Chapter One -Currently untitled fic- NC-17 in this chapter and more to come
“You stare too much, Reita,” Kai’s comment made the startled bassist blush.
“Uhh…” he trailed off idiotically.
“Don’t think I haven’t noticed. You like Aoi,” the drummer stated. There was no question in his voice and his smirk told Reita that he was sure of his observations.
Reita shrugged, trying to hide the obvious as he slung his guitar case over his shoulder. He could barely admit his feelings to himself, let alone the drummer- and least of all to the silver-haired guitarist who was currently deep in conversation with Ruki. Kai smiled, hoping to have inspired the blonde to act on his feelings.
Yes, office romances should be discouraged, Kai thought, but they’d all been through worse. In the drummer’s mind, after all this time, letting Aoi and Reita be together wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. After all, how could something so simple and pure be catastrophic enough to really damage the band? With that, Kai smiled and left, bidding the other band members good day and leaving the bassist to his “not-so-G-rated” thoughts.
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Aoi sighed in relief as he threw his keys on the table and his bag on the ground after letting himself into his apartment. The guitarist shrugged out of his coat and shoes before plopping down on the couch. After checking his phone and, upon surfing TV channels, finding a distinct lack of interesting television programming, Aoi decided to draw himself a bath.
Near-scalding water filled the tub as Aoi finished preparing for his long awaited relaxation. Drumming his fingers absently on the tub’s surface, the guitarist hummed to himself and tried to decide on what to eat for dinner.
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“You’re distracted,” the vocalist said pointedly, nudging the quiet bassist with his elbow as they sat together on the couch.
“Huh? I’m sorry. I think I’m just worn out,” Reita mumbled, fiddling with his rings.
“We can watch the movie another time, Reita,” Ruki said quietly.
“No, no. It’s fine, really.” Reita said. With that he stood and divested himself of his jacket before throwing it unceremoniously onto the floor. Ruki huffed once in annoyance and glared at the discarded jacket, as if expecting it to pick itself up and hang itself on the coat rack.
Reita chuckled, “Okay, okay. You’re so anal retentive, Ruki.”
“I like clean, you know that,” the vocalist all but snapped back.
Once the jacket was safely out of Ruki’s sight and the two friends were again settled on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, everything was normal. At least as far as Ruki could tell it was.
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After a relaxing bath Aoi ordered food and sat scrawling guitar riffs and various notes on one of the thousands of blank music sheets to be found in his apartment. Guitar in lap, food in one hand, and pencil in the other, Aoi was fully concentrated. He was, at least, until his cell phone rang.
“What?” the guitarist barked, the remnants of his shattered concentration morphing into irritation.
“Are you busy?” Uruha’s voice asked from the other end.
“Writing music, why?”
“I just wanted a drinking buddy is all,” the other guitarist said, already sounding at least partially intoxicated.
Aoi sighed, running a hand through his half-dry hair, “Not tonight, Uruha. Sorry.”
“Who am I going to drink with then?” Uruha whined, “I’m really in the mood to drink.”
“You’re always in the mood to drink, man.” Aoi replied.
“Alright, you sound exhausted anyway. How about another night?”
“Sounds good, see you tomorrow.” Aoi hung up the phone, his creativity thoroughly slaughtered by the interruption. The silver-haired man finished eating, put away his guitar and music, and headed to bed.
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Reita woke up to a small weight of warmth wriggling on his stomach. After a few minutes of grappling with the lifelong question of whether or not to wake up, the bassist opened his eyes.
“Koron!” he whispered as loud as one could whisper as the Chihuahua attempted to make himself comfortable on his new “Reita bed.” The dog’s ears pricked up and he wagged his tail. Reita looked across the couch to see a sleeping Ruki at the other end. Stroking Koron’s head, Reita nudged the vocalist gently. Getting no response, Reita stood, putting the dog in his place on the couch, turned off the TV and DVD player, and staggered to the coat rack. A look at his cell phone told him it was just after 12:30.
“Keiji and Oscar probably miss me,” he mused before letting himself out and locking the door behind him as he headed home.
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Miyavi squirmed as the sunlight sliced through the curtains, dragging him all but kicking and screaming from his alcohol-induced torpor. The pounding of his head was softened by a comforting warmth beside him. While a giant gap in his memory remained, the soloist was half relieved to be waking in bed next to Melody. As Miyavi struggled to focus on the body behind him, he became increasingly panicked by a distinct lack of Melody’s long locks and womanly body. Finally turning over, Miyavi found himself facing a sleeping drummer.
“Shit!” Miyavi growled to himself. Alarm flooded his veins like ice coursing through him as he soon discovered the absence of clothing on both he and his unexpected bedmate. Rolling over and stumbling out of bed, the soloist tried to deny the obvious. If he’d slept with Kai, wouldn’t he remember it? Another blindingly painful throb of his head coupled with a wave of nausea told him that no, he probably wouldn’t remember- not in the state he was currently in. Miyavi decided these are all problems that could be solved after a hot shower, and headed toward the bathroom with a guilt-ridden conscience to accompany him.
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Aoi’s perfect lips trailed down Reita’s abdomen as he shot the bassist a sultry look. Reita could almost feel his heart skip a beat; everything the guitarist did seemed only to add to his arousal.
“Aoi,” Reita growled, feeling particularly impatient and needy. He pulled the older man close and kissed him, trying to make Aoi feel how desperate he was. The guitarist pulled away, however, smiling before cupping the bassist’s erection through his pants. Reita’s hands slid under Aoi’s shirt, intending to unwrap his delicious treat but the silver-haired man pulled away again- this time leaving the bed completely. The bassist sighed and motioned for Aoi to rejoin him, receiving a playful grin in response.
Teasing fingers exposed a pale inch or two of Aoi’s abdomen to Reita, who still sat impatiently on the bed. Another few inches or so were revealed and the anticipation made the bassist ache as he shifted, trying to get more comfortable. Aoi finally took off his shirt and the obvious bulge in his pants was made more apparent, seeming only to tease Reita more. When exactly had the bassist’s baggy jeans become so constricting? he thought. With a naughty look, Aoi trailed a hand down his chest to his stomach and finally to his zipper where he began playfully fiddling with it. That was the last straw. Reita growled hungrily and rocketed from the bed to the guitarist before him. The bassist kissed a shocked Aoi earnestly and pushed him into the wall, intending to end this and take what he wanted. A sudden, loud thud interrupted him.
The floor happens to be cold at 4 am, Reita gathered, as he’d somehow awoken on it in the dark of his room. His sheets and blankets tangled about him and a pulsing arousal reminded him why he’d woken up in this position. The bassist sighed and untangled himself from his bedding before nursing a bruised elbow from his fall. Reita glared down at the bulge in his boxers, cursing himself for having such dreams about a man- his band mate- and climbed into bed. Much of the night consisted of the bassist’s unsuccessful attempts to sleep and ignore the tumescent souvenir from his dream.
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When the vocalist awoke to his cell phone alarm, he was surprised to find only Koron waiting for him. Ruki shrugged it off. After all, Reita had pets to take care of, too. Groaning inwardly, Ruki headed off to shower. As the hot water woke the vocalist up, he made a mental list of things to do before work. After adding feeding and walking Koron, making breakfast, and wearing the outfit he’d picked out, he realized he needed to add the album designs he’d been working on to the collection of madness currently inhabiting his bag. Struck by thoughts of Reita’s sudden departure as he washed his hair, the vocalist tried his best not to be saddened that the bassist had chosen not to wake him nor stay the night. In fact, he tried to ignore the subject completely; the entire situation seemed to awaken a new side of him. Infatuation with his best friend didn’t seem like something Ruki was prepared to handle, what with everything else going on.
“We have an album to record and release, TV and radio appearances, a music video to film, and a tour to top it all off. And there are the goods for the tour to do- there’s no time for this nonsense” Ruki told his reflection in the mirror as he stepped out of the shower and began toweling off.
Koron met the damp vocalist as he opened the bathroom door towel clad. The Chihuahua bounced around happily as he waited for his owner to get ready for their morning walk. Ruki smiled and headed over to the clothes he’d taken pains to pick out, accessorize, and set out to wear. As he dressed he imagined Reita getting home late at night. Why hadn’t he just stayed? Again, the vocalist brushed away those thoughts, the feelings hidden just beneath the surface, and the distractions that threatened to derail the new album’s release. After brushing his teeth and grabbing a quick breakfast, he called Koron for their walk. The sound of tiny, clawed feet skittering across the floor made Ruki smile and when the dog managed to crash into a wall on his merry way to the door, the vocalist laughed out loud. With the leash securely attached to Koron’s collar, the two left for their morning air.
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Aoi’s morning was fairly uneventful, if he really thought about it. He’d woken up, answered a text from Hitsugi, eaten, and gotten ready for the day. One last run-through of the music the guitarist had written the night before gave his mind a bit of peace and prepared him for their meeting that day.
Humming, Aoi finished gathering his things and texted Hitsugi that he was leaving and would be unable to respond while he was in the meeting. As an after-thought the silver-haired man texted Uruha that he was sorry he hadn’t been able to accompany his fellow guitarist on his intoxicated adventures the night before. Without waiting for a reply, Aoi headed to the meeting.
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Uruha’s headache was excruciating when he finally managed to roll out of bed. A quick glance at the clock revealed he was running late, and his phone had been happily chirping his alarm for about 20 minutes. The guitarist swore and scrambled to gather his things, dress, and rush out the door. On his way to the studio, Uruha stopped for some pain reliever to make his head stop trying to explode. After a few minutes he felt better and even vaguely human again. When the guitarist went to call Ruki to tell him he was running late, he saw he had a text from Aoi.
-Sorry for not drinking with you. Maybe we can go this weekend (^_^)b
Uruha smiled and replied that it would be fun. After texting Ruki about being late to the studio, he set off to get there as soon as possible.
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A high-pitched whining started worming itself into Reita’s death-like slumber. Instead of throwing his cell phone across the room, which was oh-so-enticing, the bassist turned off the alarm and poured himself out of bed with about as much enthusiasm as a dead slug. Though he was still zombified from lack of sleep, he recalled the dream with surprising clarity. Reita thought back to those full, pouty lips, those dark, entrancing eyes, to everything about his band mate that made his palms sweat and his stomach perform an acrobatic routine.
“This isn’t right,” the bassist muttered under his breath, “he’s a member of the band- and a guy for fuck’s sake!”
Keiji and Oscar chirped happily upon seeing their dad emerge from the bedroom fully dressed and ready for work. Reita fed and watered them, divulging that Papa has a meeting and he will see them later. Petting the birds a final time, Reita grabbed his keys and bag before leaving to get breakfast before the meeting.
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Reita nearly turned around and bolted down the hallway when he entered the elevator at the studio and found himself trapped, alone, with Aoi. The bassist prepared himself internally and managed an awkward smile and a stuttered greeting before turning away. Suddenly, Reita’s cell phone was captivating as he pretended to text, thoroughly avoiding the bemused guitarist’s eyes.
Aoi shrugged the bassist’s strange behavior off, blaming a lack of sleep or stress due to the impending craziness of an album and tour. He simply adjusted his massive sunglasses and straightened his jacket. The silver-haired man jumped when his cell phone buzzed in his pocket. If Aoi had been startled, Reita had been scared shitless at the noise; he’d jumped, hitting his head on the elevator wall and cursing. The guitarist tried not to laugh as he checked the caller ID. It was Kai.
“Morning,” Aoi mumbled into the phone.
“Aoi? I’m running late- I had- I had a meeting,” the drummer stammered into the phone. No doubt he was scrambling to get everything ready for recording, Aoi thought.
“Alright I’ll let everyone know,” the guitarist answered before abruptly hanging up.
“Um, Kai’s gonna be late, isn’t he?” Reita asked nervously.
“Obviously.”
“Well, we can at least get everything set up before he gets here,” Reita mused aloud, forgetting for a moment the painful awkwardness of the situation. Aoi just shrugged and took out his phone, presumably to text the other members.