Title: Anything for You
Author/Artist: snooperj & Bloodysamurai
Series/Pairing(s): TeniMyu; Mainly Takigawa Eiji x Kimeru & Shirota Yuu x Aiba Hiroki
Notes: Here is the 11th chapter entitled Remembering the Past. This chapter is the continuation of the events of the quartet in Hokkaido from Christmas Day to the end of Shirota's birthday, where there will be a few details that are presented in our other (AU) roleplay that revolves around the quartet (which will be posted by my partner in due time). This chapter runs from December 25 to December 26, 2006.
You will also notice a reference to an actual fanfic of a1y_puff used by Aiba and Kimeru. We've informed the said author about this and I shall credit them now for the fanfiction used.
**ALSO! None of the authors of this roleplay/fanfic own TeniMyu or the actors, but are mere fangirls of the musical series and corresponding actors we write about. Everything that progresses in the story is the creation of our witty imaginations.
+++December 25, 2006+++
It was 9 in the morning when Takigawa had stirred, shaking off the last of his sleep away as he got up, promptly releasing himself from Kimeru's hold before he went to check on the two in the next room. Slipping his head through the gap, the first Tezuka actor saw that both were still fast asleep. Nodding to himself, Takigawa quietly closed the door and proceeded downstairs; recovering the cookbook Kimeru had given him and moved into the kitchen. To his delight, the electricity had come back as he enthusiastically browsed through the book, looking for a simple breakfast to make.
-break-
Aiba yawned as he found himself awake. 'Why do I keep getting up early?' he asked himself as he slowly got up and went downstairs. He found Takigawa in the kitchen. "Ohayou, Eiji-nii..." he greeted.
Takigawa set the cookbook down. "I see..." he muttered to himself before he turned to the door and grinned. "Ohayou, Aibacchin. You're up early," he pointed out as he moved to the pantry.
"Hai...but I'm not entirely sure why..." he said. "What are you making, Eiji-nii? Can I help?"
Takigawa nodded. "Aa. I plan to make some Grilled Cheese on Raisin Bread... Could you locate the raisin bread and corn syrup over here?" he asked, gesturing to the pantry as he moved to the fridge. "I'll get the cheese and butter."
"Hai," Aiba replied as he went over the pantry to look around. He found the two items quickly and pulled them out and placed them on the counter. "Here they are, Eiji-nii," he said.
Takigawa nodded, closing the fridge and returned with the butter and cheese. "Sankyu, Aibacchin. Now..." he set them down and moved to the cookbook, reading through the procedure. Nodding to himself, he moved to the cupboard to retrieve some plates and a frying pan, extracting some knives and a spatula from the utensils drawer. "Saa, let's get to work!" he said, after putting on his new apron and took a few pieces of raisin bread and spread them out, cutting them in triangle halves. "Could you spread some butter on one side of each slice, Aibacchin?" he asked, handing the butter and a butter knife to the boy, as well as a few slices of bread. "I'll prepare the pan for grilling," he explained before moving to the stove after washing the pan.
"Okay, Eiji-nii!" Aiba said happily as he concentrated on the task at hand.
-break-
Kimeru, in the meantime, had just woken up from his slumber. He looked at the clock and groaned. "Great...why am I not waking up early?" he asked himself.
-break-
Takigawa got the frying pan heated up and returned to check up on Aiba. "I'll take the ones you've finished," he said as he took two buttered slices and folded a slice of Velveeta cheese between them like a sandwich, and did the same with another pair before bringing them to the pan to grill. He set the heat to medium and took a spatula and lightly pressed the bread and cheese mix.
-break-
Shirota shifted in bed, clutching his Aiba plushie as he pulled the comforter over him, trying to find more sleep.
-break-
As Aiba finished his small task he looked at what Takigawa was doing.
Takigawa repeated this process while simultaneously checking the ones in the pan, flipping them over when he needed to, and transferred them to a serving plate when they were done. It wasn't long before he had a plate full of Grilled Cheese on the counter as he turned off the heat from the stove. "All done," he announced. "I wonder if the other two are awake yet..." he wondered out loud.
"Maybe Kime-nii will be up soon...but Yuu...he might take a while longer," Aiba said as he helped in setting the table.
Takigawa shrugged as he brought his concoction to the table and set it in the center. "If we leave Shiropon to sleep like this, he'll end up sleeping until noon..." he said. "I think I'll go see if I can wake him up. I'll have to bring him downstairs sometime today, anyway..." he mused, heading for the stairs with his apron still on.
"Okay," Aiba said as Takigawa headed upstairs. "Aa- Eiji-nii! You still have your...apron on…" He looked around and noticed that he wasn't able to tell Takigawa the latter part of his message.
-break-
Kimeru opened the door to the hall, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Huh?" he said as he saw Takigawa; he glanced at the words on the apron the man had on before grinning. When Takigawa was in front of him, Kimeru grabbed him and kissed him.
"Oha-" Takigawa greeted, but was cut off when Kimeru had kissed him. Having missed this feeling, Takigawa returned it before promptly pulling back. "A nice way to start the morning, Kime-kun," he teased.
Kimeru, his arms still around Takigawa, smiled. "I was just following directions..." he said slyly, referring to the text on the apron.
Takigawa looked down and blushed before clearing his throat. "I was just about to wake Shirotan up," he said conversationally. "Breakfast is on the table."
"I'll go ahead then...see you downstairs!" Kimeru answered with a smile as he detached himself from Takigawa and went off to go downstairs. 'Now I remember why I bought that...' he thought. "Ohayou, Aibacchin~" he greeted.
Aiba grinned. "Looks like you had a nice start in the morning, Kime-nii," he said.
"I sure did," Kimeru answered with a smirk.
-break-
Takigawa watched Kimeru head downstairs as he proceeded to enter Shirota and Aiba's room. He shrugged to find the boy still sleeping. 'He really likes to sleep in, doesn't he?' he told himself with a sigh. He entered and moved up to the bed, attempting to shake the boy awake. "Shirotan... Time to get up..." he said.
Shirota stirred slightly as Takigawa pulled the comforter off him. "Izzitmorning?" he asked groggily as he rubbed his eyes. He was still cuddling his Aiba plushie. The Fuji plushie was on Aiba's side of the bed.
Takigawa nodded. "Yes. It's time for breakfast. C'mon, let's get you downstairs..." he began, sitting down on the bed. "Get on my back," he instructed.
Shirota set his plushie down and moved to do so, clinging onto Takigawa's neck as the older man heaved the boy's weight before they set off. "What time is it?" Shirota asked, yawning.
"Quarter to 10," Takigawa replied as he carefully started down the stairs.
-break-
Kimeru was already halfway with his breakfast while Aiba was already done with his. They were talking about random things when they saw the two come down.
Takigawa arrived in the kitchen and settled Shirota into a chair before wiping the sweat off his forehead. "There we go!" he said, moving to his own seat. "A-re? You two didn't even bother waiting for us..." he said, frowning.
"We were hungry..." they both reasoned.
Shirota rubbed his eyes. "What's for breakfast?" he asked.
"Here you go. Eiji-nii made it, as usual," Aiba said with a smile as he placed a plate in front of Shirota.
"Grilled cheese on raisin bread," Takigawa explained, holding out a bottle of corn syrup. "It's good with this. Rather sweet, isn't it, Aibacchin?" he asked, turning to the youngest of the four.
"Hai~~" Aiba answered with a smile.
Shirota took the bottle and doused his slices with the syrup and took a bite. A wide grin spread across his face as soon as he swallowed. "This is delicious!" he proclaimed, taking another bite.
"With the quantity he used on his share...I won't be surprised if he started bouncing off the walls later, regardless of injuries…" Kimeru said with a smirk as he looked at Aiba.
"Mou…it wasn't a lot," Aiba reasoned.
"You used half the bottle, Hiroki," Kimeru said flatly.
Shirota jerked his head over to Aiba. "YOU DID?" he said, surprised.
Takigawa took the bottle and frowned to see that the contents had indeed been decreased by that much.
"Er...Yes?" Aiba replied with a sheepish smile.
Kimeru chuckled. "It's a good thing that Moriyama stocked more than one of those," he said.
Takigawa nodded silently as Shirota finished his share of breakfast. When the two were finished, the four sat there at the table for a while before Takigawa stood. "Saa, let's transfer to the living room. I'm sure somebody wants to watch the DVDs he got last night," he teased, sending a grin to Aiba before moving to help Shirota from his seat. "Ah, Kime-kun, would you mind washing the dishes today?"
Kimeru smiled. "No problem," he said with a thumbs-up sign before collecting the dishes to wash them. Aiba smiled as he stood before heading to the living room.
"Which one are you going to watch first, Hiroki?" Shirota inquired as soon as Takigawa set him down on the couch before he turned to Takigawa. "Seriously, Eiji-nii... I think I could manage with crutches..."
"I know..." Takigawa admitted as he adjusted some pillows underneath Shirota's leg to elevate it. "But I want you to recover quickly..." he muttered with a sincere smile on his face as he moved to sit himself down on the armchair.
"I think I'll go watch the one you gave me first, Eiji-nii," Aiba said as he set up the DVD. The video played, and he was surprised what came up first. The picture Endo had placed on his blog, followed by a message from Endo himself. "What an intro…" Aiba said with a smirk.
"Ahh!" Shirota exclaimed, pointing to the picture that was flashed. "I still haven't given him a piece of my mind with that picture..!" he stated defiantly.
Takigawa laughed. "You were wondering when he took that picture, right?"
Aiba nodded. "That's right. If I remember correctly, Yuu and I were able to lock the doors whenever we ...um... engaged in our activities..." he said.
"Endo-kun has his ways of getting into places before they're sealed off..." Takigawa explained as he looked over to the TV screen.
"It would seem so," Aiba said as he looked at the screen again; this time it showed him and his cast mates goofing off while on a break. "Eiji-nii...I just have to ask...where did you get these?" he asked.
"I had a little help onstage," Takigawa replied cheekily.
"I bet it was Yusuke," Shirota guessed, folding his arms over his chest.
Takigawa turned to Shirota. "How did you know?"
"It was just a guess. Was I right?" Shirota inquired, grinning.
"So that's why he kept bringing his digital camera...he was recording everyone when he weren't looking," Aiba said with a thoughtful look. "A-re? You even asked the others how we got together?" Aiba exclaimed as Adachi was shown, sharing a little bit of his experience during the time the cast went out drinking.
-video-
"That was the most terrifying yet amusing moment of my times with Aibacchin! One minute he was like 'Yeah...I like Shirotan...' and the next he was glaring at me and holding me by the collar, threatening to kill me if I told anyone!" Adachi said with a nervous laugh. "...er...don't kill me Aibacchin..."
-video-
Takigawa chuckled. "That came from Yanagi-kun. He begged me to include it in the DVD," he explained.
"I wonder why he did that..." Aiba said. "...and remind me to murder Adachi when I see him..." he said darkly.
"What did I miss? ...oh look, Aiba's drunk..." Kimeru said as he looked at the screen.
"Don't need to get angry, Hiroki..." Shirota said, trying to calm Aiba down.
"I'm not mad..." Aiba said with a sigh before turning his attention back to the short film. Indeed it was a short clip of their little drinking session...complete with subtitles at that. "I didn't know that you started dancing on the table..." Aiba said to Shirota in surprise.
Shirota's face flushed as he scratched his cheek. "Well... Alcohol makes you do the strangest things..." he explained.
"So does chocolate," Takigawa teased.
Shirota glared over to Takigawa and threw a pillow at him. "Don't insult my love for chocolate!" he stated defiantly.
Takigawa caught the pillow with ease, chuckling. "Alright, alright. I won't."
The video carried on for a few more minutes. When the video ended Aiba smiled at Takigawa. "That must have been hard work. Thank you again, Eiji-nii!" he said.
Takigawa nodded. "It wasn't easy splicing everything together," he admitted.
Kimeru smiled. "I see that you've kept yourself busy while I was at work..." he said.
"I did quite an assortment of things... That DVD... your scrapbook..." Takigawa went on to explain.
Shirota smirked. "And Hiroki found time behind my back to carve this!" he pointed out, pulling the wood carving into view.
Aiba chuckled. "That actually...would be answered by the fact that I always woke up late," he said.
"Eh? You stayed up late every night to do this?" Shirota stated incredulously.
"Sort of..." Aiba admitted.
Kimeru walked up and sat on the armrest of what Takigawa was sitting on. "That's right. Even during the time you were asleep at the hospital he was worried about not finishing it, right Eiji?" he said.
Takigawa nodded in confirmation as Shirota's eyes started to form tears and looked at the finished product. "All year long...?" he asked quietly, bringing up a hand to wipe the tears away.
Aiba smiled. "Not really...I started at around April..." he said, "And I didn't finish it on my own, Eiji-nii and Kime-nii helped out as well," he said.
Kimeru chuckled. "We only did the varnish and the sandpapering…everything else was Aibacchin."
Shirota set the carving carefully on the coffee table before holding a hand out to Aiba. "Ne... can I hug you?" he asked sheepishly.
Takigawa chuckled. "Does that even need to be asked?" he teased.
Aiba smiled widely as he moved to hug Shirota.
"You two…honestly," Kimeru said with an amused chuckle.
"Leave them alone, Kime-kun..." Takigawa said, looking over to the two.
"Hai Hai..." Kimeru said. "Let's give them some alone time..." he said as he pulled Takigawa to the kitchen.
"You know something, Hiroki?" Shirota inquired as he wrapped his arms protectively around the boy.
"What is it, Yuu?" Aiba asked.
"I love you," Shirota whispered. "Whatever happens...we'll always be there for each other, na?"
"That's right, Yuu...we'll always be there for one another no matter what happens," Aiba said as he pulled back a bit to look at Shirota, a small smile forming on his lips. "You know full well that I love you too…" he said softly as he leaned forward to kiss the other boy.
-break-
Nothing extravagant was prepared for Christmas Day, save for Takigawa and Kimeru cooking Christmas dinner, which delighted both Shirota and Aiba's taste buds. Immediately after dessert - which consisted of another slice of the chocolate cake from the night before - Shirota had asked Takigawa to bring him upstairs after stating that he wanted to resign to bed early. Takigawa complied almost immediately and helped the boy up to their room. He helped him settle into bed before closing the door behind him.
It was only 10 in the evening, which had meant that there were two hours left before Shirota's birthday arrived. Takigawa returned to the living room downstairs and reclaimed his seat on the armchair. "So... when do you plan to surprise him?" he inquired to the two.
"In the morning..." Aiba said.
Kimeru blinked. "Nee...Hiro…about your gift for him," he started.
"What about it, Kime-nii?" Aiba asked.
"How did you manage to pull it off?"
Aiba smiled. "Secret."
"We can find out tomorrow, Kime-kun," Takigawa reasoned. "Saa, Aibacchin, you should go off to bed as well. You want to surprise Shiropon tomorrow, don't you?" he said as he moved to his stack of gifts.
"Hai~ Oyasumi, Kime-nii, Eiji-nii!" Aiba said before heading upstairs to go to bed.
Kimeru smiled and waved at him as he went upstairs. As soon as he heard the bedroom door open and close he smirked and went over to Takigawa, hugging him from behind. "Eiji..." he said slyly.
"I wanted to watch this," Takigawa explained, pulling out the DVD Aiba had given him as he looked over his shoulder to Kimeru. "Do you want to watch it with me?" he asked quietly, ducking down and pulling Kimeru into a piggy back.
Kimeru pouted when he heard Takigawa's response to his teasing, but his mood brightened at the mention of the DVD. "It does sound interesting. Let's watch!" he said enthusiastically.
Takigawa spun around before heading to the DVD player. "Yosh, let's pop this in the player, then," he announced. With Kimeru still on his back, he handed the case to him. "If you would do the honors," he requested.
"Hai~" Kimeru said as he managed to put the DVD in the player. "There we go."
Takigawa took the remote controllers and moved back to the couch, setting Kimeru down on the couch before joining him, turning the TV on and played the DVD player.
"Both you and Aiba seem to have a lot of time in your hands to able to do these projects of yours," Kimeru told him as he snuggled next to him.
Takigawa wrapped an arm around Kimeru, smiling. "That's because our partners are always busier than we are that we have time to kill," he teased.
Kimeru grinned. "Well...then I have a surprise for you...I have a year off from album making. Press release about it is after New Year's," he said.
Takigawa took Kimeru's lips with his own. "That's the best news I've heard all year, Kime-kun," he said quietly, his attention pulled away from the DVD.
"Now all you have to worry about is how not to get sick of my presence haunting your everyday life," he said with a smile.
"I don't think that's possible," Takigawa stated pointedly.
"And why would that be not possible?" Kimeru asked.
"Having you around reassures me that I have nothing to worry about, that's why," Takigawa explained with a soft kiss.
Kimeru smiled as he leaned on Takigawa. "Ne...Eiji...I've been wondering..." he started. "Whatever happened to that girl that went to the hospital before...remember her?"
-break-
Aiba woke up as he felt a jolt of pain in his arm. He winced as he bit his lip to keep himself from making any sounds that might wake up the one sleeping just beside him.
"Aibacchin..." Shirota called, clawing around the bed before grabbing hold of the plushie and pulled it close, cuddling it. "I love you..." he muttered in his sleep.
Aiba felt the pain subside after a while and heard what Shirota said in his sleep. He chuckled quietly as he sat up. "I love you too, Shirotan..." he said before kissing Shirota on the cheek. He looked at him for a while before going back to sleep.
-break-
Takigawa paused the DVD, setting the remote on the table, shrugging. "I do, but I'd rather not..." he replied bluntly. "She was partly responsible for getting Shirota and Aiba involved with Minami's family..."
"I know...but you know what bothers me? It's the fact that if Shiozawa-kun wasn't able to get the plate number of the car that took Shirota...those two could have..." Kimeru trailed off.
Takigawa nodded grimly. "I heard from Keisuke-kun what went on after he asked his father about what happened. It seems that before Keisuke-kun arrived, his father had given Aiba a choice to leave Shirota for Keisuke-kun so that he wouldn't invoke more damage than what he already dealt on the two... And Aiba had agreed... I believe that hearing that was a harsh blow to Shirota, which would explain why he was so distant when we were in the hospital..." he explained slowly. "Shirota wanted to shoulder the blame on himself for what happened because he couldn't protect Aiba..."
"Count on Shirota to be like that," Kimeru said with a heavy sigh. "And for Aibacchin to agree to those terms...he must have felt lost at that time too..." he continued. "After all...in their case, separation from one another is just like experiencing isolation."
Takigawa nodded in agreement as his gaze averted to the stairs. "I wouldn't imagine them being with anybody else besides one another."
"That's right...now I understand why Shirota acted that way back then..." Kimeru answered with a sigh.
"Let's just hope tomorrow puts this phase of their life to a close..." Takigawa said quietly.
"Aa...now let's go continue that DVD," Kimeru said.
Takigawa turned to the TV. "Ah, right. I almost forgot about that," he apologized, retrieving the remote and played the DVD once more.
Kimeru chuckled before turning his attention to the DVD.
-break-
It was after an hour and a half that the two decided to head to bed. After all, they had the morning to look forward to.
+++December 26, 2006+++
Kimeru was the first one to get up, or so he thought. He headed downstairs only to discover that breakfast was already on the table. "What?" he said as he looked at the food.
"Ohayou, Kime-nii," Aiba greeted as he came out of the kitchen.
"How did you…?"
-break-
Takigawa had woken up to an empty bedside. He sat up, rubbing the back of his head as he chuckled. 'Looks like he got ahead of me today...' he told himself as he got out of bed and got ready for the day. After pulling some clothes on, he headed downstairs and entered the kitchen, surprised to find the dining table decorated with breakfast. "Who-"
Kimeru grinned as he pointed at Aiba. "It wasn't me. It was him," he said.
Takigawa smirked. "Do you want me to wake the birthday boy up?" he inquired, gesturing a thumb upstairs.
"Let him sleep in, it's his day," Kimeru said and Aiba nodded in agreement.
"Then what would you do if he decides to sleep until noon?" Takigawa asked off-handedly as he took a seat at the table.
"Let him sleep in till 10, then," Kimeru said.
"10:30," Aiba said suddenly.
Takigawa blinked, looking over to Aiba before slowly nodded. "Alright... 10:30, then..." he stated before attending to breakfast.
Aiba smiled as soon as the matter was agreed on. "Ne, Kime-nii...where did you find the plushie? I mean if there were any I would have been informed by my manager..." he asked.
Kimeru grinned. "You haven't figured it out? I had it custom-made."
Takigawa pulled out his phone where a miniature accessory of Kimeru dangled. "Same place this was made," he explained.
"So that's why..." Aiba said as he looked at the phone accessory.
"I'm sure it wouldn't be difficult for Kime-kun to have them make you a Shirota plushie... Unless he already has..." Takigawa said, looking over to Kimeru as he took his glass of juice and downed its contents.
Kimeru grinned. "You just had to ruin my fun…" he said as he went to the living room and went to the bags. "Here Aibacchin. Catch!" he said as he threw the plushie to Aiba who caught in with one hand.
"It...looks just like him..." Aiba said.
"That's the point," Kimeru said with a chuckle.
-break-
"NO! HIROKI!" Shirota shouted, sitting up abruptly as he looked around, rubbing his eyes. "A-re? It was just a dream..." he told himself as he looked down to see his Aiba plushie at his lap. "Why am I having a nightmare about that event..." he muttered angrily to himself, frowning to see the other side of the bed empty.
-break-
"I'll go check on Yuu for a while," Aiba said as he headed upstairs, plushie in hand. As soon as he got to the bedroom, he quietly opened the door and peeked inside. "Yuu?" he called out quietly before seeing Shirota frown at his side of the bed. "Something wrong?" he asked as he went inside.
Shirota hastily wiped the tears that had fallen from his eyes moments before and turned to Aiba, forcing a smile. "O...Ohayou, Hiroki," he said quietly. "I'm fine... Just had a nightmare that woke me up..." he explained, pulling his Aiba plushie close.
Aiba sat on the side of the bed, put the plushie down, and placed his hand on Shirota's cheek. "Want to tell me about it?" he asked softly.
"It was about that day..." Shirota stated, bringing a hand to his healing shoulder, shutting his eyes. "Like it was happening all over again..."
Aiba sighed sadly. "Yuu..." he said, unsure of what to say. After a few moments of silence he stood up and one-handedly embraced Shirota, unable to do anything else for his partner.
"I thought I was going to lose you again..." Shirota whispered, taking hold of one of Aiba's sleeves and clutched onto it.
-break-
"Hmm..." Takigawa sighed as he looked over to the stairs before looked over to Kimeru. "If Shirotan was still asleep, Aibacchin would've come back down already... Unless something happened..."
"If something did then Aibacchin would have called us. Don't worry Eiji...they'll come down eventually," Kimeru said.
-break-
Aiba held him closer; he bit his lip as he felt the guilt come back. 'It's also my fault for giving up back then...' he thought as he remembered that dreadful moment.
"Just..." Shirota whispered when he found his voice. "Just promise me you'll never say anything like that again... Even under those circumstances... It hurts more to know that you'll leave me than any physical punishment..." he said, his hands trembling.
Aiba nodded silently. "I promise you that I'll never do it again... I was so stupid that I gave up like that...I'm so sorry, Yuu..." he said sadly.
Shirota nodded in silence. After he managed to calm down a bit, he spotted the plushie of himself and reached out to get it. "Where did this come from?" he inquired. Squinting his strained eyes to examine it better, Shirota's eyes suddenly widened. "WHY DOES THIS LOOK LIKE ME?" he exclaimed, turning from the plushie to Aiba and back. "Sugoi!" A wide grin replaced his frown in a second.
Aiba blinked as he became a bit disoriented by the sudden change. "A-re?" he said as he looked at Shirota and his plushie equivalent in his hands. "Oh...that's a late Christmas gift from Kime-nii...apparently both that and yours are custom-made," he explained. "Which reminds me!" Aiba said with a smile. "Happy Birthday!" he greeted before kissing Shirota on the cheek.
"Arigatou!" Shirota replied, pulling Aiba into a hug, careful of the boy's arm.
Aiba laughed a bit. "I'll go get Eiji-nii to help you get downstairs. I made breakfast today," he said as he pulled himself free of Shirota's hug. "I'll be quick," he promised as he went out. "Eiji-niiiiiiiiiiiiii!" he called out as he ran downstairs. "Yuu is awake!" he announced happily.
Takigawa rose from his seat. "About time," he stated before heading upstairs into the room. He smirked at the sight of the boy. "Birthday boy woke up before noon, I see," he teased.
Shirota grinned. "I just woke up from a ni-I mean my body just decided to wake me up," he replied hastily.
Takigawa nodded as he moved to help the boy out of bed. "Would you like a piggy-back?" he inquired.
"If it's no trouble, yes," Shirota replied cheekily.
"Alright, then." Takigawa propped Shirota onto his back before they headed back downstairs.
"There you are. Happy birthday Shiropon!" Kimeru greeted as soon as he saw the two from the stairs.
"Arigatou, Kime-nii," Shirota said in thanks as Takigawa moved into the living room, setting Shirota down on the couch.
"I'll get you some breakfast," Takigawa announced, moving into the kitchen and got a share of Aiba's cooked breakfast before returning with a tray and set it down on the table. "Aibacchin took the liberty of waking up early and making breakfast for everybody. Enjoy," he explained.
Shirota blinked, looking at the tray and chuckled. "Itadakimasu!" he chimed, reaching out to dig in.
Aiba smiled as he watched Shirota eat for a moment before looking at Kimeru. "You ready, Kime-nii?" he asked in a whisper.
"Aa. After lunch, right?" Kimeru said and Aiba nodded.
-break-
When Shirota was finished with his meal, Takigawa went off to clean the dishes as Shirota looked over to the others. "Care to tell me what's happening today?" he inquired eagerly.
"You'll find out after lunch, Shiropon...for the meantime I would recommend you to not do anything that might cause you to fall asleep later on," Kimeru said and Aiba nodded in agreement.
"So just sit back and relax in the meantime," Aiba added.
"So what am I supposed to do until then?" Shirota stated with a frown.
Aiba thought for a moment. "I brought my PSP along..." Aiba said.
"And we can link it to mine for a two player game," Kimeru added.
"Depends what games you have on your PSP..." Shirota mused as Takigawa returned from the kitchen.
"Well...I do have Tekken 5, Sonic, Naruto…" Aiba continued listing down the games he had in his PSP.
Kimeru looked at them for a while when a random memory came to him. "Hey Eiji...I just remembered something..." he said quietly to Takigawa so that he wouldn't disturb the other two. "I once knew someone from Senior High...and he told me that once I become a J-Pop artist, he would get all my albums… I wonder whatever happened to him…" he said fondly.
"Probably kept his promise and did get all your albums," Takigawa replied with a soft chuckle. "But... Now that I think about it... I remember making that same sort of promise to my partner in the Student Partner program... He quit the school band for that quarter so that he could concentrate on getting his grade up..." he said reminiscently.
Kimeru's eyes widened. "Eiji...did you go to Mitsukaru High?" he asked suddenly.
Aiba heard the name of the school and paused from listing down the games he had.
Takigawa nodded slowly.
Shirota had turned his attention to the older two as well. "A-re? What's this about Mitsukaru High?" he inquired.
Kimeru jumped to his feet and pointed to Takigawa. "Takigawa of the Student Council!" he said in realization.
Aiba turned his attention to Takigawa. "T-T-Takigawa-senpai? The one who went out with..." Aiba looked at Kimeru slowly. "...with my roommate...Kimeru-senpai..."
"Impossible..." Kimeru whispered.
"EHHH?" Shirota cried in disbelief. "That would mean that..." He looked over to Takigawa.
"You and I..." Takigawa began.
"WERE CHILDHOOD FRIENDS?" they finished simultaneously.
"No wonder I vaguely remember a senpai who was good in cooking that I spent some time sleeping over at his place..." Shirota muttered to himself.
"So it was Shirotan who I was hanging around with when I was younger..." Takigawa stated.
Kimeru grinned, a grin that was very similar to the one he used to do in senior high. "So you were that boring guy I was stuck with in second year," he teased.
"And you were the senpai that killed my alarm clock..." Aiba fired back.
Kimeru laughed. "Regardless of that...If I remember correctly...Aibacchin and Shiropon became an item back then, right Eiji?" he asked.
Shirota slowly turned to Aiba. "So you were the guy I first brought out to that yakiniku restaurant and spent half my allowance on..." he stated slowly, the memories starting to rush back to him.
Takigawa chuckled fondly. "Aa. I'm surprised it took them a while to realize it... I mean, with Shirotan bringing Aibacchin to a yakiniku restaurant, and Aibacchin mostly taking Shirotan's pictures for the school paper, and Shirotan inviting Aibacchin to the night carnival..." he shook his head in mock disappointment.
Kimeru smiled. "Aa...it was quite obvious that they liked each other...took them longer than we did to get together, though," he said with a chuckle.
Aiba blushed a bit. "It's not my fault that I didn't know that he liked me..." he defended.
"Shirota was inviting you to all sorts of places like they were dates. I'm surprised he didn't notice that himself," Takigawa teased.
Shirota rubbed his nose out of distraction. "I wanted to see him smile and have fun..." he muttered. "It was rare when he'd crack a smile, after all... Since he wasn't comfortable with his roommate at the time..." he added, looking over to Kimeru.
Kimeru grinned. "It's not my fault that he was so serious in the first place," he said. "Besides, wasn't it you who eventually brought Aibacchin out of his shell?" he teased.
Aiba looked at Shirota and smiled at him. "That's right. If it wasn't for you I would have been the same serious kid all throughout Senior High," he said.
Kimeru nodded as he sat back down. "One thing amusing about all this...is we all still ended up together," he said as he nodded at Takigawa. "Some of us in more ways than one," he added with a soft smile.
"There was no way I'd be able to deal with a classmate like that all throughout Senior High..." Shirota teased.
Takigawa smiled, tugging Kimeru closer and took him into a chaste kiss.
"You almost did if Kime-nii and Eiji-nii didn't help us..." Aiba teased.
"Now that I think about it...almost everyone in the musicals were our schoolmates, weren't they?" Kimeru said.
Aiba nodded. "Aa..."
"Yanagi... Endo... Zukki... Adachi... Kujirai... Wada-kun..." Shirota said, listing down their cast members as he counted them with his fingers.
"Nagayan...Sota...Abe…Moriyama...Tuti...Yanagi...and Naoya," Kimeru said as he listed down the first cast.
Aiba smiled. "Big coincidence isn't it?" he said. "And if I remember correctly...I should still have those soccer photos somewhere at home."
"You do?" Shirota said in disbelief, turning to Aiba, his cheeks flushing a slight tinge of red.
Takigawa laughed. "I remember you took... what, nearly 30 pictures?" he asked, looking over to Aiba.
"47 if I recall correctly..." Aiba admitted with a small smile.
"So…are you going to tell us now why you really took those pictures?" Kimeru asked.
"It's quite obvious now, isn't it?" Aiba said.
Kimeru chuckled. "True..."
"All this reminiscing is making me hungry again..." Shirota whined.
"That reminds me..." Takigawa said as he rose to his feet. "I'll get started with lunch, then," he said, grinning before excusing himself and headed to the kitchen.
Kimeru and Aiba looked at one another. "Lunch?" they repeated. Aiba smiled as he nodded at Kimeru who nodded back. The two Fuji actors and former roommates chuckled.
Shirota furrowed his eyebrows suspiciously. "Should I be cringing in fear with you two chuckling like that..?" he asked carefully.
"Of course not, Yuu," Aiba said with a smile.
"That's right. Now the two of you will stay here while I assist Eiji in the kitchen," Kimeru told them before standing up.
"Hai~" Shirota replied.
-break-
Takigawa was in the kitchen retrieving a variety of ingredients from the pantry and the fridge, setting them on the counter every opportunity he got.
Kimeru smiled as he appeared behind Takigawa. "So what are we making?" he asked.
"Okonomiyaki," Takigawa stated as he prepared the skillet.
Kimeru nodded. "Okay," he said as he assisted Takigawa.
Takigawa gave Kimeru instructions to stir the water and eggs together and add the other ingredients accordingly as he began frying the bacon in the skillet.
-break-
Aiba looked over at Shirota and asked, "Nee...do you remember who our teacher was in first year?"
Shirota nodded. "It's hard to forget Ueshima-sensei, really..."
Aiba chuckled. "True...Ueshima-sensei...another one who saw through us," he said.
"Why didn't we remember each other from back then when we met during Side Yamabuki...?" Shirota inquired, stroking his chin in thought.
"Hmm...I don't know really...but it's funny…to think that the person I've been admiring from afar had been with me before," Aiba said with a chuckle.
"It can't have been because we suddenly got too immersed in our own works that we lost contact with each other... I mean... Seeing one another should've made instant recall possible..." Shirota reasoned.
"That's true..." Aiba said. Then a thought came suddenly to mind. "Wait...it's impossible that my parents haven't noticed it...even if we didn't then they should have..." he said before sighing. "If they did know something...I must have looked stupid back then."
Shirota chuckled. "That's most likely the case if your parents knew about it," he replied.
Aiba sighed. "They could have told me about it, though," he said.
"Isn't that how your father operates, though?" Shirota teased.
Aiba smiled at this. "True...that's how he does his way."
Shirota grinned, looking around. "Na, can I borrow your PSP?"
"Sure. Here you go," Aiba said as he handed the console to Shirota.
-break-
"Are you ready with the batter, Kime-kun?" Takigawa called, having already set the bacon aside and began heating the skillet over medium heat, coating it with cooking spray.
Kimeru nodded. "Hai~ It's ready," he answered.
Takigawa took the batter and proceeded to prepare the dinner pancake.
Kimeru looked at what Takigawa was doing. "I'm still wondering why you became a model instead of a chef," he said.
"It's just something I like to do on the side," Takigawa explained. "I can have more fun knowing how to cook compared to having to cook something many times. I can experiment whenever I want to," he added.
"Have you ever considered making your own cookbook?" Kimeru asked.
"Not containing my own recipes, but of my personal favorite dishes," Takigawa explained as he transferred a finished product to a dish before starting on another. He turned to Kimeru. "I compiled one for Shirota," he stated quietly.
Kimeru chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't," he said. "I'm sure he'll appreciate it...though why didn't you give it yet?"
"I'm saving it for tonight," Takigawa replied, working on the second pancake.
Kimeru nodded. "Aa, so you were saving it as a birthday present. I'm glad you told me; that would work well with what Hiro and I will be doing," he said.
"That is still a mystery to me," Takigawa admitted, now doing the third.
"It won't be a mystery once lunch is over," Kimeru said.
-break-
Shirota turned the PSP on and moved through the list of games, choosing Virtua Tennis and waited for it to start up. Aiba watched as Shirota started playing. Shirota was already playing an exhibition match and was fiddling with the controls as he cried out a few moves. "Zero Shiki Serve!"
"Z-Zero Shiki serve? You can do that there?" Aiba asked.
Shirota cheered when he won a game before stating, "Of course not. I'm just over-exaggerating," he explained pointedly before he began the second game. "Dunk Smash~!" he declared, moving his player up to the net and performed a smash, getting him a point. "YOSH!"
Aiba chuckled. "You do know that I have a raw version of the Prince of Tennis game there..." he pointed out.
Shirota nodded. "It's fine..." he said, scoring another point.
-break-
Takigawa smirked. "True..." He continued making the last two in silence before finally finishing. He made the final decorations before bringing out the Okonomiyaki to the living room. "Lunch time!" he announced.
Shirota paused the game and put it on hold before handing the PSP to its owner. He turned to the tray and his eyes lit up. "SUGOI!" A wide grin spread across his face. "I haven't had this in a long time," he admitted.
"I hope you enjoy it, then," Takigawa said, offering one to him.
Aiba looked at the screen, checking Shirota's current standing. 'He already beat my score?' he thought incredulously.
Kimeru, after washing the kitchen utensils that they used, joined them.
"Itadakimasu!" Shirota stated before helping himself to his pancake, thoroughly enjoying it.
Aiba ate quietly still not believing that he had been beaten by Shirota in another game.
-break-
As soon as they were done, Kimeru took the dishes and headed off to the kitchen to take care of them.
"I'll be right back!" Aiba said as he went upstairs.
Takigawa and Shirota looked at one another and shrugged as Shirota reached out for Aiba's PSP and continued his game.
"Yosh! Dishes are done!" Kimeru announced a few minutes later, as soon as he spoke music (that suspiciously sounded like a Myu song) started up in the background.
"Kime-nii! Catch!" Aiba said from the stairs as he threw a microphone to Kimeru who caught it with ease.
"It's that time already, Hiro?" Kimeru asked with a smile.
"Hai~" Aiba answered.
Shirota lowered the PSP, pausing the game as he furrowed his eyebrows. "What's-"
Takigawa leaned back on the armchair. "This should be interesting," he said happily.
"Eh?" Shirota looked over to Takigawa, wondering what he had meant.
"Yosh! So let me begin by telling you, Shiropon, that you are being punked. No I'm kidding...so anyway..." Kimeru said before clearing his throat. "This little presentation was formulated by your one and hopefully only, Hiroki," he teased. "Who also happens to be my co-host for this afternoon."
Aiba smiled as he went to stand beside Kimeru. "Hai, that's right. Since we figured that we wouldn't really have much to do today we thought about giving you your own private show. So!" he said as he sat on the armrest beside Shirota. "Kime-nii shall begin by reenacting some scenes that you might find familiar and at the same time memorable. Dozo."
Kimeru nodded as he approached Takigawa. "I'm afraid that you would have to assist me here, Eiji," he said as he pulled Takigawa to his feet.
"You could've at least told me beforehand..." Takigawa stated in mild annoyance before he got to his feet.
"Oh don't worry, you won't have to do anything but stand in one place," Kimeru said in assurance as he placed the microphone on the sofa nearby.
"This is a scene from one of the Myu backstage...I'm sure you remember this one," Aiba said. "Action!"
"A-re? What's this?" Kimeru said as he looked at the floor to pretend to pick up something. "A letter?" he said as he examined what he picked up.
"Oi, Zukki is this yours?" Kimeru asked Takigawa but before the other could say something he immediately turned around. "Wait…no…there's a name written here..." he said as he walked away from Takigawa.
Aiba stood up at this point. "Shirotan~ what do you have there?" he asked Kimeru who placed his hands on his back.
"Nothing!" he answered quickly.
"What is it? A love letter? I'm going to tell Aibacchin~~" Aiba said in a singsong voice, like the one Adachi used as Kikumaru.
"Wait! Adachi! Don't let him-...find out..." Kimeru trailed off. "He left..." he started walking around. "What to do with this...maybe I should just place it in someone else's locker...or maybe I should give it to Ueshima-sensei..." he started muttering. "Either way I can't let Aibacchin see that I have a love letter..."
"Who has a love letter?" Aiba said, moving again towards Kimeru who turned around and backed away.
"A-Aibacchin..." he said slowly, looking as if he was trying to force a smile. "I don't know where it came from I swear!" he said as he showed Aiba the 'envelope'.
Aiba grinned and chuckled. "Baka...that came from me."
"Wha-"
"Have fun reading! I'll just be at the rehearsal area," Aiba said before facing Shirota again.
"End! That was courtesy of Endo's magical hacking skills to get into the security cameras!" Kimeru said. "So let's stop making fools of ourselves now, Hiroki."
"Hai~~ Listen carefully Yuu. Kime-nii here will be your personal radio for the next five minutes, so if you want to hear any song, anything at all…even if it's the Voltes V song. Kime-nii will surely sing it for you," Aiba said.
Kimeru frowned. "I thought we agreed on anything besides the Voltes V song!"
Shirota burst out laughing at the scene before calming down enough to think up of a song. "Then..." he paused, grinning. "Kime-nii, do you know the song I sang when I was in SeraMyu entitled 'The Prince of the Earth'?" he inquired.
Kimeru nodded. "I did my research and thanks to Moriyama's wi-fi, I have managed to study that song..." he said as Aiba went over to the stereo and shut the sounds. Kimeru closed his eyes for a moment to remember the song; when he opened his eyes he started singing.
"Nikushimi wa shireta mono sa
Hitohira no ai ni katte yashinai
Pride of place
Nani wo sasurau kanashimi no senshi-tachi
Pride of the world
Iro nasu kibou yomigaere
Nani ga risei wo kuruwaseta
Nani wo gisei ni ikite kita
Kotae no nai meiro no naka demo
Hito wa naze yume wo motomeru
Pride goes before a fall
Mirai e no yuuki tamesou
Pride goes before a fall
Mirai e no omoi musubou
I'm the prince
I'm the prince
I'm a prince of the earth!"
Both Shirota and Takigawa applauded as Kimeru finished the song. Shirota chuckled. "I sang that song while you two were in TeniMyu Side Fudomine..." he stated fondly.
"Side Fudomine, huh..." Kimeru said with a thoughtful expression. "That's a bit far back...well in any case, next we have Hiroki...who was originally planning to dance but I didn't allow him to. So instead...he's going to act out something he had found on the internet. Something that we call fan fiction so please don't take any of it seriously... Dozo, Aibacchin," he said.
Aiba nodded as he stood up and closed his eyes. Opening them a few moments later to reveal glistening tears he looked at Shirota sadly.
"What was so funny? Do you have any idea how worried I was? All this time I've been waiting for you to wake up, and what did I get? The first time I saw you awake, you told me you don't remember me? Could you imagine how I felt?" he paused, as he bit his bottom lip. "I…I thought I was going to lose you…" The last part was said quietly as a few tears fell he looked away for a while. "What's so funny? I was waiting for you, idiot… I love you…" he stopped as he looked down.
"And cut..." Kimeru said, waiting for Aiba to recover. After a few moments, Aiba looked up, smiling again. "That was an excerpt from a1y_puff's fanfiction, "Never more". It can be found on LiveJournal, and it's quite good actually," he said.
Shirota's eyes widened and pointed to Aiba. "Ahhhhh! I know that!" he declared. "But the idea of getting into an accident is scary..." he admitted. "I wouldn't forgive myself if I got amnesia and forgot all about Hiroki..." Shirota stated.
Aiba chuckled. "Yes, it'll be heart breaking…" he said. "But if ever it does happen -may the heavens forbid it- I'll do my best to make you remember me!" he promised.
Takigawa's smile faltered, not even wanting to think about such a thing as he glanced over to Kimeru. Shaking his head, he got to his feet and headed for the stairs.
"Eiji-nii?" Shirota called.
"I have something for you. Let me go and get it," he announced in reply, heading upstairs to their room.
Kimeru smiled when he realized what it was but kept quiet so that he wouldn't spoil the surprise.
"It looks like you have another surprise coming," Aiba said.
Takigawa returned moments later with a gift and handed it to Shirota. "Happy birthday," he greeted.
Shirota took the gift and tore off the wrapping to find a custom-made cookbook. He flipped it open to find that it was a scrapbook/cookbook that contained Takigawa's handwritten recipes of his personal favorite dishes, as well as some tips and little doodles. Shirota grinned. "Sankyu, Eiji-nii!" he said brightly.
Kimeru took a peek at the book. "Takigawa Eiji...you're a better artist than this..." he said as he pointed to a stick figure wearing a chef's hat.
Aiba looked at it and had a little flashback. "Don't insult the stick figures!" he suddenly exclaimed, causing the rest to look at him. "Er...please don't mind me..." he said.
Shirota looked over to Aiba before furrowing his eyebrows in thought. "Ah, which reminds me!" he said as realization struck. "Hiroki, you were fond of drawing stick figures back in school, na?"
"Fond? He had them in all his notebooks!" Kimeru accused. "And most of them were little soccer players, weren't they Hiro?" he teased.
"Not all of them..." Aiba defended.
Shirota blushed, scratching his cheek.
Takigawa grinned. "That explains what came out during Araki-kun's solo during Dream Live 3rd," he stated.
Aiba shrugged, causing Kimeru's grin to become wider. "You know what...when you two get better we should go to a carnival again," Kimeru said.
"I'd want to do that too," Aiba said in agreement.
Shirota turned to Kimeru and pointed a finger at Aiba. "B...But he laughed when I got drenched!" he accused.
"Wasn't that what finally caused Aiba to laugh back then? Even at the expense of you getting wet," Takigawa teased.
Kimeru nodded. "That was also the first time I heard him laugh," he said.
"Heard?" Aiba exclaimed.
Takigawa nodded. "Aa. We were there at the carnival as well. Don't you remember us meeting up near the dormitories afterwards?" he inquired.
"Yes but you never told us that you saw that scene!" Aiba defended.
"That's true...but it was still a funny sight," Kimeru put in.
"What happened to the plushie I won you...?" Shirota chimed in.
"It's at home; it's actually in a hidden part in my part of the closet," Aiba explained.
"Your hair iron closet?" Shirota prodded further.
"Fuji actors and their hair irons..." Takigawa muttered, smirking at the thought.
"Aa, somewhere there," Aiba said.
"Hey! Hair irons are friends!" Kimeru said with a grin as he and Aiba did a high five.
Shirota and Takigawa looked at one another, shrugging. "We can't win against that..." Takigawa stated simply, Shirota merely nodding in reply.
Aiba smiled before looking outside. "It's really snowing heavily outside..." he said.
Kimeru nodded. "Aa..." he answered. 'More reason to cuddle up tonight,' he added in his mind.
"I hope that the blizzard doesn't last long... I don't want to be stuck out here..." Shirota said with a frown.
"Don't keep wearing that frown! It's your birthday, so we'll think of something to do to pass the time!" Takigawa suggested.
Aiba nodded in agreement. "That's right! There's no way I'm letting you become unhappy today even if it's for just a minute...let's see...what else can we do..." he wondered.
Kimeru was also thinking about it, looking around to see if anything could help him think of something.
"STOP PLAYING WITH THAT!" Takigawa bellowed as Shirota was about to continue playing with Aiba's PSP. "Let's find something we can all do together, shall we? I'm sure Moriyama has something around here..." he said, getting to his feet.
Aiba jumped when he suddenly heard Takigawa's voice. 'He's scary...' he thought.
Kimeru, as if reading Aiba's mind, chuckled. "If you think he's scary now you should have seen him when we talked to the principal back then," he said.
Shirota looked over to Kimeru. "You and Takigawa-senpai were in the principal's office for getting involved in a fight, if I recall..."
"It's not exactly a fight since Eiji and I didn't fight back," Kimeru explained.
"That's true..." Aiba added.
Shirota pounded his fist on his open palm. "Ah, right. I remember now~!" he said. "Moriyama-senpai and I were outside the door," he said cheekily.
"Along with Nagayan and Sota..." Kimeru added with a frown.
Shirota nodded. "At least we saved you two from being suspended!" he stated defensively.
Kimeru laughed. "Of course, Shiropon. You and Moriyama did quite the entrance," he said.
Aiba frowned. "I wish I could have seen that..." he said.
"You were too busy going emo because of a homework that you forgot to pass during that time, I think," Kimeru said.
"Oh yeah…"
"You wouldn't have liked to see us, though," Takigawa stated, returning at that moment to set down a board game on the table. "Kime-kun and I had quite a number of bruises," he explained.
"Didn't I bring you to the clinic not long after we arrived?" Shirota inquired.
"Yes we did, it just was just that the principal was informed and as soon as we came from the incident we were sent to his office...I really hate that man," Kimeru muttered.
Takigawa chuckled. "I believe Shirota was referring to when he and the others arrived with the evidence. I practically fainted since I couldn't really keep myself standing much longer," he explained.
"Oh...that was my fault wasn't it?" Kimeru said as he looked at Takigawa.
"Why was it your fault, Kime-nii?" Aiba asked.
Takigawa subconsciously rubbed his cheek. "The principal at the time said some unnecessary things... It got Kimeru angry and wanted to hit him badly. But...I got in the way and took the full blow to the face..." Takigawa explained.
"Now that must have hurt..." Aiba said, wincing at the thought of it.
Kimeru sighed. "You should have seen how swollen it was after..." he said sadly.
"Eiji-nii had to put a big bandage over it. And just after he had recovered from Watanabe-senpai's punch," Shirota stated.
"Eiji-nii must have felt like a human punching bag..." Aiba commented.
Takigawa frowned. "It's not an enjoyable feeling to have your cheek swelling so badly, you know..." he muttered.
Kimeru nodded. "Especially when it just healed, I'm guessing," he said as he placed his hand over Takigawa's. "Regardless, we both made it out of that situation. And all thanks to a certain someone who didn't even know was risking his neck," Kimeru said.
Shirota turned to Aiba. "Yeah, that's true..." he agreed.
Takigawa smirked before introducing them to the board game he had found. They played 'Scattergories' for the rest of the afternoon before Takigawa went to make dinner.
Kimeru and the other two continued the game. Kimeru followed Takigawa moments later to assist bringing the food to the living room.
They had dinner in silence, all of them contemplating on everything they had discussed that day; it was a day of reminiscing, after all. After dinner, Takigawa assisted Shirota back upstairs to their bedroom, Aiba and Kimeru following after clearing the dishes. All four of them had settled to sleep in the midst of the blizzard outside, hoping that the weather would be more agreeable in the morning.
TO BE CONTINUED
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