Title: Growing Pains
Fandom: Gravitation
Characters: Suguru Fujisaki, Hiroshi Nakano, Shuichi Shindou
Summary: Suguru has just about had it with his bandmates.
Genre: Comedy, fluff
Word Count: 2350
Suguru and Hiro flanked Shuichi as they made their way back to the dressing rooms.
"All right! We kicked ass!" Shuichi cheered, with all of his usual post-performance excitement.
"It would have been better if Nakano hadn't had to save your ass during 'Spicy Marmalade' because you forgot the lyrics halfway through!" Suguru huffed.
"Ah, come on, I know it doesn't usually have a guitar solo there, but I-"
"Forgot how it ended?" Suguru deadpanned.
"Well…" Shuichi laughed and waved his hand dismissively, "The spontaneity of our concerts is one of the reasons fans come to see us live."
It was hard to argue: Suguru couldn't think of any two concerts that been alike.
"Take it easy on him," Hiro joined in to defend his friend. "You know he's just excited to be back in Tokyo."
Hiro gave Shuichi a sly wink, and Shuichi blushed. Like everyone didn't know why he was so excited to be back.
"Did Yuki-san come to watch this time then?" asked Suguru.
"Nah, he said something about finishing up work and the dressing room not being sufficient to, um, you know… and he didn't want to get billed for wreaking it like the last time— which I think Tohma did just to be vindictive- but I bet he can't wait to see me."
"Please don't go into detail," Suguru begged. "I already know more about your sex life than I'd like to."
"You only say that because you don't have one of your own," Shuichi shot back.
Hiro laughed at Suguru's look of indignation, and Shuichi gave him a nudge in ribs.
"Like you're any better," he teased. "Tell me- how far have you gotten with Ayaka?"
"Well- I, uh…" Hiro stuttered as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"That's what I thought," Shuichi said smugly.
The group arrived at Shuichi's dressing room first, and Shuichi paused at the door.
"Hey, could you guys help me out of this?" He asked, tugging at the leather harness he was wearing as part of his stage costume. "These buckles are hard to get undone on my own."
"I don't know Shu…" Hiro smirked wickedly, "are you sure you want a couple of sex starved guys like us undressing you?"
"Don't be jerks! The last time I went home in something like this, Eiri gave me hell for letting people put me out on stage like this. After he spent the whole night fucking me so hard that I didn't think I'd be able to move the next day."
"All right," Hiro laughed. "We'll help you out."
"Don't volunteer me!" Suguru objected.
"Hey, if I have to, you have to too," Hiro said and pulled Suguru into the room after him.
Suguru quickly made sure made sure the door was shut tight and locked, he could only imagine the field day the media would have if someone spotted them, and turned around to see Hiro had already started undoing the buckles and loosening the straps on Shuichi's ridiculous getup. Suguru sighed in defeat and tried to hide his embarrassment as he joined in.
"Look: how cute!" Shuichi teased. "Fujisaki-kun is blushing."
"I am not!" Suguru lied and jerked on the strap he was working on.
"Oww! That pinched, be careful!" Shuichi shouted.
"Sorry," Suguru hastily apologized. "It was an accident."
"No it wasn't! You-"
"Should have done it harder," Hiro interrupted. "Shuichi had it coming."
"Hey! Whose side are you on, Hiro?" Shuichi pouted.
"Not yours," he answered, "though I'll agree that Fujisaki's cute when he's embarrassed."
Hiro winked at Suguru, and the keyboardist felt his face grow even hotter. Once! He had flirted with Hiro once. Before he even knew Hiro had a girlfriend! And now he seemed to be more than paying for it... He wondered if it was physically possible to die of embarrassment.
"You dick!" Shuichi grumbled, obviously oblivious to Suguru's predicament. "I thought you were supposed to be my best friend."
"Of course I am. Who else is going to put up with you?"
"Hmph!" Shuichi grunted and pulled away from Hiro.
"I bet Fuji-kun here would be happy to be my new best bud," Shuichi said as he wrapped arm around Suguru's shoulders. "It's about time somebody taught him to lighten up."
"Sh-Shindou-san," Suguru whined as he tried to disentangle himself from Shuichi's grasp, "I don't think…"
"You're right," Shuichi sighed, his arm dropped and he made a sour expression. "I need somebody who doesn't have such a huge stick up their ass."
"SHINDOU-SAN!" Suguru shrieked. The only thing that kept Suguru from leaping forward and throttling Shuichi was Hiro's uproarious laughter distracting him from his murder attempt.
"Pft! Didn't we establish that his problem was a lack of wood up his-"
"Nakano-san!"
Shuichi snickered, and Suguru finally snapped.
Why the hell had he put up with these two for so long?! He was a talented musician! Surely he could find work with people who were far more professional, even if it did mean being regulated back to being a studio musician or support member.
Hell, he was barely more than that now!
Bad Luck was Shuichi's band.
And while Shuichi had made it clear he wouldn't do it without Hiro, Suguru was never a vital part of it. He was a 'member' of Bad Luck in name only.
Suguru set his jaw and clenched his fists, then turned on his heel and made a beeline for the door. He had the doorknob halfway turned when he felt someone grab his wrist and jerk him away from it.
Suguru tried to pull himself free but before he knew what had hit him he was spun around and his hand was pinned uselessly above his head against the door.
"Let go!" Suguru shouted. He used his free arm to try to push Hiro away, but Hiro's superior reach and strength made his efforts about as effective as an attempt to reason with Shuichi.
"Where you off to in such a hurry?" Hiro asked, ignoring Suguru's struggles.
"To hand in my resignation!" Suguru huffed. Since pushing Hiro away hadn't worked, he tried hitting him and was briefly satisfied when Hiro winced from the strike to his shoulder, but before he could land another blow Hiro pinned Suguru's free arm to his side.
"Chill out," Hiro commanded sternly but his expression instantly morphed into that carefree, easygoing smile that could make just about anyone melt. "We were just kidding around. We're not giving you anymore shit than we give each other."
"Pfft!" Suguru scoffed. "Yeah right! I'm always the butt of your jokes! You guys would probably jump for joy to be rid of me."
"That's not true." Hiro leaned in closer and Suguru's heart skipped and raced. "Bad Luck wouldn't be the same without you."
"Are you two lovebirds finished?" Shuichi asked. He was hopping around and squirming comically trying to reach behind him to undo the last buckle. "I still need help here!"
Hiro startled and loosened his grip. Suguru took the chance to break free and ducked under Hiro's arm.
Without a word, he marched back to Shuichi and freed him from his stage costume.
"Thanks guys!" Shuichi said and patted Suguru's back. "I don't know why it's so hard to get out of. I swear this thing was designed to be inescapable."
"Y'know, Shuichi," Hiro explained, "I think that might be the point."
"Huh?" Shuichi's tilted his head quizzically, then his snapped his eyes wide open in realization. "Oh! Ohhh…"
Shuichi turned beet red and stared at the floor. Apparently he did possess shame after all.
Hiro laughed and Shuichi glared at him, then snorted, huffed, and made a dramatic show of stomping over to the sink where he proceeded to turn the faucet on full blast and dunk his head under the stream.
"It's nothing to drown yourself over, Shindou-san," Suguru said. "I'm sure you can ask for a change of costume. I always assumed you likedthat kind of attention."
Shuichi pulled his head out from under the stream of running water and scowled at Suguru.
"It's not that," Shuichi explained in between scrubbing his face clean, and rinsing out his hair, "it's just Yuki really hates all the makeup, and stuff they put in my hair for these things. I try to tell him I get washed out by stage lights and my hair gets sweaty and goes limp while performing, but he doesn't care. If I don't wash the gunk off first he'll dunk my head under water."
"Not that anyone would blame him," Suguru muttered under his breath.
Really, it took all his self-control not to crack wise. Did Shuichi even hear himself?
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
Shuichi shrugged it off and turned off the faucet. He ruffled his hair with a towel then flung the towel over his shoulder before walking back to Suguru.
"See, that wasn't so bad was it?" Shuichi asked, resting a hand casually on Suguru's shoulder and looking up at him with that wry smirk.
Suguru tried to shrug Shuichi off— really, his bandmate no concept of "personal space" – when Shuichi abruptly leapt away from him and pointed at him accusingly.
"When the hell did this happen!?" he shouted.
"Huh?" Suguru swore that one of these days he would be able to understand Shuichi, or at least get better at predicting his mood swings.
"Don't go acting all innocent! How long have you been hiding this?"
"H-hiding what?"
"You know what. Dammit! I thought you were our elementary school intern! What happened?!"
"I- uh…" Dumbfounded wasn't nearly a strong enough word to describe Suguru's abrupt lack of coherence. He squirmed uncomfortably and made a helpless glance at Hiro.
"What are you spazzing about this time, Shuichi?" Hiro asked, taking the cue from Suguru to bail him out.
"Fujisaki! He- he- he's taller than I am."
"Huh," Hiro tilted his head then eyed both Suguru and Shuichi up and down. "Yeah I guess he is."
"What?! No! It can't be. Take off your shoes Fujisaki."
"What?" Suguru watched with confusion as Shuichi began to tug off his own shoes.
"Just do it," Hiro said. "You know he won't let it go if you don't."
Suguru sighed grievously, but obliged. No sooner had he finished stepping out of his shoes than Shuichi stood back-to-back to him and locked elbows with the unfortunate keyboardist.
"Now who's taller, Hiro?" Shuichi asked.
"Quit standing on your toes and I'll tell you."
Shuichi grunted but slid back down onto his heels.
"Hmm…" Hiro held his hand level above Shuichi and Suguru and slowly lowered it until his fingers touched the top of Suguru's head. "Fujisaki. By a longshot. He's at least two inches taller than you now, Shuichi."
"What?! No fair!" Shuichi cried. He released Suguru and slumped forward. "I'm this band's leader. Why am I the shortest?"
"Because your body obviously can't keep up with your ego," Suguru retorted and slipped his shoes back on. He'd had enough of this insanity. He was relieved Tokyo was the last stop on their tour. "Can I go now?"
"NO!" Shuichi yelled and scrambled to block Suguru's path.
"What now?" Suguru asked, genuinely baffled.
"You don't get to leave just because we tease you, or our manager threatens you with a gun, or ridiculous petty things like that!"
"Excuse me?"
Threat of bodily harm and hostile work environments were petty now?
"You're not a kid anymore, right? So quit throwing a tantrum and threatening to quit the band all the time." Shuichi stubbornly set his jaw and scowled at Suguru.
Well, that was ironic coming from Shuichi.
"I didn't mean I was going to quit. I'd just like to get out of this costume and go home too."
"Oh, okay then."
Shuichi smiled and sidestepped out of Suguru's way.
Suguru rolled his eyes and made his way to the door. Hiro stepped in front of him and Suguru wondered what could possibly be the problemthis time.
"Need a ride home?" Hiro asked. "Everyone's probably left by now except for the techies and janitorial staff. We can probably sneak out to my bike together without being harassed."
The thought of clinging to Hiro while they sped their way through the city streets was both enticing and terrifying.
"I'll pass. K-san already made arrangements."
"Suit yourself," Hiro said and opened the door for Suguru.
Suguru turned back to Shuichi, who was busy rummaging through his backpack in search of something.
"Goodnight, Shindou-san."
"Shuichi!" The singer halted his search to glare up at Suguru.
"Huh?"
"It's Shuichi. Quit being so formal. It's like Hiro said: Bad Luck isn't Bad Luck without you."
"I…" Suguru didn't know what to say. "Okay, Shuichi-san."
"Drop the 'san.'" Hiro said. "It sounds weird with a first name. What're you, Seguchi?"
"Okay, Naka-" Suguru decided to take his chances, if Shuichi wanted to be on a first name basis then maybe… "Hiroshi."
Hiro grinned.
"Better," he said.
"Goodnight, Shuichi," Suguru tried again.
It felt strange rolling off his tongue, but saying it, Suguru realized that for all his dramatic posturing and threats to leave, there wasn't any way that he could. He'd often wondered about his place in Bad Luck, feeling overshadowed by Shuichi and Hiro's popularity and talents, but he'd finally been acknowledged as an equal. A friend.
"'Night, Suguru. Later Hiro." Shuichi waved absently and went back to his search, he gave up on looking in the bag and dumped its contents on the floor. He just about squealed for joy when his cellphone came tumbling out, and Suguru took his cue to exit.
He really didn't want to hear any part of his depraved bandmate's conversation with his equally depraved lover.
Alone, Suguru and Hiro stood in awkward silence in the hallway for a minute.
"I meant it, y'know," Hiro broke the quiet. "Bad Luck wouldn't be as good without you."
"Thanks, Hiroshi," Suguru mumbled, feeling self-conscious.
"Anytime, Suguru," Hiro said. "After all, you're not a kid anymore, right?"
"Nope," Suguru answered. " I guess I've grown up."
The end.
Well, look at that: I wrote a Gravi Fic without Shuchi or Eiri as the central character.
So, I finally grew a pair, and posted this piece o' shite. Gonna try an' dust off and post some of the other fanfics I have wasting space on my hard drive soonish. Sorry I didn't clean this up very well. I'm sure there's plenty of redundancies, and awkwardness, and general bad writing that could have been pared out, but -fuck- I suck at editing.
I got the idea for this because there were a few panels in Ex where Suguru looked taller than Shuichi, and I thought it would be kind of funny for Shuichi to overreact to that. Then my cute little idea, which really wasn't worth more than a drabble, somehow morphed into this mess.
Sorry.
Kinda turned out a little more Hiro/Suguru shippy than I think I intended it to, but feel free to read as much or as little into that as you'd like
I hope you enjoyed, thanks for stopping by ^_^