[Fic] It’s Not Another Urban Story (1/2)
Pairing(s): Akame / ShiroMeisa / Slight YasuBa
Character(s): Ryo, Yamapi, Toma, ShiroYuu, Meisa, Ohkura, Yasu, Subaru, Yoko, Murakami, Maruyama
Mention(s): KimuTaku, Takki
Rating: NC-15
Genre(s): Attempted comedy/humor, AU, Drama, Fluff, Friendship, Romance
Words count: 17.751
Beta: ttalktomesoftly
Barner: ttalktomesoftly ♥
Warning(s): English is not my second language as I thought it was… During the writing on this fic I realized once again what awesome comedy writers are and how much I suck at it. Not so much Akame for an Akame kind of fic
Summary: Akanishi Jin, Yamashita Tomohisa, Nishikido Ryo, Shirota Yuu and Ikuta Toma are all friends, living off of one another in the heart of Tokyo. These 5 young friends struggle to find success and happiness in life, but it is never that straight forward, is it?
A/N: written for
rikachi for the last amigo_santa exchange. I was really glad to take her request and mixed it with something bellemelody requested herself. Hope you can all enjoy this sort of mixture of JE with Friends I tried to do as much as I enjoyed writing it :3 Special thanks to my lovely beta ttalktomesoftly for everything she did!!!! <3
It’s Not Another Urban Story
«…and make sure you tell me ~everything~ about how the tour is going, including the juicy happenings in the backstage. I bet you’re having the time of your life!
Bye! XOXO ^3^
Kamenashi Kazuya.
PS: Let’s meet again soon.»
Kame stared at the screen for a good minute and had the sudden urge to send the mail as it was. The thought didn’t last long though, as usual, and the next second he erased his name and signed it off with the stupid username he had come up with some months ago, pressed the send button and closed the tab of his personal e-mail account before any of his nosy coworkers could take a glimpse of what he was doing during work hours.
“Are you ready to go, Kame-chan?” A lovely voice came from the door to the Administrative Department and at once all eyes shot a glance at the gorgeous sight of Kuroki Meisa, the Manager’s secretary, standing regally at the door with her hands on her hips.
All eyes but Kame’s, of course. Without turning around, Kame let out a sigh of relief and finished closing the rest of the tabs and windows he had opened for the work he had finished around an hour before.
“Finally…” he let out in a fake tired voice as he grabbed his suit jacket and with a simple nod bid his goodbye to the rest of his coworkers.
“I’m sorry, Kame-chan! But you know how Kimura-san can get when we’re in the last days of the month,” she excused herself with a whiny voice even though it wasn’t a secret for anyone she counted the days left to work side by side with Kimura Takuya at the critical moments of the last week of every month. “I’ll treat you to whatever you want for lunch.”
“Whatever I want?” He asked with a mischievous voice that she rather ignored, nodding enthusiastically instead. “Then yakiniku it is!”
“Mou~ Kame-chan~ You always take advantage of my good intentions,” she pouted cutely and hung onto Kame’s arm as they headed outside.
“That’s because you have to stop having such good intentions,” he pinched her nose in a friendly manner and laughed as she stuck out her tongue in retaliation. Meisa must have been really happy with the work done or she wouldn’t have been showing such a childish act around the office. “Boys are going to take advantage of you…”
From inside the Finances Department, 29-year-old Shirota Yuu watched the two of them leave and regretted not being able to hear Meisa’s response to Kamenashi’s last words.
“Which boys exactly, dammit?”
~*~
“Yes, but you know how annoyingly clingy that guy gets, I just don’t want-” Yamashita let out a puff of grey smoke out of his thin lips as the voice at the other end of the line suddenly interrupted him. He patiently waited until the other finished his rant, tempted to roll his eyes a few times along his speech. “Yeah, yeah, I love Jin with all my heart but I’m in denial. I want to punch that sucker in the face almost every five minutes, but that’s just my sick way to show my brotherly love for him…”
Yamashita Tomohisa, a 29-year-old fit young man who worked in the Human Resource Department of the company. His closest friends hardly ever called him by his given name and preferred to use nicknames instead, like Yamapi or simply Pi.
At the other end of the line, a certain Ikuta Toma responded to his sarcastic remarks.
“Well, you do, Pi,” said the smart guy. “We all know just how much you love Jin.”
On the other side of the glass door to the smokers’ area, there’s the Akanishi Jin they were talking about, finishing off his second cigarette of the day as he waited for Yamapi to finish his call. He was not aware of his surroundings though, his eyes completely glued to the screen of his cell phone reading who-knew-what. Most likely something porn-ish. Whatever it was, Yamapi seemed glad something could distract Jin for a while. Despite his good looks and lingering smile, the bags under Jin’s eyes and the sighs he let out from time to time spoke volumes about his tiredness.
Yamapi sighed because they all probably looked the same, given that the last week of May had just started and the tons of workload didn’t seem to be going to go away anytime soon, the amount actually was increasing instead.
“If you don’t stop talking nonsense, I’ll have you removed from the group, you know? I can do that,” Yamapi teased and Toma's sudden intake of air was enough proof that he had fallen for the joke. He could already hear Toma whining and bitching about it, but didn't give the other the chance to do it just yet. “The Kamenashi guy I was talking about the other day might fit in better, considering at least he is in town.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Toma declared with an exaggeratingly melodramatic tone, but Yamapi swore he could hear the tinge of worry in his voice. The drama subdued a bit when he spoke the next words in a whisper. “Jin wouldn’t let you.”
And the bastard just made a point, a good one on top of that. There was no way in hell Jin would allow Kamenashi anywhere near their precious group of friends.
“Whatever,” Yamapi’s eyes lazily caught the time in the big clock on the wall behind Jin.
If he didn’t hurry, lunch break would be over before they could grab something more than just a couple of cigarettes and a can of coffee.
“Have to go now, man,” he pushed the remains of his spent cigarette in the closest ashtray. “See you later in the same place at the same hour?”
“If I manage to grab the train on time, you can count on it,” Toma said in a tired tone, the tinge of worry back in his voice.
“Don’t be such a stingy bastard and get a cab. We haven't met in like forever! And I bet we can get Jin to pay for it,” they both snickered. It wouldn’t be the first time they got Jin to do something like that without Jin even realizing.
“You make sure to accomplish that again, and I’ll definitely get a cab.”
“Then it’s a date, man. See you tonight.”
Yamapi sighed and walked towards his other friend. In the end, he didn’t accomplish anything with his impromptu call to Toma, who was supposed to be the nicest and smartest out of the bunch. And yet he didn’t help him at all.
Fucking Toma and his fucking girly problems that wouldn’t let him tell Yamapi just how on Earth he would ever manage to tell Jin the truth.
~*~
Jin was furiously typing on his cell phone, a goofy smile plastered on his face as he tapped the screen of his device with childish excitement without paying attention to his surroundings. The gang was sitting in the usual booth at the bar they usually hit after work.
It was Jin the one who had found the almost hidden bar and had been immediately attracted by the place. The first time he put a foot inside, he felt as if he were part of the popular sitcom “Friends” as the whole place was decorated like the famous Central Perk café of the TV series.
For someone who loved the American culture like Jin did, it had been simply perfect.
He had then spent the following week trying to convince his friends to come along with him so they could enjoy a couple of cold beers, but to no avail. None of them had been really interested in indulging one of Jin’s whims -especially since they all knew Jin would only take the opportunity to blabber on and on about America and how awesome America was and how awesome American people were and he would try and fail to make some imitations from the show.
No, thank you very much. Yamapi, Ryo and Shirota had been already fed-up with Jin’s obsession for the foreign country and Toma, who Jin considered to be the only friend who didn’t behave like a complete ass, had been simply too busy and too far away to go.
In the end, Jin had had to draw upon inviting some rounds of free beer so his friends would come along… and only then had he discovered the true concept behind the Johnny’s bar.
“This is not the Central Perk I remember,” Shirota had mused as soon as he had stepped into the bar, not hiding his amusement.
“That’s because this looks nothing like Central Perk,” Ryo had then supplied, feeling annoyed and disappointed by yet another stupidity from his friend.
“Yeah, Jin. What the hell is wrong wi-?” Yamapi had stopped when he had felt Shirota elbowing his and Ryo’s ribs only to focus their attention on Jin’s face. It had been the most tragic expression they had ever seen him wear ever since Justin Timberlake had gone on hiatus back in 2007.
Jin had blinked a few times as if secretly hoping everything would turn to normal the minute he opened his eyes. Nothing did though, the place remained the same: resembling any of those bars for bikers they had often seen in foreign movies or TV series.
“Excuse me,” Jin had called the closest staff member he saw as soon as he caught up with his ability to form coherent sentences. “What the-? I mean, I came here last week and this place looked completely different… Did anything happen to the owners or…?”
“No, nothing happened, sir,” the tall man had simply replied as if that answer was the most satisfying one he could utter. He had been ready to leave when Jin reacted and stopped him.
“Okay, nothing happened. Then, why the change? I don’t get it.”
The young man hadn’t seemed at all excited to clarify Jin’s questions. He had simply sighed loudly, his unmasked bored expression annoying Jin to his limits, but entertaining instead the rest of the gang who had been standing form a side and watching Jin’s attempts to get an answer from that guy.
“Yasu!!!! Come here a moment, please!” He had called loudly to a short guy who had been standing behind the counter, a quick movement of his hand in the air accompanied the request. His face had looked kinda familiar to Jin as he had walked towards them, but he hadn’t been able to really pinpoint where or when he had seen him before. “This gentleman here is questioning the concept of the bar. Be a good guy and tell him everything he wants to know.”
And without waiting for an answer or even the slightest sign that this Yasu guy would comply with his request -order-, the tall man had left to take his place behind the counter.
Jin would definitely get some permanent wrinkles in his forehead with the way he had been puckering his brows, but he couldn't help it after the lousy attitude of the waiter. A quick look at this Yasu guy’s smiling face and Jin’s expression had gone from annoyed to surprised.
He had started to feel maybe bringing his friends with him had not been the best idea ever.
“So… is there anything wrong, mister…?”
“Akanishi… Akanishi Jin,” he had had the urge to say as the other seemed quite eager to get his name.
“Is there anything wrong, Jin-san?”
Jin had blinked a few more times, he had got the feeling he had never quite blinked as much before in his life. The level of familiarity this guy was treating him with hadn’t really bothered him, especially after his encounter with the tall brunette, but he hadn’t really liked it. He had been about to protest about it, but chose to get the answers he needed first.
“Yes… No, not really. I just-” he hated his stupid habit of biting his own words or tumbling over them as he got nervous. He had taken a deep breath before resuming his choppy explanation. “As I was telling-”
“Ohkura,” the short blond had supplied.
Jin had needed a few blinks and a deep intake of air before resuming yet again his speech.
“Yes. As I was telling Ohkura, I came here last week and I don’t recall the place looking quite like this,” he had finished without an ounce of security in his voice, not quite sure of himself anymore.
“Well, this decoration wouldn’t have fit last week’s theme, would it?” Yasu had replied with his amiable smile.
It was in that way -as if suddenly cold water had been poured over his head- that Jin and his friends had found out the true attractiveness of the Johnny’s bar: it changed its decoration every week according to a theme the employees chose. The week before the theme had been “Friends”, whilst that week it had been “Bikers all over the world” or so Yasu had said.
A couple of months or even over a year had already passed since those first visits to Johnny’s and by then they were all well accustomed to the constant changes in the bar and its main waiter, Yasu, who took after the place and changed his appearance every week.
Now Jin no longer had trouble recognizing him or his familiar smile.
“The usual, guys?” Yasu asked with the same expression he always wore, even though he had already brought the drinks on a tray. “Arara~ Toma-kun isn't coming today?”
The question was meant for Jin, who was sitting closer to Yasu. But because he wasn't paying attention to anything outside his cell phone’s screen, it was Yamapi who replied instead.
“He'll be here any minute now.”
“If he catches a taxi or suddenly grows some wings out of his ass,” Ryo said with his usual sarcastic tone as he took a quick peek at his watch. “We're not staying for too long tonight, right?”
“Eh~ Leaving early today?” Yasu couldn't hide a big pout of pure disappointment. Out of the hundreds of clients he was to serve every day, the “Akanishi Troop” was by far the most fun and entertaining group to serve of all, so he's always eager to see them in the bar until it was time to close.
“Sorry, man, but it’s the final week of May and you know what that means,” Shirota replied and took a quick sip of the first beer of the night. He sighed in contentment as the cool liquid traveled down his throat.
That was definitely what they all had needed in the middle of the chaos “the final week” always brought along.
“Yeah, and tomorrow most of us have deadly important meetings with the big bosses,” Yamapi shared, helping to distribute the drinks.
He realized Yasu had brought an extra glass for Toma, but he left it under the table nonetheless. He's sure Toma would get on time.
He had to.
“Wasn't today Toma's important presentation?” Jin finally decided to join the conversation, having finished the important business he had over at his cell phone. At rare moments like that, he seemed to be the only one who held important information, as everyone's faces gave out the fact that they had forgotten everything about Toma’s crucial day. “You know? The presentation of that big-ass project he's been working on for the last, I don't know, months or year or something?”
At the silence that question met, Yasu chirped in.
“See? You should definitely wait for Toma-kun today or you'll break his heart.”
He left at that, confident he'd get to enjoy the gang's company for longer than they had thought at first.
“One more beer and I might drown my sorrows in alcohol,” Shirota shared after taking a second gulp from his drink and almost emptying it. He wasn't joking and they all knew it.
“Saw your little goddess today?” Ryo perked up at the opportunity to mess with his friend.
Shirota simply nodded and finished up what little remained of his beer.
“She came by Finances to fetch her little buddy Kamenashi…”
Ryo flashed all his teeth in a devilish smile as Yuu supplied him with a way to tease two friends with one word.
Kamenashi.
He had no issues with the dude. Yes, he's a bit girly and OCD-ish for his taste, but the guy delivered perfect numbers that always helped ease Ryo’s job, and that's something he truly appreciated in anyone. He threw a silent look at Jin, wishing his friend would be more like Kamenashi when it came to work.
As if on cue, Jin let out a loud “Fucker!” that did not surprise anyone.
“What the fuck is Meisa-chan doing with a guy like that when she could have anyone -and I mean anyone- at her feet?”
He wasn't upset at the possibility of Meisa dating Kamenashi, but that didn't stop Ryo from blurting a meaningful “I don't know… fucking?” that stirred the anger of both Jin and Yuu.
“What the fuck?” Exclaimed Shirota.
“Yeah, Ryo. What the fuck?” Jin joined, an expression of disgust distorting his features. “Nobody here wants to picture that guy's sex life.”
Yamapi lifted a brow at that.
“Says the guy who keeps saying Kamenashi fucked his way up to his current position.”
“It's not my fault that stuck up ass feels the need to suck everyone to get things in return,” Jin drank his beer furiously, not tolerating the topic even though it's mostly him the one who bitched about their coworker in the bar.
Just how many evenings had turned into late nights with Jin getting wasted as he complained about everything Kamenashi-related?
His stuck up attitude.
His diva side.
His friendship with Meisa -and only here did Shirota join the ramblings.
His fucking expensive designer suits.
Even the angle of his eyebrows.
They all seemed resigned to spend another evening of 'Let's all bitch about Kamenashi with your host, Akanishi Jin' -one of them was even expecting it-, but Yamapi decided to get off that boat before if sank in front of everybody.
It's the final week of May and that was the last thing he needed.
“What the hell were you typing like crazy in your phone, btw?” He asked instead, knowing Jin's mood would take a 180° turn instead.
“Yeah, man… were you bitching about Kamenashi in your personal blog or sharing his latest fuckery in a forum you created for that?” Ryo, though, was not ready to let go of his chance to tease his friend and mock his constant whining.
In the end, Yamapi won that round, as Jin merely glared at Ryo for a second before the goofy smile returned to his face.
“I was texting my online crush, of course,” he confessed without a bit of embarrassment.
Ryo wasn't happy with the change in topic, but there was virtually nothing he couldn't turn into teasing and mockery.
Not with Jin and his eternal idiocy.
“One picture of your stupid face right now, and she would flee before you could say 'That Kamenashi bastard'.”
When he finished laughing by himself, Ryo was met with three pairs of puzzled looks.
“She?” Yamapi was the first one to recover.
“Yeah,” Ryo replied with a doubtful voice, the beer bottle stopped halfway to his mouth.
“What 'she'?” Shirota asked further.
Ok, either his friends were playing dumb in the most convincing way ever or they had just turned crazy at once. Whatever the case, Ryo didn't waver in his answer -almost.
“C'mon! You know who I'm talking about!” the same confused expressions were staring back at him waiting for an answer. “Y'know, the online girl Jin has been crushing on like a loser for the past three months or so.”
At once, Jin, Yamapi and Shirota broke in a loud fit of laughter at the seemingly stupid answer Ryo had given.
“What the fuck are you talking about, Ryo?”
“Yeah, man! That's like the most stupidest thing I've ever heard… like ever!”
Without a clue of what had gotten into his idiotic friends, Ryo waited for any of them to calm down long enough to give him a proper explanation of what the hell was so funny about what he had said.
He had to wait a few more minutes before Yamapi was calm enough to speak a few words of enlightenment.
“Dude, can't you see Jin's as gay as the gayest dude around?” He managed to say before he broke down in laughter again, uttering the words “girl” and “crushing” in between laughs.
Ryo stood still as a statue, not believing that after years of friendship and his amazing insightfulness he had failed to notice Jin's sexual orientation.
Just how on Earth did that happen?
“He can’t see anything beyond that huge nose of his,” Shirota miraculously managed to say without breaking into a coughing fit.
That's just enough to break Ryo's ever-so-short patience with that trio of dumbasses.
“You are one to talk, asshole,” he spitted.
“At least it’s not the only big thing I have. Unlike someone else…” Shirota countered back with a smug grin.
“And that’s exactly why you’ll never get laid again.”
Touché!
Shirota's laughing halted as abruptly as it had begun and the other two followed suit not long after that, too aware of the sensitive topic Ryo had just decided to address.
The effect was immediate! Shirota not only stopped laughing, but his jolly expression was replaced by a grim one in a second.
“Don't listen to him, man,” Yamapi went to the rescue, even though he knew how useless his words would be. “Maybe Meisa-chan is different… She looks brave.”
“That's true, Yuu! Maybe you're just putting her off with your aura… Chicks sense that sort of things!”
Not fully convinced, Yamapi decided to jump in as well.
“Hey, that's actually…”
“Stupid? Dumb? Something that only Jin would pull out of his ass?” Ryo supplied.
“No!” Yamapi said, but failing to find the most suitable adjective, he changed his approach. “Why don't you try some reiki shit or an aura cleansing therapy or whatever? That could help!”
Shirota seemed a bit motivated by the idea, until Ryo opened his poisonous mouth.
“Unless that aura cleansing shit comes with a surgical reduction of his dick, I don't see any sex in Yuu's future.”
Both Yamapi and Jin glared at Ryo, wondering how on Earth they had become friends in the first place.
Ryo enjoyed the last bits of his first beer as he watched the expression on his friends’ faces. He wasn't truly content though, he was feeling desperate to know just how the hell he had missed such a huge detail about Jin.
~*~
It had taken a very expensive cab trip, but Ikuta Toma had finally arrived at Johnny’s, with a huge smile stretching his lips.
The long trip, the high fee, the annoying traffic he had had to deal with on the way there… none of it mattered anymore, because…
“The project of my career was approved and we have to celebrate!” He almost shouted when Ohkura came to receive him. “Where's everybody?”
Sighing in pity, even though it simply looked like tediousness, Ohkura gazed over his shoulders to the booth Toma's friends usually occupied.
It was empty.
“Toma-kun, you made it!” Yasu chirped from the counter. “But the guys left around an hour ago.”
Toma sometimes really hated his job… and his so-called friends who were far from him.
It didn't happen all that often, but there were times he really did
~*~
That night, Kamenashi went to bed with the widest smile ever.
He had got the habit of checking his mails in his cell phone every night as he lay in his bed. Ninja_Ikashi tended to mail him just before he fell asleep and the moment he had noticed it, that habit of his had started.
But now it was just ridiculous!
He had mailed the other guy that same day in the morning, it was almost impossible for the other to reply so quickly with such a packed schedule.
And yet, he did.
Kame’s wide smile matched perfectly with his caressing the screen of his device, as if somehow the touch could reach the other.
«I'm going to be imagining your face in front of me, laughing at my silly jokes, frowning at my weird Japanese and even surprised as I tell you this kind of things you asked me about upfront… I'll even picture you holding your breath and letting out a small sigh as I get close and kiss you…
And the best part of this -the reason why I'm smiling right now while biting my lips like crazy- it's that right now you're picturing just the same…
And even more ;)
Yours tonight, tomorrow, always,
Ninja_Ikashi.»
Kazuya sighed out of exhaustion -both mental and physical- and turned off his cell phone, placing it on his bedside table.
He’s running out of excuses not to meet the other even online. Just thinking about giving him his real name -let alone showing his face- made him utterly terrified for a reason he’s yet to understand.
This Ninja_Ikashi was the first man to take that place in Kame’s life, after all. Wasn't it only natural for him to be that scared?
~*~
“I'll tell you what is only natural in this case,” Meisa started off again, her tone a mixture of motherly sweetness and sisterly exasperation. “It's only natural that you want to be sure he's an actual man and not a loser making you waste your time. It's only natural-”
“But he is a man!”
“And how would you be so sure?” She arched a brow. “Because of your awfully big experience dating men or your awfully big experience with online dating?”
Kamenashi only had 3 brothers and never knew the joys of having a sister. But he had the feeling his sudden urge to smack her on the head bore some resemblance to how brothers feel towards their bratty little sisters.
“Could you please not spill out my secret in my workplace?”
He was using it as an excuse for Meisa to stop talking and for him not to have to give an answer that would ultimately prove her point.
He wasn't planning to give her the satisfaction.
A tuft of light brown hair peeked through the door and both Meisa and Kame glanced their way down to Shirota's face and the rest of his body.
“Excuse me,” he politely said as he made his way to his desk, avoiding Meisa's fixed stare.
“Leaving during lunch? We only have 10 more minutes left,” Kame pointed out as he watched the other pick his coat and briefcase.
“Have a medical appointment to attend,” Shirota was halfway through the office, his gaze still avoiding Meisa's. “Already talked to the big boss.”
Kame nodded his approval.
“Hope everything's alright,” was his way of greeting the other goodbye.
Shirota left without any other word or gesture, taking Meisa's sight as a good sign. His decision must have been right if she was there to watch him go.
The other two shared a look of complicity as the tall man took off and Kame seized his chance to turn the tables.
“When are you going to expand your experience with men?”
“I got my share of experience, alright? But it's not me who wants to cuddle with a man for the rest of their life…”
Kame had to bite his inner cheek not to roll his eyes at that.
“Yeah, how to forget you are the one who only wants to step up the executive ladder?”
“I'm the one who is going to do just that, sweetheart. Just wait and see…”
“And after that?”
“What do you mean?”
Kazuya failed to understand how a woman -or any human being, for that matter- could be so work-driven without caring at all about their love life.
Call him a romantic, or even delusional, but he truly believed you couldn't be completely happy without another person to share your life with. Not really, anyway.
~*~
Toma had been working in a company right at the other side of the city where his friends had lived for the past four years or so. It was a branch of a company from the Kansai Region that was slowly, but surely expanding to the rest of the country and Ikuta Toma was proud to be a part of it.
In spite of that, the location of the Company made it almost impossible for Toma to see his friends as frequently as they all saw see each other, especially considering the fact they had been working together in the same place.
More than once Toma considered resigning from his job and looking for something closer to the guys… But he loved his Company and could not make that decision.
His friends often joked about how Toma at least wasn’t working in the Kansai Region, but sometimes -like right then that they hadn’t really met- they all felt as if he was already doing so with how little they got to see him.
It wasn’t easy being Ikuta Toma when you had The Troop for friends.
~*~
For the last week or so, Ryo had been paying extra attention to all his loser friends’ affairs to make sure he hadn’t missed any other big detail about their lives -he wasn’t ready to learn Pi suddenly had a twin brother or Shirota spent his free time baking cupcakes just for the sheer fun of it- and his sudden efforts paid off when he realized some funny business had been going on within the gang without the rest of them noticing.
Suddenly, Jin’s sexuality wasn’t the most entertaining issue going on.
As matter of fact, all of them seemed to be involved in certain suspicious situations that would provide Ryo with the right amount of fun to relax after the most stressing end-of-month he had faced in too long.
Like Yamapi, for example. Ryo had noticed he spent less and less time in the apartment he shared with Jin, but pretended as if everything was like always.
Of course a big idiot like Jin hadn't noticed anything strange so far, no surprise there, but with Ryo's awesome insightfulness and his latest efforts not to let any little detail slip, Pi had not a chance.
Ryo had decided to leave the idiotic pair alone while he gathered more information about their affairs, though, and focused instead on a more immediate source of entertainment.
Shirota Yuu.
The guy had been seeing a psychologist, a reiki counselor (if that's what you called those charlatans), and a sexologist, all of them at the same time in order to get over his complex and problems.
Nothing but a big waste of time and money to get into Meisa’s pants, if you asked Ryo. Of course, Shirota didn’t. But Ryo was sure it didn’t matter how much Shirota built up his confidence or how many sex rubber donuts he bought, nothing would change.
Meisa could be a lesbian for all they cared with how little attention she paid to men, her mind was set on getting a big promotion she had been chasing after for the last couple of months -years even- and she wouldn’t let any man get in her way. Especially one that could hardly speak to her.
Kuroki Meisa was a strong, independent, goal-oriented and driven young woman whose biggest dream was to work directly under Kimura Takuya’s direction.
That much had Ryo learned since he started paying her some more time and attention: giving her casually some chocolate bars, buying her some coffee from Starbucks on his way back from lunch break, riding the elevator with her every once in a while and, his personal favorite, arriving with her at the Financial Department when she went to fetch Kamenashi.
Ryo loved watching Shirota’s face startled red and with big eyes every time he spotted the two of them not only arriving together, but being so familiar with each other.
He could bother his friend and gather some information on Meisa and Kamenashi at the same time.
Killing two birds with one stone had never been so easy.
~*~
“And now you want to meet?” Ryo asked with concern. Jin moved his mouth from side to side as if considering whether to answer or not.
In the end, he sighed and nodded, not able to lie.
Not even to a sadist bastard like Ryo.
He had been suspicious at first when the other had showed up at his office in the PR Department with a cup of hot coffee in one hand and what he probably considered a friendly smile on his face-but Jin could only describe as a creepy gesture of teeth and bad intentions.
But then he had started asking Jin about his day and work, and despite Jin’s snarky replies, he had patiently waited for an honest answer, earnestly interested in Jin’s business.
“What the hell has gotten into you?” Jin asked out of a sudden, not really waiting for Ryo’s inputs on the matter of him wanting to meet his online crush.
“Can’t I just come here to catch up with one of my buddies?”
“Not if you’re Nishikido Ryo… And it happens to be that you are.”
Ryo hid his face and sighed, as if surrendering unwillingly.
“The… This thing about… You know… You being…”
“As gay as the gayest dude around?” Jin supplied.
Ryo was a bit uncomfortable with Jin’s openness about his sexuality. Not because of his actual sexuality, because Jin could fuck and suck whoever the hell he wanted to, that wouldn’t change the entertaining baka he was. Ryo honestly didn’t care.
But he had the feeling that Jin had always been that open and that only meant Ryo had been utterly blind for years.
“Yeah, exactly,” Ryo conceded. “About that-”
“What about it?” Jin asked, amused by Ryo’s reaction to his sexuality. He finally was able relax in Ryo’s presence, completely forgetting his initial wariness.
“I felt like I should do something… for not noticing all these years,” Jin was about to interrupt his little speech, but Ryo didn’t allow him to. “Don’t say I don’t have to. I know I don’t. I just felt like I should… I don’t know, do something to make it up for it or I’d be a lousy friend.”
Jin had to admit that even Ryo was a good friend, regardless of his do-S side.
“And that’s why you’re offering me your advice on how to finally meet him?”
“And for free! That’s not an offer that happens every day, you know?” Ryo joked lightly, and waited a moment between light laughs before he spoke again. “So you lied to that guy, telling him you were some sort of rock star traveling throughout America, and now you don’t know how to manage to meet him in person because of your stupid little lie?”
Jin nodded again, a bit embarrassed.
“What did you want me to do? The guy seems to be some sort of super awesome baseball player here in Japan; I couldn’t tell him I was some simple handyman made into a boring PR office worker, could I?”
“So you decided to lie instead?”
“Haven’t we already established I made the stupid call to lie? What I’m trying to figure out is how to convince him to meet with me, even though he’s a famous baseball player, now that I’m ‘coming back home’”, he emphasized the expression with some air quotes and looked at Ryo with his effective kicked puppy eyes.
No doubt that expression made him get his current position in the company.
“Haven’t you considered the guy might be lying?”
“About what?” Jin asked without grasping what the other was saying.
Most people wouldn’t believe just how naïve Jin still was at his age in certain areas.
“I don’t know… That he’s a baseball player… or that he’s a guy altogether,” Jin gasped at the mere insinuation the other could be lying like that. “Dude, nowadays people lie all the time on the internet. It’s like the easiest place to carry a second life and pretend to do and be just about anything you ever dreamed of… Right, Kamenashi?”
Jin had been really deep in thought, but he wouldn’t fall for the Kamenashi-joke.
Not again, anyway.
“Very funny, Ryo,” he said without giving a glance to the door, snorting at Ryo’s desperate attempt to make fun of him. “But why would that stuck-up as-”
He heard somebody clearing their throat at the door and then he did take a look there, almost gasping in horror at the sight of Kamenashi Kazuya standing there and looking utterly annoyed.
Looking more annoyed than what he usually did when facing Jin, anyways.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Jin couldn’t stop himself from almost shrieking, even though he had been the one badmouthing the other.
Ryo looked as if he suddenly wanted a bowl of popcorn to enjoy the show.
“It’s not like I came here ‘cause I wanted to,” Kamenashi said under his breath, jaw so tense one could think he was hurting his teeth. But before he could explain the reason behind his uncommon visit, Ryo interjected him.
“Hey! Maybe Kamenashi here could help you out with your special situation,” Ryo added with a smile, which was fueled even more by Jin’s wide-open eyes that threatened to jump out of their sockets. “Kamenashi, what do you think about onl-”
“What do you want?” Jin interrupted his friend, before he could totally ruin his image before the person he hated the most. He didn’t feel like sharing about his crush with Kamenashi either, but the intruder didn’t seem to realize he had been addressed as he still looked intently at Ryo. “What can I do for you, Kamenashi?”
Turning his attention finally to Jin, Kame clicked his tongue.
“Not as much as you seem to think,” he muttered under his breath, but loud enough for everyone to hear. He started walking towards Jin as he explained the reason of his visit, not giving Jin time to open his mouth again. “Takizawa-san asked me to give you these. He said they’d make your work a thousand times easier and-”
Jin practically ripped the folders from Kamenashi’s hands and smiled in glee at the sight of a certain bunch of documents he had only dreamed to have.
“Takki is so awesome!” He exclaimed, failing to notice Kamenashi’s grimace at the familiarity with which Akanishi had addressed his boss. “And he had said he wouldn’t hand me these, but he did! How awesome can he really be?”
Kamenashi cleared his throat.
“He also asked me to tell you not to forget about this next time he invites you to eat and doesn’t feel like paying the bill.”
“He always wants to pay the bill!” Both Jin and Ryo said at the same time and smiled, knowing that behind Takki’s silly jokes there was a nice, caring senpai who loved to be like a spoiling father to his kouhais.
Ryo didn’t miss Kamenashi’s slightly flushed face as he left the office in complete silence once he accomplished the mission he had been asked to do.
Maybe his friends weren’t the only ones keeping entertaining secrets.
~*~
Outside PR Office, Kame rested on the wall next to the door and put a hand on his chest, right where his heart was beating like crazy. Did Nishikido find out about his lies online? And why the fuck was he sharing that with Akanishi, of all people!?
No, there had to be another explanation. He had been way too careful not to leave his e-mail account open on his computer and not to share anything about his personal life with anyone except for Meisa, and Meisa would never…
“She wouldn’t dare,” Kame muttered to himself.
But the frown wouldn’t leave his face and neither would his worries. That creepy, teasing smile Nishikido had directed at him with his question… And the question itself.
“I need to talk to Meisa,” Kamenashi said and left the place with resolution. In moments like this, Meisa was always the one putting everything in perspective for him to calm down.
There had to be a logical explanation, there was just no way he had been found out by that couple of idiots.
~*~
«Hello, you ball’s freak,
How is it going? Sorry we haven’t chatted lately and that it took me so long to reply. The shows have been crazy… crazier than ever, really! But well, I’ll tell you all about the juicy stuff later…
In fact, why don’t we go on a date at some café next week and I’ll make sure to whisper in your ear all the little juicy and dirty secrets you want to hear? I’ll be back in Japan for a short time and there’s a crazy baseball player/otaku there who sucks at coming up with usernames that I’m dying to meet.
Say yes, and I’ll be there before you can say “I’m not a ball’s freak” ;)
Your favorite rock ninja…
Ninja_Ikashi
PS: Just think about it. Think about it hard. Unless the answer already is yes, in that case don’t think much… But if not, think about it before saying anything, ok? I really want us to meet… Chatting with you is not enough for me… I want more… I want you. »
If he was some other guy, Jin would probably blush at the things he texted to this crazy baseball player that got him head over heels, but he just couldn’t.
From the very moment they had met in a random chat-room, they connected in a level that made them immediately start exchanging long e-mails and even more to long hours of talking over Skype. Neither of them had seen the other’s face and they didn’t even know their real names, but it didn’t matter.
Whenever they spoke, they got into a world where only they existed and mattered. And it was the most blissful experience for Jin.
That’s why he wanted to get to the next level as soon as possible.
It was true that he had lied. The minute the other had begun with secrecies and later told him he was a baseball player, Jin had understood he was a famous Japanese baseball player and got scared that as a simple office worker he would have seemed too boring for the other, so he had started lying.
But now… Now Jin wanted nothing but to face the other and tell him the whole truth, ask for his forgiveness and start something, anything, real with him.
He was really to be hated and reproached, but he was also prepared to fight to earn a place in the other’s life, whatever it took.
Now all he had to do was to wait for a reply -a ‘yes’ that would change both their lives.
~*~
Days and days went by, and even though Shirota’s confidence was sky high -while his finances sank even lower down-, he still couldn’t exchange more than a cold, short greeting with Meisa-chan. Everything got even worse as his personal coach had asked him to hit every single bar in town and sleep with at least one girl every night for a whole week.
Shirota had managed to do so, scoring with two chicks on the same night for a nice new personal record, but doing that only made him feel tired as hell for work and cheap and crappy when he saw Meisa.
He didn’t want just to get in her pants, but to start something awesome with her… Was that so hard to understand?
“You know what is hard to understand? Your obsession for that woman!” Yamapi snapped once, tired of listening to Shirota’s childish whining over a woman.
Yamapi, too, had been maintaining a crappy double life, trying his best to keep his business out of Jin’s radar. He had been so worried with how to tell Jin everything, so preoccupied with not letting his best friend/roommate realize his lies that he had been sleeping 3 hours or so every night. Or even less than that.
Not having heard from Ikuta in several days only added to his edginess.
They had known each other the longest within the group. Then Ikuta had brought Shirota along and Yamapi introduced Jin to the others and their paths led them all to the same university Ryo attended. They had all clicked immediately and their friendship was everything to them, but Ikuta had been there from the very beginning.
“Childhood friends” didn’t even start to cover it.
But now it seemed like they weren’t worth of Toma’s time. He could understand that it was getting harder and harder to meet lately, but Toma wasn’t making any effort to call or meet anymore.
“Sorry, I have to prepare for a meeting.”
“No can do. Maybe next time.”
“Have a lot of research to do for a presentation, so I’m only hitting my table tonight.”
“Tell the others I said hi, ‘cause I won’t be able to get there.”
Those were all the texts he got from Toma whenever he had invited him to join them at the bar or his place or just pretty much anywhere they could go together. Texts, never calls. And those times when Yamapi did call him to check if he was still alive, he could hear loud voices speaking in the background like they were having the time of their lives.
“Who are those?” Yamapi asked with a scuff.
“Oh, just some coworkers I’m with,” Yamapi frown’s deepened as he caught some phrases of “Toma, give it to me… give it to me hard” and “Tomasu, you’re missing the party!” and “Tell your girl she’s annoying as fuck and you just wanna have fun.” They used to joke the same way whenever Toma got a call, but it really annoyed him to hear Toma laughing at those idiots’ stupidity.
It had been weeks since Yamapi had last heard Toma laughing.
“What has gotten into you?” Shirota replied with a mopey expression.
“Yeah, dude… Shirota here is just struggling with the whole Meisa-chan-deal, can’t you show a bit of sympathy?” Jin reproached Yamapi and signaled him to cool down. Everybody knew how delicate was Meisa-chan for Shirota, and yelling at him wouldn’t help him out with his problems. Besides, Jin hated it when they teamed up to annoy him whenever he spoke about BallFan without realizing he was probably talking about the second father of his unborn kids.
They were all men, alright… But couldn’t they show a little bit of kindness and compassion towards a man dying from love?
Yasu came just in time to interrupt the discussion, carrying all the beers and tequila shots they had ordered. It was a nice Saturday night and they wanted to spend it drowning his problems in alcohol and fearing the following day’s hangover. Dealing with who’s paying the next round or what remedy would they use the following day was a hell of a lot easier than worrying over unrequited love and friends bailing out.
“Yasu,” Ryo called out, his tongue moving on its own will and making him slur. “Go tell your weird, crazy-ass boss not to ever, and I repeat ever, do this setting again…!”
“Yeah! This is a whole new level of weird, even for us… Yasuko,” Jin continued, chuckling at his own joke as they all took a look around.
Kitagawa Johnny, Yasu’s boss, had had as his latest great idea to turn the whole bar into a bizarre recognized Yasu at first and Ryo had hit on him for a couple of minutes.
They still laughed at his face when Yasu spoke with his normal voice - he had tried his best to complete the illusion by talking in a softer and higher voice and moving more femininely than usual and Ryo had only then realized what he’d been up to.
“Should we be worried, Ryo-chan?”
“Yes, man… Did you suddenly want to be part of Jin’s team?”
“Aw~ Did I inspire you so much that now you’re switching teams, Ryo-chan?”
Ryo spent the first hour or so drowning his embarrassment in tequila, vodka and every kind of strong liquor they could offer him. But that had only elicited more teasing from the rest of the Troop about how Ryo was drinking to forget Yasu’s rejection, had made Ryo get wasted faster than ever.
“Tell your boss to go back to Central Perk…” Jin suggested. From all the different settings they had enjoyed at Johnny’s, the first one Jin ever saw was definitely his favorite.
“Mou~ But Jin, we have already repeated the Central Perk scenario thrice in the last two months… That’s no fun at all…!”
“But it's the best scenario of the lot!”
Yasu shook his head, amused by Jin's childish stubbornness.
Jin was definitely one of the reasons why he enjoyed the Troop's visits so much: he had a great energy around him, his excitement was always so contagious and his sense of humor had everyone laughing all the time, even at his expense… Even his good looks seemed to brighten Yasu's days!
That's why, for the last couple of days, Yasu had been wondering what's the reason behind Jin's sudden lack of light in his eyes… What was it that had added so many shades of darkness under his eyes…
“What are you waiting for so anxiously, Jin?”
~*~
Toma had been missing his friends like crazy. That was, of course, when he wasn't having fun with the crazy Kansai dudes that worked by his side in the company.
With the approval of his project came new responsibilities, which led him to work with a department he had never worked with before.
At first he was dreading the change, especially because the beginning of the new path in his career came that night his friends had decided to stand him up and that gave him a bad feeling about the project itself. He was still bitter about that and had decided to take some time off from the Troop, however difficult it had proven to be… Because he needed his space and the others needed to see what they had done wrong.
There was also the fact that he had to work alongside the Regional Chief of the company, a cool-looking guy that had reached such a high position before his thirties and only seemed to be getting higher and higher.
Toma was terrified he would fuck it up in front of the Regional Chief and completely blow up his opportunities to climb the corporate ladder.
But as time went by, he had come to understand and like the loud personalities of his new coworkers. Especially Yokoyama-san’s, the Regional Chief.
He had been really excited about Toma's proposal and had asked the higher-ups himself to include the guy in his team to develop the project.
“You'll see, Ikuta… Can I call you Toma?” He had asked in their first meeting. If Toma hadn’t already known who he was talking to, he would definitely have thought the other guy was nervous -even terrified of him. But as that was simply impossible, he just nodded his head 'yes'. “Good. You'll see, Toma, with the integration of the other enterprise into the project, we'll take over the industry in one semester.”
Toma had never thought so high of his proposal, but the more time and effort they put into it, the easier it was for him to realize how true Yokoyama's words were.
The best part would be achieving that level of success at his age while having the time of his life. Because the whole team -led by Yokoyama Kimitaka, but which included the small geezer-like Shibutani Subaru, the straightforward Murakami Shingo and the always enthusiastic Maruyama Ryuhei- immediately made him feel comfortable with their constant jokes and general craziness. They were more than friends already, like a little family trying their best to achieve their goals.
And despite the little time they had spent together, working, not once did Ikuta feel like an outsider. How could he, with all the times they got out to drink or they invited him for a late night dinner downtown? He had been to their places, spent nights there already! It had been just too easy to get along with his new work team.
And that had made it all the harder for him.
Because those times he found himself sleeping at Maruyama's or watching a soccer game with Murakami or even playing some videogames with Shibutani and Yokoyama, he had been wondering and imagining -even wishing- it was ShiroYuu, Ryo-chan, Jin and Yamapi instead.
The more he punished them by rejecting their calls and invitations the more Ikuta hurt himself.
~*~
«I want to say yes, I really do… but…»
Jin closed the tab, refusing to keep reading the rest of the e-mail. Everything he needed to know was there and now his hopes were completely crushed by the other and his reluctance to take Jin seriously.
After all the time he had waited for an answer, Jin simply refused to read the whole text, without knowing that for the other it had been just as hard, if not more, to write it.
( Part 2)
Character(s): Ryo, Yamapi, Toma, ShiroYuu, Meisa, Ohkura, Yasu, Subaru, Yoko, Murakami, Maruyama
Mention(s): KimuTaku, Takki
Rating: NC-15
Genre(s): Attempted comedy/humor, AU, Drama, Fluff, Friendship, Romance
Words count: 17.751
Beta: ttalktomesoftly
Barner: ttalktomesoftly ♥
Warning(s): English is not my second language as I thought it was… During the writing on this fic I realized once again what awesome comedy writers are and how much I suck at it. Not so much Akame for an Akame kind of fic
Summary: Akanishi Jin, Yamashita Tomohisa, Nishikido Ryo, Shirota Yuu and Ikuta Toma are all friends, living off of one another in the heart of Tokyo. These 5 young friends struggle to find success and happiness in life, but it is never that straight forward, is it?
A/N: written for
rikachi for the last amigo_santa exchange. I was really glad to take her request and mixed it with something bellemelody requested herself. Hope you can all enjoy this sort of mixture of JE with Friends I tried to do as much as I enjoyed writing it :3 Special thanks to my lovely beta ttalktomesoftly for everything she did!!!! <3
It’s Not Another Urban Story
«…and make sure you tell me ~everything~ about how the tour is going, including the juicy happenings in the backstage. I bet you’re having the time of your life!
Bye! XOXO ^3^
Kamenashi Kazuya.
PS: Let’s meet again soon.»
Kame stared at the screen for a good minute and had the sudden urge to send the mail as it was. The thought didn’t last long though, as usual, and the next second he erased his name and signed it off with the stupid username he had come up with some months ago, pressed the send button and closed the tab of his personal e-mail account before any of his nosy coworkers could take a glimpse of what he was doing during work hours.
“Are you ready to go, Kame-chan?” A lovely voice came from the door to the Administrative Department and at once all eyes shot a glance at the gorgeous sight of Kuroki Meisa, the Manager’s secretary, standing regally at the door with her hands on her hips.
All eyes but Kame’s, of course. Without turning around, Kame let out a sigh of relief and finished closing the rest of the tabs and windows he had opened for the work he had finished around an hour before.
“Finally…” he let out in a fake tired voice as he grabbed his suit jacket and with a simple nod bid his goodbye to the rest of his coworkers.
“I’m sorry, Kame-chan! But you know how Kimura-san can get when we’re in the last days of the month,” she excused herself with a whiny voice even though it wasn’t a secret for anyone she counted the days left to work side by side with Kimura Takuya at the critical moments of the last week of every month. “I’ll treat you to whatever you want for lunch.”
“Whatever I want?” He asked with a mischievous voice that she rather ignored, nodding enthusiastically instead. “Then yakiniku it is!”
“Mou~ Kame-chan~ You always take advantage of my good intentions,” she pouted cutely and hung onto Kame’s arm as they headed outside.
“That’s because you have to stop having such good intentions,” he pinched her nose in a friendly manner and laughed as she stuck out her tongue in retaliation. Meisa must have been really happy with the work done or she wouldn’t have been showing such a childish act around the office. “Boys are going to take advantage of you…”
From inside the Finances Department, 29-year-old Shirota Yuu watched the two of them leave and regretted not being able to hear Meisa’s response to Kamenashi’s last words.
“Which boys exactly, dammit?”
~*~
“Yes, but you know how annoyingly clingy that guy gets, I just don’t want-” Yamashita let out a puff of grey smoke out of his thin lips as the voice at the other end of the line suddenly interrupted him. He patiently waited until the other finished his rant, tempted to roll his eyes a few times along his speech. “Yeah, yeah, I love Jin with all my heart but I’m in denial. I want to punch that sucker in the face almost every five minutes, but that’s just my sick way to show my brotherly love for him…”
Yamashita Tomohisa, a 29-year-old fit young man who worked in the Human Resource Department of the company. His closest friends hardly ever called him by his given name and preferred to use nicknames instead, like Yamapi or simply Pi.
At the other end of the line, a certain Ikuta Toma responded to his sarcastic remarks.
“Well, you do, Pi,” said the smart guy. “We all know just how much you love Jin.”
On the other side of the glass door to the smokers’ area, there’s the Akanishi Jin they were talking about, finishing off his second cigarette of the day as he waited for Yamapi to finish his call. He was not aware of his surroundings though, his eyes completely glued to the screen of his cell phone reading who-knew-what. Most likely something porn-ish. Whatever it was, Yamapi seemed glad something could distract Jin for a while. Despite his good looks and lingering smile, the bags under Jin’s eyes and the sighs he let out from time to time spoke volumes about his tiredness.
Yamapi sighed because they all probably looked the same, given that the last week of May had just started and the tons of workload didn’t seem to be going to go away anytime soon, the amount actually was increasing instead.
“If you don’t stop talking nonsense, I’ll have you removed from the group, you know? I can do that,” Yamapi teased and Toma's sudden intake of air was enough proof that he had fallen for the joke. He could already hear Toma whining and bitching about it, but didn't give the other the chance to do it just yet. “The Kamenashi guy I was talking about the other day might fit in better, considering at least he is in town.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Toma declared with an exaggeratingly melodramatic tone, but Yamapi swore he could hear the tinge of worry in his voice. The drama subdued a bit when he spoke the next words in a whisper. “Jin wouldn’t let you.”
And the bastard just made a point, a good one on top of that. There was no way in hell Jin would allow Kamenashi anywhere near their precious group of friends.
“Whatever,” Yamapi’s eyes lazily caught the time in the big clock on the wall behind Jin.
If he didn’t hurry, lunch break would be over before they could grab something more than just a couple of cigarettes and a can of coffee.
“Have to go now, man,” he pushed the remains of his spent cigarette in the closest ashtray. “See you later in the same place at the same hour?”
“If I manage to grab the train on time, you can count on it,” Toma said in a tired tone, the tinge of worry back in his voice.
“Don’t be such a stingy bastard and get a cab. We haven't met in like forever! And I bet we can get Jin to pay for it,” they both snickered. It wouldn’t be the first time they got Jin to do something like that without Jin even realizing.
“You make sure to accomplish that again, and I’ll definitely get a cab.”
“Then it’s a date, man. See you tonight.”
Yamapi sighed and walked towards his other friend. In the end, he didn’t accomplish anything with his impromptu call to Toma, who was supposed to be the nicest and smartest out of the bunch. And yet he didn’t help him at all.
Fucking Toma and his fucking girly problems that wouldn’t let him tell Yamapi just how on Earth he would ever manage to tell Jin the truth.
~*~
Jin was furiously typing on his cell phone, a goofy smile plastered on his face as he tapped the screen of his device with childish excitement without paying attention to his surroundings. The gang was sitting in the usual booth at the bar they usually hit after work.
It was Jin the one who had found the almost hidden bar and had been immediately attracted by the place. The first time he put a foot inside, he felt as if he were part of the popular sitcom “Friends” as the whole place was decorated like the famous Central Perk café of the TV series.
For someone who loved the American culture like Jin did, it had been simply perfect.
He had then spent the following week trying to convince his friends to come along with him so they could enjoy a couple of cold beers, but to no avail. None of them had been really interested in indulging one of Jin’s whims -especially since they all knew Jin would only take the opportunity to blabber on and on about America and how awesome America was and how awesome American people were and he would try and fail to make some imitations from the show.
No, thank you very much. Yamapi, Ryo and Shirota had been already fed-up with Jin’s obsession for the foreign country and Toma, who Jin considered to be the only friend who didn’t behave like a complete ass, had been simply too busy and too far away to go.
In the end, Jin had had to draw upon inviting some rounds of free beer so his friends would come along… and only then had he discovered the true concept behind the Johnny’s bar.
“This is not the Central Perk I remember,” Shirota had mused as soon as he had stepped into the bar, not hiding his amusement.
“That’s because this looks nothing like Central Perk,” Ryo had then supplied, feeling annoyed and disappointed by yet another stupidity from his friend.
“Yeah, Jin. What the hell is wrong wi-?” Yamapi had stopped when he had felt Shirota elbowing his and Ryo’s ribs only to focus their attention on Jin’s face. It had been the most tragic expression they had ever seen him wear ever since Justin Timberlake had gone on hiatus back in 2007.
Jin had blinked a few times as if secretly hoping everything would turn to normal the minute he opened his eyes. Nothing did though, the place remained the same: resembling any of those bars for bikers they had often seen in foreign movies or TV series.
“Excuse me,” Jin had called the closest staff member he saw as soon as he caught up with his ability to form coherent sentences. “What the-? I mean, I came here last week and this place looked completely different… Did anything happen to the owners or…?”
“No, nothing happened, sir,” the tall man had simply replied as if that answer was the most satisfying one he could utter. He had been ready to leave when Jin reacted and stopped him.
“Okay, nothing happened. Then, why the change? I don’t get it.”
The young man hadn’t seemed at all excited to clarify Jin’s questions. He had simply sighed loudly, his unmasked bored expression annoying Jin to his limits, but entertaining instead the rest of the gang who had been standing form a side and watching Jin’s attempts to get an answer from that guy.
“Yasu!!!! Come here a moment, please!” He had called loudly to a short guy who had been standing behind the counter, a quick movement of his hand in the air accompanied the request. His face had looked kinda familiar to Jin as he had walked towards them, but he hadn’t been able to really pinpoint where or when he had seen him before. “This gentleman here is questioning the concept of the bar. Be a good guy and tell him everything he wants to know.”
And without waiting for an answer or even the slightest sign that this Yasu guy would comply with his request -order-, the tall man had left to take his place behind the counter.
Jin would definitely get some permanent wrinkles in his forehead with the way he had been puckering his brows, but he couldn't help it after the lousy attitude of the waiter. A quick look at this Yasu guy’s smiling face and Jin’s expression had gone from annoyed to surprised.
He had started to feel maybe bringing his friends with him had not been the best idea ever.
“So… is there anything wrong, mister…?”
“Akanishi… Akanishi Jin,” he had had the urge to say as the other seemed quite eager to get his name.
“Is there anything wrong, Jin-san?”
Jin had blinked a few more times, he had got the feeling he had never quite blinked as much before in his life. The level of familiarity this guy was treating him with hadn’t really bothered him, especially after his encounter with the tall brunette, but he hadn’t really liked it. He had been about to protest about it, but chose to get the answers he needed first.
“Yes… No, not really. I just-” he hated his stupid habit of biting his own words or tumbling over them as he got nervous. He had taken a deep breath before resuming his choppy explanation. “As I was telling-”
“Ohkura,” the short blond had supplied.
Jin had needed a few blinks and a deep intake of air before resuming yet again his speech.
“Yes. As I was telling Ohkura, I came here last week and I don’t recall the place looking quite like this,” he had finished without an ounce of security in his voice, not quite sure of himself anymore.
“Well, this decoration wouldn’t have fit last week’s theme, would it?” Yasu had replied with his amiable smile.
It was in that way -as if suddenly cold water had been poured over his head- that Jin and his friends had found out the true attractiveness of the Johnny’s bar: it changed its decoration every week according to a theme the employees chose. The week before the theme had been “Friends”, whilst that week it had been “Bikers all over the world” or so Yasu had said.
A couple of months or even over a year had already passed since those first visits to Johnny’s and by then they were all well accustomed to the constant changes in the bar and its main waiter, Yasu, who took after the place and changed his appearance every week.
Now Jin no longer had trouble recognizing him or his familiar smile.
“The usual, guys?” Yasu asked with the same expression he always wore, even though he had already brought the drinks on a tray. “Arara~ Toma-kun isn't coming today?”
The question was meant for Jin, who was sitting closer to Yasu. But because he wasn't paying attention to anything outside his cell phone’s screen, it was Yamapi who replied instead.
“He'll be here any minute now.”
“If he catches a taxi or suddenly grows some wings out of his ass,” Ryo said with his usual sarcastic tone as he took a quick peek at his watch. “We're not staying for too long tonight, right?”
“Eh~ Leaving early today?” Yasu couldn't hide a big pout of pure disappointment. Out of the hundreds of clients he was to serve every day, the “Akanishi Troop” was by far the most fun and entertaining group to serve of all, so he's always eager to see them in the bar until it was time to close.
“Sorry, man, but it’s the final week of May and you know what that means,” Shirota replied and took a quick sip of the first beer of the night. He sighed in contentment as the cool liquid traveled down his throat.
That was definitely what they all had needed in the middle of the chaos “the final week” always brought along.
“Yeah, and tomorrow most of us have deadly important meetings with the big bosses,” Yamapi shared, helping to distribute the drinks.
He realized Yasu had brought an extra glass for Toma, but he left it under the table nonetheless. He's sure Toma would get on time.
He had to.
“Wasn't today Toma's important presentation?” Jin finally decided to join the conversation, having finished the important business he had over at his cell phone. At rare moments like that, he seemed to be the only one who held important information, as everyone's faces gave out the fact that they had forgotten everything about Toma’s crucial day. “You know? The presentation of that big-ass project he's been working on for the last, I don't know, months or year or something?”
At the silence that question met, Yasu chirped in.
“See? You should definitely wait for Toma-kun today or you'll break his heart.”
He left at that, confident he'd get to enjoy the gang's company for longer than they had thought at first.
“One more beer and I might drown my sorrows in alcohol,” Shirota shared after taking a second gulp from his drink and almost emptying it. He wasn't joking and they all knew it.
“Saw your little goddess today?” Ryo perked up at the opportunity to mess with his friend.
Shirota simply nodded and finished up what little remained of his beer.
“She came by Finances to fetch her little buddy Kamenashi…”
Ryo flashed all his teeth in a devilish smile as Yuu supplied him with a way to tease two friends with one word.
Kamenashi.
He had no issues with the dude. Yes, he's a bit girly and OCD-ish for his taste, but the guy delivered perfect numbers that always helped ease Ryo’s job, and that's something he truly appreciated in anyone. He threw a silent look at Jin, wishing his friend would be more like Kamenashi when it came to work.
As if on cue, Jin let out a loud “Fucker!” that did not surprise anyone.
“What the fuck is Meisa-chan doing with a guy like that when she could have anyone -and I mean anyone- at her feet?”
He wasn't upset at the possibility of Meisa dating Kamenashi, but that didn't stop Ryo from blurting a meaningful “I don't know… fucking?” that stirred the anger of both Jin and Yuu.
“What the fuck?” Exclaimed Shirota.
“Yeah, Ryo. What the fuck?” Jin joined, an expression of disgust distorting his features. “Nobody here wants to picture that guy's sex life.”
Yamapi lifted a brow at that.
“Says the guy who keeps saying Kamenashi fucked his way up to his current position.”
“It's not my fault that stuck up ass feels the need to suck everyone to get things in return,” Jin drank his beer furiously, not tolerating the topic even though it's mostly him the one who bitched about their coworker in the bar.
Just how many evenings had turned into late nights with Jin getting wasted as he complained about everything Kamenashi-related?
His stuck up attitude.
His diva side.
His friendship with Meisa -and only here did Shirota join the ramblings.
His fucking expensive designer suits.
Even the angle of his eyebrows.
They all seemed resigned to spend another evening of 'Let's all bitch about Kamenashi with your host, Akanishi Jin' -one of them was even expecting it-, but Yamapi decided to get off that boat before if sank in front of everybody.
It's the final week of May and that was the last thing he needed.
“What the hell were you typing like crazy in your phone, btw?” He asked instead, knowing Jin's mood would take a 180° turn instead.
“Yeah, man… were you bitching about Kamenashi in your personal blog or sharing his latest fuckery in a forum you created for that?” Ryo, though, was not ready to let go of his chance to tease his friend and mock his constant whining.
In the end, Yamapi won that round, as Jin merely glared at Ryo for a second before the goofy smile returned to his face.
“I was texting my online crush, of course,” he confessed without a bit of embarrassment.
Ryo wasn't happy with the change in topic, but there was virtually nothing he couldn't turn into teasing and mockery.
Not with Jin and his eternal idiocy.
“One picture of your stupid face right now, and she would flee before you could say 'That Kamenashi bastard'.”
When he finished laughing by himself, Ryo was met with three pairs of puzzled looks.
“She?” Yamapi was the first one to recover.
“Yeah,” Ryo replied with a doubtful voice, the beer bottle stopped halfway to his mouth.
“What 'she'?” Shirota asked further.
Ok, either his friends were playing dumb in the most convincing way ever or they had just turned crazy at once. Whatever the case, Ryo didn't waver in his answer -almost.
“C'mon! You know who I'm talking about!” the same confused expressions were staring back at him waiting for an answer. “Y'know, the online girl Jin has been crushing on like a loser for the past three months or so.”
At once, Jin, Yamapi and Shirota broke in a loud fit of laughter at the seemingly stupid answer Ryo had given.
“What the fuck are you talking about, Ryo?”
“Yeah, man! That's like the most stupidest thing I've ever heard… like ever!”
Without a clue of what had gotten into his idiotic friends, Ryo waited for any of them to calm down long enough to give him a proper explanation of what the hell was so funny about what he had said.
He had to wait a few more minutes before Yamapi was calm enough to speak a few words of enlightenment.
“Dude, can't you see Jin's as gay as the gayest dude around?” He managed to say before he broke down in laughter again, uttering the words “girl” and “crushing” in between laughs.
Ryo stood still as a statue, not believing that after years of friendship and his amazing insightfulness he had failed to notice Jin's sexual orientation.
Just how on Earth did that happen?
“He can’t see anything beyond that huge nose of his,” Shirota miraculously managed to say without breaking into a coughing fit.
That's just enough to break Ryo's ever-so-short patience with that trio of dumbasses.
“You are one to talk, asshole,” he spitted.
“At least it’s not the only big thing I have. Unlike someone else…” Shirota countered back with a smug grin.
“And that’s exactly why you’ll never get laid again.”
Touché!
Shirota's laughing halted as abruptly as it had begun and the other two followed suit not long after that, too aware of the sensitive topic Ryo had just decided to address.
The effect was immediate! Shirota not only stopped laughing, but his jolly expression was replaced by a grim one in a second.
“Don't listen to him, man,” Yamapi went to the rescue, even though he knew how useless his words would be. “Maybe Meisa-chan is different… She looks brave.”
“That's true, Yuu! Maybe you're just putting her off with your aura… Chicks sense that sort of things!”
Not fully convinced, Yamapi decided to jump in as well.
“Hey, that's actually…”
“Stupid? Dumb? Something that only Jin would pull out of his ass?” Ryo supplied.
“No!” Yamapi said, but failing to find the most suitable adjective, he changed his approach. “Why don't you try some reiki shit or an aura cleansing therapy or whatever? That could help!”
Shirota seemed a bit motivated by the idea, until Ryo opened his poisonous mouth.
“Unless that aura cleansing shit comes with a surgical reduction of his dick, I don't see any sex in Yuu's future.”
Both Yamapi and Jin glared at Ryo, wondering how on Earth they had become friends in the first place.
Ryo enjoyed the last bits of his first beer as he watched the expression on his friends’ faces. He wasn't truly content though, he was feeling desperate to know just how the hell he had missed such a huge detail about Jin.
~*~
It had taken a very expensive cab trip, but Ikuta Toma had finally arrived at Johnny’s, with a huge smile stretching his lips.
The long trip, the high fee, the annoying traffic he had had to deal with on the way there… none of it mattered anymore, because…
“The project of my career was approved and we have to celebrate!” He almost shouted when Ohkura came to receive him. “Where's everybody?”
Sighing in pity, even though it simply looked like tediousness, Ohkura gazed over his shoulders to the booth Toma's friends usually occupied.
It was empty.
“Toma-kun, you made it!” Yasu chirped from the counter. “But the guys left around an hour ago.”
Toma sometimes really hated his job… and his so-called friends who were far from him.
It didn't happen all that often, but there were times he really did
~*~
That night, Kamenashi went to bed with the widest smile ever.
He had got the habit of checking his mails in his cell phone every night as he lay in his bed. Ninja_Ikashi tended to mail him just before he fell asleep and the moment he had noticed it, that habit of his had started.
But now it was just ridiculous!
He had mailed the other guy that same day in the morning, it was almost impossible for the other to reply so quickly with such a packed schedule.
And yet, he did.
Kame’s wide smile matched perfectly with his caressing the screen of his device, as if somehow the touch could reach the other.
«I'm going to be imagining your face in front of me, laughing at my silly jokes, frowning at my weird Japanese and even surprised as I tell you this kind of things you asked me about upfront… I'll even picture you holding your breath and letting out a small sigh as I get close and kiss you…
And the best part of this -the reason why I'm smiling right now while biting my lips like crazy- it's that right now you're picturing just the same…
And even more ;)
Yours tonight, tomorrow, always,
Ninja_Ikashi.»
Kazuya sighed out of exhaustion -both mental and physical- and turned off his cell phone, placing it on his bedside table.
He’s running out of excuses not to meet the other even online. Just thinking about giving him his real name -let alone showing his face- made him utterly terrified for a reason he’s yet to understand.
This Ninja_Ikashi was the first man to take that place in Kame’s life, after all. Wasn't it only natural for him to be that scared?
~*~
“I'll tell you what is only natural in this case,” Meisa started off again, her tone a mixture of motherly sweetness and sisterly exasperation. “It's only natural that you want to be sure he's an actual man and not a loser making you waste your time. It's only natural-”
“But he is a man!”
“And how would you be so sure?” She arched a brow. “Because of your awfully big experience dating men or your awfully big experience with online dating?”
Kamenashi only had 3 brothers and never knew the joys of having a sister. But he had the feeling his sudden urge to smack her on the head bore some resemblance to how brothers feel towards their bratty little sisters.
“Could you please not spill out my secret in my workplace?”
He was using it as an excuse for Meisa to stop talking and for him not to have to give an answer that would ultimately prove her point.
He wasn't planning to give her the satisfaction.
A tuft of light brown hair peeked through the door and both Meisa and Kame glanced their way down to Shirota's face and the rest of his body.
“Excuse me,” he politely said as he made his way to his desk, avoiding Meisa's fixed stare.
“Leaving during lunch? We only have 10 more minutes left,” Kame pointed out as he watched the other pick his coat and briefcase.
“Have a medical appointment to attend,” Shirota was halfway through the office, his gaze still avoiding Meisa's. “Already talked to the big boss.”
Kame nodded his approval.
“Hope everything's alright,” was his way of greeting the other goodbye.
Shirota left without any other word or gesture, taking Meisa's sight as a good sign. His decision must have been right if she was there to watch him go.
The other two shared a look of complicity as the tall man took off and Kame seized his chance to turn the tables.
“When are you going to expand your experience with men?”
“I got my share of experience, alright? But it's not me who wants to cuddle with a man for the rest of their life…”
Kame had to bite his inner cheek not to roll his eyes at that.
“Yeah, how to forget you are the one who only wants to step up the executive ladder?”
“I'm the one who is going to do just that, sweetheart. Just wait and see…”
“And after that?”
“What do you mean?”
Kazuya failed to understand how a woman -or any human being, for that matter- could be so work-driven without caring at all about their love life.
Call him a romantic, or even delusional, but he truly believed you couldn't be completely happy without another person to share your life with. Not really, anyway.
~*~
Toma had been working in a company right at the other side of the city where his friends had lived for the past four years or so. It was a branch of a company from the Kansai Region that was slowly, but surely expanding to the rest of the country and Ikuta Toma was proud to be a part of it.
In spite of that, the location of the Company made it almost impossible for Toma to see his friends as frequently as they all saw see each other, especially considering the fact they had been working together in the same place.
More than once Toma considered resigning from his job and looking for something closer to the guys… But he loved his Company and could not make that decision.
His friends often joked about how Toma at least wasn’t working in the Kansai Region, but sometimes -like right then that they hadn’t really met- they all felt as if he was already doing so with how little they got to see him.
It wasn’t easy being Ikuta Toma when you had The Troop for friends.
~*~
For the last week or so, Ryo had been paying extra attention to all his loser friends’ affairs to make sure he hadn’t missed any other big detail about their lives -he wasn’t ready to learn Pi suddenly had a twin brother or Shirota spent his free time baking cupcakes just for the sheer fun of it- and his sudden efforts paid off when he realized some funny business had been going on within the gang without the rest of them noticing.
Suddenly, Jin’s sexuality wasn’t the most entertaining issue going on.
As matter of fact, all of them seemed to be involved in certain suspicious situations that would provide Ryo with the right amount of fun to relax after the most stressing end-of-month he had faced in too long.
Like Yamapi, for example. Ryo had noticed he spent less and less time in the apartment he shared with Jin, but pretended as if everything was like always.
Of course a big idiot like Jin hadn't noticed anything strange so far, no surprise there, but with Ryo's awesome insightfulness and his latest efforts not to let any little detail slip, Pi had not a chance.
Ryo had decided to leave the idiotic pair alone while he gathered more information about their affairs, though, and focused instead on a more immediate source of entertainment.
Shirota Yuu.
The guy had been seeing a psychologist, a reiki counselor (if that's what you called those charlatans), and a sexologist, all of them at the same time in order to get over his complex and problems.
Nothing but a big waste of time and money to get into Meisa’s pants, if you asked Ryo. Of course, Shirota didn’t. But Ryo was sure it didn’t matter how much Shirota built up his confidence or how many sex rubber donuts he bought, nothing would change.
Meisa could be a lesbian for all they cared with how little attention she paid to men, her mind was set on getting a big promotion she had been chasing after for the last couple of months -years even- and she wouldn’t let any man get in her way. Especially one that could hardly speak to her.
Kuroki Meisa was a strong, independent, goal-oriented and driven young woman whose biggest dream was to work directly under Kimura Takuya’s direction.
That much had Ryo learned since he started paying her some more time and attention: giving her casually some chocolate bars, buying her some coffee from Starbucks on his way back from lunch break, riding the elevator with her every once in a while and, his personal favorite, arriving with her at the Financial Department when she went to fetch Kamenashi.
Ryo loved watching Shirota’s face startled red and with big eyes every time he spotted the two of them not only arriving together, but being so familiar with each other.
He could bother his friend and gather some information on Meisa and Kamenashi at the same time.
Killing two birds with one stone had never been so easy.
~*~
“And now you want to meet?” Ryo asked with concern. Jin moved his mouth from side to side as if considering whether to answer or not.
In the end, he sighed and nodded, not able to lie.
Not even to a sadist bastard like Ryo.
He had been suspicious at first when the other had showed up at his office in the PR Department with a cup of hot coffee in one hand and what he probably considered a friendly smile on his face-but Jin could only describe as a creepy gesture of teeth and bad intentions.
But then he had started asking Jin about his day and work, and despite Jin’s snarky replies, he had patiently waited for an honest answer, earnestly interested in Jin’s business.
“What the hell has gotten into you?” Jin asked out of a sudden, not really waiting for Ryo’s inputs on the matter of him wanting to meet his online crush.
“Can’t I just come here to catch up with one of my buddies?”
“Not if you’re Nishikido Ryo… And it happens to be that you are.”
Ryo hid his face and sighed, as if surrendering unwillingly.
“The… This thing about… You know… You being…”
“As gay as the gayest dude around?” Jin supplied.
Ryo was a bit uncomfortable with Jin’s openness about his sexuality. Not because of his actual sexuality, because Jin could fuck and suck whoever the hell he wanted to, that wouldn’t change the entertaining baka he was. Ryo honestly didn’t care.
But he had the feeling that Jin had always been that open and that only meant Ryo had been utterly blind for years.
“Yeah, exactly,” Ryo conceded. “About that-”
“What about it?” Jin asked, amused by Ryo’s reaction to his sexuality. He finally was able relax in Ryo’s presence, completely forgetting his initial wariness.
“I felt like I should do something… for not noticing all these years,” Jin was about to interrupt his little speech, but Ryo didn’t allow him to. “Don’t say I don’t have to. I know I don’t. I just felt like I should… I don’t know, do something to make it up for it or I’d be a lousy friend.”
Jin had to admit that even Ryo was a good friend, regardless of his do-S side.
“And that’s why you’re offering me your advice on how to finally meet him?”
“And for free! That’s not an offer that happens every day, you know?” Ryo joked lightly, and waited a moment between light laughs before he spoke again. “So you lied to that guy, telling him you were some sort of rock star traveling throughout America, and now you don’t know how to manage to meet him in person because of your stupid little lie?”
Jin nodded again, a bit embarrassed.
“What did you want me to do? The guy seems to be some sort of super awesome baseball player here in Japan; I couldn’t tell him I was some simple handyman made into a boring PR office worker, could I?”
“So you decided to lie instead?”
“Haven’t we already established I made the stupid call to lie? What I’m trying to figure out is how to convince him to meet with me, even though he’s a famous baseball player, now that I’m ‘coming back home’”, he emphasized the expression with some air quotes and looked at Ryo with his effective kicked puppy eyes.
No doubt that expression made him get his current position in the company.
“Haven’t you considered the guy might be lying?”
“About what?” Jin asked without grasping what the other was saying.
Most people wouldn’t believe just how naïve Jin still was at his age in certain areas.
“I don’t know… That he’s a baseball player… or that he’s a guy altogether,” Jin gasped at the mere insinuation the other could be lying like that. “Dude, nowadays people lie all the time on the internet. It’s like the easiest place to carry a second life and pretend to do and be just about anything you ever dreamed of… Right, Kamenashi?”
Jin had been really deep in thought, but he wouldn’t fall for the Kamenashi-joke.
Not again, anyway.
“Very funny, Ryo,” he said without giving a glance to the door, snorting at Ryo’s desperate attempt to make fun of him. “But why would that stuck-up as-”
He heard somebody clearing their throat at the door and then he did take a look there, almost gasping in horror at the sight of Kamenashi Kazuya standing there and looking utterly annoyed.
Looking more annoyed than what he usually did when facing Jin, anyways.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Jin couldn’t stop himself from almost shrieking, even though he had been the one badmouthing the other.
Ryo looked as if he suddenly wanted a bowl of popcorn to enjoy the show.
“It’s not like I came here ‘cause I wanted to,” Kamenashi said under his breath, jaw so tense one could think he was hurting his teeth. But before he could explain the reason behind his uncommon visit, Ryo interjected him.
“Hey! Maybe Kamenashi here could help you out with your special situation,” Ryo added with a smile, which was fueled even more by Jin’s wide-open eyes that threatened to jump out of their sockets. “Kamenashi, what do you think about onl-”
“What do you want?” Jin interrupted his friend, before he could totally ruin his image before the person he hated the most. He didn’t feel like sharing about his crush with Kamenashi either, but the intruder didn’t seem to realize he had been addressed as he still looked intently at Ryo. “What can I do for you, Kamenashi?”
Turning his attention finally to Jin, Kame clicked his tongue.
“Not as much as you seem to think,” he muttered under his breath, but loud enough for everyone to hear. He started walking towards Jin as he explained the reason of his visit, not giving Jin time to open his mouth again. “Takizawa-san asked me to give you these. He said they’d make your work a thousand times easier and-”
Jin practically ripped the folders from Kamenashi’s hands and smiled in glee at the sight of a certain bunch of documents he had only dreamed to have.
“Takki is so awesome!” He exclaimed, failing to notice Kamenashi’s grimace at the familiarity with which Akanishi had addressed his boss. “And he had said he wouldn’t hand me these, but he did! How awesome can he really be?”
Kamenashi cleared his throat.
“He also asked me to tell you not to forget about this next time he invites you to eat and doesn’t feel like paying the bill.”
“He always wants to pay the bill!” Both Jin and Ryo said at the same time and smiled, knowing that behind Takki’s silly jokes there was a nice, caring senpai who loved to be like a spoiling father to his kouhais.
Ryo didn’t miss Kamenashi’s slightly flushed face as he left the office in complete silence once he accomplished the mission he had been asked to do.
Maybe his friends weren’t the only ones keeping entertaining secrets.
~*~
Outside PR Office, Kame rested on the wall next to the door and put a hand on his chest, right where his heart was beating like crazy. Did Nishikido find out about his lies online? And why the fuck was he sharing that with Akanishi, of all people!?
No, there had to be another explanation. He had been way too careful not to leave his e-mail account open on his computer and not to share anything about his personal life with anyone except for Meisa, and Meisa would never…
“She wouldn’t dare,” Kame muttered to himself.
But the frown wouldn’t leave his face and neither would his worries. That creepy, teasing smile Nishikido had directed at him with his question… And the question itself.
“I need to talk to Meisa,” Kamenashi said and left the place with resolution. In moments like this, Meisa was always the one putting everything in perspective for him to calm down.
There had to be a logical explanation, there was just no way he had been found out by that couple of idiots.
~*~
«Hello, you ball’s freak,
How is it going? Sorry we haven’t chatted lately and that it took me so long to reply. The shows have been crazy… crazier than ever, really! But well, I’ll tell you all about the juicy stuff later…
In fact, why don’t we go on a date at some café next week and I’ll make sure to whisper in your ear all the little juicy and dirty secrets you want to hear? I’ll be back in Japan for a short time and there’s a crazy baseball player/otaku there who sucks at coming up with usernames that I’m dying to meet.
Say yes, and I’ll be there before you can say “I’m not a ball’s freak” ;)
Your favorite rock ninja…
Ninja_Ikashi
PS: Just think about it. Think about it hard. Unless the answer already is yes, in that case don’t think much… But if not, think about it before saying anything, ok? I really want us to meet… Chatting with you is not enough for me… I want more… I want you. »
If he was some other guy, Jin would probably blush at the things he texted to this crazy baseball player that got him head over heels, but he just couldn’t.
From the very moment they had met in a random chat-room, they connected in a level that made them immediately start exchanging long e-mails and even more to long hours of talking over Skype. Neither of them had seen the other’s face and they didn’t even know their real names, but it didn’t matter.
Whenever they spoke, they got into a world where only they existed and mattered. And it was the most blissful experience for Jin.
That’s why he wanted to get to the next level as soon as possible.
It was true that he had lied. The minute the other had begun with secrecies and later told him he was a baseball player, Jin had understood he was a famous Japanese baseball player and got scared that as a simple office worker he would have seemed too boring for the other, so he had started lying.
But now… Now Jin wanted nothing but to face the other and tell him the whole truth, ask for his forgiveness and start something, anything, real with him.
He was really to be hated and reproached, but he was also prepared to fight to earn a place in the other’s life, whatever it took.
Now all he had to do was to wait for a reply -a ‘yes’ that would change both their lives.
~*~
Days and days went by, and even though Shirota’s confidence was sky high -while his finances sank even lower down-, he still couldn’t exchange more than a cold, short greeting with Meisa-chan. Everything got even worse as his personal coach had asked him to hit every single bar in town and sleep with at least one girl every night for a whole week.
Shirota had managed to do so, scoring with two chicks on the same night for a nice new personal record, but doing that only made him feel tired as hell for work and cheap and crappy when he saw Meisa.
He didn’t want just to get in her pants, but to start something awesome with her… Was that so hard to understand?
“You know what is hard to understand? Your obsession for that woman!” Yamapi snapped once, tired of listening to Shirota’s childish whining over a woman.
Yamapi, too, had been maintaining a crappy double life, trying his best to keep his business out of Jin’s radar. He had been so worried with how to tell Jin everything, so preoccupied with not letting his best friend/roommate realize his lies that he had been sleeping 3 hours or so every night. Or even less than that.
Not having heard from Ikuta in several days only added to his edginess.
They had known each other the longest within the group. Then Ikuta had brought Shirota along and Yamapi introduced Jin to the others and their paths led them all to the same university Ryo attended. They had all clicked immediately and their friendship was everything to them, but Ikuta had been there from the very beginning.
“Childhood friends” didn’t even start to cover it.
But now it seemed like they weren’t worth of Toma’s time. He could understand that it was getting harder and harder to meet lately, but Toma wasn’t making any effort to call or meet anymore.
“Sorry, I have to prepare for a meeting.”
“No can do. Maybe next time.”
“Have a lot of research to do for a presentation, so I’m only hitting my table tonight.”
“Tell the others I said hi, ‘cause I won’t be able to get there.”
Those were all the texts he got from Toma whenever he had invited him to join them at the bar or his place or just pretty much anywhere they could go together. Texts, never calls. And those times when Yamapi did call him to check if he was still alive, he could hear loud voices speaking in the background like they were having the time of their lives.
“Who are those?” Yamapi asked with a scuff.
“Oh, just some coworkers I’m with,” Yamapi frown’s deepened as he caught some phrases of “Toma, give it to me… give it to me hard” and “Tomasu, you’re missing the party!” and “Tell your girl she’s annoying as fuck and you just wanna have fun.” They used to joke the same way whenever Toma got a call, but it really annoyed him to hear Toma laughing at those idiots’ stupidity.
It had been weeks since Yamapi had last heard Toma laughing.
“What has gotten into you?” Shirota replied with a mopey expression.
“Yeah, dude… Shirota here is just struggling with the whole Meisa-chan-deal, can’t you show a bit of sympathy?” Jin reproached Yamapi and signaled him to cool down. Everybody knew how delicate was Meisa-chan for Shirota, and yelling at him wouldn’t help him out with his problems. Besides, Jin hated it when they teamed up to annoy him whenever he spoke about BallFan without realizing he was probably talking about the second father of his unborn kids.
They were all men, alright… But couldn’t they show a little bit of kindness and compassion towards a man dying from love?
Yasu came just in time to interrupt the discussion, carrying all the beers and tequila shots they had ordered. It was a nice Saturday night and they wanted to spend it drowning his problems in alcohol and fearing the following day’s hangover. Dealing with who’s paying the next round or what remedy would they use the following day was a hell of a lot easier than worrying over unrequited love and friends bailing out.
“Yasu,” Ryo called out, his tongue moving on its own will and making him slur. “Go tell your weird, crazy-ass boss not to ever, and I repeat ever, do this setting again…!”
“Yeah! This is a whole new level of weird, even for us… Yasuko,” Jin continued, chuckling at his own joke as they all took a look around.
Kitagawa Johnny, Yasu’s boss, had had as his latest great idea to turn the whole bar into a bizarre recognized Yasu at first and Ryo had hit on him for a couple of minutes.
They still laughed at his face when Yasu spoke with his normal voice - he had tried his best to complete the illusion by talking in a softer and higher voice and moving more femininely than usual and Ryo had only then realized what he’d been up to.
“Should we be worried, Ryo-chan?”
“Yes, man… Did you suddenly want to be part of Jin’s team?”
“Aw~ Did I inspire you so much that now you’re switching teams, Ryo-chan?”
Ryo spent the first hour or so drowning his embarrassment in tequila, vodka and every kind of strong liquor they could offer him. But that had only elicited more teasing from the rest of the Troop about how Ryo was drinking to forget Yasu’s rejection, had made Ryo get wasted faster than ever.
“Tell your boss to go back to Central Perk…” Jin suggested. From all the different settings they had enjoyed at Johnny’s, the first one Jin ever saw was definitely his favorite.
“Mou~ But Jin, we have already repeated the Central Perk scenario thrice in the last two months… That’s no fun at all…!”
“But it's the best scenario of the lot!”
Yasu shook his head, amused by Jin's childish stubbornness.
Jin was definitely one of the reasons why he enjoyed the Troop's visits so much: he had a great energy around him, his excitement was always so contagious and his sense of humor had everyone laughing all the time, even at his expense… Even his good looks seemed to brighten Yasu's days!
That's why, for the last couple of days, Yasu had been wondering what's the reason behind Jin's sudden lack of light in his eyes… What was it that had added so many shades of darkness under his eyes…
“What are you waiting for so anxiously, Jin?”
~*~
Toma had been missing his friends like crazy. That was, of course, when he wasn't having fun with the crazy Kansai dudes that worked by his side in the company.
With the approval of his project came new responsibilities, which led him to work with a department he had never worked with before.
At first he was dreading the change, especially because the beginning of the new path in his career came that night his friends had decided to stand him up and that gave him a bad feeling about the project itself. He was still bitter about that and had decided to take some time off from the Troop, however difficult it had proven to be… Because he needed his space and the others needed to see what they had done wrong.
There was also the fact that he had to work alongside the Regional Chief of the company, a cool-looking guy that had reached such a high position before his thirties and only seemed to be getting higher and higher.
Toma was terrified he would fuck it up in front of the Regional Chief and completely blow up his opportunities to climb the corporate ladder.
But as time went by, he had come to understand and like the loud personalities of his new coworkers. Especially Yokoyama-san’s, the Regional Chief.
He had been really excited about Toma's proposal and had asked the higher-ups himself to include the guy in his team to develop the project.
“You'll see, Ikuta… Can I call you Toma?” He had asked in their first meeting. If Toma hadn’t already known who he was talking to, he would definitely have thought the other guy was nervous -even terrified of him. But as that was simply impossible, he just nodded his head 'yes'. “Good. You'll see, Toma, with the integration of the other enterprise into the project, we'll take over the industry in one semester.”
Toma had never thought so high of his proposal, but the more time and effort they put into it, the easier it was for him to realize how true Yokoyama's words were.
The best part would be achieving that level of success at his age while having the time of his life. Because the whole team -led by Yokoyama Kimitaka, but which included the small geezer-like Shibutani Subaru, the straightforward Murakami Shingo and the always enthusiastic Maruyama Ryuhei- immediately made him feel comfortable with their constant jokes and general craziness. They were more than friends already, like a little family trying their best to achieve their goals.
And despite the little time they had spent together, working, not once did Ikuta feel like an outsider. How could he, with all the times they got out to drink or they invited him for a late night dinner downtown? He had been to their places, spent nights there already! It had been just too easy to get along with his new work team.
And that had made it all the harder for him.
Because those times he found himself sleeping at Maruyama's or watching a soccer game with Murakami or even playing some videogames with Shibutani and Yokoyama, he had been wondering and imagining -even wishing- it was ShiroYuu, Ryo-chan, Jin and Yamapi instead.
The more he punished them by rejecting their calls and invitations the more Ikuta hurt himself.
~*~
«I want to say yes, I really do… but…»
Jin closed the tab, refusing to keep reading the rest of the e-mail. Everything he needed to know was there and now his hopes were completely crushed by the other and his reluctance to take Jin seriously.
After all the time he had waited for an answer, Jin simply refused to read the whole text, without knowing that for the other it had been just as hard, if not more, to write it.
( Part 2)