Chapter 6- 'Games'
Shige was hungry. Which would be fine, except it was 3 in the morning and he had just woken up, his mind racing with weird thoughts. After trying to keep his eyes shut for a few moments, he looked to his right side. Massu was sleeping soundly, head buried in his pillow. Shige then looked to his left, and realized Koyama wasn't in bed with them.
He got up, grabbing a robe and putting it on before leaving the room and walking towards the kitchen.
'Hey!', Koyama said, pouring some hot chocolate on a mug. 'Late night snack.', he pointed at the grill, where two dango dumpling skewers were cooking.
Shige raised both his eyebrows, smiling at the coincidence. 'I'm actually hungry as well.', he walked towards the pantry, looking for something.
'If you're looking for more dango, these are the last two skewers.', Koyama grabbed them from the grill, handing one to Shige.
Shige smelled the grilled rice dumplings, still looking at his friend. 'You sure?'
Koyama giggled. 'Of course.'
Shige nodded, grabbing the snack and sitting down at the table. He stared at Koyama, who was preparing another cup of hot chocolate. 'So, I guess you still do this.', he took a whole dumpling into his mouth, speaking while chewing. 'You know, eat weird stuff in the middle of the night.'
'Yeah. Hard habit to break.', the taller one laughed, bringing both cups to the table and sitting down across Shige. He studied his friend for a while, noticing some tension in his expression. 'Shige, is everything alright?'
The other one sipped on his hot chocolate, not because he wanted to drink it, but because he wasn't sure how to actually answer the question. 'I think Nishikido-kun hates me. Except... sometimes, I think he doesn't.'
Koyama frowned. 'Shige. You've felt this since the day we were put into NEWS.'
'No, I know. But... it's different now. Something is different between us.', he said, remembering the other side of Ryo. The one who had stayed with him when he was upset over his failed day, the one whose hand stayed on his back until they both felt it was OK to leave.
Koyama ate a couple of dango balls. He waited, but Shige didn't say anything else. 'Shige. I don't think I need to remind you of what happened last time you felt something was different.', he raised an eyebrow, smiling at the corner of his lip.
Shige frowned, trying to ignore the fact he was blushing. 'No, it's not the same. You and I... we're best friends. We were best friends before, and we were best friends after. It wasn't like this.'
Koyama nodded, attentive. He knew his friend was right. What happened between he and Shige years ago was harmless, even innocent. It had never changed their friendship, or made things weird. 'So, are you saying you like Ryo-chan?'
Shige nearly spit the last dango ball from his mouth. 'No, no! Don't be ridiculous.', he crossed his arms. 'I'm just analyzing things as I see them!'
Koyama smirked. 'Shige. I know how you are. I'm just saying...'
Shige was already regretting his late night snack. 'You're no help!', he complained. 'Stop seeing things that don't exist!'
Koyama's only reply was a huge grin. He watched, amused, as Shige got up from the table, mumbling something unintelligible, and turning around to go back to their room.
~~
It was Sunday morning, and the day looked sunny and comfortable. The breeze was nice and warm, and even though his eyes were closed, Ryo could feel it softly blowing the hair over his face. He felt his feet buried in sand, his back against the soft towel he had laid on the ground, and his forehead was comfortably resting against Shige's shoulder.
Wait.
Shige's shoulder?!, Ryo opened his eyes, in fear. Yes, it had happened again. He had just woken up, in the middle of the beach, and Shige was curled up against him. Again.
'Get off me, idiot!!', he pushed the other boy to the side, waking him up in the process.
Shige brushed off some sand off his arms, squinting in confusion. 'I... what happened?', he was still drowsy. The last thing he remembered was laying on the sand next to Ryo, who was reading a book. Yamapi and Koyama had gone into town to buy some groceries, and Tegoshi had stayed inside, playing Mario Galaxy while Massu watched him. Napping with Ryo again was definitely not something he expected would happen again.
'You... you were sleep-assaulting me again!', Ryo barked at him, pulling on his towel and scooting as far away from him as possible.
'I did no such thing! It's always you! You were over there, with your book! I was the one laying down!'
Ryo looked over to where his book was. Carefully closed, with the bookmark sticking out the top. Had he purposely stopped reading just so he could snuggle up against Shige? He couldn't remember. 'Shut up!', he got up, walking towards the sea so he could sulk underwater and not think about how weird it was that he didn't want his accidental naps with Shige to ever stop.
~~
Tegoshi decided he was definitely not going to be able to gather all 100 purple coins with Massu sitting right next to him. It was distracting, and he kept thinking about Ryo's advices. He knew he should be more obvious, but how?
He paused his game. 'Massu?'
The other one was still looking at the screen. 'Hm?'
'You know how you always complain that I always go out to eat during our tours, but I never ask you to come along?'
Massu chuckled. 'Yeah.'
'Well. What if we go now? Just us?', Tegoshi looked at him, hopeful.
Massu thought for a moment. 'But... we're not on tour.'
Tegoshi frowned. 'No, but... what I mean...', he sighed, frustrated. 'I'm trying to ask you out on a date, Massu.', he crossed his arms.
Massu blinked. 'But... I'm not a girl.', he said, though quickly shutting both his eyes in regret. 'I mean.. that's not how I wanted that to come out.', he looked at the floor, nervous.
Tegoshi buried his face in both his hands. 'Ugh. Just forget it, can you pretend I never said that?', he tried laughing, but it came out fake.
Massu looked at him, serious. 'Well... no, not really.'
Tegoshi bit his lip, looking at his lap. 'Yeah, didn't think so.' He picked up his Wii-mote again, resuming the game and pretending like he was actually going to be able to focus on the purple coins challenge.
Massu turned his head towards the TV, though he found it very hard not to stare at Tegoshi from the corner of his eyes.
~~
Shige rubbed the towel on his head, violently drying his hair. He put on a comfortable t-shirt, jeans, and flip flops, before heading out of his room. Koyama was playing videogames with Massu and Yamapi, Tegoshi was outside getting a tan (against Ryo's advice). And Ryo was nowhere to be seen. Perfect.
Shige walked outside to the porch. He looked at his watch, reading 6pm. They had eaten an early dinner, so this would be the perfect time to nap. Alone.
Except as soon as he laid in the hammock, Ryo appeared as is from nowhere, holding a blanket. 'You. Get up.'
Shige frowned. 'Excuse me?'
'You are going to make some room for me, because we are going to nap. Together.', Ryo looked angry, as usual.
Shige raised an eyebrow. 'Are you insane?'
Ryo pointed a finger at him. 'Stop denying it. You and I both know that those were the best naps ever.'
'I... I don't know what you're talking about!!', Shige hissed, his hands curled up in fists.
'Yes you do!', Ryo pulled Shige by the arm, forcing him to sit up on the hammock. 'Now, we're going to take this goddamn nap together, and no one is going to know about it. Understood?', he said, plopping himself into the hammock with Shige and covering both of them with a blanket.
Shige found that proposal very hard to resist. 'I... well... fine!', he laid down again, not saying another word, and allowing Ryo to cuddle up against him.
Within five minutes, they were both asleep.
And, at exactly 8pm, they both woke up, well-rested and quite pleased.
Ryo open his eyes, noticing one of his legs was curled up around Shige's own legs. He decided that, right then and there, he simply didn't care. Shige stretched his arm, snuggling his head against Ryo's. The older boy let him, yawning softly. 'See? I told you, we take the best naps ever.'
Shige smiled, though not for long. The sound of someone clearing their throat surprised them, and when they looked at the porch door, all four boys stood there, arms crossed.
Yamapi laughed, leaning against the door. 'Sorry to interrupt your lovely nap... but are you two ready to go check out the doorkeeper's house?'
Ryo immediately pushed Shige aside, nearly causing him to fall off the hammock. 'I... he MADE ME!', he pointed at Shige, then grabbed his blanket, rumbling his way through the group and making his way back inside the house.
Koyama thought of many funny things to say as he looked at a drowsy, confused Shige. But before he could open his mouth, Shige got up, looking as pissed as ever. 'Quiet!', he pointed at his friend, avoiding everyone else's stares and stomping through the porch door.
~~
Yamapi took a deep breath, staring at the odd-looking house. It didn't look too small, but it wasn't big either. It was definitely a decent size for one man to live in by himself. Leading the group, he took a few steps closer to the door, thinking in his head whether this was really a good idea or not. He looked around, making sure the gatekeeper wasn't on his way back. It was already late, and this could possibly end up in disaster.
'Open it already!', Ryo said.
Yamapi grabbed the door handle, twisting it hesitantly. When it actually opened, he realized they were actually about to go into this man's house without him knowing it. 'Alright. This is it.', he said, walking in and searching for a light switch. When he finally flipped it up, he realized the lights weren't working.
Koyama, standing right behind Yamapi, held up his flashlight. 'A-ha! I knew I wasn't being too cautious!', he handed it to the group leader, who switched it on and started walking further into the house.
The group followed behind him, each member holding on to whoever was in front of them so they could find their way in. There was certain tension in the air, although at times it wasn't clear whether it was because of where they were at, or what was happening between certain group members.
Shige, walking right behind Koyama, couldn't stop thinking about the things his best friend had said, and his non-accidental nap with Ryo. The latter, on the other hand, was trying his best not to think about anything at all. He followed right behind Shige, grabbing lightly on the taller boy's shirt, and being groped by a frightened Tegoshi, who hated the dark and anything that resembled a haunted house, which was pretty much where they were in. Massu was actually pretty scared as well, but was trying his hardest not to show it, even though he was the last in line. He only touched Tegoshi lightly on his shoulder, to make sure he wouldn't get lost.
Yamapi suddenly stopped walking, pointing his flashlight at the floor. 'Check this out.', the light revealed an entrance to an underground room. 'There's a room downstairs.'
'OK, well we've seen enough, let's go back, right?' Koyama started to tremble, which made Shige instinctively squeeze his shoulders for reassurance.
'Come on, if we don't do this now, we'll never do it. We have to see what's in that room!', Shige said, a curious tone in his voice.
Ryo nodded behind him. 'Yeah, plus, this guy might come back any minute now. It's now or never.'
Yamapi nodded, taking the first step downstairs, and causing a creaking noise with each footstep. Upon finding the stairwell railings, Massu immediately let go of Tegoshi, much to the younger boy's disappointment. Ryo, however, upon hearing the creaking of the stairs, felt a shiver down his spine, instinctively moving both his hands to Shige's waist. The taller boy pretended not to notice it.
As soon as they reached the underground room, the boys all stood behind Yamapi, who by now was regretting ever coming to the house. The air felt stuffy and hot, and he couldn't find the light switch, once again relying on his flashlight to see anything in front of him.
And then there was a loud noise, something falling, or moving, or both. Yamapi quickly flashed his light to where the sound was coming from, and then something dashed right in front of them, hiding in a corner. Ryo dug his nails on Shige's waist, while Massu nearly fell down to the floor in fear, taking two or three steps back and grabbing Tegoshi's hand in the process.
'It's...', Koyama started, squinting. He could see two round eyes, only slightly visible through the light reflected upon them. He felt a wave of relief. 'It's a cat, guys.'
Tegoshi, heart still pounding for several different reasons, was nervously waiting for the moment Massu would let go of his hand. But that moment didn't seem to come, and so he turned around towards the older boy, staring into the darkness. 'You alright?'
Massu nodded, but then he realized no one could see him. He moved his thumb up and down Tegoshi's hand. 'Yeah.'
Tegoshi smiled, then turned his attention back to the group leader. 'Pi. What if he comes home? Can't we leave now?'
But Yamapi wasn't listening. He squinted his eyes, trying to figure out if what he was looking at was actually real. 'Guys.', he pointed his flashlight, illuminating the wall in front of them. 'Look at this...'
The boys gathered behind him, all mouths dropping at once. The wall was covered in photos. Except they were huge, and it took them a moment to understand they were actually posters. Boy band posters.
'What in the hell?!', Shige said, still feeling Ryo's hands on his waist. 'This guy... he's a KAT-TUN fan!?'
Yamapi's flashlight trembled as he moved it around the walls, revealing several other posters. Indeed, the gatekeeper was an avid fanboy, and the entire room was filled with KAT-TUN images.
'Holy shit. This guy is a creepy fanboy.', Ryo stated, not sure if he should feel insulted or relieved that the posters weren't of NEWS.
The group leader suddenly turned off his flashlight. 'Quiet.', he whispered, and soon they all realized why. The noise of a door opening startled them, and they knew it meant trouble.
The gatekeeper was back.
He got up, grabbing a robe and putting it on before leaving the room and walking towards the kitchen.
'Hey!', Koyama said, pouring some hot chocolate on a mug. 'Late night snack.', he pointed at the grill, where two dango dumpling skewers were cooking.
Shige raised both his eyebrows, smiling at the coincidence. 'I'm actually hungry as well.', he walked towards the pantry, looking for something.
'If you're looking for more dango, these are the last two skewers.', Koyama grabbed them from the grill, handing one to Shige.
Shige smelled the grilled rice dumplings, still looking at his friend. 'You sure?'
Koyama giggled. 'Of course.'
Shige nodded, grabbing the snack and sitting down at the table. He stared at Koyama, who was preparing another cup of hot chocolate. 'So, I guess you still do this.', he took a whole dumpling into his mouth, speaking while chewing. 'You know, eat weird stuff in the middle of the night.'
'Yeah. Hard habit to break.', the taller one laughed, bringing both cups to the table and sitting down across Shige. He studied his friend for a while, noticing some tension in his expression. 'Shige, is everything alright?'
The other one sipped on his hot chocolate, not because he wanted to drink it, but because he wasn't sure how to actually answer the question. 'I think Nishikido-kun hates me. Except... sometimes, I think he doesn't.'
Koyama frowned. 'Shige. You've felt this since the day we were put into NEWS.'
'No, I know. But... it's different now. Something is different between us.', he said, remembering the other side of Ryo. The one who had stayed with him when he was upset over his failed day, the one whose hand stayed on his back until they both felt it was OK to leave.
Koyama ate a couple of dango balls. He waited, but Shige didn't say anything else. 'Shige. I don't think I need to remind you of what happened last time you felt something was different.', he raised an eyebrow, smiling at the corner of his lip.
Shige frowned, trying to ignore the fact he was blushing. 'No, it's not the same. You and I... we're best friends. We were best friends before, and we were best friends after. It wasn't like this.'
Koyama nodded, attentive. He knew his friend was right. What happened between he and Shige years ago was harmless, even innocent. It had never changed their friendship, or made things weird. 'So, are you saying you like Ryo-chan?'
Shige nearly spit the last dango ball from his mouth. 'No, no! Don't be ridiculous.', he crossed his arms. 'I'm just analyzing things as I see them!'
Koyama smirked. 'Shige. I know how you are. I'm just saying...'
Shige was already regretting his late night snack. 'You're no help!', he complained. 'Stop seeing things that don't exist!'
Koyama's only reply was a huge grin. He watched, amused, as Shige got up from the table, mumbling something unintelligible, and turning around to go back to their room.
~~
It was Sunday morning, and the day looked sunny and comfortable. The breeze was nice and warm, and even though his eyes were closed, Ryo could feel it softly blowing the hair over his face. He felt his feet buried in sand, his back against the soft towel he had laid on the ground, and his forehead was comfortably resting against Shige's shoulder.
Wait.
Shige's shoulder?!, Ryo opened his eyes, in fear. Yes, it had happened again. He had just woken up, in the middle of the beach, and Shige was curled up against him. Again.
'Get off me, idiot!!', he pushed the other boy to the side, waking him up in the process.
Shige brushed off some sand off his arms, squinting in confusion. 'I... what happened?', he was still drowsy. The last thing he remembered was laying on the sand next to Ryo, who was reading a book. Yamapi and Koyama had gone into town to buy some groceries, and Tegoshi had stayed inside, playing Mario Galaxy while Massu watched him. Napping with Ryo again was definitely not something he expected would happen again.
'You... you were sleep-assaulting me again!', Ryo barked at him, pulling on his towel and scooting as far away from him as possible.
'I did no such thing! It's always you! You were over there, with your book! I was the one laying down!'
Ryo looked over to where his book was. Carefully closed, with the bookmark sticking out the top. Had he purposely stopped reading just so he could snuggle up against Shige? He couldn't remember. 'Shut up!', he got up, walking towards the sea so he could sulk underwater and not think about how weird it was that he didn't want his accidental naps with Shige to ever stop.
~~
Tegoshi decided he was definitely not going to be able to gather all 100 purple coins with Massu sitting right next to him. It was distracting, and he kept thinking about Ryo's advices. He knew he should be more obvious, but how?
He paused his game. 'Massu?'
The other one was still looking at the screen. 'Hm?'
'You know how you always complain that I always go out to eat during our tours, but I never ask you to come along?'
Massu chuckled. 'Yeah.'
'Well. What if we go now? Just us?', Tegoshi looked at him, hopeful.
Massu thought for a moment. 'But... we're not on tour.'
Tegoshi frowned. 'No, but... what I mean...', he sighed, frustrated. 'I'm trying to ask you out on a date, Massu.', he crossed his arms.
Massu blinked. 'But... I'm not a girl.', he said, though quickly shutting both his eyes in regret. 'I mean.. that's not how I wanted that to come out.', he looked at the floor, nervous.
Tegoshi buried his face in both his hands. 'Ugh. Just forget it, can you pretend I never said that?', he tried laughing, but it came out fake.
Massu looked at him, serious. 'Well... no, not really.'
Tegoshi bit his lip, looking at his lap. 'Yeah, didn't think so.' He picked up his Wii-mote again, resuming the game and pretending like he was actually going to be able to focus on the purple coins challenge.
Massu turned his head towards the TV, though he found it very hard not to stare at Tegoshi from the corner of his eyes.
~~
Shige rubbed the towel on his head, violently drying his hair. He put on a comfortable t-shirt, jeans, and flip flops, before heading out of his room. Koyama was playing videogames with Massu and Yamapi, Tegoshi was outside getting a tan (against Ryo's advice). And Ryo was nowhere to be seen. Perfect.
Shige walked outside to the porch. He looked at his watch, reading 6pm. They had eaten an early dinner, so this would be the perfect time to nap. Alone.
Except as soon as he laid in the hammock, Ryo appeared as is from nowhere, holding a blanket. 'You. Get up.'
Shige frowned. 'Excuse me?'
'You are going to make some room for me, because we are going to nap. Together.', Ryo looked angry, as usual.
Shige raised an eyebrow. 'Are you insane?'
Ryo pointed a finger at him. 'Stop denying it. You and I both know that those were the best naps ever.'
'I... I don't know what you're talking about!!', Shige hissed, his hands curled up in fists.
'Yes you do!', Ryo pulled Shige by the arm, forcing him to sit up on the hammock. 'Now, we're going to take this goddamn nap together, and no one is going to know about it. Understood?', he said, plopping himself into the hammock with Shige and covering both of them with a blanket.
Shige found that proposal very hard to resist. 'I... well... fine!', he laid down again, not saying another word, and allowing Ryo to cuddle up against him.
Within five minutes, they were both asleep.
And, at exactly 8pm, they both woke up, well-rested and quite pleased.
Ryo open his eyes, noticing one of his legs was curled up around Shige's own legs. He decided that, right then and there, he simply didn't care. Shige stretched his arm, snuggling his head against Ryo's. The older boy let him, yawning softly. 'See? I told you, we take the best naps ever.'
Shige smiled, though not for long. The sound of someone clearing their throat surprised them, and when they looked at the porch door, all four boys stood there, arms crossed.
Yamapi laughed, leaning against the door. 'Sorry to interrupt your lovely nap... but are you two ready to go check out the doorkeeper's house?'
Ryo immediately pushed Shige aside, nearly causing him to fall off the hammock. 'I... he MADE ME!', he pointed at Shige, then grabbed his blanket, rumbling his way through the group and making his way back inside the house.
Koyama thought of many funny things to say as he looked at a drowsy, confused Shige. But before he could open his mouth, Shige got up, looking as pissed as ever. 'Quiet!', he pointed at his friend, avoiding everyone else's stares and stomping through the porch door.
~~
Yamapi took a deep breath, staring at the odd-looking house. It didn't look too small, but it wasn't big either. It was definitely a decent size for one man to live in by himself. Leading the group, he took a few steps closer to the door, thinking in his head whether this was really a good idea or not. He looked around, making sure the gatekeeper wasn't on his way back. It was already late, and this could possibly end up in disaster.
'Open it already!', Ryo said.
Yamapi grabbed the door handle, twisting it hesitantly. When it actually opened, he realized they were actually about to go into this man's house without him knowing it. 'Alright. This is it.', he said, walking in and searching for a light switch. When he finally flipped it up, he realized the lights weren't working.
Koyama, standing right behind Yamapi, held up his flashlight. 'A-ha! I knew I wasn't being too cautious!', he handed it to the group leader, who switched it on and started walking further into the house.
The group followed behind him, each member holding on to whoever was in front of them so they could find their way in. There was certain tension in the air, although at times it wasn't clear whether it was because of where they were at, or what was happening between certain group members.
Shige, walking right behind Koyama, couldn't stop thinking about the things his best friend had said, and his non-accidental nap with Ryo. The latter, on the other hand, was trying his best not to think about anything at all. He followed right behind Shige, grabbing lightly on the taller boy's shirt, and being groped by a frightened Tegoshi, who hated the dark and anything that resembled a haunted house, which was pretty much where they were in. Massu was actually pretty scared as well, but was trying his hardest not to show it, even though he was the last in line. He only touched Tegoshi lightly on his shoulder, to make sure he wouldn't get lost.
Yamapi suddenly stopped walking, pointing his flashlight at the floor. 'Check this out.', the light revealed an entrance to an underground room. 'There's a room downstairs.'
'OK, well we've seen enough, let's go back, right?' Koyama started to tremble, which made Shige instinctively squeeze his shoulders for reassurance.
'Come on, if we don't do this now, we'll never do it. We have to see what's in that room!', Shige said, a curious tone in his voice.
Ryo nodded behind him. 'Yeah, plus, this guy might come back any minute now. It's now or never.'
Yamapi nodded, taking the first step downstairs, and causing a creaking noise with each footstep. Upon finding the stairwell railings, Massu immediately let go of Tegoshi, much to the younger boy's disappointment. Ryo, however, upon hearing the creaking of the stairs, felt a shiver down his spine, instinctively moving both his hands to Shige's waist. The taller boy pretended not to notice it.
As soon as they reached the underground room, the boys all stood behind Yamapi, who by now was regretting ever coming to the house. The air felt stuffy and hot, and he couldn't find the light switch, once again relying on his flashlight to see anything in front of him.
And then there was a loud noise, something falling, or moving, or both. Yamapi quickly flashed his light to where the sound was coming from, and then something dashed right in front of them, hiding in a corner. Ryo dug his nails on Shige's waist, while Massu nearly fell down to the floor in fear, taking two or three steps back and grabbing Tegoshi's hand in the process.
'It's...', Koyama started, squinting. He could see two round eyes, only slightly visible through the light reflected upon them. He felt a wave of relief. 'It's a cat, guys.'
Tegoshi, heart still pounding for several different reasons, was nervously waiting for the moment Massu would let go of his hand. But that moment didn't seem to come, and so he turned around towards the older boy, staring into the darkness. 'You alright?'
Massu nodded, but then he realized no one could see him. He moved his thumb up and down Tegoshi's hand. 'Yeah.'
Tegoshi smiled, then turned his attention back to the group leader. 'Pi. What if he comes home? Can't we leave now?'
But Yamapi wasn't listening. He squinted his eyes, trying to figure out if what he was looking at was actually real. 'Guys.', he pointed his flashlight, illuminating the wall in front of them. 'Look at this...'
The boys gathered behind him, all mouths dropping at once. The wall was covered in photos. Except they were huge, and it took them a moment to understand they were actually posters. Boy band posters.
'What in the hell?!', Shige said, still feeling Ryo's hands on his waist. 'This guy... he's a KAT-TUN fan!?'
Yamapi's flashlight trembled as he moved it around the walls, revealing several other posters. Indeed, the gatekeeper was an avid fanboy, and the entire room was filled with KAT-TUN images.
'Holy shit. This guy is a creepy fanboy.', Ryo stated, not sure if he should feel insulted or relieved that the posters weren't of NEWS.
The group leader suddenly turned off his flashlight. 'Quiet.', he whispered, and soon they all realized why. The noise of a door opening startled them, and they knew it meant trouble.
The gatekeeper was back.