[one-shot] (Feels Like) Home
Title: (Feels Like) Home
Type: One-shot
Word count: 1,879
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Ryo/Shige
Summary: Shige helps Ryo find a new place to call home. A remix of Home by 2morrow_is_now, first posted in jentfic_remix here. It was my first remix and somehow I found myself writing RyoShige, which I had always been avoiding before. But I can now safely say I'm hooked on this pairing. Thanks to sanjihan for beta-ing, and for sneaking up on me to remix one of my stories <3
The bullet train’s automatic doors opened and Shige walked out, slinging his bag over his shoulder. His destination wasn’t very far from the station, and he decided to stroll there casually, taking in the sights around him. The sun had just set and the city was already illuminating itself, the street lights coming on in rows. A poster near the exit to the station said: Welcome to Osaka.
He remembered the last time he was here; a few years ago for work with NEWS, before they got suspended. He didn’t really have any clear memories of the city from when he was little, despite it supposedly being his hometown. The first thing that struck him as he sauntered along the road near the station was the loudness of the people. A stereotypical Osaka characteristic, it greeted him everywhere from the boisterous hawker selling snacks on the roadside to the couple arguing while waiting for the traffic light to turn green. Their accent reminded Shige of him, the person he was traveling to this town to see. Ryo.
It had been around four months since their spring tour ended and hiatus began, and he hadn’t seen Ryo at all. He hung out with Koyama regularly as always, and sometimes with Massu. Tegoshi and Yamapi he saw occasionally at the jimusho. But Ryo mostly stayed in Osaka and focused on his Kanjani work, seemingly avoiding going to Tokyo. Shige could only guess, but perhaps the suspension had hurt him more than he let on.
As a consequence of the hiatus Shige had a lot more free time on his hands, and he started taking solitary trips, sometimes just during the course of a day, other times for a whole weekend. One day he thought of going to Osaka, and without thinking he picked up the phone and called Ryo to ask if he had time to see him. He was already regretting it when he heard the note of surprise in Ryo’s voice as he realized it was Shige calling him. Ryo and Shige weren’t exactly best friends, if they even could be called friends. But it was too late to hang up, so Shige awkwardly asked if they could meet up while he was in Osaka, maybe for dinner. He thought Ryo would be uncomfortable, probably even say no, but the older man didn’t waste a second before saying, “Sure. Where do you want to meet?”
They had agreed on a restaurant just outside the city’s busiest shopping district. Shige got there early and picked a table near the window so he could spot Ryo when he came. The Osakan arrived not long after but seemed to not have noticed him, looking around the restaurant with a slightly puzzled expression. Only after Shige waved at him did his eyes widen in recognition, a quiet smile adorning his lips. When he reached the table the first thing he did was put a hand on Shige’s head and tousle his hair like a little kid. “You cut your hair,” he said amusedly.
Shige quickly swatted Ryo’s hand, acting slightly annoyed but unable to hide the smile on his face. “Shut up,” he replied, though without any heat in his voice.
They had a long talk during dinner, something they rarely did before. Shige didn’t know why it never occurred to him before, but he and Ryo had a lot in common and often had a similar way of thinking. Or maybe it was just because he was now more relaxed around him. Ryo also seemed to treat him differently, apparently noticing how he had become more confident with himself, more at ease with others - to put it simply, he had grown up.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you in Tokyo lately, Nishikido-kun,” Shige said over drinks after the meal.
Ryo puckered his lips slightly, tilting the glass in his hand so that the ice clinked together. “That’s because I haven’t been going to Tokyo.”
“At all? Why?”
Shige saw that Ryo was reluctant, but at the same time he seemed to want to open up to him. “I felt it wasn’t... just not my place, you know? Without NEWS, it was like my reason for being there had diminished.” He glanced at Shige and suddenly looked afraid that he had said the wrong thing. He added jokingly, “Anyway, I left my Tokyo apartment unattended, it must be looking like shit right now.”
“You should’ve hired Massu to clean up. He’d keep the place spotless.”
Ryo chuckled. “Yeah, I probably should have.”
Afterwards Ryo took Shige sightseeing at the city’s famous entertainment areas. Shige stopped to buy souvenirs several times, but for the most part they only wandered around, talking incessantly while doing so. The night wore on and Shige finally said it was time for him to go and catch the evening train back to Tokyo.
Ryo accompanied him to the station and, just before they parted, put forth the question Shige had been waiting for him to ask. “Shige, why are you in Osaka?”
Shige had been trying to formulate an answer to that all night, but until now he wasn’t really sure of the reason behind his trip. He decided to settle with the easiest response.
“Oh, there’s no actual reason. I just missed it.” A small smile made itself visible on the corner of his lips, growing even wider as he took one last look at Ryo and said, “Well, I’ll see you around.” He turned around and walked into the station, realizing a moment too late that he was actually prancing as he went. He didn’t really care though, because that last look showed him Ryo had also been smiling.
That evening was the start of a new stage in their relationship. They became better friends than ever before, wondering why they hadn’t become this close sooner. Shige went to Osaka many times afterwards, and Ryo was more than happy to entertain him during his time there. The older man seemed to feel a little bad for not returning the visits, but Shige understood why he wasn’t ready to go back to Tokyo, a place where he thought he no longer belonged.
Then came the 2006/2007 Countdown concert, where the management saw it fit to drop the bombshell that NEWS would be returning. Shige was astonished, giddy and nervous at the same time, but more than anything he was happy. The same mix of feelings were mirrored in all the members’ faces, but when he took a glance at Ryo backstage after the show the dominant expression he saw was uncertainty. He rested his hand on Ryo’s shoulder. “Big news, huh?”
Ryo was roused from his reverie and gave a lopsided smile. “Yeah.” He fell silent before adding, “My apartment’s still a total mess.”
“Then I’ll help you clean it up.” Shige didn’t know what possessed him but he went from touching Ryo’s shoulder to looping his arm around it. He prepared himself to have Ryo push him away, spit out some snarky remark about personal space, but the older man stayed still. His body felt warm, as warm as Shige’s heart.
Shige kept to his promise and helped Ryo make his apartment livable again. The two of them stuck to each other, maintaining the closeness they had developed in Osaka. It was apparent that Ryo found it difficult to consider Tokyo as his home again, but Shige tried as best he could to ease the process for him. They became familiar with each other’s apartments, spending countless nights watching movies, playing games or just talking about any topic that crossed their minds.
Shige also began to have this funny feeling that they weren’t strictly friends anymore. Well, he certainly didn’t feel that way, not when his insides twisted into a knot whenever Ryo was near. He couldn’t really tell how Ryo felt, but it got increasingly harder not to get his hopes up whenever Ryo’s shoulder, seemingly intentionally, brushed his as they were walking side by side; or when Ryo looked at him across the dining table with a curious half-smile on his face, pleasing and embarrassing Shige at the same time. Sometimes during their concerts, when the members joined hands after the final encore, Shige thought Ryo held his hand a little tighter, a little longer than he had to.
One night they got out of the jimusho late after dance rehearsals, Ryo insisting on walking Shige to his apartment before catching his own train home. As they got to the front of Shige’s building, he turned to say good night to Ryo only to be met with the other man’s lips on his own. It was a fleeting, light kiss but it left him breathless with surprise. Ryo simply smiled and muttered, “Good night, Shige,” before walking away.
They had a standing appointment the next day to have dinner at Shige’s place. Shige fretted over everything the whole day, modified and re-modified the night’s menu countless times, and even rearranged his furniture. At 8 o’clock sharp the guest arrived, grinning quietly at him as usual. They ate dinner and talked like nothing extraordinary happened just the previous day. Later on Ryo stood up and offered to help with washing the dishes, but Shige was faster and had walked around the table to block his way.
“Nishikido-kun,” Shige said, stepping forward so their faces were only inches apart.
“Ryo,” whispered the Osakan, tantalizing Shige’s lips with his breath. “Call me Ryo.”
Shige’s heart was battering wildly against his chest, and he only managed a short, tiny murmur of “Ryo” before launching himself toward the other man, his lips capturing the latter’s in a deep, passionate kiss. At first Ryo did not move, letting Shige do what he wanted, but soon his fiery nature took over and he was kissing him back; lips, teeth and tongue devouring Shige’s mouth while one hand cupped his face and another moved up beneath his shirt. Shige was pushed back a few paces from his enthusiasm and bumped against the table behind him.
“Not on the table, of course?” teased Ryo between pauses in his act of nibbling the younger man’s lower lip.
“No-” Shige’s answer was interrupted by a moan prompted by what Ryo’s able fingers were doing under his shirt. “...my bedroom.”
Later, they lay naked in each other’s arms on Shige’s bed, both tired but fully satiated. Shige’s eyelids were already drooping as he thought how wonderful it would be to fall asleep in Ryo’s embrace, but Ryo suddenly let go of him and sat up on the bed. Shige’s eyes followed his movements with alarm.
“Are you going home?” he asked, immediately embarrassed by the obvious note of disappointment in his voice.
Ryo looked at him and smirked. “What, can’t survive the night without me?”
Shige knew better than to reply to that, although they were both fully aware what his begrudging answer would have been. Ryo reached out to the foot of the bed, grabbing the blanket folded there. Spreading the blanket over both their bodies, he lay back down again and pulled Shige closer to him.
“I’m not going anywhere.” He smiled, running his fingers in Shige’s hair. “I feel like I’m already home.”
Type: One-shot
Word count: 1,879
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Ryo/Shige
Summary: Shige helps Ryo find a new place to call home. A remix of Home by 2morrow_is_now, first posted in jentfic_remix here. It was my first remix and somehow I found myself writing RyoShige, which I had always been avoiding before. But I can now safely say I'm hooked on this pairing. Thanks to sanjihan for beta-ing, and for sneaking up on me to remix one of my stories <3
The bullet train’s automatic doors opened and Shige walked out, slinging his bag over his shoulder. His destination wasn’t very far from the station, and he decided to stroll there casually, taking in the sights around him. The sun had just set and the city was already illuminating itself, the street lights coming on in rows. A poster near the exit to the station said: Welcome to Osaka.
He remembered the last time he was here; a few years ago for work with NEWS, before they got suspended. He didn’t really have any clear memories of the city from when he was little, despite it supposedly being his hometown. The first thing that struck him as he sauntered along the road near the station was the loudness of the people. A stereotypical Osaka characteristic, it greeted him everywhere from the boisterous hawker selling snacks on the roadside to the couple arguing while waiting for the traffic light to turn green. Their accent reminded Shige of him, the person he was traveling to this town to see. Ryo.
It had been around four months since their spring tour ended and hiatus began, and he hadn’t seen Ryo at all. He hung out with Koyama regularly as always, and sometimes with Massu. Tegoshi and Yamapi he saw occasionally at the jimusho. But Ryo mostly stayed in Osaka and focused on his Kanjani work, seemingly avoiding going to Tokyo. Shige could only guess, but perhaps the suspension had hurt him more than he let on.
As a consequence of the hiatus Shige had a lot more free time on his hands, and he started taking solitary trips, sometimes just during the course of a day, other times for a whole weekend. One day he thought of going to Osaka, and without thinking he picked up the phone and called Ryo to ask if he had time to see him. He was already regretting it when he heard the note of surprise in Ryo’s voice as he realized it was Shige calling him. Ryo and Shige weren’t exactly best friends, if they even could be called friends. But it was too late to hang up, so Shige awkwardly asked if they could meet up while he was in Osaka, maybe for dinner. He thought Ryo would be uncomfortable, probably even say no, but the older man didn’t waste a second before saying, “Sure. Where do you want to meet?”
They had agreed on a restaurant just outside the city’s busiest shopping district. Shige got there early and picked a table near the window so he could spot Ryo when he came. The Osakan arrived not long after but seemed to not have noticed him, looking around the restaurant with a slightly puzzled expression. Only after Shige waved at him did his eyes widen in recognition, a quiet smile adorning his lips. When he reached the table the first thing he did was put a hand on Shige’s head and tousle his hair like a little kid. “You cut your hair,” he said amusedly.
Shige quickly swatted Ryo’s hand, acting slightly annoyed but unable to hide the smile on his face. “Shut up,” he replied, though without any heat in his voice.
They had a long talk during dinner, something they rarely did before. Shige didn’t know why it never occurred to him before, but he and Ryo had a lot in common and often had a similar way of thinking. Or maybe it was just because he was now more relaxed around him. Ryo also seemed to treat him differently, apparently noticing how he had become more confident with himself, more at ease with others - to put it simply, he had grown up.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you in Tokyo lately, Nishikido-kun,” Shige said over drinks after the meal.
Ryo puckered his lips slightly, tilting the glass in his hand so that the ice clinked together. “That’s because I haven’t been going to Tokyo.”
“At all? Why?”
Shige saw that Ryo was reluctant, but at the same time he seemed to want to open up to him. “I felt it wasn’t... just not my place, you know? Without NEWS, it was like my reason for being there had diminished.” He glanced at Shige and suddenly looked afraid that he had said the wrong thing. He added jokingly, “Anyway, I left my Tokyo apartment unattended, it must be looking like shit right now.”
“You should’ve hired Massu to clean up. He’d keep the place spotless.”
Ryo chuckled. “Yeah, I probably should have.”
Afterwards Ryo took Shige sightseeing at the city’s famous entertainment areas. Shige stopped to buy souvenirs several times, but for the most part they only wandered around, talking incessantly while doing so. The night wore on and Shige finally said it was time for him to go and catch the evening train back to Tokyo.
Ryo accompanied him to the station and, just before they parted, put forth the question Shige had been waiting for him to ask. “Shige, why are you in Osaka?”
Shige had been trying to formulate an answer to that all night, but until now he wasn’t really sure of the reason behind his trip. He decided to settle with the easiest response.
“Oh, there’s no actual reason. I just missed it.” A small smile made itself visible on the corner of his lips, growing even wider as he took one last look at Ryo and said, “Well, I’ll see you around.” He turned around and walked into the station, realizing a moment too late that he was actually prancing as he went. He didn’t really care though, because that last look showed him Ryo had also been smiling.
That evening was the start of a new stage in their relationship. They became better friends than ever before, wondering why they hadn’t become this close sooner. Shige went to Osaka many times afterwards, and Ryo was more than happy to entertain him during his time there. The older man seemed to feel a little bad for not returning the visits, but Shige understood why he wasn’t ready to go back to Tokyo, a place where he thought he no longer belonged.
Then came the 2006/2007 Countdown concert, where the management saw it fit to drop the bombshell that NEWS would be returning. Shige was astonished, giddy and nervous at the same time, but more than anything he was happy. The same mix of feelings were mirrored in all the members’ faces, but when he took a glance at Ryo backstage after the show the dominant expression he saw was uncertainty. He rested his hand on Ryo’s shoulder. “Big news, huh?”
Ryo was roused from his reverie and gave a lopsided smile. “Yeah.” He fell silent before adding, “My apartment’s still a total mess.”
“Then I’ll help you clean it up.” Shige didn’t know what possessed him but he went from touching Ryo’s shoulder to looping his arm around it. He prepared himself to have Ryo push him away, spit out some snarky remark about personal space, but the older man stayed still. His body felt warm, as warm as Shige’s heart.
Shige kept to his promise and helped Ryo make his apartment livable again. The two of them stuck to each other, maintaining the closeness they had developed in Osaka. It was apparent that Ryo found it difficult to consider Tokyo as his home again, but Shige tried as best he could to ease the process for him. They became familiar with each other’s apartments, spending countless nights watching movies, playing games or just talking about any topic that crossed their minds.
Shige also began to have this funny feeling that they weren’t strictly friends anymore. Well, he certainly didn’t feel that way, not when his insides twisted into a knot whenever Ryo was near. He couldn’t really tell how Ryo felt, but it got increasingly harder not to get his hopes up whenever Ryo’s shoulder, seemingly intentionally, brushed his as they were walking side by side; or when Ryo looked at him across the dining table with a curious half-smile on his face, pleasing and embarrassing Shige at the same time. Sometimes during their concerts, when the members joined hands after the final encore, Shige thought Ryo held his hand a little tighter, a little longer than he had to.
One night they got out of the jimusho late after dance rehearsals, Ryo insisting on walking Shige to his apartment before catching his own train home. As they got to the front of Shige’s building, he turned to say good night to Ryo only to be met with the other man’s lips on his own. It was a fleeting, light kiss but it left him breathless with surprise. Ryo simply smiled and muttered, “Good night, Shige,” before walking away.
They had a standing appointment the next day to have dinner at Shige’s place. Shige fretted over everything the whole day, modified and re-modified the night’s menu countless times, and even rearranged his furniture. At 8 o’clock sharp the guest arrived, grinning quietly at him as usual. They ate dinner and talked like nothing extraordinary happened just the previous day. Later on Ryo stood up and offered to help with washing the dishes, but Shige was faster and had walked around the table to block his way.
“Nishikido-kun,” Shige said, stepping forward so their faces were only inches apart.
“Ryo,” whispered the Osakan, tantalizing Shige’s lips with his breath. “Call me Ryo.”
Shige’s heart was battering wildly against his chest, and he only managed a short, tiny murmur of “Ryo” before launching himself toward the other man, his lips capturing the latter’s in a deep, passionate kiss. At first Ryo did not move, letting Shige do what he wanted, but soon his fiery nature took over and he was kissing him back; lips, teeth and tongue devouring Shige’s mouth while one hand cupped his face and another moved up beneath his shirt. Shige was pushed back a few paces from his enthusiasm and bumped against the table behind him.
“Not on the table, of course?” teased Ryo between pauses in his act of nibbling the younger man’s lower lip.
“No-” Shige’s answer was interrupted by a moan prompted by what Ryo’s able fingers were doing under his shirt. “...my bedroom.”
Later, they lay naked in each other’s arms on Shige’s bed, both tired but fully satiated. Shige’s eyelids were already drooping as he thought how wonderful it would be to fall asleep in Ryo’s embrace, but Ryo suddenly let go of him and sat up on the bed. Shige’s eyes followed his movements with alarm.
“Are you going home?” he asked, immediately embarrassed by the obvious note of disappointment in his voice.
Ryo looked at him and smirked. “What, can’t survive the night without me?”
Shige knew better than to reply to that, although they were both fully aware what his begrudging answer would have been. Ryo reached out to the foot of the bed, grabbing the blanket folded there. Spreading the blanket over both their bodies, he lay back down again and pulled Shige closer to him.
“I’m not going anywhere.” He smiled, running his fingers in Shige’s hair. “I feel like I’m already home.”