Meguro. Beneath that, he drew in a simple map, the appropriate spot starred to indicate the school. "Here you go. It's not that far from the JR station and pretty easy to find."
Yamashita accepted the sheet of paper, reviewing the information quickly. "Thanks, Koyama!" He folded the paper in half and held onto it like a precious golden ticket. "I really appreciate the advice."
Koyama gave his senpai a pleasant smile. "I'm happy that you asked me for advice, Yamashita-kun. I hope everything works out for you."
"Then you would be my college senpai!"
"That would be too weird!"
The two of them chuckled. They barely knew each other within the jimusho and did not know each other at all outside it. They were in different units, they traveled in different circles. When they crossed each others' paths, casual greetings certainly would be exchanged. Maybe Yamashita might approach Koyama for a short follow-up conversation to the one they had just had. But even if they did end up at the same university, there would not be any time for them to get to know each other. This was as far as their relationship would go, and both of them understood that.
*~*~*
Summer 2004
Koyama rubbed his hands against the back of his jeans for what he was sure to be the hundredth time that day. He wanted to blame the humidity for his sweaty palms. Except that he actually enjoyed the humidity of Tokyo in the summer. And the fact that his palms were sweaty definitely was not an enjoyable thing.
The oldest NEWS member was nervous.
When he woke up that morning, Koyama already had decided. Today was going to be the day that tamego would rule. Not just for today either; it would be from now on. ohayo gozaimasu would become ohayo. otsukaresama deshita would becoming otsukare. Yamashita-kun would become YamaPi.
Koyama had been thinking about it after finishing some last minute studying late last night. Why did he still use keigo with Yamashita-kun? They had known each other for over a year and a half now and they had been in NEWS together for nearly a year. Even with Ryo-chan and Uchi he had stopped using keigo awhile ago, but with Yamashita-kun, he somehow found it more difficult, despite them having an easy rapport.
It probably was because he sort of idolized Yamashita-kun, he decided after much mulling. It was not in the same way that Tegoshi had viewed Yamashita-kun when they first came together to form NEWS (in the words of Koichi-kun, that was a bit gross), but much more of a respectful, removed admiration. Yamashita-kun had been someone Koyama had seen on television, not someone with whom Koyama thought he would be working along side. Once in awhile, in a quiet moment, he would find himself hit with the surreal realization that he was an idol who did work with people like Yamashita-kun. The idea that he and Yamashita-kun could sort of kind of be seen on the same level sent Koyama into a slightly nervous tizzy.
Upon deciding that today was the day of tamego, a nervousness began to well in Koyama that he could not control. He had gone without breakfast, and he was pretty sure that the studying he had done the night prior for his literature test had gone to waste. Though, he doubted that his studying would have changed his results all that much. Gah, kanji really was his downfall.
Walking past the large gymnasium and down the street that led off the Meiji University campus, his thoughts turned to the magazine photo shoots scheduled for the afternoon. That only served to make Koyama's palms more sweaty and now he was starting to itch for a cigarette. Shit. Could his body just stop for a second?
"Koyama!"
Startled, the idol's gaze darted toward the voice and he saw Yamashita jogging out of Building no. 1 toward him, his large black bag bouncing against his shoulder. "Morning!" Yamashita greeted. "Perfect timing! You're headed for the normal pick-up spot, right?"
Koyama nodded, watching Yamashita fall into step beside him. "Yeah." He went diving into his bag, searching with nimble fingers for his pack of Lucky Strikes and his lighter. "I didn't know you had classes today, YamaPi."
"I don't," YamaPi replied with the same normal ease with which he always spoke to Koyama as the other lit his cigarette and inhaled, only to exhale with a soft sigh a second later. "But I had to get some notes from a friend for class and wanted to check to see if there were any new announcements. So I just told my manager that I would ride to the shoot with you. That's okay, right?"
"Fine by me." Koyama took another drag off the cigarette, and found that the tamego flowed off his tongue as the nicotine relaxed him. "Riding with you is better than riding alone; it's lonely in the car by myself."
YamaPi grinned, slipping his sunglasses down onto his eyes from where they had been perched on his head. "Lonely, are we?" he teased, getting into Koyama's face.
Koyama rolled his eyes, and shoved YamaPi lightly, only causing YamaPi to grin wider. He then glanced up ahead to where the largely student-filled street ended and the city street began. "Crap! Isn't that the car?" The older boy pointed toward the rather anonymous-looking black sedan waiting on the city street, near the mouth of small side entrance onto the campus.
"Shit! You're right!" YamaPi glanced at his watch and cursed once more. "We're ten minutes late! I didn't even notice!"
YamaPi began jogging toward the car and after putting out his cigarette in a nearby ashtray, Koyama took off after him. Oh, how they would hear it from the others when they got to the studio!
*~*~*
part zero glossary
+ kouhai = someone of lower status/ranking
+ senpai = someone of respected higher status/ranking
+ tamego = informal language
+ keigo = respectful language
continue -->
author: nihongofrancais
genre: RPS, NEWS
pairing: Koyama/YamaPi
rating: overall PG-13
words: just under 39,000 words
disclaimer: the boys believe they own themselves; really Johnny owns 'em all. *snicker*
summary: Often, we find we don't realize what we have until it's gone. YamaPi struggles to cope in the aftermath of the announcement of NEWS's hiatus.
author's note: a labor of love in the name of my OTP KoyamaPi, originally inspired by YamaPi's February 2007 appearance on Shounen Club Premium and written over the span of one year from March 2007 through March 2008. Thanks to anamuan for betaing the majority of this monster and tinyangl, 4_03_am and jadedfrenzy for being my test readers. There is love for each and every one of you. ♥
part zero | part one | part two | part three | part four | coda |
Spring 2003
"You're Koyama?"
Koyama glanced up from the book propped on his knees to the figure standing over him. Yamashita-kun! "Yes! I'm Koyama!" he replied quickly as a good, obedient kouhai would.
Yamashita smiled and settled down next to the older boy on the stacked tumbling mats. "I'm Yamashita," the younger returned, with a slight bow of his head. "Nice to meet'cha."
"It's nice to meet you too!" Koyama voiced eagerly, bowing his head deeply.
After exchanging introductions, a lull fell in their conversation. Koyama had no idea why his senpai had seen fit to introduce himself today of all days so he anxiously awaited some sort of explanation.
"You're going to college, right?"
"Yes. I'm a first-year at Meiji University in the literature department."
"Oh, really." Yamashita's voice was rather neutral and hard to read. Koyama frowned slightly to himself. What was this all about?
Still perched on the mats next to Koyama, Yamashita continued to stare out into the sea of boys that filled the room. From their vantage point at the back of the rehearsal studio, they could observe the various junior groups-some going hard at their routines in front of the mirrors, others trying on their new costumes, and a few simply gossiping and catching up on the latest dirt amongst their brood. None were thinking quite as hard as Yamashita was in that moment.
"I've been thinking about college for some time." The 4Tops member finally turned back to Koyama, his gaze determined. "I really want to go, but I'm not sure if doing that and being in Johnny's is possible. How has it been for you, Koyama?"
Koyama found himself somewhat taken aback. The last thing he had been expecting was such an honest and serious line of questioning. Yamashita-kun was coming to him for advice! Definitely a role reversal. "Preparing for the entrance exams was difficult. I mean, it's already hard for normal students, but managing studying with rehearsals only adds to the difficulty, I think." Koyama recalled how he had taken a month off from active work right before his tests to really get down to studying. "But I knew I wanted to go to college, so I made it work."
"And now?" Yamashita pressed with honest interest.
"It's exactly like everyone says-the work pays off in the end. You study and study for your entrance exams, but once you pass, college is nothing in comparison. It's manageable, and much more fun." Koyama closed the book he had been reading, and smoothed his palms over the cover. Even Yamashita-kun thought about these things, despite being so popular; how unexpected. "Do you know what schools you want to try to get into, Yamashita-kun? Or what department?"
"I'm pretty sure I want to try for Meiji; do you know anything about testing into the business department?"
"Not really. But the prep school that I went to has a high student acceptance rate for Meiji, so maybe you should go there and talk to them." Koyama grabbed the bag sitting next to his feet and began digging through it for his planner. Once he found it, he tore out a piece of memo paper and wrote down the name of his former prep school as well as where it was located in Meguro. Beneath that, he drew in a simple map, the appropriate spot starred to indicate the school. "Here you go. It's not that far from the JR station and pretty easy to find."
Yamashita accepted the sheet of paper, reviewing the information quickly. "Thanks, Koyama!" He folded the paper in half and held onto it like a precious golden ticket. "I really appreciate the advice."
Koyama gave his senpai a pleasant smile. "I'm happy that you asked me for advice, Yamashita-kun. I hope everything works out for you."
"Then you would be my college senpai!"
"That would be too weird!"
The two of them chuckled. They barely knew each other within the jimusho and did not know each other at all outside it. They were in different units, they traveled in different circles. When they crossed each others' paths, casual greetings certainly would be exchanged. Maybe Yamashita might approach Koyama for a short follow-up conversation to the one they had just had. But even if they did end up at the same university, there would not be any time for them to get to know each other. This was as far as their relationship would go, and both of them understood that.
*~*~*
Summer 2004
Koyama rubbed his hands against the back of his jeans for what he was sure to be the hundredth time that day. He wanted to blame the humidity for his sweaty palms. Except that he actually enjoyed the humidity of Tokyo in the summer. And the fact that his palms were sweaty definitely was not an enjoyable thing.
The oldest NEWS member was nervous.
When he woke up that morning, Koyama already had decided. Today was going to be the day that tamego would rule. Not just for today either; it would be from now on. ohayo gozaimasu would become ohayo. otsukaresama deshita would becoming otsukare. Yamashita-kun would become YamaPi.
Koyama had been thinking about it after finishing some last minute studying late last night. Why did he still use keigo with Yamashita-kun? They had known each other for over a year and a half now and they had been in NEWS together for nearly a year. Even with Ryo-chan and Uchi he had stopped using keigo awhile ago, but with Yamashita-kun, he somehow found it more difficult, despite them having an easy rapport.
It probably was because he sort of idolized Yamashita-kun, he decided after much mulling. It was not in the same way that Tegoshi had viewed Yamashita-kun when they first came together to form NEWS (in the words of Koichi-kun, that was a bit gross), but much more of a respectful, removed admiration. Yamashita-kun had been someone Koyama had seen on television, not someone with whom Koyama thought he would be working along side. Once in awhile, in a quiet moment, he would find himself hit with the surreal realization that he was an idol who did work with people like Yamashita-kun. The idea that he and Yamashita-kun could sort of kind of be seen on the same level sent Koyama into a slightly nervous tizzy.
Upon deciding that today was the day of tamego, a nervousness began to well in Koyama that he could not control. He had gone without breakfast, and he was pretty sure that the studying he had done the night prior for his literature test had gone to waste. Though, he doubted that his studying would have changed his results all that much. Gah, kanji really was his downfall.
Walking past the large gymnasium and down the street that led off the Meiji University campus, his thoughts turned to the magazine photo shoots scheduled for the afternoon. That only served to make Koyama's palms more sweaty and now he was starting to itch for a cigarette. Shit. Could his body just stop for a second?
"Koyama!"
Startled, the idol's gaze darted toward the voice and he saw Yamashita jogging out of Building no. 1 toward him, his large black bag bouncing against his shoulder. "Morning!" Yamashita greeted. "Perfect timing! You're headed for the normal pick-up spot, right?"
Koyama nodded, watching Yamashita fall into step beside him. "Yeah." He went diving into his bag, searching with nimble fingers for his pack of Lucky Strikes and his lighter. "I didn't know you had classes today, YamaPi."
"I don't," YamaPi replied with the same normal ease with which he always spoke to Koyama as the other lit his cigarette and inhaled, only to exhale with a soft sigh a second later. "But I had to get some notes from a friend for class and wanted to check to see if there were any new announcements. So I just told my manager that I would ride to the shoot with you. That's okay, right?"
"Fine by me." Koyama took another drag off the cigarette, and found that the tamego flowed off his tongue as the nicotine relaxed him. "Riding with you is better than riding alone; it's lonely in the car by myself."
YamaPi grinned, slipping his sunglasses down onto his eyes from where they had been perched on his head. "Lonely, are we?" he teased, getting into Koyama's face.
Koyama rolled his eyes, and shoved YamaPi lightly, only causing YamaPi to grin wider. He then glanced up ahead to where the largely student-filled street ended and the city street began. "Crap! Isn't that the car?" The older boy pointed toward the rather anonymous-looking black sedan waiting on the city street, near the mouth of small side entrance onto the campus.
"Shit! You're right!" YamaPi glanced at his watch and cursed once more. "We're ten minutes late! I didn't even notice!"
YamaPi began jogging toward the car and after putting out his cigarette in a nearby ashtray, Koyama took off after him. Oh, how they would hear it from the others when they got to the studio!
*~*~*
part zero glossary
+ kouhai = someone of lower status/ranking
+ senpai = someone of respected higher status/ranking
+ tamego = informal language
+ keigo = respectful language
continue -->