Arashi: Red Shift (02)
FANDOM: Arashi
PAIRING: Sakuraiba
RATING: PG
DATE: January 4, 2010
WORD COUNT: 1,470
NOTES: This is a work of fiction, written for arashic0804!
Chapter One | Chapter Three
CHAPTER TWO
The next couple of weeks were very hectic for the members of Red Shift. It wasn’t just the rearranging of their songs, which didn’t seem to go as well as they had hoped - Sho’s suggestions were usually veto-ed by Nino, who wrote most of the songs. There was a constant tension between them that Jun didn’t understand - he knew that it must be hard for Nino to let someone else come in and change his songs, but he would have thought that Nino would either confront Sho about what was bothering him, or settle things after a discussion. Instead, no matter how politely Sho made his suggestions, or how friendly Sho tried to be, there were times when Jun thought that Nino was openly hostile.
Ohno had reverted back to the quiet person he was during the early days of the band, and left Nino and Sho to argue about things among themselves. Jun was trying to be patient, but every time Sho tried to suggest something to him, he, too, felt like he would snap. The tense atmosphere in the studio wasn’t exactly helping. Aiba, usually a cheerful addition to their group, was uncharacteristically quiet. As for Ohno - he had thought that the compromise with Voyager Records a good one, but from the look of things, their band was falling apart.
By the end of the second week even Yamanaka-san, whose patience was said to be never ending, had had enough. They had barely finished the arrangements of one song. When everyone was thinking of calling it quits for the day, he said, “I think thinking that we could just jump into this and work together immediately is a mistake.”
“What are you saying, Yamanaka-san?” Jun asked, frowning. He knew that it was childish, the resentment he felt towards Sho. But he was annoyed that the pop star would just walk into their life, decide that they’re not good enough, and change things around so that things would suit him.
“I don’t know.” Yamanaka-san sighed. “I never had to baby-sit children before.” He sighed again, realising that he had just called five grown men children. “Anyway, let’s try this. The weekend is coming up, so the five of you should do something together. Bond or something. Yes,” he said, deciding that he liked the idea, “you should all get to know Sakurai-kun better and vice versa, and develop a good working relationship.” He paused. “Or just tolerate each other. I think I could live with you guys just tolerating each other.”
Yamanaka-san sighed for the third time, got up, and left the room.
The four members of Red Shift looked at each other.
“What do you think?” Jun asked Aiba, who was fooling around with Nino’s guitar. Aiba just shrugged without looking up. Jun frowned, worried, and turned to Nino. “Nino?”
“I guess. Whatever works.” He smiled at Ohno - it looked forced, but Jun wasn’t about to ask him about it. “Oh fearless leader, do you have any ideas on what we shall do during our bonding session?”
Sho, who was just listening to the rest of them, smiled. “What about we head to my vacation house? It’s near this lake and it’s peaceful there. We could spend some time there and even work on the arrangements. Together. That would make Yamanaka-san happy.”
“I didn’t ask you.”
“Nevertheless, for the time being, Sakurai-san is one of us,” Ohno said firmly. “Thank you for your suggestion, Sakurai-san.”
“You’re welcome. So, what do you think? Shall we go?”
“I have the perfect idea of what we should do this weekend.” Ohno smiled widely, and a warning immediately rang in Jun’s mind.
“You’re not saying what I think you’re saying,” Jun muttered.
Ohno ignored him. “Yes, I have a great idea. Let’s go -”
“Please let’s not go fishing!” Nino said, at the same time Ohno said “fishing!”
Sho laughed, amused by the dismayed looks on Nino and Jun’s face. “Fishing? Why fishing?”
“Because it’s the ultimate manly sport! It tests your patience and endurance and -”
“Oh-chan, you don’t even know if his lake house is a good place for fishing.”
“Actually, it is. I just never really bothered, but it sounds interesting enough, why don’t we go?”
})i({
In the end, Ohno went fishing by himself. He figured, he didn’t have a problem with working with Sakurai-san personally. Even if the man was strange enough to have a house near such a wonderful fishing spot and had never fished. Ohno needed time to be alone, and to think. He couldn’t do that with Nino picking fights with Sakurai-san and dragging Jun into it as well. And Aiba... Ohno sighed, and chuckled at the thought that he was beginning to sound like Yamanaka-san. He was worried about Aiba, who was not his normal self at all.
Indoors, Jun sat alone at the kitchen counter. Nino, upon seeing Sakurai-san’s game collection, had persuaded Aiba to play a couple of games with him; Jun hoped that it would help cheer Aiba up a little. It felt weird when their bassist was quiet all the time. Almost eerie. While he was contemplating the reason of his band mate’s silence, he heard footsteps walking in.
“Are you guys done already?” he asked, looking up. Realising that it was Sho who walked in, his smile disappeared. “Oh. It’s you.”
Sho had been perpetually polite and cheerful since their first meet, but Jun noticed that his smile was wavering, and felt a stab of guilt. “I’ll leave if you want to be alone,” Sho said, turning to leave.
“Don’t. Sakurai-san, this is your house. Remember?” Jun smiled in apology, and gestured towards the empty chairs. “Sit down if you want.”
Sho’s smile came back in full force. He walked back in, poured himself some juice, and sat opposite Jun. “Really, you could call me Sho,” he told Jun. “At the rate we’re going, we’re going to work on this album for a longer time than expected, and it’s strange to be so formal when we work together, don’t you think?”
Jun shrugged noncommittally. “I guess,” he finally said after a pause. “It’s strange to be so casual too, though. I mean, here I am, in Sakurai Sho’s vacation house!” He laughed a little. “It’s a little too strange right now.”
“That pop star thing, that’s just my job, you know. Like Red Shift is yours.”
“I love Red Shift. I love everything about making a life with music,” Jun said, wondering how one could say that music was just a ‘job.’
“I’m not saying that I don’t love what I do. I wouldn’t be doing it otherwise, would I? But it’s also my job. I guess I’m saying that it’s not all that I am.”
Jun nodded. “I think I know what you mean. Is that why you’re doing this, with our band? Our music is really not your usual type.”
“That’s part of it. I’ve been feeling like I needed a new challenge for quite some time. When Yamanaka-san told me about getting another singer for your album, I grabbed the opportunity and asked that he bring me into the project.”
Jun was about to reply, when they heard voices talking animatedly.
“I really never played that game before!”
“I don’t believe you. There’s no way a first timer could beat me three times in a row, and -”
Laughter. “You’re just mad because you lost. Next time I beat you -” Aiba’s voice faltered as he and Nino stepped into the kitchen, and his expression turned from happy to almost studiously aloof.
“Aiba, is something wrong?” Jun asked, getting up. He had never seen Aiba acting that way.
“It’s nothing,” Aiba replied, his tone neutral. “I just remembered that I forgot something. Go on,” he said to Nino. “I’ll go back to the game room myself.”
When Aiba had left, Jun and Nino looked at each other. “You know what’s wrong with him?” Jun asked.
“Maybe you should ask him,” Nino answered, and turned to go after Aiba.
Confused, Jun turned to Sho. “What does this have to do with you? You guys have barely spoken to each other since we started on the album.”
Sho looked away. “That’s the other thing,” he said quietly. “Aiba and I actually used to know each other, way back when.” He drank the last of his juice, and smiled wryly at Jun. “We used to date.” He paused, before continuing, “I hate that word - ‘to date.’ What’s that mean, anyway? I guess maybe I should say ‘we were romantically involved’, but I wasn’t much of a romantic.” He laughed at himself. A bitter sound, but Jun wasn’t paying attention. His mind was on overload, replaying the same sentence again and again.
We used to date.
~ to be continued ~
Chapter One | Chapter Three
PAIRING: Sakuraiba
RATING: PG
DATE: January 4, 2010
WORD COUNT: 1,470
NOTES: This is a work of fiction, written for arashic0804!
Chapter One | Chapter Three
CHAPTER TWO
The next couple of weeks were very hectic for the members of Red Shift. It wasn’t just the rearranging of their songs, which didn’t seem to go as well as they had hoped - Sho’s suggestions were usually veto-ed by Nino, who wrote most of the songs. There was a constant tension between them that Jun didn’t understand - he knew that it must be hard for Nino to let someone else come in and change his songs, but he would have thought that Nino would either confront Sho about what was bothering him, or settle things after a discussion. Instead, no matter how politely Sho made his suggestions, or how friendly Sho tried to be, there were times when Jun thought that Nino was openly hostile.
Ohno had reverted back to the quiet person he was during the early days of the band, and left Nino and Sho to argue about things among themselves. Jun was trying to be patient, but every time Sho tried to suggest something to him, he, too, felt like he would snap. The tense atmosphere in the studio wasn’t exactly helping. Aiba, usually a cheerful addition to their group, was uncharacteristically quiet. As for Ohno - he had thought that the compromise with Voyager Records a good one, but from the look of things, their band was falling apart.
By the end of the second week even Yamanaka-san, whose patience was said to be never ending, had had enough. They had barely finished the arrangements of one song. When everyone was thinking of calling it quits for the day, he said, “I think thinking that we could just jump into this and work together immediately is a mistake.”
“What are you saying, Yamanaka-san?” Jun asked, frowning. He knew that it was childish, the resentment he felt towards Sho. But he was annoyed that the pop star would just walk into their life, decide that they’re not good enough, and change things around so that things would suit him.
“I don’t know.” Yamanaka-san sighed. “I never had to baby-sit children before.” He sighed again, realising that he had just called five grown men children. “Anyway, let’s try this. The weekend is coming up, so the five of you should do something together. Bond or something. Yes,” he said, deciding that he liked the idea, “you should all get to know Sakurai-kun better and vice versa, and develop a good working relationship.” He paused. “Or just tolerate each other. I think I could live with you guys just tolerating each other.”
Yamanaka-san sighed for the third time, got up, and left the room.
The four members of Red Shift looked at each other.
“What do you think?” Jun asked Aiba, who was fooling around with Nino’s guitar. Aiba just shrugged without looking up. Jun frowned, worried, and turned to Nino. “Nino?”
“I guess. Whatever works.” He smiled at Ohno - it looked forced, but Jun wasn’t about to ask him about it. “Oh fearless leader, do you have any ideas on what we shall do during our bonding session?”
Sho, who was just listening to the rest of them, smiled. “What about we head to my vacation house? It’s near this lake and it’s peaceful there. We could spend some time there and even work on the arrangements. Together. That would make Yamanaka-san happy.”
“I didn’t ask you.”
“Nevertheless, for the time being, Sakurai-san is one of us,” Ohno said firmly. “Thank you for your suggestion, Sakurai-san.”
“You’re welcome. So, what do you think? Shall we go?”
“I have the perfect idea of what we should do this weekend.” Ohno smiled widely, and a warning immediately rang in Jun’s mind.
“You’re not saying what I think you’re saying,” Jun muttered.
Ohno ignored him. “Yes, I have a great idea. Let’s go -”
“Please let’s not go fishing!” Nino said, at the same time Ohno said “fishing!”
Sho laughed, amused by the dismayed looks on Nino and Jun’s face. “Fishing? Why fishing?”
“Because it’s the ultimate manly sport! It tests your patience and endurance and -”
“Oh-chan, you don’t even know if his lake house is a good place for fishing.”
“Actually, it is. I just never really bothered, but it sounds interesting enough, why don’t we go?”
})i({
In the end, Ohno went fishing by himself. He figured, he didn’t have a problem with working with Sakurai-san personally. Even if the man was strange enough to have a house near such a wonderful fishing spot and had never fished. Ohno needed time to be alone, and to think. He couldn’t do that with Nino picking fights with Sakurai-san and dragging Jun into it as well. And Aiba... Ohno sighed, and chuckled at the thought that he was beginning to sound like Yamanaka-san. He was worried about Aiba, who was not his normal self at all.
Indoors, Jun sat alone at the kitchen counter. Nino, upon seeing Sakurai-san’s game collection, had persuaded Aiba to play a couple of games with him; Jun hoped that it would help cheer Aiba up a little. It felt weird when their bassist was quiet all the time. Almost eerie. While he was contemplating the reason of his band mate’s silence, he heard footsteps walking in.
“Are you guys done already?” he asked, looking up. Realising that it was Sho who walked in, his smile disappeared. “Oh. It’s you.”
Sho had been perpetually polite and cheerful since their first meet, but Jun noticed that his smile was wavering, and felt a stab of guilt. “I’ll leave if you want to be alone,” Sho said, turning to leave.
“Don’t. Sakurai-san, this is your house. Remember?” Jun smiled in apology, and gestured towards the empty chairs. “Sit down if you want.”
Sho’s smile came back in full force. He walked back in, poured himself some juice, and sat opposite Jun. “Really, you could call me Sho,” he told Jun. “At the rate we’re going, we’re going to work on this album for a longer time than expected, and it’s strange to be so formal when we work together, don’t you think?”
Jun shrugged noncommittally. “I guess,” he finally said after a pause. “It’s strange to be so casual too, though. I mean, here I am, in Sakurai Sho’s vacation house!” He laughed a little. “It’s a little too strange right now.”
“That pop star thing, that’s just my job, you know. Like Red Shift is yours.”
“I love Red Shift. I love everything about making a life with music,” Jun said, wondering how one could say that music was just a ‘job.’
“I’m not saying that I don’t love what I do. I wouldn’t be doing it otherwise, would I? But it’s also my job. I guess I’m saying that it’s not all that I am.”
Jun nodded. “I think I know what you mean. Is that why you’re doing this, with our band? Our music is really not your usual type.”
“That’s part of it. I’ve been feeling like I needed a new challenge for quite some time. When Yamanaka-san told me about getting another singer for your album, I grabbed the opportunity and asked that he bring me into the project.”
Jun was about to reply, when they heard voices talking animatedly.
“I really never played that game before!”
“I don’t believe you. There’s no way a first timer could beat me three times in a row, and -”
Laughter. “You’re just mad because you lost. Next time I beat you -” Aiba’s voice faltered as he and Nino stepped into the kitchen, and his expression turned from happy to almost studiously aloof.
“Aiba, is something wrong?” Jun asked, getting up. He had never seen Aiba acting that way.
“It’s nothing,” Aiba replied, his tone neutral. “I just remembered that I forgot something. Go on,” he said to Nino. “I’ll go back to the game room myself.”
When Aiba had left, Jun and Nino looked at each other. “You know what’s wrong with him?” Jun asked.
“Maybe you should ask him,” Nino answered, and turned to go after Aiba.
Confused, Jun turned to Sho. “What does this have to do with you? You guys have barely spoken to each other since we started on the album.”
Sho looked away. “That’s the other thing,” he said quietly. “Aiba and I actually used to know each other, way back when.” He drank the last of his juice, and smiled wryly at Jun. “We used to date.” He paused, before continuing, “I hate that word - ‘to date.’ What’s that mean, anyway? I guess maybe I should say ‘we were romantically involved’, but I wasn’t much of a romantic.” He laughed at himself. A bitter sound, but Jun wasn’t paying attention. His mind was on overload, replaying the same sentence again and again.
We used to date.
~ to be continued ~
Chapter One | Chapter Three