The lookalike competition
Matt spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between shock at the idea of running a Matt Ishida lookalike competition and planning how to make it as much fun for him and the others as was possible. He knew he needed ideas quickly. Akemi had called a special meeting that evening at his house to discuss the idea. Matt knew it would end in a huge piss-up, but the fact remained that if he didn't exercise some control now, the whole thing could all end up a total embarrassment for all concerned, and probably scupper his chances with Tai for ever.
"And here's the great man himself!" grinned Akemi, ushering Matt gravely inside. Gendo raised his bottle in salute, Istu blew him a kiss and Toshiki just rolled his eyes. Matt grabbed himself a beer and sat down on the sofa with Toshiki, who was armed with paper and pen.
"What've you got so far?" he demanded, taking a gulp.
"Not much. Principally, your hair. Secondly, your eye colour. After that zilch. Your little brother is going to win this."
"TK is not going to be allowed to enter." said Matt firmly. "And if he does, he can't win anyway. If he did, we'd be demonised - favouritism etc."
"Good point. You're better looking than he is anyway" said Istu.
"We need a reason to do this." said Matt, giving Istu a warning glare, and jumping in with the idea of getting all the nasty stuff out of the way so they could get down to serious drinking and hilarity. "We can't just do this for no reason - everyone would think I'm so arrogant it's unbelievable. I think we should make it for charity, charge people to enter, take some out as prize money for the winner, and then put the rest to saving the rain forests or something."
"If we made it a talent show deal as well, the winner could play or sing with us for two gigs. People would definitely pay for the chance to do that!" said Gendo enthusiastically. Matt leaned back and listened contentedly to his friends planning, thinking how great it was to have friends like this.
"OK, so the contest is split into four sections. How much they look like you, whether they can sing like you, whether they can play guitar as well as you and whether they can drink like you. A good score in each is preferable, but not absolutely necessary." said Toshiki, reading over his list. "Obviously as this is a lookalike competition, the marks will be weighted slightly in favour of people who look like you, but musical and drinking ability will be pretty essential."
"So we could actually get a winner who looks nothing like him?" asked Gendo curiously.
"In theory yes, though people who look nothing like him probably won't enter as we'll advertise it as a lookalike competition. It will be necessary to have the right colour eyes and hair at least and to be male. They will have to score in each category. If anyone scores nothing in any category, we should disqualify them."
"We'll seriously limit our options if we do that. The number of people who don't play guitar is quite high." pointed out Akemi lazily.
"We could turn the talent bit into one section - they can play guitar or sing, not both. That makes it fairer." suggested Matt
"OK. All we need to do now is decide if there is prize money, and if so, how much and how many gigs/practices they should be allowed to play. Oh, and what charity the money goes to." said Toshiki calmly, noting the change carefully.
"Tai and Mari could be in charge of the money!" said Istu with glee. "Then Mari can be tempted by all the Matt lookalikes and Tai can see even more how wonderful Matt is, and how none of the lookalikes actually comes close!"
"Excellent plan! That way, no-one can accuse us of stealing the money either!"
"Matt, you can decide the charity. What's it to be?"
"Good question. Something important. Maybe protecting wolves or something?"
"Put it to someone who's trying to stop them drilling for oil on that caribou place in Canada. Wolves eat caribou, don't they?"
"But what's that called?"
"How am I supposed to know? It was your idea!"
"Just give it to Save the Children or Oxfam or something." said Akemi, sounding irritated. "It's not really important, is it?"
"Yes!" exclaimed Matt. "I want this to go to something that means something, something that tries to make things better, not just be sent to some group who don't deserve it because we can't be bothered."
"You think about it then Matt" said Toshiki quickly. "How many gigs is the winner going to do with us?"
"Just one, but all the practices leading up to it. How's that?" said Gendo, glancing at Akemi who was glowering at Matt. Matt was looking flushed, but sounded normal when he said:
"Sounds good to me. That way we'll get at least two sell-out gigs. Everyone will want to know the result, and everyone will want to see how the winner performs."
"True. So that's settled then." said Toshiki. "There are three categories - appearance, talent and drinking. The winner plays one gig with us and gets to attend practices until the gig. The entrance fee and some money from ticket prices goes to a charity which Matt decided. If Tai and Mari agree, they look after the money, with some supervision from us. Everyone OK with all of that?"
"Sounds good to me" said Akemi. The others all agreed. Toshiki got up and put the pad of paper into his coat pocket.
"What's the plan for this evening Akemi?" he said with a grin. Akemi perked up.
"My parents and brother are away for the week" he said "so I thought...."
* * *
Matt woke up the next morning with his head under the bed. He groaned and tried to work out whether the bed was his own or someone else's as he waited for the memory from the night before to kick back in.
"Thank God it's Saturday!" he said out loud as he saw Akemi's room swim into view. A chorus of groans answered him and he went to the medicine cabinet for painkillers. He was just smirking to himself because he didn't need them when he heard a panicked exclamation from the bedroom.
"It's Friday! Oh my God, it's Friday and it's nearly nine o'clock!" Matt gasped in horror. A chorus of swearwords followed and he raced into the bedroom and dispensed the painkillers to a band who looked very much the worse for wear, and the three girls that they'd picked up at the club.
"What are we going to do?" asked Gendo practically, trying to find his own clothing in the collection strewn about Akemi's room. "We're late already, and we all look like crap"
"Speak for yourself." said the red-haired girl haughtily. Matt remembered her as the one he'd picked up. He thought her name was Isamu but wasn't quite sure.
"I didn't mean you, I meant us." said Gendo irritably. "Girls always look gorgeous."
"You still go to school?" asked one of the other girls.
"Yes." said Akemi lazily, hugging the third girl (a brunette) and stroking her hair lazily.
"How old are you then?"
"How old are you?" asked Akemi.
"22. I'm in university."
"Don't you have a lecture or something?" asked Istu, using Akemi's comb to try and restore order to his hair. Toshiki had sneaked off and bagged the shower. "Hurry up Toshiki!" he yelled. "There are at least four, and possibly seven more of us left to shower you know!"
"How long will we be on detention this time?" asked Gendo thoughtfully. "Anyone betting?"
"Every night for an hour next week." said Akemi immediately, kissing the girl. Matt had by now sorted his own clothes from the pile and was looking at them gloomily.
"Akemi, can I borrow a T-shirt? This one has...a stain on it." he said.
"Whatever" mumbled Akemi, whose attention was by now totally focused on his girl. Matt sighed and went to root through Akemi's drawers to find one, and some underwear as well. Gendo caught his eye and grinned, mouthing "Get me some!" Matt obligingly got a T-shirt and boxers for both of them. Toshiki walked in wearing only a towel and looked at the sight on the bed with resignation. Istu shrieked and dived for the shower.
"Anyone seen my clothes? he asked thoughtfully.
"Those are the ones that aren't mine" said Matt, trying to decide whether to take his girl into the shower with him or not. Toshiki dressed quickly.
"I'll go now, tell them I overslept." he said, running Akemi's comb through his hair.
"Wriggle out of the detention you mean!" said Gendo, looking at his clothing with a grimace of distaste.
"Hurry up Istu!" he yelled. The second brunette was already dressed.
"I'll be leaving now." she said cheerfully. "Thanks for a great night and I hope you don't get into too much trouble!"
"I'll walk you out" said Toshiki calmly and they left. Istu emerged from the shower and Gendo headed in. Matt and Isamu exchanged glances.
"Care to come in with me?" asked Matt cheerfully.
"You'll be late." she said, looking tempted.
"I'm already late. Akemi and I can be late together" he said with a quick glance at the writhing figures on the bed. She grinned. Istu exhaled huffily and pulled on his jeans.
"What's Toshiki telling them?" he asked, slightly sulkily.
"That he overslept" said Matt lazily, running his hands over Isamu's pale skin.
"I'll see you later then." said Istu gloomily, turning away from the scene before him.
"Bye Istu" said Matt, kissing Isamu deeply. He heard the door close and relaxed into her arms. It seemed like only a second passed before the door opened again and Gendo appeared, dry and dressed.
"The bathroom's empty" he said, looking wistfully at the scene before him. "Why couldn't you start that before I showered?" he said mournfully. "Ladies, your company was excellent and I hope that someday we may meet again." With that he turned and left.
"Shall we move this to the shower?" asked Matt breathlessly. "Kill two birds with one stone so to speak?"
"Sounds good to me" she murmured throatily.
When they emerged from the shower, Akemi hurried in. His brunette had decided to go home and shower there, as there couldn't possibly be any hot water left after four showers. (This was true) They got dressed without embarrassment and Isamu left. Matt began to tidy the apartment as he waited for Akemi to finish getting dressed.
"That was a good night, wasn't it?" asked Akemi smugly as they headed for the bus stop. Matt ran through some of the memories of the night before, of threesomes and foursomes and strawberry yoghurt.
"Definitely" he agreed, grinning at Akemi. "Worth whatever happens now."
"It's only half eleven. We'll be in deep trouble, but they probably won't suspend us" said Akemi the expert.
"They'll be glad we showed at all." said Matt. "They won't suspend us."
They signed in at the office and headed for their lesson, which happened to be gym.
"At least our gym clothes are clean." said Matt thoughtfully, looking at his trousers which, while not exactly dirty, could definitely be cleaner.
"I'm clean anyway, if cold thanks to you lot hogging the hot water." said Akemi. "We should have been later, then we wouldn't have had to do it." he added gloomily. He hated sport.
"Don't be so lazy!" laughed Matt as they headed for the changing rooms.
"I have been exerting myself a great deal" said Akemi haughtily, pushing open the door to the changing rooms.
"We saw!" laughed Matt. He headed for his locker, pushing past all the others in his gym class who were trying to get changed.
"Hardly worth getting dressed, was it?" said Akemi grumpily. "I should have stayed off. Raku had the whole day free."
"You two only just got here?" asked Toshiki. "You'll be for it then!"
"Don't care." said Akemi shortly, taking off the T-shirt he had only just put on. Matt laughed.
"Definitely worth it." he said smugly, failing to notice Tai coming round the corner.
"You did it this morning as well, didn't you?" said Toshiki accusingly.
"Twice. Didn't the others tell you?" asked Matt, changing into his gym shorts.
"Did they know?"
"They saw us on the floor. Gendo was quite annoyed we'd waited until he'd showered. Istu sulked" He pulled off his T-shirt and reached for his gymshirt.
"Those are nice scratches!"
"Thanks. She did them while we were in the shower." said Matt smugly.
"Hogging the hot water!" interjected Akemi. "There was none left for me."
"If you'd got out of bed this morning instead of getting laid you could have had some." said Matt calmly. "It's your own fault. You know what watching other people have sex does to me." He pulled on his gymshirt and turned to find himself looking straight into Tai's shocked gaze.
"Oh hi Tai" said Toshiki quickly. "Look, as a band we've been wondering if you could do us a favour." He gazed at him earnestly.
"Like what?" asked Tai in surprise.
"We're holding a Matt Ishida lookalike competition" explained Toshiki, enjoying the shocked expression on Tai's face "for charity, and we wondered if you and Mari would like to be in charge of the money for us."
"A Matt Ishida lookalike competition?!" asked Tai in amazement.
"It was my idea" said Akemi proudly. Matt had turned purple and was looking at the floor. "but none of us want the responsibility of all that money. You're responsible, and we know we can trust you, so we though we'd hand that job over to you. OK?"
"Can I think about it?" asked Tai, looking very confused.
"Sure!" said Akemi. "You'd better hurry and get changed. You've only got a few minutes!" Tai looked round and gasped. He hurried to his locker and began to change. Toshiki quickly grabbed Matt's arm and the three began to walk outside.
"Don't worry" said Toshiki. "After that bombshell, with a bit of luck he won't remember what he heard, if he actually heard anything."
"Anyway, what are you complaining about?" asked Akemi. "You can't seriously tell me that you didn't get some action with that girl in the lift!" Matt and Toshiki looked confused for a second, then Toshiki grinned.
"Only a quick blowjob. Doesn't count." he said. Akemi snorted, and the subject of Tai was forgotten.
"Well?" said Toshiki cheerfully to Tai after the games lesson had ended. "Will you look after the money?"
"This is a joke, right?" asked Tai, looking around at the three members of the band currently nearby. Akemi was mournfully getting changed back into his clothes (the games lesson had been as bad as he feared), Matt was wriggling into the rather tight T-shirt he had borrowed from Akemi. Tai could feel his eyes lingering on Matt's bare torso as he struggled to get his arms and his head into the T-shirt and pulled his eyes onto Toshiki hastily, who had managed to be fully dressed and looking clean and neat as always.
"Nope!" said Toshiki. Matt groaned as he finally managed to fit himself into the T-shirt.
"Afraid not" he said, sounding mildly gloomy. "We told you it's Akemi's idea, right?"
"But why?"
"Publicity stunt" said Akemi, beginning to bounce back to his normal, irrepressible self now the evil of games was over for another week. "We needed public recognition, and as Matt's the only one anyone would believe was arrogant enough to hold a lookalike competition.."
"Hey! I am NOT arrogant! I said we could've used Istu, but no, you had to make ME suffer!"
"Istu's so swelled-headed already a lookalike competition would've meant he couldn't fit through the door!" said Akemi.
"Takes one to know one" interjected Toshiki.
"Besides," said Akemi without a hint of embarrassment. "Matt's the best looking, though it pains me to say it."
"I heard that!" said Gendo, appearing and starting to get changed for his gym class which was next. "You know that I'm the best looking! We only picked Matt because he's more distinctive than I am."
"We're going to be late" said Toshiki calmly, beginning to head for the door.
"I hope you've agreed to mind the money!" Gendo yelled after Tai as the four beat a hasty path to their next lessons.
Matt didn't see Tai again until lunch. He sat down on the bench, surprised to have beaten Sora there. She appeared a few minutes later. Matt gave her a lazy grin, and she blushed slightly as she sat down next to him.
"Where were you this morning?" she asked.
"Akemi's" said Matt with a grin. "We went out last night, and all crashed at his because his family are away. We sorta overslept, then Akemi decided to 'lie in'. We turned up in time for gym though" he said.
"Have you seen Tai yet?" asked Sora, moving quickly over the subject of Akemi's 'lie in' and onto the important stuff.
"In gym. I think we shocked him, but Toshiki asked him to be in charge of the money we raise with our competition, and he was so stunned I think he's forgotten."
"What competition?" asked Sora curiously.
"You'll laugh, but I'd better tell you before anyone else does. We're holding a Matt Ishida Lookalike Competition and we want Tai and Mari to be in charge of the money."
"A Lookalike competition? Oh my God Matt!" Sora burst into peals of laughter. Matt gave her a mournful look, which made her laugh harder.
"Who's idea was that?" she gasped.
"Who's idea was what?" asked Izzy, arriving suddenly and sitting down quickly.
"A Matt Ishida Lookalike competition," said Matt resignedly "and it was Akemi's idea."
"Figures." said Sora, wiping her eyes. "Only that nutter could come up with something like that. What's it in aid of?"
"Publicity stunt. I think I'm going to put the money towards saving the whales or something."
"Good idea" said Izzy, taking a bite of his sandwich. "Isn't it a bit vain to have a lookalike competition though? I think it makes you look bigheaded." Matt groaned.
"What's wrong? Hung over again?" asked Tai, a nasty tone in his voice.
"Hi Tai." said Matt, ignoring his friend's tone. "Have you had time to discuss it with Mari yet?"
"Matt, you are insane!" exclaimed Tai. "Do you know how stupid you're going to look? You're setting yourself up as if you think you're better than everyone else, and you're not!"
"Look, they told you! We just picked names out of a hat - it happened to be me that got chosen, that's all. I don't think I'm better than them, or anyone! Now stop glaring at me, sit down and listen." Matt fixed Tai with a steely glare until Tai sat down. Matt then spent the rest of the lunchtime explaining the details of the competition to Tai.
"Well, I'll talk to Mari about it, but don't hold your breath. I think she'll think it's a waste of time."
"Thanks Tai" said Matt. 'Actually I think she'll jump at the idea!" thought Matt smugly. So far, their scheme seemed to be going according to plan.
"Look!" exclaimed Akemi gleefully when Matt arrived for band practice. "Posters!"
"Let's see!" said Matt, putting his guitar down and racing over to Akemi, who theatrically unfurled a glossy A4 poster.
"Could you be Yamato Ishida?" the poster asked in glowing red type. Matt stared broodingly out from below it, dressed in black which accentuated his slim form and contrasted well with his blond hair. Beneath the picture were the words
"Yamato Ishida lookalike competition" followed by the entry details.
"Wow! That looks great!" exclaimed Matt, staring at it.
"I chose the picture," said Istu happily. "Your best with clothes on I think," Matt laughed, then suddenly looked thoughtful.
"I hope this works," he said.
"Come on, look at that picture," said Istu. "How can anyone refuse you after seeing that picture?" Matt looked at him, and Istu grinned. "Come into the bedroom now and you can repay the favour!"
"Istu!" groaned Matt. Istu grinned unrepentantly.
"Well?" he asked.
"Sorry," said Matt with a grin, but he gave Istu a hug on his way to retrieve his abandoned guitar.
After practice they went around the whole area, sticking up posters in venues where they'd played in the past, or would be playing in the future.
"There we go!" said Akemi proudly as he affixed the last poster to the bus stop outside their school. "Operation Lookalike is now underway."
"May the gods preserve us," said Toshiki devoutly.
So, Tai and Mari are minding the money, but will Mari succumb to the temptation surrounding her? Will Akemi's great idea backfire, or will Tai and Matt actually get together? And what will TK say?
REVIEW! I'll try and be quicker with the next part!
Matt spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between shock at the idea of running a Matt Ishida lookalike competition and planning how to make it as much fun for him and the others as was possible. He knew he needed ideas quickly. Akemi had called a special meeting that evening at his house to discuss the idea. Matt knew it would end in a huge piss-up, but the fact remained that if he didn't exercise some control now, the whole thing could all end up a total embarrassment for all concerned, and probably scupper his chances with Tai for ever.
"And here's the great man himself!" grinned Akemi, ushering Matt gravely inside. Gendo raised his bottle in salute, Istu blew him a kiss and Toshiki just rolled his eyes. Matt grabbed himself a beer and sat down on the sofa with Toshiki, who was armed with paper and pen.
"What've you got so far?" he demanded, taking a gulp.
"Not much. Principally, your hair. Secondly, your eye colour. After that zilch. Your little brother is going to win this."
"TK is not going to be allowed to enter." said Matt firmly. "And if he does, he can't win anyway. If he did, we'd be demonised - favouritism etc."
"Good point. You're better looking than he is anyway" said Istu.
"We need a reason to do this." said Matt, giving Istu a warning glare, and jumping in with the idea of getting all the nasty stuff out of the way so they could get down to serious drinking and hilarity. "We can't just do this for no reason - everyone would think I'm so arrogant it's unbelievable. I think we should make it for charity, charge people to enter, take some out as prize money for the winner, and then put the rest to saving the rain forests or something."
"If we made it a talent show deal as well, the winner could play or sing with us for two gigs. People would definitely pay for the chance to do that!" said Gendo enthusiastically. Matt leaned back and listened contentedly to his friends planning, thinking how great it was to have friends like this.
"OK, so the contest is split into four sections. How much they look like you, whether they can sing like you, whether they can play guitar as well as you and whether they can drink like you. A good score in each is preferable, but not absolutely necessary." said Toshiki, reading over his list. "Obviously as this is a lookalike competition, the marks will be weighted slightly in favour of people who look like you, but musical and drinking ability will be pretty essential."
"So we could actually get a winner who looks nothing like him?" asked Gendo curiously.
"In theory yes, though people who look nothing like him probably won't enter as we'll advertise it as a lookalike competition. It will be necessary to have the right colour eyes and hair at least and to be male. They will have to score in each category. If anyone scores nothing in any category, we should disqualify them."
"We'll seriously limit our options if we do that. The number of people who don't play guitar is quite high." pointed out Akemi lazily.
"We could turn the talent bit into one section - they can play guitar or sing, not both. That makes it fairer." suggested Matt
"OK. All we need to do now is decide if there is prize money, and if so, how much and how many gigs/practices they should be allowed to play. Oh, and what charity the money goes to." said Toshiki calmly, noting the change carefully.
"Tai and Mari could be in charge of the money!" said Istu with glee. "Then Mari can be tempted by all the Matt lookalikes and Tai can see even more how wonderful Matt is, and how none of the lookalikes actually comes close!"
"Excellent plan! That way, no-one can accuse us of stealing the money either!"
"Matt, you can decide the charity. What's it to be?"
"Good question. Something important. Maybe protecting wolves or something?"
"Put it to someone who's trying to stop them drilling for oil on that caribou place in Canada. Wolves eat caribou, don't they?"
"But what's that called?"
"How am I supposed to know? It was your idea!"
"Just give it to Save the Children or Oxfam or something." said Akemi, sounding irritated. "It's not really important, is it?"
"Yes!" exclaimed Matt. "I want this to go to something that means something, something that tries to make things better, not just be sent to some group who don't deserve it because we can't be bothered."
"You think about it then Matt" said Toshiki quickly. "How many gigs is the winner going to do with us?"
"Just one, but all the practices leading up to it. How's that?" said Gendo, glancing at Akemi who was glowering at Matt. Matt was looking flushed, but sounded normal when he said:
"Sounds good to me. That way we'll get at least two sell-out gigs. Everyone will want to know the result, and everyone will want to see how the winner performs."
"True. So that's settled then." said Toshiki. "There are three categories - appearance, talent and drinking. The winner plays one gig with us and gets to attend practices until the gig. The entrance fee and some money from ticket prices goes to a charity which Matt decided. If Tai and Mari agree, they look after the money, with some supervision from us. Everyone OK with all of that?"
"Sounds good to me" said Akemi. The others all agreed. Toshiki got up and put the pad of paper into his coat pocket.
"What's the plan for this evening Akemi?" he said with a grin. Akemi perked up.
"My parents and brother are away for the week" he said "so I thought...."
* * *
Matt woke up the next morning with his head under the bed. He groaned and tried to work out whether the bed was his own or someone else's as he waited for the memory from the night before to kick back in.
"Thank God it's Saturday!" he said out loud as he saw Akemi's room swim into view. A chorus of groans answered him and he went to the medicine cabinet for painkillers. He was just smirking to himself because he didn't need them when he heard a panicked exclamation from the bedroom.
"It's Friday! Oh my God, it's Friday and it's nearly nine o'clock!" Matt gasped in horror. A chorus of swearwords followed and he raced into the bedroom and dispensed the painkillers to a band who looked very much the worse for wear, and the three girls that they'd picked up at the club.
"What are we going to do?" asked Gendo practically, trying to find his own clothing in the collection strewn about Akemi's room. "We're late already, and we all look like crap"
"Speak for yourself." said the red-haired girl haughtily. Matt remembered her as the one he'd picked up. He thought her name was Isamu but wasn't quite sure.
"I didn't mean you, I meant us." said Gendo irritably. "Girls always look gorgeous."
"You still go to school?" asked one of the other girls.
"Yes." said Akemi lazily, hugging the third girl (a brunette) and stroking her hair lazily.
"How old are you then?"
"How old are you?" asked Akemi.
"22. I'm in university."
"Don't you have a lecture or something?" asked Istu, using Akemi's comb to try and restore order to his hair. Toshiki had sneaked off and bagged the shower. "Hurry up Toshiki!" he yelled. "There are at least four, and possibly seven more of us left to shower you know!"
"How long will we be on detention this time?" asked Gendo thoughtfully. "Anyone betting?"
"Every night for an hour next week." said Akemi immediately, kissing the girl. Matt had by now sorted his own clothes from the pile and was looking at them gloomily.
"Akemi, can I borrow a T-shirt? This one has...a stain on it." he said.
"Whatever" mumbled Akemi, whose attention was by now totally focused on his girl. Matt sighed and went to root through Akemi's drawers to find one, and some underwear as well. Gendo caught his eye and grinned, mouthing "Get me some!" Matt obligingly got a T-shirt and boxers for both of them. Toshiki walked in wearing only a towel and looked at the sight on the bed with resignation. Istu shrieked and dived for the shower.
"Anyone seen my clothes? he asked thoughtfully.
"Those are the ones that aren't mine" said Matt, trying to decide whether to take his girl into the shower with him or not. Toshiki dressed quickly.
"I'll go now, tell them I overslept." he said, running Akemi's comb through his hair.
"Wriggle out of the detention you mean!" said Gendo, looking at his clothing with a grimace of distaste.
"Hurry up Istu!" he yelled. The second brunette was already dressed.
"I'll be leaving now." she said cheerfully. "Thanks for a great night and I hope you don't get into too much trouble!"
"I'll walk you out" said Toshiki calmly and they left. Istu emerged from the shower and Gendo headed in. Matt and Isamu exchanged glances.
"Care to come in with me?" asked Matt cheerfully.
"You'll be late." she said, looking tempted.
"I'm already late. Akemi and I can be late together" he said with a quick glance at the writhing figures on the bed. She grinned. Istu exhaled huffily and pulled on his jeans.
"What's Toshiki telling them?" he asked, slightly sulkily.
"That he overslept" said Matt lazily, running his hands over Isamu's pale skin.
"I'll see you later then." said Istu gloomily, turning away from the scene before him.
"Bye Istu" said Matt, kissing Isamu deeply. He heard the door close and relaxed into her arms. It seemed like only a second passed before the door opened again and Gendo appeared, dry and dressed.
"The bathroom's empty" he said, looking wistfully at the scene before him. "Why couldn't you start that before I showered?" he said mournfully. "Ladies, your company was excellent and I hope that someday we may meet again." With that he turned and left.
"Shall we move this to the shower?" asked Matt breathlessly. "Kill two birds with one stone so to speak?"
"Sounds good to me" she murmured throatily.
When they emerged from the shower, Akemi hurried in. His brunette had decided to go home and shower there, as there couldn't possibly be any hot water left after four showers. (This was true) They got dressed without embarrassment and Isamu left. Matt began to tidy the apartment as he waited for Akemi to finish getting dressed.
"That was a good night, wasn't it?" asked Akemi smugly as they headed for the bus stop. Matt ran through some of the memories of the night before, of threesomes and foursomes and strawberry yoghurt.
"Definitely" he agreed, grinning at Akemi. "Worth whatever happens now."
"It's only half eleven. We'll be in deep trouble, but they probably won't suspend us" said Akemi the expert.
"They'll be glad we showed at all." said Matt. "They won't suspend us."
They signed in at the office and headed for their lesson, which happened to be gym.
"At least our gym clothes are clean." said Matt thoughtfully, looking at his trousers which, while not exactly dirty, could definitely be cleaner.
"I'm clean anyway, if cold thanks to you lot hogging the hot water." said Akemi. "We should have been later, then we wouldn't have had to do it." he added gloomily. He hated sport.
"Don't be so lazy!" laughed Matt as they headed for the changing rooms.
"I have been exerting myself a great deal" said Akemi haughtily, pushing open the door to the changing rooms.
"We saw!" laughed Matt. He headed for his locker, pushing past all the others in his gym class who were trying to get changed.
"Hardly worth getting dressed, was it?" said Akemi grumpily. "I should have stayed off. Raku had the whole day free."
"You two only just got here?" asked Toshiki. "You'll be for it then!"
"Don't care." said Akemi shortly, taking off the T-shirt he had only just put on. Matt laughed.
"Definitely worth it." he said smugly, failing to notice Tai coming round the corner.
"You did it this morning as well, didn't you?" said Toshiki accusingly.
"Twice. Didn't the others tell you?" asked Matt, changing into his gym shorts.
"Did they know?"
"They saw us on the floor. Gendo was quite annoyed we'd waited until he'd showered. Istu sulked" He pulled off his T-shirt and reached for his gymshirt.
"Those are nice scratches!"
"Thanks. She did them while we were in the shower." said Matt smugly.
"Hogging the hot water!" interjected Akemi. "There was none left for me."
"If you'd got out of bed this morning instead of getting laid you could have had some." said Matt calmly. "It's your own fault. You know what watching other people have sex does to me." He pulled on his gymshirt and turned to find himself looking straight into Tai's shocked gaze.
"Oh hi Tai" said Toshiki quickly. "Look, as a band we've been wondering if you could do us a favour." He gazed at him earnestly.
"Like what?" asked Tai in surprise.
"We're holding a Matt Ishida lookalike competition" explained Toshiki, enjoying the shocked expression on Tai's face "for charity, and we wondered if you and Mari would like to be in charge of the money for us."
"A Matt Ishida lookalike competition?!" asked Tai in amazement.
"It was my idea" said Akemi proudly. Matt had turned purple and was looking at the floor. "but none of us want the responsibility of all that money. You're responsible, and we know we can trust you, so we though we'd hand that job over to you. OK?"
"Can I think about it?" asked Tai, looking very confused.
"Sure!" said Akemi. "You'd better hurry and get changed. You've only got a few minutes!" Tai looked round and gasped. He hurried to his locker and began to change. Toshiki quickly grabbed Matt's arm and the three began to walk outside.
"Don't worry" said Toshiki. "After that bombshell, with a bit of luck he won't remember what he heard, if he actually heard anything."
"Anyway, what are you complaining about?" asked Akemi. "You can't seriously tell me that you didn't get some action with that girl in the lift!" Matt and Toshiki looked confused for a second, then Toshiki grinned.
"Only a quick blowjob. Doesn't count." he said. Akemi snorted, and the subject of Tai was forgotten.
"Well?" said Toshiki cheerfully to Tai after the games lesson had ended. "Will you look after the money?"
"This is a joke, right?" asked Tai, looking around at the three members of the band currently nearby. Akemi was mournfully getting changed back into his clothes (the games lesson had been as bad as he feared), Matt was wriggling into the rather tight T-shirt he had borrowed from Akemi. Tai could feel his eyes lingering on Matt's bare torso as he struggled to get his arms and his head into the T-shirt and pulled his eyes onto Toshiki hastily, who had managed to be fully dressed and looking clean and neat as always.
"Nope!" said Toshiki. Matt groaned as he finally managed to fit himself into the T-shirt.
"Afraid not" he said, sounding mildly gloomy. "We told you it's Akemi's idea, right?"
"But why?"
"Publicity stunt" said Akemi, beginning to bounce back to his normal, irrepressible self now the evil of games was over for another week. "We needed public recognition, and as Matt's the only one anyone would believe was arrogant enough to hold a lookalike competition.."
"Hey! I am NOT arrogant! I said we could've used Istu, but no, you had to make ME suffer!"
"Istu's so swelled-headed already a lookalike competition would've meant he couldn't fit through the door!" said Akemi.
"Takes one to know one" interjected Toshiki.
"Besides," said Akemi without a hint of embarrassment. "Matt's the best looking, though it pains me to say it."
"I heard that!" said Gendo, appearing and starting to get changed for his gym class which was next. "You know that I'm the best looking! We only picked Matt because he's more distinctive than I am."
"We're going to be late" said Toshiki calmly, beginning to head for the door.
"I hope you've agreed to mind the money!" Gendo yelled after Tai as the four beat a hasty path to their next lessons.
Matt didn't see Tai again until lunch. He sat down on the bench, surprised to have beaten Sora there. She appeared a few minutes later. Matt gave her a lazy grin, and she blushed slightly as she sat down next to him.
"Where were you this morning?" she asked.
"Akemi's" said Matt with a grin. "We went out last night, and all crashed at his because his family are away. We sorta overslept, then Akemi decided to 'lie in'. We turned up in time for gym though" he said.
"Have you seen Tai yet?" asked Sora, moving quickly over the subject of Akemi's 'lie in' and onto the important stuff.
"In gym. I think we shocked him, but Toshiki asked him to be in charge of the money we raise with our competition, and he was so stunned I think he's forgotten."
"What competition?" asked Sora curiously.
"You'll laugh, but I'd better tell you before anyone else does. We're holding a Matt Ishida Lookalike Competition and we want Tai and Mari to be in charge of the money."
"A Lookalike competition? Oh my God Matt!" Sora burst into peals of laughter. Matt gave her a mournful look, which made her laugh harder.
"Who's idea was that?" she gasped.
"Who's idea was what?" asked Izzy, arriving suddenly and sitting down quickly.
"A Matt Ishida Lookalike competition," said Matt resignedly "and it was Akemi's idea."
"Figures." said Sora, wiping her eyes. "Only that nutter could come up with something like that. What's it in aid of?"
"Publicity stunt. I think I'm going to put the money towards saving the whales or something."
"Good idea" said Izzy, taking a bite of his sandwich. "Isn't it a bit vain to have a lookalike competition though? I think it makes you look bigheaded." Matt groaned.
"What's wrong? Hung over again?" asked Tai, a nasty tone in his voice.
"Hi Tai." said Matt, ignoring his friend's tone. "Have you had time to discuss it with Mari yet?"
"Matt, you are insane!" exclaimed Tai. "Do you know how stupid you're going to look? You're setting yourself up as if you think you're better than everyone else, and you're not!"
"Look, they told you! We just picked names out of a hat - it happened to be me that got chosen, that's all. I don't think I'm better than them, or anyone! Now stop glaring at me, sit down and listen." Matt fixed Tai with a steely glare until Tai sat down. Matt then spent the rest of the lunchtime explaining the details of the competition to Tai.
"Well, I'll talk to Mari about it, but don't hold your breath. I think she'll think it's a waste of time."
"Thanks Tai" said Matt. 'Actually I think she'll jump at the idea!" thought Matt smugly. So far, their scheme seemed to be going according to plan.
"Look!" exclaimed Akemi gleefully when Matt arrived for band practice. "Posters!"
"Let's see!" said Matt, putting his guitar down and racing over to Akemi, who theatrically unfurled a glossy A4 poster.
"Could you be Yamato Ishida?" the poster asked in glowing red type. Matt stared broodingly out from below it, dressed in black which accentuated his slim form and contrasted well with his blond hair. Beneath the picture were the words
"Yamato Ishida lookalike competition" followed by the entry details.
"Wow! That looks great!" exclaimed Matt, staring at it.
"I chose the picture," said Istu happily. "Your best with clothes on I think," Matt laughed, then suddenly looked thoughtful.
"I hope this works," he said.
"Come on, look at that picture," said Istu. "How can anyone refuse you after seeing that picture?" Matt looked at him, and Istu grinned. "Come into the bedroom now and you can repay the favour!"
"Istu!" groaned Matt. Istu grinned unrepentantly.
"Well?" he asked.
"Sorry," said Matt with a grin, but he gave Istu a hug on his way to retrieve his abandoned guitar.
After practice they went around the whole area, sticking up posters in venues where they'd played in the past, or would be playing in the future.
"There we go!" said Akemi proudly as he affixed the last poster to the bus stop outside their school. "Operation Lookalike is now underway."
"May the gods preserve us," said Toshiki devoutly.
So, Tai and Mari are minding the money, but will Mari succumb to the temptation surrounding her? Will Akemi's great idea backfire, or will Tai and Matt actually get together? And what will TK say?
REVIEW! I'll try and be quicker with the next part!