STRINGS: 01 - Meguri Aeta Koto
title: STRINGS: 01 - Meguri Aeta Koto
author: yumeyana
fandom: seiyuu
genre: fluff, humor, sap
rating: pg
summary: There are times that accidental meetings become those that change your life forever. That is exactly what Ishikawa and Sakaguchi are about to learn.
Author’s Notes: I never thought the day would come that my friend, Kim, would ask me to write a seiyuu fic. That was why when she requested it, I immediately took on the challenge. Several days after, the idea popped into my head while Katoh Kazuki was singing Kimi to Zutto. So now, here it is.
Disclaimers: None of these events are real. I haven’t met these people. This only my version of what could’ve happened if I was the one pulling the strings in their life. Only the plot is mine.
Dedication: Happy Birthday, Kim.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STRINGS
Part I: Meguri Aeta Koto
It is a bright and sunny Saturday when they first meet. It was a time when the day, month, year and the time of the day still don’t matter that much.
Daisuke is about three years old.
His mother, Anita-san, glances at him from time to time, making sure that her little boy is alright. Little Daisuke is putting sand on his bright orange pail, making his neon green shovel gather as much as it can. He gives his mother a brief wave and a smile - his way of saying ‘I’m fine’ - and Anita-san’s college friend comments on how cute Daisuke is.
But before his mother could comment, a soccer ball comes flying out of nowhere.
His mother and her friend rush to his side, Anita-san reaching him first. She envelops the crying Daisuke in a tight embrace, whispering soothing words to calm her son down. Mama is here, she tells him over and over again.
Gomen nasai.
Anita-san looks up and sees a boy - about eight, she assumes - bowing in front of them. I lost control of the ball, he says. Gomen nasai. He kneels in front of them and reaches out for her son, gently stroking his hair. Daisuke stops crying and looks at him. Gomen nasai, he says again though this time a little softer.
Daisuke sniffs but then smiles at him.
The boy sighs - relieved - and smiles at him. He lightly ruffles Daisuke’s hair before standing and retrieving his ball. He gives them one last bow before taking off. Yet before he disappears from their line of sight, he glances back at them.
Daisuke waves at him.
And much to Anita-san’s amusement, the boy grins and waves back.
*
There are, he thinks, at least a hundred or so people around and between them but he cannot be mistaken. He can still remember the curves of that face, the tears those innocent eyes shed before. It has been ten years and yet he knows he is right.
He knows that smile.
Does he still remember that brief encounter, he wonders. It has been ten years.
He doesn’t know why he wonders about such things or even why he remembers such a small part in his childhood. He doesn’t even know why he is smiling and just standing a good few feet from the person who is unconsciously producing a smile on his face.
Hideo-kun, a classmate of his calls him. The bus is leaving.
Aa, he replies.
He runs towards his classmate, falling in step with her. The latter asks what happened to which he just shrugs and says that something just caught his eye. She shakes her head - Hideo-kun hasn’t changed, she comments as she playfully punches his arm.
He feigns pain, grasping the arm she punched. His lips move, telling her that there is no way she is a girl what with the way she punches. She repeats the gesture, now with more force that the previous. She is saying something about how mean her best friend is but he is not sure if what he is hearing is right.
He glances back and briefly wonders, what if he does remember me?
*
Dai-chan, his sister calls him. Is something the matter?
I’ve seen him somewhere, he mumbles. Who, she asks. He shrugs and says it’s nothing; let’s go and get that ice cream, neechan.
He dismisses it as a mere illusion but there is something in him that is telling him that it is not. He knows that person. Somewhere, some moment in his memory, they met before.
Yes, Daisuke thinks. He knows that person.
*
Hideo doesn’t really know what made him want to become a seiyuu.
He’s really more of a music person than an anime-radio-drama person. But there is something in the seiyuu business that makes it so popular and he wants to be popular. He needs to be popular because he needs the money for his family. His music, as his father often tells him, is not enough to feed their family. And even if his father and his opinion don’t really matter much to Hideo, he wants his family to be living as comfortably as he can afford.
And this is the fastest way.
He looks around the recording studio, eyes shifting from one corner to another. He is nervous - will he make it through the first recording? Or will he be the laughing stock of the whole business? Will he be able to fit it? Will he-
Hey.
Hideo looks up, surprised that someone even walked up to him. He recognizes the person, one of his sempai and a regular in this anime. He feels small around him; he knows that this person is popular.
Konnichi wa, sempai.
Said sempai grins at him, scratching his head. I don’t think I’m that older than you, he says. He extends his hand - Hideo couldn’t help but think how American it looked like - and introduces himself as Okiayu Ryotarou.
He blinks, unsure of how to react.
Okiayu laughs, shaking his head. He takes Hideo’s hand - this is how it is supposed to be done, kouhai. Hideo smiles sheepishly, his stupidity dawning upon him. He shakes his sempai’s hand and introduces himself - Ishikawa Hideo; yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
For some reason, he’s beginning to think everything will be just fine.
*
Daisuke couldn’t believe it.
Among all those who could possibly be the lead in this very popular anime, the casting director has chosen him. He doesn’t really know why - he is just a novice in this profession - but he is not exactly saying he doesn’t want it. Because he is so happy right now.
Feeling nervous?
He turns around and sees one of his sempai. One of his more good looking sempai, he corrects himself. Midorikawa Hikaru is - he is so sure - the most handsome seiyuu in the business.
Daisuke shrugs. Well, kinda. It is my debut role.
Midorikawa places an arm around his shoulders, grinning at him. It’s going to be fine.
He sighs; he is not so sure. He looks around, feeling small - this, not due to his height. He sees people who, he knows, are better than him. Koyasu-san, Seki-san, Orikasa-san…
You’ll be fine.
But what if I mess up? What if the director suddenly realizes he has made the wrong choice-?
He hasn’t.
But what if he does?! Daisuke knows he is no one - just a greenhorn who, by luck, lands the lead role.
Midorikawa grabs both his shoulders, shaking him. His sempai’s eyes are staring straight at him, serious and determined. He wants to look away but Midorikawa has his eyes glued.
The role is yours, Daisuke. Yours.
Said sempai is a wonder worker. No, scratch that. He is a superhero. Yup. Superman.
Daisuke closes his eyes, breathing deep. He shakes off all that anxiety and doubt because Midorikawa is right. He shouldn’t be worrying about such things; they will only hinder him from performing his best.
He opens his eyes, determination now burning in them.
Let the show begin.
*
Supposedly, he is used to this by now.
He looks around, hoping that among the hopeful seiyuu present, he will be one of those who will go home with a script in hand. And while looking around, he wonders, is there anyone he knows?
Hide-chan!
He waves at the person calling him, trying to get to the other side of the room to greet him personally. His face lights up as he sees that most of the Slam Dunk cast is present and smiling at him.
Hayashi-san. Okiayu-san.
Hayashi pats him on the back, immediately launching an animated story about last week’s recording. Hideo, the sempai thinks, should’ve been there if it isn’t for the fact that Ryonan has finished their share of the spotlight. Apparently, one of them screwed up during the recording.
Who?
Hikaru-chan! Hayashi laughs.
Really? Hideo joins in the laughter, picturing the image in his head. He turns to Okiayu - the laughter still hasn’t subsided - and shakes his head when he sees said sempai looking around the room. He doesn’t find it peculiar; he has spent enough time with them to know why Okiayu is on pins and needles.
He nudges Okiayu - looking for Midorikawa-san?
A smile appears on Okiayu’s lips but Hideo observes that the other’s eyes weren’t looking at him. His eyes are on the other side of the room where the missing seiyuu is. Midorikawa caught those eyes looking at him - Okiayu-kun, he calls - and makes his way faster than Hideo thinks is possible.
Traffic, is the first word that Midorikawa utters the moment he finds his place beside Okiayu’s. Hayashi is looking at them - obviously amused - but the newcomer and his best friend don’t seem to notice anything.
There’s someone I want you to meet.
Hayashi is curious - Hideo almost rolls his eyes at the child-like enthusiasm - and Okiayu asks who it is. Midorikawa motions at someone, a small guy a few meters away, to approach. He’s a little shy, Midorikawa tells them.
Hideo thinks that his world has suddenly stopped and his muscles won’t accept any of the messages his brain is forwarding. He knows he is not exaggerating because the moment his eyes met the ones that belonged to the person approaching them, this is how he felt.
There is a spark of recognition in the guy’s eyes and Hideo knows he couldn’t be wrong.
Sakaguchi Daisuke desu. Yoroshiku.
Ishikawa Hideo desu. Yoroshiku.
.tsuzuku
author: yumeyana
fandom: seiyuu
genre: fluff, humor, sap
rating: pg
summary: There are times that accidental meetings become those that change your life forever. That is exactly what Ishikawa and Sakaguchi are about to learn.
Author’s Notes: I never thought the day would come that my friend, Kim, would ask me to write a seiyuu fic. That was why when she requested it, I immediately took on the challenge. Several days after, the idea popped into my head while Katoh Kazuki was singing Kimi to Zutto. So now, here it is.
Disclaimers: None of these events are real. I haven’t met these people. This only my version of what could’ve happened if I was the one pulling the strings in their life. Only the plot is mine.
Dedication: Happy Birthday, Kim.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STRINGS
Part I: Meguri Aeta Koto
It is a bright and sunny Saturday when they first meet. It was a time when the day, month, year and the time of the day still don’t matter that much.
Daisuke is about three years old.
His mother, Anita-san, glances at him from time to time, making sure that her little boy is alright. Little Daisuke is putting sand on his bright orange pail, making his neon green shovel gather as much as it can. He gives his mother a brief wave and a smile - his way of saying ‘I’m fine’ - and Anita-san’s college friend comments on how cute Daisuke is.
But before his mother could comment, a soccer ball comes flying out of nowhere.
His mother and her friend rush to his side, Anita-san reaching him first. She envelops the crying Daisuke in a tight embrace, whispering soothing words to calm her son down. Mama is here, she tells him over and over again.
Gomen nasai.
Anita-san looks up and sees a boy - about eight, she assumes - bowing in front of them. I lost control of the ball, he says. Gomen nasai. He kneels in front of them and reaches out for her son, gently stroking his hair. Daisuke stops crying and looks at him. Gomen nasai, he says again though this time a little softer.
Daisuke sniffs but then smiles at him.
The boy sighs - relieved - and smiles at him. He lightly ruffles Daisuke’s hair before standing and retrieving his ball. He gives them one last bow before taking off. Yet before he disappears from their line of sight, he glances back at them.
Daisuke waves at him.
And much to Anita-san’s amusement, the boy grins and waves back.
*
There are, he thinks, at least a hundred or so people around and between them but he cannot be mistaken. He can still remember the curves of that face, the tears those innocent eyes shed before. It has been ten years and yet he knows he is right.
He knows that smile.
Does he still remember that brief encounter, he wonders. It has been ten years.
He doesn’t know why he wonders about such things or even why he remembers such a small part in his childhood. He doesn’t even know why he is smiling and just standing a good few feet from the person who is unconsciously producing a smile on his face.
Hideo-kun, a classmate of his calls him. The bus is leaving.
Aa, he replies.
He runs towards his classmate, falling in step with her. The latter asks what happened to which he just shrugs and says that something just caught his eye. She shakes her head - Hideo-kun hasn’t changed, she comments as she playfully punches his arm.
He feigns pain, grasping the arm she punched. His lips move, telling her that there is no way she is a girl what with the way she punches. She repeats the gesture, now with more force that the previous. She is saying something about how mean her best friend is but he is not sure if what he is hearing is right.
He glances back and briefly wonders, what if he does remember me?
*
Dai-chan, his sister calls him. Is something the matter?
I’ve seen him somewhere, he mumbles. Who, she asks. He shrugs and says it’s nothing; let’s go and get that ice cream, neechan.
He dismisses it as a mere illusion but there is something in him that is telling him that it is not. He knows that person. Somewhere, some moment in his memory, they met before.
Yes, Daisuke thinks. He knows that person.
*
Hideo doesn’t really know what made him want to become a seiyuu.
He’s really more of a music person than an anime-radio-drama person. But there is something in the seiyuu business that makes it so popular and he wants to be popular. He needs to be popular because he needs the money for his family. His music, as his father often tells him, is not enough to feed their family. And even if his father and his opinion don’t really matter much to Hideo, he wants his family to be living as comfortably as he can afford.
And this is the fastest way.
He looks around the recording studio, eyes shifting from one corner to another. He is nervous - will he make it through the first recording? Or will he be the laughing stock of the whole business? Will he be able to fit it? Will he-
Hey.
Hideo looks up, surprised that someone even walked up to him. He recognizes the person, one of his sempai and a regular in this anime. He feels small around him; he knows that this person is popular.
Konnichi wa, sempai.
Said sempai grins at him, scratching his head. I don’t think I’m that older than you, he says. He extends his hand - Hideo couldn’t help but think how American it looked like - and introduces himself as Okiayu Ryotarou.
He blinks, unsure of how to react.
Okiayu laughs, shaking his head. He takes Hideo’s hand - this is how it is supposed to be done, kouhai. Hideo smiles sheepishly, his stupidity dawning upon him. He shakes his sempai’s hand and introduces himself - Ishikawa Hideo; yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
For some reason, he’s beginning to think everything will be just fine.
*
Daisuke couldn’t believe it.
Among all those who could possibly be the lead in this very popular anime, the casting director has chosen him. He doesn’t really know why - he is just a novice in this profession - but he is not exactly saying he doesn’t want it. Because he is so happy right now.
Feeling nervous?
He turns around and sees one of his sempai. One of his more good looking sempai, he corrects himself. Midorikawa Hikaru is - he is so sure - the most handsome seiyuu in the business.
Daisuke shrugs. Well, kinda. It is my debut role.
Midorikawa places an arm around his shoulders, grinning at him. It’s going to be fine.
He sighs; he is not so sure. He looks around, feeling small - this, not due to his height. He sees people who, he knows, are better than him. Koyasu-san, Seki-san, Orikasa-san…
You’ll be fine.
But what if I mess up? What if the director suddenly realizes he has made the wrong choice-?
He hasn’t.
But what if he does?! Daisuke knows he is no one - just a greenhorn who, by luck, lands the lead role.
Midorikawa grabs both his shoulders, shaking him. His sempai’s eyes are staring straight at him, serious and determined. He wants to look away but Midorikawa has his eyes glued.
The role is yours, Daisuke. Yours.
Said sempai is a wonder worker. No, scratch that. He is a superhero. Yup. Superman.
Daisuke closes his eyes, breathing deep. He shakes off all that anxiety and doubt because Midorikawa is right. He shouldn’t be worrying about such things; they will only hinder him from performing his best.
He opens his eyes, determination now burning in them.
Let the show begin.
*
Supposedly, he is used to this by now.
He looks around, hoping that among the hopeful seiyuu present, he will be one of those who will go home with a script in hand. And while looking around, he wonders, is there anyone he knows?
Hide-chan!
He waves at the person calling him, trying to get to the other side of the room to greet him personally. His face lights up as he sees that most of the Slam Dunk cast is present and smiling at him.
Hayashi-san. Okiayu-san.
Hayashi pats him on the back, immediately launching an animated story about last week’s recording. Hideo, the sempai thinks, should’ve been there if it isn’t for the fact that Ryonan has finished their share of the spotlight. Apparently, one of them screwed up during the recording.
Who?
Hikaru-chan! Hayashi laughs.
Really? Hideo joins in the laughter, picturing the image in his head. He turns to Okiayu - the laughter still hasn’t subsided - and shakes his head when he sees said sempai looking around the room. He doesn’t find it peculiar; he has spent enough time with them to know why Okiayu is on pins and needles.
He nudges Okiayu - looking for Midorikawa-san?
A smile appears on Okiayu’s lips but Hideo observes that the other’s eyes weren’t looking at him. His eyes are on the other side of the room where the missing seiyuu is. Midorikawa caught those eyes looking at him - Okiayu-kun, he calls - and makes his way faster than Hideo thinks is possible.
Traffic, is the first word that Midorikawa utters the moment he finds his place beside Okiayu’s. Hayashi is looking at them - obviously amused - but the newcomer and his best friend don’t seem to notice anything.
There’s someone I want you to meet.
Hayashi is curious - Hideo almost rolls his eyes at the child-like enthusiasm - and Okiayu asks who it is. Midorikawa motions at someone, a small guy a few meters away, to approach. He’s a little shy, Midorikawa tells them.
Hideo thinks that his world has suddenly stopped and his muscles won’t accept any of the messages his brain is forwarding. He knows he is not exaggerating because the moment his eyes met the ones that belonged to the person approaching them, this is how he felt.
There is a spark of recognition in the guy’s eyes and Hideo knows he couldn’t be wrong.
Sakaguchi Daisuke desu. Yoroshiku.
Ishikawa Hideo desu. Yoroshiku.
.tsuzuku