Patience Rewarded
TITLE: Patience Rewarded
RATING: G + swearing
PAIRING/CHARACTERS: Ryo/Shige, featuring Kanjani8
WORD COUNT: 2,518
SUMMARY: Shige plans on cleaning the floor, but there's an interruption.
NOTES: Because shangrilove basically demanded it. Whore!verse.
Because Ryo has a spacious apartment, he has learned the fine-tuned art of "mess denial". Instead of cleaning, he moves whatever the mess happens to be (clothes, old magazines, etc.) or kicks it around with his foot long enough for the shape to change. It works. For a while.
Shige is used to smaller living spaces, so he can't stand clutter. He doesn't leave pants and jackets and shirts lying around like Ryo, or stacks of old magazines. The closest Shige comes is the pile of textbooks under the coffee table, but it's perfectly organized, so Shige can reach under it and without looking, pull out the exact book he wants. Shige doesn't make it a habit to clean up Ryo's messes, but they always get to a point where Shige can't stand them anymore. So he cleans. But underneath every mess, he just finds another problem. A dirty hardwood floor, or a stained rug. And Shige can't leave that. So he goes out to buy cleaning supplies (using money from the sock in Ryo's drawer that Shige isn't supposed to know about).
At the moment, he's standing in the aisle of a nearby drug store, looking at the labels of the every hardwood cleaner, trying to find the one with the least amount of irritating chemicals, since Shige figures this is going to be a long job. But he's not able to focus. Because every few minutes, a short blonde man looks around the corner of the aisle at Shige for a long moment. When Shige starts turning, the man always ducks back, and Shige thinks, maybe, he's going a little crazy. He's the last man on earth who should have a stalker.
Shige finally picks one, mostly in an effort to get very far away from the blonde. He purposefully takes the long way around to the register to avoid him, but just as he's about to reach the check-out, there's a hesitant tap on his shoulder. Shige turns and finds the blonde.
"Um." He sounds nervous. "This might be kind of presumptuous but, are you-" He leans in closer, lowering his voice. "Ryo-chan's secret friend?"
"No," Shige's reply is fast and sharp. This guy could be a paparazzi and he's not going to take any chances.
"You look just like the pictures in the magazine! And the pictures me and Baru looked at on Ryo-chan's phone while he was in the bathroom."
Half of Shige wants to know when Ryo took pictures of him and the other half just wants to leave with his hardwood cleaner.
"Yasu! There you are!"
Shige and the blonde both turn to a dark-haired man walking up to them.
"Look! It's Katou-kun!"
"I'm not Katou."
The new man stares at Shige for a minute before pulling out this phone, pressing a few buttons, and then holds it up so he can see the screen and Shige's face. He smiles. "Hello, Ryo-chan's-secret-friend-kun."
Shige pales.
"Yay! Let's go out for lunch!"
Shige isn't given a single opporunity to say 'no' and is pratically dragged out of the store. But somewhere in the disarray, the dark-haired man - Shibutani Subaru, he finds out later - buys the cleaner.
-- -- --
Shige has been pushed into one side of a booth, with Yasuda and Shibutani on the other. There's a tray of appetizers in the middle, but no one's eating.
"Is Ryo-chan mean to you?"
"Um-"
"Of course! It's Ryo-chan! You put up a fight though, right, Katou-kun?"
"Well-"
"I bet Ryo-chan's really different at home! He never lets us over."
"Maybe-"
"I don't know. Katou-kun looks like the kind of guy who is fun to bully."
"What?!"
"This is really lucky! That we ran into Katou-kun at such a place!"
"Ryo-chan would never have let us meet him."
"Why not?"
"Ryo-chan doesn't trust us."
Yasuda nods. "He thinks we make people second-guess their relationships with him."
"Just because thatone girl broke up with him after meeting us."
"I know! Ryo-chan's unreasonable like that."
"I've heard Kanjani8 is a little... excitable."
Yasuda and Shibutani smile and answer together, "That's our Kansai charm!"
"Um, right."
"So." Yasuda leans over the table, narrowly missing the dip on the plate, wiggling his eyebrows. "How's Ryo-chan?"
"What?"
Shibutani laughs.
"You know." Yasuda pokes his arm. "Is it give-and-take? With Ryo-chan, I wouldn't be surprised if it was all give. Is he unfair, Katou-kun?"
Shige blushes. "Wha- I."
Shibutani cocks his head. "Is this Katou-kun's first man relationship?"
"I'm- I'm not comfortable talking abo-"
"You've abandoned the team, Katou-kun!"
"Don't worry." Shibutani pats Yasuda's shoulder. "Guys like us are still more numerous than gays."
"Wait." Shige points to Yasuda. "You're not...?"
Yasuda pouts and slumps in the seat. "Why does every one think I'm gay?"
There's silence at the table until Shige replies, "You're wearing a skirt."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Yasuda crosses his arms. "Just for that, I'm not letting you go yet."
Shige groans, and wants to smash his face into the table.
-- -- --
Shige's pushed in the backseat of a car and forced to join Shibutani and Yasuda on a long series of errands before pulling into a parking garage. Yasuda turns around in the front seat and smiles in an un-nerving way.
"It's surprise time."
Shige gets pulled out of the back seat and taken around to the trunk, where there's a pile of various coats, hats and miscellaneous accessories. Shige's made to put them on, in various combinations, and after each, Shibutani and Yasuda debate whether it's good or not.
"Um, what's going on exactly?"
Shibutani smiles, but not creepily. "A surprise."
"For who?"
"Ryo-chan."
The pair finally settles on a fedora hat and grey pea-coat. Shibutani and Yasuda both say he looks good, but Shige just feels ridiculous, and kind of warm (it's mid-spring, why does he need a heavy winter coat on?). Shibutani walks ahead of Yasuda and Shige, looking around each corner and rushing around. They take a nondescript side door in, that leads to a stairwell with broken lights every-so-often. On the fifth floor, Shibutani pokes his head out and lets him ride the elevator up the rest of the way to the 12th floor. Just as carefully, Shibutani leads the way down the hallway, constantly getting closer and closer to the loud room at the end. Shibutani enters first, then Shige, who is pushed in, and finally Yasuda.
"Surprise!" The pair yells.
"Hi!" Maruyama replies, even though he doesn't know what's going on.
"Ryo-chan, look, look!"
Yasuda pulls off the hat and pushes Shige in Ryo's direction. He looks up from his bento, lazily, and it takes him a long moment to realize the person he's seeing is Shige. And then Ryo promptly chokes on his umeboshi. Ohkura pats him, hard, on the back.
"What the hell is this?!"
"Um-"
"We met him at the drug store! It's like fate!" Yasuda smiles.
Ryo stands up and grabs Shige by the shoulders. "Shige, they didn't do anything, did they?"
"Um, no. Not really."
Ryo glares at Shibutani and Yasuda, but not at full strength. "Were any pictures taken?"
Yasuda and Shibutani both think for a minute and then shrug.
"Dammit, guys! There's already been one scandal about this, I'd rather not have a second!"
Yasuda laughs. "But all the fans think you're friendship with Katou-kun is cute."
Ryo frowns. "I guess it's better for you two idiots to have found Shige than a pervert like Yokoyama."
There is no objection from Yokoyama in the corner.
"But it's neat, right?" Yasuda's still smiling. "Whenever we ask about Katou-kun, Ryo-chan doesn't want to tell us anything. But this way, we can ask Katou-kun directly! It's much better this way."
"You're not asking him anything."
"Ryo-chan!" Yasuda whines a little, but doesn't stop smiling.
"We're leaving." Ryo grabs Shige's wrist. "Now."
But when Ryo steps towards the doorwar, Yamashita steps into it from the hallway. "What's all the- Katou-kun!! It's been so long!"
He steps around Shibutani to get closer and looks like he wants to hug Shige, but Ryo steps between them. Shige fixes his vision directly at Ryo's back, too frightened to look up and see if any one followed Yamashita down the hall. He tries to keep his breathing slow, but Shige can feel the cold sweat running down his neck.
"Pi, get out of the way."
"Why?" Yamashita actually looks hurt. "I haven't seen Katou-kun in a long time."
"With good reason. Now move."
From the hallway there's noise, some one calling out 'Yamashita-kun' several times, and then the source of all the noise is standing in the doorway where Yamashita used to be.
"Tegoshi!"
Murakami grabs him and pulls him into a bearhug. The newcomer - Tegoshi - laughs and hugs Murakami back.
"Goddammit, you're all so loud." Ryo growls. "You're drawing too much attention. We'll all get in trouble if a manager finds Shige in here."
"Eh, who's 'Shige'?" Tegoshi asks, and Murakami lets him go.
Ryo frowns and Tegoshi smiles, bouncing up to them. Shige raises his hand.
"Wow! How'd you get in? Security is always really tight!"
"We snuck him in!" Yasuda and Shibutani say together, with a lot of pride in their voices.
"So Shige isn't an idol? And you're Nishikido-kun's friend? I'm impressed! I want to be Shige's friend too!"
"Don't call him 'Shige'," Ryo snaps.
"Hey, hey, Shige, give me your phone number!"
Ryo blanches. "No!"
Tegoshi pouts.
"Ryo!" Yokoyama yells. "Don't make Tegoshi sad! He's the only cute thing ever to come out of Kantou!"
"We have to be good senpai and nurture him!" Maruyama adds.
"Shige," Tegoshi sniffles. "I can't have your number?"
"Um, well," Shige turns to Ryo, who still doesn't look happy, but the rest of Kanjani8 and Yamashita are glaring at him. "I guess it's okay."
Tegoshi instantly brightens, pulling his phone out of his pocket and handing it to Shige.
"Mine's pre-paid. So don't call too much."
"Okay!" Tegoshi smiles, taking the phone back. "I'll only call Shige on special occasions!"
Tegoshi skips out of the room and a manager yells for Yamashita.
"Katou-kun, let's talk some time!"
Yamashita leaves and Shige doesn't answer him.
-- -- --
Ryo is determined to get Shige out of the building before he's caught and Johnny does something drastic, but every opportunity is thwarted. First Yamashita and Tegoshi, then the hallway is teeming with managers, then Maruyama blockades the door so Yasuda can attempt to question Shige further. When the clocks strikes 3pm, when every one knows the upper senpai start leaving, Ryo sighs and figures it'll be easier to sneak Shige back out once most of the people have left, than try and do it while every one is leaving. They stay until 5pm, when the hallways should be clear, but more than just Ryo and Shige stayed - all of Kanjani8 did too.
"We need to make sure you're not mean to Katou-kun," was the reason Murakami gave.
"You psychotic bastards are all worse than me."
"You know," Yokoyama says, looking up from his magazine. "If we wanted to make sure Ryo-chan wasn't cruel or anything, we'd need to follow him home. His true personality will come out once he's in a familiar place."
"Like hell you're all coming to my place!"
"Ryo-chan!" Yasuda whines. "We want to know Katou-kun!"
"No!"
"Um." Shige bites his lip. "It's not a problem, or anything. If it'll get them off your case."
Ryo frowns.
"That thing with your ex-girlfriend was just bad timing. We were all drunk and you guys were having a rough time with your relationship. You and Katou-kun are really stable, right? There's nothing to worry about."
Ryo is still frowning.
"It's alright," Shige says. "I have class tomorrow though, so we can't be out too late."
Ryo scoffs. "Shige!"
"It's shouldn't be surprising," Shibutani slips on his coat. "That Katou-kun is the reasonable one in the relationship."
-- -- --
The night out turns into having dinner at Shibutani's apartment, which Shige is actually relieved about. It's cramped with eight of them inside of it and take-out boxes are on every flat surface that isn't being sat on. Since they're all eating, Ryo declares no inappropriate questions and Shibutani backs him up, since he doesn't want to have to clean up any messes. But it's Kanjani8, so private questions abound, especially from Yokoyama, but mostly because he wants to see Shige squirm more than wanting an answer. Ryo shoots down some questions as their asked, and it's only about 1 in 4 questions that Shige actually answers. They usually come from Ohkura, or Maruyama or Shibutani, about school or his hobbies. When they ask how Shige met Ryo, Shige blushes and Ryo says, "It's secret. Part of the allure." And when they ask about part-time jobs, Ryo answers for him - "He's Nakagawa's assistant."
Yasuda is excessively touchy, constantly poking Shige and sidling up when asking questions, and it takes Shige a while to work up the nerve to ask him to stop. But Yasuda just laughs and keep doing it, until Ryo tells him to stop with a dangerous hint in his tone of voice. Yasuda frowns and leaves the spot, which Murakami quickly fills.
"Katou-kun, you've been to Kansai, right?"
"Oh, of course." Shige takes a sip of his drink. "I was born in Osaka."
There's a loud cheer from the circle and Murakami pulls Shige into a bearhug.
"I could tell! I knew it!"
"No wonder you get along so well with Ryo-chan!" Ohkura shouts.
"It's impossible to hide the Kansai charm!" Shibutani smiles and gives Shige more food.
And then the conversation breaks down into Kansai-ben and Shige feels so lost.
-- -- --
It's almost 11pm when Shige and Ryo are able to make their escape from Shibtani's apartment. Yokoyama's asleep on the floor and Yasuda's nearly there as well. Ryo steals a coffee drink from Shibutani's fridge before they leave, just to make sure he has to the energy to drive. There aren't many cars, or people out, and for once, Ryo doesn't drive like a maniac. The radio's on quietly, and it sounds like some horrendous pop song, but Shige doesn't mind.
"Sorry. About the six of them."
Shige smiles, lifting up his head from where he'd rested it against the window. "It's fine. I don't mind. I was... a little worried when I met Yasuda and Shibutani in the drug store, but my day turned out pretty interesting, compared to what I had planned."
"And that was?"
"Using the cleaner to hopefully buff out the weird colored stain in your floor."
Ryo frowns. "You moved my stuff again."
"The giant pile of dirty clothes? Yes."
"Shige. Don't touch my stuff. I know where it all is. It's organized."
And Shige knows he could let this go, and that he should let it go, because it's not a big deal. But he also knows how much fun it is to tease, goad and lead Ryo on when he doesn't know how drastically his stuff has been moved around, and Shige can't help but work hard to keep a straight face.
RATING: G + swearing
PAIRING/CHARACTERS: Ryo/Shige, featuring Kanjani8
WORD COUNT: 2,518
SUMMARY: Shige plans on cleaning the floor, but there's an interruption.
NOTES: Because shangrilove basically demanded it. Whore!verse.
Because Ryo has a spacious apartment, he has learned the fine-tuned art of "mess denial". Instead of cleaning, he moves whatever the mess happens to be (clothes, old magazines, etc.) or kicks it around with his foot long enough for the shape to change. It works. For a while.
Shige is used to smaller living spaces, so he can't stand clutter. He doesn't leave pants and jackets and shirts lying around like Ryo, or stacks of old magazines. The closest Shige comes is the pile of textbooks under the coffee table, but it's perfectly organized, so Shige can reach under it and without looking, pull out the exact book he wants. Shige doesn't make it a habit to clean up Ryo's messes, but they always get to a point where Shige can't stand them anymore. So he cleans. But underneath every mess, he just finds another problem. A dirty hardwood floor, or a stained rug. And Shige can't leave that. So he goes out to buy cleaning supplies (using money from the sock in Ryo's drawer that Shige isn't supposed to know about).
At the moment, he's standing in the aisle of a nearby drug store, looking at the labels of the every hardwood cleaner, trying to find the one with the least amount of irritating chemicals, since Shige figures this is going to be a long job. But he's not able to focus. Because every few minutes, a short blonde man looks around the corner of the aisle at Shige for a long moment. When Shige starts turning, the man always ducks back, and Shige thinks, maybe, he's going a little crazy. He's the last man on earth who should have a stalker.
Shige finally picks one, mostly in an effort to get very far away from the blonde. He purposefully takes the long way around to the register to avoid him, but just as he's about to reach the check-out, there's a hesitant tap on his shoulder. Shige turns and finds the blonde.
"Um." He sounds nervous. "This might be kind of presumptuous but, are you-" He leans in closer, lowering his voice. "Ryo-chan's secret friend?"
"No," Shige's reply is fast and sharp. This guy could be a paparazzi and he's not going to take any chances.
"You look just like the pictures in the magazine! And the pictures me and Baru looked at on Ryo-chan's phone while he was in the bathroom."
Half of Shige wants to know when Ryo took pictures of him and the other half just wants to leave with his hardwood cleaner.
"Yasu! There you are!"
Shige and the blonde both turn to a dark-haired man walking up to them.
"Look! It's Katou-kun!"
"I'm not Katou."
The new man stares at Shige for a minute before pulling out this phone, pressing a few buttons, and then holds it up so he can see the screen and Shige's face. He smiles. "Hello, Ryo-chan's-secret-friend-kun."
Shige pales.
"Yay! Let's go out for lunch!"
Shige isn't given a single opporunity to say 'no' and is pratically dragged out of the store. But somewhere in the disarray, the dark-haired man - Shibutani Subaru, he finds out later - buys the cleaner.
-- -- --
Shige has been pushed into one side of a booth, with Yasuda and Shibutani on the other. There's a tray of appetizers in the middle, but no one's eating.
"Is Ryo-chan mean to you?"
"Um-"
"Of course! It's Ryo-chan! You put up a fight though, right, Katou-kun?"
"Well-"
"I bet Ryo-chan's really different at home! He never lets us over."
"Maybe-"
"I don't know. Katou-kun looks like the kind of guy who is fun to bully."
"What?!"
"This is really lucky! That we ran into Katou-kun at such a place!"
"Ryo-chan would never have let us meet him."
"Why not?"
"Ryo-chan doesn't trust us."
Yasuda nods. "He thinks we make people second-guess their relationships with him."
"Just because thatone girl broke up with him after meeting us."
"I know! Ryo-chan's unreasonable like that."
"I've heard Kanjani8 is a little... excitable."
Yasuda and Shibutani smile and answer together, "That's our Kansai charm!"
"Um, right."
"So." Yasuda leans over the table, narrowly missing the dip on the plate, wiggling his eyebrows. "How's Ryo-chan?"
"What?"
Shibutani laughs.
"You know." Yasuda pokes his arm. "Is it give-and-take? With Ryo-chan, I wouldn't be surprised if it was all give. Is he unfair, Katou-kun?"
Shige blushes. "Wha- I."
Shibutani cocks his head. "Is this Katou-kun's first man relationship?"
"I'm- I'm not comfortable talking abo-"
"You've abandoned the team, Katou-kun!"
"Don't worry." Shibutani pats Yasuda's shoulder. "Guys like us are still more numerous than gays."
"Wait." Shige points to Yasuda. "You're not...?"
Yasuda pouts and slumps in the seat. "Why does every one think I'm gay?"
There's silence at the table until Shige replies, "You're wearing a skirt."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Yasuda crosses his arms. "Just for that, I'm not letting you go yet."
Shige groans, and wants to smash his face into the table.
-- -- --
Shige's pushed in the backseat of a car and forced to join Shibutani and Yasuda on a long series of errands before pulling into a parking garage. Yasuda turns around in the front seat and smiles in an un-nerving way.
"It's surprise time."
Shige gets pulled out of the back seat and taken around to the trunk, where there's a pile of various coats, hats and miscellaneous accessories. Shige's made to put them on, in various combinations, and after each, Shibutani and Yasuda debate whether it's good or not.
"Um, what's going on exactly?"
Shibutani smiles, but not creepily. "A surprise."
"For who?"
"Ryo-chan."
The pair finally settles on a fedora hat and grey pea-coat. Shibutani and Yasuda both say he looks good, but Shige just feels ridiculous, and kind of warm (it's mid-spring, why does he need a heavy winter coat on?). Shibutani walks ahead of Yasuda and Shige, looking around each corner and rushing around. They take a nondescript side door in, that leads to a stairwell with broken lights every-so-often. On the fifth floor, Shibutani pokes his head out and lets him ride the elevator up the rest of the way to the 12th floor. Just as carefully, Shibutani leads the way down the hallway, constantly getting closer and closer to the loud room at the end. Shibutani enters first, then Shige, who is pushed in, and finally Yasuda.
"Surprise!" The pair yells.
"Hi!" Maruyama replies, even though he doesn't know what's going on.
"Ryo-chan, look, look!"
Yasuda pulls off the hat and pushes Shige in Ryo's direction. He looks up from his bento, lazily, and it takes him a long moment to realize the person he's seeing is Shige. And then Ryo promptly chokes on his umeboshi. Ohkura pats him, hard, on the back.
"What the hell is this?!"
"Um-"
"We met him at the drug store! It's like fate!" Yasuda smiles.
Ryo stands up and grabs Shige by the shoulders. "Shige, they didn't do anything, did they?"
"Um, no. Not really."
Ryo glares at Shibutani and Yasuda, but not at full strength. "Were any pictures taken?"
Yasuda and Shibutani both think for a minute and then shrug.
"Dammit, guys! There's already been one scandal about this, I'd rather not have a second!"
Yasuda laughs. "But all the fans think you're friendship with Katou-kun is cute."
Ryo frowns. "I guess it's better for you two idiots to have found Shige than a pervert like Yokoyama."
There is no objection from Yokoyama in the corner.
"But it's neat, right?" Yasuda's still smiling. "Whenever we ask about Katou-kun, Ryo-chan doesn't want to tell us anything. But this way, we can ask Katou-kun directly! It's much better this way."
"You're not asking him anything."
"Ryo-chan!" Yasuda whines a little, but doesn't stop smiling.
"We're leaving." Ryo grabs Shige's wrist. "Now."
But when Ryo steps towards the doorwar, Yamashita steps into it from the hallway. "What's all the- Katou-kun!! It's been so long!"
He steps around Shibutani to get closer and looks like he wants to hug Shige, but Ryo steps between them. Shige fixes his vision directly at Ryo's back, too frightened to look up and see if any one followed Yamashita down the hall. He tries to keep his breathing slow, but Shige can feel the cold sweat running down his neck.
"Pi, get out of the way."
"Why?" Yamashita actually looks hurt. "I haven't seen Katou-kun in a long time."
"With good reason. Now move."
From the hallway there's noise, some one calling out 'Yamashita-kun' several times, and then the source of all the noise is standing in the doorway where Yamashita used to be.
"Tegoshi!"
Murakami grabs him and pulls him into a bearhug. The newcomer - Tegoshi - laughs and hugs Murakami back.
"Goddammit, you're all so loud." Ryo growls. "You're drawing too much attention. We'll all get in trouble if a manager finds Shige in here."
"Eh, who's 'Shige'?" Tegoshi asks, and Murakami lets him go.
Ryo frowns and Tegoshi smiles, bouncing up to them. Shige raises his hand.
"Wow! How'd you get in? Security is always really tight!"
"We snuck him in!" Yasuda and Shibutani say together, with a lot of pride in their voices.
"So Shige isn't an idol? And you're Nishikido-kun's friend? I'm impressed! I want to be Shige's friend too!"
"Don't call him 'Shige'," Ryo snaps.
"Hey, hey, Shige, give me your phone number!"
Ryo blanches. "No!"
Tegoshi pouts.
"Ryo!" Yokoyama yells. "Don't make Tegoshi sad! He's the only cute thing ever to come out of Kantou!"
"We have to be good senpai and nurture him!" Maruyama adds.
"Shige," Tegoshi sniffles. "I can't have your number?"
"Um, well," Shige turns to Ryo, who still doesn't look happy, but the rest of Kanjani8 and Yamashita are glaring at him. "I guess it's okay."
Tegoshi instantly brightens, pulling his phone out of his pocket and handing it to Shige.
"Mine's pre-paid. So don't call too much."
"Okay!" Tegoshi smiles, taking the phone back. "I'll only call Shige on special occasions!"
Tegoshi skips out of the room and a manager yells for Yamashita.
"Katou-kun, let's talk some time!"
Yamashita leaves and Shige doesn't answer him.
-- -- --
Ryo is determined to get Shige out of the building before he's caught and Johnny does something drastic, but every opportunity is thwarted. First Yamashita and Tegoshi, then the hallway is teeming with managers, then Maruyama blockades the door so Yasuda can attempt to question Shige further. When the clocks strikes 3pm, when every one knows the upper senpai start leaving, Ryo sighs and figures it'll be easier to sneak Shige back out once most of the people have left, than try and do it while every one is leaving. They stay until 5pm, when the hallways should be clear, but more than just Ryo and Shige stayed - all of Kanjani8 did too.
"We need to make sure you're not mean to Katou-kun," was the reason Murakami gave.
"You psychotic bastards are all worse than me."
"You know," Yokoyama says, looking up from his magazine. "If we wanted to make sure Ryo-chan wasn't cruel or anything, we'd need to follow him home. His true personality will come out once he's in a familiar place."
"Like hell you're all coming to my place!"
"Ryo-chan!" Yasuda whines. "We want to know Katou-kun!"
"No!"
"Um." Shige bites his lip. "It's not a problem, or anything. If it'll get them off your case."
Ryo frowns.
"That thing with your ex-girlfriend was just bad timing. We were all drunk and you guys were having a rough time with your relationship. You and Katou-kun are really stable, right? There's nothing to worry about."
Ryo is still frowning.
"It's alright," Shige says. "I have class tomorrow though, so we can't be out too late."
Ryo scoffs. "Shige!"
"It's shouldn't be surprising," Shibutani slips on his coat. "That Katou-kun is the reasonable one in the relationship."
-- -- --
The night out turns into having dinner at Shibutani's apartment, which Shige is actually relieved about. It's cramped with eight of them inside of it and take-out boxes are on every flat surface that isn't being sat on. Since they're all eating, Ryo declares no inappropriate questions and Shibutani backs him up, since he doesn't want to have to clean up any messes. But it's Kanjani8, so private questions abound, especially from Yokoyama, but mostly because he wants to see Shige squirm more than wanting an answer. Ryo shoots down some questions as their asked, and it's only about 1 in 4 questions that Shige actually answers. They usually come from Ohkura, or Maruyama or Shibutani, about school or his hobbies. When they ask how Shige met Ryo, Shige blushes and Ryo says, "It's secret. Part of the allure." And when they ask about part-time jobs, Ryo answers for him - "He's Nakagawa's assistant."
Yasuda is excessively touchy, constantly poking Shige and sidling up when asking questions, and it takes Shige a while to work up the nerve to ask him to stop. But Yasuda just laughs and keep doing it, until Ryo tells him to stop with a dangerous hint in his tone of voice. Yasuda frowns and leaves the spot, which Murakami quickly fills.
"Katou-kun, you've been to Kansai, right?"
"Oh, of course." Shige takes a sip of his drink. "I was born in Osaka."
There's a loud cheer from the circle and Murakami pulls Shige into a bearhug.
"I could tell! I knew it!"
"No wonder you get along so well with Ryo-chan!" Ohkura shouts.
"It's impossible to hide the Kansai charm!" Shibutani smiles and gives Shige more food.
And then the conversation breaks down into Kansai-ben and Shige feels so lost.
-- -- --
It's almost 11pm when Shige and Ryo are able to make their escape from Shibtani's apartment. Yokoyama's asleep on the floor and Yasuda's nearly there as well. Ryo steals a coffee drink from Shibutani's fridge before they leave, just to make sure he has to the energy to drive. There aren't many cars, or people out, and for once, Ryo doesn't drive like a maniac. The radio's on quietly, and it sounds like some horrendous pop song, but Shige doesn't mind.
"Sorry. About the six of them."
Shige smiles, lifting up his head from where he'd rested it against the window. "It's fine. I don't mind. I was... a little worried when I met Yasuda and Shibutani in the drug store, but my day turned out pretty interesting, compared to what I had planned."
"And that was?"
"Using the cleaner to hopefully buff out the weird colored stain in your floor."
Ryo frowns. "You moved my stuff again."
"The giant pile of dirty clothes? Yes."
"Shige. Don't touch my stuff. I know where it all is. It's organized."
And Shige knows he could let this go, and that he should let it go, because it's not a big deal. But he also knows how much fun it is to tease, goad and lead Ryo on when he doesn't know how drastically his stuff has been moved around, and Shige can't help but work hard to keep a straight face.