[One-shot] Drawing The Line
Genre: Fluff, Humour
Pairings: Sakumoto (like that’s anything new)
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Can’t claim credit for the boys, their fame and what nots, just this insane brain of mine.
Summary: Shiyare on 5th June totally had me in stitches and was the inspiration for this little piece of madness. Comments are love.
Word count: 1,076 words
Author’s Notes: Running into difficulties writing the next chapter in TnT, so figured a little time-out may help reignite the writing juices.
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Staring into the mirror as he gingerly touched his still-throbbing lips, he ironically wondered if his already-beestung lips could get even more swollen. He knew Ohno had meant no intentional harm; Riida had visibly flinched the moment the rubber strap had snapped into the youngest one’s face. Still, that lent little comfort nor reduced the after-effects of the whip-like pain he experienced in the lower half of his face.
Warily testing the range of movement in his jaw, he failed to realize when another figure entered the gents to rest languidly against the entrance until he spoke aloud.
“Terry-san will probably give us quite a boost in the ratings this week,” Sho said cheerily, as if he had any initial doubts in the first place. “Though I think Degawa-san will bemoan that his sources of bullying have now extended beyond the Arashi members.”
Jun could only give muted mutterings, trying to avoid moving his jaw further and the pain from spreading further than necessary.
“Really have to hand it to you Jun. If I were you, I’d have tried all ways and means to get Aiba to handle the alligator instead. But then again, that would have been terribly disrespectful to a daisempai.”
Jun could only roll his eyes and stifle his slight irritation at having Sho point out the obvious reason for his acquiescence, while silently lamenting that he really should have thought of Aiba as an alternative option to himself. He only prayed that the Shiyagare staff wouldn’t be inviting any celebrities that he hung out with personally… too often. He wasn’t sure how much beating his pride could take, if the trend with Terry-san was anything to go by.
Coming closer to face the youngest even as Jun patted tentatively at his jaw, Sho rested his weight on the lip of the basin and lightly poked at Jun’s right cheek with his index finger. Quickly withdrawing when Jun threw him a baleful look, he reached into his backpocket to take out a peace offering.
“Here, I know you probably have a remedy in your cache of medicines you always carry around, but I just happened to have some aloe vera gel.” Rubbing uncertainly at the back of his neck, he seemed almost shy that he was the one doing all the talking. “It’s supposed to be soothing for burns and swellings, so I figured it might be helpful.”
Jun tried to stop the small smile that demanded its presence on his face even as he accepted the tube. Squeezing out a small blob of clear, transparent gel, he nodded his thanks and mentally acknowledged that for all his on-screen failures, Sho once again proved he was the mother-hen in taking personal note of the members’ well-being. Not that it should have been even more so in Jun’s case.
“Had to admit that it was really funny watching how tense you and Oh-chan were, standing with your posteriors… so-positioned.” Grateful as he was, Jun could not help but briefly throw Sho a dirty look that suggested they should have switched positions had he been given the choice. He still remembered the guffaws of the guy who had narrowly lucked out in being part of the two-man game. Guffaws that had strangely - at least in his point of view, it was - died out as Terry-san put him in an upright position with a few smacks to said part of the body, just as one of several instances in which he had been manhandled during the recording.
“Although…”
At the lack of continuation of whatever Sho was going to say, Jun stopped mid-motion in applying the balm to his chin. Pensiveness was not a look Show wore well, and Jun wondered why the man seemed to be trying so hard to come up with the right words for whatever thoughts were passing through that Keio-educated brain of his.
Chewing lightly on his lower lip, Sho looked into Jun’s eyes, and the words that left his lips caused Jun’s heart to skip a beat.
“Maybe you need to know where to draw the line.”
“Huh?” Not exactly the words he had expected to hear from Sho in light of the night’s circumstances, but he had no idea why a slightly resentful - unless he was mistaken - tone had crept into the other’s voice.
“Butt-groping s-should be res-stricted… to members,” came the nervous tumble of words.
“I beg your pardon?” Jun didn’t think his eyebrows could escape into his hairline fast enough, but he wasn’t sure if he was expected to treat Sho’s words seriously.
“That’s just not something that everyone… anyone would be comfortable with.”
“In case you didn’t notice, I was the one on the receiving end, not the giving end?” Jun’s tone was bordering on mild hysteria as he wondered if he was going to end up the scapegoat of everything that went wrong on this night.
“No, no. I’m not blaming you… just trying to remind you to be more… careful before someone… someone could get hurt.”
“Other than me, you mean?”
“No! I mean… because other people worry about you.” Sho suddenly clammed up, as if he had overstepped his boundaries.
The corner of Jun’s mouth twitched and he could not decide if he wanted to shout at the perceived insult, laugh at the roundabout fashion that was so characteristic of fail!Sho, or hug the guy for the faint worry lines and puppy-dog look on his face. In the end, he settled for soothing the ruffled feathers of one chipmunk-faced member for whom he could never really stay angry at.
“I’ll be sure to wear a sign in future proclaiming ownership rights of my ass and exclusive groping privileges to one caring-but-butthead boyfriend by the name of Sakurai Sho. How’s that?” Jun said in mock seriousness as he reached over to pinch said person’s cheek.
“Well… it’s okay if it’s the other members…” Sho teased, barely biting back a grin of his own.
Jun would have really smacked him upside of the head had the other man not bolted away in the nick of time, making his getaway with giggles that told the younger man Sho was spending way too much time with Aiba. By the time he had completed applying the gel to the affected areas, Jun realized the smile playing on his lips and the fuzzy, warm sensation he was feeling inside had pretty much replaced any remaining lingering pain.
THE END
Author's note: thanks to carrotfreak for letting me use the pics from your photobooks. Wee! I have new icons for use!