Tsubasa is a Terrible Fanboy; Go & Takki are Dismayed
Title: Tsubasa is a Terrible Fanboy; Go & Takki are Dismayed
Pairing: tsubasa x go
Other Characters: Takki, Tsuyoshi, Inocchi, Leader (of the V6 variety), Nakai, Higashiyama
Rating: G
Summary: Go has the unenviable position of learning just how fast the rumor mill at the jimusho works. Tsubasa is spoiled rotten.
Notes: started from a fic-meme prompt, didn't actually get to the prompt. additional notes at the end!
Takizawa Hideaki
"Hide-chan~ I'm making pasta. What do you think? Seafood alfredo or chicken carbonara?"
Hideaki's mouth filled instantly with drool from the lingering memories of those dishes. He snuck a peek at Tsubasa. Not to mention, he wouldn't mind nibbling a bit on Tsubasa himself: that pencil stuck behind his ear and those dorky, thick-rimmed glasses were super sexy. Even that scruffy mustache was adorable. Hideaki crossed his legs and folded his hands over his lap as a safety precaution. "Great idea! What are the ingredients? I might not have everything for the alfredo but there's probably some chicken leftover in the freezer from last week."
"Silly, I'm not talking about now." Tsubasa laughed and patted Hideaki indulgently on the back. "I'm just here to borrow your golf clubs. I have a photoshoot with V6's Go-kun on Friday."
Hideaki scrunched his forehead, trying to follow Tsubasa's train of logic. "Eh? Morita-kun? And what does golf have to do with pasta or photoshoots?"
"Everything!" Tsubasa said triumphantly. "I figured, why end the date at the studio? I'm inviting Go-kun back to my apartment for lunch afterward and I think he'll take me golfing soon so I want to be prepared." Hideaki frowned and before he could open his mouth to speak, Tsubasa held up a hand. "And you're too scaredy-cat to go out on dates with me so I don't want to hear any complaining from you."
Hideaki stopped himself from wrinkling his nose in disgust and instead, became a puddle of disgruntlement in his chair. He felt like a small, black raincloud full of wrath and lightning. It wasn't like he had a choice; even if Tsubasa didn't care, one of them had to put some effort into protecting their idol image. "Oh, I see," he said in a tiny voice and then a bit louder and a bit whinier, "You never go golfing with me."
Tsubasa waved his hand airily. "How could I when I don't even own a set of golf clubs? Anyway, I checked with Nagano-nii about what kind of pasta Go-kun likes and narrowed it down to those two. Since you're the self-declared pasta-eating expert, I thought I should ask your opinion for a final decision. So?"
"Chicken carbonara," Hideaki grumbled.
Tsubasa sidled up to Hideaki, smiling sweetly. "And those golf clubs?"
"Hall closet." Hideaki sighed. A small, black raincloud of wrath, lightning and fury.
Tsubasa beamed and patted Hideaki on the head. "Thanks, I'll pack you a doggy bag."
Hideaki sniffed to himself, mildly appeased by the promise of delicious food. Actually, seafood alfredo was Tsubasa's better dish but there was no way in hell Go-kun would get to taste that on a first date.
--
Two hours later, while Hideaki was still plotting revenge, nursing his wounded pride and consoling himself with his minor victory, he realized that if Morita didn't get to eat seafood alfredo, then that meant he wouldn't get to have it for his doggy bag lunch either.
Domoto Tsuyoshi
"Go-kun! Sorry to skip all the pleasantries but I have concert meetings that are starting soon and I'm sure you have someplace you need to be at too. Let's just cut to the chase," Tsuyoshi said, leaning forward.
Go tilted his head in confusion. One minute earlier, he was walking down the hallway on his way to a meeting with his manager when Tsuyoshi had stepped out of KinKi's dressing room, grabbed him and insisted he sit down for a cup of tea. "Wait - is something wrong?"
"Okada told me all about it. So, you and Tsubasa huh?" Tsuyoshi shook his head sadly.
"What about Tsubasa?" Go asked cautiously. He raised his cup and took a sip of tea, using the opportunity to risk a peek to the side; there were some terrifying looking things in that aquarium and to be honest, Tsuyoshi scared him just a wee bit as well.
"Your date. With Tsubasa," Tsuyoshi said matter of factly.
"Ohh...!" Go laughed in relief. He had heard rumors before in the hallways of the jimusho that Tsuyoshi was unnaturally protective of Tsubasa; there must be a kernal of truth to those whispers after all. He hastened to allay Tsuyoshi's fears. "It's nothing like what you're thinking. We're not dating."
Tsuyoshi let loose a long suffering sigh. "Of course you're not and it's never what I think."
Go shook his head to stop it from hurting and took several more sips of tea to buy himself some time. Did he just make the situation worse? This was exactly why he didn't make a habit out of talking to Tsuyoshi; the man didn't make sense. He didn't know what Okada saw in him. He set the cup down, took a deep breath and tried again. "It's just a magazine shoot. Our managers set it up for cross-promo and whatnot. You know how the magazines like to spin things." He cleared his throat; discussing other people's relationships wasn't exactly his idea of a pleasant way to pass an afternoon. "Besides, aren't Takizawa and Tsubasa?"
Tsuyoshi stared hard at Go. "Please stop talking in riddles. I have no clue what you're trying to say."
"Well, you know, aren't they like you and Koichi? An old married couple?" Go smiled uneasily. On second thought, maybe this was a bad time to crack a joke.
Tsuyoshi's sudden bark of unamused laughter caused Go to jump in his seat. "Koichi is an ossan, but I'm not. Plus, Takizawa only wishes he was going out with Tsubasa," Tsuyoshi said smugly.
"Sorry, sorry!" Go said hastily.
"So I trust we've reached an understanding? I wouldn't want to sic Pan-chan on you." Tsuyoshi studied the cuff of his shirt and without preamble, yanked out a loose thread ruthlessly.
Go gulped and added several more bullet points to his rapidly growing "reasons why it is best to avoid Tsuyoshi" list. "Who... is Pan-chan?" he ventured. With such a sickeningly sweet name, Pan-chan was probably a sadistic pitbull with a perpetual ring of foam around its mouth.
Tsuyoshi's smile was very bright and very wide. "Oh, trust me, you don't want to find out."
Go nodded eagerly; this conversation may have been confusing, but one thing was patently clear: never, ever, cross Domoto Tsuyoshi.
...
Now if only he knew what he wasn't supposed to cross him on.
Sakamoto Masayuki & Inohara Yoshihiko
Inocchi bounced into Kamisen's dressing room followed closely by Leader.
"Go-kun," Inocchi trilled happily. "Just the person we were looking for!"
Go yawned and struggled to sit up on the couch. "Oh hey, Leader, Inocchi. What's up?"
Leader grabbed a chair and pulled it up close while Inocchi settled himself next to Go.
"I can't believe you didn't tell us that you're dating Tsubasa," Leader said mournfully. "We had to hear it second-hand from Nagano."
Go rubbed his eyes and suddenly felt much more awake. "Well, that's because I'm not dating Tsubasa," he protested. A tickling at the back of his brain reminded him that this conversation was starting to sound awfully familiar.
Inocchi grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him back and forth enthusiastically until Go whacked him in the side to quit it. "Aww, shucks. Look at our Go-kun. They grow up so fast, don't they, Leader?" Leader nodded back at Inocchi sagely. "Well, don't you worry, we have just the thing for you."
Go raised his arms immediately in protest. Nothing good ever came out of Inocchi's well-intentioned gifts. He was still recovering from the scars of that bottle of whiskey Kamisen had received as a congratulatory gift for finishing up their tour. "No, really! It's not what you think. I don't need any gifts."
Inocchi beamed and tossed a bag onto Go's lap. "And so modest too! We raised him well."
Go flailed as the bag writhed and made a mysterious scratching noise. Pan-chan?!
"Well, aren't you going to open it?" Leader's grin was equally cheesy.
Go stared suspiciously at the bag before untying the knot slowly. He peeked inside and his face turned bright red. "No thanks," he yelped, trying to shove the whole mess back towards Inocchi.
"Nonsense," Inocchi frowned, reaching out and wedging the bag firmly in between Go and the side of the couch. "Asaka and I decided the time is right to make some Inocchibis and you do want to keep Tsubasa happy, right?"
Leader puffed his chest up proudly. "And when Ken-kun and Okada heard the happy news, they insisted on chipping in with a little something as well." He whipped out another bag out of nowhere and heaved it in Go's general direction, leaving Go no choice but to reach up and catch it before it gave him a concussion.
Go pushed his new "presents" onto the floor, curled himself into a ball on his side of the couch and whimpered. He didn't know what skeeved him out more: the world being overrun by Inocchibis, his fellow group members discussing his sex life or the giant pile of condoms and lube that could keep all the juniors at the jimusho frisky through winter.
Leader sniffed and wiped away a happy tear. "V6's member ai is the best."
"Group hug!" Inocchi yelled and hurled himself on top of Go.
Nakai Masahiro
"Morita! Thanks for making the time to come all the way out here."
Go bowed slightly out of deference to his sempai before sitting down in the seat indicated. It was a little odd to be at the Utaban studio by himself, odder still, to have Nakai calling him down there out of the blue. "Well, of course, Nakai-kun. Did you need my help with something?"
Nakai laughed uproariously, slapping his knee, as if someone had just told him the most hilarious joke of the decade. "We're not here to talk about me. I want to help you out."
Go blinked, a little taken aback. Given that he had already survived a couple of puzzling encounters in the past few days though, he recovered from the news fairly well. "I need help?" he repeated stupidly.
"Oh, yes, yes," Nakai said quickly, clapping a hand over Go's mouth and looking hastily all around before releasing him. "I thought you might. Times are tough in this down economy. Now don't tell anybody else I'm doing this. I don't want hundreds of kouhai knocking down my door." Nakai slid an envelope across the table. Go stared at it blankly. "Take it," Nakai hissed.
Go reached out hesitantly for the envelope and (following Nakai's exaggerated pantomimed directions), slid it into his bag. "Um.. thank you?"
Nakai's face turned somber. "It's a pity. I've always rooted for that Takizawa fellow, but maa... what can be done? Kids," he sighed fondly.
"Ehhh?!" This time it was Go who raised a hand to cover his own inadvertently impolite mouth.
"You're welcome." Nakai smiled beatifically. "Go and show Tsuba-chan a good time, okay?" he said with a wink. "But not too good of a time. We wouldn't want Tsuyoshi to hear about it now, do we?" He thumped Go heartily on the back, pounding him a few extra times enthusiastically for good measure.
"What? No? Of course not!" Go managed to wheeze out. Was this a test from Tsuyoshi? He wouldn't put it past him at all. He managed to twist his neck to peek over his shoulder. Phew - no creepy pitbulls hovering nearby.
But really now, this was getting a bit ridiculous - how many nii-chans did Tsubasa have in the jimusho anyway?!
He didn't think he could survive many more heart attacks.
Higashiyama Noriyuki
Higashiyama rubbed his chin, deep in thought. He took his responsibility as a dai-sempai at the jimusho pretty seriously and it was time to make his weekly pep-talk call to one of his kouhai. Last week, he had gotten word that Tsubasa was complaining about loneliness and he had encouraged him to go and make the first move. He smiled to himself; Takizawa owed him one. If his calculations were right, and they were rarely wrong, Takizawa was now a happy, happy man. This week... hmm... He stretched out in his lounge chair and mentally flicked through all the different faces he had encountered throughout the week, searching for one with a glum expression. Aha! A victim! kouhai in distress!
He pulled out his cellphone, thumbed through his contacts list, and placed the call. "Morita-kun," he boomed enthusiastically into the receiver once he heard it connect. ( It was important to convey cheer through one's voice.)
"Higashiyama-san?" Go squeaked back.
Higashiyama was a man on a mission so he jumped right into it. "I've noticed that you've not been your regular self lately," he said. "Remember, when times get tough, you just get back up and join the fight again."
"..."
Higashiyama shook his phone and checked the reception. Odd. "Hello? Hello?"
"Is this about Tsubasa? I swear, there's nothing going on between me and him," Go said in a rush.
"What!" Higashiyama said incredulously. After all that trouble of prodding Tsubasa last week, he ended up with Morita instead of Takizawa? Higashiyama brightened up. Well, at least Tsubasa wasn't lonely anymore. A victory was a victory.
"It's not what it seems," Go continued pleading on the phone. "It's just a magazine photoshoot, really!"
"Is that what the kids are calling it these days? Photoshoot?" Higashiyama chuckled good-naturedly. "Morita, it's been good talking to you. Glad to hear you're doing well. Can you pass along a message to Tsubasa for me?"
"Of course," Go babbled.
"Just remind him to stretch before strenuous physical activity. Okay! Bye!" Higashiyama hung up without waiting for a reply and sighed, making a mental note to put Takizawa on his call list for next week. He unfolded his handkerchief and dabbed away the sweat that had beaded on his forehead. These pep-talks were tough.
omake~
Takizawa plodded his way onto the set, only half-awake. Solo photoshoots were so boring. Without Tsubasa to liven up the atmosphere and crack jokes, it was just endless rounds of flash blinding his eyes and makeup brushes prodding at his face.
"Takizawa-san!"
Takki turned around and blinked. His manager was jumping up and down excitedly; way too energetic for 7:30 am in the morning. "Yes?" he said curiously.
"You forgot to do your warm-up exercises."
"Whaaa- !"
His manager smiled grimly. "You didn't read the latest company policy memo from Higashiyama-san? Stretching and warm-up exercises are now mandatory before all strenuous physical activity, especially magazine photoshoots."
Takki scrunched his forehead. That did sound vaguely familiar. He remembered coming across it and dismissing it as some prank from some foolhardy junior with too much time on his hands, but evidently from his manager's enthused gestures to join him on the exercise mat, it wasn't a joke after all. Takki groaned. On further consideration, stranger company policy had been instituted in the past before... such as non-sparkly shoes Wednesdays and Higashiyama was well-known for his fanatical devotion to fitness.
With another long sigh to himself, he flopped down obediently on the exercise mat.
His manager adjusted his glasses and consulted the sheet of paper in his hand. "Okay! Let's start off with 100 situps! It'll bring some nice color to your cheeks!"
**
Go dragged his feet through the bright green grass. Usually, his precious golfing time was relaxing and a pleasure. Today, not so much. He was a bundle of nerves ever since Tsubasa had called him earlier in the week to confirm their magazine shoot together and now for some reason, he couldn't quite fathom, he was sharing a golf cart with Tsubasa. The sound of Tsubasa calling out his name broke into his thoughts and he looked up reluctantly.
"Go-kun, can you show me the best way to hold the club?" Tsubasa, dressed from top to bottom in what looked like brand-new sporty golf attire, was smiling sweetly at him and swinging his putter around energetically. A putter! When they were still 225 meters away from the green! Go sighed to himself before pasting on a bright smile. If he had learned anything in the past week, it was that a sad Tsubasa consequently meant a shitload of sad sempai.
It was going to be a loooong day.
**
Hideaki flipped eagerly through the magazine until he spotted a pic of Tsubasa. His eyes grew soft with adoration. A cooking photoshoot! He loved to see his Tsubasa cooking; he was so manly in the kitchen. As his eyes continued over the page, he drew back with a start and by the end of the three page spread, his eyes had narrowed into jealous slits.
Morita Go! Grrr!
Notes:
This started out as an answer to a prompt from a fic-meme but didn't actually answer the prompt so... x__x;;; In any case, thanks so much for the prompt, anon-san! Sorry I didn't really answer it very well at all :/
original prompt:
Who I want: Morita Go/Tsubasa
What I want: Tsubasa attempts to confess. What he doesn't realise is that Go is already perfectly aware of Tsubasa's crush on him and hasn't decided if he really wants to encourage it or not.
Extra: Bonus points for Okada/Ken laughing their asses off at it all and/or concerned Takki having a freak out.
Apologies for any characterization butchering x___x;
Tsubasa x Go Winkup photoshoot really happened.
Tsubasa uses Nagano as his personal Zagat; he's mentioned a few times how he would call Nagano-nii up for food recommendations :D;;;
Pan-chan is Koichi's ridiculously fluffy and cute dog
Nakai ships tackey x tsubasa, it's true.
Higashiyama is awesomesauce. Check out his Shounen Club Premium interviews at o_e_subs !
Pairing: tsubasa x go
Other Characters: Takki, Tsuyoshi, Inocchi, Leader (of the V6 variety), Nakai, Higashiyama
Rating: G
Summary: Go has the unenviable position of learning just how fast the rumor mill at the jimusho works. Tsubasa is spoiled rotten.
Notes: started from a fic-meme prompt, didn't actually get to the prompt. additional notes at the end!
Takizawa Hideaki
"Hide-chan~ I'm making pasta. What do you think? Seafood alfredo or chicken carbonara?"
Hideaki's mouth filled instantly with drool from the lingering memories of those dishes. He snuck a peek at Tsubasa. Not to mention, he wouldn't mind nibbling a bit on Tsubasa himself: that pencil stuck behind his ear and those dorky, thick-rimmed glasses were super sexy. Even that scruffy mustache was adorable. Hideaki crossed his legs and folded his hands over his lap as a safety precaution. "Great idea! What are the ingredients? I might not have everything for the alfredo but there's probably some chicken leftover in the freezer from last week."
"Silly, I'm not talking about now." Tsubasa laughed and patted Hideaki indulgently on the back. "I'm just here to borrow your golf clubs. I have a photoshoot with V6's Go-kun on Friday."
Hideaki scrunched his forehead, trying to follow Tsubasa's train of logic. "Eh? Morita-kun? And what does golf have to do with pasta or photoshoots?"
"Everything!" Tsubasa said triumphantly. "I figured, why end the date at the studio? I'm inviting Go-kun back to my apartment for lunch afterward and I think he'll take me golfing soon so I want to be prepared." Hideaki frowned and before he could open his mouth to speak, Tsubasa held up a hand. "And you're too scaredy-cat to go out on dates with me so I don't want to hear any complaining from you."
Hideaki stopped himself from wrinkling his nose in disgust and instead, became a puddle of disgruntlement in his chair. He felt like a small, black raincloud full of wrath and lightning. It wasn't like he had a choice; even if Tsubasa didn't care, one of them had to put some effort into protecting their idol image. "Oh, I see," he said in a tiny voice and then a bit louder and a bit whinier, "You never go golfing with me."
Tsubasa waved his hand airily. "How could I when I don't even own a set of golf clubs? Anyway, I checked with Nagano-nii about what kind of pasta Go-kun likes and narrowed it down to those two. Since you're the self-declared pasta-eating expert, I thought I should ask your opinion for a final decision. So?"
"Chicken carbonara," Hideaki grumbled.
Tsubasa sidled up to Hideaki, smiling sweetly. "And those golf clubs?"
"Hall closet." Hideaki sighed. A small, black raincloud of wrath, lightning and fury.
Tsubasa beamed and patted Hideaki on the head. "Thanks, I'll pack you a doggy bag."
Hideaki sniffed to himself, mildly appeased by the promise of delicious food. Actually, seafood alfredo was Tsubasa's better dish but there was no way in hell Go-kun would get to taste that on a first date.
--
Two hours later, while Hideaki was still plotting revenge, nursing his wounded pride and consoling himself with his minor victory, he realized that if Morita didn't get to eat seafood alfredo, then that meant he wouldn't get to have it for his doggy bag lunch either.
Domoto Tsuyoshi
"Go-kun! Sorry to skip all the pleasantries but I have concert meetings that are starting soon and I'm sure you have someplace you need to be at too. Let's just cut to the chase," Tsuyoshi said, leaning forward.
Go tilted his head in confusion. One minute earlier, he was walking down the hallway on his way to a meeting with his manager when Tsuyoshi had stepped out of KinKi's dressing room, grabbed him and insisted he sit down for a cup of tea. "Wait - is something wrong?"
"Okada told me all about it. So, you and Tsubasa huh?" Tsuyoshi shook his head sadly.
"What about Tsubasa?" Go asked cautiously. He raised his cup and took a sip of tea, using the opportunity to risk a peek to the side; there were some terrifying looking things in that aquarium and to be honest, Tsuyoshi scared him just a wee bit as well.
"Your date. With Tsubasa," Tsuyoshi said matter of factly.
"Ohh...!" Go laughed in relief. He had heard rumors before in the hallways of the jimusho that Tsuyoshi was unnaturally protective of Tsubasa; there must be a kernal of truth to those whispers after all. He hastened to allay Tsuyoshi's fears. "It's nothing like what you're thinking. We're not dating."
Tsuyoshi let loose a long suffering sigh. "Of course you're not and it's never what I think."
Go shook his head to stop it from hurting and took several more sips of tea to buy himself some time. Did he just make the situation worse? This was exactly why he didn't make a habit out of talking to Tsuyoshi; the man didn't make sense. He didn't know what Okada saw in him. He set the cup down, took a deep breath and tried again. "It's just a magazine shoot. Our managers set it up for cross-promo and whatnot. You know how the magazines like to spin things." He cleared his throat; discussing other people's relationships wasn't exactly his idea of a pleasant way to pass an afternoon. "Besides, aren't Takizawa and Tsubasa?"
Tsuyoshi stared hard at Go. "Please stop talking in riddles. I have no clue what you're trying to say."
"Well, you know, aren't they like you and Koichi? An old married couple?" Go smiled uneasily. On second thought, maybe this was a bad time to crack a joke.
Tsuyoshi's sudden bark of unamused laughter caused Go to jump in his seat. "Koichi is an ossan, but I'm not. Plus, Takizawa only wishes he was going out with Tsubasa," Tsuyoshi said smugly.
"Sorry, sorry!" Go said hastily.
"So I trust we've reached an understanding? I wouldn't want to sic Pan-chan on you." Tsuyoshi studied the cuff of his shirt and without preamble, yanked out a loose thread ruthlessly.
Go gulped and added several more bullet points to his rapidly growing "reasons why it is best to avoid Tsuyoshi" list. "Who... is Pan-chan?" he ventured. With such a sickeningly sweet name, Pan-chan was probably a sadistic pitbull with a perpetual ring of foam around its mouth.
Tsuyoshi's smile was very bright and very wide. "Oh, trust me, you don't want to find out."
Go nodded eagerly; this conversation may have been confusing, but one thing was patently clear: never, ever, cross Domoto Tsuyoshi.
...
Now if only he knew what he wasn't supposed to cross him on.
Sakamoto Masayuki & Inohara Yoshihiko
Inocchi bounced into Kamisen's dressing room followed closely by Leader.
"Go-kun," Inocchi trilled happily. "Just the person we were looking for!"
Go yawned and struggled to sit up on the couch. "Oh hey, Leader, Inocchi. What's up?"
Leader grabbed a chair and pulled it up close while Inocchi settled himself next to Go.
"I can't believe you didn't tell us that you're dating Tsubasa," Leader said mournfully. "We had to hear it second-hand from Nagano."
Go rubbed his eyes and suddenly felt much more awake. "Well, that's because I'm not dating Tsubasa," he protested. A tickling at the back of his brain reminded him that this conversation was starting to sound awfully familiar.
Inocchi grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him back and forth enthusiastically until Go whacked him in the side to quit it. "Aww, shucks. Look at our Go-kun. They grow up so fast, don't they, Leader?" Leader nodded back at Inocchi sagely. "Well, don't you worry, we have just the thing for you."
Go raised his arms immediately in protest. Nothing good ever came out of Inocchi's well-intentioned gifts. He was still recovering from the scars of that bottle of whiskey Kamisen had received as a congratulatory gift for finishing up their tour. "No, really! It's not what you think. I don't need any gifts."
Inocchi beamed and tossed a bag onto Go's lap. "And so modest too! We raised him well."
Go flailed as the bag writhed and made a mysterious scratching noise. Pan-chan?!
"Well, aren't you going to open it?" Leader's grin was equally cheesy.
Go stared suspiciously at the bag before untying the knot slowly. He peeked inside and his face turned bright red. "No thanks," he yelped, trying to shove the whole mess back towards Inocchi.
"Nonsense," Inocchi frowned, reaching out and wedging the bag firmly in between Go and the side of the couch. "Asaka and I decided the time is right to make some Inocchibis and you do want to keep Tsubasa happy, right?"
Leader puffed his chest up proudly. "And when Ken-kun and Okada heard the happy news, they insisted on chipping in with a little something as well." He whipped out another bag out of nowhere and heaved it in Go's general direction, leaving Go no choice but to reach up and catch it before it gave him a concussion.
Go pushed his new "presents" onto the floor, curled himself into a ball on his side of the couch and whimpered. He didn't know what skeeved him out more: the world being overrun by Inocchibis, his fellow group members discussing his sex life or the giant pile of condoms and lube that could keep all the juniors at the jimusho frisky through winter.
Leader sniffed and wiped away a happy tear. "V6's member ai is the best."
"Group hug!" Inocchi yelled and hurled himself on top of Go.
Nakai Masahiro
"Morita! Thanks for making the time to come all the way out here."
Go bowed slightly out of deference to his sempai before sitting down in the seat indicated. It was a little odd to be at the Utaban studio by himself, odder still, to have Nakai calling him down there out of the blue. "Well, of course, Nakai-kun. Did you need my help with something?"
Nakai laughed uproariously, slapping his knee, as if someone had just told him the most hilarious joke of the decade. "We're not here to talk about me. I want to help you out."
Go blinked, a little taken aback. Given that he had already survived a couple of puzzling encounters in the past few days though, he recovered from the news fairly well. "I need help?" he repeated stupidly.
"Oh, yes, yes," Nakai said quickly, clapping a hand over Go's mouth and looking hastily all around before releasing him. "I thought you might. Times are tough in this down economy. Now don't tell anybody else I'm doing this. I don't want hundreds of kouhai knocking down my door." Nakai slid an envelope across the table. Go stared at it blankly. "Take it," Nakai hissed.
Go reached out hesitantly for the envelope and (following Nakai's exaggerated pantomimed directions), slid it into his bag. "Um.. thank you?"
Nakai's face turned somber. "It's a pity. I've always rooted for that Takizawa fellow, but maa... what can be done? Kids," he sighed fondly.
"Ehhh?!" This time it was Go who raised a hand to cover his own inadvertently impolite mouth.
"You're welcome." Nakai smiled beatifically. "Go and show Tsuba-chan a good time, okay?" he said with a wink. "But not too good of a time. We wouldn't want Tsuyoshi to hear about it now, do we?" He thumped Go heartily on the back, pounding him a few extra times enthusiastically for good measure.
"What? No? Of course not!" Go managed to wheeze out. Was this a test from Tsuyoshi? He wouldn't put it past him at all. He managed to twist his neck to peek over his shoulder. Phew - no creepy pitbulls hovering nearby.
But really now, this was getting a bit ridiculous - how many nii-chans did Tsubasa have in the jimusho anyway?!
He didn't think he could survive many more heart attacks.
Higashiyama Noriyuki
Higashiyama rubbed his chin, deep in thought. He took his responsibility as a dai-sempai at the jimusho pretty seriously and it was time to make his weekly pep-talk call to one of his kouhai. Last week, he had gotten word that Tsubasa was complaining about loneliness and he had encouraged him to go and make the first move. He smiled to himself; Takizawa owed him one. If his calculations were right, and they were rarely wrong, Takizawa was now a happy, happy man. This week... hmm... He stretched out in his lounge chair and mentally flicked through all the different faces he had encountered throughout the week, searching for one with a glum expression. Aha! A victim! kouhai in distress!
He pulled out his cellphone, thumbed through his contacts list, and placed the call. "Morita-kun," he boomed enthusiastically into the receiver once he heard it connect. ( It was important to convey cheer through one's voice.)
"Higashiyama-san?" Go squeaked back.
Higashiyama was a man on a mission so he jumped right into it. "I've noticed that you've not been your regular self lately," he said. "Remember, when times get tough, you just get back up and join the fight again."
"..."
Higashiyama shook his phone and checked the reception. Odd. "Hello? Hello?"
"Is this about Tsubasa? I swear, there's nothing going on between me and him," Go said in a rush.
"What!" Higashiyama said incredulously. After all that trouble of prodding Tsubasa last week, he ended up with Morita instead of Takizawa? Higashiyama brightened up. Well, at least Tsubasa wasn't lonely anymore. A victory was a victory.
"It's not what it seems," Go continued pleading on the phone. "It's just a magazine photoshoot, really!"
"Is that what the kids are calling it these days? Photoshoot?" Higashiyama chuckled good-naturedly. "Morita, it's been good talking to you. Glad to hear you're doing well. Can you pass along a message to Tsubasa for me?"
"Of course," Go babbled.
"Just remind him to stretch before strenuous physical activity. Okay! Bye!" Higashiyama hung up without waiting for a reply and sighed, making a mental note to put Takizawa on his call list for next week. He unfolded his handkerchief and dabbed away the sweat that had beaded on his forehead. These pep-talks were tough.
omake~
Takizawa plodded his way onto the set, only half-awake. Solo photoshoots were so boring. Without Tsubasa to liven up the atmosphere and crack jokes, it was just endless rounds of flash blinding his eyes and makeup brushes prodding at his face.
"Takizawa-san!"
Takki turned around and blinked. His manager was jumping up and down excitedly; way too energetic for 7:30 am in the morning. "Yes?" he said curiously.
"You forgot to do your warm-up exercises."
"Whaaa- !"
His manager smiled grimly. "You didn't read the latest company policy memo from Higashiyama-san? Stretching and warm-up exercises are now mandatory before all strenuous physical activity, especially magazine photoshoots."
Takki scrunched his forehead. That did sound vaguely familiar. He remembered coming across it and dismissing it as some prank from some foolhardy junior with too much time on his hands, but evidently from his manager's enthused gestures to join him on the exercise mat, it wasn't a joke after all. Takki groaned. On further consideration, stranger company policy had been instituted in the past before... such as non-sparkly shoes Wednesdays and Higashiyama was well-known for his fanatical devotion to fitness.
With another long sigh to himself, he flopped down obediently on the exercise mat.
His manager adjusted his glasses and consulted the sheet of paper in his hand. "Okay! Let's start off with 100 situps! It'll bring some nice color to your cheeks!"
**
Go dragged his feet through the bright green grass. Usually, his precious golfing time was relaxing and a pleasure. Today, not so much. He was a bundle of nerves ever since Tsubasa had called him earlier in the week to confirm their magazine shoot together and now for some reason, he couldn't quite fathom, he was sharing a golf cart with Tsubasa. The sound of Tsubasa calling out his name broke into his thoughts and he looked up reluctantly.
"Go-kun, can you show me the best way to hold the club?" Tsubasa, dressed from top to bottom in what looked like brand-new sporty golf attire, was smiling sweetly at him and swinging his putter around energetically. A putter! When they were still 225 meters away from the green! Go sighed to himself before pasting on a bright smile. If he had learned anything in the past week, it was that a sad Tsubasa consequently meant a shitload of sad sempai.
It was going to be a loooong day.
**
Hideaki flipped eagerly through the magazine until he spotted a pic of Tsubasa. His eyes grew soft with adoration. A cooking photoshoot! He loved to see his Tsubasa cooking; he was so manly in the kitchen. As his eyes continued over the page, he drew back with a start and by the end of the three page spread, his eyes had narrowed into jealous slits.
Morita Go! Grrr!
Notes:
This started out as an answer to a prompt from a fic-meme but didn't actually answer the prompt so... x__x;;; In any case, thanks so much for the prompt, anon-san! Sorry I didn't really answer it very well at all :/
original prompt:
Who I want: Morita Go/Tsubasa
What I want: Tsubasa attempts to confess. What he doesn't realise is that Go is already perfectly aware of Tsubasa's crush on him and hasn't decided if he really wants to encourage it or not.
Extra: Bonus points for Okada/Ken laughing their asses off at it all and/or concerned Takki having a freak out.
Apologies for any characterization butchering x___x;
Tsubasa x Go Winkup photoshoot really happened.
Tsubasa uses Nagano as his personal Zagat; he's mentioned a few times how he would call Nagano-nii up for food recommendations :D;;;
Pan-chan is Koichi's ridiculously fluffy and cute dog
Nakai ships tackey x tsubasa, it's true.
Higashiyama is awesomesauce. Check out his Shounen Club Premium interviews at o_e_subs !