Disclaimer: If I owned the twins, I really would be the happiest person on Earth…
Kazuya woke up on the floor. Groaning, he sat up and glared at his brother, Naoya, who was lying on the bed with his mouth wide open. He had probably been kicked off the bed when his brother had decided, in his sleep, that he was a ninja.
"Onii-chan. You kicked me off the bed again…"
No reply.
Kazuya leaped onto the bed, effectively squishing Naoya and waking him up at the same time. Naoya woke with a yelp and looked around wildly for the person who had woken him up. Kazuya was, by then, sitting beside him, watching with innocent eyes.
It took quite a while before Naoya came to the very obvious solution: that his brother had been the one who had jumped on him. A wrestling match soon ensued and both brothers fell off the bed this time.
Such was the typical morning life of the Sakamoto twins.
Turning their microphones on, the twins ran out to the stage amid the screams of their fans. The music started up and they began to sing. Naoya spotted his girlfriend, Hibiki, at the front and his face brightened. Smiling, he waved at her and she grinned, waving back.
Kazuya noticed a girl leaning against the edge of the stage. Her eyes were teary and as he watched, she raised her hand to wipe them off. Kazuya's eyes softened and he decided to do something that might cheer her up a little. Naoya would be cross that he had changed the plan of the performance a little but…never mind.
"Come on! Sing along!" he cried as he bent to touch fans' hands. Walking slowly along to the girl, he touched her shoulder. When she looked up, startled, he smiled at her. Her face brightened and she smiled shyly.
Naoya was looking at his brother in surprise. This had not been in the performance plan, so what was his brother doing? When he saw Kazuya touch the girl's shoulder and smile at her, he smiled knowingly. He likes her, eh? No wonder…
After the concert was over, the twins sat in the dressing room, talking.
"Ne, onii-chan, gomen for changing the plan."
"Nah, it's fine. Who was that girl?"
"I don't know…she was crying so I wanted to cheer her up a little."
After a long pause, Kazuya asked, "Nii, do you believe in love at first sight?"
Naoya contemplated the question for a while before answering, "Frankly, I don't. There is attraction at first sight but I think that we need to get to know that person well before you can say that you're in love with that person. After all, appearances can be deceiving and also, you can't judge a book by its cover."
Kazuya nodded. He was surprised at his brother's answer. Normally, Kazuya was the one to give answers like these. Naoya was the one who asked questions. However, in this field, Naoya seemed to be more experienced. After all, he had been through the same situation and he knew just how it felt.
"You like her, don't you?" Kazuya blushed faintly and nodded.
"Then let's go out and look for her!"
Kazuya looked at his brother in surprise. "But won't the fangirls, um, fangirl?"
Naoya grinned. "We can disguise ourselves, ne?"
" . , onii-chan. Anyway, she wouldn't recognize us if we did that."
Naoya sighed. "So…Plan 1, failed. What's plan 2?" Kazuya crossed his arms, an obstinate look on his face. "We sit here, and we forget that I ever met that girl, and we stay safe and unmolested."
"No way! Come on, let's go!" Naoya grabbed Kazuya and ran out of the room, dragging Kazuya with him. Kazuya mentally cursed his brother's childish impulsivity.
"Did I really say that we should come out here to look for her?" groaned Naoya. They had, of course, been spotted almost immediately and girls had swarmed over them. Now, they were all begging for autographs and pictures.
Kazuya scowled at his brother. "Didn't I say that sitting back there would be a much better idea?" Naoya craned his neck, searching for the girl in the crowd. Not surprisingly, he couldn't find her.
Kazuya's jaw and hand ached from smiling for photos and signing autographs. When he was about to throw his hands up and leave, he saw her. She was standing at one of the stalls selling ON/OFF merchandise, looking longingly at a bracelet.
Kazuya yelled at Naoya, "Onii-chan! I'm going!" Naoya looked up distractedly, giving the thumbs up. Kazuya detached himself from the fangirls, trying to excuse himself without being too rude. It, of course, took quite some time.
Trying to appear cool and unruffled, he strolled over to the girl. She had seen him coming and giggled. "I saw you trying to get away from the fangirls. Now poor Naoya-san is left alone with them."
Kazuya opened his mouth before closing it. Opening it again, he saw the glimmer of mirth that had made an appearance in the girl's eyes. "Anou…um…err…gosh! You make talking feel so awkward!" he grumbled.
The girl grinned. "OK, here's a conversation starter. Put out your hand and say, Konnichiwa, Sakamoto Kazuya desu. Hajimemashite! (Good afternoon, I'm Kazuya Sakamoto. Nice to meet you!) Then ask me my name."
Kazuya laughed, putting out his hand. "Fine. Konnichiwa, Sakamoto Kazuya desu. Hajimemashite…" She smiled, shaking his hand. "Pretty good! Konnichiwa, Sakamoto Kazuya-san. Watashi-wa Sasaki Rei. Hajimemashite! (Good afternoon, Mr Kazuya Sakamoto. I'm Rei Sasaki. Nice to meet you!)
Kazuya laughed again, thinking about how sweet she looked when she smiled. "Ano…Sasaki-san, may I call you Rei-chan?"
Rei smiled. "Of course. May I call you Kazuya-kun then?"
Kazuya smiled winningly. "No problem, Rei-chan. Anou…I have a feeling it would be really forward if I ask for your number now…but, what's your number?"
Rei laughed. "You don't seem to have any shame, do you?"
Kazuya shrugged. "If I don't ask, who will? Besides, onii-chan said that I should 'seize the moment'. He thinks that I'm too quiet."
"Iie, you're not. Besides, I don't like people who are too talkative."
"Me neither…I always wonder how they can talk and talk and talk…don't their mouths and jaws get tired?"
Rei laughed before she looked over Kazuya's shoulder. Her eyes widened and she started to laugh. "Anou, Kazuya-kun, look behind you."
Kazuya turned around and his jaw dropped. "ONII-CHAN! You…you…get back here, baka!" Rei laughed again, taking her phone out and jotting down Kazuya's number. Naoya had been holding up a piece of cardboard with the words, HEY! THIS IS KAZUYA'S NUMBER - **********
Kazuya returned, looking sheepish. "Gomen, my brother…he's…anou…"
"He's just being your brother, right?" supplied Rei. Kazuya smiled. "Yep."
Over the next few months, the twins held many other concerts and both Rei and Hibiki came to most of them. Rei and Hibiki became very close; how could you not be if your boyfriends were twins? Yes, Kazuya had, eventually… asked Rei out. She, of course, had accepted. Hibiki, being more experienced at handling the twins, gave Rei several pointers about managing the twins. Unsurprisingly, the methods worked and Rei created a few more.
Months passed and soon, more than a year had gone by without any of them actually taking note.
As the twins and their girlfriends stood watching the fireworks that would usher in the New Year together, Kazuya thought about how far they had gone in the past year and how much they had all accomplished. It kind of shocked him when he actually stopped and thought about how far Rei and himself had come.
His brother had also proposed to his girlfriend of three years, Hibiki, and she had accepted. Sure, Kazuya was happy for them and very proud of his brother but it only increased the pressure that he felt on proposing to Rei.
However, he felt that it was too early; they had only known each other for about a year and a half. If he felt that it was rushed, what would she be thinking?" Kazuya decided that it wasn't a good thing to propose too early; he would wait until he was totally sure that she felt OK with it and was happy to take the next step forward.
Hibiki glanced at Kazuya from the corner of her eye. He was deep in thought and had a small frown on his face. She smiled understandingly. Being born with the ability to sense others' thoughts more easily than other people, she could follow his thoughts pretty well and she approved of his tact and maturity.
Hibiki and Naoya walked side-by-side in the park. They were stalking Kazuya and Rei, who were currently sitting on a park bench facing the setting sun. How cliché. "Naoya, are you totally sure that Kazuya is going to propose?" she whispered.
Naoya grinned a sharklike grin. "Yeah. Why would I bring a camera here if he wasn't?"
Hibiki shook her head. "You're the more evil of the two, you know that? When you proposed to me, Kazuya didn't stalk you. If he had, I might have rejected you…just for the fun of it," she grinned mischievously. Naoya rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't dare. Besides, I'm his big brother…I should be protective and big-brotherly."
Hibiki shook her head again. "You're only a few minutes older…" Naoya feigned a hurt look, holding a hand to his chest as if she'd physically hurt him. "You weren't this cruel before…" he whined. Hibiki gave him a fond smile before hugging him tightly. "Happy now?" she mumbled. Naoya grinned. "Nah, you gotta kiss me first…"
Kazuya sneaked a sideways look at Rei. His heart was pounding and he was having second thoughts about this. Rei squeezed his hand comfortingly. She had already got a heads-up on what was expected to happen from Hibiki and she had felt amazed and happy at his tact at the beginning of the year.
"A-anou, Rei? I want to tell you something and also…I want to ask you something really important and please, answer it honestly. I mean, if you don't…feel the same, please say so. I won't be mad…"
Rei nodded and squeezed his hand again. "Yep, I will, Ya-kun."
Kazuya took a deep breath. "The beginning of last year was the first time I laid eyes on you. You were at one of our concerts and after it, I-I asked for your number." He cleared his throat, looking away, probably feeling embarrassed at the recollection of how rude and forward he had been.
Rei laughed, continuing the story for him. "You texted me first. Soon, we were texting regularly. I started coming to most of your concerts and one day, you asked me out. I accepted."
Kazuya coughed uncomfortably. "During one of our, ahem, dates, you pushed me into a pond cough on purpose cough. We got a lot of weird looks that day…but I guess that's how it's going to be when I'm with you…" he said wryly.
"After a hundred dates, a thousand texts and a million funny moments, we're here," Rei whispered.
"And as corny as it sounds, I'm glad that all of it was with you," mumbled Kazuya, his cheeks turning an even brighter red. "So…Rei. Would you consider sharing more of your life with me? All of the awkward moments included…"
Rei gave a squeal, hugging him tightly. Kazuya's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Yes, I would! And all the awkward moments included!" Kazuya choked, trying to inhale. "R-Rei…you're suffocating me. Let go, you great big…" His voice trailed off when she eyed him threateningly. When he let his eyes wander off to the scenery behind Rei's shoulder, he gulped. There was a pond there…
Naoya sniggered quietly as he looked at the pictures that he had taken of Kazuya's proposal. The best one so far was the look on Kazuya's face when Rei had hugged him. When they get married, I'm going to sneak these pictures into the slideshow that they always play before the ceremony starts…
Naoya and Hibiki's wedding day was scheduled to be on the 28th of July. The month before, everybody had been fussing over the bride and groom-to-be. Plans were made and the last concert with both members of ON/OFF still unmarried was performed.
Kazuya had an evil grin on his face as he whispered into the wedding planner's ear. Her face lit up and she nodded quickly, a similar grin forming on her face. Rei glanced suspiciously at both of them but relaxed when Kazuya told her what he was going to do.
On the day of the wedding, a slideshow depicting the bride and groom from the day they were born until when they met each other was shown. Squeals and snickers were heard when the audience watched the show, beginning with Naoya and moving on to Hibiki.
Naoya watched too, a warm feeling in his chest when he recalled how the wedding planner had told him how helpful both Kazuya and Rei had been in the creation of the slideshow. Hibiki smiled at him. She looked like she was glowing. Naoya smiled back at her, not caring if his brother saw and teased him later about the sappy look on his face.
The warm feeling soon disappeared when the audience started to either coo at how cute the picture was or howl with laughter at the sight. Naoya stared wide-eyed at the picture that had come out on the big screen and didn't seem to be disappearing. It was a cleverly-taken one that had Hibiki hugging him and his eyes nearly popping out of his head. No way… His brother had actually taken photos of their proposal too…
I'll never be able to live this down…The only other thing to do is to make sure that Kazuya suffers the same fate at his wedding…
The hall was filled with laughter during Kazuya's wedding…and it was all Naoya's fault. But after all, it was as Rei said. Naoya was just being his brother…