JE/NewS/KAT-TUN- "Five Things That Happen After Uchi and Kusano Rejoin NewS"
Goddammit this totally counts as a December fic, I just couldn't POST until now.
Title: Five Things That Happen After Uchi and Kusano Rejoin NewS
Universe: JE/News/KAT-TUN
Theme/Topic: N/A
Rating: PG-13
Character/Pairing/s: NewS (with cameos by One-Ok-Rock and Jin)
Warnings/Spoilers: Stupidity, OOC, SAP, RPF.
Word Count: 2,324
Summary: A sort-of companion to Ann’s “5 Times Uchi and Kusano Return to NewS”- Kusano and Uchi readjust afterwards.
Dedication: Nicole and Ann, because I am putting your requests together. XD
A/N: ANN I’M SORRY I CHEAPED OUT ON THIS since it isn’t in your top 3 holiday requests at all, but I just. I really loved the fic you wrote me A LOT. And the other one I was writing for you kind of choked on its own spit and suffocated to death after 17 pages of retardedness. Nico, sorry I didn’t go into much detail, but I still don’t really feel like I know enough about One-Ok-Rock to be comfortable writing them in-depth. I TRIED OK. At the very least you can appreciate the bad (GENIUS) namesmoosh I made? LOL
Disclaimer: No harm is meant by this!
1.
When they all go out for dinner together after a stressful but successful Dome concert, it is Ryo and Yamapi who offer to pay for the food; Uchi notices that despite the free tab no one drinks anything that isn’t tea or water.
He wonders if it’s because of him (because he doesn’t drink anymore) or if it’s because of Kusano, who still can’t, who doesn’t want to be reminded that he can’t. It is most likely because of the both of them in the end, and he instantly feels bad for the limitations he is putting on his bandmates all over again, even if they seem insignificant this time compared to the last.
Ryo reads Uchi’s expression correctly (because he still can, he always can) and snorts without any sympathy whatsoever. “Yes, it’s because of you two,” he tells him. “Mostly dumbass over there, but you too.”
Kusano blinks.
Koyama clears his throat and moves to clarify. “We waited for more than two years,” he explains gently, “And so we decided that can wait another month for something like this; to show our support.”
Yamapi nods, putting an arm around Kusano like the younger boy never ever left them at all. “When you turn twenty, we will all go out as adults together, ne,” he says to Kusano very seriously. He turns to Uchi with the same sentiment, even if Uchi is already, technically, an adult. “We’ll go for both of you all together-as adults.” He smiles.
It is a cheesy sentiment and kind of stupid (probably something Koyama came up with), but for some reason Kusano and Uchi both feel an odd rush of relief when they hear this; it feels like maybe they are being given yet another one of those second chances that they had worked so hard for over the past two years.
They promise themselves that this time they’ll do it right.
This is how they will become real adults.
2.
Uchi thinks he finally understands what real member-ai is towards the end of the winter tour that he and Kusano are allowed to come back for; it is during a moment in the middle of NewS’s Teppen performance when he automatically sings the part that used to be his solo, forgetting that it is Tegoshi’s now.
His eyes widen and he almost stops completely in a brief moment of embarrassed horror, but before he can, Tegoshi simply switches from the main melody line to an improvised harmony, drops his volume, and laughs at Uchi from across the stage with his eyes.
They sing the part together instead.
Ryo smirks and gleefully calls Uchi a rank amateur when the show is done; he doesn’t stop giving him shit about it for weeks.
But even still, for all the performances after that, Uchi and Tegoshi sing that part together every time.
And whenever they do, Tegoshi always laughs at Uchi with his eyes.
It doesn’t take Uchi long to start laughing right back.
3.
When Uchi returns to Eito during the countdown but Kusano is left alone at home doing nothing, he fears for the worst and throws himself into his studies to hide his devastation; he hopes that if he works hard and does well in school he can give his parents something else to be proud of, something to forget all the shame he has put his family through over the past year.
He doesn’t believe in moping; he believes in action. So he does all he can-works as hard as he’s ever worked-and hopes for the best.
When he turns twenty and gets the call from management that tells him it’s time for him to come back after all, he is surprised to find that he feels both a profound excitement inside his chest as well as a strange sort of dread. He looks at his college textbooks and wonders if he can manage; the long lecture he received from the higher ups about this being a probationary return period for him makes him feel like he should forget studying and dedicate himself 100% to his work, makes him feel like he should get rid of any and all distractions to prove to the management that he can still do this job despite his long absence from it.
But there’s still the tiniest whisper of doubt in the back of his mind even now; maybe he can’t still do this; if he leaves school too, what then?
When Kusano turns twenty and gets the call to come back, he returns to NewS not knowing what the future holds for him. All he can do is try hard and hope for the best.
~~~~~
Shige and Koyama are the first to congratulate him when he walks into the dressing room the day of his return; they are the first to welcome him back.
“Now,” Koyama begins with a fond smile, and always knows the heart of a person’s worries instinctively, “You will have to study hard and work hard all at the same time.”
Shige is also happy to have him back but hides it under a guise of long-suffering. “Welcome to our hell,” he quips, and shoves a textbook under Kusano’s nose. “Take every chance you get.”
Tegoshi and Yamapi both sympathize with what Shige is saying as well, and it is in quiet moments between takes and rehearsals that the four of them sit together at the table in their dressing room, studying for tests and writing papers, all of them trying their hardest not to give in and fall asleep despite how exhausted they might be.
When Kusano does fall asleep it is Shige who shakes him awake or Yamapi buys him coffee; Tegoshi will call his name gently when it happens while Koyama brings snacks and words of encouragement.
With time and the help of everyone watching out for him, Kusano starts to think that maybe he can do this after all. That he will.
“They’re letting me and Uchi join NewS again permanently,” he tells his parents proudly some days after they’ve wrapped up the winter concert tour and management has given him the affirmative.
Naturally, his mother and father are ecstatic.
“And,” he starts, a bit more shyly now, “I’ve also decided to stay in school, too.”
His parents look surprised to hear him say that.
But-he notes happily- they also look really proud too.
4.
“Has trying to fit back into the group been difficult at all for either one of you since your comeback?” an interviewer asks Uchi and Kusano some weeks after they have returned to NewS.
They both blink at her.
Silence.
Then, “What are you, blind?” Ryo snaps suddenly, looking at her in disbelief. He swats Kusano’s head off of his shoulder again.
From where he is settled in Uchi’s lap, Tegoshi giggles. “Uwah, Ryo-tan is making a funny face!” he marvels, and Uchi has to physically hold onto the younger boy’s waist so that he doesn’t laugh himself right off.
A beat.
Then, “Right,” the interviewer says, “Next question.”
5.
“Because Ordinary Heroes did so well, we have decided to extend A-U-K’s shelf life as a temporary unit; kind of like Tegomass,” Mary informs a shocked Jin, Uchi, and Kusano one day ion her office. “This time you will be filming the Here is Greenwood TV series; it will take place after the events in the drama special and run for twelve episodes this fall.”
All Jin can think when he hears the news is: “Now Koki will never speak to me again.”
They’d just made up, too.
Mary does not notice his look of reluctance, instead she continues to explain the genius marketing idea she has come up with all on her own (after studying the one submitted by Kato-kun). “You will also be singing the opening and closing songs for the drama, but not by yourselves,” she tells them proudly.
“Will we get to sing with our groups?!” Kusano asks in excitement.
“No,” Mary says. “Instead you will be collaborating with a little group called One-Ok-Rock.”
A moment.
“Who?” Jin says.
“No way,” Kusano and Uchi breathe.
“Yes way!” Mary tells them smugly, “It was all my idea to have a reunion of the three NewS outcasts along with KAT-TUN’s former absentee! This will definitely make a lot of money, and the name One-Ok-AUK is ingenious.”
Uchi and Kusano stare.
“Who?!” Jin repeats, and stomps his foot this time.
~~~~~
“Oh,” Jin says, once he understands what is going on here. “Won’t that be awkward for everyone? He did quit the group and stuff.” He is speaking from experience here. Well, sort of.
But Mary just ignores him again; instead he is handed the lyrics to the opening and closing songs and the three of them are given four days to learn all of their parts.
~~~~~
It turns out he’s wrong and it isn’t awkward after all; instead it is mostly impossible, because their rehearsal sessions keep getting crashed.
“Mori-Mori! It’s Mori-Mori!” Tegoshi cheers ecstatically during One-Ok-AUK’s first rehearsal session; he bounces up to Taka without any hesitation or discomfort at all and hugs his former groupmate right there in the middle of the room, in front of everyone. “I’m jealous of Notti and Uchi,” he pouts, “Let’s sing together in the future, okay, Mori-Mori? I learned all of your songs!”
“Dude, your girlfriend is hot, Mori-Mori,” Alex quips to Taka with a smirk.
Taka sighs and pats Tegoshi’s head helplessly. “What are you guys doing here?”
Koyama points to his camcorder. “NewS reunion!” he announces, and says it with such ecstatic sincerity that Taka can’t help but smile a little even if it is kind of weird. “We have to celebrate! Dinner! Long chats! Hugs! Crying! Karaoke!” Koyama prompts. “It will be great!”
“Oh my god, will we actually be able to convince him to sing NEWS NIPPON in karaoke now?” Tomoya exclaims suddenly, cackling. “We can never get him to do it.”
“Karaoke!” Koyama and Tegoshi cheer.
“People have to rehearse,” Shige reminds the two of them, and swats at Kusano (who is flicking Shige’s ear for no reason). “We should... would you stop that?!”
Shige is ignored.
“Mori-Mori!” Tegoshi prompts again, “I also bought your guys’ CD and so you have to sign it for me, okay? I brought our Pacific album for you, and I signed it too, ne. Here! We’ll trade!”
Shige slaps a hand to his forehead. “Oh my god.”
“I signed it also, it’s worth a lot now,” Ryo adds.
“Eh, no one asked me to!” Yamapi complains. “Tegoshi, lemme see the CD…”
“Hai!”
Jin looks at the rest of One-Ok-Rock as NewS squabbles for Taka’s attention; as legitimate musicians he thinks that they probably don’t like the fact that their limited rehearsal time is being cut into by a bunch of crazy fangirls.
Except they don’t really look bothered at all. In fact, they’re all cackling and taking incriminating cell phone pictures of Taka as the rest of his former boyband hangs all over him. Jin thinks he hears the drummer talking about putting the pictures up on their blogs later.
“They’re just like us!” he marvels to himself.
Well, mostly; they don’t have to wear sequins unless they want to.
~~~~~
After watching Uchi, Kusano, and Taka work so well together even after all this time apart, Jin finds a lot of questions starting to gather in his head inexplicably; the list is a mile long and so complicated he doesn’t even know where to begin.
So during the lunch break in the middle of rehearsals one afternoon, he walks up to Taka at the buffet line and blurts, “Are you glad you left?” suddenly. What he really means is, “Are you glad you left your friends to follow your dreams even if it was really dangerous and scary and lonely and you didn’t know what tomorrow would bring?”
Taka eyes the older boy for a moment and seems to get what Jin is trying to say anyway; he shrugs helplessly in reply. “Yeah, I am. I did what I had to do to find myself. I knew they wouldn’t hold it against me.” Pause. Smile. “Well, not really, anyway. Tegoshi still pouts sometimes when he calls me, but I know he doesn’t mean it.”
Jin blinks. “Oh.”
Then, “What about you? Are you glad you left? Are you glad you came back?”
Jin furrows his brow at the question, thoughtful as he stands there with the salad tongs in one hand.
After a moment, he smiles too. “I did what I had to,” he echoes, feeling inexplicably comforted by the younger musician’s words.
“Well, okay.” Taka nods, and then looks vaguely secretive. “There are some things I don’t miss about the jimusho, though,” he admits in a whisper.
“Like what?”
A grin. “The sequins.”
Jin laughs.
~~~~~
As it turns out, the Here is Greenwood TV series is a big hit in its time slot that fall and the opening single (entitled The Regular Suspects) is an even bigger success than Ordinary Heroes. Kusano and Uchi even win awards for their performances on the drama; Kusano as the lead actor and Uchi as the supporting actor.
Jin ends up being right and Koki doesn’t really talk to him for a whole month after everything is released so successfully, and it’s a little bit weird, because sometimes Jin is certain that everything is perfectly okay between them and then at other times he knows everything isn’t okay either.
But for now, even if he doesn’t always understand the rest of KAT-TUN all that well, he feels like he understands himself a little better.
He did what he had to do.
He came back.
And at the very least, that means that now, he has a whole lifetime to try and figure the rest of his group out.
He thinks that he might even look forward to it.
END
EDITS PLZ.
Title: Five Things That Happen After Uchi and Kusano Rejoin NewS
Universe: JE/News/KAT-TUN
Theme/Topic: N/A
Rating: PG-13
Character/Pairing/s: NewS (with cameos by One-Ok-Rock and Jin)
Warnings/Spoilers: Stupidity, OOC, SAP, RPF.
Word Count: 2,324
Summary: A sort-of companion to Ann’s “5 Times Uchi and Kusano Return to NewS”- Kusano and Uchi readjust afterwards.
Dedication: Nicole and Ann, because I am putting your requests together. XD
A/N: ANN I’M SORRY I CHEAPED OUT ON THIS since it isn’t in your top 3 holiday requests at all, but I just. I really loved the fic you wrote me A LOT. And the other one I was writing for you kind of choked on its own spit and suffocated to death after 17 pages of retardedness. Nico, sorry I didn’t go into much detail, but I still don’t really feel like I know enough about One-Ok-Rock to be comfortable writing them in-depth. I TRIED OK. At the very least you can appreciate the bad (GENIUS) namesmoosh I made? LOL
Disclaimer: No harm is meant by this!
1.
When they all go out for dinner together after a stressful but successful Dome concert, it is Ryo and Yamapi who offer to pay for the food; Uchi notices that despite the free tab no one drinks anything that isn’t tea or water.
He wonders if it’s because of him (because he doesn’t drink anymore) or if it’s because of Kusano, who still can’t, who doesn’t want to be reminded that he can’t. It is most likely because of the both of them in the end, and he instantly feels bad for the limitations he is putting on his bandmates all over again, even if they seem insignificant this time compared to the last.
Ryo reads Uchi’s expression correctly (because he still can, he always can) and snorts without any sympathy whatsoever. “Yes, it’s because of you two,” he tells him. “Mostly dumbass over there, but you too.”
Kusano blinks.
Koyama clears his throat and moves to clarify. “We waited for more than two years,” he explains gently, “And so we decided that can wait another month for something like this; to show our support.”
Yamapi nods, putting an arm around Kusano like the younger boy never ever left them at all. “When you turn twenty, we will all go out as adults together, ne,” he says to Kusano very seriously. He turns to Uchi with the same sentiment, even if Uchi is already, technically, an adult. “We’ll go for both of you all together-as adults.” He smiles.
It is a cheesy sentiment and kind of stupid (probably something Koyama came up with), but for some reason Kusano and Uchi both feel an odd rush of relief when they hear this; it feels like maybe they are being given yet another one of those second chances that they had worked so hard for over the past two years.
They promise themselves that this time they’ll do it right.
This is how they will become real adults.
2.
Uchi thinks he finally understands what real member-ai is towards the end of the winter tour that he and Kusano are allowed to come back for; it is during a moment in the middle of NewS’s Teppen performance when he automatically sings the part that used to be his solo, forgetting that it is Tegoshi’s now.
His eyes widen and he almost stops completely in a brief moment of embarrassed horror, but before he can, Tegoshi simply switches from the main melody line to an improvised harmony, drops his volume, and laughs at Uchi from across the stage with his eyes.
They sing the part together instead.
Ryo smirks and gleefully calls Uchi a rank amateur when the show is done; he doesn’t stop giving him shit about it for weeks.
But even still, for all the performances after that, Uchi and Tegoshi sing that part together every time.
And whenever they do, Tegoshi always laughs at Uchi with his eyes.
It doesn’t take Uchi long to start laughing right back.
3.
When Uchi returns to Eito during the countdown but Kusano is left alone at home doing nothing, he fears for the worst and throws himself into his studies to hide his devastation; he hopes that if he works hard and does well in school he can give his parents something else to be proud of, something to forget all the shame he has put his family through over the past year.
He doesn’t believe in moping; he believes in action. So he does all he can-works as hard as he’s ever worked-and hopes for the best.
When he turns twenty and gets the call from management that tells him it’s time for him to come back after all, he is surprised to find that he feels both a profound excitement inside his chest as well as a strange sort of dread. He looks at his college textbooks and wonders if he can manage; the long lecture he received from the higher ups about this being a probationary return period for him makes him feel like he should forget studying and dedicate himself 100% to his work, makes him feel like he should get rid of any and all distractions to prove to the management that he can still do this job despite his long absence from it.
But there’s still the tiniest whisper of doubt in the back of his mind even now; maybe he can’t still do this; if he leaves school too, what then?
When Kusano turns twenty and gets the call to come back, he returns to NewS not knowing what the future holds for him. All he can do is try hard and hope for the best.
~~~~~
Shige and Koyama are the first to congratulate him when he walks into the dressing room the day of his return; they are the first to welcome him back.
“Now,” Koyama begins with a fond smile, and always knows the heart of a person’s worries instinctively, “You will have to study hard and work hard all at the same time.”
Shige is also happy to have him back but hides it under a guise of long-suffering. “Welcome to our hell,” he quips, and shoves a textbook under Kusano’s nose. “Take every chance you get.”
Tegoshi and Yamapi both sympathize with what Shige is saying as well, and it is in quiet moments between takes and rehearsals that the four of them sit together at the table in their dressing room, studying for tests and writing papers, all of them trying their hardest not to give in and fall asleep despite how exhausted they might be.
When Kusano does fall asleep it is Shige who shakes him awake or Yamapi buys him coffee; Tegoshi will call his name gently when it happens while Koyama brings snacks and words of encouragement.
With time and the help of everyone watching out for him, Kusano starts to think that maybe he can do this after all. That he will.
“They’re letting me and Uchi join NewS again permanently,” he tells his parents proudly some days after they’ve wrapped up the winter concert tour and management has given him the affirmative.
Naturally, his mother and father are ecstatic.
“And,” he starts, a bit more shyly now, “I’ve also decided to stay in school, too.”
His parents look surprised to hear him say that.
But-he notes happily- they also look really proud too.
4.
“Has trying to fit back into the group been difficult at all for either one of you since your comeback?” an interviewer asks Uchi and Kusano some weeks after they have returned to NewS.
They both blink at her.
Silence.
Then, “What are you, blind?” Ryo snaps suddenly, looking at her in disbelief. He swats Kusano’s head off of his shoulder again.
From where he is settled in Uchi’s lap, Tegoshi giggles. “Uwah, Ryo-tan is making a funny face!” he marvels, and Uchi has to physically hold onto the younger boy’s waist so that he doesn’t laugh himself right off.
A beat.
Then, “Right,” the interviewer says, “Next question.”
5.
“Because Ordinary Heroes did so well, we have decided to extend A-U-K’s shelf life as a temporary unit; kind of like Tegomass,” Mary informs a shocked Jin, Uchi, and Kusano one day ion her office. “This time you will be filming the Here is Greenwood TV series; it will take place after the events in the drama special and run for twelve episodes this fall.”
All Jin can think when he hears the news is: “Now Koki will never speak to me again.”
They’d just made up, too.
Mary does not notice his look of reluctance, instead she continues to explain the genius marketing idea she has come up with all on her own (after studying the one submitted by Kato-kun). “You will also be singing the opening and closing songs for the drama, but not by yourselves,” she tells them proudly.
“Will we get to sing with our groups?!” Kusano asks in excitement.
“No,” Mary says. “Instead you will be collaborating with a little group called One-Ok-Rock.”
A moment.
“Who?” Jin says.
“No way,” Kusano and Uchi breathe.
“Yes way!” Mary tells them smugly, “It was all my idea to have a reunion of the three NewS outcasts along with KAT-TUN’s former absentee! This will definitely make a lot of money, and the name One-Ok-AUK is ingenious.”
Uchi and Kusano stare.
“Who?!” Jin repeats, and stomps his foot this time.
~~~~~
“Oh,” Jin says, once he understands what is going on here. “Won’t that be awkward for everyone? He did quit the group and stuff.” He is speaking from experience here. Well, sort of.
But Mary just ignores him again; instead he is handed the lyrics to the opening and closing songs and the three of them are given four days to learn all of their parts.
~~~~~
It turns out he’s wrong and it isn’t awkward after all; instead it is mostly impossible, because their rehearsal sessions keep getting crashed.
“Mori-Mori! It’s Mori-Mori!” Tegoshi cheers ecstatically during One-Ok-AUK’s first rehearsal session; he bounces up to Taka without any hesitation or discomfort at all and hugs his former groupmate right there in the middle of the room, in front of everyone. “I’m jealous of Notti and Uchi,” he pouts, “Let’s sing together in the future, okay, Mori-Mori? I learned all of your songs!”
“Dude, your girlfriend is hot, Mori-Mori,” Alex quips to Taka with a smirk.
Taka sighs and pats Tegoshi’s head helplessly. “What are you guys doing here?”
Koyama points to his camcorder. “NewS reunion!” he announces, and says it with such ecstatic sincerity that Taka can’t help but smile a little even if it is kind of weird. “We have to celebrate! Dinner! Long chats! Hugs! Crying! Karaoke!” Koyama prompts. “It will be great!”
“Oh my god, will we actually be able to convince him to sing NEWS NIPPON in karaoke now?” Tomoya exclaims suddenly, cackling. “We can never get him to do it.”
“Karaoke!” Koyama and Tegoshi cheer.
“People have to rehearse,” Shige reminds the two of them, and swats at Kusano (who is flicking Shige’s ear for no reason). “We should... would you stop that?!”
Shige is ignored.
“Mori-Mori!” Tegoshi prompts again, “I also bought your guys’ CD and so you have to sign it for me, okay? I brought our Pacific album for you, and I signed it too, ne. Here! We’ll trade!”
Shige slaps a hand to his forehead. “Oh my god.”
“I signed it also, it’s worth a lot now,” Ryo adds.
“Eh, no one asked me to!” Yamapi complains. “Tegoshi, lemme see the CD…”
“Hai!”
Jin looks at the rest of One-Ok-Rock as NewS squabbles for Taka’s attention; as legitimate musicians he thinks that they probably don’t like the fact that their limited rehearsal time is being cut into by a bunch of crazy fangirls.
Except they don’t really look bothered at all. In fact, they’re all cackling and taking incriminating cell phone pictures of Taka as the rest of his former boyband hangs all over him. Jin thinks he hears the drummer talking about putting the pictures up on their blogs later.
“They’re just like us!” he marvels to himself.
Well, mostly; they don’t have to wear sequins unless they want to.
~~~~~
After watching Uchi, Kusano, and Taka work so well together even after all this time apart, Jin finds a lot of questions starting to gather in his head inexplicably; the list is a mile long and so complicated he doesn’t even know where to begin.
So during the lunch break in the middle of rehearsals one afternoon, he walks up to Taka at the buffet line and blurts, “Are you glad you left?” suddenly. What he really means is, “Are you glad you left your friends to follow your dreams even if it was really dangerous and scary and lonely and you didn’t know what tomorrow would bring?”
Taka eyes the older boy for a moment and seems to get what Jin is trying to say anyway; he shrugs helplessly in reply. “Yeah, I am. I did what I had to do to find myself. I knew they wouldn’t hold it against me.” Pause. Smile. “Well, not really, anyway. Tegoshi still pouts sometimes when he calls me, but I know he doesn’t mean it.”
Jin blinks. “Oh.”
Then, “What about you? Are you glad you left? Are you glad you came back?”
Jin furrows his brow at the question, thoughtful as he stands there with the salad tongs in one hand.
After a moment, he smiles too. “I did what I had to,” he echoes, feeling inexplicably comforted by the younger musician’s words.
“Well, okay.” Taka nods, and then looks vaguely secretive. “There are some things I don’t miss about the jimusho, though,” he admits in a whisper.
“Like what?”
A grin. “The sequins.”
Jin laughs.
~~~~~
As it turns out, the Here is Greenwood TV series is a big hit in its time slot that fall and the opening single (entitled The Regular Suspects) is an even bigger success than Ordinary Heroes. Kusano and Uchi even win awards for their performances on the drama; Kusano as the lead actor and Uchi as the supporting actor.
Jin ends up being right and Koki doesn’t really talk to him for a whole month after everything is released so successfully, and it’s a little bit weird, because sometimes Jin is certain that everything is perfectly okay between them and then at other times he knows everything isn’t okay either.
But for now, even if he doesn’t always understand the rest of KAT-TUN all that well, he feels like he understands himself a little better.
He did what he had to do.
He came back.
And at the very least, that means that now, he has a whole lifetime to try and figure the rest of his group out.
He thinks that he might even look forward to it.
END
EDITS PLZ.