JE: Tea, mixed with Coffee (1/1)
Title: Tea, mixed with Coffee
Fandom: Hey!Say!JUMP + Miura Haruma
Author: blahchiharu
Pairing: Takaki/Yabu
Rating: G
wordcount: ~5100
Summary: Between the Shokura Fiasco of 2006, Gokusen, and babysitting his band mates, Takaki isn't sure what he expects from their fearless leader anymore. Yuto digs Yamada out from under Hikaru's pants, Chinen spams Ohno’s inbox, and the rest of HSJ make good use of their camera phones. Takaki-centric. unbeta-ed.
Takaki doesn’t know when babysitting duties became a part of an idol’s prerequisite, but upon closer reflection he decides, between babying Chinen, patting Ryutaro on the head, and handing out band-aids, that this may be up his alley after all. Yabu is as great of a leader as he is a mother to the youngins (“more like hoodlums,” Hikaru murmurs after Chinen and Yuto knock over a cup on the table and splatter soda all over him), but it only takes Takaki a few weeks in close proximity with the boy to notice Yabu’s daily routine.
Yabu starts the day off by hushing the over-excited morning do-ers; Takaki isn’t a morning person, so he only sits lazily in a corner and watches as Yabu calms Yuto and Chinen down, handing them snacks low in sugar. Afterwards, Yabu cajoles the less energetic ones (read: bums) awake; he usually spends ten minutes rubbing at Hikaru’s back as the younger boy sits on the bench, half asleep before lighting tapping at Hikaru’s cheeks. At this point, Julie comes shuffling into the room with scripts and schedules, too flustered by the morning traffic to notice her unbuttoned collar or ripped skirt. Yabu usually takes her documents and hands them out to the rest of the boys, often giving out small compliments like “Keito, you’re really starting to grow into that hairstyle” and “Julie-san, that necklace really matches your outfit!”
Takaki had stared when he first witnessed Yabumama in action. He didn’t know where the boy got this kind of energy from; Yabu was only a few months older than him, after all, but he took everything in strides and acted as if everyone depends dearly on him (this was actually true, Takaki found out one day when Inoo strained his ankle, and while everyone was busy screaming their heads off and running around in blind panic, Yabu had quickly fished out a first-aid box and bandaged him up before helping him hop to the infirmary.)
Usually at this point, Takaki is too deep in thought to notice the bottle of water in his face. He looks up to find Yabu smiling at him before moving away, probably to attend to another half-awake member. It’s definitely Koyama-senpai’s influence, Takaki decides early on.
By mid afternoon, Yabu gets his second wind after lunch and spends the majority of his time helping Keito or Inoo with their dance steps after learning his in record speed. The oldest boy often surprises Takaki by calling break at the perfect time, when everyone’s starting to fatigue but is too stubborn to point it out. Takaki stands lamely at the water coolers while Yabu discretely wipes his forehead with his sleeves before handing out fruits and vitamins of the like.
By early evening, however, Yabu crumbles into a mess. Takaki first observes this when Yabu waves the other boys goodbye after a late practice, and then proceeds to fall down the stone steps leading up to the jimusho building on his way out. Takaki catches him in time, only to notice Yabu’s wobbly limbs and weak knee as they sit down on a close by bench, the older boy gasping for breath.
“I think,” Takaki decides when Yabu is busy leaning on his right side. “You stretch yourself too thin.”
“Sorry,” Yabu laughs into Takaki’s sleeves. “That wasn’t very leader-like, was it? It was actually a little uncool.”
“You’re a little uncool,” Takaki laughs, helping the other boy up after feeding him his left-over box of pocky. “Are you feeling better now? Or do I need to escort you to the subway so you don’t collapse in the middle of an intersection?” The proposal is a joke at first, so Takaki doesn’t wait for the boy to reply before turning around. He’s surprised when Yabu grips him by the arm.
“If you can…” Yabu mumbles.
“It’s okay,” Takaki decides, looping one arm into Yabu’s. “We’re heading in the same direction anyways. Come on, oh fearless leader.”
The second time Takaki brings the topic up is during their small concert tour. The older boy takes one step into their shared hotel room and practically faints on the carpet. It takes Takaki five minutes to haul Yabu to his bed. He kneels down next to the mattress and shakes the older boy gently, “you need to take a shower first.”
“Later,” Yabu mumbles into his pillow, slapping Takaki’s hand away softly. “I’m recharging.”
“What are you, a robot?” Takaki laughs, taking a seat on the edge of Yabu’s bed.
“No, I’m a teenager mother.” Yabu declares, swinging around to face Takaki. “I can sense premature wrinkles already. This stress level is really bad for my complexion. Say, Takaki-san, did you hear about what Uehara-san’s daughter did? They say a gang knocked her up! Such a horrible neighborhood we live in, I’m afraid for my children!”
“Get your lazy ass off the bed, then, Okaa-san.” Takaki grins. “You smell, and you still haven’t helped me with my homework. By the way, where’s my bento for tomorrow? My uniform still needs to be ironed. I need to impress Minami-chan, after all.”
“Who’s Minami-chan?” Yabu shrieks ceremonially in a high voice, sitting up to wrap his arms around the other boy. “You’re not dating anyone until your grades pick up!”
“You’re one to talk,” Takaki snickers, breaking their skit. “Who’s the one that fell asleep standing during our assembly? Who drooled all over their test paper and had to get me to explain that you had a late night, only to have our classmates gossip about our illicit nightly activities?”
“Hai, hai.” Yabu laughs, lying back down on his fluffy pillows. “You take a shower first, let me rest for awhile.”
Takaki laughs, picks up his towels, and makes his way to the bathroom before Yabu speaks up again. He smiles at the soft whisper of, “if I’m Yabumama, then you’re Takapapa. I can’t do it all by myself, you know…” By the time Takaki walks out of the shower, hairs damp, Yabu is already asleep.
“Yabu-kun, buy me that cinnamon bun, please?” Chinen asks, dragging at the older boy’s arm. He runs off when the boy doesn’t reply, probably to bother someone else with money.
Takaki sighs and sips his cup of coffee. Location shoots for Hyakushiki are never fun when it comes to waking at the crack of dawn to tour obscure factories. He knows for a fact that Yabu spent all of last night memorizing scripts, and is now half-dead on the table as they sit at the coffee shop, waiting for their bus to return.
“Try your coffee,” Takaki pushes the cup further towards the mob of hair lying on a pair of tanned arms. “We still have a meeting with Johnny at the jimusho after this. Don’t die yet.” He watches as Hikaru continuously poke Keito at the other table while Yuto and Yamada makes faces at each other.
“Who’s dying?” Ryutaro asks, leaning down to peak at Yabu’s face.
“No one, Ryu-chan,” Yabu sits up and pulls the younger boy into a hug, ruffling at the boy’s hair. “Did you grow taller?” He grins, leaning his head on Ryutaro’s narrow shoulder frame. “Or have you just been standing around Dai-chan too much?”
“Hey!” Daiki cries from another table.
“Did I grow?” Ryutaro asks quietly, almost to himself as he measures the difference between his height and Yabu’s, which isn’t much considering the fact that he’s currently situated on the older boy’s lap. He blinks when Yabu laughs, standing up to wander elsewhere instead.
“What’s going to happen when everyone grows past Daiki?” Yabu grins, leaning on his elbows.
“He’ll probably attempt to throw himself off the Tokyo tower.” Takaki shrugs, checking his watch. He looks up to find Yabu sighing, hair tangled in a mess. “Either go back to sleep or drink your coffee.”
Yabu obliges, reaching for the now lukewarm cup. “Yuyan,” he says, mimicking Chinen’s usual nickname for Takaki. “If I’m mothering everyone else, and you’re mothering me, then who’s taking care of you?”
“You worry too much,” Takaki laughs instead, “Drink your coffee.”
Yabu is strong willed, but unwilling to be vulnerable in front of the younger boys. Takaki learns this early on, and doesn’t challenge it when he has to literarily force Yabu down on a chair when the boy strains himself too much. Watching over Yabu turns from a hobby to a job, but Takaki doesn’t mind the days when Yabu is too weary to complain.
That’s why he’s a little surprised to find his job taken when Shoon drops a half-awake Yabu off at practice one weekend. “Get some tea and he’ll go back to normal,” Shoon tells Takaki with a smile before walking off.
Tea, Takaki thinks, that’s why Yabu rarely drinks coffee. He brings bottled green tea to the dressing room, where Yabu is busy resting on an armchair. Takaki leans over the boy, unconsciously reaching to brush stray bangs away when the boy suddenly shifts around.
“Shoon…” Yabu turns back to face the wall, no doubt asleep again.
Takaki pauses and think, maybe he’s the one foolishly trying to take Shoon’s job.
“Good, I was looking for you.” Julie says when Takaki walks out of the room. She’s clad in another business suit with a clipboard in arm. She hands him a stack of documents, “I have good news for you.”
Between Gokusen meetings and preparation for their graduation, Takaki hardly runs into Yabu these days. He spends the beginning of spring practicing his scripts with Nakama and Kiriyama, goofing around the set while being introduced to endless cast members.
“Don’t worry,” Julie tells him. “I’ve already arranged your schedule so it won’t be too much of an inconvenience to JUMP. You’ll have to miss a couple appearances, but this drama will no doubt make up for it.”
Takaki meets Miura Haruma on their second day rehearsing. The boy is cheerful and proud, but friendly enough that Takaki doesn’t mind their hasty introduction. “You Jyannis,” Haruma laughs at first. “You guys are pretty interesting. I don’t think I’ve been surrounded by so many pretty boys in my life.”
“What are you talking about?” Kiriyama makes face. “You are a pretty boy!”
They spend the rest of that day chasing each other around, Takaki falling to the ground at one point because he just can’t laugh anymore. Miura helps him, grinning. “We need this type of male bond now so it’s not too awkward when we’re beating each other up on screen.”
Graduation comes faster than he expects, and the next thing Takaki knows, his mother is fussing over his hair while taking a million pictures with his diploma. “Okaa-san,” he whines, and for a second he sees Yabu turn around from the huddle of family members twenty feet away. “Seriously, this isn’t a photo shoot.”
“Shush,” his mother sighs. “Can’t a mother be proud that her son is graduating?” She stops when Yabu’s family comes over to congratulate them.
“How’s filming?” Yabu asks with a small grin. “Chinen’s been sulking ever since you stop coming to practice. I’m not sure I can resist his teary eyes and princess hugs anymore.”
“You never could,” Takaki laughs. “How are you? Still working yourself to the bones?”
“Naturally,” Yabu makes a face, as if the answer was horribly obvious. “Someone has to take care those kids. I’m especially stressed now that you’re not there to nag me.”
“That’s one way to look at it,” Takaki shrugs, frowning a little. “It’s not easy to baby someone who’d rather victimize themselves than to be taken lightly.”
“What does that mean?” Yabu asks at last, voice soft. “I’m not a masochist, you just analyze people too much. It’s not easy, being around someone critical like you either.”
“If you didn’t need me around, you should’ve said that ahead of time,” Takaki replies quietly, bringing one hand to his head. “It would have saved me a lot of time; worrying, getting headaches, and caring more about you than myself were all unnecessary, weren’t they?”
“Taka-” Yabu begins to say, but is cut off when his parents come in.
“Kota, we have to go,” the older boy’s father says. “We’re already late for our reservation. You don’t want your cousins to wait, do you?” He pauses, “say goodbye to Takaki-kun, now.”
“We’ll talk about this later,” Yabu tells him before following his father away.
Takaki sighs and turns his cell phone off.
The rest of the week is spent at the set, going over last minute revisions and starting with the filming. Takaki sleeps an average of five hours per night before being dragged back into warehouses for the action scenes. By the third day, he’s already tired of having fake blood smeared all over his face.
“Save your scowl for the camera,” Miura tells him at lunch, in the process of stealing one of his onigiris. “Why so blue, panda bear?” He grins when the other boy stares at him, incredulous.
“I’m just practicing my serious face,” the brunette replies, attempting to compose himself before glaring towards Miura’s general direction.
“Your serious face sucks,” Miura laughs instead. “Hey, if you’re that bored, come to karaoke with us after we’re done for today. I might even sing one of your songs! Mmm. What is called? Dirty Dream Come True?”
“It’s Dream Come True, you loser!” Takaki laughs, throwing his chopsticks at the other boy. It misses.
Hanging out with the cast does wonders for his mood, and Takaki returns home after hours of laughing, singing, and stuffing himself with snacks at the karaoke bar.
“You have a phone call,” his mother says when he’s busy changing. He shoos the woman away before picking up his rarely used home phone.
“Hello?”
“Long time no talk.” Daiki’s voice filters through his receiver. “Did you just get back?”
“Yeah,” Takaki smiles to himself. “Why did you call the landline?”
“Saa, I wonder why.” The younger boy replies, a little sarcastic. “Anyways, I thought I might as well check up on you while everyone else is being tormented by Yabu-kun the tyrant. He’s been so moody lately; yesterday he even yelled at Chinen.”
“Eh,” The brunette says, a little lost for words. “That’s…”
“We figured Yabu-kun got in a lover’s quarrel or something of the like,” Daiki continues, voice dripped with sarcasm.
“With Shoon?” Takaki blinks.
A pause, then, “Wow, you’re pretty slow.” Daiki says at last.
“Well, how was I supposed to know that they’re in a relationship?” Takaki asks, frustration seeping through his voice. His grip tightens on the phone.
“Never mind,” the younger boy says after awhile.
“You have guests,” one of the staff says to him, and Takaki turns around to find Yabu and Hikaru standing near the cameras.
“We drop by here on our way home,” Hikaru explains, handing him an envelope. “Since your cell phone is always turned off nowadays, we had to make an appearance ourselves.” He smirks as Takaki opens the envelope. “Yama-chan’s birthday, remember? We’re throwing him a party.”
“You should come,” Yabu continues, almost as if Takaki is a stranger and not someone in he’s known for years. “Everyone misses you.” He pauses. “It’s kind of important.”
Takaki doesn’t need Yabu to point this out; Yamada is already important to him. “I’m-”
“Hey Takaki,” Miura pops into the set at that point, followed by Ishiguro and Shohei. “We’re going out for dinner, want to come?” He stops. “Sorry, am I interrupting something?”
“No,” Yabu says, grabbing Hikaru by the arm. “We were just leaving.”
“Fighting with your boyfriends?” Miura raises an eyebrow, watching as the two boys exit the studio. “Or did you have to turn down another hopeful boy crush?” He grins, looping on arm around Shohei as they carry on with their normal gay jyanni jokes.
“No,” Takaki says quietly. “He’s the one that turned me down."
Takaki runs into Rubi later that week. “Long time no see?” He smiles a little, waiting for the girl’s reaction after bumping into her at a subway station.
Kato Rubi blinks before brushing a strand of hair behind her shoulder. “It’s been awhile. I didn’t think I’d run into you again. Better not let the paparazzi catch us, or even my parents will lose their jobs this time.”
“That’s not-” Takaki opens his mouth, waiting for some kind of response to formulate. Nothing comes to mind. It’s his fault that this wonderful girl is now out of the entertainment industry, and Takaki can’t think of enough ways to apologize.
“I’m joking,” Rubi laughs. “It was more of a wake up call for me. Now I can focus on my studies; I’m taking my college entrance exams now. You think I have chance at a normal life now that I’m not dating a Jyanni?”
“I think you can do anything you set your mind to,” Takaki smiles genuinely for the first time in awhile.
She stops when an overhead operator calls for the last minute departures. “Oh, that’s me,” she pats him on the back. “You should smile more. I always thought you were more handsome when you smiled!” Rubi runs off before Takaki can reply.
“Spacing out again?”
Takaki looks up to find a make up artist fuming by his side while shoving various concealers at his face. He lets the woman do her job while tapping the edge of a pen -Takaki found it on the ground a few days ago; it reminded him of the one Yabu always used in class, so he decided to keep it- on his script. “Huh?”
“What’s on your mind?” Miura asks again, pulling a chair over as he sits down, legs open while using the back of the chair as an armrest. “Tell Haruma-sensei about it.”
“I ran into my ex-girlfriend,” Takaki begins. “You know? The one the agency made a big deal about? It was a pretty messy break up, but I ran into her the other day, and she held no grudge against me.” He sighs. “I think I might’ve felt better if she slapped me or something.”
“Never doubt the kindness of men,” Miura muses.
“She’s not a man,” Takaki twitches slightly, but stops when the makeup artist tells him to stay still.
“It’s an idiom, Smart One.” Miura huffs. “And how does that make you feel?”
“I feel like I’ve been an idiot,” the brunette admits. “If she’s willing to forgive me so easily, then maybe I should let go of my own grudges as well.”
“See, I knew I’d get through you.” Miura declares proudly.
“You didn’t do anything!” Takaki laughs, grinning. Even the make-up girl giggles somewhat at this.
Yamada’s house is twenty minutes away from the set via subway. Takaki spends his time by turning on his cell phone for the fist time in weeks and replying to all the messages accumulated in his inbox. He pauses upon finding Yabu’s brief Are you Okay? dated three weeks back.
“Takaki-kun is here!” Yamada-san calls when she lets the boy inside.
“Yuyan!” Chinen tackles him first, causing the boy to take a step back. He smiles when Chinen latches on to his arm and refuses to let go. “I missed you!” The gymnast says, eyes wide. “When are you coming back to rehearsals?”
“We’re almost done with filming,” he tells the boy, smiling softly. “Did you really miss me?”
“He wasn’t the only one,” Yamada comments, waiting for his own hug. “Thanks for coming.”
“Happy birthday,” Takaki grins, handing the younger boy a neatly wrapped box; Takaki had failed to tie the ribbon by himself, and it took the combined efforts of Miura, Kiriyama, and Nakama-sensei to finish the wrapping. “How does it feel to be another year older?”
“I feel like I should be taller,” Yamada laughs.
“I should say the same thing,” Daiki mumbles from the table.
“Am I early?” Takaki blinks, setting his bag down on the table while glancing around the room.
“Here they are,” someone says when the front door slams open, and Hikaru comes trotting in with grocery bags in hand, followed by Yabu, Inoo, and Yuto.
“Sorry for bothering you boys with this,” Yamada-san says, taking their coats.
“No problem,” Hikaru grins. “The convenience store was close, anyways. Oh hey, Takaki’s here!”
They spend the next few hours teasing Yamada, stuffing their faces full with cake, watching old shokura episodes and reminiscing about the good o’ days when Yabu’s voice didn’t crack, Chinen still pirouetted, and when Yuto was still short.
“Remember when Inoo-chan tripped and knocked down half of the juniors on stage?” Daiki grins, playing around with the fork in his hand. His cake is reduced to a few crumbs at this point. “
“That’s because Yabu-kun knocked into me!” Inoo frowns, pointing at the oldest boy with a laugh.
“Wait a minute,” Yabu says after a while. “That’s because Takaki stepped on me,” he remembers as everyone turned to the said boy. “The shokura fiasco of 2006 was all your fault, then!”
Takaki blinks when eight other boys shove their faces in front of him, waiting for some sort of a reply.
“What’s ‘Dressing Room Horrors’?” Keito asks from his end of the table as the only one who hasn’t ganged up on Takaki at this point. He points to the cassette, reading off the label. “It’s dating back to 2005, though.”
“If you’re lucky, you’ll get to see chibi Yabu-kun.” Yuto chirps, grabbing the cassette as he makes his way towards the VHR.
“Hey! No!” Yabu yanked the tape out of Yuto’s hands. “We are not watching that! I have a reputation to maintain!” It takes both Hikaru and Yuto to push Yabu down while Ryutaro pops the cassette in. Hikaru is incredulous, however, when footages of himself show up more than Yabu.
“Thanks for coming, you guys.” Yamada tells them later while cleaning up the mess in the living room. “Yabu-kun, can you take the trash out?”
“I’ll come too,” Takaki offers, earning a confused look from the leader of BEST. He follows the older boy out the backdoor before speaking up, “I think I owe you can apology.”
“For ignoring my calls and messages? Or for calling me a masochist?” Yabu laughs, closing the lid to the trashcan. He folds his arms before taking a seat on the back porch. “I forgave you a long time ago. I’m just a little confused. What exactly happened?”
“I was stupid,” Takaki admits. “And a little hurt, because I didn’t know you were with Shoon.”
“What do you mean?” The older boy tilts his head sideways.
“Dating Shoon,” Takaki corrects himself, flinching a little.
“What are you talking about?” Yabu’s voice is sharp now as he stares up at the other boy. “Shoon doesn’t like boys.”
Takaki thinks, maybe, just maybe, Yabu’s voice sounds a little sad.
Gokusen Filming wraps up by May, and Takaki takes a breath of relief when his days are no longer filled with endless fight scenes and fake weapons. He exchanges his phone number with half of the cast and promises to call Miura.
Takaki shows up at the jimusho a day later to find their dressing room in total disorder. Clothes everywhere, water bottles obstructing his vision. Takaki swear he even saw Ryutaro’s leg buried underneath all the debris.
“Yabu-kun’s been sick,” Keito explains with a trash bag in hand, and somehow everything starts to make sense. “I’ve been trying to pick up after everyone’s mess, but we need an army at this point.” He pauses, “Oh, by the way. Welcome back!”
“Yuyan?” Chinen’s head pops up from the doorway, and he nearly trips over a mountain of sneakers on his way in to glomp the older boy. “Inoo-chan and Hikaru-kun keep playing with my hair,” he pouts, almost as if waiting for Takaki to yell at the other boys. “Yabu-kun would’ve scolded them already.”
“How is Yabu, anyways?” Hikaru says from the doorway with a giddy Inoo in tow. “I haven’t heard from him in days.” He turns to face Yuto. “It’s all because he accidentally drank from your water bottle.”
“I don’t have mono!” Yuto huffs in return.
“What about AIDS?” Hikaru challenges with a smirk.
“Relax,” Ryutaro says as he climbs over the pile of water bottles. “He says he’s coming back today, so maybe this insanity will finally die down. I’m tried of having to baby all of you. I’m too young for this.”
“Please,” Takaki laughs as he lifts Ryutaro up and sets him down on the floor. “You can’t even look after Shintaro. Leave the mothering to the big kids.”
“The big kids are busy drawing graffiti on the bathroom walls,” Ryutaro resorts, nodding towards Hikaru and Inoo, now nowhere in sight. “That, or pranking KAT-TUN. Do you know how many death threats we’ve gotten in the span of three days?”
“It’s true,” Chinen adds. “Koki-senpai even threatened to flush me down the toilet. But Ohno-kun came to my rescue,” suddenly his eyes are filled with a million little hearts.
“Ohno merely asked them to stop blocking the hallway,” Daiki explains. “Chinen is still as delusional as ever.”
“Where’s Julie?” Takaki asks, the light bulb finally lighting in his head.
“She’s on tour with NewS.” Yabu speaks up as everyone’s attention shifts towards the door. The boy is clad in a huge parka, face digging into layers and layers of his scarf. He sidesteps Yuto when the boy leaps in for a hug. “I’m still sick, but Ryutaro begged me to come in. I’m leaving as soon as-”
“Yabu, you’re here, Good.” Mary cuts in as she enters the room, ignoring the mess at hand as she hands them a pile of documents. “Meeting in the conference room in twenty minutes,” she pauses, “Why is Yamada unconscious under a mound of clothes?” She leaves when Yuto shrieks and begins to dig his friend out from under Hikaru’s pants.
“Looks like you’re not going anywhere,” Daiki says to the leader of BEST.
Takaki spends the next few hours tending to a sulking Yabu. Even the news of their new single is met with silence after Yabu sneezes through most of Johnny’s announcement.
“Did you say shoe?” Inoo asks while Yabu sneezes in the background.
“Snapple?” Ryutaro guesses.
“Single,” Johnny repeats himself, twitching slightly when Yabu sneezes over him again. “I said, I have a new single lined up for you. It goes hand in hand with the Kungfu Panda movie. Rehearsals start tomorrow since some of you,” he stares at Yabu, “are not in the best shape for dance or vocal lessons.”
“That was so embarrassing,” Yabu complains later at lunch. Somehow his sickness had translated to a day without babysitting duties.
“Here are some vitamins.” Yuto chirps, dumping a handful of packaged pills in front of the leader of BEST. "They’re the ones you always give me, I usually just dump them in the back of my bag, but hey, now they’re useful!” He bounces away before the older boys can say anything.
Takaki face-palms. “Just eat it,” he says, handing the other boy another pack of tissues. “And don’t think about taking that mask off. I’m not catching this plague of yours.”
“Hey, I know a surefire way for Yabu to get rid of his cold.” Hikaru declares from a table twenty feet away; no one wants to eat lunch at the same table as Yabu The Sneezing Machine. “Just pass it off to someone and you’ll be cured.”
“Takaki.”
“Huh?” The said boy looks up from his magazine, and nearly shrieks when the older boy towers over him, ready to remove his mask. “OH NO!” Takaki declares. “You’re not passing that off to me!”
“But I’ve been sick for a week!” Yabu whines.
“Then pass it back to Yuto!”
“He didn’t catch this from me!” The leader of 7 resorts from across the lunchroom. “I wasn’t even sick!”
“So, who else have you been making out with lately?” Daiki laughs from his table.
Yabu ignores them and continues to sulk next to Takaki, periodically jabbing at his bento with his chopsticks. “Taka-” He mumbles a few minutes later, looking up with glossy eyes to find another pack of tissues shoved at him.
“Seriously.” Takaki sighs. “Where did you catch this?”
“My cousin’ friend.” The boy murmurs. “She confessed to me and kissed me out of the blue. I couldn’t push her off or anything. I mean, she’s eight.” He makes a pained expression. “You know?”
“I know you’re a pushover.” Takaki laughs. Yabu is too trusting, and a little too accommodating. Just the thought of it riles Takaki up a little. He stands up, leans over the table, and carefully unlocks the end of the surgical masks from Yabu’s right ear.
“What are you doing?” Yabu whispered, blinking rapidly.
“Curing you,” Takaki smiles, leaning in to kiss the older boy.
“Did you guys get that?” Hikaru screams, cutting into their bubble as shutters go off.
Takaki and Yabu look up to find eight camera-phones pointed towards them.
“Is this okay?” Takaki asks, turning back to face Yabu. Their faces are only a few inches apart now. He ignores the screams of excitements and shouts of “Chinen, you’re too young! Quick! Someone cover his eyes!”
“Curing me?” Yabu blinks, “Or kissing me?” He smirks a little, pulling the other boy down by his collar. “If that first one was for my cold, then you should kiss me properly again.”
“Ack!” Ryutaro yells in the background. “Hikaru! Stop covering my face!”
Takaki never catches Yabu’s cold, much to the latter’s dismay. It takes Hikaru a week to realize that the photo can’t really be used for blackmail if everyone has it; by then, Yuto had already forwarded it to all of the juniors, and even some of the senpais.
“Oi,” Miura grins upon running into them at a CD store a few weeks later. “Here with your boyfriend?” He grins at Takaki.
“Yeah,” Takaki smiles, looking past the shelves at Yabu, who is busy hunting down a CD. “Kind of,” he laughs when Yabu wanders back to them, a little confused.
“Looks like your dirty dream came true after all,” Miura snickers, earning a shove from Takaki.
“What was that about?” Yabu asks later.
“Nothing,” Takaki smiles, slipping his hand into the older boy’s. “Nothing, Yabumama.”
[end]
omake
“Oi!” Ohno pops into their dressing room. “Stop spamming me with this junk!” He shows them the photo on his cell phone. “If I wanted to see this kind of stuff I would’ve walked in on Akanishi and Yamashita already!”
“Ohno-kun!” Chinen quickly flies to the door. “We can do the same thing too! You and I!” He stops when Ryutaro pulls him back, warning the man with a quick “run!” before letting Chinen loose.
AN: Because konbini asks me what I thought about Takabu XD Also inspired by the Making of YOUR SEED, where Yabu rolls around, half-dead between giggling at Takaki and making out with the wall. If this fic had a banner (and lol I hate fanfic banners) it'd be one of these two.
[21:38] Chiharu: lol idk what misaki thinks about takabu
[21:39] Lyto: She likes watching
[21:39] Lyto: XD
[21:39] Chiharu: XDDD
*while translating the making of for me*
[22:05] Chiharu: what about 14:40?
[22:06] Lyto: Everyone practiced the dancing a lot
[22:06] Lyto: I have other work, so I missed out some
[22:06] Lyto: I was so sad I wanted to cry
[22:06] Lyto: XD
[22:06] Chiharu: wtf
[22:06] Lyto: Everyone knows this
[22:06] Lyto: they are really great group mates
[22:07] Lyto: He's a wimp
[22:07] Lyto: XD
[22:07] Chiharu: takaki says this while fixing his bangs? XD
[22:07] Lyto: such a pansy
[22:07] Lyto: Yep
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: Hey!Say!JUMP + Miura Haruma
Author: blahchiharu
Pairing: Takaki/Yabu
Rating: G
wordcount: ~5100
Summary: Between the Shokura Fiasco of 2006, Gokusen, and babysitting his band mates, Takaki isn't sure what he expects from their fearless leader anymore. Yuto digs Yamada out from under Hikaru's pants, Chinen spams Ohno’s inbox, and the rest of HSJ make good use of their camera phones. Takaki-centric. unbeta-ed.
Takaki doesn’t know when babysitting duties became a part of an idol’s prerequisite, but upon closer reflection he decides, between babying Chinen, patting Ryutaro on the head, and handing out band-aids, that this may be up his alley after all. Yabu is as great of a leader as he is a mother to the youngins (“more like hoodlums,” Hikaru murmurs after Chinen and Yuto knock over a cup on the table and splatter soda all over him), but it only takes Takaki a few weeks in close proximity with the boy to notice Yabu’s daily routine.
Yabu starts the day off by hushing the over-excited morning do-ers; Takaki isn’t a morning person, so he only sits lazily in a corner and watches as Yabu calms Yuto and Chinen down, handing them snacks low in sugar. Afterwards, Yabu cajoles the less energetic ones (read: bums) awake; he usually spends ten minutes rubbing at Hikaru’s back as the younger boy sits on the bench, half asleep before lighting tapping at Hikaru’s cheeks. At this point, Julie comes shuffling into the room with scripts and schedules, too flustered by the morning traffic to notice her unbuttoned collar or ripped skirt. Yabu usually takes her documents and hands them out to the rest of the boys, often giving out small compliments like “Keito, you’re really starting to grow into that hairstyle” and “Julie-san, that necklace really matches your outfit!”
Takaki had stared when he first witnessed Yabumama in action. He didn’t know where the boy got this kind of energy from; Yabu was only a few months older than him, after all, but he took everything in strides and acted as if everyone depends dearly on him (this was actually true, Takaki found out one day when Inoo strained his ankle, and while everyone was busy screaming their heads off and running around in blind panic, Yabu had quickly fished out a first-aid box and bandaged him up before helping him hop to the infirmary.)
Usually at this point, Takaki is too deep in thought to notice the bottle of water in his face. He looks up to find Yabu smiling at him before moving away, probably to attend to another half-awake member. It’s definitely Koyama-senpai’s influence, Takaki decides early on.
By mid afternoon, Yabu gets his second wind after lunch and spends the majority of his time helping Keito or Inoo with their dance steps after learning his in record speed. The oldest boy often surprises Takaki by calling break at the perfect time, when everyone’s starting to fatigue but is too stubborn to point it out. Takaki stands lamely at the water coolers while Yabu discretely wipes his forehead with his sleeves before handing out fruits and vitamins of the like.
By early evening, however, Yabu crumbles into a mess. Takaki first observes this when Yabu waves the other boys goodbye after a late practice, and then proceeds to fall down the stone steps leading up to the jimusho building on his way out. Takaki catches him in time, only to notice Yabu’s wobbly limbs and weak knee as they sit down on a close by bench, the older boy gasping for breath.
“I think,” Takaki decides when Yabu is busy leaning on his right side. “You stretch yourself too thin.”
“Sorry,” Yabu laughs into Takaki’s sleeves. “That wasn’t very leader-like, was it? It was actually a little uncool.”
“You’re a little uncool,” Takaki laughs, helping the other boy up after feeding him his left-over box of pocky. “Are you feeling better now? Or do I need to escort you to the subway so you don’t collapse in the middle of an intersection?” The proposal is a joke at first, so Takaki doesn’t wait for the boy to reply before turning around. He’s surprised when Yabu grips him by the arm.
“If you can…” Yabu mumbles.
“It’s okay,” Takaki decides, looping one arm into Yabu’s. “We’re heading in the same direction anyways. Come on, oh fearless leader.”
The second time Takaki brings the topic up is during their small concert tour. The older boy takes one step into their shared hotel room and practically faints on the carpet. It takes Takaki five minutes to haul Yabu to his bed. He kneels down next to the mattress and shakes the older boy gently, “you need to take a shower first.”
“Later,” Yabu mumbles into his pillow, slapping Takaki’s hand away softly. “I’m recharging.”
“What are you, a robot?” Takaki laughs, taking a seat on the edge of Yabu’s bed.
“No, I’m a teenager mother.” Yabu declares, swinging around to face Takaki. “I can sense premature wrinkles already. This stress level is really bad for my complexion. Say, Takaki-san, did you hear about what Uehara-san’s daughter did? They say a gang knocked her up! Such a horrible neighborhood we live in, I’m afraid for my children!”
“Get your lazy ass off the bed, then, Okaa-san.” Takaki grins. “You smell, and you still haven’t helped me with my homework. By the way, where’s my bento for tomorrow? My uniform still needs to be ironed. I need to impress Minami-chan, after all.”
“Who’s Minami-chan?” Yabu shrieks ceremonially in a high voice, sitting up to wrap his arms around the other boy. “You’re not dating anyone until your grades pick up!”
“You’re one to talk,” Takaki snickers, breaking their skit. “Who’s the one that fell asleep standing during our assembly? Who drooled all over their test paper and had to get me to explain that you had a late night, only to have our classmates gossip about our illicit nightly activities?”
“Hai, hai.” Yabu laughs, lying back down on his fluffy pillows. “You take a shower first, let me rest for awhile.”
Takaki laughs, picks up his towels, and makes his way to the bathroom before Yabu speaks up again. He smiles at the soft whisper of, “if I’m Yabumama, then you’re Takapapa. I can’t do it all by myself, you know…” By the time Takaki walks out of the shower, hairs damp, Yabu is already asleep.
“Yabu-kun, buy me that cinnamon bun, please?” Chinen asks, dragging at the older boy’s arm. He runs off when the boy doesn’t reply, probably to bother someone else with money.
Takaki sighs and sips his cup of coffee. Location shoots for Hyakushiki are never fun when it comes to waking at the crack of dawn to tour obscure factories. He knows for a fact that Yabu spent all of last night memorizing scripts, and is now half-dead on the table as they sit at the coffee shop, waiting for their bus to return.
“Try your coffee,” Takaki pushes the cup further towards the mob of hair lying on a pair of tanned arms. “We still have a meeting with Johnny at the jimusho after this. Don’t die yet.” He watches as Hikaru continuously poke Keito at the other table while Yuto and Yamada makes faces at each other.
“Who’s dying?” Ryutaro asks, leaning down to peak at Yabu’s face.
“No one, Ryu-chan,” Yabu sits up and pulls the younger boy into a hug, ruffling at the boy’s hair. “Did you grow taller?” He grins, leaning his head on Ryutaro’s narrow shoulder frame. “Or have you just been standing around Dai-chan too much?”
“Hey!” Daiki cries from another table.
“Did I grow?” Ryutaro asks quietly, almost to himself as he measures the difference between his height and Yabu’s, which isn’t much considering the fact that he’s currently situated on the older boy’s lap. He blinks when Yabu laughs, standing up to wander elsewhere instead.
“What’s going to happen when everyone grows past Daiki?” Yabu grins, leaning on his elbows.
“He’ll probably attempt to throw himself off the Tokyo tower.” Takaki shrugs, checking his watch. He looks up to find Yabu sighing, hair tangled in a mess. “Either go back to sleep or drink your coffee.”
Yabu obliges, reaching for the now lukewarm cup. “Yuyan,” he says, mimicking Chinen’s usual nickname for Takaki. “If I’m mothering everyone else, and you’re mothering me, then who’s taking care of you?”
“You worry too much,” Takaki laughs instead, “Drink your coffee.”
Yabu is strong willed, but unwilling to be vulnerable in front of the younger boys. Takaki learns this early on, and doesn’t challenge it when he has to literarily force Yabu down on a chair when the boy strains himself too much. Watching over Yabu turns from a hobby to a job, but Takaki doesn’t mind the days when Yabu is too weary to complain.
That’s why he’s a little surprised to find his job taken when Shoon drops a half-awake Yabu off at practice one weekend. “Get some tea and he’ll go back to normal,” Shoon tells Takaki with a smile before walking off.
Tea, Takaki thinks, that’s why Yabu rarely drinks coffee. He brings bottled green tea to the dressing room, where Yabu is busy resting on an armchair. Takaki leans over the boy, unconsciously reaching to brush stray bangs away when the boy suddenly shifts around.
“Shoon…” Yabu turns back to face the wall, no doubt asleep again.
Takaki pauses and think, maybe he’s the one foolishly trying to take Shoon’s job.
“Good, I was looking for you.” Julie says when Takaki walks out of the room. She’s clad in another business suit with a clipboard in arm. She hands him a stack of documents, “I have good news for you.”
Between Gokusen meetings and preparation for their graduation, Takaki hardly runs into Yabu these days. He spends the beginning of spring practicing his scripts with Nakama and Kiriyama, goofing around the set while being introduced to endless cast members.
“Don’t worry,” Julie tells him. “I’ve already arranged your schedule so it won’t be too much of an inconvenience to JUMP. You’ll have to miss a couple appearances, but this drama will no doubt make up for it.”
Takaki meets Miura Haruma on their second day rehearsing. The boy is cheerful and proud, but friendly enough that Takaki doesn’t mind their hasty introduction. “You Jyannis,” Haruma laughs at first. “You guys are pretty interesting. I don’t think I’ve been surrounded by so many pretty boys in my life.”
“What are you talking about?” Kiriyama makes face. “You are a pretty boy!”
They spend the rest of that day chasing each other around, Takaki falling to the ground at one point because he just can’t laugh anymore. Miura helps him, grinning. “We need this type of male bond now so it’s not too awkward when we’re beating each other up on screen.”
Graduation comes faster than he expects, and the next thing Takaki knows, his mother is fussing over his hair while taking a million pictures with his diploma. “Okaa-san,” he whines, and for a second he sees Yabu turn around from the huddle of family members twenty feet away. “Seriously, this isn’t a photo shoot.”
“Shush,” his mother sighs. “Can’t a mother be proud that her son is graduating?” She stops when Yabu’s family comes over to congratulate them.
“How’s filming?” Yabu asks with a small grin. “Chinen’s been sulking ever since you stop coming to practice. I’m not sure I can resist his teary eyes and princess hugs anymore.”
“You never could,” Takaki laughs. “How are you? Still working yourself to the bones?”
“Naturally,” Yabu makes a face, as if the answer was horribly obvious. “Someone has to take care those kids. I’m especially stressed now that you’re not there to nag me.”
“That’s one way to look at it,” Takaki shrugs, frowning a little. “It’s not easy to baby someone who’d rather victimize themselves than to be taken lightly.”
“What does that mean?” Yabu asks at last, voice soft. “I’m not a masochist, you just analyze people too much. It’s not easy, being around someone critical like you either.”
“If you didn’t need me around, you should’ve said that ahead of time,” Takaki replies quietly, bringing one hand to his head. “It would have saved me a lot of time; worrying, getting headaches, and caring more about you than myself were all unnecessary, weren’t they?”
“Taka-” Yabu begins to say, but is cut off when his parents come in.
“Kota, we have to go,” the older boy’s father says. “We’re already late for our reservation. You don’t want your cousins to wait, do you?” He pauses, “say goodbye to Takaki-kun, now.”
“We’ll talk about this later,” Yabu tells him before following his father away.
Takaki sighs and turns his cell phone off.
The rest of the week is spent at the set, going over last minute revisions and starting with the filming. Takaki sleeps an average of five hours per night before being dragged back into warehouses for the action scenes. By the third day, he’s already tired of having fake blood smeared all over his face.
“Save your scowl for the camera,” Miura tells him at lunch, in the process of stealing one of his onigiris. “Why so blue, panda bear?” He grins when the other boy stares at him, incredulous.
“I’m just practicing my serious face,” the brunette replies, attempting to compose himself before glaring towards Miura’s general direction.
“Your serious face sucks,” Miura laughs instead. “Hey, if you’re that bored, come to karaoke with us after we’re done for today. I might even sing one of your songs! Mmm. What is called? Dirty Dream Come True?”
“It’s Dream Come True, you loser!” Takaki laughs, throwing his chopsticks at the other boy. It misses.
Hanging out with the cast does wonders for his mood, and Takaki returns home after hours of laughing, singing, and stuffing himself with snacks at the karaoke bar.
“You have a phone call,” his mother says when he’s busy changing. He shoos the woman away before picking up his rarely used home phone.
“Hello?”
“Long time no talk.” Daiki’s voice filters through his receiver. “Did you just get back?”
“Yeah,” Takaki smiles to himself. “Why did you call the landline?”
“Saa, I wonder why.” The younger boy replies, a little sarcastic. “Anyways, I thought I might as well check up on you while everyone else is being tormented by Yabu-kun the tyrant. He’s been so moody lately; yesterday he even yelled at Chinen.”
“Eh,” The brunette says, a little lost for words. “That’s…”
“We figured Yabu-kun got in a lover’s quarrel or something of the like,” Daiki continues, voice dripped with sarcasm.
“With Shoon?” Takaki blinks.
A pause, then, “Wow, you’re pretty slow.” Daiki says at last.
“Well, how was I supposed to know that they’re in a relationship?” Takaki asks, frustration seeping through his voice. His grip tightens on the phone.
“Never mind,” the younger boy says after awhile.
“You have guests,” one of the staff says to him, and Takaki turns around to find Yabu and Hikaru standing near the cameras.
“We drop by here on our way home,” Hikaru explains, handing him an envelope. “Since your cell phone is always turned off nowadays, we had to make an appearance ourselves.” He smirks as Takaki opens the envelope. “Yama-chan’s birthday, remember? We’re throwing him a party.”
“You should come,” Yabu continues, almost as if Takaki is a stranger and not someone in he’s known for years. “Everyone misses you.” He pauses. “It’s kind of important.”
Takaki doesn’t need Yabu to point this out; Yamada is already important to him. “I’m-”
“Hey Takaki,” Miura pops into the set at that point, followed by Ishiguro and Shohei. “We’re going out for dinner, want to come?” He stops. “Sorry, am I interrupting something?”
“No,” Yabu says, grabbing Hikaru by the arm. “We were just leaving.”
“Fighting with your boyfriends?” Miura raises an eyebrow, watching as the two boys exit the studio. “Or did you have to turn down another hopeful boy crush?” He grins, looping on arm around Shohei as they carry on with their normal gay jyanni jokes.
“No,” Takaki says quietly. “He’s the one that turned me down."
Takaki runs into Rubi later that week. “Long time no see?” He smiles a little, waiting for the girl’s reaction after bumping into her at a subway station.
Kato Rubi blinks before brushing a strand of hair behind her shoulder. “It’s been awhile. I didn’t think I’d run into you again. Better not let the paparazzi catch us, or even my parents will lose their jobs this time.”
“That’s not-” Takaki opens his mouth, waiting for some kind of response to formulate. Nothing comes to mind. It’s his fault that this wonderful girl is now out of the entertainment industry, and Takaki can’t think of enough ways to apologize.
“I’m joking,” Rubi laughs. “It was more of a wake up call for me. Now I can focus on my studies; I’m taking my college entrance exams now. You think I have chance at a normal life now that I’m not dating a Jyanni?”
“I think you can do anything you set your mind to,” Takaki smiles genuinely for the first time in awhile.
She stops when an overhead operator calls for the last minute departures. “Oh, that’s me,” she pats him on the back. “You should smile more. I always thought you were more handsome when you smiled!” Rubi runs off before Takaki can reply.
“Spacing out again?”
Takaki looks up to find a make up artist fuming by his side while shoving various concealers at his face. He lets the woman do her job while tapping the edge of a pen -Takaki found it on the ground a few days ago; it reminded him of the one Yabu always used in class, so he decided to keep it- on his script. “Huh?”
“What’s on your mind?” Miura asks again, pulling a chair over as he sits down, legs open while using the back of the chair as an armrest. “Tell Haruma-sensei about it.”
“I ran into my ex-girlfriend,” Takaki begins. “You know? The one the agency made a big deal about? It was a pretty messy break up, but I ran into her the other day, and she held no grudge against me.” He sighs. “I think I might’ve felt better if she slapped me or something.”
“Never doubt the kindness of men,” Miura muses.
“She’s not a man,” Takaki twitches slightly, but stops when the makeup artist tells him to stay still.
“It’s an idiom, Smart One.” Miura huffs. “And how does that make you feel?”
“I feel like I’ve been an idiot,” the brunette admits. “If she’s willing to forgive me so easily, then maybe I should let go of my own grudges as well.”
“See, I knew I’d get through you.” Miura declares proudly.
“You didn’t do anything!” Takaki laughs, grinning. Even the make-up girl giggles somewhat at this.
Yamada’s house is twenty minutes away from the set via subway. Takaki spends his time by turning on his cell phone for the fist time in weeks and replying to all the messages accumulated in his inbox. He pauses upon finding Yabu’s brief Are you Okay? dated three weeks back.
“Takaki-kun is here!” Yamada-san calls when she lets the boy inside.
“Yuyan!” Chinen tackles him first, causing the boy to take a step back. He smiles when Chinen latches on to his arm and refuses to let go. “I missed you!” The gymnast says, eyes wide. “When are you coming back to rehearsals?”
“We’re almost done with filming,” he tells the boy, smiling softly. “Did you really miss me?”
“He wasn’t the only one,” Yamada comments, waiting for his own hug. “Thanks for coming.”
“Happy birthday,” Takaki grins, handing the younger boy a neatly wrapped box; Takaki had failed to tie the ribbon by himself, and it took the combined efforts of Miura, Kiriyama, and Nakama-sensei to finish the wrapping. “How does it feel to be another year older?”
“I feel like I should be taller,” Yamada laughs.
“I should say the same thing,” Daiki mumbles from the table.
“Am I early?” Takaki blinks, setting his bag down on the table while glancing around the room.
“Here they are,” someone says when the front door slams open, and Hikaru comes trotting in with grocery bags in hand, followed by Yabu, Inoo, and Yuto.
“Sorry for bothering you boys with this,” Yamada-san says, taking their coats.
“No problem,” Hikaru grins. “The convenience store was close, anyways. Oh hey, Takaki’s here!”
They spend the next few hours teasing Yamada, stuffing their faces full with cake, watching old shokura episodes and reminiscing about the good o’ days when Yabu’s voice didn’t crack, Chinen still pirouetted, and when Yuto was still short.
“Remember when Inoo-chan tripped and knocked down half of the juniors on stage?” Daiki grins, playing around with the fork in his hand. His cake is reduced to a few crumbs at this point. “
“That’s because Yabu-kun knocked into me!” Inoo frowns, pointing at the oldest boy with a laugh.
“Wait a minute,” Yabu says after a while. “That’s because Takaki stepped on me,” he remembers as everyone turned to the said boy. “The shokura fiasco of 2006 was all your fault, then!”
Takaki blinks when eight other boys shove their faces in front of him, waiting for some sort of a reply.
“What’s ‘Dressing Room Horrors’?” Keito asks from his end of the table as the only one who hasn’t ganged up on Takaki at this point. He points to the cassette, reading off the label. “It’s dating back to 2005, though.”
“If you’re lucky, you’ll get to see chibi Yabu-kun.” Yuto chirps, grabbing the cassette as he makes his way towards the VHR.
“Hey! No!” Yabu yanked the tape out of Yuto’s hands. “We are not watching that! I have a reputation to maintain!” It takes both Hikaru and Yuto to push Yabu down while Ryutaro pops the cassette in. Hikaru is incredulous, however, when footages of himself show up more than Yabu.
“Thanks for coming, you guys.” Yamada tells them later while cleaning up the mess in the living room. “Yabu-kun, can you take the trash out?”
“I’ll come too,” Takaki offers, earning a confused look from the leader of BEST. He follows the older boy out the backdoor before speaking up, “I think I owe you can apology.”
“For ignoring my calls and messages? Or for calling me a masochist?” Yabu laughs, closing the lid to the trashcan. He folds his arms before taking a seat on the back porch. “I forgave you a long time ago. I’m just a little confused. What exactly happened?”
“I was stupid,” Takaki admits. “And a little hurt, because I didn’t know you were with Shoon.”
“What do you mean?” The older boy tilts his head sideways.
“Dating Shoon,” Takaki corrects himself, flinching a little.
“What are you talking about?” Yabu’s voice is sharp now as he stares up at the other boy. “Shoon doesn’t like boys.”
Takaki thinks, maybe, just maybe, Yabu’s voice sounds a little sad.
Gokusen Filming wraps up by May, and Takaki takes a breath of relief when his days are no longer filled with endless fight scenes and fake weapons. He exchanges his phone number with half of the cast and promises to call Miura.
Takaki shows up at the jimusho a day later to find their dressing room in total disorder. Clothes everywhere, water bottles obstructing his vision. Takaki swear he even saw Ryutaro’s leg buried underneath all the debris.
“Yabu-kun’s been sick,” Keito explains with a trash bag in hand, and somehow everything starts to make sense. “I’ve been trying to pick up after everyone’s mess, but we need an army at this point.” He pauses, “Oh, by the way. Welcome back!”
“Yuyan?” Chinen’s head pops up from the doorway, and he nearly trips over a mountain of sneakers on his way in to glomp the older boy. “Inoo-chan and Hikaru-kun keep playing with my hair,” he pouts, almost as if waiting for Takaki to yell at the other boys. “Yabu-kun would’ve scolded them already.”
“How is Yabu, anyways?” Hikaru says from the doorway with a giddy Inoo in tow. “I haven’t heard from him in days.” He turns to face Yuto. “It’s all because he accidentally drank from your water bottle.”
“I don’t have mono!” Yuto huffs in return.
“What about AIDS?” Hikaru challenges with a smirk.
“Relax,” Ryutaro says as he climbs over the pile of water bottles. “He says he’s coming back today, so maybe this insanity will finally die down. I’m tried of having to baby all of you. I’m too young for this.”
“Please,” Takaki laughs as he lifts Ryutaro up and sets him down on the floor. “You can’t even look after Shintaro. Leave the mothering to the big kids.”
“The big kids are busy drawing graffiti on the bathroom walls,” Ryutaro resorts, nodding towards Hikaru and Inoo, now nowhere in sight. “That, or pranking KAT-TUN. Do you know how many death threats we’ve gotten in the span of three days?”
“It’s true,” Chinen adds. “Koki-senpai even threatened to flush me down the toilet. But Ohno-kun came to my rescue,” suddenly his eyes are filled with a million little hearts.
“Ohno merely asked them to stop blocking the hallway,” Daiki explains. “Chinen is still as delusional as ever.”
“Where’s Julie?” Takaki asks, the light bulb finally lighting in his head.
“She’s on tour with NewS.” Yabu speaks up as everyone’s attention shifts towards the door. The boy is clad in a huge parka, face digging into layers and layers of his scarf. He sidesteps Yuto when the boy leaps in for a hug. “I’m still sick, but Ryutaro begged me to come in. I’m leaving as soon as-”
“Yabu, you’re here, Good.” Mary cuts in as she enters the room, ignoring the mess at hand as she hands them a pile of documents. “Meeting in the conference room in twenty minutes,” she pauses, “Why is Yamada unconscious under a mound of clothes?” She leaves when Yuto shrieks and begins to dig his friend out from under Hikaru’s pants.
“Looks like you’re not going anywhere,” Daiki says to the leader of BEST.
Takaki spends the next few hours tending to a sulking Yabu. Even the news of their new single is met with silence after Yabu sneezes through most of Johnny’s announcement.
“Did you say shoe?” Inoo asks while Yabu sneezes in the background.
“Snapple?” Ryutaro guesses.
“Single,” Johnny repeats himself, twitching slightly when Yabu sneezes over him again. “I said, I have a new single lined up for you. It goes hand in hand with the Kungfu Panda movie. Rehearsals start tomorrow since some of you,” he stares at Yabu, “are not in the best shape for dance or vocal lessons.”
“That was so embarrassing,” Yabu complains later at lunch. Somehow his sickness had translated to a day without babysitting duties.
“Here are some vitamins.” Yuto chirps, dumping a handful of packaged pills in front of the leader of BEST. "They’re the ones you always give me, I usually just dump them in the back of my bag, but hey, now they’re useful!” He bounces away before the older boys can say anything.
Takaki face-palms. “Just eat it,” he says, handing the other boy another pack of tissues. “And don’t think about taking that mask off. I’m not catching this plague of yours.”
“Hey, I know a surefire way for Yabu to get rid of his cold.” Hikaru declares from a table twenty feet away; no one wants to eat lunch at the same table as Yabu The Sneezing Machine. “Just pass it off to someone and you’ll be cured.”
“Takaki.”
“Huh?” The said boy looks up from his magazine, and nearly shrieks when the older boy towers over him, ready to remove his mask. “OH NO!” Takaki declares. “You’re not passing that off to me!”
“But I’ve been sick for a week!” Yabu whines.
“Then pass it back to Yuto!”
“He didn’t catch this from me!” The leader of 7 resorts from across the lunchroom. “I wasn’t even sick!”
“So, who else have you been making out with lately?” Daiki laughs from his table.
Yabu ignores them and continues to sulk next to Takaki, periodically jabbing at his bento with his chopsticks. “Taka-” He mumbles a few minutes later, looking up with glossy eyes to find another pack of tissues shoved at him.
“Seriously.” Takaki sighs. “Where did you catch this?”
“My cousin’ friend.” The boy murmurs. “She confessed to me and kissed me out of the blue. I couldn’t push her off or anything. I mean, she’s eight.” He makes a pained expression. “You know?”
“I know you’re a pushover.” Takaki laughs. Yabu is too trusting, and a little too accommodating. Just the thought of it riles Takaki up a little. He stands up, leans over the table, and carefully unlocks the end of the surgical masks from Yabu’s right ear.
“What are you doing?” Yabu whispered, blinking rapidly.
“Curing you,” Takaki smiles, leaning in to kiss the older boy.
“Did you guys get that?” Hikaru screams, cutting into their bubble as shutters go off.
Takaki and Yabu look up to find eight camera-phones pointed towards them.
“Is this okay?” Takaki asks, turning back to face Yabu. Their faces are only a few inches apart now. He ignores the screams of excitements and shouts of “Chinen, you’re too young! Quick! Someone cover his eyes!”
“Curing me?” Yabu blinks, “Or kissing me?” He smirks a little, pulling the other boy down by his collar. “If that first one was for my cold, then you should kiss me properly again.”
“Ack!” Ryutaro yells in the background. “Hikaru! Stop covering my face!”
Takaki never catches Yabu’s cold, much to the latter’s dismay. It takes Hikaru a week to realize that the photo can’t really be used for blackmail if everyone has it; by then, Yuto had already forwarded it to all of the juniors, and even some of the senpais.
“Oi,” Miura grins upon running into them at a CD store a few weeks later. “Here with your boyfriend?” He grins at Takaki.
“Yeah,” Takaki smiles, looking past the shelves at Yabu, who is busy hunting down a CD. “Kind of,” he laughs when Yabu wanders back to them, a little confused.
“Looks like your dirty dream came true after all,” Miura snickers, earning a shove from Takaki.
“What was that about?” Yabu asks later.
“Nothing,” Takaki smiles, slipping his hand into the older boy’s. “Nothing, Yabumama.”
[end]
omake
“Oi!” Ohno pops into their dressing room. “Stop spamming me with this junk!” He shows them the photo on his cell phone. “If I wanted to see this kind of stuff I would’ve walked in on Akanishi and Yamashita already!”
“Ohno-kun!” Chinen quickly flies to the door. “We can do the same thing too! You and I!” He stops when Ryutaro pulls him back, warning the man with a quick “run!” before letting Chinen loose.
AN: Because konbini asks me what I thought about Takabu XD Also inspired by the Making of YOUR SEED, where Yabu rolls around, half-dead between giggling at Takaki and making out with the wall. If this fic had a banner (and lol I hate fanfic banners) it'd be one of these two.
[21:38] Chiharu: lol idk what misaki thinks about takabu
[21:39] Lyto: She likes watching
[21:39] Lyto: XD
[21:39] Chiharu: XDDD
*while translating the making of for me*
[22:05] Chiharu: what about 14:40?
[22:06] Lyto: Everyone practiced the dancing a lot
[22:06] Lyto: I have other work, so I missed out some
[22:06] Lyto: I was so sad I wanted to cry
[22:06] Lyto: XD
[22:06] Chiharu: wtf
[22:06] Lyto: Everyone knows this
[22:06] Lyto: they are really great group mates
[22:07] Lyto: He's a wimp
[22:07] Lyto: XD
[22:07] Chiharu: takaki says this while fixing his bangs? XD
[22:07] Lyto: such a pansy
[22:07] Lyto: Yep
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.