First Meeting

by Kooriyoukai

[TeniMyu] Slight TutixNagayan. Kimeru's been playing matchmaker, and Tuti's first meeting with Nagayama Takashi is leaving him with a lot more questions than answers about the man set to be his new double's partner. Tuti centric.

Title: First Meeting
Author: Rissa
Pairings: slight TutixNagayan, Tuti-centric
Genre: Drama/Humor
Rating: PG
Warnings: OOC, fangirl Japanese, incorrect retelling of events
Disclaimer: I do not know any of the people in this story, and all events depicted are entirely fictional. Prince of Tennis is owned by Konomi. TeniMyu is a production of TK WORKS/Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd.

A/N: What can I say, I can't write short things.

Tuti was understandably wary when Nagayama Takashi was hired to replace Ichitarou-kun for the fall showing of the musical. Tuti wasn't opposed to change; he just had absolutely no idea who this new guy was. Nagayama-san was a total stranger, a foreign entity, an unknown element disrupting their production halfway through things, and on a professional level that made Tuti uneasy.

He'd never heard of the actor, had never seen any of his work, and had no idea what sort of a performer they'd hired to replace his doubles partner. That made Tuti uneasy on a personal level. Perhaps he was a little more protective of the role of Kikumaru Eiji than anyone might think he had a right to, but Tuti told himself that he simply wanted to be sure they were putting on the best show possible, with the best group of people—which usually implied some degree of familiarity. From where Tuti was standing, it looked like they were missing a few of those important elements this time around, and he hated seeing a good thing go downhill because of cast changes and schedule conflicts. Maybe it simply boiled down to the fact that he felt a personal obligation, as someone directly affected by these changes, to approach their replacement members with a degree of caution.

They'd made the announcement a little over a month ago that Ichitarou-kun would not be returning for the second run of the musical, while it had been known for some time that Abe-san was preoccupied with rehearsals for Les Misérables. Abe-san was a stage actor and would probably return to any future shows with better planning, but Ichitarou-kun was looking at possibly have to bow out of the whole production if the TV drama he was involved in was picked up for another season. All of it made Tuti anxious about what sort of future he could expect from this particular show, whether these first two losses were only the beginning of everyone eventually bowing out. Ideally, he would have liked to think that everyone involved was committed with their whole heart and body, but the disappointing reality was that they all had lives outside of the stage: music, movies, television, voice acting, their group seemed to be doing it all. Busy people had busy lives, and with so many things to choose from it seemed inevitable that at least half of their numbers would drop out in pursuit of other, higher paying endeavors.

Tuti knew that he and Moriyama were committed to the production no matter where it went, and he was almost entirely certain that Kimeru shared their sense of dedication, though likely for different reasons he'd chosen not to speculate. Gomoto-san seemed like a reliable type of fellow, and would probably hang around out of a sense of duty rather than any overwhelming love for the show. The rest seemed to have the ability to go either way in Tuti's eyes—he could easily see Takigawa skipping out to take on a full-time modeling job, or Aoyama-kun being enticed by a lead role in a TV drama, or Yanagi-kun getting bored with the musicals and begging his manager for a way out. It was life, and people had their own dreams and goals to pursue, so Tuti knew he wouldn't begrudge them for following their own path. But Tuti was also a realist, and knew that if they lost enough members and kept up this cycle of replacements and substitutions they'd lose their audience, the producer's trust, and eventually any reason to keep going; and the last thing Tuti wanted was to see happen was something he was having fun doing, end.

Tuti liked to feel comfortable, whether that was with his environment or the people around him, but usually he was the last person to care about clashing personalities in a group. As long as everyone was serious and dedicated to putting on a good show, then that was all Tuti hoped for. If they got along well, then all for the better. If they became friends… well, that was an ignorant dream that only fledgling stage actors longed for. Tuti might have loved to make people laugh, but he tended to have a short attention span among strangers, and usually preferred to move on before being sucked in by casual conversation or gossip that he had no interest in. Knowing one's audience was always a good idea, and while Tuti was sure that most people labeled him as 'friendly', he was truthfully rather picky about his close acquaintances. Tuti would love to have taken that sort of approach when it came to their new addition, Nagayama-san, content to work with him as best he could and not spend time on frivolous worries, such as whether he was liked or not. But as luck would have it, he'd hardly had time to process the unknown name sitting on his computer screen at the beginning of a very long email before things began to change, and he was suddenly involved, and did give a damn about those stupid things he swore he never would.

Apparently Nagayama-san and Kimeru were long time acquaintances, and the entire week after his casting Kimeru had bombarded Tuti's email with letters expressing at great length how wonderful it would be having the actor with them. Kimeru was a notoriously wordy writer, and in that week his normal day to day extols were rarely without words of excessive praise, joy, and positive expectations for what the man could bring their production; letters that, for one reason or another, Tuti had earned himself the unfortunate right to become privy to. He knew he wasn't the only one that Kimeru wrote to, since it had been the singer's suggestion in the first place for everyone to exchange emails and maintain communication outside of practices and the theater, but Tuti had a nagging suspicion that he was receiving the full brunt of Kimeru's excitement over having his friend join their band of actors.

Why this was the case, however, completely eluded any explanation Tuti could come up with, short of Kimeru being absolutely insane and probably madly in love with his best friend. He'd always thought Kimeru was a tad too in touch with his feminine side anyway.

Surely Moriyama-kun hadn't hinted at anything beyond a, "Hey did you hear about the new guys?" to which resulted in Tuti lamenting for a good ten minutes about everything he wished he hadn't heard about the new guy, and Tuti had discovered in the process that he knew quite a lot more about one particular new guy than Moriyama did. Moriyama had laughed in the end, pointing out that Kimeru was horrible when it came to long emails, but it seemed that whatever wind had carried the joyful singer to Tuti's door had blown right over Moriyama without much more than a whisper. Pop singer idolized by thousands or not, by the end of the week Tuti was ready to stuff a dirty sock in Kimeru's mouth, because there was only so much a man could take hearing about how great a total stranger was at anything before his own pride started to feel a little slighted.

Tuti tried his hardest not to dislike someone he'd never met based on a lot of hype from a seemingly very biased source, but even he began to feel his resolve crumbling when it became apparent in a few brief emails from Ueshima-san that their sensei had also spoken to Kimeru, and shared many of the singer's high expectations. The new man was either a god or a monster, judging by the elaborate nature of the praise being sung for him, and neither possibility made Tuti feel happy. Oh it wasn't that he was worried about being upstaged, or that this man could waltz in and steal the show out from underneath the rest of them, because regardless of who was more popular their paychecks weren't going to disappear, and Tuti had been in the business long enough to know that petty jealousies were a waste of time. But being in the theater business had also taught him that change was a tricky thing, especially when working relationships were involved, and changing cast members was always bound to either bring the team even closer together or rip the whole thing apart. There were no half-way merges, it was either all or nothing, and internal politics and wavering loyalties were a sure fire way to spell destruction and disaster for any group of people working together. Kimeru was welcome to sing Nagayama-san's praise all day and night if it pleased him, but no one could say for sure if things would work out for the better until the real thing showed up.

They weren't on a rehearsal schedule the first time most of their members met their new Kikumaru Eiji. It was early summer and between shows, and their tentative itinerary had so far pointed towards at least a week's worth of performances sometime in August in Tokyo and Osaka—the lack of solid planning being attributed to something concerning theater hall reservations and timetables still needing to be worked out. They hadn't even planned on a second showing originally, but the amazing success of their first week had shown more than one critic on the production team that not showing an encore would be like committing seppuku on a PR level, and in terms of making money, it must have seemed to the decision makers like the road to the future was paved in gold. Inevitably, scheduling conflicts and the last minute nature of the decision had pushed the date back several months for the show, but that had not stopped the eager expectation of a rousing sequel to their initial success. Tuti hardly minded at all, because work was work, and food needed to be put on the table somehow, but truthfully he was looking forward to being in the musical again. He'd genuinely enjoyed being a part of the production the first time around, and the people he'd come to know in the cast were wonderfully diverse and easy to get along with. It also wasn't his first time being involved in a stage adaptation of a popular anime, and he had to admit that there was slightly more pressure to do well when an actor was seeking to appeal to an audience with loads of expectations for the characters, and Tuti had always enjoyed a good challenge. People tended to take these things slightly more seriously too, even though they were, figuratively, at the bottom of the barrel when it came to stage shows, but it still guaranteed that they would be given things like professional choreographers, songwriters, composers, and a director who knew what he was doing. Having the pressure to appease sponsors, a series creator, the production company, and the fans all together usually meant that nothing was going to be approached halfway, which did wonders for appealing to Tuti's perfectionist ideals.

On that day they were meeting, the cast members had been called in for a short get together to hammer out their contracts, which basically meant a lot of back and forth communication between the actors, director, and managers if anything seemed amiss or wasn't going to work out. They were also getting their first look at any changes that might have been added to the script, and that included songs and dance numbers. Tuti didn't think there would be any big changes, but they would all definitely need a few rehearsals to knock the dance numbers back into their heads after being on such a long hiatus. Not to mention a few of their members needed some serious further training with their vocal skills, himself included. He knew it wouldn't hurt to hint at some much needed practice sessions with a singing coach, especially since they were getting all of this for free, and whatever he walked away with from this musical could only benefit his own hard working theater troupe, pnish.

He knew Moriyama felt the same about free lessons of any sort, bonded by their mutual dream for their small group of actors, and they discussed some of their impressions and expectations for the upcoming show on the train ride to the offices where Ueshima-san and the rest of the production company spent their time dreaming up the latest and greatest hit they could bring to the stage. Tuti and Moriyama were the only two arriving without their managers in tow, since in truth neither had one. They'd both spent the last two years free of the strings management attached to them and their time once they'd become members of pnish, and while calling your own shots and making up your own schedule had its benefits, Tuti knew that he and Moriyama were probably two of the least busy actors in their group due to the lack of supervision. But in the end he hardly minded. Regardless of management or not, he'd managed to get here, on his own talent, and for Tuti that was enough incentive for him to believe in his abilities and not worry about how much money he had to throw at someone who may or may not get him work.

Once the front doors to the building had been opened, Tuti wasted no time in bellowing out a very loud, "Konnichiwa!" that echoed satisfyingly off the high walls of the lobby they'd walked into. Tuti felt there was no greater satisfaction in life than being able to turn heads, for entertainment purposes of course, and that was precisely what happened, though a few of the men wearing business suits gave him some of the dirtiest looks he'd ever seen. Managers, he thought, laughing out loud, knowing that by this point it could hardly make things any worse.

Two of their excused members, Ichitarou-kun and Abe-san, were absent when they arrived, but it seemed that Yanagi-kun and Gomoto-san were also missing from the meeting, as Tuti failed to spot either of their faces among those standing in the small lobby they'd entered. Tuti was surprised that Kimeru had managed to make it at all, as he seemed the most likely of their group to have the littlest amount of free time, but there the pop-idol was, speaking amicably to a smiling Souta-kun and giving Tuti a smile that could only be described as fondly amused. Takigawa-san was standing on the edge of Kimeru and Sota's conversation, arms crossed and dressed casually in slacks and a light summer shirt, and he nodded towards the last two members to show up as they approached their circle.

Moriyama delivered a much more subdued greeting to the small group once they reached it, having neither the courage nor desire to upstage Tuti when it came to being outrageously loud in group situations, something which Tuti was only too happy to claim the spotlight in.

Souta grinned at the two of them, his hair looking disheveled and slightly windblown, and uttered the words that had become somewhat of a traditional opening line between Tuti and the other actors. "You're late."

Moriyama jerked a thumb in Tuti's direction, always quick to assign blame to the proper source. "This guy takes forever to get out of bed. We missed the first train because of him.

"Sleeping in until noon on a weekday, Tsuchiya-kun?" Kimeru asked, radiating innocent curiosity.

Tuti grinned, not embarrassed in the least. "There happen to be some very good TV shows that only come on after midnight," he replied in his defense.

Souta grinned, looking all too smug. "Right, you mean pornos. I never pegged you for an eechi old man, Tuti."

"Try again!" Tuti declared, happy to have his full audience's attention. "Power Ranger reruns."

Souta and Moriyama exploded in laughter, Takigawa smirked, and Kimeru smiled secretively, probably not believing a word Tuti had said.

"It's a great show!" Tuti protested, grinning, basking in the laughter he'd created. "You can learn a lot from watching it: martial arts, bad acting, how to save the world in giant robots. All very useful and highly paid skills."

"You probably wanted to be one as a kid," Moriyama pointed out cheekily.

Tuti dramatically placed a hand over his heart. "It was my precious childhood dream."

"Ne, what color did you want to be?" Kimeru asked, causing a few amused eyes to turn in his direction.

"Probably red, he always got the girls," Souta suggested.

"I always liked the yellow one, she was cute," Moriyama said fondly, clearly reminiscing about earlier days.

"No way, the green one was the best," Tuti argued. "He got his own robot and he was evil, then later he got to be the white ranger! Green was definitely the coolest."

Souta and Moriyama nodded, unanimously in agreement with this opinion, and Tuti took the moment to look around, noticing a young man off to the side he didn't recognize. He looked slightly younger than Tuti, with dark hair and wide, watery eyes, standing only a few inches taller than Kimeru. He was thin and recognizably built like a dancer, and Tuti wondered if this was the infamous Nagayama-san or their other replacement member, Morimoto Ryouji. Kimeru followed his gaze and waved for the man to join their small group.

"Morimoto-kun, this is Tsuchiya Yuuchi-kun and Moriyama Eiji-kun, the two men most experienced in our whole group with what it's like to be on stage."

Tuti chuckled in appreciation of the unneeded, though accurate compliment, as greetings of yoroshiku were passed between the three of them, though Moritmoto-san appeared quite shy with the whole process and refrained from making direct eye contact with either of them. He was very different from Abe-san, who had been soft-spoken but definitely self-confident in his speech and mannerisms, and Tuti thought this man seemed to fit the diminutive profile of his non-racket wielding character down to the letter, which inevitably led to the question of whether or not the guy could successfully pull off Kawamura's explosive alter-ego. He'd obviously proved something to the casting director, but for the life of him Tuti could not see this shy, quiet spoken man giving the same kind of performance for Kawamura they'd become used to seeing.

Tuti entertained a brief fantasy of needing to hand Morimoto-san a hefty paycheck wrapped around the handle of his tennis racquet in order to get him fired up, and let out a short, loud laugh at the thought. Morimoto jumped like a startled rabbit at the sound and shuffled back a few steps, while Moriyama gave Tuti a sideways look with one eyebrow raised, silently asking what was so funny. Tuti's only answer was to grin and shrug innocently.

It seemed like everyone had gathered, but Tuti knew thanks to countless emails that there was one more member that should have been there with the group. He took a quick head count around the room and came up with one more manager than there were actors, so obviously their missing guy was somewhere in the building. He knew that to inquire with Kimeru about Nagayama's whereabouts would be opening the floodgates and would eventually lead to his ears eventually falling off, but he was curious and wanted to finally meet this man. He'd had to suffer through a week's worth of emails going on nonstop about their new member, so the least Kimeru could do was finally introduce the guy and let Tuti decide whether all the hype had been worth his loss of brain cells from staring at the computer monitor for so long.

As it was, Sota beat him to asking the question when he off-handedly wondered aloud where Nagayama-san had gotten off to. Kimeru smiled and replied, "Bathroom", leaving Tuti with a tickle of anxiety as the questions he'd tried to keep a damper on suddenly rushed up all at once.

What kind of guy had they really hired anyway? Was he another diva that needed to spend fifteen minutes in the washroom styling every lock of hair? Because god knew they already had two too many of those types, and miraculously he wasn't talking about Kimeru in that manner. He'd seen more than one struggle for mirror space break out between Takigawa and Souta during their first show, and it would just be their luck that Kimeru was friends with someone even more narcissistic than those two. Tuti's mind spun with awful visions of the three men doing battle over mirror space in the changing rooms and fighting over who had more pictures in the latest idol magazine. Their whole group dynamic would be ruined in one fell swoop, and Tuti cringed inwardly, already seeing their carefully constructed production falling apart at the seams. That or the man was a spineless sap, even worse than the shy and stuttering Morimoto, and somehow Kimeru had completely overestimated and misinterpreted everything, which meant that their last member was probably in the bathroom puking out his guts just from the thought of meeting the rest of the cast. Oh, they were so doomed.

Kimeru's voice cut through his thoughts, calling out a friendly greeting to a figure that had just appeared at the far end of the lobby. "Takashi, over here!"

Tuti's head, along with everyone else's, swiveled to face the furthest hallway, where a young man had just walked around the corner. Tuti's first thought, and upon later reflection he would wonder at how inane it had been, was that never in his life had he seen a pair of sunglasses that big before. The orange tinted monstrosities were perched on a small nose and hiding half of the face behind them, tousled brown bangs just brushing the tops of the glasses. As Nagayama approached, Tuti was able to make out several more features on the suntanned face: the unsmiling mouth, full lips, dark eyes behind the shades, held up by a set of broad, muscled shoulders left bare and exposed under a black tank top splashed with colorful English words and caricatures. Both of Nagayama's hands were shoved into his pant pockets, which were a pair of white washed, thigh hugging jeans that looked ready to fall apart during their next run in the laundry.

Tuti wasn't one to criticize others for their choices in fashion, considering that he was currently wearing a white safari hat and a pair of non-prescription glasses with thick, red rims that served no purpose at all except to give his hands something to fiddle with when he was feeling restless. He thought the white-washed jeans were a little much for the summer heat, but Tuti also happened to be a stickler for keeping as far away from wearing shorts as possible, unless he was on stage or on a tennis court, so he couldn't begrudge the guy that much. Still, Tuti couldn't help but feel as though his ensemble of light khakis, white cotton shirt, and a short-sleeved over shirt decorated with blue Hawaiian flowers—collar turned up of course—was far less dressed and styled than what Nagayama was wearing. His outfit had been another one of those fashion decisions made depending on which shirt he blindly pulled from the closet first. Tuti glanced down to see a pair of bleached cowboy boots on Nagayama's feet, and had the sudden, uncomfortable feeling that his exposed, hairy toes in a pair of flip flops were distinctly underdressed.

Souta waved enthusiastically at Nagayama as though he were greeting an old friend, and suddenly it was as if all the attention earlier on Tuti had shifted to this slightly shorter and attractive man who hadn't even uttered a word yet. Takigawa's gaze was riveted, Moriyama was staring with open curiosity, Kimeru was smiling warmly, and even Morimoto-san was daring to lift his eyes and glance over and away then back again. Tuti knew he was staring too, but he told himself that at least he had a right to do so. Kimeru had been piquing his curiosity all week, and Tuti felt like he was finally coming face to face with some sort of idol or a movie star, which was placing him uncomfortably between feeling shy and annoyed. He wanted to know more about this man, to find out what had made Kimeru act so strangely, but being this aware of another person was not something Tuti was used to. He did not get nervous around people, or intimidated, or feel jealous, and yet everything about Nagayama was making him somehow feel less.

It was all Kimeru's fault. If he hadn't written so much, or if Tuti had just swallowed his guilty conscious and deleted the messages before ever reading them, this wouldn't be happening, and he wouldn't be feeling the urge to run out the front door or say something stupider than usual. He settled for adjusting his glasses, which allowed him to finally look away, and tampered down the urge to cross his arms or shuffle his feet.

When Nagayama was in speaking distance, he threw an annoyed look to the shorter pop-singer, lips turning down into a pout, which somehow managed to completely transform his face and make him look much younger than his 24 years. "Geez, I saw you from all the way over there. You didn't have to yell, Kime."

Kimeru waved away the complaint airily. "I wanted you to hurry up, everyone's here now." He turned so he was half facing Moriyama and Tuti while still keeping Nagayama in his peripheral, and the gleeful smile on his face made Tuti's stomach do a half-flip in worry. "Tsuchiya-kun, Moriyama-kun, I'd like you to meet Nagayama Takashi-kun."

Tuti took a chance and stared openly at the shorter man for a moment, who was taller than Kimeru but maybe just a breadth shorter than he was, definitely taller than Ichitarou-kun had been, and somewhere in the back of his mind he noted that Nagayama was a perfect height for Kikumaru to Tuti's Oishi. He stammered out a yoroshiku that he hoped sounded stronger to everyone else than it did to his own ears, then went back to staring at one of the room's walls, which put Nagayama just out of his field of view, but stuck Takigawa within plain sight. Tuti was surprised at the intense expression on the taller man's face as he stared silently at their newest member, as if staring at him harder would draw Nagayama closer to him, or perhaps make him notice that he was under such heavy scrutiny.

Tuti was confused for a moment as he half listened to Souta try and get Nagayama's attention on the other side of the circle. Maybe Kimeru had told more people the same things he'd told Tuti. It would explain why everyone seemed so eager for the man's attention. It was a little unfair though of Kimeru, to say those kinds of things and expect everyone to believe him without letting their group get to know the actor first. It seemed, ridiculously, as though Kimeru was placing his friend atop a high pedestal, and expecting everyone to automatically think the best of him. Wasn't that selfish of him? Tuti had never pinned Kimeru to be that sort of a guy, and okay, maybe he was simply excited about having his friend in the show with him, but that didn't excuse him from trying to twist everyone's arm and make them like Nagayama. What was so wrong about everyone forming their own opinions of the guy? Tuti made up his mind and swore in that moment that nothing Kimeru said from here on out was going to make him act like an idiot and trip over his own feet to get closer to Nagayama, no matter how great he swore the actor was.

They stayed in the lobby talking for a few more minutes, and even Moriyama had joined in with speaking to Nagayama by this point, but Tuti was content with remaining silent on the edge of the circle. He supposed it looked like he was sulking at the loss of attention, and maybe he was, the tiniest little bit, so little that it really wasn't even worth admitting to himself, but mostly he just felt like he had nothing to say. He couldn't ask Nagayama any questions about himself because he already knew far too much about the man's job history than he cared to know, and saying anything like that aloud was probably asking for strange looks. The worst thing that would happen was he'd come off looking like a stalker, or even worse… a fanboy, of this no-name guy no less, and Tuti knew he really would run out of there as fast as his legs could carry him if Kimeru even breathed a word about Tuti's absurd collection of factoids on Nagayama. He just had to avoid the two of them at all costs, and hope that this conference was the shortest one in the history of all their staff meetings to date.

A few minutes later, in one large group, they were ushered into the conference room by one of Ueshima-san's assistants, with the actors taking up one side of the table and their managers on the other, and Ueshima-san and two members of his crew at the head. Tuti had managed to grab a seat with Moriyama on one side, and Kimeru, unfortunately, on the other, with Nagayama on Kimeru's left and Takigawa on his left in turn. Tuti squirmed in his seat, plagued with the feeling that the seating arrangement had not been accidental, and when Kimeru gave him a soft, knowing smile, Tuti mustered up a grin in return and played oblivious to the best of his ability.

The meeting lasted just over an hour and went smoother than Tuti had initially expected. It seemed that money was really helping things this time around, and the haggling debates that usually seemed to go on with the managers had been neatly cut short by a set of renewed contracts and a slight pay raise for all of the actors, Tuti and Moriyama included. It was one of those moments when Tuti danced inwardly with glee over having no hands other than his own that his money passed through, and he couldn't stop the whistle of appreciation from leaving his lips when he got to the last line on the contract just above where he needed to sign. If these musicals kept up doing as well as they were, he'd be a very happy man indeed. Moriyama gave him another amused look, Kimeru nodded and smiled in appreciation, and he heard Souta chuckle from somewhere down the table, which was all the incentive he needed to ask aloud if they could start getting limo rides to the theater and free meals even on rehearsal days.

They couldn't fault him for trying to squeeze out every last privilege, could they?

The meeting ended with Ueshima-san promising a wider selection of free snacks and drinks during rehearsals, after adamantly shooting down Tuti's suggestion about the limos, but promising to look into discounts on their train passes. It had been worth a shot anyway, and they hadn't entirely lost in the end. Tuti was definitely in higher spirits when he got out of his chair, since not once during the discussion had he thought about the man sitting two seats away, and he inwardly patted himself on the back for keeping clear of any more of Kimeru's wheedling. But that didn't stop him from feeling that it might be necessary to make a quick exit in order to escape any other evil plans Kimeru might try to set in motion, but to his dismay he saw Souta had cornered Moriyama and the two were still at the table comparing the pages in each other's contacts, leaving him without the cover of needing to catch the train with his friend.

"Tsuchiya-kun, you're not leaving yet are you?"

Tuti turned to face Kimeru, and felt a dozen little warning bells go off in his head at the smile on the other man's face, as though Kimeru had just caught quite a fat and tasty mouse. "Ah, well, there's not much else to do. Might as well go home. What about you?"

"I had a few things planned," Kimeru replied, but didn't elaborate. His smile turned slightly more genuine when he spotted someone behind Tuti. "Yukio-san, didn't you say that you wanted to talk to Tsuchiya-kun today?"

Tuti felt his stomach drop another few inches toward his feet, suddenly filled with the acute dread that he was falling surely but swiftly into whatever Kimeru had planned for him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it, especially not when Ueshima was a willing accomplice. "You needed to speak to me, Ueshima-sensei?" he asked, reaching deep down to produce a falsetto of polite curiosity when the director reached their sides.

"Yes, yes I did. Thank you for reminding me, Kimeru-kun."

Kimeru acknowledged the thanks with a nod, and Tuti did not miss the flash of satisfaction that glided across the singer's face. What had he gotten himself into?

"Tsuchiya-kun, I need to ask for your help with some of the coaching. Kimeru has already been aiding Nagayama-kun get settled, but since you'll be working closest with him I want you to work with them as well. Lines, songs, dance numbers, make sure he knows what we're expecting before we start rehearsals. Kimeru tells me he'll do fine, and I think so too, but I think it would be best if you help make sure the transition goes as smoothly as possible. Can I count on you for this?"

Tuti could only nod dumbly, knowing an order when he heard one. How Kimeru had managed to convince the man that Tuti's aid was necessary in the whole process was beyond him, but somehow he'd been neatly trapped and bound before he'd even had a chance to blink and think of a way to fend himself of the attack. He was going to give Kimeru a piece of his mind once they were alone, and no amount of pouting or innocent protestations were going to save the singer when Tuti knew with chilling certainty that he had been planning this all along.

"Hai, of course, I would be happy to," Tuti answered, his stomach frosting over when Ueshima-san turned away to speak to one of the managers that was trying to get his attention. Tuti promptly shot Kimeru a dark glare once the director was out of earshot.

"He needs my help?" Tuti hissed in disbelief. "I thought this was the prodigy that could out dance everyone in this room and sing better than you on his worst days?"

Kimeru only chuckled softly. "Jealous? That's not like you, Tsuchiya-kun."

Tuti crossed his arms and took a deep breath, knowing it was pointless to get riled up about this when he was already stuck with the obligation, but that didn't stop him from feeling a little angry. "I could be busy you know. Why can't we just do this during regular rehearsals?"

"You don't think it'd be beneficial?" Kimeru countered easily. "I know you Tsuchiya-kun, you like to have everything run as smoothly as possible. Yukio-san wants the same thing, too. I just mentioned to him that since you are the one he'll be working closest with, so maybe it would be best if you had some time to get used to each other before the real work started."

Kimeru's face softened slightly, and Tuti saw a bit of the mask fall away to reveal a wistful and understanding smile underneath it. "He isn't Ichitarou-kun."

Tuti looked across the room, eyes settling upon the slender figure of Nagayama, whose head was tipped back slightly as he looked up at Takigawa, silently listening to whatever the other man was saying. There was a ghost of a smile around his mouth, even at this distance, and Tuti could clearly see the wide-eyed look of interest on Takigawa's face as he leaned closer to the shorter man, his hands making arcing gestures in the space between them. Yeah, he was definitely nothing like Ichitarou, who had everything short of the word 'innocent' tattooed across his forehead, but was adorable in his earnest desire to do well and please his cast mates. He wasn't the best singer and wasn't the best dancer, but he was wholesome and optimistic, and Tuti had thought with much fondness that the guy's heart was definitely in the right place. He knew that if Ichitarou kept that quality with him for the rest of his life he could go far in the entertainment business. But Tuti could clearly see that Nagayama was an entirely different creature simply by the gentle posture of his hips and the rolling curve of his shoulder when he shrugged in response to something Takigawa said, and Tuti was struck with the mental image of a sleek, short haired feline basking smugly under the attention of a hand that was petting him in all the right places.

"Yeah," Tuti heard himself agreeing, then made a face. "I'm going to remember this for a long, long time. You're going to owe me, and I don't mean free concert tickets or cds, we're talking meals and maybe doing my laundry."

"I do?" Kimeru laughed, sounding genuinely surprised. "If it makes you feel better I'll remember not to ask you next time I need a favor. But I think I can manage the meal debt this time at least. Don't go anywhere, or I'll tattle to Yukio-san."

With that cryptic parting remark, Kimeru left Tuti's side to walk across the room, approaching Nagayama and Takigawa, who were still engaged in the their conversation. Kimeru smoothly moved between the two, smiling at a slightly flustered Takigawa, said a few words and then began to steer Nagayama back to where Tuti was still standing. Tuti stood up straighter, suddenly unexplainably nervous, and wished he'd been smart enough to actually not listen to Kimeru's threat and bolted from the room while he had his chance, Ueshima's order be damned.

Kimeru either sensed his unease, or was amused by something else entirely, because he smiled secretively and turned his face to say something to Nagayama, which made the other man's eyes widen briefly before they darted over to glance at Tuti, and then quickly away again. Tuti felt himself flush under the scrutiny, and he dug his fingers into the exposed skin of his bicep to distract his thoughts from falling into the dangerous pit they was leaning over. He was not going to let his curiosity get the better of him, and he was definitely not going to turn into some stuttering school boy just because he was coming face to face with a man he knew could not be human, not if half the things Kimeru had said were true.

A very small, very whiney voice inside Tuti mourned the loss of his innocent, dependable Ichitarou-kun.

"Tsuchiya-kun, are you free this evening?"

Tuti bit the inside of his cheek, really, really wishing he knew how to lie convincingly. Direct questions were the death of him and couldn't be deflected away with a joke or a random comment, but maybe it was worth a shot. "I don't know, I was thinking of getting some food, maybe beat up a defenseless wall while working on my forehand?"

"Ah that's right, you play tennis don't you." Kimeru looked at Nagayama, who had been silently staring into the open space between the three of them, looking completely detached from the conversation. "Tsuchiya-kun has the best tennis form out of everyone, you should have him show you sometime. It will really help in the musical. He had to spend time showing all of us how to hold the racket right the first few weeks, but he's still the expert, ne, Tsuchiya-kun?"

Nagayama's eyes had lifted behind the sunglasses to finally focus on Tuti, and his dark eyes appeared almost devoid of any emotion besides a slight hint of boredom. Tuti bristled internally under the expression. It had nothing to do with the fact that Nagayama didn't seem as impressed by the news that Tuti had played tennis as the rest of the cast had been in the beginning, it wasn't that at all. He just disliked anyone who automatically thought they were better than him, especially without getting to know him first. Nagayama hadn't even said a word and yet it was already as though he'd placed himself as the better of the two.

"If you say so, Kimeru-kun," Tuti replied blithely, not caring at this point to hide any of the sarcasm in his voice. "If Nagayama-san wishes it, I'd be happy to teach him a few techniques."

Nagayama's eyes narrowed slightly at Tuti's tone before he glanced away and shrugged, unconcerned. "Sure, sounds fine."

Kimeru seemed to detect the sudden frosty change in the air between the two men, and he smiled brightly with a short, fake laugh. "Good, good. Takashi and I were going to have dinner at my house tonight, and I was hoping you could come too, Tsuchiya-kun. I think it will be a good time to talk over some of the things Yukio-san mentioned, and I can treat you to that meal I owe you. You don't have any plans, is that right?"

Tuti sighed inwardly, his annoyance fading away to be replaced by an empty feeling of reluctance. "No, nothing. That will be fine."

"Okay, let me speak to Yukio-san, and then we can get going. You two can wait in the lobby, I'll be back in a few minutes." Kimeru glided away towards the opposite side of the room, where three managers and one assistant diligently taking notes were boxed in around Ueshima. Tuti rubbed his nose and pushed up the center of his glasses, wondering how hard it would be to pretend that Nagayama wasn't there, also currently facing the same direction Kimeru had taken off in. They were silent for nearly a minute, neither of them making a move to leave the room like Kimeru had directed, and Tuti finally felt himself grow irritated with this childish game. He had a feeling he would do something stupid if he didn't walk away right now and get a moment to clear his head.

"I need to talk to Moriyama-kun for a minute. I'll meet you in the lobby," Tuti informed the other man curtly, and moved away to where Moriyama, Souta, and one of the managers were engaged in a serious discussion, heads bent over the papers in their hands. Tuti managed to pry his co-worker away long enough to tell him he wouldn't be accompanying him on the train back, but left out that he would be going home instead with two of the other cast members. It was too strange for him to bother explaining, so he left it that Ueshima-san had asked him to work on something, and he would give him all the details the next day at practice.

Tuti turned back to face the room and saw that Nagayama had disappeared, probably to wait out in the lobby, and Kimeru was still pushing his way between the suited men to gain Ueshima-san's undivided attention. Feeling not so different from a man walking foolishly into the lion's den, Tuti left the room and entered the lobby, his rubber sandaled feet squeaking loudly against the polished stone floor. He immediately spotted Nagayama sitting in one of the black leather chairs set up around a small coffee table, arms draped across the high armrests and knees carelessly spread apart like any guy was wont to do. Tuti saw his options were to sit, which would put him directly across from the other man, or to stand against one of the pillars in the room and have the advantage of height and an inconspicuous observation point. He chose to stand.

Nagayama's fingers were gently drumming out a steady rhythm on the arm of the chair, which became the only sound in the silent room while Tuti settled against his post, arms crossed and chin lifted to study the patterns on the ceiling. A minute later three of the managers filed out of the meeting room, Souta and Takigawa on their heels, and Tuti gave the other actors a brief nod when they passed by. He didn't miss the waves they also gave to Nagayama, or the charming smile that passed over Takigawa's face before the two departed from the building out into the late-afternoon heat.

Nagayama continued facing forward in his chair, unblinking eyes watching the door close with a gentle snap, before he craned his neck to look back where Tuti stood off to the side. "You could just leave, you know," he suggested casually, lips pursing slightly under the edge of his glasses.

Tuti settled more firmly against the column behind him. "What, and miss all the fun?"

Nagayama twisted in his chair to get a slightly better view of Tuti. His eyebrows were furrowed slightly behind his bangs in confusion. "It's just dinner. I don't think Kime will mind if you have something else to do. I can tell him, if you like."

It was so tempting, but Tuti could be a stubborn jackass once he set his mind to something. "Actually, it's something Ueshima-sensei asked me to do. Just business."

Nagayama watched him silently for a moment with that same unblinking stare, and it filled Tuti with the urge to squirm. "Okay," he finally said, and turned around in his chair.

Silence filled the spacious lobby again, and Tuti allowed his shoulders to drop slightly without Nagayama's watchful eyes on him. He had meant to resume staring at the ceiling, but instead he found his eyes focused on the back of Nagayama's brown head, half wondering how long he could get away with staring before the guy turned around again. There really wasn't much to think of from what Tuti had seen so far of Nagayama. The man was stuck up, seemed to have an ego that probably rivaled Takigawa's, but beyond that Tuti was clueless. He was good looking, which meant he probably had tons of admirers, was used to getting tons of fanmail every day, and Tuti wouldn't be surprised if he had producers knocking on his door every day with offers for leading roles in cheesy dramas. So what was a guy like that doing here? Surely not for the money, or any particular love for the subject matter, so it had to be as a favor to Kimeru, but that left too many uncertainties in Tuti's mind of what he could expect from Nagayama's addition to the group. And then, at the heart of it, Tuti was expected to work with him, to be partnered with him, and take this guy under his experienced wing until he was polished to Ueshima-sensei's satisfaction.

Could he really do it? Oh of course he would try, if only because it had been asked of him, and Tuti did have a measure of respect for what it meant to give his word on something. Enjoying it was another matter entirely, even though Tuti hated to be bothered by anything for any length of time. If something got under his skin he just laughed it off, and if things got unpleasant around him he just walked away, rather than stick around to see things explode or get caught in the middle of a fight he wanted no part of. He supposed that could be seen as cowardly, but it was also living smart, and meant staying aware of his surroundings enough to be able to judge these sort of things. It was part of being an actor, knowing how to feel a room of people, tossing in the right jokes and keeping things interesting until the very end, and Tuti valued those skills and what they could do for him in life when it came to meeting people he hardly knew.

And maybe that was the heart of the problem after all, that he knew everything and yet absolutely nothing about Nagayama, and for this entire meeting he'd been torn between envy, curiosity, and annoyance. Wanting to know, not wanting to intrude, wanting to protect his pride, not wanting to come off as an idiot. He really needed to talk to Kimeru and tell him to stop sending him emails.

Speaking of the pop singer, Tuti heard the doors to the conference room open as several more bodies filed out, this time bearing a small group with two managers, Morimoto, Moriyama, and Kimeru trailing behind at the end. Moriyama nodded goodbye to the shy Morimoto before detaching himself and coming over to Tuti's side.

"Hey, I thought you were leaving?"

Tuti lifted a hand and scratched at the soft hair just under the brim of his hat, a nervous habit he'd never managed to grow out of. "Aa, just waiting for Kimeru-kun."

"Kimeru?" Moriyama swiveled around to look at the singer, who was a few steps away and approaching. "Is this the thing for Ueshima-sensei?" he asked, glancing back at Tuti.

"Aa…" Tuti replied, feeling uncomfortably at a loss for words.

Kimeru laughed lightly, having heard Moriyama's question. "It's just dinner and a boring discussion about work. You're welcome to join us as well, Moriyama-kun."

Moriyama studied Tuti for a few seconds, as if seeking some kind of acknowledgement or a cry for help. Tuti realized just how concerned his friend might truly be about the situation, and suddenly found it easier to smile as he uncrossed his arms. "Hai, Kimeru has asked for help from the great Tuti-sama! I'm afraid that's why I won't be returning with you tonight, duty calls and all."

Moriyama chuckled and shook his head, stepping away from the two. "Alright alright, I'll talk to you later okay?"

"Un, ja ne!" Tuti called out cheerfully, waggling his fingers in Moriyama's direction as the older man left the building.

Kimeru looked slightly relieved when Tuti turned back to face him, and the singer gave him a small nod of thanks that probably could have been for any number of things, but the gesture still placated Tuti enough to make him smile back genuinely. Kimeru pulled out a pair of sunglasses and set them on his face with a gentle toss of his hair as he began walking in the direction of the double doors. "Well, let's get going, I'm hungry."

"Yosh!" Nayagama cheered, startling Tuti a little bit with the happy sound. Kimeru smiled broadly as Nagayama propelled himself out of his low chair and bounded over to walk with his friend, leaving Tuti to trail behind as the three of them filed outside into the afternoon heat. They began their trek down the hot sidewalk in the direction of the closest train station, a merciless summer sun making a light sweat break out on Tuti's forehead in under five minutes, tickling the skin under the brim of his hat. Kimeru and Nagayan kept up a steady pace in front as they walked, side by side and speaking in broken words that involved a lot of laughing and gesturing, words that mostly went in one of Tuti's ears and out the other.

Tuti was a little puzzled, and feeling unhappily like an unwanted third wheel, as whatever mood Nagayama had been in earlier seemed to melt away the further they walked from the office building. This was definitely not the same, unsmiling, dangerous looking man that had puts stars in the eyes of his cast mates, and while Tuti was glad to see that Nagayama was actually capable of smiling and laughing, he was left to wonder which side was real. Kimeru didn't seem to mind or notice the change, or perhaps he was simply used to it, and the more Tuti thought about it the more he realized that nothing in Kimeru's emails to Tuti had ever really touched upon Nagayama's personality. There had been lots of phrases like, "amazingly determined," "full of untapped talent," "dedicated to always doing his best," and more of the same, so much that Tuti had begun to wonder whether Kimeru was going out of his way to impress him, or was simply practicing to see how many adjectives he could fit into one paragraph. What was Tuti supposed to do with that kind of information? It hadn't made their first meeting any less strange, hadn't stopped him from seeing that Nagayama was withdrawn around strangers, and on the whole hadn't made Tuti think any better of the man for all of his worthy accomplishments, so what had Kimeru been trying to do?

Tuti was left with only the questions in his head to distract him from noticing how he was excluded from any conversation that took place between the two men, though when they boarded the train a few minutes later Kimeru did turn to him and remark how nice it was to be out of the heat and into the air-conditioned car. Tuti had nodded in agreement as he found himself a seat, and once more Nagayama and Kimeru sat side by side, commenting on the surroundings and observing how nice the beach probably was on a day like this. Tuti had a definite ache in his belly by the time they reached Kimeru's apartment 20 minutes later, and it was enough of a deterrent to pull him from his thoughts and voice his impending hunger aloud.

"So what's on the menu?" he asked as Kimeru held open the door to his apartment for them.

They toed off their shoes in the entranceway, and Nagayama flipped on a light switch, having obviously been here more often than the two brief times Tuti had been over with several other members in the cast. The apartment was cool and dark inside, curtains drawn against the heat, and an air-conditioner hummed happily through the vents in the hallway, pumping cold air through the space and out the open door before Kimeru stepped inside and shut it firmly.

"We'll have to see what's in the kitchen. I went shopping a few days ago," Kimeru replied vaguely, following the same direction Nagayama had taken off in.

"How about take-out?" Tuti suggested hopefully. Those last times he'd been over hadn't risen his expectations of Kimeru's cooking skills by one bit, and he preferred his free meal to not come included with free, frequent trips to the bathroom afterwards.

Kimeru was opening curtains when Tuti stepped into the main room, bare feet enjoying the cool wood floor, and Nagayama seemed to have somehow disappeared in the small space. "Was there something you had in mind?" the brunette asked.

"Not really," Tuti confessed, spotting a clear surface, and went to remove his hat and glasses and set them down. "I just don't trust your cooking at all."

"It is dangerous to eat Kimeru's cooking," Nagayama piped in, emerging from a side hallway.

"I'm glad you both agree, because Takashi's going to be cooking dinner," Kimeru declared with a smile as he flipped on the power to his personal computer.

"Me?" Nagayama squeaked.

Tuti laughed. "Let's just get take out then."

Kimeru settled in his computer chair, leaning backwards comfortably. "Takashi's a great cook, and he owes me a meal anyway. You know where everything is in the kitchen, Takashi, and you're free to use anything from the fridge."

Nagayama's eyebrows lifted as he crossed the room, heading for the small kitchen tucked away behind a divide of a small counter and set of eye-level cabinets. "You went shopping?" he asked incredulously. "But you never go shopping, you can't cook…" He opened the fridge and peered inside, and made a surprised noise that amused Tuti immensely.

"So is this going to count as my free meal?" Tuti inquired, settling down on the room's only two-seater couch. "Because I think that's a little unfair, shoving off the meal you owe me on Nagayama-san's shoulders."

Nagayama's pouting face appeared in the small opening between the counter and the cabinets, having heard Tuti's words loud and clear. "I'm not paying off your debts for you, Kime."

Kimeru kept dutifully tapping at the keyboard as he sucked on his bottom lip. "Okay, I still owe you a meal then, but it sounds like you better help Takashi in the kitchen if you want anything to eat for yourself tonight."

"I'm not that stingy!" Nagayama yelled at the same time Tuti snorted.

Tuti heard a bowl set down rather forcefully on the counter a second later, and he chuckled as he placed his hands on his knees and rose to his feet. He missed the brief smile on Kimeru's face as he crossed the room and stepped into the small kitchen, where Nagayama was bent over with one head in the fridge, a bowl held in the crook of his arm slowly being filled with several items from the vegetable drawer.

"Need help?" Tuti offered, leaning closer in an attempt to discern what sort of meal they were being made.

Nagayama glanced over his shoulder at Tuti. "Can you chop?"

Tuti shrugged as Nagayama stood up and shut the fridge door with the edge of his foot. "You won't find any body parts in the food, how's that?"

Nagayama smiled in spite of himself as he set the bowl with his selections on the counter. "Good enough I guess."

Tuti leaned against the counter as Nagayama went in search of a knife in the nearest drawer. "Does he make you cook for him often?"

Nagayama shrugged. "Not really. I don't mind anyway. His cooking sucks and he'd probably starve without me, or a take-out menu next to the phone. Here, cut the potatoes and vegetables into chunks, I'll start on the rice."

Tuti took the knife being handed to him and turned to work on reducing the contents of the bowl into manageable cubes. He and Nagayama worked in surprisingly comfortable silence, with Tuti only ocassionally asking for confirmation on the size of his cuts while Nagayama worked around him in the small space, setting up the rice cooker and decimating half an onion with another knife before dropping the pieces into a large, deep pan.

It looked like curry was on the menu, and Nagayama left Tuti in charge of stirring the bubbling mixture when he went over to bug Kimeru and ask him if there was anything interesting to read online. Apparently Kimeru had a busy bbs board, and was having fun reading the comments pouring in from the latest post he'd made after walking in the door. Tuti listened to Nagayama tease Kimeru good naturedly about spending too much time on the internet, and the two spent a few minutes laughing at whatever Kimeru had brought up on screen for them to look at.

When Nagayama came back into the kitchen, he was still smiling, and Tuti found himself returning the smile, charmed by the perfect white teeth and transformation in Nagayama's expression. Nagayama seemed a little surprised, his smile broadening slightly, before he made a show of shoving Tuti aside so he could check on their meal and make sure nothing had burnt.

"Hey, I may not be a master chef, but I do know how to stir a pot."

"Is that all? How do you eat then?" Nagayama teased.

"There's a whole village of little rice farmers that live inside my cupboards. I leave the room, come back a half-hour later, and poof there's hot food on the counter in little tiny white houses that they've built just for me. But you can't tell anyone that, it's my secret and I won't share them with anyone."

Nagayama laughed, and it warmed Tuti to finally hear him laugh at something he had said, as though a small hurdle had been jumped and cleared between them. "Besides the fact that no one would believe me even if I did, that's the weirdest excuse I ever heard for getting take-out."

"I'm a weird kind of guy," Tuti shrugged, smiling.

Nagayama turned and handed him a flat spoon for the rice, his expression amused. "You're on rice shoveling duty then, Tsuchiya-kun."

"Hai!" Tuti saluted with the utensil, smiling as Nagayama laughed again, and went to work on piling three plates high with the fluffy white rice.

Dinner was a somewhat lively affair, and Tuti found himself cracking jokes with ease as the evening progressed, secretly thrilled that Nagayama had turned out to be so responsive to his overtures. Kimeru always laughed too, or smiled in amusement, but there was a pleasing quality to Nagayama's laughter that made Tuti want to try and wring it out of the man as often as possible. He'd nearly forgotten about how uncomfortable he'd been around Nagayama earlier than day, and it seemed like his initial intimidation had been all for nothing, though he had thought it ironic and typical that the man was not only an accomplished actor, but a first rate cook as well. A free meal was still a free meal though, and Tuti showed his thanks by asking for seconds, and laughing when Nagayama told him around a mouthful of rice to get it himself.

When they were piling dishes into the sink, Kimeru's cell phone rang, and the singer excused himself in order to take the call in his bedroom off the hall from the main sitting room. Tuti returned to sitting on the couch, feeling the curry settle pleasantly in his full stomach, and was surprised when Nagayama joined him on the next cushion instead of taking the computer chair across the way. Tuti contemplated turning on the room's decent sized TV, but he had no idea where the remote was, and didn't particularly feel as though he could move the proper muscles needed to find it.

"Thanks for dinner," Tuti heard himself say, and felt Nagayama shift slightly on the couch beside him.

"You're welcome," he responded automatically, before sucking in a deep breath. "You were different than I thought you'd be, I think. At first, I mean. Um, yeah."

Tuti turned his head, and saw Nagayama's gaze was pointedly focused on a spot in the air somewhere between themselves and the bookcase that held the TV. He really didn't know what to say that to. "Huh?"

"When we met. I thought you'd be… you know, funnier."

Tuti hadn't been expecting to hear that, and laughed a little, nervously. "Oh… I, uh, sorry?"

Nagayama shrugged, though he looked slightly embarrassed with the admission. "To tell the truth, Kime's been sending me emails all week. He wouldn't shut up about you, so I guess it was weird meeting you in person."

"He did?" Now Tuti was really confused, but also curious, and Kimeru had a bit of explaining to do when he got a hold of him. "What kind of things did he say?"

Nagayama grinned slightly, finally turning to make eye contact with Tuti. "That you were really funny, and everyone looked up to you, and that you'd played in tennis tournaments, were the best dancer out of everyone, that kind of stuff. I really have no idea why he did that, and I swear I never asked to know either, he just told me you were playing Oishi and then didn't shut up."

Tuti laughed aloud, suddenly feeling as though an invisible weight had been pulled off his shoulders that had been sitting there for nearly a week. "He does have that nasty habit."

"What do you mean?"

"He did the same thing to me, about you. I had no idea what to say when I met you. It was weird knowing every single movie and TV show you've ever been in but I'd never even met you before."

Nagayama grumbled loudly and flopped against the back of the couch. "What the hell. It's almost like he was trying to set us up."

"Set us…" Tuti felt his face flush slightly. It sound preposterous, but he had the sinking, nagging feeling, not unlike when a nasty truth in staring you in the face, that this almost seemed like exactly the type of thing Kimeru would do.

"He probably does that with everyone," Tuti tried to reason, some of his earlier attempts at reasoning the reasons for Kimeru's behavior springing to the forefront of his thoughts. "I thought it was really weird and all, but I mean, I doubt I was the only one he wrote those things to. That would be silly, right? Maybe he just likes to write a lot, and got bored, or something..."

Tuti realized he had been staring at Nagayama, waiting for a reaction, as Nagayama scrunched up his nose and shrugged slightly, lips forming into a pout once more. "Yeah, but, why would I need to know your favorite ice cream flavor or what color racquet you use for tennis?"

"I dunno, why would I need to know your favorite movie or that you like to go to the beach on the weekends?"

Nagayama turned his head to blink at Tuti in surprise. They stared at each other across the couch in silence. Tuti found, oddly, that he had no words for once, and Nagayama seemed to be in the same position as their wide eyes studied each other.

"We need to… have a talk, with Kimeru," Nagayama finally stuttered.

Tuti was nodding his head when the bedroom door opened and the singer walked out, closed cell phone in hand and a wide smile on his face. "I have good news you two. That was Yukio-san, he wanted me to tell you that they're adding an extra Golden Pair scene in this musical, after I made a few suggestions, so you can thank me later. Get ready to practice hard!"

Tuti and Nagayama's indignant shouts at the unexpected news were surprisingly in harmony, or perhaps not really that surprising after all.

Glossary -
Hai - Yes
Ja ne - See ya
Yoroshiku - Nice to meet you (literally: Please remember me)