Series: In his eyes, I find forever (8/13)
Title: In his eyes, I find forever (8/13)
Pairings: Takabu (hinted/one-sided), YabuHika (hinted, one-sided)
Warnings: A little too angsty at times?
Genre: Romance/Angst
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Yeah...well...I wish I owned them, but I don't.
Summary: The storyline starts from when the original Hey!Say!7 guest-starred on Shounen Club and moves on from there. It’s a Takaki-centric fic that follows him from the previously mentioned point on as he experiences the pros and cons of being one of the oldest members of the then-newly-formed Hey!Say!JUMP and his interactions with his new bandmates, particularly one Yabu Kota.
Previous chapters:
Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven
He hadn't felt this confused in a long time.
But then, anyone would be confused when seeing Yaotome Hikaru acting this kind of weird.
Takaki didn’t think he had done anything wrong though. His costume was on perfectly. He knew all the dance steps to a t. He wasn’t a step offbeat when he sang.
And everyone was the same level now, after only two weeks of officially being a ‘group’. Okamo-Keito was finally beginning to break out of his shell. Yuto was getting back to being his goofy self. Chinen was even giving out princess hugs again.
Then, there’s Yabu.
He supposed he wasn’t surprised. Mere seconds after that incident at the restaurant, Yabu was back to being … whatever Yabu was. Superman, golden boy, whatever it was, Yabu was living it and living it large. He was everywhere at once, giving Chinen princess hugs, rescuing 7 from the horrors of extra frilly costumes, pointing out to BEST the girls who were ‘10s’, joking with the reporters, and still maintaining the personality that had landed him the role of Ya-ya-yah, juniors, and now unofficial Hey!Say!JUMP leader. Takaki didn’t know how Yabu did it.
But then there was Hikaru.
He had never had a problem with Yaotome Hikaru. He didn’t even know him that well. But J.J. Express had done a lot of collaborations with Ya-ya-yah, from simply being highlighted background dancers to singing and dancing together as one big group. So he had had some encounters with Hey!Say!JUMP’s other former Ya-ya-yah member.
Hikaru had always been a goof, from the first day he had joined Ya-ya-yah on. His energy was endless. He was everywhere Takaki went as a junior, high-fiving Inoo, teasing Daiki on his height, complaining loudly (and jokingly) about Hasshi and how he was probably going to succeed Yabu as the juniors leader someday, glomping Kamei, even joking with Takaki himself from time to time. Hikaru’s first concern had always been Ya-ya-yah, of course, and supporting Yabu, Shoon, and Taiyo at every twist and turn. But he had always had time for J.J. Express, even having that trademark Yaotome Hikaru grin firmly in place.
So seeing Hikaru act like this was simply….odd.
It could have been his mind playing tricks on him again. But he could have sworn there was an edge in Hikaru’s eyes when he was near Takaki. There was something in his eyes at any rate, whether it was a hint of suspicion or anger or whatever. Either way, Takaki had taken to avoiding any eye contact with him.
And contact in general.
He supposed eventually, he’d have to confront Hikaru. After all, Hey!Say!JUMP was still a new group. They couldn’t afford any animosity, not while they were still promoting their first single.
Yabu can’t afford any animosity at all.
But who knew Hikaru would confront him?
“I’ve been wanting to grab you for a while now,” The younger man murmured, pulling him aside after saying their goodbyes to everyone at the end of a particularly great rehearsal. “We need to talk.”
“About?”
“Kota.” Takaki froze.
“What’s there to talk about?”
“Everything.”
Hikaru then lead him to a nearby café. Small, private, yet tasteful. Takaki himself had never seen it before but he supposed Hikaru was a regular, from the way the waitress nodded to him before leading them to a table in one of the back rooms.
“So, what do you want to talk about?” Takaki asked, nodding his thanks to the waitressas she set his tea down in front of him. Hikaru stirred his own tea, his eyes focused on the ripples in his cup.
“Hikaru?” He tried again.
Still nothing.
“Well, I-”
“We always come to this place,” Hikaru began, his eyes still on his tea. “Kota and I. He brought me here the first day I met him. Said he always loved coming here when he needed to get away from it all. It kind of became a thing for Ya-ya-yah to come here every week. Especially me and Kota. It’s been a haven of sorts to us.”
Takaki’s interest was piqued. Yabu’s pre-debut days were a mystery to pretty near everyone. Maybe the sempai and Ya-ya-yah knew him. But still, he had been a slightly mysterious figure even back then. Sure, he’d hang out with the juniors and host sleepovers at his house and head to the arcade like the rest of them. But there was a mysterious air to Yabu all the same, a kind of guard that he only let down around a select few.
But still…why is he telling me this?
“The owner’s a Johnny, you see,” Hikaru continued. “Actually he debuted in the nineties. So he understood us. He even has the manager give Johnny’s members free drinks whenever they come around.”
“Hikaru-”
“Takaki-kun” Hikaru’s eyes flickered up to meet his. “I know Kota. I’ve known him forever. I know what his favorite flavor of toothpaste is, why he’s so embarrassed to talk about last summer’s SUMMARY concert, which Johnny’s he used to have a man-crush on, how he likes his coffee, everything.”
“So?”
“I also know who he is. I know what makes him sad. I know what makes him happy. I know his quirks, his shy points, his thought process and his body language to a degree only a few people can say they understand about Kota.”
He had never been a very patient guy. “Get to the point, Yaotome.”
Hikaru’s eyes narrowed. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
“No, you’re lying.” Hikaru’s voice hitched. “They all say that. It’s never the truth when it comes to Kota, though.”
He froze. “Hikaru…”
“I’ve seen the way you look at him. Like you’re trying to see him, inside and out. Like you’re trying to be the person he needs. Like you’re trying to be the person Yabu Kota can lean on for support. Do you know how many people have tried to be that person?”
“Hika-”
“Answer the question, Takaki!”
He was wrong. Hikaru wasn’t just acting odd. He was acting plain crazy.
“No…”
“Dozens, Takaki, dozens! And every time they promise they see him. And every time, Kota believes them. He wants that so badly, Takaki,” Hikaru’s voice softened again. “He needs someone to see him. He needs someone to see how broken he is.”
Hikaru got up. Takaki stood up with him. “Hikaru, I promi-”
“Do you see him? Do you really see him?” Hikaru whispered, staring at him with those hard-set brown eyes. “Because if you don’t, Takaki-kun, I promise you, I’ll win him away from you. And I will never let you or anyone else touch him again.”
Everything about Hikaru’s stance was firm, solid. There was nothing of the goofy Hikaru here, nothing of the dorky grins, the dumb jokes, the playful teasing. This was an adult. This was a debuted Johnny.
This was Yabu’s best friend.
“Yeah, Hikaru, I do.”
For a second, Takaki honestly thought it was over. Hikaru’s shoulders loosened, his eyes softened, his fists loosened. The hardness in his stance was gone, replaced by not the goof, but something relatively closer to him.
Hikaru reached out a hand and caressed his face softly. Look at me. His eyes seemed to say. Look at me and show me you won’t hurt him.
Takaki complied. The sadness in Hikaru’s eyes grew. “You’re lying to me, Yuya.”
Then the younger man left, leaving him alone in the shadows. He reached up, his fingers caressing the spot where Hikaru’s hand had once been.
Takaki had never been more scared of the truth in his life.
A/N: I was complaining SO much about this chapter but when I sat down to write it, it only took me a half hour. Huh.
Hikaru’s a big part of this chapter, obviously. Yabu’s not in this chapter, but mainly because Takaki DOES have experiences that don’t involve him and this one needed to have Yabu only mentioned. And this one did need to be written, because A) I wanted Hikaru back in and B) it needed to be written. A lot of you are probably not going to like Hika in this one but I personally love him. I think Yabu and Hika have such a great dynamic between them and if anyone knows Yabu, it’s Hika. So that’s why this chapter is what it is.
My notes are getting smaller and smaller these days…I’m supposing that now that I know what I want with this story, I have less and less to discuss about it. Oh well. It saves my energy for when Jen and Ani comment. ^_^!
I hope you enjoyed it!