A treat for travelingpsycho
A treat for travelingpsycho
Cooked up by: A Friendly Chef
Title: Many Meetings
Characters/Groups: Kanjani8
Genre: Slice of Life (maybe?)/Slight AU
Rating: PG (Because the language might be a bit much - just a bit)
Warnings:.This might be slightly AU; the characters might have changed I am not sure, but am very sorry.
Author's Notes: This is more like many pieces coming together. It is not a continuing story. It’s more like summarizing their life. The name Fujiyama was just made by me. He is an OC. For Uchi, I don’t know him so his character might be wrong in here. Dokkun is a given nickname to Ryo from Yoko. It stands for his famous poison tongue. Since I had to rush this it might be lame, very lame. I apologize.
Two teenagers named Shibutani Subaru and Yokoyama Yuu were walking down the halls of the Jimusho when they heard screams.
“What was that?” Yoko asked. Subaru shrugged.
“There’s always noise in the halls these days.”
“Let’s take a look.” Yoko tried to figure out where the sound came from. As if in answer to his action a boy passed a corner and started to run towards them with his black hair bouncing around his head. There were a bunch of people chasing him.
“Wait there you little brat!” yelled one of them.
“You prankster!”
“You’re a dead meat once I catch you!”
Yoko and Subaru looked at each other. The little boy, who was checking his back while running, accidently bumped into Yoko.
“Ooof...” Yoko rubbed his stomach while the little boy was rubbing his nose. Then the boy tried to pass Yoko, who caught him by his arm.
“Whoa! Where are you going?!”
“Let go! Let go!” The boy tried to free himself from Yoko’s grip. Yoko examined the boys face for a second; he had just used kansaiben.
“What’s your name?” Yoko asked.
“Isn’t it Ryo-chan?” Subaru turned to look at them with a wide smile on his face.
At that exact moment the ones who were chasing the boy reached them.
“Stop there guys!” Subaru yelled out, jumping in front of the angry crowd. Subaru was one of the shining stars of the Jimusho at that time. He thought that could be helpful right now--the other boys would respect him, in a way. “What do you want from him?”
Ryo was relieved to find some supporters, or protectors. He liked the feeling, so he hid behind Yoko and watched the scene with curious eyes.
“What did you do?” asked Yoko in a low voice.
Ryo shook his head, meaning ‘nothing’.
“Don’t be fooled by his angelic face,” said one of the boys who were chasing Ryo. “He is pure evil!”
“Why did you say that, Murakami?” asked Subaru.
“Oh, don’t tell me you don’t know him!” Murakami attempted to pass Subaru but the other was faster. He stepped in front of Murakami and blocked his way, shielding Ryo.
Subaru, and everyone else in Jimusho, knew Murakami was a violent one; if he let Murakami pass, Ryo would be hurt badly in the end. Subaru crossed his arms.
“Shibutani, that little brat you’re protecting is a prankster, a devil with an angel's face...”
“Oh really?” Subaru glanced back at Ryo, who was watching everything with fear-filled eyes. “He is just a little boy.”
“A little boy!” said another boy. When Subaru turned his face he met Tackey. “He just glued my shoes to the floor. Do you have any idea how expensive they were?!” Subaru sighed. If there was a ranking Tackey was way above him; this might not end well.
Sakurai Sho noticed that everyone’s attention was on Tackey, so he used the opening. He slowly passed Subaru. Yoko noticed him just in time; he blocked the other from moving any further.
“Kimi-chan! We are friends! I bet you know his name.”
“As a matter of fact I do, but that doesn’t matter. Do you expect me to let all of you jump on a little boy?” Yoko felt Ryo’s grip tightening, which gave him more courage.
Ryo, on the other hand, was enjoying the comfort that these new knights in their shining armour provided, but he knew as soon as they learned the truth they would turn their back at him. So he was staying on the lookout for an opening, an escape route.
“Hey, I am the victim here! Not him!” Sho objected. “He painted my favorite shirt pink!”
“I didn’t paint it all to pink.” Ryo said. “I just draw a new pattern. It’s called creativity.”
Yoko bit his lips not to laugh.
“Kimi-chan!”
The others were complaining about Ryo, too.
“He just pulled my pants down in front of everyone. And he didn’t even apologize. All he said was that it was my punishment for being very ugly.”
“He grabbed the book I was reading and told me how it ended. And after, can you believe it, he ripped the book. He said now that I know how it ends, there’s no need to read it anymore. That little brat drives me crazy!”
“Stand aside Shibutani, he needs to be punished.”
“Hey!” Subaru yelled. “Hey!” everyone grew quiet. “He is just a little boy. It’s normal for him to play pranks. You guys- how many are you... one, two... five... eight, nine. Nine teenagers are going to beat a lone boy?”
Ryo frowned but didn’t say anything.
“Well, he started it,” answered a boy behind Murakami.
Everyone’s attention was on Subaru, except Sho, who was looking for an opening. He was trying to catch Ryo, but the boy was sliding around Yoko to stay out of is reach. Yoko, on the other hand, had started to feel dizzy.
“Sho-chan… stop it. He is just a little boy. You two… hey…”
“Gotcha!” Murakami caught Ryo, who hadn't realized how close he'd come to the others while trying to stay away from Sho. “You’re a dead boy now.” Murakami grinned.
The others yelled happily, “About time!”
“We caught your tail, little fox!”
Yoko and Sho glanced at each other.
“Let go!” Ryo yelled; his voice cracked. Still the little boy tried to look brave. He raised his chin and glared at the older boy.
“What? Are you going to cry now?” the ‘ugly boy’ teased.
“Are you stupid? Who is going to cry?” Ryo answered back.
The other boys were angrily reached for Ryo’s arms. Who knew what they were planning, but they never succeeded. Murakami was now indecisive. Letting nine angry teenagers beat a boy suddenly seemed very unfair.
“Oi, Murakami?!” Yelled Tackey, trying to catch Ryo’s arm but pulling the boy's hair instead. Murakami turned his back to block them.
“This is wrong!” he yelled.
“What?!”
“Are you on his side now?!”
Subaru and Yoko was confused at the sudden change of events--even Ryo himself was. But the two teenagers didn’t think too much; at the first available opening they freed Ryo and snatched him back.
“Hey you guys! Be a bit more mature!” yelled Subaru. Ryo didn't bother to look, he just turned his back and flew down the hallway.
All of the boys went silent.
“So that’s it…” mumbled Tackey. “We’ll see you later… Ryo-chan.” He turned his back and went back to his dressing room. The others looked at each other. Now Tackey was gone and they were not very sure what to do. They started to walk away one after the other.
Yoko glanced at Sho, who was deep in thought.
“Sho-chan?”
Sho blinked his eyes and looked at Yoko. He then shrugged and followed the others.
Yoko didn’t like this. Sho was probably mad at him; maybe he wouldn’t talk to him, ever. Yoko sighed heavily.
***
They weren’t expecting to see Ryo so soon. Not the day after. So, when Ryo turned the door knob and peeked in they were pretty surprised. When Ryo realized they had seen him he entered the room fully.
“What are you guys doing here?” He grinned.
“Nothing. What does it look like, idiot?” Murakami answered back. Ryo glanced at the violent boy and sat on a chair far away from him.
“Seems like nothing. If you guys continue to laze about this much, they might kick you out.”
“Are you afraid of me?” Murakami laughed. “Sitting that far…”
“Shut up, your voice is so disgusting, it makes me want to vomit.”
Subaru, who was listening to the conversation like watching a tennis game, couldn’t help but chuckle. “You two are so funny. Ryo-chan, you shouldn’t push it so much.”
“I am not.” Ryo switched to defense mode. “I am just telling the truth here.”
“I guess he has a death wish.” Yoko laughed while playing with his gameboy.
Ryo snorted. “I don’t.”
“You shouldn’t. You are too little to think that stuff.” Yoko still didn’t raise his head from the game.
“I am not little!” Ryo looked angry.
Yoko rolled his eyes. “Yeah.”
“I am not!” the boy insisted. “I am fourteen now!”
They all stared back at him. “Yeah.” They couldn’t help but chuckle.
“I am, okay!”
“Well, you look like seven or eight, or something like that.” Yoko said; this time he didn’t try to hide his grin.
“Hey, I am fourteen, okay!” Ryo snorted. “Is that why you helped me? You thought that I was so little?”
“You are little.”
“Oi, Yoko don’t push it.” Subaru wasn’t trying to hide his grin either.
“So if I wasn’t this small you wouldn’t have helped me, right?”
“Boy wants an answer.” Stated Murakami.
Yoko sighed. “You're from Kansai right?”
“Oh, that’s why.” Ryo said. “If I was a Tokyo junior you wouldn’t help me…”
“Hey, are you trying to pick a fight with us?” Subaru laughed. “We thought that Tokyo Juniors were bullying a Kansai Junior. It happens often.”
“So, if Tokyo juniors were bullying a Tokyo junior it’s okay?”
Yoko rolled his eyes.
“No idiot, we would have helped you even if you were a Tokyo junior. We're just explaining what we thought. Is that clear, shorty?” Subaru answered, messing Ryo’s hair.
“Yes. Hey, I am not short!”
“You are!” Murakami laughed.
“Am not!”
“Well he has a good puppy look.” Yoko said.
“He does, doesn’t he.” Subaru agreed, thinking about it.
“Oi! I am not short!”
“I bet he is going to be a good actor.” Yoko teased.
“Hey!” Ryo yelled angrily. “Just watch, I am going to be a great actor. And I will grow up taller than all of you!”
“You won’t catch me. Not a chance.”
“Me neither.” Yoko agreed with Murakami.
“At least I'll be taller than Shibutani.”
“Oi!” Subaru smacked his head. “At least add a 'san' at the end.”
“Ouch! You're just like my mum!”
The others couldn’t help but crack up, making Subaru roll his eyes.
“Subaru is a mom?!”
“Oi, stop it.” Subaru said, annoyed.
“Yeah.” Ryo grinned. Causing mischief everywhere was his motto. “You're my mother who will protect me from the others.” He looked at Subaru with puppy eyes.
“No no, I agree with them, this kid really is evil.”
“But mum! Won’t you protect me?”
“Yes mother, won’t you protect your cute child?” Yoko mocked.
Subaru rolled his eyes. “Of course I will. I will protect my evil… ehm… cute child from everyone.”
“Even from Takizawa-kun?” asked Ryo.
“Eh? Hey, stop that puppy eyes act of yours!”
“What kind of mother are you, yelling at your son like that!” Murakami smacked Subaru’s head.
Ryo looked down. “Mum won’t protect me from Takizawa-kun?”
Subaru sighed. “Well, I will.”
Ryo raised his head with a grin on his face.
“But it won’t be easy, you see.”
“Why not?”
“Takizawa is a father. Fathers are stronger than mothers.”
“Father?” Ryo looked confused.
“He is Yamapi’s papa,” explained Murakami.
“Oh… Yamapi…” Ryo’s huge grin returned to his face. “He's a sissy’s father. Mother wins, cause your kid is the smartest and strongest kid.”
“You spoiled little brat!” Subaru laughed, smacking Ryo’s head.
“Ouch!” Ryo rubbed his head. “Child abuse is illegal!”
Just at that exact moment a staff member entered the room. “Shibutani-kun, Yokoyama-kun, be on stage in five minutes.”
“Okay.”
“Understood.”
The ones whose names were mentioned got up and followed the staff member outside of the room.
Ryo and Murakami were now alone. Ryo got up and got himself a bottle of water. Murakami didn’t say anything; he just watched Ryo trying to open the cap. But Murakami wasn’t really a patient person--he could only manage to stay silent for a minute.
“Are you wrestling with that bottle?” Murakami got up and headed towards Ryo.
“None of your business.”
“Yeah, sure.” Murakami reached for the bottle.
“I can handle it on my own.”
“Sure you can.” Murakami opened the cap and handed it back to Ryo. “Here. A little help won’t hurt anyone.”
Ryo looked at the bottle; when he turned his eyes back at Murakami they were honest. “Thank you.”
Murakami smiled at him. “Peace?” he raised his fist.
“Peace.” Ryo hit Murakami’s fist with his own fist.
***
Yasu and Maru were sitting on the couch eyeing the four ‘stars’ from Tokyo. Why did the agency send Kansai juniors back to their home? It was a mystery. And why did they have to deal with them? Another mystery…
They all--Yasu, Maru, Uchi, that drummer Fujjiyama--hated the fact how those outsiders came and stole the spotlight.
The youngest ‘star’, Ryo, handed a bottle to the guy who they said looked like that popular actress.
“Murakami-kun, please…”
“Okay, okay Ryo.” Murakami smiled. “You’re only polite to me when you need something.” He opened the cap and handed it back to Ryo.
“No I'm not!”
Yasu hated that high pitched voice. He glanced at Maru, who was staring at the ‘stars’ too.
“I am actually a very good kid!” Ryo continued. Murakami smacked his head.
“Be at least be a bit more modest.” He laughed.
Yasu turned his eyes to another ‘star’, Shibutani. People around him usually mentioned how good he was as a vocalist, and quickly added that he was actually a very rebellious youth. Yasu himself wasn’t sure about the good vocal part. What was so special about that guy really? He only had scary eyes. Yeah, he looked like a tramp.
The door of the room banged open. Fujiyama the drummer furiously entered the dressing room.
“E-eh?” Yoko startled.
“What’s going on?” asked Maru.
“I am leaving!”
Everyone in the room looked at each other.
“Err , to where?” Maru asked again.
“Idiot, I am leaving the agency. I am giving up the whole entertainment business. That’s it!”
“But, why? Why now?” Yasu interrupted.
“Why? Why do you ask?! I am sick of it. It’s getting worse every day. I can’t…”
“Fujiyama-kun.” A man butted in. “We should talk alone.”
“There is no need to talk anymore. I am quitting!” Fujiyama grabbed his bag and rushed out of the room. The man rushed after him.
The silence in the room was awkward. Suddenly everyone started to do something; Yasu started to clean his guitar. Maru needed something to do, so he copied his band mate. Uchi opened one of the mangas he had - the name written on it was sailor moon. Ryo reached for a magazine on the desk and started to read it quietly with Murakami. Subaru felt an urge to tidy up his bag. Yoko--well, he was always playing games, so he didn’t do anything different. But all of them felt guilty inside. If they had just worked harder maybe Fujiyama wouldn't have quit. Maybe, from now on, if they did their job well enough they could improve and people like Fujiyama could continue their life in the entertainment business. Maybe the idea was stupid, but somehow at that moment it felt very logical.
The other thing they worried about was their own life. What if they had to quit? Could they manage this way? Or should they try to find something better to do?
They wondered if channel 8, the local channel, was going to continue their show. What if they didn’t? If they lost this job, what were they going to do?
No, it was not raining outside, but they felt the rain, or maybe snow, in their heart.
The light was so bright that Subaru couldn’t stand it and turned it off. Nobody complained.
Not long after that, Yoko read that they were now called Kanjani8 and a boy named Ohkura was going to be their new drummer.
“Kanjani8,” Ryo mumbled.
“Where did you read that, Yoko?” asked Subaru. Yoko pointed towards Yasu, who was reading a newspaper with furrowed eyebrows.
“Shouldn’t they have told us sooner?” Maru sounded confused.
“Isn’t it obvious that they don’t care about us?” Subaru answered angrily. “It’s all about the Tokyo Juniors!”
“Sssh!” Ryo warned. “Not in here! If they-”
“I don’t care!” Subaru shot back. “We don’t have any job to do! Our show is about to end! And everybody knows we are not paid-“
“Oi, guys. Be quiet.” A man peaked in. “You're paid enough according to what you're doing.”
Everybody gulped.
“If you want to do more than that you have a chance. You are going to do a Christmas concert.”
All of the guys looked at each other excitedly.
“But…” the man continued. “That depends on how good your new drummer is. If you want to leave before that, it’s your choice, Shibutani.” And with that, the man vanished as quickly as he had appeared.
Subaru didn’t say a word.
Weeks were passing so fast that when the day of the concert arrived they felt nothing was ready. Still they were sure they could manage.
After the concert their optimistic attitude vanished in the air. No, it was not the new drummer's fault. He did his part very well, even studying one song for six months. The eight guys were disappointed with the audience. They barely had five hundred people there when the actual capacity was one thousand or so.
The second and the third days weren’t even that good.
They needed to do something but they didn’t know what. So, they decided to meet at a restaurant to talk about it.
Ryo entered the place looking around. The waiter helped him to their table. That drummer guy, Ohkura, was already there.
“Yo.” Ryo greeted the other and sat down.
“Yo.” Ohkura answered. They both looked away, waiting for the others. Ryo kept checking his watch, showing how impatient he was. Ohkura let out a heavy sigh.
“What?!” Ryo glared at the drummer.
“Nothing.”
“Yea…”Ryo examined him.
Murakami entered the divided room. “Hey,” he greeted the other two.
“You’re blocking my way!” Maru hissed behind him. Murakami frowned but didn’t say anything. Maru just nodded towards the others before sitting on an empty chair. Uchi entered the room after him. He looked around the room, studied everybody’s face, and then greeted them with a forced smile. Yoko was silent; he just said “hi” and sat down at the nearest place. Yasu and Subaru entered the room at the same time and glared at each other.
When everyone had arrived, Ohkura didn’t waste a minute to order something. Ryo glared at him; so did Subaru.
“We are not here to eat, you know,” Subaru said as harshly as he could manage. “There are important things to discuss.”
Ohkura shrugged. “Meanwhile, we can eat. Without food your brain won’t function properly.”
Ryo was about to smile but he bit his lips. Uchi saw that.
“Why don’t you be yourself and stop acting for a change?”
Ryo’s eyes widened. “Why don’t you wear your sister's uniform and go to school in her place. I'm sure nobody would see any difference.”
Uchi’s face turned a bright pink.
“Are we here to fight or talk?” Murakami cut them off. “Be a bit more mature.”
Subaru sighed. “Can we talk? At least try to talk?”
“Then you begin.” Said Yasu.
Subaru sighed again. “The thing is, this is not working out.”
Silence.
“Our band, you mean?” Yoko asks.
“What else can I mean, idiot.” Subaru sounded angry.
“Hey, I am just trying to help!” Yoko snorted.
“What kind of help is that? I am trying to say that we are failing badly! No one, even the agency, cares what we are doing.”
“That’s not true!” Murakami butted in. “They do care; if we start to make them lose money, they will surely disband us.”
“Oh, now that’s a cheerful thought.” Yasu frowned.
“Reality hurts,” Ohkura commented.
“Oh are you on their side now?” Maru sounded frustrated and angry.
“Oh so that’s why you guys were doing that!” Subaru glared at Yasu.
“Doing what?” Yasu crossed his arms.
“Avoiding us.” Ryo answered in Subaru’s place.
“Yeah, maybe because you guys were trying to get all the attention for yourselves!” Uchi shot back.
“We what?” Yoko seemed surprised and disappointed. “We definitely didn’t do that!”
“All we tried to do was making the show more hyper, more interesting!” Murakmai said, sounding as disappointed as Yoko was.
“Yeah really, making all those jokes and stealing the camera?”
“Are you jealous?” Ryo butted in.
“I just can’t believe it! All we tried to do was make it a bit more interesting and we're rewarded with this!“
“Oh you are the one to talk! Walking around all proud, just because everyone thinks you’re a good vocalist.”
Subaru’s eyes widened. “I am not doing that!”
“Aren’t you guys walking around and thinking that you guys are way better than us just because you play some instruments?” Ryo shot back at Yasu.
“Oh shut up!" Uchi interfered again. “All you can do is spit poison with that tongue of yours."
“At least he is not reading shoujo mangas,” Subaru defended.
“They- they are…”
“What about it?!” It was Yassu’s turn to defend his band mate. “I can’t see how shoujo mangas and our work are related.”
“Good point,” Yoko agreed. “We will still fail even if he doesn’t read any manga.”
“Are you sure about that?” Murakami turned to him angrily. “It’s nice to see faith in you!”
“What would you need that for? There’s no point denying the truth!”
“Oi Yoko!” Subaru glared at him. “I thought you were optimistic.”
“Oh, please try to be optimistic about this! Let’s see what we have here… hmm…” Yoko pretended to think and raised his index finger. "We are kicked out of Tokyo. Our salaries are cut.”
“Nearly no one came to our first concert,” Ryo helped out. He rubbed his left eye, preventing a tear from falling and quickly covered the movement by pretending to scratch his hair.
“We are stuck here doing nothing,” Subaru completed. He sniffed too.
Ohkura looked at both of them with wide eyes. “Are you guys crying?”
“Eh?” Ryo blushed. Subaru looked away as if he thought Ohkura wasn’t referring to him.
Maru suddenly started to sniff too. “Maybe they are crying, Tatsuyoshi, because it is the end of us.”
“Hey, my name is Tadayoshi!”
“He is right, Tatsuyoshi.” Hina looked down, playing with the chopsticks in front of him. “Our life as entertainers, or Idols in other words, is nearly over.”
“Tadayoshi.” Ohkura rolled his eyes.
“Whatever, this is easier,” Hina answered Ohkura.
“And we didn’t even do anything yet.” Uchi sniffed too. He looked at the others with teary eyes.
Ryo continued to rub his eyes more often. “But… why…”
“It is so hard this way. They don’t pay us and stuff. They just make us sit here or there. I… maybe I should quit.” Subaru patted Ryo’s shoulder, stammering the last few words.
“You are giving up?” Ryo asked, not believing the older man's decision.
“Yeah, what else is left?”
“You can’t do that! No!” Ryo screamed. “We are not quitters!”
“Speak for yourself Ryo, not everyone has a bright path in front of them.”
Ryo was taken aback. “What do you mean?”
“He means we are not blind, he means that you've been very active lately,” Ohkura said.
“There is nothing!” Ryo shot back. “I have nothing more than you guys have!”
Yoko eyed him suspiciously.
“Come on!” Ryo’s eyes were teary but he was laughing. “What do you think is going on?”
“The thing is, we don’t know and we want to find out,” Yasu said.
“And why is this becoming about me? I am definitely not the reason we failed. Try to comfort yourselves another way.”
Silence fell throughout the room.
“What is the problem then?” Maru looked at his hands.
“The problem is…” Yasu suddenly started crying. “We are awful… we don’t do everything, we just pass the time to get over with it.”
“You’re right.” Yoko wiped his own tears.
“And why is everyone crying?!?”
“Happiness,” Hina answered Ohkura, smacking his head.
“You’re right…” Yoko said again. “Even we wouldn’t bear to watch a crap like that.”
“We are just awful.” Subaru sobbed. “And I always thought the future would be bright for me. I thought I found my passion. I…”
“Then don’t quit.” Ryo looked at him with puppy eyes, which were very effective when they were full of tears. “We will find a way.”
Subaru closes his eyes to see the stage, the audience… their excited voices reached him. He opened his eyes and messed Ryo’s hair.
“You know you are right. You are a good kid.”
“Eh?” Ryo blushed and his eyes widened. Yasu rubbed his eyes and looked at them.
“What do you suggest?”
“You know the agency doesn’t keep us for charity.” Ryo sniffed and rubbed one of eyes. “They will try to make use of us.”
“Okay.” They watched Ryo for the next word.
“So when the opportunity arrives we will use it,” Ryo answered as if it was that simple.
“How?”
“Well, by working hard, doing as much as we can do, not slacking off.”
“So that’s it?” Subaru blinked his eyes.
“Yeah that’s it. All of us have talent, at least to some point, right?”
“Uh… yeah.”
“So with our effort, the next opportunity might be our ticket out of here.”
“To where?” Maru asked, confused.
“To eternity!” Yelled Yasu, starting to get hyper.
Ohkura was glaring at Ryo.
“What?” Ryo asked bluntly.
“I always thought that you were sharp and had a hard heart. It seems like you are very-“
“Shut up!” Ryo cut his words off, sensing how embarrassing they were. Ohkura smiled, only to make one more tear fall from the other's eye.
“Hey, come on! Don’t cry. We all are going to be fine. Don’t cry guys!”
The only sound was sobbing and sniffing.
One hour past… two… and three…
“Yosh! We are going to make it big! Osaka Jou Hall--no no, Osaka Dome, wait for us!” Yoko wiped his tears away.
“Idiot, isn’t that a bit much?” Subaru laughed and smacked the other's head.
“I didn’t say Tokyo Dome.”
“Why not?” Ryo butted in. “We are going to make it in Tokyo Dome! Just wait and see!”
“Yeah we are!” Yasu said, excitedly. Uchi was crying with pleasure now, he was so sure they could make it.
“Guys, don’t get that excited.”
“Shibutani-kun, why are you such a coward.” Yasu smiled.
“Eeh…” Subaru’s eyes widened.
“Subaru is just trying to be realistic.” Answered Hina. “But Subaru, right now you need to be excited. We are trying to improve our moods here."
“You are all total idiots.” Subaru rolled his eyes.
“So, are you going to quit now?” Everyone turned their attention to Subaru.
“Hmm. Let me think.” Subaru puckered his mouth. “You guys won’t make it to the Dome without me.”
“Idiot.” Hina smacked his head.
“I am just trying to get excited, like you suggested,” Subaru answered. “I want to fill the dome with our voices.” He added a bit later. “Mm… Yeah.”
"Will we really make it really?” Maru mumbled.
***
Running down the stairs of an empty Tokyo Dome, Yoko threw his water balloon at Hina. “Gotcha!” He smiled like kid.
“Gotcha!” Ryo yelled as his balloon hit Yoko’s hip. “Look at you!” He laughed. “Everybody is going to think you peed in your pants.”
“Dokkun!” Yoko turned to run up the stairs, after Ryo.
Ryo was about to escape, but suddenly Maru appeared in front of him.
“Get out of the way, Maru!”
“Eh?” Maru looked at the two figures running towards him. It was too late for him to move now; Ryo jumped passed him, but Maru did slow him down.
Yoko reached for Ryo and luckily caught the boy's wrist. He pulled him back and smashed the balloon in his other hand against the other's chest.
“Yikees! Cold! Yokoyama-kun!”
Yoko ran away in case Ryo decided to attack him. He couldn’t help but laugh madly.
“Maru!” yelled Ryo. “What the hell were you doing, idiot!”
Maru jumped and looked back at Ryo. “Sorry Ryo-chan! Sorry! Ryo-chan!”
“For only once pay attention to where you’re going!”
Subaru sighed. He was sitting near them and looking down at the huge stage of Tokyo Dome. That night was the big night; for sure.