The Ran-chan Effect (part II)
Title: The Ran-chan Effect
Chapters: 2/4
Author: yumemirunosekai
Pairing: Kamenashi/Ueda, Kamenashi/Jin (one-sided)
Rating: R (in general)
Warnings: fluff, romance, slight AU (actually heaps), non-explicit sex, super fast, and super cliche.
Synopsis: 'The Ran-chan Effect' is defined as a series of super cliched incidents that lead up to unexplained fluffiness which can only be caused by a certain dog that is perhaps the best matchmaker in the world.
A/N: FLUFFFLUFFFLUFFFLUFF~~~!!!! And please don't dis me for Jin's not so nice ending. I'm not really happy with him at the moment. cr: GOOGLE for the photos.
A/N2: And I'd like to thank my lovely beta dori_liv for painstakingly beta-ing my fics, and putting up with my annoying emails xx you're the best XD. Originally posted at kamedalove here.
Part 1
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Kame turns out to be terribly witty and very knowledgeable, especially when it comes to music and dance. "I'm a freelance choreographer." he says, when Ueda queries. "But I also work part time at a second hand music shop down in Roppongi."
Ueda hums thoughtfully over his mug of coffee. He's now more awake, and definitely more alert to notice that Kame isn't exactly what he seems. He's modest with the way he describes everything about himself, and he dresses simply as well - a black tee with a mean skull print and faded jeans, but Ueda takes in the pair of branded sunglasses (similar to the ones Akanishi would parade around in), the diamond studded Mont Blanc fountain pen lying on the table alongside a leather notebook lying innocently on the table, and thinks that perhaps Kame is not letting him into everything.
Ueda doesn't really care. After all, he lied about his name as well. He can't just go around announcing that he's a Johnny's to total strangers. Ueda Tatsuya may not be as popular as Akanishi Jin, but that didn't mean he wasn't desired at all.
Kame has a cup of mocha in front of him, and Ueda watches as he opens the leather notebook and perches his fountain pen between two pages. He occasionally scribbles a word or two down in neat, cursive script. Ueda doesn't really look at it. He knows how to respect someone's else's privacy after all.
"By the way, Ran-chan seemed to know you." Kame says suddenly. There a strange smile on his lips, a cross between amused and curious. "Why is that?"
Ueda shrugs. "I don't think so." he replies lightly. Ueda isn't about to tell Kame that 'yeah, I know her because your bloody mutt head butted me in the face just yesterday, and what the hell was she doing wandering the halls of JE?'
"She's just friendly I suppose." Ueda continues, and sips his coffee again.
Kame laughs, and Ueda makes a mental note that Kame looks really odd when he laughs - his eyes go all squinty and the skin at the corners of his upturned lips crinkle - but cute in his own way. "I'm not so sure about that," he says, smiling. "Ran-chan can be pretty scary with strangers. She only lets her guard down and lies on your legs like that if she knows you very well."
"Don't look at me, it's your dog."
Ueda thinks he may have sounded a tad defensive, because Kame looks at him strangely. "So where are you headed off to after this?" Ueda quickly changes the subject.
Kame is back to all smiles almost immediately. "I'm just going to help out my…friend with his dance routine," Kame says, and he suddenly sighs, shaking his head hopelessly. "Well, we sorta had a disagreement yesterday. I didn't think it was appropriate of him to… well, he can be very hard-assed at times."
Ueda lips rests on the rim of his cup, watching Kame through contemplative eyes. Kame seems to realise that he's rambling, before pulling himself back to reality, face flushed. "Sorry," he says, sheepishly. "I was sprouting nonsense, wasn't I?"
"It's okay," Ueda says, shrugging. "I think that sometimes, if you unload to a stranger, or someone you will very likely not see again, it kinda lets yo get things off your chest without worrying about the consequences. After all, it's not like you'll be seeing each other again."
Kame chuckles low. His eyes slide close, and Ueda finds his vision drawn to Kame's unnaturally long and curling lashes that rest gently against his pale cheeks. As he watches Kame, he can't help the absolutely random thought, that Kame is actually rather pretty, for a guy. He's not thin, but a combination of muscular and slender, complimented by wavy locks of molten copper which frame his face delicately. Ueda doesn't reprimand himself for thinking that Kame is pretty. Why should he? He knows how to appreciate beauty when he sees it. Who gives a shit if it's a guy? It isn't wrong, not when the facts are so obviously laid out for you to see.
"I suppose so," Kame admits thoughtfully at Ueda's statement. "But it's a small world, Andou-kun." Kame says, and he rests his chin on the palm of his left hand, his free hand reaching up to tuck a stray lock behind his ear. "Who knows? We might meet up again, some day."
Ueda has mixed feelings about this comment. He also has mixed views regarding Kame at this moment. "You're really neutral, aren't you?" Ueda says, just because he can't think of a better word to describe the floaty yet serious air around Kame.
"Neutral?" Kame chuckles again. Ueda likes it. He likes Kame's laugh. It isn't scratchy like Akanishi's, nor is it condescending like Koki's. "I wouldn't call myself a neutral person. I much prefer the word… eccentric." he says, smiling wide.
Ueda is surprised at how quickly their conversation is escalating into a more personal level. It was a good and bad feeling. He's about to reply when his stupid phone vibrates on the table, and the words 'Annoying Twat' flashes on his screen, along with a selfie of Koki (Ueda is NEVER going to delete this pricelessly hilarious picture). Ueda can't help but think that 'annoying twat' is seriously an excellent name for Koki, because that's exactly what he is right now, interrupting Ueda's perfectly peaceful time.
The second he answers the phone with an irritated "What do you want?", Ueda almost throws the device across the cafe, because Koki's voice blares through the poor speakers and slices cleanly into his ear.
"WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?"
Ueda hurriedly glances at the time. Good god, he is 15 minutes late. "Shit," says Ueda, and scrambles to his feet. Kame stands up too, and stares at him worriedly. "Shit. I have to go." Ueda says, and swallows the remainder of his coffee in one gulp.
"Did something happen?" Kame asks, but Ueda is already fumbling with his bag and barely acknowledges Kame.
"Sorry, Kame." Ueda says, absently, phone still pressed to is ear, and Koki screaming through it. "Hey, shut the fuck up!" Ueda hisses lowly, and Kame shrinks back in surprise. Ueda hastily backtracks when he sees Kame's shocked expression. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean you. I was just-" Ueda frowns. "-STOP YELLING INTO MY EAR, YOU INSUFFERABLE TWAT."
People are beginning to stare, but Ueda really doesn't care at this point.
There is a half amused grin on Kame's face as he watches Ueda fumble between talking to whoever it is on his phone and apologising to Kame for his colourful language. "I think you should hurry." Kame chuckles. "This 'insufferable twat' sounds worried."
Ueda can't help but roll his eyes. "You have to idea- I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU."
Kame hears someone yell out "-WHO THE HELL ARE YOU WITH RIGHT NOW?" before Ueda snaps his phone shut with a feral growl. "God, this is bad." he turns to Kame with a grim look. "I have to go."
"Okay." Kame says, and he refuses to let Ueda pay the bill, not that Ueda is going to protest. Kame offered to treat him after all. "Maybe I'll see you around?" Kame calls after Ueda as the latter reaches the door.
Ueda looks over his shoulder, taking in Kame's strangely hopeful form and nods almost immediately, because yes, he would very much like to meet up with Kame again. If that was ever possible.
"Okay." he says, and the smile that breaks across Kame's face is bright enough to dazzle him.
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Ueda thinks that he shouldn't have come. As usual, Koki had overreacted.
Even being 15 minutes late wasn't enough to help break Akanishi's record of always arriving after him for these 3 months they've been working together.
"You asshole," Ueda bites out, glaring at a very harassed-looking Koki. "You gave me the impression that Akanishi was already here."
Koki's brows slant deeper, until the frown looks like it's permanently etched into his face. "Don't you find fault in me." Koki retaliates. "D'you have any idea how close I was to having a fucking seizure when I came in to find you NOT HERE?"
Ueda can't help but let out a derisive laugh at this. "What are you, my mother?" he snaps. "You don't have to keep tabs on me all the time."
Koki rolls his eyes and looks at Ueda blandly. "No, I'm your fucking manager, Ueda." he says. "It's my goddamn job to keep tabs on you. And who the hell were you with?" Koki adds as an afterthought. "If you tell me you were off somewhere with a date-" Koki then notices the split lip that Ueda had so cleverly hidden under a thick layer of lip gloss. "Ueda… What the hell happened to you lip?"
Crap.
"I was not on a date, and nothing happened to my lip." Ueda growls, scowling horribly. "And it's none of your business." That's when he realises he forgot to get Kame's phone number. Shit. His mood just became worse, and Ueda slouches lower into the hard couch, all ugly scowls and stiff shoulders.
Koki is almost fed up with Ueda's unusually nasty temper. He gives up and decides to let Ueda injury slide this time. He isn't going to probe at Ueda when he's in this shitty a mood. It wasn't as though Ueda had a particularly nice temper to begin with, but it seems as though whatever Koki had interrupted when he called Ueda put him into this incredibly sour mood. Koki just concludes that Ueda had been on a date with some random girl, and is not the least bit sorry he interrupted it.
Johnny would blow his head clean off his shoulders if Ueda got himself into any kind of scandal, especially when he's collaborating with his dear, darling Akanishi in this concert.
Speaking of the devil…
Ueda winces because he can actually hear Akanishi several doors down the hallway despite the supposedly soundproof walls (highlight supposedly), the latter's voice high and ridiculously girlish.
"Kazu, why on earth did you bring that here!?"
"Oh, hush." another voice replies, and Ueda supposes that it must be the choreographer that has put him through hell and back, and is about to do it all over again. He gets to his feet, and the look on his face is frosty. Koki has seconds to give Ueda a disapproving jab in the shoulder before Jin enters with a very familiar person in tow.
Ueda can't say he isn't surprised, in fact, his jaw almost falls to the floor.
"Andou-kun?" Kame is dressed in the skull print tee he saw him in this morning, and in his hand is Ran-chan's leash, the dog walking to heel next to him. She almost goes berserk when she sees Ueda, and tries to pull out of her master's hand to leap on the latter.
Akanishi raises a delicate brow. "'Andou-kun'?" he repeats, dumbly. "What the hell are you talking about, Kazu? That's the idiot I've been telling you about!" Even in this situation Ueda can't help but want to punch Akanishi for his blatant rudeness.
Kame blinks, and he appears to be as confused as Ueda is. "W-What?" he blubbers, looking at Ueda in both incredulity and disbelief. "You're Ueda Tatsuya?" he asks tentatively, as though afraid that he's making a mistake. "But-" Kame stops, and slowly closes his mouth, unsure what to say next.
"You're Akanishi's choreographer?" Ueda says dumbly, not answering Kame's question. Now that he thinks about it… God, Akanishi is right. He really is stupid. The trail of hints, intentional or not: Kame being a freelance choreographer, his expertise in music, the certain 'friend' that he's helping, and the fact that he was wandering close to the studio were obvious giveaways, and yet he didn't notice a thing.
Koki and Akanishi are staring back at forth between the two men with slightly worried expressions, and in Akanishi's case, he looks harassed as well and dumbfounded. "Am I missing something here?" Koki asks, quickly walking forward between Ueda and Kame. "How the hell do you know each other? Care to explain?" Koki's gaze is fixed on Ueda as he says this.
Ueda is still staring at Kame. Part of him is still in shock upon seeing Kame here, and knowing that Kame is the one who had placed him under ridiculous pressure with his inhumanly difficult dance routines soured his initial opinion of the other man almost immediately.
The fact that he was friends with Akanishi didn't help either. But now, Ueda is actually rather apprehensive, because he can't deny the fact that he lied to Kame about his identity. It would not have mattered if Kame found this out several weeks later, and not several hours. Ueda braces himself for the customary yelling he's sure will be fired his way in seconds. Kame may very well demand to know why Ueda lied to him, a question to which Ueda is always prepared for.
To his utter and complete amazement, Kame doesn't even frown. A curious smile plays at his lips. "Well, then it's really nice to finally meet you, Ueda-san." he says, amused. "I'm really looking forward to working with you."
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Koki had given him a look that clearly screamed 'we need to talk later' before leaving him with Akanishi and Kame to commence their practise. No unnecessary 'whys' and 'how comes' were exchanged, and Kame did not mention anything about their first meeting in Starbucks that morning. Akanishi's nostrils were flared, and it's painfully obvious that he's dying to weed out an explanation to what Kame and Ueda seemed to know each other.
Kame didn't give him the chance though. He quickly switches to a mode that Ueda soon realises is his 'professional mode' because there isn't any humour or playfulness in his eyes, only a determined seriousness that shuts even Akanishi up completely. Kame shuffles through sheets of choreography and begins to explain what needs to be done.
If Ueda assumed that Kame was going to be Mr. Nice Guy, he was sorely mistaken.
There were instances during the practise that Kame had criticised almost everything about him, from his stance to his timing and music. Kame was ruthless, and Ueda really wanted to strangle him, even more than he did Akanishi. Kame did not hold back any insults, and even though he never yelled, the cold sharpness of his tone made anyone feel stupid, insecure, and downright idiotic.
Akanishi seems to be rather used to this treatment, because he barely acknowledges Kame's insults and answers all his 'do you understands' with dismissive 'whatevers'. Kame shakes his head at this, but presses no further. But on Ueda however, Kame seems to be determined to push every single button just to see him bubble to the point of near explosion.
Ueda is just doing everything he can not to fly into one of his tempers. He wonders if Kame had noticed the throbbing vein in his throat, and that he was just inches away from completely combusting, because if he did, Kame isn't really doing anything about it.
"Ueda," Kame says, when finally, after 5 hours of gruelling practise, calls for a break. Akanishi leaves the room the minute Kame said he could, but stops Ueda before he can. "You aren't very committed, Ueda-san. You try, and you try hard, but you just aren't putting your full potential to use. It seems to me as though part of you can hardly care less how the concert turns out."
Ueda bites down on his tongue, telling himself that he must NOT kill Kame, because if he did, Akanishi is most likely to kill him next. No one, not even Akanishi or anybody has ever criticised him so openly before. They do call him incompetent, but in a way that doesn't provoke the already shifting temper beneath the surface. Kame is the first person to ever call out every single thing Ueda knows he can't do and throw it directly in his face.
"You are good, and your voice is really well adjusted for songs like this, but your coordination isn't even up to Jin's level, and that's something you have to fix. I hear that you practise a lot, and that's good, But not if you're going about it the wrong way." Kame's stare is unflinching and cool. Ueda swallows, and he's staring- no, glaring at a spot just past Kame's face. He can't look at Kame. Not now. He's scared of what might happen if he does.
"Look at me, Ueda." Kame says. "I can see that you're angry. Good. You're supposed to be angry. You're supposed to feel like this. Remember this feeling and work at what you are now so you will never have to feel like this again."
Something snaps, and the pounding in his ears intensify to the point where he can barely hear Kame's silky voice any longer. The next thing he feels is soft skin under his knuckles, and a loud bark before something warm and furry lunges at him, throwing him completely off balance onto his butt.
When the red haze finally clears from his vision, all Ueda sees is a snarling Ran-chan standing on all fours in front of her master, who is staring at Ueda in stupefied shock, with a bruised cheek and horribly cut lip. He's holding his face with his hand, and blinking rather rapidly, as though he were still trying to figure out exactly what had happened.
Ueda's knuckle is bruised, and slightly bloody, but it's not his blood.
Akanishi is never going to let him off this one.
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"What were you thinking??"
The last time Ueda had seen Koki this furious was when he caught him snogging some random girl in a sleazy nightclub, and even then Koki had never looked so completely rabid.
"I wasn't, alright?" Ueda says, completely exhausted. He really wasn't. Akanishi had almost lost his head when he saw Kame's face, and if some random AD hadn't held him back, Ueda is certain the man would have wasted no time is gouging his eyes out.
He didn't know Kamenashi was Akanishi's boyfriend. (Apparently Akanishi doesn't fuck around after work. How weird.)
Well, that explained a lot actually.
"On his first day too." Koki rasps, holding the wall for support. "Good god, it'll be a miracle if Akanishi doesn't demand Johnny sack you for that. What the hell did I tell you about temper control? Did you not comprehend the phrase: DO NOT LOSE YOUR FUCKING TEMPER?"
"He provoked me!' Ueda snaps in defiance. "I am not apologising. That bastard deserved what he got."
Koki rolls his eyes. "Ueda, you have been provoked by me, by Akanishi, by the staff, and even by Johnny, and you have never completely lost control like that." Koki sighs and tentatively massages the bridge of his nose. "Honestly, what could Kamenashi have told you that we haven't?"
Ueda opens his mouth to answer, remembering all Kame's harsh insults and criticism. It wasn't anything special, but Ueda isn't daft or stupid. Looking back, he realises why he felt so angry; why he had wanted nothing more that to rip Kamenashi's tongue out. Swallowing, Ueda finally brings himself to answer."He told the truth."
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By the magic of some unnamed deity, Ueda isn't sacked, nor is he removed from the project with Akanishi. He learns later that Kamenashi had personally gone to see Johnny to speak in Ueda's defence. Ueda isn't even sure he wanted to know what Kame had to say to convince Johnny to let him keep his job.
Ueda is given practise time alone, and of course, this doesn't help him the slightest. Eventually, he's the one who pulls out of the collaboration, and Koki thinks that it's for the best. Ueda just can't do it. This isn't a question of determination, but of time and skill. Ueda is given time off away from Akanishi. Koki is pleased to inform him that despite the concert's cancelation, Ueda is still wanted for the dramas and a film that Koki had applied for him earlier in the year.
Ueda finally has the chance to speak to Kame when Ran-chan wanders into the building again.
Ueda sits alone in his dressing room, laptop open and a cup of coffee next to it. He barely gives the dog a glance, and reminds himself that he should seriously shut the door next time. Ueda has had dogs long enough to know that there is no way Ran-chan is ever going to let him touch her again. Might as well not bother at all.
"If you're looking for Akanishi, he's in the room two doors down." Ueda says aloud, eyes not leaving his laptop screen, even though he knows that Ran-chan doesn't understand squat what he's saying.
He raises the cup of coffee to his lips, but he jolts and almost spills the hot liquid onto his computer when he feels something warm and soft rubbing against his side. Looking down is shock, he sees Ran-chan nuzzling at his leg, tongue lolling out and looking as friendly as ever. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Ueda hisses. "I told you Akanishi's not here!"
"I didn't come to see Jin, stupid."
Ueda looks up, and he thinks that really, he's had enough surprises to last him a fucking year.
"Kamenashi." he says, cooly, and winces internally when Kame's flinches. The control Kame has on his expression is applaudable, and if Ueda had blinked, he'd have missed the slight twitch in the corner of Kame's mouth. Otherwise, the latter's demeanour is as composed and professional as can be. "Why is your dog here, and more importantly, what do you want?" Ueda supposes that he really doesn't have the right to say that to Kame, after all, he did punch the guy.
Kame's face looks a lot better than it did last week, but Ueda notes that he certainly looks thinner as well. Kame smiles hesitantly. "I'm not here for an apology." he says quickly.
Ueda frowns. "Good, because you're not getting one."
Okay, perhaps that wasn't called for. Kame swallows and his confidence falters. Ueda knows his being a total dick, but his stupid pride just isn't going to let him back down. Ueda just isn't used to giving in and accepting defeat. "Sorry," Ueda says finally, when the silence get to suffocating to bear. "I'm not good at this."
Kame laughs quietly, and it's sounds weird - strained and forced. Ueda hates it, because Kame shouldn't sound like that. He should be the Kame Ueda first met. The one whose smile dazzled him as he stood in the threshold of that stuffy Starbucks coffee shop.
"It doesn't matter." Kame says, rubbing his arm awkwardly. "I really shouldn't have come on you like that either. It was wrong of me." Kame turns his head to a side and Ueda notices a red turtle earring hanging from his left ear. I twinkles as it catches the light. He wonders why the hell Kame would wear something that totally clashed with his clothes. "I guess I'm just used to teaching Jin. He's pretty much used to how I work, and I suppose he blocks out some of my…uh… ruder comments. I shouldn't have done it to you. I wasn't right of me."
"Okay, just- stop." Ueda interrupts, shutting his laptop and turning to face Kame fully. "You don't have to apologise so much. It's making me look like an asshole." Ueda is sure his cheeks are flushed. Kame should seriously shut up, because this was just making everything too weird and uncomfortable. "I can't just say I forgive you, because in all honesty, it was mostly my fault as well."
Kame is watching him curiously, and the air just thickens around him. Ran-chan nudges the back of his leg, and Ueda stumbles forwards. He glares around his shoulder at the asshole of a dog, sitting behind him and staring up at him with those annoying puppy-dog eyes. Ueda sighs and looks at Kame again.
"Can we just… call it a truce?" Ueda finally says. "I mean, I did hit you, and- well-"
Kame laughs, and this time, it's warm. Ueda feels the heat rush to his ears, and he tries hard not to smile and scowl at the same time. "Y'know, I am trying to apologise here." he says, sounding sulky, much to his horror.
"Sure." Kame says, his too-pink lips quirked upwards. "If you call 'a truce' apologising."
"Hey, you went over the line back there too!"
This time, Kame literally doubles over in peals of laughter. "I'm just screwing with you." he says, when he can finally look at Ueda without giggling. "Alright, a truce it is. You do have a serious ego problem, don't you?" Kame's tone is light, teasing almost. Ueda flushes.
"It has more to do with my really strong dislike for unfairness, actually." Ueda bites out, but not nastily.
Ueda might have continued with this conversation, even if it's kinda weird. Scratch that - he definitely would have continued. He likes it when Kame is like this, completely unguarded and unravelled. He feels like punching Akanishi in the face when the asshole sticks his bulbous head into the room, the words 'Kazu' falters when he sees Ueda.
That's right. Kame is Akanishi's boyfrie- no, it sounds too weird. Ueda doesn't have a problem with Kame's sexual orientation, nor does he with Akanishi, but it's just the fact that there is someone out there that can actually like Akanishi is astonishing enough. Akanishi is all squinty eyes and suspicious glares as his gaze drifts from Kame to Ueda and back again.
"What are you doing in here, Kazu?" he asks, and Ueda wills himself not to scream.
"Ueda and I just declared a truce." Kame replies nonchalantly as Jin slide up to him. He slips a hand around Kame's waist and Ueda chokes on his saliva. No one seems to notice.
Akanishi then announces another concert, this time collaborating with some Matsumoto person from another music group. Ueda could care less. But this meant that Kame would have to spend a lot more time hanging around the studio, and Ueda is slightly elated, because Kame's a nice person, and he'll like to know more about him, preferably know him as a friend rather than a I-don't-give-a-shit-just-do-it choreographer from hell.
Part 3