Title: The Best Friend
Pairing: Sakano x Shuichi
Summary: Sakano must face one of the scariest things that come with dating: the best friend.
The Best Friend
Dating Shindou Shuichi was something that took getting used to. And it wasn't something Sakano Osamu would get used to overnight. Especially not with his tenancy to panic at the slightest hint of something gone awry. With Shindou Shuichi, something could go wrong at any moment, and that fact was enough to keep Sakano sweating bullets every second of the day.
Of course, when Shuichi dated, the couple in question weren't the only ones who had to adjust. In some way or another, his friends, family, and even ex-lover were affected. You could say, on some level, the fans were as well. When Shindou Shuichi's life shook, the world trembled. He just had that effect.
"C'mon, Osamu," Shuichi whined, throwing his arms around the producer's neck. "For me?"
As much as Sakano had wanted to spend the day getting to know his newly acquired boyfriend, he had promised his niece that he would spend the day with her before she went back to the states. She had been visiting Tokyo for only a week and this was the only day she was free. He would have told Shuichi, knowing he'd understand, but he still felt incredibly uncomfortable talking about his private life to anyone. He merely told him he would be busy with work until he felt ready.
Shuichi had begrudgingly given up, calling him a work hoarse before finally dropping the subject. Sakano made it a mental note to make it up to the younger male later on.
When he left for work, Sakano had an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. Granted, he always had that feeling as he constantly had something to worry about. But this feeling had him second guessing his decision to lie to Shuichi about what he would be doing. By the time he reached his car, he decided that it was just another one of those feelings he always had and dropped it.
His day was eventful, mostly consisting of visiting various antique shops with his niece. She always loved antiquing, constantly being impressed by the antique furniture, teapots, dolls, figurines, clocks, and anything that caught her attention. By the time they were done, Sakano had a whole mental list of antiques to get his niece for her birthday.
By late afternoon she had to go meet with her soon to be husband and his mother, and although he had a lot of fun with her he was tired, therefore grateful that he could spend the rest of the day relaxing at home. He had put on some relaxing music and lit some incense, though when he started to muse about fire hazards he quickly put an end to that. Instead, he settled for sitting down on the couch and watching a really good movie.
Having fallen asleep at the halfway point, he was awaken by a loud buzzing sound. Disoriented from sleep, Sakano rubbed his eyes and put his glasses back on, realizing that the sound was from his doorbell.
'Who could that be?' Sakano shut off the television before moving over to the door, which continued to buzz. He took a quick glance at his wrist-watch. Nine-thirty. 'Who's at my door so late?'
He considered the possibility of Shuichi being at his door as he pulled it open, surprised to see that he was wrong. "Hiroshi?" Sakano blinked several times. When the image in front of him didn't change, he stepped to the side to allow Hiroshi entrance. "C-come in."
Hiroshi shook his head. If Sakano didn't know any better, he would say that the guitarist looked incredibly pissed off. "I'm not staying long. I have to talk to you."
Sakano gulped. Hiroshi's tone was unpleasant – completely different than he was used to. The normally calm, lighthearted guitarist was instead cold, angry looking, and scary. Sakano had no idea what he could have possibly done to evoke such behavior. He was speechless.
"Why? Why did you do it?" Hiroshi's words came out mournfully with an undertone of anger. His features remained hard, as if he were staring down the person responsible for killing his puppy.
Sakano took a step back, fearing that Hiroshi would lunge at him if he didn't answer. If he had an answer to begin with, he would offer it, but he had no idea what Hiroshi was talking about. He searched his brain for anything he may have done to anger the man, but nothing came to mind. Everything had seemed okay early morning.
When Sakano answered with an incoherent stutter, Hiroshi crossed his arms and shook his head. Now it was starting to look as if he were going to lecture him. That was probably better than a beating.
"Sakano, I thought you were different." Hiro's eyes closed as he exhaled. "I thought you would be good for him."
Good for him? "Oh!" Realization bitch-slapped Sakano like an angry drunk would in a bar fight. He was talking about Shuichi! However, this realization did nothing to rid away his confusion. What had he done to Shuichi? "Oh..." Was Shuichi mad about him not being able to spend time with him? Did he complain to Hiroshi about it? Is that what this was all about?
"Oh," Hiro mimicked, nodding his head. "It's all coming back to you know, is it?" His tone was not letting up at all. If anything, he sounded even more pissed off.
Sakano frantically waved his arms, trying to calm Hiroshi down a bit. "I'm terribly sorry! I was just really busy and I couldn't spend the day with Shuichi, honest!"
Hiroshi's face twisted into a scowl before he grabbed Sakano by the collar of his shirt, earning a yelp from the producer. "Really? But you had time to parade around town with some girl? I hadn't pegged you for the cheating type, Sakano-san!"
In a vein attempt to free himself from Hiroshi's grip, Sakano grabbed the guitarist's wrists and attempted to pry his hands off to no avail. "What! I – I don't know what you're talking about! I'd never cheat on him!"
Hiro's grip tightened, and for a moment Sakano thought he saw death in his eyes. "Then who is that woman?"
Sakano squirmed, sweat pouring down his face. "What woman?" he wailed, wishing Hiroshi would just beat him up and get it over with.
"The woman you were with all day! The one who was all over you – going into the antique store! Don't play dumb with me Sakano-san! Don't you hurt my best friend and lie about it to my face!" Hiroshi's face was as red as his hair. Spit flew from his mouth and hit Sakano right in the face, Hiroshi's primal rage now taking over.
Sakano had been so horrified that he almost failed to put two and two together. Antique shop? When Hiroshi's grip tightened more, Sakano blurted out a string of apologies, trying desperately to explain himself. "T-that was my niece! I should have been honest with Shuichi – I said I was working but I was really going to spend the day with my niece! It's her last few days in Tokyo! You have to believe me, Nakano-san! I'd never hurt Shuichi, I swear!"
Sakano had shut his eyes, not wanting to see the beast Hiroshi had become. He felt the younger man's grip loosen before completely letting go, causing the horrified producer to open his eyes. Hiroshi's anger had vanished, but he still seemed unsure.
"But...Shuichi said she was all over you."
Sakano adjusted his collar. When he spoke, his voice was shaky. "She's only nineteen...it's been years since I've seen her."
Hiroshi's face quickly turned to that of mortification. He threw a hand to his forehead and shut his eyes as he shook his head. "Man, that explains so much." His other hand accompanied his first one. "Man, leave it to Shuichi to freak out and exaggerate."
Sakano chuckled nervously. Although things seemed to have cleared up, he was still shaken. He didn't know Hiroshi could be so...horrifying.
As if realizing the full extent of what he had done, Hiroshi dragged his hands down his face and gave Sakano an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry, Sakano-san. I just...I just..." Unable to find the words appropriate for the situation, he threw his hands back over his face, apparently too embarrassed to show himself. "I must look like a lunatic."
The horrors of what had just happened would not go away for a while, Sakano knew. But, that was because that was just the type of person he was. Seeing Hiroshi react that way about Shuichi possibly being hurt, though terrifying, made Sakano feel grateful. Grateful that someone he loved had people that cared about him so much – enough to nearly kill their producer. In its own twisted way, it was sweet.
"You...acted honorably, Hiroshi." It was the truth. Though, Sakano probably would have taken a different approach, he had to commend Hiroshi for his loyalty. Hell, he wasn't so sure he would react differently to someone whom hurt Shuichi.
Hiroshi still didn't seem pleased, though. He refused to meet Sakano's gaze, having turned to face the open door of his apartment. "Honorable? I was seconds away from clocking you."
Sakano was more than a little uncomfortable with the fact that he was seconds away from being 'clocked', but he still stood by his statement. "You only reacted the way any best friend would."
Hiroshi chuckled wryly. "Doesn't matter the reason. I still acted like a brute." He finally turned around to face Sakano, his features having taken on their normal look, even if there were undertones of regret. "I'm really sorry, Sakano-san." Then, as if he hadn't just tried to kill his producer, and as if he hadn't felt incredibly guilty afterward, he laughed.
Sakano joined him, though it was more nervous laughter than anything.
"Man. I suppose you can think of this as an initiation, you know? I guess I don't have to warn you to never hurt Shuichi, huh?" Hiroshi continued to laugh before heading out the door. "Good night, Sakano-san." As the door closed, Sakano heard Hiroshi mutter, "I'm going to kill, Shu."
Needless to say, Sakano would never look at Nakano Hiroshi the same way ever again.