Gift fic for karinberry
To: karinberry
From: annnimeee
SEASON'S GREETINGS!
Title: Possibilities (single)
Pairing/Group: NewS, Tego/Ryo/Shige, some light KoyaShige (gen)
Rating: PG-13 for the first part, R for the second
Warnings: some voyeurism for the first part, if you want to think of it that way
Notes: For karinberry. I hope the order of this requested OT3 didn't matter. Also, I can't write pr0n. I'm sorry, I tried. Lyric translations, if you recognize them, were done by solitair. Special thanks to my beta for all of her great ideas.
Summary: Tegoshi tells Koyama that he's in love with Shige.
Possibilities (single)
Track A: Anything is Possible
"I'm in love with Shige," Tegoshi told Koyama at dinner, and then he leaned back in his chair.
After Koyama finished wiping up the pasta that he spat out, Tegoshi said with wide, pleading eyes, "Can you help me, Kei-chan?"
Koyama wordlessly nodded.
==
Koyama wasn't sure what to do, exactly, but he had a sincere desire to help Tegoshi (who was always so cute when he asked for things) and well, Shige did complain every once in a while about the Jimusho's rule against getting girlfriends and about being lonely, so maybe getting a boyfriend would make him happy.
He decided that the first place to start was with Shige himself, who answered on the first ring.
"Shige, can I come over tonight? I need to ask you something."
"Yeah, sure. I was just about to watch a movie."
"I'll join you," Koyama said.
Shige hesitated. "Okay. But, um, we've both seen this before. I just felt like watching it again."
Koyama arrived half an hour later. Shige handed him a packet of tissues and then went to put in a dvd.
Koyama spotted the Attention Please Special dvd case on the floor, off of Shige's dvd shelf. "I don't want to watch Attention Please again," Koyama said. "You know there's no reason to re-watch it. Even Ryo-chan doesn't like to talk about it."
"I was studying acting," Shige said, "And anyway, no, we're not watching Attention Please." He held up a different dvd case.
"The One Liter of Tears special?" Koyama gasped, and then clutched his packet of tissues tightly.
Shige opened his own packet of tissues and went to sit next to him.
When the ending credits began to roll, Shige cleared his throat and said, "So what did you want to talk about again?"
"Tegoshi," Koyama blubbered, and he was too emotionally drained to think of a better way to approach the subject. "He likes you."
"Of course he does," Shige said, "And we ALL adore Tegoshi. Because Tegoshi is so cute and talented and he holds all of us in the palm of his mighty god-like hands while he stares down at us from above." He blew his nose and then said, "Seriously, you wanted to talk about Tegoshi?"
Koyama, whose tears were finally starting to slow into a trickle, nodded.
"Do you have a problem with Tegoshi?"
"No, no, nothing like that," Koyama said.
"Well then if Tegoshi has a problem," Shige said, wiping the corner of his eyes, "We can talk to him about it tomorrow when we go shopping with him. It's not like he minds anyone talking about him to his face. He does love attention." He crumpled up the tissue in his hand into a small ball, and then said, "This song is so sad, don't you think?" and turned up the volume.
Listening to the song made Koyama's tears flow freshly again. "Oh," Koyama cried, "That was so tragic!" And he took the last of Shige's tissues.
"I know," Shige sniffed, and then automatically handed Koyama a roll of toilet paper.
==
"I don't know how Shige feels about you," Koyama told Tegoshi when they went shopping together the next day, after Shige headed to a fitting room to try on an outfit.
"That's okay," Tegoshi said, "That's why you're helping me, right?"
Koyama nodded, and then smiled, happy that Tegoshi was thinking about this all so positively. Tegoshi was right; Koyama would do everything he could to help.
Shige came out wearing a dark blazer, tight jeans, and a red scarf. "How does it look?" he called out.
Tegoshi whistled. "Shige, you're so cool!" Koyama laughed and nodded.
Shige rolled his eyes and went back in.
Tegoshi held onto Koyama's hand and smiled. "I'm counting on you, Kei-chan! I sure could use advice from someone who has experience, and you know Shige best!"
Tegoshi was so cute and he had so much faith in him. Touched, Koyama said, "Tegorin, I'll do my best. Let's see what we can get done today, ne?"
Tegoshi beamed.
"Wait here," Koyama told Tegoshi, "I'll be right back."
Koyama walked around the department store with a new sense of purpose. Shige had mentioned things before that he thought were attractive: loose socks, the back of a girl's neck (pretty hair clips would take care of that), the costumes that the female cast members from Koyama's High School Musical stage play wore (American cheerleader costumes, but the closest thing Koyama could find were appropriately-colored blouses and skirts), and sexy but cool girls (Koyama chose a black leather jacket to give this image).
He handed his pickings to Tegoshi, who happily accepted them and went to go change.
Shige came back out of the fitting room a few minutes later. "Where'd you go?" he asked Koyama.
"Got Tegoshi some stuff to try on," Koyama said.
Shige nodded. "I think I'll keep the blazer, but not the pants. I just tried this on, what do you think?" Shige held up a white t-shirt with a black skull on the front for Koyama's inspection, and Koyama nodded in approval. "Tegoshi liked it too, so I guess I'll keep it. Still thinking about the scarf, though." Shige pondered over the scarf for a moment, before shaking his head and putting it back.
"Oh, and hey," Shige said when he returned, "Did you get a chance to talk to Tegoshi about what was bothering him? I forgot to mention it to him."
"Well--" Koyama began.
"Wow," Shige interrupted, "That girl behind you-"
"How do I look?" Tegoshi asked in a sing-song voice, approaching from behind Koyama.
"Shit!" Shige exclaimed, and dropped all of the clothes he was carrying.
Tegoshi laughed and twirled his skirt with natural ease. Koyama clapped proudly in approval and cheered.
"Wh-why are you wearing THAT?" Shige asked as he bent over and picked up what he dropped.
"Don't I look good?" Tegoshi asked with a bright smile.
"You look like a girl," Shige said. "Even more so than usual."
Tegoshi gave a cute pout. "I'm a boy."
"Then go back and dress like one!" Shige said, "Don't wear what Koyama picked out for you; try on the shirt I gave you instead. And take those clips out of your hair." He turned his attention back to the clothes that he had picked out, and ignored Tegoshi, who flipped his hair back and did a curtsy before returning to get changed.
"Why on earth would you want Tegoshi to cross dress?" Shige demanded.
"I thought he was very cute," Koyama said. He gleefully noted that Shige's cheeks were slightly flushed.
Shige snorted. "Of COURSE he was cute. We ALL already know he's a cute boy; it's no wonder he makes a disgustingly adorable girl too. He would've made a geisha a thousand times cuter than me. Tegoshi is ALWAYS cute, that's one of the bazillion reasons why he has so many adoring fans within and outside the agency."
This was not quite the reaction Koyama had been hoping for.
"Tegoshi dressing like a cute girl," Shige said, "Is not a sight people should see. It's like cavities for the eyes. You have a weird sense of humor, Koyama." He frowned at the skull shirt he was holding and put it back on the rack.
Koyama no longer found any of this funny at all.
Tegoshi came back out, cheerful as ever, wearing a tight collared black shirt. "I like the shirt Shige picked for me more," he said, even as Shige looked away. "Hey, let's call everyone else and go karaoke tonight!"
"It's always karaoke," Shige said, but he pulled out his cell phone anyway and Koyama breathed a little easier.
==
"Shige!" Ryo barked as the title of the next song appeared, "Do Hikki's 'First Love!'"
"What? No!" Shige said, "I can't sing that."
Ryo handed him the microphone. "Do it."
Tegoshi began chanting Shige's name. Koyama, Yamapi, and Massu immediately joined in.
"You barely sang tonight," Ryo said.
Shige flipped through the karaoke book of songs frantically. "I didn't enter the song in. You do it. It's karaoke so you can't forget the lyrics."
The Shige-chanting group laughed.
Ryo laughed too, and then said, "It's JUST karaoke, so it doesn't matter if you sound like a horse trying sing."
"Hey!"
"SHI-GE! SHI-GE!"
"I'll sing with you, Shige," Tegoshi offered cheerfully. "It'll be fun!" He wandered over and sat down in Shige's lap.
"You don't have to sit in my lap to sing with me!" Shige yelled. He braced his hand against Tegoshi's shoulder, as if to push him off.
Tegoshi smiled at him. "It'll be more fun this way!"
Shige's hand dropped back to his side.
Shige sang the first verse and then spent the rest of the song staring at the screen and ignoring Tegoshi as Tegoshi sang on very enthusiastically.
Ryo looked at them both for a moment before he smirked and punched in the number for the next song.
When "First Love" finished, X-Japan's "Forever Love" began.
"Tego-nyan, move for a sec," Ryo said.
Tegoshi obediently got off.
Shige said, "Wha--"
"We're doing the next song," Ryo told Shige, and sat down in Shige's lap.
"WHAT THE--" Shige began.
"Tego-nyan, sit in my lap," Ryo said, and pat his lap.
"DON'T YOU DARE!" Shige cried. Tegoshi studied them for a second with a bright smile on his face.
Koyama and Massu chanted, "Do it! Do it!"
Tegoshi grinned and climbed on.
Yamapi laughed and clapped his hands.
"YOU GUYS ARE HEAVY GET OFF!" Shige shouted, but made no effort to push Ryo off.
"Mou hitori de," Ryo sang, "Arukenai. Hey Shige pick up your mike. Toki no kaze ga tsuyosugite. Tego-nyan help me out here."
Tegoshi joined in and the two of them finished the entire song on Shige's lap, despite his protesting, "Tegoshi stop bouncing so much! Both of you get off me!" throughout their performance.
"My legs are numb," Shige complained loudly when they both finally got off. His face was red.
Ryo smirked.
==
"Shige! Shige let's write music next time, okay?" Tegoshi said when they pulled up to Tegoshi's driveway.
Shige sighed. "Okay."
"Great!" Tegoshi said cheerfully. "Good night Kei-chan. Night Shige!"
"Sometimes Tegoshi really gets on my nerves," Shige said after they dropped Tegoshi off. "Like when he sang those five L'arc~en~Ciel songs in a row by himself. He could've picked any of the older ones that everybody knows, but no, he has to pick the new ones that none of us had a chance to listen to."
"He just wanted to sing them because he likes them," Koyama said weakly.
"I know that," Shige said, "Still. Whenever we say we'll get together to write music, he ends up singing at karaoke and if he asks us to go karaoke we go karaoke. If he wanted to sing by himself then he can just go karaoke by himself."
"He sang all those love songs with you."
Shige shot Koyama a look. "Yeah, it was really fun when I got over 200 pounds of bouncing happiness in my lap."
Koyama snickered. "It was funny to watch though."
Shige pretended to glare at him but he ended up grinning anyway, and they soon arrived at Shige's house to hang out.
"Hey look!" Shige exclaimed when he saw the mail left on his dining table. "My Kanjani8 dvd came in!"
"Oh! Oh!" Koyama said, "That means mine should be coming in too! Let's go watch it!"
They laughed at all of K8's antics, except when Ryo and Subaru kissed during the performance of Eden. Koyama laughed then; Shige didn't.
"Do you think we're going to have to do that kind of fanservice when we're older?" Shige asked, wrinkling his nose.
Koyama blinked and realized that this was an opening to The Tegoshi Topic. He said carefully, "Would you be against it?"
Shige rolled his eyes. "I get enough grief for the hand gesture in I.ZA.NA.I.ZU.KI. I can't imagine how much I'd have to put up with if I did fanservice like that with anyone in the group."
"But if you had to pick a member in the group to do fanservice with," Koyama said, "Who would it be?"
Shige stared at him.
"Hypothetically speaking, of course," Koyama said. He added just to be safe, "Besides me, of course."
Shige smacked his shoulder. "Who'd want to do fanservice with you?"
Koyama chuckled. "I'd pick Yamapi," Koyama said. Shige gave him a look. Koyama said, "Yamapi has a lot of acting experience." Yamapi was always making a kissing face anyway. "What about you?"
Shige considered. "Nishikido-kun, because then he can't make fun of me about it afterwards if he was involved."
"Ah," Koyama replied. Then he said as casually as he could, "Er. What about Tegoshi?"
Shige said, "Tegoshi would probably rather kiss you than kiss me. And he'd do it while demanding that he be carried across the stage. It'd be so much work!" And then he laughed.
Koyama joined in on the laughter, because Shige was right, but he also couldn't help wringing his hands in anxiety when he thought of Tegoshi asking him what he should do next.
==
"Massu," Koyama said, "What would you do if you liked someone who might not like you?"
"I would treat her to food like you're treating me to lunch right now," Massu said, "And then smile."
Koyama nodded.
Massu took another bite out of his katsudon.
"And then," Massu said, "I'd get on a hot air balloon with her, and when we get to the very top I'd shout at the top of my lungs that I like her."
"So you'd confess anyway," Koyama said.
Massu nodded. "And then I'd let the air out of the balloon so that we can all WHOOSH down together and it'll be fun, like a roller coaster ride, and she can hold onto me tightly, ne." He giggled.
"That might be a little dangerous," Koyama said, covering his face. He could no longer remember why he thought asking Massu for advice was a good idea.
"Really? Okay then I'd bring a ton of food on the hot balloon and tell her that I like her and offer to feed her while we look at the scenery below." Massu furrowed his eyebrows. "And if she rejects me then I won't give her anything to eat at all." He chewed his lip and then said, "Wait, no. If I liked her even if she rejected me, I'd give her half a bentou so that she doesn't go hungry, ne. Because that would just be mean."
Koyama smiled; at least Massu was sweet.
==
Yamapi's answer was more succinct.
"If I liked someone that might not like me back," Yamapi said as he took another sip of his beer, "I'd tell her anyway. Because I don't want to live my life regretting not telling her."
"Even if," Koyama asked, nursing his own drink, "You think she might not like you back?"
"It's like what I told my friend that had a similar problem," Yamapi said, sneaking looks at Ryo, "If you don't believe that you have a chance, then you've already lost to yourself before you've had any chance of winning." He was staring at Ryo openly now. "When in fact if you act you just might get everything that you want."
Ryo rolled his eyes and took another gulp of beer before looking back at Koyama. "Who is it?" he asked Koyama. "Who does Koyama like that wouldn't like him back?"
Koyama waved his hand quickly in a dismissive gesture. "Er, not me, I'm just wondering for a friend who likes someone that I don't think likes him back."
Ryo smiled widely. "Is it Shige? Does Shige like someone?"
Koyama shook his head. "Eh? No, no, no it's not Shige--"
Ryo's smile faltered. "Is it Massu?"
"No, it's not Massu, the point is--"
Ryo frowned. "It's Tego-nyan then."
Yamapi pursed his lips.
"Ahahaha," Koyama said, and then lied the best he could, "It's not. Anyway, it doesn't matter. The point is, Te-my friend likes another friend of mine, but I don't know if my other friend likes him back and I'm getting worried because I want them both to be happy but I don't know if it will work out or not or how this would affect our, um, friendships with each other and others in our, um, group of friends."
"The answer is simple," Ryo said, "Someone's love problem is someone else's problem and you shouldn't worry about it."
"I know, but he asked me for advice, and--"
"You're such a worrier. The world doesn't revolve around you and it isn't your responsibility, unless--" Ryo stopped himself, and then his eyes narrowed. "Unless this is about Member Ai, and you're worried about NewS' dynamics."
Koyama opened his mouth to protest, but Ryo began to think aloud. "Tegoshi and Massu, are like me and Pi and you and Shige, so that's a no. Tego-nyan finally got over his crush on Pi a few months ago --"
"EH?" Yamapi and Koyama both exclaimed at the same time.
"Seriously?" Yamapi asked, "I had no idea!"
"That's because you're oblivious and spend your days with your head stuck in a cloud," Ryo said, "He practically threw himself at you!"
"What are you talking about?" Yamapi asked.
Ryo threw his hands up in the air. "He sat in your lap!"
"He sat in both your lap and Koyama's!" Yamapi replied, "He even sat in Shige's at karaoke the other day for the first time!"
"He sat," Ryo said, gritting his teeth, "In your lap FIRST. He sat in my lap only when I asked and then to make it look normal he asked Koyama if he could sit in his lap too."
There was a moment of silence while both Yamapi and Koyama absorbed this.
"Wow, I had no idea," Yamapi said, "Why didn't you tell me?" Ryo glared at him. "Oh. Well it wouldn't have mattered anyway," Yamapi said quickly, "I'm not interested in Tegoshi."
"So then," Ryo concluded, returning his attention back to Koyama, "It's Tegoshi and Shige, isn't it. Tego-nyan has a crush on prodigy. THAT'S how he got over his crush on Yamapi." Ryo frowned at his drink. "Stupid sexy haircut."
"It CAN'T be Tegoshi and Shige," Yamapi said vehemently, "Tegoshi doesn't have a crush on Shige. I know he doesn't. It's probably not even Tegoshi at all." He looked at Koyama. "It's Shige, isn't it? Your friend that likes someone that you think doesn't like him back. Shige has a crush on Ryo-chan."
Koyama opened his mouth to protest, but then he stopped and thought about it.
Watching other member's dramas was a habit that both he and Shige had, so re-watching a classic love story like One Liter of Tears, he could understand. Pre-ordering the Kanjani8 dvd, they both did. But there was the discussion they had over the Eden kiss, and Koyama had missed the most damning evidence of all--
Shige had re-watched the Attention Please Special by himself.
"I was studying acting," Shige had said, but when Koyama and Shige had first watched Attention Please together, Shige had complained about Aya Ueto's acting because she was the worst actor in the show and yet she got all of the screen time as the lead.
"She's cute and all," Shige had said, "But she's a terrible actress and Nishikido-kun is hardly there at all! It's not worth watching this drama just to see him!"
But Koyama had insisted that he wanted to see it through to the end, so Shige had stuck it through with him, and they had both been bitterly disappointed by the way the special had ended.
Shige wouldn't re-watch something he disliked, unless he liked someone in it.
Ryo studied Koyama and smirked. "So Shige likes me?"
Koyama gaped. "I-- I don't know."
"You're not denying it like before," Ryo said, laughing. He smiled, checked his watch, and stood up. "I think I'll go call him up for a late dinner."
"Ryo-chan!" Yamapi protested. "Don't jerk him around if you don't like him."
"Who says I don't?"
Yamapi frowned. "If Shige likes you then he deserves better than to be fooled around with."
"Pi, are you deaf?" Ryo asked. "Who says I don't like him?"
Yamapi furrowed his eyebrows. "But you said--"
"This is confusing," Ryo admitted, and then his smug smirk turned into an embarrassed grin before he repressed it back. "I need to go sort this out."
"Shige," Koyama said, "Had plans with Tegoshi today. They're planning to write music at the karaoke place. So maybe it's not a good idea."
"Oh really," Ryo said cheerfully, "Then I guess I'll go join them."
"Ryo-chan, wait," Yamapi said, but Ryo ignored him and left his apartment.
Koyama hurried to pick up his phone to call Tegoshi when he realized that Yamapi was pulling out his phone as well.
"Yamapi," Koyama said, "Are you calling Tegoshi?"
Yamapi stopped, looked at Koyama and his phone, and said, "He told you that he likes Ryo too?"
Koyama almost fell over. "WHAT?"
"Tegoshi," Yamapi said, "He likes Ryo. He told me about two weeks ago."
"Tegoshi," Koyama said slowly, "Likes Shige. He told me about two weeks ago."
Yamapi shook his head. "You must've misheard him. He told me he likes Ryo-chan, which is great because Ryo-chan started liking Tegoshi ever since Tegoshi's face changed, but was too shy to say anything. That's why I told him that he should just be upfront about it and tell Tegoshi."
Koyama never thought he'd ever feel as confused as he did when NewS took their first photoshoot together without realizing what it was for, but this moment had now surpassed that time by far.
"Tegoshi asked me for help on setting him up with Shige," Koyama said, "He asked me twice. He definitely said Shige both times."
Yamapi raised his eyebrows and they both stared at each other for a moment.
"Okay," Yamapi said, "That's weird."
Koyama was already dialing Tegoshi, and he held up his phone so that both he and Yamapi could listen.
"Hello, Kei-chan!" Tegoshi said. In the background, Koyama heard a few guitar chords; Shige must have already started writing music.
"Tegoshi," Koyama said, "Ryo-chan--"
"Oh, I just talked to him," Tegoshi said cheerfully, "I told him which karaoke place we were at; it's the same one we went to before. He's coming over."
"Tegorin, I think-- I think he thinks that Shige likes him."
"Kei-chan, thank you!" Tegoshi said without missing a beat, "When I said that I needed advice from someone with experience, you went and asked him and Yamashita-kun, right?
Koyama's head was beginning to hurt. "You're not worried?"
"Nope!" Tegoshi said, "Shige does like Ryo-tan, just like I like Shige and Ryo-tan both!"
In the background, Shige was saying something that sounded like a protest.
"Shige's complaining so I'm going to hang up now, okay? Thanks so much Kei-chan! Tell Yamashita-kun I said thanks as well." And then Tegoshi hung up.
Yamapi and Koyama both stared blankly at the phone.
==
They found the karaoke place easily enough, and Koyama headed for the karaoke room that Shige had always said had the best acoustics for playing music. All of the karaoke rooms had windows so that the front deskmen could come by and knock when time was up; the room Shige and Tegoshi chose had window curtains drawn on the outside for privacy.
Koyama slowly lifted the bottom of the curtain, and both he and Yamapi peeked in.
Ryo was already inside. His arms were crossed, and he didn't look happy. This may have been because Tegoshi was happily sitting in Shige's lap while Shige just looked confused.
Tegoshi got off of Shige, spoke to Ryo, and then gave Ryo a hug.
"He definitely said something like, 'I love Ryo-tan,'" Yamapi whispered.
Shige shook his head, put his guitar back in its case, and muttered a few words.
"'I'll come back another time,'" Koyama translated in a whisper as well. "Or a complaint about not writing music."
Tegoshi, in Ryo's arms, smiled brightly at Ryo, gestured toward Shige, and this time it was clear to both Koyama and Yamapi that he was saying, 'I love Shige too'.
Ryo looked at Tegoshi, at Shige, back at Tegoshi, and then began to smile.
Shige picked up his guitar case, and to both Koyama and Yamapi's growing horror, he started to head over to the door. "I'll see you both later," they heard him faintly say. His head was ducked low and he did not look back.
"We need to hide!" Koyama said, panicking, "Shige's going to catch us!"
"There's no way that Ryo-chan will let him go just like that," Yamapi said.
And true to Yamapi's predictions, Ryo caught Shige by the arm and pulled him back. Tegoshi took Shige's guitar from his hands and placed it on the ground.
Tegoshi's back was to the window, but Koyama and Yamapi could both see Ryo looking at Tegoshi, nodding, and then Ryo pulled Shige to himself and kissed him.
"Smooth," Yamapi said approvingly.
Shige pulled away, face red, and he spoke. "'Is this some kind of a joke?'" Koyama said in his best Shige whisper.
"Didn't Tegoshi already confess? Shige, don't always doubt what others say to you!" Yamapi said.
As if to prove Yamapi's point, this time Tegoshi caught Shige's face in his hands and kissed him. Tegoshi pulled back a second later, and Ryo muttered something ("Probably something like, 'Do we look like we're joking stupid?'" Yamapi said helpfully), before pulling Shige into a deeper kiss. This time Ryo's hands strayed in Shige's hair. Shige slowly raised both of his arms. He placed one hand on Tegoshi's shoulder and Koyama guessed that the other hand was fisted around Ryo's shirt. Ryo pulled back, and Shige licked his lips while he watched Ryo kiss Tegoshi.
Slowly Tegoshi moved his arm behind himself, and then his hand became a thumbs up against his back.
Koyama and Yamapi both dropped to the ground.
"He knows we're here," Yamapi said.
Koyama said, "There's not much else for us to see anyway." He was surprised by how deep his own voice had become.
"Let's get going," Yamapi said. He met Koyama's gaze and they both nodded simultaneously.
Koyama cocked his head toward the room. "Such a thing as love?"
Yamapi smiled and said, "It'll work out somehow."
Track B c/w: Making it Work
Tegoshi was the one who had said he wanted to write music, but after waiting for an hour and not hearing from him, Shige reluctantly picked up the phone and called Tegoshi.
It turned out that Tegoshi wanted dinner too.
"Shige, you're practicing cooking more, right?" Tegoshi asked. "Can you make mentaiko spaghetti for dinner?"
It's just the way Tegoshi is, Shige reminded himself, but he felt annoyed anyway. "I've never made it, before," he said cautiously, "But I guess I can give it a shot. I need to get ingredients though."
"Great," Tegoshi said, and hearing the smile in Tegoshi's voice almost made Shige smile as well. "Hey while you're on your way to the supermarket, can you pick me up too?"
"Sure," Shige sighed.
==
"It's delicious!" Tegoshi said as he helped himself to a second serving, "Shige, you're a great cook!"
"You're just saying that because you want me to cook for you more often," Shige said, and fought back the smile that the praise threatened to elicit.
"I'm not," Tegoshi said, and then he smiled sweetly. "Though I would love to eat Shige's cooking more often."
"I make good goya chanpuru," Shige said, and then he cursed himself for being weak.
==
Shige left the kitchen and hurriedly picked up his phone. "Hello?"
"Hey Shige, are you drinking at my place today too?" Ryo asked. "Why is Koyama here alone?"
"What?" Shige asked, perplexed.
"Oh wait," Ryo said, "Looks like you weren't invited."
"If I'm not invited then don't call me," Shige said, but Ryo had already hung up.
He went back to find that Tegoshi had turned off the water, even though the pile of dirty dishes was still there.
"Why did you stop?" Shige asked.
Tegoshi chirped, "I was waiting for you!"
So that I can wash them all by myself, Shige thought, but Tegoshi's smile was almost infectious.
==
"So what about a riff like this?" Shige asked, and played a set of chords.
"It's good," Tegoshi said while nodding, but his gaze was on the books of song titles on the table.
"Hey Shige, do you mind if--"
"Go ahead," Shige said exasperated, "Just turn it down a little.
"Thanks!" Tegoshi said happily, and he went to put some more L'arc~en~Ciel songs into the karaoke machine. "Shige's the best! I'll dedicate the next song to you, okay?"
Shige shook his head, fought back a grin, and returned his attention to his guitar.
==
Tegoshi's phone went off again.
The first time had been Ryo who was coming over to join them; this time it was Koyama. Tegoshi thanked him for something, Shige wasn't sure what, and Tegoshi concluded, "Shige does like Ryo-tan, just like I like Shige and Ryo-tan both!"
"What are you saying on the phone?" Shige said, annoyed and inexplicably pleased. "Koyama already knows you like everyone." And what if he liked Ryo, that was part of Member Ai, after all. Even if he liked Ryo at times a little more than he thought he should.
Tegoshi said a few more words of thanks before hanging up.
"What are you thanking Koyama for?" Shige asked. Then he remembered the conversation he had with Koyama the night they watched One Liter of Tears. Of course Tegoshi would rather confide in Koyama than Shige; Shige felt the same way, but he was worried enough about Tegoshi to try to find out what was bothering him.
"So," Shige ventured, "Koyama said a few days ago that--"
"Ah, I'm so nervous!" Tegoshi exclaimed. "I'm going to the bathroom, we'll talk later okay?" And he left the room.
"There's nothing to be nervous about," Shige muttered to himself, and played a few angry chords.
==
"Where's Tego-nyan?" Ryo asked immediately upon entrance.
"He's in the bathroom," Shige said, and he felt the need to add, "And hello to you too."
"Hello," Ryo said, giving Shige a cocky grin.
Shige fought back the sudden nervousness he felt and said, "Something good happen?"
There was a brief moment-- so brief that Shige thought he had imagined it-- when Ryo's cocky grin looked bashful, but now it was just an amused smile. "You're holding your guitar like a pansy," Ryo declared.
Shige stared at him.
"It's because you're left-handed," Ryo said helpfully. "Here give it to me."
"If it's because I'm left-handed," Shige said, "Then how is anything you show me going to help me?" But he gave Ryo the guitar anyway, and watched in admiration as Ryo deftly strummed out the opening notes to Ai Nante.
==
"Ryo-tan's here!" Tegoshi said happily when he came in. Ryo put down the guitar and stood up and Tegoshi gave him a half hug.
"This is so great," Tegoshi said, and he gave a smile that was actually brighter than all of the smiles that Shige had seen on his face the entire day. Tegoshi was practically glowing with happiness. Ryo smiled in response, and it wasn't cocky or amused or bashful, just happy.
"So," Shige said, "Are you BOTH going to karaoke while I write music?" Because while he was used to Tegoshi doing it, Ryo joining in somehow made the entire arrangement seem unfair.
"Actually," Tegoshi said, "There was something that I was hoping would happen after I became an adult."
"What?" Shige asked, and then squawked in surprise when Tegoshi sat down in his lap. Then Tegoshi pressed his lips against Shige's jaw.
"Te-tegoshi," Shige said, "What are you doing?"
Tegoshi tilted his head up and kissed Shige.
Shige thought, Oh. This was followed immediately by, What the hell. Then Shige thought, Wow. After that his thoughts disappeared entirely and he was kissing Tegoshi back and it was good and--
"Tego-nyan," Ryo said, and Shige broke off the kiss in surprise.
Ryo's arms were crossed. He was no longer smiling.
Shige watched, still dazed, as Tegoshi smiled at Ryo, got off of Shige's lap, and gave Ryo a tight hug.
"I love Ryo-tan," Tegoshi declared. "I was waiting, ne. To be an adult."
Ryo fluffed his hair. "So was I, Tego-nyan." Ryo looked suddenly shy. "I've--I've always, Tego-nyan. I just didn't realize it until NewS reunited."
It occurred to Shige that he was being used by Tegoshi to get to Ryo, and if so Tegoshi had succeeded. It made no sense, really, Shige didn't think Tegoshi was that malicious, but seeing Ryo look at Tegoshi with such fondness made Shige's chest tight. He suddenly had no desire to stay a minute longer. Especially not if he had to witness whatever they were planning to do next. It was time for his exit.
Shige went to pack up his guitar.
"Shige," Tegoshi said, "What are you doing?"
"We can write music another time," Shige said.
"But Shige," Tegoshi said, "I love Shige too."
"Sure," Shige said. He was sure that Tegoshi did like him, on some level, just not the same way Ryo was looking at Tegoshi. He kept his head low and headed for the door. "I'll see you both later."
A strong arm caught his and pulled him back and the next thing he knew Ryo was holding onto his arm while Tegoshi wrestled the guitar case out of his hands and placed it on the floor.
"You like me, stupid," Ryo whispered. And then Ryo pulled him into a kiss. It was rougher than Tegoshi's, but Shige was too caught up with what Ryo had said to really enjoy it.
Shige pulled back and his face felt like it was on fire. "I--like you? What are you talking about? Is this some kind of a joke?"
"You love Ryo-tan the way I love Ryo-tan and you," Tegoshi said, and he pulled Shige into another kiss.
"You love me, right?" Ryo said next to Shige's ear. "Koyama said so." And Shige could hear the smugness in his voice.
Shige thought, What did Koyama tell him? And how did Tegoshi know?
More importantly, where did Tegoshi learn to kiss like that?
Shige's lips protested when Tegoshi broke off the kiss. "Do you like me, Shige?" Tegoshi asked.
Ryo muttered, "How could anyone not?" Then he said, "If you don't answer us, Shige, you don't get to play." And he leaned over and kissed Tegoshi.
Shige licked his lips and felt the familiar stirrings of jealousy, only this time he really couldn't tell if he was more jealous of Tegoshi or of Ryo.
Tegoshi stopped the kiss to look at Shige. His eyes were wide and he was so cute, and Shige sighed and admitted, "Yes. To both." He made himself feel better by mentally reminding himself that while he had always been aware of his attraction to Ryo, he had never thought of Tegoshi in that way before until that moment.
"Good," Ryo said, and Tegoshi smiled.
Tegoshi kissed Shige first, Ryo kissed him next, and then Ryo was kissing Tegoshi and Shige thought that maybe they were taking turns so that no one felt neglected for too long.
Shige really didn't know what to do, however, aside from the kissing. He had a girlfriend, once, in middle school, but he never got farther than groping her chest before she slapped him and that was the end of their relationship.
So he watched Ryo kiss Tegoshi. His pants felt tight.
"Shige," Ryo muttered in-between kissing Tegoshi, "Don't just stand there."
"Um," Shige said, and felt stupid.
"I guess you don't know everything after all," Ryo said, and smirked. "Watch me, it's very simple." And he tugged at Shige's pants.
Shige felt cool air against his skin for a moment, then Ryo's hand was touching him and suddenly it was hot and he was thrusting his hips because god, it felt good, and it figured that Ryo would know what he was doing.
"Shige, you can touch me too," Tegoshi said, and Shige would've been annoyed if it wasn't for the fact that Tegoshi was staring at him with dark eyes and his lips were swollen and he looked hot, and like always whenever he dealt with Tegoshi, Shige gave in. Tegoshi was hot and hard and Shige tried his best to copy what Ryo was doing to him.
Tegoshi giggled and followed suit by undoing Ryo's belt, unzipping his pants, and slipping his hand in. Judging by Ryo's smile of pleasure, he was doing a pretty good job, too, and for a moment Shige thought jealously of how Tegoshi always seemed to do things better than him.
And then it didn't matter because whatever Tegoshi was doing was really starting to affect Ryo, because Ryo was moving his hand harder and faster than before and it felt incredible and Shige followed his lead and stroked Tegoshi harder and faster too.
They continued until Ryo began making a low noise from the back of his throat and Shige was moaning and Tegoshi was moaning too, in a prettier voice, and then that was enough for both Shige and Tegoshi. Shige's hand was sticky and he knew that Ryo's hand was the same.
Ryo, however, wasn't satisfied. He looked expectantly at Tegoshi, but Tegoshi yawned, and curled up on the seats. "I’m sorry, Ryo-tan," Tegoshi said, "I’m tired, ne. But Shige can help you."
Shige almost protested automatically but Ryo was looking at him and licking his lips and Shige felt wanted. "Shige," Ryo said, "Come here." And Shige obeyed and Ryo tugged down his own pants. "You can cram a lot in your mouth," Ryo said, and then the arrogance was gone and he looked embarrassed as he asked, "Can you--?"
Ryo was mean at times when he spoke too truthfully and he was arrogant at others whenever he self-praised himself, but he was also incredibly shy and that vulnerability appealed to Shige. Shige tugged down Ryo’s underwear and opened his mouth and tried to take in as much of Ryo’s length as he could. It hit his gag reflex and he felt tears well up automatically, but Ryo was stroking his hair and telling him to relax and breathe through his nose and he did and then it wasn’t so bad.
Shige wasn’t sure what to do next, so he tried various movements with his mouth, his tongue, his throat and the ones that made Ryo groan louder were the ones that he kept doing. Ryo’s grip in his hair got tighter, so much that it almost hurt, and then something salty and sticky filled his mouth and Ryo pulled out and Shige didn’t know what to do with it so he spat it onto the floor.
Shige looked up, half-expecting Ryo to laugh at him, but instead Ryo was staring at him with a very warm expression and Ryo gently caressed his face before kissing him roughly. "Shige," Ryo said, "I like you too."
They rested together on the couches in a heap-- Tegoshi slept with a smile on his face, Ryo was dead to the world, and Shige, Shige would have been able to sleep deeper if Ryo didn't kick in his sleep.
Since Shige was the first to wake up, he ended up being the one who cleaned up the place as well.
==
"Hey Shige," Tegoshi said, as he copied Shige's moves and tied his jacket around his pants to hide certain stains, "You're going to wash your laundry later, right? Can you do mine too? I'll give them to you when you drop me off at my place."
Ryo smirked; he had nothing to worry about.
"Yeah, sure," Shige said with a sigh.
Tegoshi wrapped his arms around Shige in a big hug. "Thanks Shige! I love you!"
"You're both idiots," Ryo said fondly.
And Shige knew that Ryo was right, but he grinned anyway.
From: annnimeee
SEASON'S GREETINGS!
Title: Possibilities (single)
Pairing/Group: NewS, Tego/Ryo/Shige, some light KoyaShige (gen)
Rating: PG-13 for the first part, R for the second
Warnings: some voyeurism for the first part, if you want to think of it that way
Notes: For karinberry. I hope the order of this requested OT3 didn't matter. Also, I can't write pr0n. I'm sorry, I tried. Lyric translations, if you recognize them, were done by solitair. Special thanks to my beta for all of her great ideas.
Summary: Tegoshi tells Koyama that he's in love with Shige.
Possibilities (single)
Track A: Anything is Possible
"I'm in love with Shige," Tegoshi told Koyama at dinner, and then he leaned back in his chair.
After Koyama finished wiping up the pasta that he spat out, Tegoshi said with wide, pleading eyes, "Can you help me, Kei-chan?"
Koyama wordlessly nodded.
==
Koyama wasn't sure what to do, exactly, but he had a sincere desire to help Tegoshi (who was always so cute when he asked for things) and well, Shige did complain every once in a while about the Jimusho's rule against getting girlfriends and about being lonely, so maybe getting a boyfriend would make him happy.
He decided that the first place to start was with Shige himself, who answered on the first ring.
"Shige, can I come over tonight? I need to ask you something."
"Yeah, sure. I was just about to watch a movie."
"I'll join you," Koyama said.
Shige hesitated. "Okay. But, um, we've both seen this before. I just felt like watching it again."
Koyama arrived half an hour later. Shige handed him a packet of tissues and then went to put in a dvd.
Koyama spotted the Attention Please Special dvd case on the floor, off of Shige's dvd shelf. "I don't want to watch Attention Please again," Koyama said. "You know there's no reason to re-watch it. Even Ryo-chan doesn't like to talk about it."
"I was studying acting," Shige said, "And anyway, no, we're not watching Attention Please." He held up a different dvd case.
"The One Liter of Tears special?" Koyama gasped, and then clutched his packet of tissues tightly.
Shige opened his own packet of tissues and went to sit next to him.
When the ending credits began to roll, Shige cleared his throat and said, "So what did you want to talk about again?"
"Tegoshi," Koyama blubbered, and he was too emotionally drained to think of a better way to approach the subject. "He likes you."
"Of course he does," Shige said, "And we ALL adore Tegoshi. Because Tegoshi is so cute and talented and he holds all of us in the palm of his mighty god-like hands while he stares down at us from above." He blew his nose and then said, "Seriously, you wanted to talk about Tegoshi?"
Koyama, whose tears were finally starting to slow into a trickle, nodded.
"Do you have a problem with Tegoshi?"
"No, no, nothing like that," Koyama said.
"Well then if Tegoshi has a problem," Shige said, wiping the corner of his eyes, "We can talk to him about it tomorrow when we go shopping with him. It's not like he minds anyone talking about him to his face. He does love attention." He crumpled up the tissue in his hand into a small ball, and then said, "This song is so sad, don't you think?" and turned up the volume.
Listening to the song made Koyama's tears flow freshly again. "Oh," Koyama cried, "That was so tragic!" And he took the last of Shige's tissues.
"I know," Shige sniffed, and then automatically handed Koyama a roll of toilet paper.
==
"I don't know how Shige feels about you," Koyama told Tegoshi when they went shopping together the next day, after Shige headed to a fitting room to try on an outfit.
"That's okay," Tegoshi said, "That's why you're helping me, right?"
Koyama nodded, and then smiled, happy that Tegoshi was thinking about this all so positively. Tegoshi was right; Koyama would do everything he could to help.
Shige came out wearing a dark blazer, tight jeans, and a red scarf. "How does it look?" he called out.
Tegoshi whistled. "Shige, you're so cool!" Koyama laughed and nodded.
Shige rolled his eyes and went back in.
Tegoshi held onto Koyama's hand and smiled. "I'm counting on you, Kei-chan! I sure could use advice from someone who has experience, and you know Shige best!"
Tegoshi was so cute and he had so much faith in him. Touched, Koyama said, "Tegorin, I'll do my best. Let's see what we can get done today, ne?"
Tegoshi beamed.
"Wait here," Koyama told Tegoshi, "I'll be right back."
Koyama walked around the department store with a new sense of purpose. Shige had mentioned things before that he thought were attractive: loose socks, the back of a girl's neck (pretty hair clips would take care of that), the costumes that the female cast members from Koyama's High School Musical stage play wore (American cheerleader costumes, but the closest thing Koyama could find were appropriately-colored blouses and skirts), and sexy but cool girls (Koyama chose a black leather jacket to give this image).
He handed his pickings to Tegoshi, who happily accepted them and went to go change.
Shige came back out of the fitting room a few minutes later. "Where'd you go?" he asked Koyama.
"Got Tegoshi some stuff to try on," Koyama said.
Shige nodded. "I think I'll keep the blazer, but not the pants. I just tried this on, what do you think?" Shige held up a white t-shirt with a black skull on the front for Koyama's inspection, and Koyama nodded in approval. "Tegoshi liked it too, so I guess I'll keep it. Still thinking about the scarf, though." Shige pondered over the scarf for a moment, before shaking his head and putting it back.
"Oh, and hey," Shige said when he returned, "Did you get a chance to talk to Tegoshi about what was bothering him? I forgot to mention it to him."
"Well--" Koyama began.
"Wow," Shige interrupted, "That girl behind you-"
"How do I look?" Tegoshi asked in a sing-song voice, approaching from behind Koyama.
"Shit!" Shige exclaimed, and dropped all of the clothes he was carrying.
Tegoshi laughed and twirled his skirt with natural ease. Koyama clapped proudly in approval and cheered.
"Wh-why are you wearing THAT?" Shige asked as he bent over and picked up what he dropped.
"Don't I look good?" Tegoshi asked with a bright smile.
"You look like a girl," Shige said. "Even more so than usual."
Tegoshi gave a cute pout. "I'm a boy."
"Then go back and dress like one!" Shige said, "Don't wear what Koyama picked out for you; try on the shirt I gave you instead. And take those clips out of your hair." He turned his attention back to the clothes that he had picked out, and ignored Tegoshi, who flipped his hair back and did a curtsy before returning to get changed.
"Why on earth would you want Tegoshi to cross dress?" Shige demanded.
"I thought he was very cute," Koyama said. He gleefully noted that Shige's cheeks were slightly flushed.
Shige snorted. "Of COURSE he was cute. We ALL already know he's a cute boy; it's no wonder he makes a disgustingly adorable girl too. He would've made a geisha a thousand times cuter than me. Tegoshi is ALWAYS cute, that's one of the bazillion reasons why he has so many adoring fans within and outside the agency."
This was not quite the reaction Koyama had been hoping for.
"Tegoshi dressing like a cute girl," Shige said, "Is not a sight people should see. It's like cavities for the eyes. You have a weird sense of humor, Koyama." He frowned at the skull shirt he was holding and put it back on the rack.
Koyama no longer found any of this funny at all.
Tegoshi came back out, cheerful as ever, wearing a tight collared black shirt. "I like the shirt Shige picked for me more," he said, even as Shige looked away. "Hey, let's call everyone else and go karaoke tonight!"
"It's always karaoke," Shige said, but he pulled out his cell phone anyway and Koyama breathed a little easier.
==
"Shige!" Ryo barked as the title of the next song appeared, "Do Hikki's 'First Love!'"
"What? No!" Shige said, "I can't sing that."
Ryo handed him the microphone. "Do it."
Tegoshi began chanting Shige's name. Koyama, Yamapi, and Massu immediately joined in.
"You barely sang tonight," Ryo said.
Shige flipped through the karaoke book of songs frantically. "I didn't enter the song in. You do it. It's karaoke so you can't forget the lyrics."
The Shige-chanting group laughed.
Ryo laughed too, and then said, "It's JUST karaoke, so it doesn't matter if you sound like a horse trying sing."
"Hey!"
"SHI-GE! SHI-GE!"
"I'll sing with you, Shige," Tegoshi offered cheerfully. "It'll be fun!" He wandered over and sat down in Shige's lap.
"You don't have to sit in my lap to sing with me!" Shige yelled. He braced his hand against Tegoshi's shoulder, as if to push him off.
Tegoshi smiled at him. "It'll be more fun this way!"
Shige's hand dropped back to his side.
Shige sang the first verse and then spent the rest of the song staring at the screen and ignoring Tegoshi as Tegoshi sang on very enthusiastically.
Ryo looked at them both for a moment before he smirked and punched in the number for the next song.
When "First Love" finished, X-Japan's "Forever Love" began.
"Tego-nyan, move for a sec," Ryo said.
Tegoshi obediently got off.
Shige said, "Wha--"
"We're doing the next song," Ryo told Shige, and sat down in Shige's lap.
"WHAT THE--" Shige began.
"Tego-nyan, sit in my lap," Ryo said, and pat his lap.
"DON'T YOU DARE!" Shige cried. Tegoshi studied them for a second with a bright smile on his face.
Koyama and Massu chanted, "Do it! Do it!"
Tegoshi grinned and climbed on.
Yamapi laughed and clapped his hands.
"YOU GUYS ARE HEAVY GET OFF!" Shige shouted, but made no effort to push Ryo off.
"Mou hitori de," Ryo sang, "Arukenai. Hey Shige pick up your mike. Toki no kaze ga tsuyosugite. Tego-nyan help me out here."
Tegoshi joined in and the two of them finished the entire song on Shige's lap, despite his protesting, "Tegoshi stop bouncing so much! Both of you get off me!" throughout their performance.
"My legs are numb," Shige complained loudly when they both finally got off. His face was red.
Ryo smirked.
==
"Shige! Shige let's write music next time, okay?" Tegoshi said when they pulled up to Tegoshi's driveway.
Shige sighed. "Okay."
"Great!" Tegoshi said cheerfully. "Good night Kei-chan. Night Shige!"
"Sometimes Tegoshi really gets on my nerves," Shige said after they dropped Tegoshi off. "Like when he sang those five L'arc~en~Ciel songs in a row by himself. He could've picked any of the older ones that everybody knows, but no, he has to pick the new ones that none of us had a chance to listen to."
"He just wanted to sing them because he likes them," Koyama said weakly.
"I know that," Shige said, "Still. Whenever we say we'll get together to write music, he ends up singing at karaoke and if he asks us to go karaoke we go karaoke. If he wanted to sing by himself then he can just go karaoke by himself."
"He sang all those love songs with you."
Shige shot Koyama a look. "Yeah, it was really fun when I got over 200 pounds of bouncing happiness in my lap."
Koyama snickered. "It was funny to watch though."
Shige pretended to glare at him but he ended up grinning anyway, and they soon arrived at Shige's house to hang out.
"Hey look!" Shige exclaimed when he saw the mail left on his dining table. "My Kanjani8 dvd came in!"
"Oh! Oh!" Koyama said, "That means mine should be coming in too! Let's go watch it!"
They laughed at all of K8's antics, except when Ryo and Subaru kissed during the performance of Eden. Koyama laughed then; Shige didn't.
"Do you think we're going to have to do that kind of fanservice when we're older?" Shige asked, wrinkling his nose.
Koyama blinked and realized that this was an opening to The Tegoshi Topic. He said carefully, "Would you be against it?"
Shige rolled his eyes. "I get enough grief for the hand gesture in I.ZA.NA.I.ZU.KI. I can't imagine how much I'd have to put up with if I did fanservice like that with anyone in the group."
"But if you had to pick a member in the group to do fanservice with," Koyama said, "Who would it be?"
Shige stared at him.
"Hypothetically speaking, of course," Koyama said. He added just to be safe, "Besides me, of course."
Shige smacked his shoulder. "Who'd want to do fanservice with you?"
Koyama chuckled. "I'd pick Yamapi," Koyama said. Shige gave him a look. Koyama said, "Yamapi has a lot of acting experience." Yamapi was always making a kissing face anyway. "What about you?"
Shige considered. "Nishikido-kun, because then he can't make fun of me about it afterwards if he was involved."
"Ah," Koyama replied. Then he said as casually as he could, "Er. What about Tegoshi?"
Shige said, "Tegoshi would probably rather kiss you than kiss me. And he'd do it while demanding that he be carried across the stage. It'd be so much work!" And then he laughed.
Koyama joined in on the laughter, because Shige was right, but he also couldn't help wringing his hands in anxiety when he thought of Tegoshi asking him what he should do next.
==
"Massu," Koyama said, "What would you do if you liked someone who might not like you?"
"I would treat her to food like you're treating me to lunch right now," Massu said, "And then smile."
Koyama nodded.
Massu took another bite out of his katsudon.
"And then," Massu said, "I'd get on a hot air balloon with her, and when we get to the very top I'd shout at the top of my lungs that I like her."
"So you'd confess anyway," Koyama said.
Massu nodded. "And then I'd let the air out of the balloon so that we can all WHOOSH down together and it'll be fun, like a roller coaster ride, and she can hold onto me tightly, ne." He giggled.
"That might be a little dangerous," Koyama said, covering his face. He could no longer remember why he thought asking Massu for advice was a good idea.
"Really? Okay then I'd bring a ton of food on the hot balloon and tell her that I like her and offer to feed her while we look at the scenery below." Massu furrowed his eyebrows. "And if she rejects me then I won't give her anything to eat at all." He chewed his lip and then said, "Wait, no. If I liked her even if she rejected me, I'd give her half a bentou so that she doesn't go hungry, ne. Because that would just be mean."
Koyama smiled; at least Massu was sweet.
==
Yamapi's answer was more succinct.
"If I liked someone that might not like me back," Yamapi said as he took another sip of his beer, "I'd tell her anyway. Because I don't want to live my life regretting not telling her."
"Even if," Koyama asked, nursing his own drink, "You think she might not like you back?"
"It's like what I told my friend that had a similar problem," Yamapi said, sneaking looks at Ryo, "If you don't believe that you have a chance, then you've already lost to yourself before you've had any chance of winning." He was staring at Ryo openly now. "When in fact if you act you just might get everything that you want."
Ryo rolled his eyes and took another gulp of beer before looking back at Koyama. "Who is it?" he asked Koyama. "Who does Koyama like that wouldn't like him back?"
Koyama waved his hand quickly in a dismissive gesture. "Er, not me, I'm just wondering for a friend who likes someone that I don't think likes him back."
Ryo smiled widely. "Is it Shige? Does Shige like someone?"
Koyama shook his head. "Eh? No, no, no it's not Shige--"
Ryo's smile faltered. "Is it Massu?"
"No, it's not Massu, the point is--"
Ryo frowned. "It's Tego-nyan then."
Yamapi pursed his lips.
"Ahahaha," Koyama said, and then lied the best he could, "It's not. Anyway, it doesn't matter. The point is, Te-my friend likes another friend of mine, but I don't know if my other friend likes him back and I'm getting worried because I want them both to be happy but I don't know if it will work out or not or how this would affect our, um, friendships with each other and others in our, um, group of friends."
"The answer is simple," Ryo said, "Someone's love problem is someone else's problem and you shouldn't worry about it."
"I know, but he asked me for advice, and--"
"You're such a worrier. The world doesn't revolve around you and it isn't your responsibility, unless--" Ryo stopped himself, and then his eyes narrowed. "Unless this is about Member Ai, and you're worried about NewS' dynamics."
Koyama opened his mouth to protest, but Ryo began to think aloud. "Tegoshi and Massu, are like me and Pi and you and Shige, so that's a no. Tego-nyan finally got over his crush on Pi a few months ago --"
"EH?" Yamapi and Koyama both exclaimed at the same time.
"Seriously?" Yamapi asked, "I had no idea!"
"That's because you're oblivious and spend your days with your head stuck in a cloud," Ryo said, "He practically threw himself at you!"
"What are you talking about?" Yamapi asked.
Ryo threw his hands up in the air. "He sat in your lap!"
"He sat in both your lap and Koyama's!" Yamapi replied, "He even sat in Shige's at karaoke the other day for the first time!"
"He sat," Ryo said, gritting his teeth, "In your lap FIRST. He sat in my lap only when I asked and then to make it look normal he asked Koyama if he could sit in his lap too."
There was a moment of silence while both Yamapi and Koyama absorbed this.
"Wow, I had no idea," Yamapi said, "Why didn't you tell me?" Ryo glared at him. "Oh. Well it wouldn't have mattered anyway," Yamapi said quickly, "I'm not interested in Tegoshi."
"So then," Ryo concluded, returning his attention back to Koyama, "It's Tegoshi and Shige, isn't it. Tego-nyan has a crush on prodigy. THAT'S how he got over his crush on Yamapi." Ryo frowned at his drink. "Stupid sexy haircut."
"It CAN'T be Tegoshi and Shige," Yamapi said vehemently, "Tegoshi doesn't have a crush on Shige. I know he doesn't. It's probably not even Tegoshi at all." He looked at Koyama. "It's Shige, isn't it? Your friend that likes someone that you think doesn't like him back. Shige has a crush on Ryo-chan."
Koyama opened his mouth to protest, but then he stopped and thought about it.
Watching other member's dramas was a habit that both he and Shige had, so re-watching a classic love story like One Liter of Tears, he could understand. Pre-ordering the Kanjani8 dvd, they both did. But there was the discussion they had over the Eden kiss, and Koyama had missed the most damning evidence of all--
Shige had re-watched the Attention Please Special by himself.
"I was studying acting," Shige had said, but when Koyama and Shige had first watched Attention Please together, Shige had complained about Aya Ueto's acting because she was the worst actor in the show and yet she got all of the screen time as the lead.
"She's cute and all," Shige had said, "But she's a terrible actress and Nishikido-kun is hardly there at all! It's not worth watching this drama just to see him!"
But Koyama had insisted that he wanted to see it through to the end, so Shige had stuck it through with him, and they had both been bitterly disappointed by the way the special had ended.
Shige wouldn't re-watch something he disliked, unless he liked someone in it.
Ryo studied Koyama and smirked. "So Shige likes me?"
Koyama gaped. "I-- I don't know."
"You're not denying it like before," Ryo said, laughing. He smiled, checked his watch, and stood up. "I think I'll go call him up for a late dinner."
"Ryo-chan!" Yamapi protested. "Don't jerk him around if you don't like him."
"Who says I don't?"
Yamapi frowned. "If Shige likes you then he deserves better than to be fooled around with."
"Pi, are you deaf?" Ryo asked. "Who says I don't like him?"
Yamapi furrowed his eyebrows. "But you said--"
"This is confusing," Ryo admitted, and then his smug smirk turned into an embarrassed grin before he repressed it back. "I need to go sort this out."
"Shige," Koyama said, "Had plans with Tegoshi today. They're planning to write music at the karaoke place. So maybe it's not a good idea."
"Oh really," Ryo said cheerfully, "Then I guess I'll go join them."
"Ryo-chan, wait," Yamapi said, but Ryo ignored him and left his apartment.
Koyama hurried to pick up his phone to call Tegoshi when he realized that Yamapi was pulling out his phone as well.
"Yamapi," Koyama said, "Are you calling Tegoshi?"
Yamapi stopped, looked at Koyama and his phone, and said, "He told you that he likes Ryo too?"
Koyama almost fell over. "WHAT?"
"Tegoshi," Yamapi said, "He likes Ryo. He told me about two weeks ago."
"Tegoshi," Koyama said slowly, "Likes Shige. He told me about two weeks ago."
Yamapi shook his head. "You must've misheard him. He told me he likes Ryo-chan, which is great because Ryo-chan started liking Tegoshi ever since Tegoshi's face changed, but was too shy to say anything. That's why I told him that he should just be upfront about it and tell Tegoshi."
Koyama never thought he'd ever feel as confused as he did when NewS took their first photoshoot together without realizing what it was for, but this moment had now surpassed that time by far.
"Tegoshi asked me for help on setting him up with Shige," Koyama said, "He asked me twice. He definitely said Shige both times."
Yamapi raised his eyebrows and they both stared at each other for a moment.
"Okay," Yamapi said, "That's weird."
Koyama was already dialing Tegoshi, and he held up his phone so that both he and Yamapi could listen.
"Hello, Kei-chan!" Tegoshi said. In the background, Koyama heard a few guitar chords; Shige must have already started writing music.
"Tegoshi," Koyama said, "Ryo-chan--"
"Oh, I just talked to him," Tegoshi said cheerfully, "I told him which karaoke place we were at; it's the same one we went to before. He's coming over."
"Tegorin, I think-- I think he thinks that Shige likes him."
"Kei-chan, thank you!" Tegoshi said without missing a beat, "When I said that I needed advice from someone with experience, you went and asked him and Yamashita-kun, right?
Koyama's head was beginning to hurt. "You're not worried?"
"Nope!" Tegoshi said, "Shige does like Ryo-tan, just like I like Shige and Ryo-tan both!"
In the background, Shige was saying something that sounded like a protest.
"Shige's complaining so I'm going to hang up now, okay? Thanks so much Kei-chan! Tell Yamashita-kun I said thanks as well." And then Tegoshi hung up.
Yamapi and Koyama both stared blankly at the phone.
==
They found the karaoke place easily enough, and Koyama headed for the karaoke room that Shige had always said had the best acoustics for playing music. All of the karaoke rooms had windows so that the front deskmen could come by and knock when time was up; the room Shige and Tegoshi chose had window curtains drawn on the outside for privacy.
Koyama slowly lifted the bottom of the curtain, and both he and Yamapi peeked in.
Ryo was already inside. His arms were crossed, and he didn't look happy. This may have been because Tegoshi was happily sitting in Shige's lap while Shige just looked confused.
Tegoshi got off of Shige, spoke to Ryo, and then gave Ryo a hug.
"He definitely said something like, 'I love Ryo-tan,'" Yamapi whispered.
Shige shook his head, put his guitar back in its case, and muttered a few words.
"'I'll come back another time,'" Koyama translated in a whisper as well. "Or a complaint about not writing music."
Tegoshi, in Ryo's arms, smiled brightly at Ryo, gestured toward Shige, and this time it was clear to both Koyama and Yamapi that he was saying, 'I love Shige too'.
Ryo looked at Tegoshi, at Shige, back at Tegoshi, and then began to smile.
Shige picked up his guitar case, and to both Koyama and Yamapi's growing horror, he started to head over to the door. "I'll see you both later," they heard him faintly say. His head was ducked low and he did not look back.
"We need to hide!" Koyama said, panicking, "Shige's going to catch us!"
"There's no way that Ryo-chan will let him go just like that," Yamapi said.
And true to Yamapi's predictions, Ryo caught Shige by the arm and pulled him back. Tegoshi took Shige's guitar from his hands and placed it on the ground.
Tegoshi's back was to the window, but Koyama and Yamapi could both see Ryo looking at Tegoshi, nodding, and then Ryo pulled Shige to himself and kissed him.
"Smooth," Yamapi said approvingly.
Shige pulled away, face red, and he spoke. "'Is this some kind of a joke?'" Koyama said in his best Shige whisper.
"Didn't Tegoshi already confess? Shige, don't always doubt what others say to you!" Yamapi said.
As if to prove Yamapi's point, this time Tegoshi caught Shige's face in his hands and kissed him. Tegoshi pulled back a second later, and Ryo muttered something ("Probably something like, 'Do we look like we're joking stupid?'" Yamapi said helpfully), before pulling Shige into a deeper kiss. This time Ryo's hands strayed in Shige's hair. Shige slowly raised both of his arms. He placed one hand on Tegoshi's shoulder and Koyama guessed that the other hand was fisted around Ryo's shirt. Ryo pulled back, and Shige licked his lips while he watched Ryo kiss Tegoshi.
Slowly Tegoshi moved his arm behind himself, and then his hand became a thumbs up against his back.
Koyama and Yamapi both dropped to the ground.
"He knows we're here," Yamapi said.
Koyama said, "There's not much else for us to see anyway." He was surprised by how deep his own voice had become.
"Let's get going," Yamapi said. He met Koyama's gaze and they both nodded simultaneously.
Koyama cocked his head toward the room. "Such a thing as love?"
Yamapi smiled and said, "It'll work out somehow."
Track B c/w: Making it Work
Tegoshi was the one who had said he wanted to write music, but after waiting for an hour and not hearing from him, Shige reluctantly picked up the phone and called Tegoshi.
It turned out that Tegoshi wanted dinner too.
"Shige, you're practicing cooking more, right?" Tegoshi asked. "Can you make mentaiko spaghetti for dinner?"
It's just the way Tegoshi is, Shige reminded himself, but he felt annoyed anyway. "I've never made it, before," he said cautiously, "But I guess I can give it a shot. I need to get ingredients though."
"Great," Tegoshi said, and hearing the smile in Tegoshi's voice almost made Shige smile as well. "Hey while you're on your way to the supermarket, can you pick me up too?"
"Sure," Shige sighed.
==
"It's delicious!" Tegoshi said as he helped himself to a second serving, "Shige, you're a great cook!"
"You're just saying that because you want me to cook for you more often," Shige said, and fought back the smile that the praise threatened to elicit.
"I'm not," Tegoshi said, and then he smiled sweetly. "Though I would love to eat Shige's cooking more often."
"I make good goya chanpuru," Shige said, and then he cursed himself for being weak.
==
Shige left the kitchen and hurriedly picked up his phone. "Hello?"
"Hey Shige, are you drinking at my place today too?" Ryo asked. "Why is Koyama here alone?"
"What?" Shige asked, perplexed.
"Oh wait," Ryo said, "Looks like you weren't invited."
"If I'm not invited then don't call me," Shige said, but Ryo had already hung up.
He went back to find that Tegoshi had turned off the water, even though the pile of dirty dishes was still there.
"Why did you stop?" Shige asked.
Tegoshi chirped, "I was waiting for you!"
So that I can wash them all by myself, Shige thought, but Tegoshi's smile was almost infectious.
==
"So what about a riff like this?" Shige asked, and played a set of chords.
"It's good," Tegoshi said while nodding, but his gaze was on the books of song titles on the table.
"Hey Shige, do you mind if--"
"Go ahead," Shige said exasperated, "Just turn it down a little.
"Thanks!" Tegoshi said happily, and he went to put some more L'arc~en~Ciel songs into the karaoke machine. "Shige's the best! I'll dedicate the next song to you, okay?"
Shige shook his head, fought back a grin, and returned his attention to his guitar.
==
Tegoshi's phone went off again.
The first time had been Ryo who was coming over to join them; this time it was Koyama. Tegoshi thanked him for something, Shige wasn't sure what, and Tegoshi concluded, "Shige does like Ryo-tan, just like I like Shige and Ryo-tan both!"
"What are you saying on the phone?" Shige said, annoyed and inexplicably pleased. "Koyama already knows you like everyone." And what if he liked Ryo, that was part of Member Ai, after all. Even if he liked Ryo at times a little more than he thought he should.
Tegoshi said a few more words of thanks before hanging up.
"What are you thanking Koyama for?" Shige asked. Then he remembered the conversation he had with Koyama the night they watched One Liter of Tears. Of course Tegoshi would rather confide in Koyama than Shige; Shige felt the same way, but he was worried enough about Tegoshi to try to find out what was bothering him.
"So," Shige ventured, "Koyama said a few days ago that--"
"Ah, I'm so nervous!" Tegoshi exclaimed. "I'm going to the bathroom, we'll talk later okay?" And he left the room.
"There's nothing to be nervous about," Shige muttered to himself, and played a few angry chords.
==
"Where's Tego-nyan?" Ryo asked immediately upon entrance.
"He's in the bathroom," Shige said, and he felt the need to add, "And hello to you too."
"Hello," Ryo said, giving Shige a cocky grin.
Shige fought back the sudden nervousness he felt and said, "Something good happen?"
There was a brief moment-- so brief that Shige thought he had imagined it-- when Ryo's cocky grin looked bashful, but now it was just an amused smile. "You're holding your guitar like a pansy," Ryo declared.
Shige stared at him.
"It's because you're left-handed," Ryo said helpfully. "Here give it to me."
"If it's because I'm left-handed," Shige said, "Then how is anything you show me going to help me?" But he gave Ryo the guitar anyway, and watched in admiration as Ryo deftly strummed out the opening notes to Ai Nante.
==
"Ryo-tan's here!" Tegoshi said happily when he came in. Ryo put down the guitar and stood up and Tegoshi gave him a half hug.
"This is so great," Tegoshi said, and he gave a smile that was actually brighter than all of the smiles that Shige had seen on his face the entire day. Tegoshi was practically glowing with happiness. Ryo smiled in response, and it wasn't cocky or amused or bashful, just happy.
"So," Shige said, "Are you BOTH going to karaoke while I write music?" Because while he was used to Tegoshi doing it, Ryo joining in somehow made the entire arrangement seem unfair.
"Actually," Tegoshi said, "There was something that I was hoping would happen after I became an adult."
"What?" Shige asked, and then squawked in surprise when Tegoshi sat down in his lap. Then Tegoshi pressed his lips against Shige's jaw.
"Te-tegoshi," Shige said, "What are you doing?"
Tegoshi tilted his head up and kissed Shige.
Shige thought, Oh. This was followed immediately by, What the hell. Then Shige thought, Wow. After that his thoughts disappeared entirely and he was kissing Tegoshi back and it was good and--
"Tego-nyan," Ryo said, and Shige broke off the kiss in surprise.
Ryo's arms were crossed. He was no longer smiling.
Shige watched, still dazed, as Tegoshi smiled at Ryo, got off of Shige's lap, and gave Ryo a tight hug.
"I love Ryo-tan," Tegoshi declared. "I was waiting, ne. To be an adult."
Ryo fluffed his hair. "So was I, Tego-nyan." Ryo looked suddenly shy. "I've--I've always, Tego-nyan. I just didn't realize it until NewS reunited."
It occurred to Shige that he was being used by Tegoshi to get to Ryo, and if so Tegoshi had succeeded. It made no sense, really, Shige didn't think Tegoshi was that malicious, but seeing Ryo look at Tegoshi with such fondness made Shige's chest tight. He suddenly had no desire to stay a minute longer. Especially not if he had to witness whatever they were planning to do next. It was time for his exit.
Shige went to pack up his guitar.
"Shige," Tegoshi said, "What are you doing?"
"We can write music another time," Shige said.
"But Shige," Tegoshi said, "I love Shige too."
"Sure," Shige said. He was sure that Tegoshi did like him, on some level, just not the same way Ryo was looking at Tegoshi. He kept his head low and headed for the door. "I'll see you both later."
A strong arm caught his and pulled him back and the next thing he knew Ryo was holding onto his arm while Tegoshi wrestled the guitar case out of his hands and placed it on the floor.
"You like me, stupid," Ryo whispered. And then Ryo pulled him into a kiss. It was rougher than Tegoshi's, but Shige was too caught up with what Ryo had said to really enjoy it.
Shige pulled back and his face felt like it was on fire. "I--like you? What are you talking about? Is this some kind of a joke?"
"You love Ryo-tan the way I love Ryo-tan and you," Tegoshi said, and he pulled Shige into another kiss.
"You love me, right?" Ryo said next to Shige's ear. "Koyama said so." And Shige could hear the smugness in his voice.
Shige thought, What did Koyama tell him? And how did Tegoshi know?
More importantly, where did Tegoshi learn to kiss like that?
Shige's lips protested when Tegoshi broke off the kiss. "Do you like me, Shige?" Tegoshi asked.
Ryo muttered, "How could anyone not?" Then he said, "If you don't answer us, Shige, you don't get to play." And he leaned over and kissed Tegoshi.
Shige licked his lips and felt the familiar stirrings of jealousy, only this time he really couldn't tell if he was more jealous of Tegoshi or of Ryo.
Tegoshi stopped the kiss to look at Shige. His eyes were wide and he was so cute, and Shige sighed and admitted, "Yes. To both." He made himself feel better by mentally reminding himself that while he had always been aware of his attraction to Ryo, he had never thought of Tegoshi in that way before until that moment.
"Good," Ryo said, and Tegoshi smiled.
Tegoshi kissed Shige first, Ryo kissed him next, and then Ryo was kissing Tegoshi and Shige thought that maybe they were taking turns so that no one felt neglected for too long.
Shige really didn't know what to do, however, aside from the kissing. He had a girlfriend, once, in middle school, but he never got farther than groping her chest before she slapped him and that was the end of their relationship.
So he watched Ryo kiss Tegoshi. His pants felt tight.
"Shige," Ryo muttered in-between kissing Tegoshi, "Don't just stand there."
"Um," Shige said, and felt stupid.
"I guess you don't know everything after all," Ryo said, and smirked. "Watch me, it's very simple." And he tugged at Shige's pants.
Shige felt cool air against his skin for a moment, then Ryo's hand was touching him and suddenly it was hot and he was thrusting his hips because god, it felt good, and it figured that Ryo would know what he was doing.
"Shige, you can touch me too," Tegoshi said, and Shige would've been annoyed if it wasn't for the fact that Tegoshi was staring at him with dark eyes and his lips were swollen and he looked hot, and like always whenever he dealt with Tegoshi, Shige gave in. Tegoshi was hot and hard and Shige tried his best to copy what Ryo was doing to him.
Tegoshi giggled and followed suit by undoing Ryo's belt, unzipping his pants, and slipping his hand in. Judging by Ryo's smile of pleasure, he was doing a pretty good job, too, and for a moment Shige thought jealously of how Tegoshi always seemed to do things better than him.
And then it didn't matter because whatever Tegoshi was doing was really starting to affect Ryo, because Ryo was moving his hand harder and faster than before and it felt incredible and Shige followed his lead and stroked Tegoshi harder and faster too.
They continued until Ryo began making a low noise from the back of his throat and Shige was moaning and Tegoshi was moaning too, in a prettier voice, and then that was enough for both Shige and Tegoshi. Shige's hand was sticky and he knew that Ryo's hand was the same.
Ryo, however, wasn't satisfied. He looked expectantly at Tegoshi, but Tegoshi yawned, and curled up on the seats. "I’m sorry, Ryo-tan," Tegoshi said, "I’m tired, ne. But Shige can help you."
Shige almost protested automatically but Ryo was looking at him and licking his lips and Shige felt wanted. "Shige," Ryo said, "Come here." And Shige obeyed and Ryo tugged down his own pants. "You can cram a lot in your mouth," Ryo said, and then the arrogance was gone and he looked embarrassed as he asked, "Can you--?"
Ryo was mean at times when he spoke too truthfully and he was arrogant at others whenever he self-praised himself, but he was also incredibly shy and that vulnerability appealed to Shige. Shige tugged down Ryo’s underwear and opened his mouth and tried to take in as much of Ryo’s length as he could. It hit his gag reflex and he felt tears well up automatically, but Ryo was stroking his hair and telling him to relax and breathe through his nose and he did and then it wasn’t so bad.
Shige wasn’t sure what to do next, so he tried various movements with his mouth, his tongue, his throat and the ones that made Ryo groan louder were the ones that he kept doing. Ryo’s grip in his hair got tighter, so much that it almost hurt, and then something salty and sticky filled his mouth and Ryo pulled out and Shige didn’t know what to do with it so he spat it onto the floor.
Shige looked up, half-expecting Ryo to laugh at him, but instead Ryo was staring at him with a very warm expression and Ryo gently caressed his face before kissing him roughly. "Shige," Ryo said, "I like you too."
They rested together on the couches in a heap-- Tegoshi slept with a smile on his face, Ryo was dead to the world, and Shige, Shige would have been able to sleep deeper if Ryo didn't kick in his sleep.
Since Shige was the first to wake up, he ended up being the one who cleaned up the place as well.
==
"Hey Shige," Tegoshi said, as he copied Shige's moves and tied his jacket around his pants to hide certain stains, "You're going to wash your laundry later, right? Can you do mine too? I'll give them to you when you drop me off at my place."
Ryo smirked; he had nothing to worry about.
"Yeah, sure," Shige said with a sigh.
Tegoshi wrapped his arms around Shige in a big hug. "Thanks Shige! I love you!"
"You're both idiots," Ryo said fondly.
And Shige knew that Ryo was right, but he grinned anyway.