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| Ai Ni Yotte Influenza Desu Part 1-5 by Omittchi |
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| part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Part 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Meaning: Love by Influenza (roughly) Pairing: KyoxShinya; KaoruxShinya Type: Fluff-ish drama Rating: PG ~*~*~*~*~ Chapter One “Awwww, Shin-chan! Come have a drink with us!” Die gave his best impression of a pout, but the effect was completely ruined when he broke into a large grin. “Don’t be such a prude, man.” “If he wasn’t a prude, he wouldn’t be Shinya, now would he?” Kyo snickered. “Prude isn’t even the right word,” the drummer muttered so lowly that he couldn’t be heard, “This has nothing to do with naked people.” “Aaah, I suppose,” Die said, mock-calculatingly, “But I think he could loosen up just for tonight and still be one without compromising too many of his ethics, ne? It’s just a couple drinks!” Shinya rolled his eyes and stoically ignored the two, pretending to concentrate deeply on putting away his drumsticks. Kaoru and Toshiya were both off in their own little places, doing their own things – no one to save him this time. “C’mon Shin-Shin. Kaoru and Totchi are coming. It’s been so long since you did anythin’ with us as a band,” Die wheedled. “It’s been so long since you invited me anywhere other than a bar,” the drummer shot back, crossing his arms. His drumstick bag dangled from one hand. Kyo watched it swing back and forth, feeling like a cat. Shinya wrinkled his nose slightly. “Kyo-kun, I’m surprised at you. You’re the one who says he hates to drink – now you’re teasing me because I just don’t feel like getting drunk tonight. Well fine, be that way, I don’t really care anymore. However, if you’ll excuse me – I’m going home to be prudish and wash my dishes and not look at naked people while doing so.” Shinya turned and started to walk out the door, but found his way barred by a lot of very bouncy red hair. He glared at Die, but the red headed guitarist was unfazed. He pushed the slight drummer back into the studio and onto the black leather couch, not flinching when his bag dropped onto the floor with a sharp clattering sound. The taller man then put his hands on his hips and stared at Shinya until the drummer squirmed. “What?” the younger man asked, exasperated. “You, Shinya, are the most stubborn, anti-social, prudish person I have ever met. Why do you even bother to come to practices? You know your parts better than anyone here, maybe besides Kyo, and you obviously hate us. Why not just show up for photo shoots and concerts and never have to be bothered with us again? Why do you force yourself into such unpleasant situations when we all know you’d rather be off alone and sulking?” Die questioned ruthlessly, ignoring the way the drummer’s eyes widened. “DIE!” came a sharp voice from the right. Kyo bounded over and punched the red head in the arm harshly. “What’s wrong with you?! Just because he doesn’t want to get drunk like you do doesn’t mean you can stand here and chew him out for it!” “I am not chewing him out for anything! I merely want to know! He never goes anywhere with us, he never talks to any of us; he’s not even responding now! I want to know – if he can’t be bothered with us, if he’s so high and mighty and far above us, why does he deign to come down to our lowly level?” “Maybe if you would stop being such a prick, he’d be more open, don’t you think? Either way you’re taking this way too far. Teasing is one thing, but this even I won’t do. How could you just – ” The slamming of the studio door caught both their attentions as the two older men jumped, startled. They blinked at each other, looked at the newly closed studio door, then at the couch where Shinya was sitting. “Shit,” Kyo hissed. Correction: Where Shinya had been sitting. The drummer was gone, and hadn’t even taken his drumsticks with him. The door opened and Kaoru and Toshiya entered, both looking slightly confused. “What happened?” Kaoru asked first. “Yeah, we heard the door slam and I could have sworn I saw Shinya’s hair disappear around the corner. It looked like he was running,” Toshiya added. Kaoru raised a commanding eyebrow, looking back and forth between his two guilty-looking band members. “Well?” Die and Kyo flushed and shifted their weight nervously from side to side. Finally it was too much – Kyo gave Die a very hard jab in the ribs. “Itai!” the red head yelped and danced away from the shorter man. “Ah, Die, you have just volunteered to tell me exactly what happened in here,” Kaoru said in his patented “You Are Children And I Am Your Parent So You’d Better Start Talking Or You Will Be Punished Dear God Why Me” voice, “If it has to do with Shinya running and slamming doors, I have a pretty good idea that you were behind it somehow, so don’t even try this little ‘innocent’ act. Talk. Now.” “Well – ” the red head began, wondering if he could make a run for it. Unfortunately for him, Toshiya was already blocking his path, looking both angry and anxious. Die doubted that the anxiety had anything to do with what Kaoru would do to him. He gulped. “I invited Shinya to come with us ... ” he muttered. “And?” Kaoru prompted. “And he didn’t want to go ... ” ”So?” “So I ... kinda ... er ... that is I ... ” An impatient snort broke through his muttering. “He bitched at him. And bitched at him good. Not your normal “I’m Teasing” bitching – this was Die being really pissy,” Kyo said quickly, “He yelled at Shinya and said, basically, that Shinya shouldn’t come to practices and that he was a prude, and stubborn, and anti-social, and egotistical, and didn’t care for anyone but himself. And this was all because he didn’t want to get drunk tonight.” Kaoru was silent, his intense gaze boring holes through Die’s head. Toshiya’s own gaze did a fairly good job from the side. The guitarist squirmed uncomfortably; the room was far too calm for it to be any good. His less logical side, however, was angry. “And what about you, eh?! You were the one talking about him like he wasn’t in the room!” he snapped. The short blonde flinched as Kaoru’s gaze shifted from Die to himself. He looked at the floor, at the wall, at Die’s legs – anywhere but Kaoru’s face. It was too scary. “Minna-kun ... ” said a soft voice from the doorway, “Please, stop this. It’s pointless. Besides, I thought we were going out for drinks?” Toshiya, being the closest to Shinya, immediately pounced on him, wrapping the young drummer in his arms. The younger man didn’t appear to stiffen, but, from the slight look of hurt of Toshiya’s face, he did. Just as Shinya’s face didn’t tell anyone anything, Toshiya’s face told everyone everything. Kaoru breathed a silent sigh of relief – Toshiya’s face became relaxed and happy as Shinya accepted the embrace and comfort and his body relaxed into it. The pink haired man walked over to the two, placing a hand on the drummer’s shoulder. Kyo and Die hung back, not knowing quite what to do. Kaoru glared at them. “You two have something to say, don’t you?” he growled. “Kaoru-kun, please. No more. It’s all right – I’m fine. I’m not a little child, I know they’re sorry. Really. They don’t need to say anything.” “Yes I do,” Kyo said, even as Die relaxed. “It wasn’t right for me to talk like you weren’t here, Shinya. I ... eh – I’m sorry. Even if you do know ... I’m sorry.” “It’s all right, Kyo-kun,” Shinya offered the vocalist a tiny smile. “All right then! Time to hit the bar!” Die said a little too loudly, trying to cover up his discomfort. He placed his guitar in his locker, taking a little longer than necessary so he didn’t have to look at Shinya or his other band mates as they left. Then he ran to catch up with them, hanging back a few steps behind Kyo, not really ready to try and integrate himself back into the group. “You know, no matter what he says ... ” Kyo started, watching the drummer’s back as he walked to the bathroom. Okay, so maybe his eyes were just a little lower than the drummer’s back – but still. Die groaned. “Get on with it.” “No matter what he says,” Kyo repeated, turning brown eyes from Shinya to Die, “He was hurt that you didn’t even acknowledge the fact that you were being an ass.” The red head sighed impatiently, tipping back his glass and downing whatever was left in it. He stared at the empty cup balefully as if it held the answers to all his problems – or was responsible for them – before sighing and signaling the waiter. “I know.” “If you know, why don’t you say something?” “Because he won’t listen to me if I do.” The young waiter came over, smiling rakishly at Die and winking, and replaced the empty glass with a full one. The red head gave the young man a half smile in return. “Why did we come to a gay bar, again?” “‘Cause fangirls won’t think to look for us here,” Kyo grinned. He glanced at Toshiya and Kaoru, each dancing with a beauty on the floor, bodies moving sensuously in time to the thrum of music. “And ‘cause some of us like it more than you think.” Die rolled his eyes. “Don’t think you’re getting off that easy, buddy. I’ve less than half of what you have – there’s no way I’m that drunk. Speak. Why don’t you say something? What’s all this about him not listening?” “He won’t listen,” Die insisted glumly, “He’ll nod and smile very politely and tell me that it is all right and that everything is just fine and dandy ... ” “But?” “But then he’ll go on home and throw knives at pictures of me and wonder why he was cursed to be stuck in a band with me all these years.” “I don’t think you’re giving him enough credit,” the blonde said, staring at the maraschino cherry in his glass thoughtfully. “If he does go home and throw knives at pictures of you, it’s only because you never apologize. Don’t look at me like that – it’s true. I’ve never once heard you apologize to him when you tease, and most of the time that’s okay. Shinya knows that’s how you show you care about him, or whatever. But you take things too far sometimes and you still don’t apologize. Either way, you’re long overdue for at least one apology – though by now I’d figure it at thirty.” Die opened his mouth to protest, but a movement out of the corner of his eye stopped him. Shinya was approaching. He lifted his glass and drank deeply from it instead. The young drummer stood next to Kyo and placed his hand on Kyo’s shoulder. “I’m going to leave, now,” he said over the loud music, “I’m tired and Miyu[1] needs to be fed. I’ll see you at practice tomorrow. Tell Kaoru-kun and Toshiya-kun that I said ‘bye’, okay?” “Sure, Shinya, no problem. See you tomorrow,” Kyo smiled over his shoulder. Shinya looked uncertainly at Die, but the red head was busy with his drink. The younger man’s eyes dropped to the floor as he walked quietly away. “Idiot,” Kyo hissed, shooting daggers at the guitarist with his eyes. Laughter brought him back from fantasies of the many painful ways he could kill the red head. Kaoru and Toshiya were back from the dance floor, laughing at something – probably a joke that one or the other had been told. They noted Shinya’s empty chair immediately. “He leave?” Toshiya asked. It was more of a statement than a question. “Yeah,” the vocalist nodded, “He said to say ‘bye’ for him. Bai bai.”[2] Kaoru snorted, his eyes on the door as if he could see Shinya through it. Some small part of him wished he could. “Hope he’s all right.” Shinya turned off the engine and looked at his hands. Despite gripping the wheel, they still shook. In the harsh street light they seemed paler than usual. His breath was getting caught in his chest, but he hadn’t been exerting himself. He didn’t feel any warmer than usual. Idly he wondered if he was getting sick, or if he was just upset by the whole evening’s events. It wasn’t so much that Die had been a stupid prick – no, Shinya was far too used to that for it to bother him anymore. It was more that he hadn’t acknowledged the fact that he was a stupid prick like Kyo had. The red head never acknowledged that he might possibly have hurt Shinya with his words. Ever. “Asshole,” Shinya muttered. He relaxed in the driver’s seat, staring out the windshield at his apartment building. It was big and ugly. Small laugh: What a time for philosophical reflection. The headlights of another car blind sided him and he put a hand over his eyes. He shook his head at the driver, who flipped him the bird and drove off. “Asshole.” Shinya sighed, getting out of the car. Some people just didn’t understand when great minds were at work. “Good evening, sir,” said the doorman.[3] Shinya nodded at him. He studied the wall of elevators in front of him, noting vaguely how they had a tendency to blur in and out of focus. He pushed the ‘up’ button and frowned – he didn’t feel the button. But he was pressing the button. Shinya closed his eyes and shook his head to clear it. When he opened them the ‘up’ button blinked innocently at him, just a few centimeters under his finger. The drummer frowned deeply and pushed it, hearing the ‘click’ as it caught the signaler underneath. The doors chimed open. This time there was no searching for buttons. He reached into his bag for keys as the elevator neared his floor. The hallway seemed less ugly when blurred around the edges. Shinya got to his apartment door, hearing his little dog skitter up and start scratching at it before he’d even put the key into the lock. He smiled. It was nice having someone to come home to and be that excited about it. Miyu yipped and jumped excitedly at his feet when he entered and toed off his shoes. His back hurt too much to bend down and untie the laces properly. “Hey, Miyukkoro,[4]” Shinya greeted softly. He picked her up and smiled indulgently when she began licking his neck and jaw. “Yeah, I love you too. You hungry?” The little thing squirmed and raced to the kitchen as soon as she was placed on the floor. “Thought so. Now if I can find the light switch ... ” A click. Light flooded the apartment and Shinya winced, clicking it back off immediately, “Never mind. Dark is good.” Miyu barked at him from the kitchen, but Shinya stood in the doorway, waiting for his eyes to adjust fully to the dim light coming from his living room windows. When they did, he felt his way to the kitchen and changed the dog’s water before pouring food into the dish. Feeding accomplished, Shinya drained a glass of water for himself and went to take a nice, long bath, hoping the achy feeling would go away once he was done. ~chapter one ga owarimashita~ Notes [1] His second dog, who lives with him, in case you didn't know, is Miyu [2] The way the Japanese pronounce "bye bye". I've always wanted to hear Kyo say that ... [3] If he doesn't have a doorman in real life, he has one now ... [4] I've heard this is was his dog's nickname is, and I like it, so I'm using it |
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| Part 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Meaning: Love by Influenza (roughly) Pairing: KyoxShinya; KaoruxShinya Type: Fluff-ish drama Rating: PG ~*~*~*~*~ Chapter Two Despite the relative lateness when he went to sleep, Shinya woke up long before his alarm was set to go off. The night had not yet given way to the sun and was just beginning to turn the pale colors of dawn outside his window. The young drummer turned to face his clock and saw that it was 5:30 – plenty of time to go back to sleep if he wanted to, but Shinya wasn’t tired. He kicked off his blankets, and was pleased to note that his body showed none of the previous night’s physical signs of illness. The shaking hands, and the weak and achy feelings were gone. His breath came normally, and his vision had stopped playing tricks on him. The one thing that made Shinya frown slightly was the dull throbbing of a headache. He shrugged mentally – he’d take some aspirin if it got worse and he’d be fine. It was probably the lack of food, anyway. He’d skipped dinner again; it was the third night in a row that had happened. Shinya stood, but sat down heavily as a wave of nausea passed over him. Maybe it had been a good thing that he hadn’t eaten – Shinya wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t have vomited if he had. He groaned softly and closed his eyes, waiting for the feeling to pass. When it did, he stood again, much slower than before, and stayed in place just incase it decided to come back. A few moments later, when he was sure that it wouldn’t, he started towards his bedroom door. He heard Miyu’s nails on the wood floor as she scampered to scratch happily at his bedroom door, looking for food. “Hush, Miyukkoro,” Shinya chided gently when she barked, “You’ll wake the neighbors if you keep that up.” It had been hard enough getting the landlord to allow him to keep the little dog, and even so the man had warned Shinya that Miyu would have to leave at the first complaint. So far everything had been fine, but the drummer didn’t want to take any chances. He walked into the kitchen, followed by a very excited little dog, changed the water once more, and poured more food into the dish. He watched Miyu as she performed the dogish equivalent of shoveling food into her mouth. “I should stop feeding you ... you’re going to get fat,” Shinya sighed. When she was finished, Miyu looked at him expectantly, wagging her little tail so fast that it blurred. “You know where it is. Go get it.” Miyu scampered away, coming back seconds later dragging a leash behind her. Shinya smiled – the little dog looked ridiculous. He clipped the leash to her collar, grabbed some paper towels and a bouncy ball, and proceeded into the hallway. Miyu ran in circles around his feet, first one way and then the other, excited to be going out – even she knew that a walk this early meant she would be played with and set loose in the park. “Quiet, Miyukkoro! We’re almost outside!” Shinya reprimanded, but he had to laugh at his little dog’s antics. She was just too cute. The chilled morning air cut sharply through Shinya’s pajamas and he wrapped his arms around his chest, wishing he’d at least brought a jacket. The streets were deserted, but farther down he could just barely make out the signs of life as salary men left home to catch their trains and busses. School children who lived far away from school would come out shortly after – the same routine every time. None of them would see Shinya in his pajamas, though, as he would be safely ensconced in the privacy of a completely empty park. Miyu barked in earnest now that she was outside. She half heartedly chased after some birds in the street, went about her business, then tugged with all her might in the direction of the park. If she could talk, Shinya was certain that she’d be screaming ‘Play! Play!’ at him. Upon reaching the entrance of the park, he un-clipped her leash from her collar and rolled the little ball away from them gently, watching Miyu race to catch it. She sank her teeth into it happily, rolled around with it, then brought it back to her master proudly. Shinya took it from her and let it roll away once more. As he stood, however, he suddenly felt short of breath and lightheaded, and was forced back down to earth in order to keep his balance. Miyu yipped, wondering why her human wasn’t taking the ball. Shinya ignored her in favor of leaning heavily on one arm, closing his eyes and willing the dizziness to go away. The ground was cold through his pants, and the loose pebbles and rock bits were hurting where they dug into his hand. When at last Shinya could breath properly, he had a long string of dents in his palm from the rocks, but no skin broken. He stood slowly, gingerly, and picked up the ball. The little dog barked excitedly, thinking he would roll it for her, but he simply caught her up in his arms and smiled apologetically. “Gomen, Miyukkoro. I’m not feeling so great I guess. We’ll play more when I come home tonight, I promise,” he murmured as he walked. As if she could understand him, Miyu did not whine in protest but licked his jaw for a few seconds. Shinya held her closely, relishing in the extra warmth she provided. He wondered if it had really been a good idea to walk her in only his pajamas; his headache, which had lessened to almost nothing since he’d woken up, was coming back – only it was more noticeable now. He hoped he’d be able to play normally – and that the others didn’t notice if he couldn’t. Shinya mentally shrugged, nodding slightly to one of his neighbors coming out of the building as he went in, and resolved to take aspirin. Shinya let himself back into his apartment, prudently keeping the lights off. Miyu jumped down from his arms and skittered away to her bed. There she walked in a circle three times, curled in on herself, and went to sleep. Shinya smiled faintly, thinking absently that Kyo might be able to do that too, and wishing for a moment that he could do that. He leaned his back on the wall and closed his eyes, resting and dreaming of not having to practice. // I could always blame Die and say that he told me not to come to practice ... // he thought with a small grin, // I do, after all, take everything ‘too seriously’.// But even as he thought it Shinya knew that he’d never skip a practice. No matter what Die thought, he needed to see them – to know that they were real and cared about him and that he wasn’t living a dream. It seemed a childish fear,[1] and he was sure that the others would laugh at him if they knew; they’d been a band for so long that surely he should have realized it was not a dream! Shinya pushed himself off the wall and headed into his small bathroom. //Which is exactly why they’ll never know. Leave me to my fears and we’ll all be happy. Now ... where did I put that aspirin?// he thought as he dug around in his medicine cabinets for the elusive bottle. At last he found it, behind a toothpaste tube and rubbing alcohol no less, and wiped the dust from the cap. He opened it and downed two of the four pills quickly, grimacing at the chalk-like taste. No matter how many times he took the stuff, Shinya was quite sure he’d never get used to that – which was why he made a point of not taking it in the first place. He leaned lightly against the sink, closing his eyes once more, noting the heaviness of his eyelids blankly. Now he wished that he hadn’t woken up so early. “Nya, nya!” declared his radio brightly, and loudly, and the opening of Mirror blared through the speakers.[2] Shinya went quickly into his bedroom and slapped off his alarm. Gackt might once have been one of them but ... He looked around out of habit – if the others heard, he’d never hear the end of it. He wondered vaguely if he should bring the aspirin to practice but decided against it. No sense in getting everyone on his case over a headache. He turned and prepared to dress himself, but dropped his shirt in favor of bringing his arms back to his sides as a stabbing pain shot through him. The aspirin was starting to look really, really good. “Here she is, Miss America!” Die sang loudly and off key, in very bad English.[3] Shinya rolled his eyes and prayed that the other’s either hadn’t heard or weren’t paying attention. He was assured they hadn’t when he didn’t hear Kyo or Toshiya join in. They were off in one corner, smiling quickly at him in greeting before going back to their own conversation. Toshiya’s brow furrowed as he meticulously tuned his bass, trying to get rid of the tinny sound it had a habit of acquiring overnight. How he managed to keep up with Kyo, who was rambling on about some TV show he’d been watching, and tune at the same time was beyond Shinya’s grasp. It was things like that which made Shinya extra fond of his drums. The young drummer hung up his coat and placed down his bag in two swift movements and immediately proceeded to the table in the studio upon which coffee and breakfast foods sat just begging to be eaten. He hadn’t eaten breakfast at home for fear of another bout of nausea, but figured by now he had to be over it. And if he wasn’t, he’d probably be nauseous for lack of food by lunch time, anyway, which would not be a good thing. “What? No comeback? No ‘leave me alone, Die’? Who are you and what have you done with Shinya?” the red head asked melodramatically, “You didn’t even roll your eyes!” “Yes I did.” “Oh. ... But I didn’t see, so it doesn’t count.” Shinya sighed heavily, rolling his eyes in an exaggerated fashion for good measure, and pounced on the muffins. Die followed Shinya over to the table, but stopped talking and just stood there, watching the younger man as he gathered his breakfast. Shinya could ignore the heated gaze only for so long. Finally he put down the food and coffee and turned to Die, slightly annoyed but mostly curious. “What? Do I have something in my hair? On my face?” he asked, tiredly. “ ... ” “Diiiieeeeee-kun ... ” Shinya said lowly, in warning. “ ... ” Shinya rolled his eyes and turned back to the task of pouring just the right amount of milk and sugar into his coffee cup before adding the coffee. He was taking his first sip when his friend saw fit to speak. “I’m sorry.” The drummer nearly spit out his mouthful, snapping his head around to look at Die sharply. He swallowed hurriedly, wincing as the liquid burned his throat. “You’re ... what?” “I’m sorry ... For yesterday, you know,” Die muttered. Shinya stared at Die as if he’d grown a second head. Now it was Die’s turn to feel the intensity of a stare pinned on him. He grew uncomfortable far quicker than Shinya had, shifting his weight from foot to foot and finding a spot on his shoe suddenly fascinating. Finally Shinya took pity on the guitarist, and turned back to his breakfast. “All right then.” Die wondered vaguely if he’d be teased very much if he fell in anime-style disbelief. He was sorely tempted to find out. In the end he settled for smacking his forehead into his palm. “Shinya~a~a~a~a~a~a~a,” he groaned. “Yes?” the younger man blinked innocently over the rim of his coffee mug. “ ... Nothing. Nothing at all,” the red head sighed. He gave Shinya an absent-minded pat on the head as he turned away from the drummer to bother Toshiya; his arm coming down a bit heavier than intended. He didn’t notice Shinya wince in pain and quickly set down his mug in order to pinch the bridge of his note. Kaoru – entering the practice studio – did, and made his way to the young drummer’s side quickly. “Shinya? Are you okay?” “Eh?” asked Shinya, intelligently, staring blankly at his band leader for a few moments before realizing that his hand was still pressed tightly to the bridge of his nose. Assuming correctly that Kaoru had seen what Die did, he smiled disarmingly and pulled his hand away from his nose. “Oh, yeah, fine. Just, eh, knocked myself in the nose with the mug under Die-kun’s affections.” Kaoru smiled back and for a moment the two men just stared at each other, smiling. It seemed that neither could tear their eyes away, even if they wanted to (which both were trying to tell themselves quite firmly that they did). The pink haired guitarist watched in fascination as his hand, without waiting for his brain’s permission, reached up and slowly caress its way up Shinya’s cheek. It came to rest on Shinya’s nose and tapped lightly – Kaoru told himself that the demure blush which spread across Shinya’s cheeks meant nothing. He swallowed, trying to make his throat work. “Well, try not to break the mug, Shin-chan,” Kaoru heard himself say distantly, and could feel the tell-tale teasing grin stretch across his lips. The moment was gone; life resumed. Shinya rolled his eyes – he thought with a flash of annoyance that he’d been doing that way too often this morning – and gave Kaoru a half-hearted smack on the arm. “Cute, Kaoru-kun. Real cute.” “Who’s cute?!” Kyo demanded at once, abandoning his, mostly one-sided, conversation with Toshiya. “Who dares utter that hated word in my presence?!” “Kaoru-kun and his amazing immaturity,” Shinya said, giving the pink haired guitarist a side long glance. He slid away quickly and was safely behind his drums before the older man could think to smack him back. Kaoru stuck his tongue out at Shinya instead. “You see?” “We see,” Toshiya grinned. “So Kyo-chan’s got a “presence”, eh?” Die teased, draping one arm around the short vocalist and giving him a good, hard, noogie. The blonde sputtered and raged, and tried to bite Die, but the red head was faster and stronger and held Kyo in a tight head-lock. “Be nice or I won’t practice my curtsy for you.” “I thought only Shinya and Toshiya cross dressed around here?” Kaoru grinned. “Oi!” Toshiya laughed, strapping on his bass, “Don’t start. Just because I make a prettier girl than you isn’t my fault. Just because Shinya outshines us all in a dress isn’t his fault. He’s just such a sweet little girl, aren’t you, Shin-chan?” “Oh, I don’t know about sweet, or little,” Die interjected before Shinya could stand up for himself, “but he’s definitely a girl.” “That’s not what’s on my birth certificate,” Shinya said dryly from somewhere behind the small army that he called his drum set. A cymbal on the left rose a few inches, one on the right slid down. “Eh, we all know hospital people lie,” Kyo grinned, finally shrugging out from under Die’s arm and sidling up to his beloved microphone stand. “Okay then! Let’s start this!” //Oh shit. Plugged in? This is not my day,// Shinya swore inwardly with a few other choice phrases even as he watched the others take to their instruments; each giving them a few last minute tuning checks. He prayed to the Gods of Aspirin that their medicine of life really could get him through the next four hours – or at least until the next break – and stretched out his arms discreetly, hoping the pain from earlier that morning was gone. It was there, but much weaker; he could live with that. “Hello whereits,” Kyo said loudly into the microphone, in his extra special “I’m Hyper And Pretending I’m At A Concert So I’ll Be Cheezy”[4] voice, “Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and this is Macabre!” //Fuck.//[5] ~chapter two ga owarimashita~ Notes [1] And this "fear" is based on absolutely nothing but my own imagination. I highly doubt the real Shinya feels like that. [2] No, I don't know if Shinya likes Gackt. Don't know if any of Deg likes/hates Gackt. But they do now =^_^= [3] It just seems like something Die would do, don't you think? ... Okay, well, I think. Besides, he supposedly was good in English when he was in school ... [4] A voice which most likely does not exist. I just like the idea of it. My head; My rules. [5] Don't know if this is something to note, really, but I figured I'd be safe. I don't know if Shinya has a thing against cursing, 'cause I don't know him, or if he uses it like the kids at my school -- all words can be replaced by 'fuck'or 'shit' at any time and still mean the same thing, that is -- but for purposes of this, he's fond of 'fuck'. (And that sounds really weird.) |
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| Part 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Meaning: Love by Influenza (roughly) Pairing: KyoxShinya; KaoruxShinya Type: Fluff-ish drama Rating: PG ~*~*~*~*~ Chapter Three “All right – let’s break for lunch.” Shinya closed his eyes tightly as if to ward off the pain, though he knew it wouldn’t work. His head rang and throbbed and his body protested loudly against the abuse he’d put it through since that morning’s practice had begun. His mouth and throat were dry and his tongue felt like some kind of alien bug. He knew he’d feel like shit if he played, yet pound away he did. Shinya cracked open one eye to make sure that the others hadn’t noticed him in the corner. Sometimes, like now, there were advantages to being the silent one – especially when he didn’t feel like answering hundreds of questions. But Die chatted animatedly with Toshiya nearby as they put away their instruments, Kyo was huddled on his beloved couch with his precious notebook open and scribbling madly in it, and Kaoru was putting away his own guitar, sitting on the floor somewhere opposite Kyo. No reason to be worried about anyone paying attention to him. Shinya took a deep breath and winced; he needed the damn aspirin. And there, on the floor next to Die’s feet, glistening angelically at him was the most lovely, delightful, gorgeous, miraculous sight Shinya thought he’d ever see – a nearly full water bottle. “Die-kun, who’s is that?” he asked slowly, trying to remember how to make his tongue work in his mouth. He told himself firmly that the room was not spinning. Die looked over, surprised for a second, then down at the bottle by his feet. He looked back up at Shinya. “Mine. There’s a table of ‘em outside and down the hall in the lounge-y place, didn’t you see?” Shinya winced slightly – there was no way in hell he could stand without falling, he was sure of it. And standing up to fall would only bring on the questions he really didn’t want to answer. Even if he could stand normally, Shinya was exactly sure that he’d be able to make it all the way to the waiting room without falling anyway. He gave a heavy sigh and resigned himself to the fate of having to ask. “No. Can I have some?” he asked in a low voice. The red headed guitarist arched an eyebrow. In amusement or mockingly Shinya couldn’t tell. “Shin-chan, I’m sure even you could walk the thirty feet or so.” Mocking, then. //And you wonder why I hate you sometimes, do you, Die?// Shinya gritted his teeth against another wave of pain. “Please, can I have the water?” “Shinya, just get your own. It’s not that far away, and it’s free.” //Must ... not ... kill ... // “Die, give him the water,” Toshiya said, like a parent talking to a misbehaving child, “It’s not so special, is it?” “It’s the principle of the thing, Totchi. Shinya is old enough to get his own water.” “Please, Die-kun?” Shinya asked again, trying not to hit himself over the pleading note his voice had taken on. “Shinya ... ” “Die! For fuck’s sake, this is ridiculous! Just give him the God forsaken water!” Kaoru burst out sharply. Everyone turned to stare in amazement – even Shinya – but Kaoru set his jaw and only stared back at Die. Since no one was looking at him, the drummer took the opportunity to very discreetly open the bottle of aspirin hidden in his pocket and empty the last pills into his palm. He tossed them into his mouth and held them between his teeth just as Die gave up on his staring contest with Kaoru (which he’d never really had a hope of winning) and picked up the bottle, tossing it at Shinya. The young drummer ducked just in time – the water-turned-missile barely missed his head and bounced off the wall, rolling on the floor until it was stopped by his toms. Shinya groaned inwardly, not looking forward to having to bend over to get it. “Fuck you very much,[1] Die-kun. You’ve been ever so kind,” he muttered. He retrieved the bottle with the minimum amount of movement possible and promptly downed half the contents in one, long gulp. He ignored the sound of protest that Die made with a certain sense of satisfaction. The aspirin taken and feeling none better, Shinya replaced the cap on the bottle and tossed it weakly back at the guitarist. He missed the worried looks this earned him from Kaoru and Kyo, as he was busy mentally preparing himself to get up from his drum stool and make the walk from his drum set to his coat. Not that he planned on going out, he could barely see straight, but it was getting cold in the studio. “All right, Shinya’s had his water and Die’s learned the value of sharing. Who wants to go to lunch with me?” Toshiya asked a moment later. “You treating?” Die grinned, ignoring the teasing and happy to turn his attention to something more pleasurable than being teased. “Of course not,” Toshiya said haughtily as he placed his bass in its carrier, “Do you think I have that much money? I’m only going to the ramen shop on the corner.” “Gonna treat us to ramen?” Kyo asked impishly, but his voice was slightly distracted and slightly muffled from where his head was berried in his notebook. He would not be going to lunch yet and Toshiya knew it – Kyo was in his “lyric-making-place”[2], and wouldn’t come out until whatever he was working on was finished. Toshiya gave a theatrical, heaving sigh and rolled his eyes in an exaggerated fashion. He stood and put his hands on his hips, glaring at Die. “The things I do for you,” he snorted delicately and sashayed over to his coat, “Come on, I’m hungry!” Die was up and into his own coat before anyone could blink. Toshiya stared after the redhead for a few moments, working his jaw though no sound came out, but decided, with a shake of his head, that it wasn’t worth saying anything. He followed Die outside, pulling a cigarette from his pocket and lighting up as he did. Shinya prayed he wouldn’t slam the door on his way out, and cursed the various deities that he could think of when a loud, reverberating slam caused his head to explode. On the bright side, the room had stopped spinning. //Why’s it so cold in here, anyway? I thought we had heating in this building,// the young drummer grumbled internally, heaving himself off his drum stool and leaning casually against the wall. Apparently, not casually enough. “Shinya? Are you all right?” Kaoru asked immediately. Shinya turned as quickly as he dared and pushed away from the wall, “I’m fine, thanks. Why do you ask?” “‘Cause you’re as white as my bed sheets and look like you haven’t slept in a year,” Kyo cut in, still in that distracted voice and still scribbling. Shinya damned the shorter man for being observant. “Then there was that whole little incident with Die and the water bottle. What was that you put into your mouth, Shinya?” Shinya shifted a little, not wanting to tell the truth, but not good at lying, either. “Aspirin,” he finally said, “I woke up with a little headache and it was coming back, so I figured I’d head it off before it got bad. I’m fine, I have so slept this year, and I’m quite sure you’re exaggerating. Nothing could possibly be as white as those over-bleached excuses for bed sheets.” “Usually,” Kyo agreed absently. He chewed thoughtfully on the pen for a second before his eyes lit up and the pen went racing down the paper, “‘Cept you, right now. Why you gettin’ your coat?” “Well, I was planning on shoving you off the couch and using it as a pillow so I could get a little sleep before we start practicing again, since I haven’t slept in a year,” Shinya rolled his eyes, taking said coat off its hook. “You do that ...” Kaoru chuckled low in his throat and smiled at Shinya over the short vocalist’s head. It was a smile tinged with concern, and Shinya felt a fuzzy sensation in the pit of his stomach that had nothing to do with his headache. He assumed it was because of the attention he was getting, something he was relatively unused to – usually any attention paid to him was in the form of Die’s teasing, then one of the others getting annoyed by it themselves and telling him to shut up. “I’m gonna go get food; either of you want me to get something?” Kaoru asked, coming to stand near Shinya as he retrieved his own coat. He brushed against Shinya’s hand with his own as he did so, and threaded their fingers loosely, as Toshiya might have done when play-flirting. Only this was Kaoru, and Kaoru didn’t play-flirt. As far as Shinya knew, he didn’t flirt at all, so he was probably just being friendly. “N–no, thanks. I’m not really hungry,” the drummer said quietly. He made no move to untwine their fingers until Kaoru wanted to. “Uwa! But Shinya-kun is so skinny!” the pink haired guitarist grinned and poked Shinya in the side. The drummer squirmed a bit, uncomfortably, but gave Kaoru a tiny smile in return. The older man released him and threw on his coat as he headed for the door. “I’m gonna get you something anyway, Shinya, and I’ll make you eat it!” he called over his shoulder, then was gone. “He will, too,” Kyo said vaguely from his couch. Shinya looked back and stuck his tongue out at the vocalist’s head. Kyo, still bent over his notebook and unable to see, did not respond. The drummer sighed and walked over to the couch, idly pondering the best way to position himself so he could sleep without getting too stiff. When he was close enough, Kyo’s hand shot out and snatched Shiyna’s coat from the younger man’s hands. “O–oi!” “Urusai,” Kyo said quickly, before Shinya could get any more protests out, and arranged the coat in his lap. He barely glanced up as he shifted position to use the arm of the couch to lean on, rather than his legs. “Now lie down and go to sleep.” “Y–you mean on ... you?” “That’s why the coat’s in my lap, baka. You’ll be more comfortable if you can fit all your body onto the couch, and I’m not moving. So lie down and sleep.” “O ... kay,” Shinya blinked, partially from Kyo’s bluntness and partially from shock that he was being allowed to use Kyo for a pillow. Usually it was the other way around. Then there was the added fact that he was being allowed near Kyo’s precious notebook while Kyo was writing in it. Anyone else would likely have had their heads bitten off should they even have asked, which no one was stupid enough to do by now. Slowly, unsurely, Shinya sat next to Kyo and lowered his upper body until his head was resting on his coat and his legs were only slightly curled to fit on the couch. His right hand curled under his head, his left dangled over the side of the couch. “Warm ... ” he breathed when he was settled, and closed his eyes, headache already fading to that dull pounding that could easily be forgotten. Kyo’s breathing, slow and rhythmic against Shinya’s back, was soothing, and steady heartbeats quickly lulled the drummer to sleep despite the initial discomfort and uncertainty. His breathing evened out and his body went limp against Kyo’s. “Shinya?” the vocalist whispered. No movement, no sound, “Shin-chan?” Nothing. Kyo smiled. Good. He put away his notebook, having finished what he was writing moments before Shinya had laid down in his lap, and studied the profile of the sleeping drummer. Shinya’s eyes were closed, long lashes creating perfect dark arcs against his pale skin. His face was relaxed, free of the slightly pained expression he’d been wearing all morning. “Just a headache, huh?” Kyo asked the sleeping man, “Liar.” His hand slid into Shinya’s hair, winding the fine strands around his fingers, reveling in the softness of it. The blonde leaned his elbow on the couch arm and rested his head on it, the other still playing gently with Shinya’s hair, and dozed off. “I’m ba – ” Kaoru barged into the studio and stopped abruptly. He blinked, doing a very good impression of an owl, then stopped and smiled gently, having assured himself that he wasn’t seeing things. “Of all the times for me not to have a camera,” he muttered as he walked over to the coffee table and placed the lunch bags down. After all, it wasn’t every day that one caught not Kyo, but Shinya sleeping during a lunch break. And it was even rarer (and Kaoru was certain that this was the first and last time he’d ever see such a thing) that Shinya was caught sleeping in the lap of Kyo. A stab of jealousy seared through him, but he quickly beat it down. //Baka! There’s nothing to be jealous of!// Even so, the guitarist tossed his coat onto its hook and made his way to Kyo, intent on waking the blonde. He poked Kyo’s forehead twice, none too gently, and was immediately rewarded by a faint scrunching of the shorter man’s eyebrows. Brown eyes opened and focused blearily on Kaoru. Ka–kaoru?” Kyo yawned, bringing up a hand to cover it quickly, “Back already?” Kaoru nodded affirmative and jerked his head at the table. “Got lunch. Hungry?” he murmured. For a fleeting second, Kyo looked slightly confused – why would Kaoru be murmuring as if he had a hangover? Then the weight of Shinya as the drummer shifted slightly in his sleep brought memory back – the vocalist looked down and saw that his fingers were still entwined in Shinya’s hair. He looked back up at Kaoru with a little half-smile, “Yeah, sure. What you got?” and gently extracted the offending digits, which Kaoru appeared to be studying intently, from the soft hair. “The usual.” Kyo groaned even as Kaoru began snickering. “Again? Kaoru, you’ve forced that down my throat twice this month – I refuse to eat it again!” “And I’m sure Shinya would be very proud of you, too. Eat or starve, Kyo. Your choice.” “I could always get my own food.” “And leave your precious burden?” Kaoru batted his eyelashes mockingly at the vocalist. Kyo smirked and returned his fingers to Shinya’s soft hair, “You’re just jealous.” “Of whom? You or Shinya?” the guitarist asked haughtily, tossing his head and returning to the table to get the bags of food, “I hardly think so.” “You hardly think, period,” Kyo snickered.[3] “That was unnecessary, Kyo-chan,” Kaoru said sweetly, happily ignoring Kyo’s growl, “I may let you starve anyway for that.” “Better starvation than that McDonald’s.”[4] “If you say so.” “Shinya would agree with me.” “‘Bout wha’?” yawned the formerly sleeping drummer. Kyo and Kaoru looked at each other, a slight guilt in their eyes at forgetting to keep their voices down. Forgetting that Shinya was asleep. Kyo frowned inwardly, they all seemed to do an awful lot of forgetting when it came to the youngest member – and it didn’t help that he was so quiet about it. Shinya never complained, it wasn’t in his nature, he never got angry at them for it, and he never demanded that they change. Hell, Shinya didn’t even complain about Die’s teasing most of the time, even when it got particularly hurtful. “Ne? Kaoru-kun? Kyo-kun? What would I agree with?” Shinya asked again, more awake this time. He made no move to get up from Kyo’s lap. The vocalist wasn’t sure if he should take it as a sign or leave it at Shinya being very tired. He shook himself mentally, realizing that the drummer was staring at him, waiting for an answer. “That McDonald’s is worse than starvation,” Kaoru said lightly, unwrapping a cheese-burger and waving it at the other two. Shinya immediately wrinkled his nose and brought his coat to cover all of his face except his eyes. Kyo and Kaoru laughed, and the vocalist grinned triumphantly, “Told you.” ~chapter three ga owarimashita~ Notes Before the actual notes, one question: Does anyone think that I'm over-doing the whole 'no one pays attention to Shinya unless they're teasing him' bit? I suppose, at least, that I'm not making Shinya a whiny 'I'll cry at the drop of a hat' kid like so many others ... but still. So: is it just me, or am I not doing Shinya a remote bit of justice? (Like I could, anyway *snorts*) [1] Stolen shamelessly (and yes, this does mean I'm admitting to seeing it) from Hollywood Homicide. One of Harrison Ford's better lines in the movie. [2] Lame excuse, but I couldn't think of anything better to call it. I sometimes go to similar places, only I can't write lyrics. I wind up writing things like this instead. [3] I like friendly banter. There should be more of it in every story. Hence, there is friendly banter between Kyo and Kaoru. Nya. [4] While this is also based on my own feelings, I read somewhere that out of the guys of Deg, only Kaoru actually liked American fast food while they were in LA. I don't know if that's true or not, so don't quote me on it, but it worked for my purposes =^-^= |
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| Meaning: Love by Influenza (roughly) Pairing: KyoxShinya; KaoruxShinya Type: Fluff-ish drama Rating: PG ~*~*~*~*~ Chapter Four Shinya, though he’d never admit it, felt much better after his short nap. Whether that had to do with sleeping on Kyo or the oily excuse for food that Kaoru forced gleefully down his throat after, he wasn’t sure, and as he was sure that Kyo and Kaoru would use it as bait for teasing him later on, the drummer decided that keeping quiet was the way to go. Though he did feel like a heel because that meant that he wouldn’t ever actually thank either for caring enough to do that for him. He surreptitiously watched both from under the cover of his hair as he tilted his head forwards to study the music sheets resting on his lap. Kyo had shifted Shinya off his lap minutes before Die and Toshiya returned from their lunch break, leaving the drummer just enough time to lament the loss of warmth and contact, then get over it and return to reality. Now Kyo and Kaoru were huddled in Kaoru’s chair (or, accurately, Kaoru was huddled in Kaoru’s chair and Kyo was perched on the arm and leaning heavily on Kaoru’s back for support as he fought to stay upright), looking over, and arguing about, something Kyo had written for the new album. Neither had raised their voices, which meant both that Shinya couldn’t hear what they were arguing about and that the argument wasn’t serious. Kaoru poked at the paper harshly in the same spot several times and Kyo made a face at him, jabbing at something else. Shinya resisted the urge to giggle admirably. Kaoru took out a pencil and scribbled something, looking up at the shorter man for approval. Said vocalist frowned slightly, thoughtfully, then finally nodded after much inner debate. Kyo missed Kaoru’s triumphant smirk, but Shinya didn’t, and snickered softly already imaging the “words” that were going to be exchanged when Kyo realized that Kaoru had won. “Whatcha lookin’ at, Shinya-kuuun?” Toshiya’s voice said somewhere over his shoulder. The drummer was not given a chance to answer properly, as in the next second the tall bassist had flung himself onto the couch next to Shinya with enough force to send Shinya half-way into the air. The young drummer came down and jarred his elbow on the arm of the couch, causing him to wince, and glared at Toshiya, who’s head now rested on his thigh, oblivious to the fact that he’d ripped Shinya out of his thoughts. “Music. Which you are crushing under your hair.” “Oops,” Toshiya said, grinning and not the least bit repentant. He lifted his head so the music could be extracted, then wriggled up the couch so his head was nestled comfortably in Shinya’s lap. The drummer surprisingly didn’t shove him off, so the bassist took it as an okay to stay there and did. “Was it really that interesting?” “Considering Die-kun wrote it, would it be?” Shinya rolled his eyes, “He always gives me boring parts – he has no idea how to write for drums.[1] They’re all the same.” Toshiya laughed, “So write your own.” “I am. I’m trying to fix the guitar lines so that Kaoru-kun and Die-kun won’t hate me for all of eternity,” Shinya wrinkled his nose cutely, causing Toshiya to coo and poke it. “Awww ... they’d never hate you,” the bassist grinned, then looked over at Kyo and covered his mouth, lowering his voice dramatically, “You’re too cute.” The young drummer gave a weak grin in return and automatically looked to see if the vocalist had overheard – luckily Kyo had not. He wrinkled his nose once more, but grinned, “I am not cute – that’s Kyo-kun. And anyway, you mean Kaoru-kun – Die-kun probably hates me anyway.” “But he doesn’t hate you!” the bassist said, appalled. “That’s what everyone else says; I don’t think he’d agree with them – he’s been like he always is since La:Sadie’s.” “You mean his teasing.” It was not a question. “He – he’s – ” Shinya paused, brow furrowing slightly as he searched for the right words, “Die-kun has always teased me, yes. But ... but not like how he has been recently. It used to always be just in good humor, but lately he’s been bordering on hostile – to me at any rate. I have a tendency to overreact sometimes, so I could just be delusional. However and be that as it may, the guitar part is not what he is used to playing and I don’t think he’d like it very much. I don’t like them much.” Toshiya sighed softly, knowing a conversation stopper when he heard one. A relevant thought occurred suddenly and he obliged Shinya by changing the topic, “And my bass?” The drummer looked relieved and favored Toshiya with a smile as he replied, “Hasn’t been written. I’ve been meaning to ask you about it, actually. If I bring in the rest of the music, would you mind helping me with yours?”[2] The bassist tried not to look too surprised, and fought the urge to pinch himself. Was Shinya really initiating something? This was certainly something new! Imagine, recluse Shinya, voluntarily inviting someone else’s company. Then Toshiya bit his cheek in self-punishment, //You’re being unfair, baka!// Unfortunately, he was also taking too long to answer, and Shinya was shrinking back into himself a little, his previous teasing mood starting to evaporate. //Maybe I overstepped the boundaries ... //[3] Shinya thought worriedly. “It’s all right if you don’t want to ... I imagine you’ve got plenty to do without me bothering you ... ” “Shinya!” Toshiya said sharply, glaring up at him, satisfied when Shinya was startled into silence, “There’s nothing that I could possibly have to do that I wouldn’t cancel for you ... except maybe a lunch date with the emperor.” He paused and grinned when Shinya gave a little laugh. “So – when were you thinking?” “I hadn’t been, really. I wasn’t sure when you might want to,” the drummer admitted, and Toshiya frowned internally. Did Shinya really think he’d be an inconvenience? “But then, I seem to have misjudged your social life. I figured you had lunch with the emperor weekly and so wouldn’t be available.” The bassist laughed with Shinya this time, and relaxed. Shinya was fine if he could joke like that – Toshiya was just being paranoid ... or reading too far into things; whichever. Both continued laughing, and actually laughed a little harder, when they realized the other three had stopped what they were doing to stare at them. “What’s so funny?” Kyo asked, looking bemused. “Beats me,” Kaoru shrugged, standing and stretching, making sure to keep his newly conquered papers away from Kyo – a precaution that made Shinya cringe internally. He really didn’t want to think about why Kaoru would be that protective of them. Toshiya sat up as the pink haired man strode to his guitar and began the laborious process of making sure it was still perfectly tuned. Groans resounded as the not so subtle hint was picked up. “Well, since you’re all finished with lunch ... ” Kaoru grinned, “Back to work, slaves!” The last few chords of I’ll lingered in the air as Toshiya rounded off his bass line and Shinya, taking pleasure in the fact that he could now rest, improvised a quick embellishment on his drums to end it. He was rewarded with a teasing smile from Kyo, a grin from Kaoru, a slight snicker from Toshiya, and a roll of the eyes from Die as he turned to Kaoru. “Are we done yet?” the red head asked, mock whining. Kaoru rolled his own eyes and pretended to think very hard, looking melodramatically at the clock by the door. He even scratched his chin for effect, “I don’t know, Dai-chan. It’s only seven ... I think we could keep this up for at least another hour. After all, I’ve got nothing to do after this, so obviously you don’t.” “You wound me,” Die dead panned. He placed his hand over his heart and pouted, “This is me being wounded.” “I don’t think there’s enough blood for you to be wounded,” Kyo said critically, moving in for the kill. Die didn’t have a chance as the short blonde attached himself to Die’s back and began to gnaw on Die’s shoulder, “Let me help!” “Ack!” the red head cried, squirming and twisting as he tried to remove the vocalist, “Get ‘im offa me! Gedditoff, gedditoff, gedditoff!” “Payback’s ... a bitch ... Daisuke! ... I’m ... surprised you ... didn’t know!” Kyo laughed menacingly between bites of Die’s shoulder. Shinya couldn’t help it – he giggled. He clapped his hands over his mouth and giggled, turning away slightly as if that would keep the others from seeing him. But naturally, because he had a gift for sensing those kinds of things, Toshiya did see Shinya giggling. And, naturally, because he always needed the attention, the bassist skipped to Shinya’s drum set, slinging his base around so that it rested against his back, ready to tease the younger man. But he and Shinya made eye contact, and soon Toshiya was giggling, too. This, in turn, caught Kaoru’s attention, which made Kaoru start laughing at the sheer absurdity of the situation in general. Which, in turn, caught Die’s and Kyo’s attention, and made them blush, which made them break away quickly from each other and glare at their band mates. “And what, exactly, is so funny?” Die demanded, sending the other three into even more laughter. Kyo wasn’t sure whether he should be pleased or furious. Pleased that Shinya was having such a good time because of something that he did (partially, at the very least) or furious because that meant that Shinya was laughing at him, and Kyo didn’t generally take too well to people laughing at him. He decided that it wasn’t exactly important when Shinya’s giggles turned into coughs that caused the drummer’s entire body to wretch – to the point that the drummer was practically clinging to his stool to avoid falling off. “Shinya? Shinya! Are you all right?!” Toshiya asked, and, being there, immediately began to rub the younger man’s back, murmuring nonsensically. Shinya couldn’t stop coughing long enough to speak, barely managing to catch his breath in between and grabbing at his throat. The coughs echoed through the room, harsh and grating on the others’ ears. When the bassist finally looked up at the others, his eyes were worried, “One of you get water!” Kyo, being both closest to the door and the only one without an instrument strapped to his body, was silently voted the one to go. Shinya made little hand gestures at them – weak attempts to reassure them that he was fine. They didn’t do much for his cause as his coughs got a bit stronger and he winced from the pain in his chest. Toshiya continued to rub his back as Kyo ran off to get the ordered water. When the vocalist returned, water in hand, Shinya had stopped coughing, though he was in obvious pain and accepted the bottle with a grateful smile. “Slow sips, na, Shin-chan,” Kyo said softly. “Nn,” Shinya nodded. When the drummer finished drinking, Toshiya asked, “Are you all right?” Shinya nodded shortly, “Yeah,” and winced at the hoarseness of his voice. He swallowed experimentally, and looked slightly relieved when it didn’t hurt as much, “Just some dust that got caught in my throat, I guess.”[4] The others looked at him dubiously (even Die looked unconvinced and a little worried), but each reluctantly accepted his explanation. After all, the same kind of coughs happened to everyone at some point, and for that reason. But a nagging feeling told Kyo that Shinya was either making light of, or outright lying about, his coughing. In all the time he’d known the drummer, he’d never known Shinya to cough like that. He’d never known Shinya to get sick at all, now that he thought about it. “Do you want me to drive you home?” Kaoru asked, kneeling in front of the drummer so he could look into Shinya’s eyes. He frowned internally seeing the younger man’s eyes widen, accenting the slightly glazed look in them. The drummer shook his head, “I drove here ... my car – ” “Kyo can drive your car back. He drove with Totchi. I can give him a ride when we get to your place. You don’t look so hot, Shinya. Let me drive you,” Kaoru said firmly. “I – ah – all right, Kaoru-kun,” Shinya nodded, giving in to the inevitable – Kaoru wouldn’t leave anyone alone until he got what he wanted. “Thank you.” The pink haired guitarist smiled, stood, and offered his hand to Shinya, who took it with much less hesitation than he might normally have. He was too tired to care. Kaoru pulled the drummer gently to his feet, holding onto his arms just incase, but let go when Shinya shifted uncomfortably. Kyo appeared behind them with Shinya’s coat in hand. “Domo,” Shinya said. He stepped away, mindful of Kaoru still hovering behind him, then turned to face the shorter man, and give him a small smile. “Welcome,” the vocalist replied, then, as if it were an afterthought, he smiled and held out his arm like in the old European movies, “May I escort you to the car, m’lady?”[5] Shinya chuckled tiredly. He threaded his arm through Kyo’s, ignoring the others staring at him. Kaoru laughed on his other side and wrapped an arm around Shinya’s shoulders. It was quite the picture they made (Toshiya wished he had a camera – absently he marveled at how well Kaoru and Shinya, and Shinya and Kyo, seemed to fit together). Like parts of a puzzle completing the picture. “I should hack out a lung more often,” the drummer said, still smiling wanly. “No, don’t do that – then we’d have to be worried all the time,” Die retorted, but his voice was softened with sincere concern. “And we couldn’t very well have you be worried all the time, could I? Might cause pre-mature aging,” Shinya said, very seriously, in his usual monotone, but his eyes held laughter. “And ruin my beautiful face?!” the red head cried, grasping his cheeks with a look of horror. Everyone laughed (except Shinya, who just gave his usual sort of half-smile, not having the energy to do anything else), until Die reached out and lightly grasped Shinya’s arm. “Get some sleep, or it’ll be your pretty face that get’s ruined.” “I – yeah,” Shinya nodded, unsure as to whether it was a compliment or insult – it was always hard to tell when it came to Die – but assured that at least Die cared about him, “I will. I’ll see you tomorrow.” “Oi, Shin-chan!” Toshiya broke in before the three could leave, “Bring in that music tomorrow, okay? We can go to lunch together or something and look it over, if you want.” “O ... okay, Toshiya-kun,” the drummer said, smiling a tiny bit brighter if Toshiya wasn’t seeing things. Shinya waved a little at Die and Toshiya as he was led out of the room by Kyo and Kaoru. When they were down the hall and far out of hearing range, Toshiya turned to Die, studying him as if they were meeting for the first time. The red head walked over to his guitar case to put away his instrument, pretending not to notice the bassist’s silent appraisal. Finally it seemed that Toshiya had drawn his conclusion, for he went to go put his own instrument away, leaving Die to his own devices on the other side of the room. Die stood and stretched, packing the guitar away in his oversized locker. “He thinks you hate him, you know. What changed?” The guitarist nearly dropped his lock at Toshiya’s unexpected comment. The bassist had abandoned his bass to the floor and look at Die when the guitarist spun around. “Who what now?” “Shinya. He thinks you hate him. Do you?” “No!” The redhead spat heatedly, ”We’ve stuck together this long in the same band? Why would I do that if I hated him?” “I don’t know,” Toshiya admitted. He shut the lid of his bass’ case, stood, put it away quietly. He closed and tugged on the lock as he always did before turning to get his coat. “Neither does Shinya.” ~chpater four ga owarimashita~ Notes [1] Considering that I have no idea what I'm talking about -- and I'm sure Die has a much better idea of how to write for drums than I do -- don't listen to me. [2] Just to let you know that this is taking place around the making of GAUZE [3] Heee -- foreshadowing much? Just a little hint as to what will pop up in later chapters. [4] Y'know -- you just start dry coughing and can't stop and it feels like you can't breathe after a while? Well, it happens to me a lot =^-^=;; [5] *snerk* And they say chivalry is dead. Oh, and I promised to eventually stop making Die such an on-again-off-again asshole. He'll become one or the other ^_~ |
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