[OneShot] Smilemaker
For the longest time Yamapi didn’t see it. When they said “Massu’s the mood maker”. He didn’t notice him as a mood maker. If one of the 8 members were it then Kusano. For Yamapi anyway.
He never really had much to do with Massu. Not before their hiatus though. Yamapi had other problems. He was busy trying to live up to the expectations as the leader of News and yet more often than not had to realize that the only one who was close to acting leader-ish was Ryo.
When Uchi got suspended Ryo tried keeping them together even though he was probably the one who suffered the most because of it. “I hate it here” Ryo had told Yamapi more than once even before the incident with Uchi. Yamapi had just smiled a weak smile. He didn’t know what else to say because he felt the same. “But I refuse to give up!” Ryo had continued and again Yamapi nodded. And had stayed.
“If he smiles the room lights up” the other members always said about Massu. Kusano said so too. Even Ryo. But Yamapi didn’t notice that. At least he thought it was because of the others, because of Koyama, Kusano and Ryo that Yamapi didn’t feel all gloomy even though he still didn’t feel all too comfortable in the band.
When Kusano got suspended as well and News was put on hiatus the world went dark around Yamapi. At first he still truly believed it was because of Kusano that life in the entertainment world wasn’t as bright as before.
It had been on a quite normal day, one of the few days Yamapi actually had off. Ever since the hiatus he found himself busier than ever before. TegoMassu was on TV, Yamapi had zapped to the channel by pure coincidence and suddenly remembered that they were releasing a CD. He felt a bit at ease that at least two of them were able to continue without News.
And then Massu was smiling into the camera and it suddenly struck Yamapi.
“He’s the mood maker.” He remembered the other members always saying it. And suddenly he could see it, could feel it. Yamapi smiled back at the TV-Massu. And suddenly smiling didn’t seem so hard anymore.
-
“News is home” Yamapi said to the interviewer. The smile on his lips wasn’t bright but it reached his eyes and the interviewer seemed a bit surprised. But it was true. Ever since News was allowed to come back from hiatus the feeling had grown on him.
He didn’t quite know how and when it happened but when he thought of News now he suddenly felt better, was almost looking forward to seeing his members again. He was looking forward to the warm atmosphere greeting him now. He was looking forward to their mood maker. And the thought alone plastered a small smile on Yamapi’s lips and a tingling feeling in the pit of his stomach.
---------------------------------------
August 2009
The melody is stuck in his head ever since he turned on the radio that morning. But it’s a nice song, Yamapi thinks, and so hums it on his way from the car to the restaurant. It’s two more days until 24hour TV is going to start and someone, probably Shige, got them altogether to celebrate in advance.
He hears them before he even sees them and it already plasters a smile on his face. He hears Tegoshi’s loud laughter, Shige complaining and Koyama trying to clear the situation, hears Ryo muttering something and is sure he can actually hear Massu smiling.
When he turns around the corner Massu sees him first and smiles genuinely at him and for a second Yamapi wonders how Shige can complain with someone like Massu being there. He still remembers to smile back at Massu and if even possible sees his smile grow even wider and heartier.
“Riida-sama, you are late!” Tegoshi greets him, pouting slightly.
Yamapi laughs, ruffles his hair and takes the last available chair opposite Massu. He doesn’t mind even if it means being the one sitting furthest away from him because it gives him direct sight to his face.
-
It’s a couple of hours later and after happily chatting and teasing they parted. Ryo and Shige had gone off together even though they lived quite far away from each other (“I have to teach Shige how to pick up girls” was Ryo’s explanation. “You just need a driver home after drinking!” Shige remarked but followed Ryo anyway), Tegoshi had turned Koyama into driving him home as always and so Yamapi and Masuda are now left alone, unsure what to do.
“I can give you a ride.” Yampi suggests but his band mate just smiles at him and shakes his head.
“Ne, it’s okay Yamashita-kun, you don’t have to drive to the other side of Tokyo for me. I can just take the train.”
Yamapi wants to reply, winces a bit at the way Massu still calls him so formally but the singer is already walking away after a firm bow of his head.
The business graduate is left feeling slightly weird, disappointed.
“It wouldn’t be a problem. Really.” Yamapi whispers when Massu has long disappeared in the crowd. Sighing he turns to leave, doesn’t feel like smiling for the rest of the night anymore.
-
Yamapi rushes into the dressing room. He’s late as always and there are still a couple of promotion appearances before the actual event starts.
“Ma, finally. We already thought you got lost.” Ryo greets him grumpily and Yamapi winces.
“Sorry. I slept in a bit.”
“Whatever. Get ready, the show starts in a couple of minutes.” It’s probably times like these that Yamapi wonders whether it’s actually Ryo being the leader.
“Don’t worry, Yamashita-kun. We won’t start without you.” Massu suddenly says, smiles at him, and Yamapi has to smile back, doesn’t feel as bad anymore.
24hour TV ends up being long and difficult but Yamapi manages to pass through it energetically. And while everyone loses a bit of energy by the night Yamapi only has to remember the look on Massu’s face after accomplishing his challenge, only has to receive the genuine smile, Massu is still able to give him no matter how many hours have passed, to be able to go on with almost as much joy and energy as he had when the program started.
-
“Something’s going on.” Ryo states a couple of days later, when the hype about the program has subsided and they all had their necessary portion of sleep.
Yamapi looks up, tilts his head, shrugs his shoulders. He tries looking blank but his lips quirk, still remembering a particular funny talk involving Massu. Ryo immediately furrows his brows.
“There’s something going on.” He repeats “I’ve been watching this for quite a while now but I think there definitely is something unusual.”
“Why unusual? I’m acting as always.”
“That’s what makes it so unusual. Since when are you acting like always when being with News or on screen?”
Yamapi laughs, takes a sip of his beer.
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You know, with you being all smiley I would almost bet you are- in love or something.”
Yamapi breaks out laughing but Ryo doesn’t seem all too amused.
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just feeling comfortable with News lately. What’s so bad about it?”
“It’s suspicious. What happened to the guy who wanted to quit News because he didn’t like the others?”
“I never said I didn’t like the others. That was you.” Yamapi smiles slightly. Feels a bit bad about what he said when News just got formed.
“Well whatever. Something’s going on for quite some time now and I’m going to find out what. Even if I need to ask Shige!”
Yamapi laughs and Ryo continues studying him intensely. Yamapi doesn’t think Ryo will figure it out because really, there’s nothing to figure out to begin with, right?
-
Yamapi finds that there actually is something to figure out some days later. And he doesn’t even need Ryo to point a finger on it. He does it by himself, on an impulse and finds that after all the heart warming smiles he’s been receiving this makes him entirely hot. For Massu. In many more than one way.
Massu’s a bit surprised at first, Yamapi can feel it beneath his fingertips stroking over the singer’s cheeks, can feel it on the tip of his tongue licking off the remains of the dinner Massu had had probably right before getting picked up by Yamapi.
“Hmmm, homemade gyoza I assume?” Yamapi whispers when he pulls away, delicately licking his lips.
Massu blinks at him but then his face lights up and he nods.
“Yes. If I knew you liked it I would have brought something for you.”
Yamapi nods but doesn’t answer. He finds that he likes this way of tasting much better.
-
He can’t quite get the smile on his face away for the complete day and when he drops off Massu after practise later that night he asks him to eat something delicious for breakfast tomorrow because he’s going to pick him up again. Massu looks a bit confused at first but still agrees and Yamapi thinks he can hardly wait seeing Massu again.
He never really had much to do with Massu. Not before their hiatus though. Yamapi had other problems. He was busy trying to live up to the expectations as the leader of News and yet more often than not had to realize that the only one who was close to acting leader-ish was Ryo.
When Uchi got suspended Ryo tried keeping them together even though he was probably the one who suffered the most because of it. “I hate it here” Ryo had told Yamapi more than once even before the incident with Uchi. Yamapi had just smiled a weak smile. He didn’t know what else to say because he felt the same. “But I refuse to give up!” Ryo had continued and again Yamapi nodded. And had stayed.
“If he smiles the room lights up” the other members always said about Massu. Kusano said so too. Even Ryo. But Yamapi didn’t notice that. At least he thought it was because of the others, because of Koyama, Kusano and Ryo that Yamapi didn’t feel all gloomy even though he still didn’t feel all too comfortable in the band.
When Kusano got suspended as well and News was put on hiatus the world went dark around Yamapi. At first he still truly believed it was because of Kusano that life in the entertainment world wasn’t as bright as before.
It had been on a quite normal day, one of the few days Yamapi actually had off. Ever since the hiatus he found himself busier than ever before. TegoMassu was on TV, Yamapi had zapped to the channel by pure coincidence and suddenly remembered that they were releasing a CD. He felt a bit at ease that at least two of them were able to continue without News.
And then Massu was smiling into the camera and it suddenly struck Yamapi.
“He’s the mood maker.” He remembered the other members always saying it. And suddenly he could see it, could feel it. Yamapi smiled back at the TV-Massu. And suddenly smiling didn’t seem so hard anymore.
-
“News is home” Yamapi said to the interviewer. The smile on his lips wasn’t bright but it reached his eyes and the interviewer seemed a bit surprised. But it was true. Ever since News was allowed to come back from hiatus the feeling had grown on him.
He didn’t quite know how and when it happened but when he thought of News now he suddenly felt better, was almost looking forward to seeing his members again. He was looking forward to the warm atmosphere greeting him now. He was looking forward to their mood maker. And the thought alone plastered a small smile on Yamapi’s lips and a tingling feeling in the pit of his stomach.
---------------------------------------
August 2009
The melody is stuck in his head ever since he turned on the radio that morning. But it’s a nice song, Yamapi thinks, and so hums it on his way from the car to the restaurant. It’s two more days until 24hour TV is going to start and someone, probably Shige, got them altogether to celebrate in advance.
He hears them before he even sees them and it already plasters a smile on his face. He hears Tegoshi’s loud laughter, Shige complaining and Koyama trying to clear the situation, hears Ryo muttering something and is sure he can actually hear Massu smiling.
When he turns around the corner Massu sees him first and smiles genuinely at him and for a second Yamapi wonders how Shige can complain with someone like Massu being there. He still remembers to smile back at Massu and if even possible sees his smile grow even wider and heartier.
“Riida-sama, you are late!” Tegoshi greets him, pouting slightly.
Yamapi laughs, ruffles his hair and takes the last available chair opposite Massu. He doesn’t mind even if it means being the one sitting furthest away from him because it gives him direct sight to his face.
-
It’s a couple of hours later and after happily chatting and teasing they parted. Ryo and Shige had gone off together even though they lived quite far away from each other (“I have to teach Shige how to pick up girls” was Ryo’s explanation. “You just need a driver home after drinking!” Shige remarked but followed Ryo anyway), Tegoshi had turned Koyama into driving him home as always and so Yamapi and Masuda are now left alone, unsure what to do.
“I can give you a ride.” Yampi suggests but his band mate just smiles at him and shakes his head.
“Ne, it’s okay Yamashita-kun, you don’t have to drive to the other side of Tokyo for me. I can just take the train.”
Yamapi wants to reply, winces a bit at the way Massu still calls him so formally but the singer is already walking away after a firm bow of his head.
The business graduate is left feeling slightly weird, disappointed.
“It wouldn’t be a problem. Really.” Yamapi whispers when Massu has long disappeared in the crowd. Sighing he turns to leave, doesn’t feel like smiling for the rest of the night anymore.
-
Yamapi rushes into the dressing room. He’s late as always and there are still a couple of promotion appearances before the actual event starts.
“Ma, finally. We already thought you got lost.” Ryo greets him grumpily and Yamapi winces.
“Sorry. I slept in a bit.”
“Whatever. Get ready, the show starts in a couple of minutes.” It’s probably times like these that Yamapi wonders whether it’s actually Ryo being the leader.
“Don’t worry, Yamashita-kun. We won’t start without you.” Massu suddenly says, smiles at him, and Yamapi has to smile back, doesn’t feel as bad anymore.
24hour TV ends up being long and difficult but Yamapi manages to pass through it energetically. And while everyone loses a bit of energy by the night Yamapi only has to remember the look on Massu’s face after accomplishing his challenge, only has to receive the genuine smile, Massu is still able to give him no matter how many hours have passed, to be able to go on with almost as much joy and energy as he had when the program started.
-
“Something’s going on.” Ryo states a couple of days later, when the hype about the program has subsided and they all had their necessary portion of sleep.
Yamapi looks up, tilts his head, shrugs his shoulders. He tries looking blank but his lips quirk, still remembering a particular funny talk involving Massu. Ryo immediately furrows his brows.
“There’s something going on.” He repeats “I’ve been watching this for quite a while now but I think there definitely is something unusual.”
“Why unusual? I’m acting as always.”
“That’s what makes it so unusual. Since when are you acting like always when being with News or on screen?”
Yamapi laughs, takes a sip of his beer.
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You know, with you being all smiley I would almost bet you are- in love or something.”
Yamapi breaks out laughing but Ryo doesn’t seem all too amused.
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just feeling comfortable with News lately. What’s so bad about it?”
“It’s suspicious. What happened to the guy who wanted to quit News because he didn’t like the others?”
“I never said I didn’t like the others. That was you.” Yamapi smiles slightly. Feels a bit bad about what he said when News just got formed.
“Well whatever. Something’s going on for quite some time now and I’m going to find out what. Even if I need to ask Shige!”
Yamapi laughs and Ryo continues studying him intensely. Yamapi doesn’t think Ryo will figure it out because really, there’s nothing to figure out to begin with, right?
-
Yamapi finds that there actually is something to figure out some days later. And he doesn’t even need Ryo to point a finger on it. He does it by himself, on an impulse and finds that after all the heart warming smiles he’s been receiving this makes him entirely hot. For Massu. In many more than one way.
Massu’s a bit surprised at first, Yamapi can feel it beneath his fingertips stroking over the singer’s cheeks, can feel it on the tip of his tongue licking off the remains of the dinner Massu had had probably right before getting picked up by Yamapi.
“Hmmm, homemade gyoza I assume?” Yamapi whispers when he pulls away, delicately licking his lips.
Massu blinks at him but then his face lights up and he nods.
“Yes. If I knew you liked it I would have brought something for you.”
Yamapi nods but doesn’t answer. He finds that he likes this way of tasting much better.
-
He can’t quite get the smile on his face away for the complete day and when he drops off Massu after practise later that night he asks him to eat something delicious for breakfast tomorrow because he’s going to pick him up again. Massu looks a bit confused at first but still agrees and Yamapi thinks he can hardly wait seeing Massu again.