Je: Loss of Gravity (1/1)
Title:Loss of Gravity
Fandom: JE, Juniors, BI Shadow
Author: blahchiharu
Pairing: Nakaken/Takahata
Rating: G
wordcount: ~3000
Summary: Takahata is very bad at his parental duties.
"Talking about Takahata kun, I fixed his sleeves on the stage the other day during JUMP concert. Then, he thanked me by saying “thanks” in my ear but, his voice sounded so cool and manly."- Nakaken, winkup
Takahata isn’t particularly fond of Nakaken. Nakaken is too keen, too happy, and too eager. He’s the first to argue but the last to apologize, always ready to take another leap at anything and everything. In the early days of their friendship Takahata had thought his annoyance of the boy would pass. It doesn’t, although Nakaken’s overbearing brightness is dimmed somewhat by Fuma’s addition in completing their three-man team.
Sometimes, though, the boy’s chirpiness gets the best of Takahata, and even Fuma’s passive nature can’t help Takahata’s headache from escalating into something more. Today is one of those days.
Even Shintaro starts to take notice when Takahata trips over a microphone and takes the majority of the fresh juniors and MIS SNOW MAN down during shokura rehearsal.
“What’s got his panties in a twist?” Taiga asks, arms folded. He has developed a habit of talking dirty ever since Koyama-senpai called him “cute” one too many times. In his attempt to prove his inherent manliness, Taiga has taken up swearing, among other supposedly crude things.
Nozawa ignores this as he helps Iwamoto to his feet. “Has something been bothering you, Misaki-kun?”
“No,” Takahata grumbles, not bothering to get up.
“He’s love-sick.” Fuma supplies eagerly. “Trouble in paradise with Mariya-chan.”
“It’s not that,” Takahata snaps.
“All it takes is one phone call,” Nakaken wrap an arm around the sulking boy, pulling out his cellphone. “I have her number right here.” He scrolls through the contact list as the names of Scrap Teacher cast mates flash before their eyes.
“Get off of me,” Takahata says instead, throwing Nakaken’s arm off with a little too much force. He pulls himself off the floor, heading towards the door with a mumble of “I’m taking a break”. Takahata ignores the incredulous faces of the other juniors and the hurt flashing across Nakaken’s face.
“Alright,” Fuma asks that night over the phone. “Want to tell me what happened?”
Takahata is pretty sure that, at this rate, everyone in the jimusho will know by tomorrow. Yet, the tenderness in Fuma’s voice is soothing, and for the first time today Takahata realizes that all he ever wanted was for someone to listen to him. “Mariya and I broke up,” he says.
“Oh.” Fuma replies cautiously. “Was it a mutual agreement, or...”
“I made her cry,” Takahata adds. He feels bad, not for breaking up with the girl, but for hurting her with his general apathy.
“Misaki-kun,” Fuma replies with a laugh. “You’re going to be making a lot more girls cry in the future, you know that, right?”
Takahata laughs in return, and their conversation shifts to rehearsal schedules and Fuma’s homework and Takahata’s misplaced dance shoes.
He liked Mariya a lot. The way she walked, the way she hugged him, and the way she fussed over her bangs used to bring an easy smile to his face. But one day he woke up and suddenly felt disinterested in the girl. Takahata had felt like a total jerk when he broke it off, yet emotions didn’t stir within him. He doesn’t tell Fuma that, what really bothers him, is the fear that he’ll never stop being this indifferent.
“I heard about what happened,” Nakaken says the next day. He stands hesitantly, hair blown out of proportion by the February wind. Behind him the sky is a lovely shade of blue.
Takahata finally looks up from his cell phone. He leans back against the fence, ignoring the momentary loss of gravity that overcomes him.
“You shouldn’t do that,” Nakaken points out, nodding towards the thin fencing covering the edge of the jimusho roof top. “That thing could break, and you could plunge five stories down.” He grins. “Who would back-dance for me if that happens?”
“You’ll be fine,” Takahata grins in return. He doesn’t tell the boy that the temporarily fear of falling is what he likes the most about sitting on the roof.
Nakaken sits alongside the boy for a good twenty minutes, periodically dropping candy and various other sweets in Takahata’s lap. They slip back into rehearsal wordlessly and find Fuma laughing with Anderson.
Fans find out about Yuto’s injury within a few days. What they don’t know, however, is the fact that Nakaken had been the cause of it. Yuto manages to grab Nakaken in time to avoid a falling light on set during the live stage of showa heisei, but Yuto is the one who ends up with fractured bones in his foot instead.
Fuma’s jaw drops while Yamada shoots forward. Chinen gasps and exchange looks of confusion with Shintaro. Ryutaro shushes the other back-up dancers as the stage-crew calls the paramedics.
Nakaken can only stare as the taller boy winces in pain. Both of them are scrawled over the floor, but Yuto is the one that took the hit. He flinches when Yamada sends him a sharp look. Nakaken doesn’t move until Takahata helps him up. Yamada ignores him for the rest of the day while Nakaken joylessly redo their routine without Yuto.
“It’s all my fault,” Nakaken insists. “And now Yamada-kun hates me.” He picks at the hem of his bag and stares at his converse-clad shoes.
“Yamada will get over it.” Takahata tells him, busy changing into a clean shirt. He senses the tension and the look of confusion periodically flashing in the other boy’s eyes. Nakaken’s infatuation with Yamada is evident, and while the JUMP member hardly deigns to acknowledge his hero-worship, Nakaken undoubtedly considers Yuto as his rival for Yamada’s attention. The fact that Yuto would save Nakaken from anything throws the boy off-kilter considerably.
Takahata thinks Nakaken will stop brooding, but he goes to practice two days later to find that Nakaken is still fidgeting over it. He blinks when Nakaken immediately retracts his hand from the doorknob when they reach for it at the same time.
“Sorry,” the normally energetic boy mumbles.
It happens again when Nakaken bumps into Fuma and when he accidentally walks into Sanada in the hallway. Takahata watches patiently before pulling Nakaken over. “They won’t break from coming in contact with you,” he says. “You know that, right?”
“I -just.” Nakaken begins but promptly shuts down. Behind him, Fuma eyes the two of them with interest but says nothing.
“You won’t break any of us.” Takahata repeats, giving the sulking boy a look. He grabs Nakaken by the hand, ignoring the boy’s attempt to withdraw it. “See? I’m perfectly fine. Yuto-kun is fine, too. They said he’ll heal within two weeks. JUMP’s in their dressing room right now, you can check it out for yourself.”
“Wow,” Fuma says when Nakaken finally runs off to thank Yuto. “Kento and I would be nothing without you.”
“I think,” Nakaken tells him when Takahata is pulling at his skirt. “That Fuuko likes Yuu-chan.”
“What?” Takahata stares, his bright and horribly uncomfortable wig already falling halfway off. Behind him Nakata and Hamada laugh over something obscure while Taiga complains about his nonexistent perspiration problem.
“Fuuko likes Yuma,” Nakaken tries again, rolling his eyes as he emphasizes certain syllables. “You know…”
“Oh.” Takahata says. “Fuma and Nakayama?” He turns around to watch the other juniors prance about the set. Half of them, including Takahata himself, are dressed in skirts. Fuma and Nakayama are talking to each other in a corner. “Why, do you not like Nakayama or something?”
“I’m perfectly fine with him,” Nakaken huffs. “But don’t you think they’re a little bit weird for agreeing to be a couple?” He squints his eyes and attempts to spy some more on the two.
Takahata doesn’t bother to point out that they are supposed to be a couple too, albeit a cross-dressing one, at least on Takahata’s side. Nakaken probably hasn’t even gotten to that part on their script yet.
“Oh, please.” Taiga is telling Uekusa. “They gave me the crappy role because there wasn’t a skirt in my size.”
“I don’t know,” Uekusa replies absently. “Kikuchi-kun does look good in his uniform.”
“Uekusa is leering at Kikuchi’s legs!” Shintaro declares rather loudly, grinning in glee. Half of the cast stares. Fuma blinks and closes his legs a little.
“Why not?” Nakata grins, leaning his elbow on Nakaken’s head. “He looks very pretty as a girl.”
“I would date him.” Hamada adds. “Misaki-kun looks pretty good, too.” He grabs the end of Takahata’s copper red wig.
“Back off,” Nakaken slaps the kansai junior’s hand aside. “Misa-chan is mine!” He loops an arm around Takahata protectively, grinning when the photographer takes another photo of them for the magazine.
Oh, Takahata thinks. Apparently Nakaken did read the script.
Except maybe Fuma does like Nakayama, perhaps not the way Nakaken imagined. Takahata thinks, as the oldest member, the parental responsibilities fall on him by default. Besides, Fuma’s admiration isn’t as apparent as Nakaken’s hero-worship. It’s a quiet sort of respect, although Takahata doesn’t know where Fuma learned it all.
Nakaken soon forgets his brilliant idea and is oblivious to Fuma’s soft signs and dreamy gazes. Takahata says nothing, too busy engrossed in preparation for graduation and high school entrance. The thought is pushed to the back of his mind until Fuma comes to rehearsal one day with swollen eyes.
“Are you being bullied in school?” Nakaken wants to know. “Because I’ll beat them up and-”
“I didn’t get a lot of sleep this week.” Fuma explains instead. He comes to sit by Takahata during break, hands clenching at the fabric of his sweatpants as he leans into Takahata’s side. “I’m really stupid.”
“Tell me what happened,” Takahata replies, although there’s no bossiness in his voice. He listens as Fuma talks of Nakayama’s pretty girlfriend. Fuma doesn’t cry, but he lays his head on the older boy’s shoulder for a good thirty minutes as they sit on the bench wordlessly, Takahata occasionally patting Fuma on the back.
“I wanted to be his friend,” Fuma says. “But we’re so different, and I don’t know anything about him.”
“You’re a good friend.” Takahata replies soothingly, fixing Fuma’s heavy bangs. “Maybe, if you ask nicely, Kento will beat him up for you.”
Fuma laughs until Nakaken wanders over, completely clueless.
Between staying up for his finals and rushing to rehearsals after school without his jacket, Takahata gets sick rather quickly. He spends twenty minutes fanning himself with the sheet of their next shokura lineup and scratching at the collar of his shirt, face already flushed from the heat in the room.
“So I go onto the stage first and,” Nakaken blinks. “Misaki, are you listening?” His hand touches Takahata’s burning arms.
Takahata vaguely remembers the other boy getting closer before collapsing on the dance floor.
He regains consciousness a few minutes later, blinking at the sea of faces crowded over him on the couch. Abe hands him some water while Fujigaya takes his temperature. Takahata says nothing at the sake of his scratchy throat and gladly welcomes Koyama-kun when he comes with some pills for Takahata’s fever.
Everyone finally leave when Takahata convinces them that there is no need to contact his mother. Fuma and Nakaken sit on the chairs next to the lone couch in ABC’s dressing room. Fuma looks confused while Nakaken’s expression is unreadable.
“There’s a bump on my head,” Takahata says. He grins somewhat. “That was kind of lame of me, huh?”
“Kento freaked out,” Fuma replies quietly. “I’m surprised you didn’t wake up from him shaking you so violently.”
Takahata blinks. Nakaken says nothing for a few seconds before he finally meets Takahata’s gaze. Nakaken’s eyes are red and he looks hopeless. “You said you wouldn’t break,” he murmurs softly. “You said you wouldn’t break from my touch but you fainted and I didn’t know what to do and you wouldn’t wake up and-”
“I’m fine now.” Takahata points out, ignoring his pounding headache and the dampness of his shirt. “Stop worrying.”
“You don’t understand,” Fuma says. “We’re completely lost without you.”
Takahata pauses, not sure how to reply. The silence is interrupted by his coughing fit and Fuma has to run to the hallway for a cup of water. Takahata sits in the room with Nakaken, who is still staring adamantly at the floor.
“You’re a dork.” Takahata says. “Did you really think I fainted from your touch? You’re not that attractive.”
Nakaken gives him a weak smile in return. “Recently I’ve been worrying over nothing. I can’t even look at Yamada-kun in face, even if Yuto-kun forgave me. All I can think about is how disappointed you’d be, and how you’ll tell me to get over it. In fact, I think about you so much that I kind of want to punch you.” He pinches the sick boy lightly on the arm.
Takahata ignores the last part. “Maybe you like me,” he says slowly.
“And I hate the way you talk without meaning anything,” Nakaken adds, face torn between annoyance and hurt. “You say all these things. It’s like you don’t even care!” He shoots out of his seat and storms out of the room in time to bump into Fuma.
“What was that?” Fuma asks, handing Takahata some water.
“Apparently I’m a selfish jerk.” Takahata replies absently, sipping from the cup.
Fuma tilts his head sideways and looks at him in confusion.
“Aw, did you have a lover’s quarrel?” Shintaro asks smugly at practice.
Takahata follows Shintaro’s gaze to Nakaken, who is practicing his dance moves at a corner of the room. He notices their stare and meets Takahata’s eyes for a second before turning back against the mirror. “I don’t even know.”
“Maybe he does like you,” Fuma shrugs when Takahata relays their “fight” over lunch. “You two are the same age, you know. Maybe Kento is tired of you treating him like a kid. Maybe he thinks you don’t respect him.”
“I do respect him,” Takahata argues.
“Good.” Fuma grins. “Then you can tell him yourself,” he points behind Takahata, and Takahata turns around to find Nakaken standing behind them with a guilty look. Fuma suddenly gets up to wander elsewhere, probably to chat with MIS SNOW MAN.
“I am childish, though.” Nakaken says when he takes Fuma’s seat. “All I do is complain about things and whine when they don’t go my way. You and Yamada-kun are the only two things that aren’t going my way, and I don’t even care about Yamada-kun anymore.”
“What does that even mean?” Takahata stares.
“It means,” Nakaken replies rather loudly. “That I like you. Okay? I like you more than Yamada-kun and Yoko-chan from class 3-E so please accept my feelings!”
Takahata stares before bursting out laughing.
“Shut up!” Nakaken barks, face flushed. “It’s not easy to confess to someone blank faced like you, okay? Don’t laugh in the face of my courage!” He turns around to storm out of the room, but stops when Takahata grabs him by the arm.
“I’m only laughing,” Takahata says between chuckles, “because you’re cute.”
“Oh.” Nakaken blinks. “Well, okay, then.”
They tell Fuma, who looks more amused than surprised. Nakaken and Takahata walk home together with increasing frequency and spend more time together on weekends, mostly doing homework. Nakaken kisses him on the first floor of the jimusho building one day when Takahata is fumbling through his bag for his Suica card. No one around them notices, but Takahata looks up to find a completely nervous Nakaken biting his lips.
“Is that okay?” The boy wants to know.
“Yeah.” Takahata grins.
“Did you do a lot of this stuff with Mariya-chan?” Nakaken asks.
Takahata laughs instead. “Maybe.”
Nakaken looks rather determined. “I’m going to send her a picture of us kissing.”
“You’re horrible.” Takahata grins, going in for another kiss.
“Get a room, the two of you!” Yuto whistles as JUMP files out the elevator.
Yamada gives them a knowing look. “Do it while you still can, because one day he’ll be ten feet tall.”
“Yama-chan had to buy a footstool to stand on.” Yuto chirps.
“I did not!” Yamada snaps in return.
“Aw, love is in the air.” Fuma croons when he catches up with his band mates. Yamajima is busy arguing as they walk out of the building. Well, Yuto is grinning while Yamada is lecturing Yuto half-heartedly. He pauses when HEY!SAY!WEST come out of the staircase. Fuma waves at Nakayama, but is stopped when Takahata and Nakaken grab him by the arms.
“You’re a hundred years too young to date him.” Takahata tells Fuma.
[Fin]
AN: Nishiuchi Mariya is Takahata's cute little girlfriend from episode seven of Scrap Teacher 8D I think they're so cute together. Oh, and she was also Chika from Seigi no Mikata
lol the whole crossdressing thing is from this. I died laughing
Love it? Hate it? Please leave some feedback, even if it may be a little late. You can also join the community, since I'll be locking up NC17 fics.
Fandom: JE, Juniors, BI Shadow
Author: blahchiharu
Pairing: Nakaken/Takahata
Rating: G
wordcount: ~3000
Summary: Takahata is very bad at his parental duties.
"Talking about Takahata kun, I fixed his sleeves on the stage the other day during JUMP concert. Then, he thanked me by saying “thanks” in my ear but, his voice sounded so cool and manly."- Nakaken, winkup
Takahata isn’t particularly fond of Nakaken. Nakaken is too keen, too happy, and too eager. He’s the first to argue but the last to apologize, always ready to take another leap at anything and everything. In the early days of their friendship Takahata had thought his annoyance of the boy would pass. It doesn’t, although Nakaken’s overbearing brightness is dimmed somewhat by Fuma’s addition in completing their three-man team.
Sometimes, though, the boy’s chirpiness gets the best of Takahata, and even Fuma’s passive nature can’t help Takahata’s headache from escalating into something more. Today is one of those days.
Even Shintaro starts to take notice when Takahata trips over a microphone and takes the majority of the fresh juniors and MIS SNOW MAN down during shokura rehearsal.
“What’s got his panties in a twist?” Taiga asks, arms folded. He has developed a habit of talking dirty ever since Koyama-senpai called him “cute” one too many times. In his attempt to prove his inherent manliness, Taiga has taken up swearing, among other supposedly crude things.
Nozawa ignores this as he helps Iwamoto to his feet. “Has something been bothering you, Misaki-kun?”
“No,” Takahata grumbles, not bothering to get up.
“He’s love-sick.” Fuma supplies eagerly. “Trouble in paradise with Mariya-chan.”
“It’s not that,” Takahata snaps.
“All it takes is one phone call,” Nakaken wrap an arm around the sulking boy, pulling out his cellphone. “I have her number right here.” He scrolls through the contact list as the names of Scrap Teacher cast mates flash before their eyes.
“Get off of me,” Takahata says instead, throwing Nakaken’s arm off with a little too much force. He pulls himself off the floor, heading towards the door with a mumble of “I’m taking a break”. Takahata ignores the incredulous faces of the other juniors and the hurt flashing across Nakaken’s face.
“Alright,” Fuma asks that night over the phone. “Want to tell me what happened?”
Takahata is pretty sure that, at this rate, everyone in the jimusho will know by tomorrow. Yet, the tenderness in Fuma’s voice is soothing, and for the first time today Takahata realizes that all he ever wanted was for someone to listen to him. “Mariya and I broke up,” he says.
“Oh.” Fuma replies cautiously. “Was it a mutual agreement, or...”
“I made her cry,” Takahata adds. He feels bad, not for breaking up with the girl, but for hurting her with his general apathy.
“Misaki-kun,” Fuma replies with a laugh. “You’re going to be making a lot more girls cry in the future, you know that, right?”
Takahata laughs in return, and their conversation shifts to rehearsal schedules and Fuma’s homework and Takahata’s misplaced dance shoes.
He liked Mariya a lot. The way she walked, the way she hugged him, and the way she fussed over her bangs used to bring an easy smile to his face. But one day he woke up and suddenly felt disinterested in the girl. Takahata had felt like a total jerk when he broke it off, yet emotions didn’t stir within him. He doesn’t tell Fuma that, what really bothers him, is the fear that he’ll never stop being this indifferent.
“I heard about what happened,” Nakaken says the next day. He stands hesitantly, hair blown out of proportion by the February wind. Behind him the sky is a lovely shade of blue.
Takahata finally looks up from his cell phone. He leans back against the fence, ignoring the momentary loss of gravity that overcomes him.
“You shouldn’t do that,” Nakaken points out, nodding towards the thin fencing covering the edge of the jimusho roof top. “That thing could break, and you could plunge five stories down.” He grins. “Who would back-dance for me if that happens?”
“You’ll be fine,” Takahata grins in return. He doesn’t tell the boy that the temporarily fear of falling is what he likes the most about sitting on the roof.
Nakaken sits alongside the boy for a good twenty minutes, periodically dropping candy and various other sweets in Takahata’s lap. They slip back into rehearsal wordlessly and find Fuma laughing with Anderson.
Fans find out about Yuto’s injury within a few days. What they don’t know, however, is the fact that Nakaken had been the cause of it. Yuto manages to grab Nakaken in time to avoid a falling light on set during the live stage of showa heisei, but Yuto is the one who ends up with fractured bones in his foot instead.
Fuma’s jaw drops while Yamada shoots forward. Chinen gasps and exchange looks of confusion with Shintaro. Ryutaro shushes the other back-up dancers as the stage-crew calls the paramedics.
Nakaken can only stare as the taller boy winces in pain. Both of them are scrawled over the floor, but Yuto is the one that took the hit. He flinches when Yamada sends him a sharp look. Nakaken doesn’t move until Takahata helps him up. Yamada ignores him for the rest of the day while Nakaken joylessly redo their routine without Yuto.
“It’s all my fault,” Nakaken insists. “And now Yamada-kun hates me.” He picks at the hem of his bag and stares at his converse-clad shoes.
“Yamada will get over it.” Takahata tells him, busy changing into a clean shirt. He senses the tension and the look of confusion periodically flashing in the other boy’s eyes. Nakaken’s infatuation with Yamada is evident, and while the JUMP member hardly deigns to acknowledge his hero-worship, Nakaken undoubtedly considers Yuto as his rival for Yamada’s attention. The fact that Yuto would save Nakaken from anything throws the boy off-kilter considerably.
Takahata thinks Nakaken will stop brooding, but he goes to practice two days later to find that Nakaken is still fidgeting over it. He blinks when Nakaken immediately retracts his hand from the doorknob when they reach for it at the same time.
“Sorry,” the normally energetic boy mumbles.
It happens again when Nakaken bumps into Fuma and when he accidentally walks into Sanada in the hallway. Takahata watches patiently before pulling Nakaken over. “They won’t break from coming in contact with you,” he says. “You know that, right?”
“I -just.” Nakaken begins but promptly shuts down. Behind him, Fuma eyes the two of them with interest but says nothing.
“You won’t break any of us.” Takahata repeats, giving the sulking boy a look. He grabs Nakaken by the hand, ignoring the boy’s attempt to withdraw it. “See? I’m perfectly fine. Yuto-kun is fine, too. They said he’ll heal within two weeks. JUMP’s in their dressing room right now, you can check it out for yourself.”
“Wow,” Fuma says when Nakaken finally runs off to thank Yuto. “Kento and I would be nothing without you.”
“I think,” Nakaken tells him when Takahata is pulling at his skirt. “That Fuuko likes Yuu-chan.”
“What?” Takahata stares, his bright and horribly uncomfortable wig already falling halfway off. Behind him Nakata and Hamada laugh over something obscure while Taiga complains about his nonexistent perspiration problem.
“Fuuko likes Yuma,” Nakaken tries again, rolling his eyes as he emphasizes certain syllables. “You know…”
“Oh.” Takahata says. “Fuma and Nakayama?” He turns around to watch the other juniors prance about the set. Half of them, including Takahata himself, are dressed in skirts. Fuma and Nakayama are talking to each other in a corner. “Why, do you not like Nakayama or something?”
“I’m perfectly fine with him,” Nakaken huffs. “But don’t you think they’re a little bit weird for agreeing to be a couple?” He squints his eyes and attempts to spy some more on the two.
Takahata doesn’t bother to point out that they are supposed to be a couple too, albeit a cross-dressing one, at least on Takahata’s side. Nakaken probably hasn’t even gotten to that part on their script yet.
“Oh, please.” Taiga is telling Uekusa. “They gave me the crappy role because there wasn’t a skirt in my size.”
“I don’t know,” Uekusa replies absently. “Kikuchi-kun does look good in his uniform.”
“Uekusa is leering at Kikuchi’s legs!” Shintaro declares rather loudly, grinning in glee. Half of the cast stares. Fuma blinks and closes his legs a little.
“Why not?” Nakata grins, leaning his elbow on Nakaken’s head. “He looks very pretty as a girl.”
“I would date him.” Hamada adds. “Misaki-kun looks pretty good, too.” He grabs the end of Takahata’s copper red wig.
“Back off,” Nakaken slaps the kansai junior’s hand aside. “Misa-chan is mine!” He loops an arm around Takahata protectively, grinning when the photographer takes another photo of them for the magazine.
Oh, Takahata thinks. Apparently Nakaken did read the script.
Except maybe Fuma does like Nakayama, perhaps not the way Nakaken imagined. Takahata thinks, as the oldest member, the parental responsibilities fall on him by default. Besides, Fuma’s admiration isn’t as apparent as Nakaken’s hero-worship. It’s a quiet sort of respect, although Takahata doesn’t know where Fuma learned it all.
Nakaken soon forgets his brilliant idea and is oblivious to Fuma’s soft signs and dreamy gazes. Takahata says nothing, too busy engrossed in preparation for graduation and high school entrance. The thought is pushed to the back of his mind until Fuma comes to rehearsal one day with swollen eyes.
“Are you being bullied in school?” Nakaken wants to know. “Because I’ll beat them up and-”
“I didn’t get a lot of sleep this week.” Fuma explains instead. He comes to sit by Takahata during break, hands clenching at the fabric of his sweatpants as he leans into Takahata’s side. “I’m really stupid.”
“Tell me what happened,” Takahata replies, although there’s no bossiness in his voice. He listens as Fuma talks of Nakayama’s pretty girlfriend. Fuma doesn’t cry, but he lays his head on the older boy’s shoulder for a good thirty minutes as they sit on the bench wordlessly, Takahata occasionally patting Fuma on the back.
“I wanted to be his friend,” Fuma says. “But we’re so different, and I don’t know anything about him.”
“You’re a good friend.” Takahata replies soothingly, fixing Fuma’s heavy bangs. “Maybe, if you ask nicely, Kento will beat him up for you.”
Fuma laughs until Nakaken wanders over, completely clueless.
Between staying up for his finals and rushing to rehearsals after school without his jacket, Takahata gets sick rather quickly. He spends twenty minutes fanning himself with the sheet of their next shokura lineup and scratching at the collar of his shirt, face already flushed from the heat in the room.
“So I go onto the stage first and,” Nakaken blinks. “Misaki, are you listening?” His hand touches Takahata’s burning arms.
Takahata vaguely remembers the other boy getting closer before collapsing on the dance floor.
He regains consciousness a few minutes later, blinking at the sea of faces crowded over him on the couch. Abe hands him some water while Fujigaya takes his temperature. Takahata says nothing at the sake of his scratchy throat and gladly welcomes Koyama-kun when he comes with some pills for Takahata’s fever.
Everyone finally leave when Takahata convinces them that there is no need to contact his mother. Fuma and Nakaken sit on the chairs next to the lone couch in ABC’s dressing room. Fuma looks confused while Nakaken’s expression is unreadable.
“There’s a bump on my head,” Takahata says. He grins somewhat. “That was kind of lame of me, huh?”
“Kento freaked out,” Fuma replies quietly. “I’m surprised you didn’t wake up from him shaking you so violently.”
Takahata blinks. Nakaken says nothing for a few seconds before he finally meets Takahata’s gaze. Nakaken’s eyes are red and he looks hopeless. “You said you wouldn’t break,” he murmurs softly. “You said you wouldn’t break from my touch but you fainted and I didn’t know what to do and you wouldn’t wake up and-”
“I’m fine now.” Takahata points out, ignoring his pounding headache and the dampness of his shirt. “Stop worrying.”
“You don’t understand,” Fuma says. “We’re completely lost without you.”
Takahata pauses, not sure how to reply. The silence is interrupted by his coughing fit and Fuma has to run to the hallway for a cup of water. Takahata sits in the room with Nakaken, who is still staring adamantly at the floor.
“You’re a dork.” Takahata says. “Did you really think I fainted from your touch? You’re not that attractive.”
Nakaken gives him a weak smile in return. “Recently I’ve been worrying over nothing. I can’t even look at Yamada-kun in face, even if Yuto-kun forgave me. All I can think about is how disappointed you’d be, and how you’ll tell me to get over it. In fact, I think about you so much that I kind of want to punch you.” He pinches the sick boy lightly on the arm.
Takahata ignores the last part. “Maybe you like me,” he says slowly.
“And I hate the way you talk without meaning anything,” Nakaken adds, face torn between annoyance and hurt. “You say all these things. It’s like you don’t even care!” He shoots out of his seat and storms out of the room in time to bump into Fuma.
“What was that?” Fuma asks, handing Takahata some water.
“Apparently I’m a selfish jerk.” Takahata replies absently, sipping from the cup.
Fuma tilts his head sideways and looks at him in confusion.
“Aw, did you have a lover’s quarrel?” Shintaro asks smugly at practice.
Takahata follows Shintaro’s gaze to Nakaken, who is practicing his dance moves at a corner of the room. He notices their stare and meets Takahata’s eyes for a second before turning back against the mirror. “I don’t even know.”
“Maybe he does like you,” Fuma shrugs when Takahata relays their “fight” over lunch. “You two are the same age, you know. Maybe Kento is tired of you treating him like a kid. Maybe he thinks you don’t respect him.”
“I do respect him,” Takahata argues.
“Good.” Fuma grins. “Then you can tell him yourself,” he points behind Takahata, and Takahata turns around to find Nakaken standing behind them with a guilty look. Fuma suddenly gets up to wander elsewhere, probably to chat with MIS SNOW MAN.
“I am childish, though.” Nakaken says when he takes Fuma’s seat. “All I do is complain about things and whine when they don’t go my way. You and Yamada-kun are the only two things that aren’t going my way, and I don’t even care about Yamada-kun anymore.”
“What does that even mean?” Takahata stares.
“It means,” Nakaken replies rather loudly. “That I like you. Okay? I like you more than Yamada-kun and Yoko-chan from class 3-E so please accept my feelings!”
Takahata stares before bursting out laughing.
“Shut up!” Nakaken barks, face flushed. “It’s not easy to confess to someone blank faced like you, okay? Don’t laugh in the face of my courage!” He turns around to storm out of the room, but stops when Takahata grabs him by the arm.
“I’m only laughing,” Takahata says between chuckles, “because you’re cute.”
“Oh.” Nakaken blinks. “Well, okay, then.”
They tell Fuma, who looks more amused than surprised. Nakaken and Takahata walk home together with increasing frequency and spend more time together on weekends, mostly doing homework. Nakaken kisses him on the first floor of the jimusho building one day when Takahata is fumbling through his bag for his Suica card. No one around them notices, but Takahata looks up to find a completely nervous Nakaken biting his lips.
“Is that okay?” The boy wants to know.
“Yeah.” Takahata grins.
“Did you do a lot of this stuff with Mariya-chan?” Nakaken asks.
Takahata laughs instead. “Maybe.”
Nakaken looks rather determined. “I’m going to send her a picture of us kissing.”
“You’re horrible.” Takahata grins, going in for another kiss.
“Get a room, the two of you!” Yuto whistles as JUMP files out the elevator.
Yamada gives them a knowing look. “Do it while you still can, because one day he’ll be ten feet tall.”
“Yama-chan had to buy a footstool to stand on.” Yuto chirps.
“I did not!” Yamada snaps in return.
“Aw, love is in the air.” Fuma croons when he catches up with his band mates. Yamajima is busy arguing as they walk out of the building. Well, Yuto is grinning while Yamada is lecturing Yuto half-heartedly. He pauses when HEY!SAY!WEST come out of the staircase. Fuma waves at Nakayama, but is stopped when Takahata and Nakaken grab him by the arms.
“You’re a hundred years too young to date him.” Takahata tells Fuma.
[Fin]
AN: Nishiuchi Mariya is Takahata's cute little girlfriend from episode seven of Scrap Teacher 8D I think they're so cute together. Oh, and she was also Chika from Seigi no Mikata
lol the whole crossdressing thing is from this. I died laughing
Love it? Hate it? Please leave some feedback, even if it may be a little late. You can also join the community, since I'll be locking up NC17 fics.