[arashi] [aibajun] the first five times [6/?]
TITLE: The First Five Times
PAIRING: Arashi, AibaJun, Ohmiya secondary
DISCLAIMER: Not mine. Oh god, not mine.
RATING: R because I freaking made Matsujun a freaking hooker you guys. Please note that the rating is mostly because of the language so far, and will probably continue that way. It's actually more of a screwball comedy .... about hookers.
SUMMARY: Jun doesn't usually freak out at night, but he'll make an exception.
NOTES: I guess I don't have any dignity left after all! Thanks to acchikocchi, beckerbell, honooko, lady_gemma, nyonyo and wintersjuly for putting up with my whining, iluguys ;___;♥
| PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR | PART FIVE | PART SIX |
Due to circumstances including 1) January 2) the worst snowstorm we've had in years, which meant I was away from my computer for four days and didn't have the wit to bring my flash drive OR upload the damn file to GoogleDocs, 3) being stuck and 4) finishing my freaking sweater, this is really late.
orz
OH GOD I DON'T CARE ANY MORE. IT SPENT A MONTH AT 700 WORDS FOR THE CHAPTER AND THEN IT SUDDENLY WENT TO 2300. There's like, plot! ... sort of. I'm still hoping to get it done by Valentine's Day.
"Hello?" said Sakurai, his voice slightly tinny over the line.
"Where are you at?" demanded Jun.
"Uh...Kind of by Johnny's? I'm dropping off something for Nino."
"I want you to come over about five blocks southwest," said Jun, "and take your friend away."
"Who?" said Sakurai blankly.
"HI SHO-CHAN," shrieked Aiba.
"Oh," said Sakurai. "That friend. Why?"
"He just tried to drag me into a restaurant called Artery Deathpit and make me eat a Fluffernutter," said Jun. He paused long enough to let that sink in. "And I don't know how to tell him this, but I am not actually that kind of girl. And he is really tired and hyper and hanging off my back and I have to meet a client in fifteen minutes."
"It's a marshmallow and peanut butter sandwich," said Sho. "They're actually really tasty."
"You come over here right now and take him to eat something healthy!" said Jun with barely suppressed emotion. "You will bring me a receipt and it will have both tofu and vegetables on it! You will eat with him, do you hear me!"
"I know a dietitian's program that's opening up now," said Sho, and then as Jun snarled into the phone, "fine, fine, I'm on my way over there."
"Eh," said Aiba, suddenly sleepy. "I don't really like tofu that much."
"I don't care," said Jun crossly. He felt responsible for making sure Aiba did not actually stumble into something and die, and it and the way he was coming off an adrenaline high too made him cranky. "You'll eat it because it's good for you."
"Mattsun is a kind person," said Aiba.
"Matsujun is a very tired and mean one," said Jun.
"No," said Aiba, sleepily. "All through the shoot, your hands were really cold, and I thought, Ah, his heart must be really warm!"
"Okay," said Jun, after replaying that over and over a few times with a sort of horrified, embarrassed fascination, "that is officially the worst line I have ever been fed in my entire professional career."
"It's not a line if I mean it," said Aiba, a little sharply, and Jun looked at him with surprise.
---
"So, uh," said Jun, staring at someone that he had frequently seen on posters.
"My friends wanted to hire you for me," explained the client. He really did look like a resigned platypus.
"But you're," began Jun.
"They said they didn't count," said the client. "Because they were used to me."
"But can't you find a fangirl to --" said Jun.
"Manager says we can't start rumors," said the client.
"Wait, and hiring a hooker is --"
"Not that type of rumor," said the client.
"Oh," said Jun rather blankly, and then, "Shall we begin?"
"Sure," said the client, "I can't get a cramp every time, right?"
Jun stared at him.
---
"Sorry for the trouble," said the client. "There's, er, a little extra for the pains."
"No," said Jun, smiling tightly. "No trouble at all. If I could offer you a word of advice?"
"You're the professional," said the client, so peacefully that Jun didn't even get mad at him for it.
"Stick with handjobs," said Jun, and stalked off.
It took him a couple of blocks to calm down enough to see the funny side of it. It wasn't the client's fault. It was just that he was so patient and resigned, and so terrible at everything he did. He had good hands, though, and once he stopped saying things like, When you throw your back out, let me know, I'm pretty good at fixing it, and just concentrated, it hadn't been bad at all.
Jun still kind of wanted a cigarette, though. He'd smoked the last of his pack while he was waiting for Sakurai (Aiba had that effect on people sometimes, especially when he was hyper and tired), and most of the stores were closed now. There was a machine that sold his brand in a side street nearby, he was pretty sure. He started down the street. The streets were cold and rather quiet; it wasn't chilly exactly, but the damp winter night soaked into his bones. He passed very few people.
Jun reached up and brushed the back of his hair absently.
He turned down the poorly lit side street. Most of the illumination came from the street lamps of the main road and what half-light the vending machines themselves provided. As he dug in his pocket for money, he heard a sound, like a rat or a can rolling. He lifted his head and listened, looking around.
The sound came again, something like a footstep. Someone moving quietly. Jun took his hand out of his pocket and began to move quietly and rapidly toward the main street. The footsteps sounded louder, louder, and Jun sped up, boot heels tapping rapidly against the stained concrete. He slid his hand in his pocket and pulled out his cellphone. He flipped it open, dialed Sho's number by memory, and listened to it ring with the minimum of attention, while he concentrated on his escape and the steps behind him. Prickles ran up and down his back.
"Hello?" said Sho.
"Hey," said Jun, and with great relief saw he was nearly to the main street. He concentrated on walking quickly but casually, as if he wasn't straining with his entire body to listen for the footsteps coming nearer.
"Is there something wrong?" said Sho.
"Not really," said Jun, keeping his eyes in front. He felt like a character in a story he had read once, who had been forbidden to look back at what followed them, lest they be transformed. "Hey, where are you at?"
"Your place, actually," said Sho. "Jun, is something wrong?"
"Not yet," said Jun, and took the last few steps into the main street nearly at a run. He let out a deep breath, but he kept walking rapidly.
"Jun," said Sho sharply.
"Sorry, I was on a side street to get cigarettes and it was a little creepy," said Jun, sliding quickly and expertly between the clots of people. His one thought was to get to the subway and thence to home as quickly and as carefully as possible.
"A little creepy," repeated Sho.
Not his usual route, Jun decided. He slid between two groups of people and cut across the street. "I should be home in a bit," he said.
"Jun," said Sho, "don't be an idiot, take a taxi, I'll pay them, or we can come and get you--"
"I'm fine," said Jun shortly, "I'll be there soon." He hung up. On the other hand, he thought, a taxi sounded pretty good.
When he walked in the door, there were four people waiting for him. Nino was pretending to play Mega Capture the Flag 360+, but he wasn't paying a lot of attention to it and he wasn't wearing his headset. Mostly he was making his player build up walls and walls of rocks and bricks, while some guy who wanted to do PvP tried to knock them down. As each wall was blasted, Nino built it back up again. Ohno was curled beside him, watching the door; he had his sketchbook out but he had one hand on Nino's thigh and the other rubbing the spiral binding absently. Sakurai was in the middle of the room, obviously pacing. As Jun took off his shoes, Sakurai came forward, half in a rush. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," snapped Jun. "Nothing happened. Why do you always freak out like this?"
"Sho-chan was really worried," said Aiba, his voice low, and Jun looked away from them.
"I'm freaking out," said Sho, his voice rising, "I'm freaking out because you called me up out of the fucking blue and acted like someone was fucking after you, and I've spent the last half an hour trying to figure out how we were going to let your family know what had fucking happened to you!"
"Fine, I'm sorry!" Jun set his bag down. "I shouldn't have gone down that way."
"This shouldn't have happened at all!" roared Sho, and Jun took a half step back, because Sho was angry, really angry, and that hardly ever happened. "When are you going to admit you need to do something with your life!"
"I am doing something with my life!" said Jun.
"You are not!" said Sho and then it was like all the anger went out of him, leaving a weary resignation that was worse than all the yelling he could do. "That was really scary, you know."
"I'm sorry I scared you," said Jun, a little stiffly. "I just got nervous, and I thought it would be a good idea to call someone. I won't bother you --"
"Punch him, Sho-chan," said Nino, turning his attention back to the game. "Punch him really hard."
"I am not going to punch Matsumoto," said Sho, glaring at Nino.
"Nobody is going to punch anybody," said Ohno, picking up his pencil again. "Did you eat, Jun?" The tension went out of the room, as if Ohno had let out a valve.
"No," said Jun grudgingly. "I mean, I had an energy bar before I met the client."
"I'll make you something," said Sho eagerly, and Jun didn't even have the heart to refuse.
After Sho had been convinced that all Jun really wanted was a sandwich ("But they're not very filling! don't you want omelet rice or something?" said Sho. Jun bit his tongue and tried not to imagine Sakurai let loose in his perfectly ordered kitchen. "There's some soup from my mum," said Nino, coming to the rescue less out of concern for Jun's blood pressure and more because he hated scrubbing the kitchen) and Nino had supervised him making it, Jun sat on the couch and picked at it and the pickle Sho had insisted on putting on the side. He wasn't very hungry.
Sho was sitting on the floor, arms leaning on the coffee table, watching him eat. It was a little unnerving, but Jun knew that he would keep watching until Jun ate enough to please him. "What happened?" said Sho.
"Well," said Jun slowly, "it seemed like someone was following me into the alley. And I don't usually get nervous at night, but something just seemed weird. You know, how you're alone and all of the sudden it feels like someone's watching you."
"You're such a girl," said Nino.
"Fuck you," said Jun. He took a bite of his sandwich. He couldn't taste it very well, which was probably just as well. There was a story going around that Sakurai had once bought a pre-made supper to impress a girl and had to rush her to the hospital with food poisoning, but Jun didn't believe it.
"Do you think it's that guy?" said Aiba suddenly. Jun choked a little on his bite and turned the full force of his worst glare on him. The last thing he needed was Sho freaking out again and following him everywhere.
"What guy?" said Sho quickly, and Jun put his sandwich down, all appetite gone. "The client you just refused to see anymore?"
Jun stared at Aiba, with a look that promised painful death if he --
"He kept calling Jun today," said Aiba. "Over and over again. And leaving texts."
"Oh, I'm so breaking up with you now," growled Jun, as Sho swelled up like a pufferfish.
"I'm worried too!" said Aiba loudly, and Jun flushed guiltily.
"MATSUMOTO JUN," said Sho, like the wrath of God, and Nino prudently blockaded himself and Ohno behind a wall of pillows.
---
He woke up and was disoriented for a moment. He never spent the night anywhere, even if the client offered him extra. He couldn't endure being that near another person for that long. He was never able to sleep or relax. There was someone with his arm slung around Jun's waist. They were still wearing clothes. Jun's heart began to race in panic, and he sat up. Aiba was beside him, still asleep, his lashes dipping over his cheeks, his hair spread a little over the white pillow. Jun was sure he was still half asleep. He sucked in a deep breath, as if he was in shock. Aiba's hand was curled by his cheek, long and elegant. The curve of his cheekbone was as perfect as a sculpture. The shirt he wore exposed the tender strong line of the back of his neck.
He looked around and realized they were still in the living room. Aiba must have spent the night -- there was Sho, too, and Nino and Ohno. Sho had pitched a magnificent fit, the best anybody had ever seen him throw, and Jun had finally promised to think about being careful.
He slid away from Aiba and stumbled toward his room. As he took off his sweater, the CD that Rie-chan had given him caught his eyes. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he picked it up and slid it into his computer.
He flipped through the images, looking at them. Aiba leaning against a pillar. Aiba looking off to the side of the set, his face quiet. Himself curled up, arms wrapped around his knees to display the jewelry he wore on his wrists. Aiba laughing at something. Aiba leaning over him. His own eyes, a little startled but pleased.
His own face, looking at the camera like a dare, his body curling a little toward Aiba. Aiba's sweet mouth in a secret curve. The natural way he posed as he leaned close to speak in Jun's ear and the way Jun listened with a slight amused smile.
I'm in love, thought Jun, and shuddered.
PAIRING: Arashi, AibaJun, Ohmiya secondary
DISCLAIMER: Not mine. Oh god, not mine.
RATING: R because I freaking made Matsujun a freaking hooker you guys. Please note that the rating is mostly because of the language so far, and will probably continue that way. It's actually more of a screwball comedy .... about hookers.
SUMMARY: Jun doesn't usually freak out at night, but he'll make an exception.
NOTES: I guess I don't have any dignity left after all! Thanks to acchikocchi, beckerbell, honooko, lady_gemma, nyonyo and wintersjuly for putting up with my whining, iluguys ;___;♥
| PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR | PART FIVE | PART SIX |
Due to circumstances including 1) January 2) the worst snowstorm we've had in years, which meant I was away from my computer for four days and didn't have the wit to bring my flash drive OR upload the damn file to GoogleDocs, 3) being stuck and 4) finishing my freaking sweater, this is really late.
orz
OH GOD I DON'T CARE ANY MORE. IT SPENT A MONTH AT 700 WORDS FOR THE CHAPTER AND THEN IT SUDDENLY WENT TO 2300. There's like, plot! ... sort of. I'm still hoping to get it done by Valentine's Day.
"Hello?" said Sakurai, his voice slightly tinny over the line.
"Where are you at?" demanded Jun.
"Uh...Kind of by Johnny's? I'm dropping off something for Nino."
"I want you to come over about five blocks southwest," said Jun, "and take your friend away."
"Who?" said Sakurai blankly.
"HI SHO-CHAN," shrieked Aiba.
"Oh," said Sakurai. "That friend. Why?"
"He just tried to drag me into a restaurant called Artery Deathpit and make me eat a Fluffernutter," said Jun. He paused long enough to let that sink in. "And I don't know how to tell him this, but I am not actually that kind of girl. And he is really tired and hyper and hanging off my back and I have to meet a client in fifteen minutes."
"It's a marshmallow and peanut butter sandwich," said Sho. "They're actually really tasty."
"You come over here right now and take him to eat something healthy!" said Jun with barely suppressed emotion. "You will bring me a receipt and it will have both tofu and vegetables on it! You will eat with him, do you hear me!"
"I know a dietitian's program that's opening up now," said Sho, and then as Jun snarled into the phone, "fine, fine, I'm on my way over there."
"Eh," said Aiba, suddenly sleepy. "I don't really like tofu that much."
"I don't care," said Jun crossly. He felt responsible for making sure Aiba did not actually stumble into something and die, and it and the way he was coming off an adrenaline high too made him cranky. "You'll eat it because it's good for you."
"Mattsun is a kind person," said Aiba.
"Matsujun is a very tired and mean one," said Jun.
"No," said Aiba, sleepily. "All through the shoot, your hands were really cold, and I thought, Ah, his heart must be really warm!"
"Okay," said Jun, after replaying that over and over a few times with a sort of horrified, embarrassed fascination, "that is officially the worst line I have ever been fed in my entire professional career."
"It's not a line if I mean it," said Aiba, a little sharply, and Jun looked at him with surprise.
---
"So, uh," said Jun, staring at someone that he had frequently seen on posters.
"My friends wanted to hire you for me," explained the client. He really did look like a resigned platypus.
"But you're," began Jun.
"They said they didn't count," said the client. "Because they were used to me."
"But can't you find a fangirl to --" said Jun.
"Manager says we can't start rumors," said the client.
"Wait, and hiring a hooker is --"
"Not that type of rumor," said the client.
"Oh," said Jun rather blankly, and then, "Shall we begin?"
"Sure," said the client, "I can't get a cramp every time, right?"
Jun stared at him.
---
"Sorry for the trouble," said the client. "There's, er, a little extra for the pains."
"No," said Jun, smiling tightly. "No trouble at all. If I could offer you a word of advice?"
"You're the professional," said the client, so peacefully that Jun didn't even get mad at him for it.
"Stick with handjobs," said Jun, and stalked off.
It took him a couple of blocks to calm down enough to see the funny side of it. It wasn't the client's fault. It was just that he was so patient and resigned, and so terrible at everything he did. He had good hands, though, and once he stopped saying things like, When you throw your back out, let me know, I'm pretty good at fixing it, and just concentrated, it hadn't been bad at all.
Jun still kind of wanted a cigarette, though. He'd smoked the last of his pack while he was waiting for Sakurai (Aiba had that effect on people sometimes, especially when he was hyper and tired), and most of the stores were closed now. There was a machine that sold his brand in a side street nearby, he was pretty sure. He started down the street. The streets were cold and rather quiet; it wasn't chilly exactly, but the damp winter night soaked into his bones. He passed very few people.
Jun reached up and brushed the back of his hair absently.
He turned down the poorly lit side street. Most of the illumination came from the street lamps of the main road and what half-light the vending machines themselves provided. As he dug in his pocket for money, he heard a sound, like a rat or a can rolling. He lifted his head and listened, looking around.
The sound came again, something like a footstep. Someone moving quietly. Jun took his hand out of his pocket and began to move quietly and rapidly toward the main street. The footsteps sounded louder, louder, and Jun sped up, boot heels tapping rapidly against the stained concrete. He slid his hand in his pocket and pulled out his cellphone. He flipped it open, dialed Sho's number by memory, and listened to it ring with the minimum of attention, while he concentrated on his escape and the steps behind him. Prickles ran up and down his back.
"Hello?" said Sho.
"Hey," said Jun, and with great relief saw he was nearly to the main street. He concentrated on walking quickly but casually, as if he wasn't straining with his entire body to listen for the footsteps coming nearer.
"Is there something wrong?" said Sho.
"Not really," said Jun, keeping his eyes in front. He felt like a character in a story he had read once, who had been forbidden to look back at what followed them, lest they be transformed. "Hey, where are you at?"
"Your place, actually," said Sho. "Jun, is something wrong?"
"Not yet," said Jun, and took the last few steps into the main street nearly at a run. He let out a deep breath, but he kept walking rapidly.
"Jun," said Sho sharply.
"Sorry, I was on a side street to get cigarettes and it was a little creepy," said Jun, sliding quickly and expertly between the clots of people. His one thought was to get to the subway and thence to home as quickly and as carefully as possible.
"A little creepy," repeated Sho.
Not his usual route, Jun decided. He slid between two groups of people and cut across the street. "I should be home in a bit," he said.
"Jun," said Sho, "don't be an idiot, take a taxi, I'll pay them, or we can come and get you--"
"I'm fine," said Jun shortly, "I'll be there soon." He hung up. On the other hand, he thought, a taxi sounded pretty good.
When he walked in the door, there were four people waiting for him. Nino was pretending to play Mega Capture the Flag 360+, but he wasn't paying a lot of attention to it and he wasn't wearing his headset. Mostly he was making his player build up walls and walls of rocks and bricks, while some guy who wanted to do PvP tried to knock them down. As each wall was blasted, Nino built it back up again. Ohno was curled beside him, watching the door; he had his sketchbook out but he had one hand on Nino's thigh and the other rubbing the spiral binding absently. Sakurai was in the middle of the room, obviously pacing. As Jun took off his shoes, Sakurai came forward, half in a rush. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," snapped Jun. "Nothing happened. Why do you always freak out like this?"
"Sho-chan was really worried," said Aiba, his voice low, and Jun looked away from them.
"I'm freaking out," said Sho, his voice rising, "I'm freaking out because you called me up out of the fucking blue and acted like someone was fucking after you, and I've spent the last half an hour trying to figure out how we were going to let your family know what had fucking happened to you!"
"Fine, I'm sorry!" Jun set his bag down. "I shouldn't have gone down that way."
"This shouldn't have happened at all!" roared Sho, and Jun took a half step back, because Sho was angry, really angry, and that hardly ever happened. "When are you going to admit you need to do something with your life!"
"I am doing something with my life!" said Jun.
"You are not!" said Sho and then it was like all the anger went out of him, leaving a weary resignation that was worse than all the yelling he could do. "That was really scary, you know."
"I'm sorry I scared you," said Jun, a little stiffly. "I just got nervous, and I thought it would be a good idea to call someone. I won't bother you --"
"Punch him, Sho-chan," said Nino, turning his attention back to the game. "Punch him really hard."
"I am not going to punch Matsumoto," said Sho, glaring at Nino.
"Nobody is going to punch anybody," said Ohno, picking up his pencil again. "Did you eat, Jun?" The tension went out of the room, as if Ohno had let out a valve.
"No," said Jun grudgingly. "I mean, I had an energy bar before I met the client."
"I'll make you something," said Sho eagerly, and Jun didn't even have the heart to refuse.
After Sho had been convinced that all Jun really wanted was a sandwich ("But they're not very filling! don't you want omelet rice or something?" said Sho. Jun bit his tongue and tried not to imagine Sakurai let loose in his perfectly ordered kitchen. "There's some soup from my mum," said Nino, coming to the rescue less out of concern for Jun's blood pressure and more because he hated scrubbing the kitchen) and Nino had supervised him making it, Jun sat on the couch and picked at it and the pickle Sho had insisted on putting on the side. He wasn't very hungry.
Sho was sitting on the floor, arms leaning on the coffee table, watching him eat. It was a little unnerving, but Jun knew that he would keep watching until Jun ate enough to please him. "What happened?" said Sho.
"Well," said Jun slowly, "it seemed like someone was following me into the alley. And I don't usually get nervous at night, but something just seemed weird. You know, how you're alone and all of the sudden it feels like someone's watching you."
"You're such a girl," said Nino.
"Fuck you," said Jun. He took a bite of his sandwich. He couldn't taste it very well, which was probably just as well. There was a story going around that Sakurai had once bought a pre-made supper to impress a girl and had to rush her to the hospital with food poisoning, but Jun didn't believe it.
"Do you think it's that guy?" said Aiba suddenly. Jun choked a little on his bite and turned the full force of his worst glare on him. The last thing he needed was Sho freaking out again and following him everywhere.
"What guy?" said Sho quickly, and Jun put his sandwich down, all appetite gone. "The client you just refused to see anymore?"
Jun stared at Aiba, with a look that promised painful death if he --
"He kept calling Jun today," said Aiba. "Over and over again. And leaving texts."
"Oh, I'm so breaking up with you now," growled Jun, as Sho swelled up like a pufferfish.
"I'm worried too!" said Aiba loudly, and Jun flushed guiltily.
"MATSUMOTO JUN," said Sho, like the wrath of God, and Nino prudently blockaded himself and Ohno behind a wall of pillows.
---
He woke up and was disoriented for a moment. He never spent the night anywhere, even if the client offered him extra. He couldn't endure being that near another person for that long. He was never able to sleep or relax. There was someone with his arm slung around Jun's waist. They were still wearing clothes. Jun's heart began to race in panic, and he sat up. Aiba was beside him, still asleep, his lashes dipping over his cheeks, his hair spread a little over the white pillow. Jun was sure he was still half asleep. He sucked in a deep breath, as if he was in shock. Aiba's hand was curled by his cheek, long and elegant. The curve of his cheekbone was as perfect as a sculpture. The shirt he wore exposed the tender strong line of the back of his neck.
He looked around and realized they were still in the living room. Aiba must have spent the night -- there was Sho, too, and Nino and Ohno. Sho had pitched a magnificent fit, the best anybody had ever seen him throw, and Jun had finally promised to think about being careful.
He slid away from Aiba and stumbled toward his room. As he took off his sweater, the CD that Rie-chan had given him caught his eyes. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he picked it up and slid it into his computer.
He flipped through the images, looking at them. Aiba leaning against a pillar. Aiba looking off to the side of the set, his face quiet. Himself curled up, arms wrapped around his knees to display the jewelry he wore on his wrists. Aiba laughing at something. Aiba leaning over him. His own eyes, a little startled but pleased.
His own face, looking at the camera like a dare, his body curling a little toward Aiba. Aiba's sweet mouth in a secret curve. The natural way he posed as he leaned close to speak in Jun's ear and the way Jun listened with a slight amused smile.
I'm in love, thought Jun, and shuddered.