Whoo hoo. My first fanfic in two years. Here goes, it's hopefully decently written, and fairly entertaining, so enjoy.
Disclaimer: Unless you're an idiot, you know I don't own Dir en Grey. I have had some fantasies, though….
"Hey, Shinya. How's life?" Toshiya asked, plopping down on the couch next to his friend.
Shinya sighed, shrugging. "I've been so terribly bored with everything lately."
Toshiya grinned, and Shinya instantly regretted saying anything. "We can make your life more interesting," Toshiya said eagerly, bouncing up and down.
"It's okay, Totchi," Shinya said, watching his friend distrustfully. "I don't like your kind of excitement."
"Don't be silly. Everyone likes my type of excitement." Toshiya was already too intrigued by the idea of giving Shinya some excitement, and would no longer listen to the pleas of his friend.
"Come on, Totchi, it's fine. No excitement for Shinya, it's okay," Shinya tried again, starting to be scared. "Please?"
Toshiya jumped up. "I'll be back in a little while," he announced, making everyone else look up, and skipped out of the room.
"What's he so excited about?" Kaoru asked, frowning.
Shinya buried his face in a pillow. "I made a mistake," he moaned, looking up at his friends with miserable eyes. "I told him I'm bored with life."
Kyo laughed. "He's going to make your life unbearable now, you know that, right?" he asked, and Shinya nodded.
Shinya moaned, reaching for the phone. "Moshi moshi," he growled murderously into the mouthpiece.
"Are you asleep!" Toshiya asked, sounding shocked. "Get up and get ready now, we're going out!"
"Totchi, it's one in the morning, I'm tired." Shinya rubbed his eyes, wanting to kill his friend. "I'm not going anywhere."
"I'm going to be there in ten minutes, and if you're not ready I'll dress you myself and carry you to the club!" Toshiya exclaimed, and hung up the phone.
Shinya thought for a moment, and then dialed a number that he had never dialed before, but knew by heart, as he had attempted to dial it many times. After a few rings, and answering machine picked up, and Shinya hung up and tried Die's cell phone.
"Moshi moshi," Die said into the phone, loud techno music playing in the background.
"Toshiya wants to make me go out with him," Shinya said quietly, wishing he hadn't called Die. Die wouldn't understand, he went out all the time.
"Go out with him, just appease him," Die told him. "If you go out with him tonight, maybe he'll leave you alone."
Shinya thought about it. "He might leave me alone…" Shinya sighed. "Sometimes I can't stand him."
Die laughed. "Oh, you love him and you know it," he said. "Now, go out and have fun for a change. I'll see you tomorrow."
When Toshiya rang the doorbell, Shinya was up and doing his makeup. "Come in," he called, still looking half asleep.
"Hello!" Toshiya said cheerfully. He grimaced, seeing Shinya. "You look terrible."
"Thanks," Shinya replied sarcastically, stifling a yawn. "Where are we going?"
"Somewhere dark, thankfully," Toshiya said, thrusting some clothes at Shinya. "Put these on, you'll look better."
A few minutes later, Shinya walked out of his bedroom, looking ready to mutilate Toshiya. "Must I wear this?" he asked.
Toshiya nodded, taking a cloth and wiping the makeup Shinya had put on off. He started putting fresh eyeliner on, and Shinya started to moan pathetically. "Oh be quiet, you baby. You wanted more excitement, and now you're going to get it."
"I look like you, though. I look like—a girl," Shinya complained.
Toshiya laughed. "You always looked like a girl. Now you just look like a pretty one."
"But what if someone thinks I'm a girl? What do I do then? I always feel weird correcting them."
"No, play along. It's loads of fun." Toshiya smiled, stepping back and admiring Shinya. "You don't look amazing, but like I said, it will be dark and no one will notice."
Shinya just rolled his eyes, following his friend. "I'm not going to enjoy myself," he warned.
At the club, Shinya followed Toshiya like a faithful puppy. He kept his eyes trained on the floor, until he heard a familiar voice shout, "Totchi! Over here!"
"Die's here?" Shinya asked, blushing terribly as he followed his friend.
"Hey. Who's your—" Die gaped at Shinya. "Shinya? Is that really little Shinya?"
"Do you like it?" Toshiya said, happy to show off his handiwork. "He looks much better this way." Something caught Toshiya's attention, and he started to wander off. "I'll see you later."
"Are you okay?" Die asked Shinya, grinning. "Not too traumatized, I hope?"
"Don't tease me," Shinya replied, leaning on the wall. "Just leave me alone until Toshiya's finished playing."
Die frowned at him. Shinya never seemed to understand his jokes like the others did. Shinya was always the delicate one. Everyone referred to him as the baby of the band, and he acted like it. It was actually a bit annoying at times. Shrugging, Die walked off, returning to the group of people he had been with.
Shinya stared at the ground sullenly. Why am I always so childish? he asked himself. Why can't I enjoy things like the others do? Why is there always something wrong with me?
About forty minutes later, Toshiya found his way back over to Shinya, an extra drink in hand. "Here, drink this. It'll be good for you," he said, glancing around the crowded club.
"How much longer are we going to be here?" Shinya asked, taking a tentative sip of the drink and making a face.
Toshiya shrugged. "Another hour, at least. I'm having fun, you should try it." He smiled at someone across the dance floor, and glanced back at Shinya. "Loosen up, you'll have fun. I'm going away now, I'll be back later."
Shinya looked around, wondering how he was supposed to have fun. He didn't know anyone there. He wanted to be dancing with people, but with people he knew, not strangers.
Die noticed Shinya's restlessness and walked back over to his friend. "I'm sorry about teasing," he said with a smile.
Shinya shrugged. "I shouldn't have been so bratty, you were just joking."
Suppressing a joke, Die shrugged. "Do you want to dance?" he asked, holding his hand out.
"Dance? With you?" Shinya stared at Die with big eyes, not knowing what to say. "Um, sure. I've never danced with a guy before, but…" he looked at the ground, starting to blush.
"We don't have to, if you don't want to," Die said, holding his hands palm up to show that he was non-threatening.
Shinya shrugged. "No, dancing would be fine," he told his friend, taking Die's hand cautiously.
Die led him out to the dance floor, and Shinya gasped quietly as a slower song came on. He looked up at Die. "Um…"
"We can wait for another song," Die replied, shrugging. "If you're uncomfortable with this one."
Shinya shook his head, smiling slightly. "No, this song is fine." He shivered slightly as Die put his arms around the smaller man. After a moment, Shinya rested his head on Die's leather-clad chest, closing his eyes.
When the song was over, Shinya retreated to his spot on the wall without saying anything to his friend. Die started to walk over, but decided not to.
Looking around, Shinya saw the bar, and decided to see what it was like to get so drunk he couldn't remember anything. At a loss when the bartender asked what he wanted, Shinya said the first drink name that popped into his head, and ended up drinking straight vodka for the rest of the night.
The next morning, Shinya woke up in Toshiya's car. "Where are we?" he asked, shielding his eyes against the sunlight.
"We're on our way to practice. I didn't want to wake you, so I just shoved you in the car asleep and tossed a blanket over you." Toshiya was cheerful, too cheerful for so early. "You were rather toasted last night, Shin-chan."
Shinya nodded, sitting up in the seat and rubbing his temples. "I feel like someone hammered my brain," he groaned. They hit a bump, and Shinya clutched at his mouth. "Don't do that again, or I'll be sick."
Toshiya laughed. "Have you ever had a hangover before?" he asked, and Shinya shook his head. "Well, enjoy. Hangovers are bad when we have practice, it's always so loud."
Shinya moaned, covering his head with Toshiya's blanket. "I don't want to go."
When they walked in, Shinya headed right for the couch and lay down on it, wrapping up in the blanket. "I'm going to sleep," he announced, yawning.
Kaoru looked at Toshiya questioningly, and Toshiya mouthed "hangover". Kaoru grinned. "Get up, Shinya. You chose to drink, you get to endure practice. We've all done it."
Shinya glared at him. He looked around the room for an ally, frowning. His eyes met Die's briefly, and he was surprised to see the guitarist blushing slightly. A bit confused, Shinya thought, and memories from the previous night flooded back to him, making him blush and cover his head with the blanket. "Toshiya, I hate you," he muttered.
"What?" Toshiya asked innocently.
"You made me go out last night, and now I'm sick and, and…"
"It's not like anything bad happened," Toshiya said, pouting. Shinya just glared at him, and Toshiya gasped. He made a mental note to ask Shinya later what had happened, and started to go get his bass out, for the moment ignoring his hungover friend.
"Come on, tell me," Toshiya said, frowning.
"No," Shinya replied, pouting. "I don't want to. And I don't want to go out again."
"Why not? It's not like you hit on anyone you know or anything like that."
Shinya looked at Toshiya, his eyes big, like a deer in headlights. "No, nothing like that," he agreed quietly, looking at the ground.
"Now you have to tell me what happened."
Shinya sighed. He couldn't say no to Toshiya for too long. "Well, before I started drinking, Die asked me to dance, and I danced with him. Then…after I had had a few drinks," Shinya paused wringing his hands, "I sort of—well, hit on him."
Toshiya laughed. "Shinya, that's nothing. He knows you were drunk. People do things they regret when they drink, everyone knows that."
"That isn't so much the problem," Shinya said quietly. He sighed. "I think I…I kind of-kind of like him."
Toshiya's eyes lit up. "You like Die?" he asked, looking delighted.
Shinya nodded, and then looked at Toshiya's eager expression with dismay. "No matchmaking, please."
Toshiya looked disappointed. "Fine, no match making," he replied, though a sinister gleam in his eyes made Shinya suspicious of him.
"He really hit on you?" Kaoru asked Die, surprised.
Die nodded. He mixed himself a drink, taking a deep breath. "I don't know if it was just the alcohol he was drinking, or if he actually likes me."
Kaoru grinned. "Wouldn't that be something? You and Shinya. You two would fight constantly. We'd have to stop you from killing each other."
"I wouldn't get on his case so much if—" he took a deep breath, looking out the window. He smiled at his friend. "It doesn't matter anyway, Kao. He'd never want to go out with me, why dwell on it?"
Kaoru shrugged. "If you want it enough, it will happen. You know Shinya, he'd never make the first move, you'd have to show him that you like him." His phone rang, and he answered it. He was speaking too lowly for Die to hear well, the only thing Die caught was that it was Toshiya. Kaoru hung slipped the phone back into his pocket, standing up. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said
"Rendezvous with Toshiya?" Die asked, grinning.
"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about," Kaoru said, but grinned as he left.
Die walked into the studio. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said as Shinya ducked behind the couch.
"It's fine, I was just changing my shirt," Shinya replied, blushing.
"You can change in front of me," Die said, picking up his guitar and starting to play a few chords. "We're both guys, right?" He grinned. "Unless you really are a girl. You did look awfully comfortable in that skirt."
Shinya stood up, fully dressed, and looked at the floor. "Totchi made me wear it," he muttered, annoyed.
"I didn't mean you looked bad. Quite the opposite. In fact, you looked beautiful. I was just joking. I'm sorry." Die looked at Shinya sadly. Why am I always so mean? he asked himself. Why must I always tease people I care about?
Shinya frowned at Die. Another case of me being childish and someone having to be nice to me. "You don't have to be nice just because Kaoru told you to," he said, sitting at his drums. "I'm not that delicate, I can take a joke sometimes."
Kyo bounded into the room, full of energy. "Hello!" he said, smiling from ear to ear. "Why the long faces?"
"It looks like Kyo got laid last night," Die told Shinya, grinning. "Or his hand is so practiced he thinks he got laid." Shinya giggled in spite of his anger towards Die. His jokes were usually funny, just not when you were the butt of them.
"Shut up," Kyo said, still smiling. He frowned at the closet door. "Did you hear something?" he asked them.
Shinya listened, and heard it too. There were noises coming from in the closet, noises like people—
"Someone's making out in there," Die announced matter-of-factly, interrupting Shinya's thoughts.
Kyo grinned once more, skipping to the door and opening it widely.
Toshiya and Kaoru blinked up at them, smiling sheepishly. "I knew it!" Shinya exclaimed. "I knew there was something going on."
"I did too. It wasn't hard to figure out, Kao and Toshiya always being too busy to do anything," Die added, laughing.
Kyo pouted. "I didn't know. Why is it that I never know what's going on with any of you?"
"You're too short, you can't see high enough to know what's going on," Die quipped, making Kyo scowl at him.
Kaoru disentangled himself from Toshiya, standing up straight. "Let's get on with it," he said, frowning slightly.
"Wait. If you guys are together, then only Die and Shinya need to find someone," Kyo said, smiling at them.
"Maybe they should hook up," Toshiya said mischievously.
Shinya glared at his friend. "Totchi, don't make stupid comments, please."
"Speaking of you two hooking up, I want you two to do something at the live tomorrow night," Kaoru shared a sly glance with Toshiya as he spoke.
"What?" Die asked, not liking the look on his friend's face.
"I want you two to kiss."
"No!" Shinya shouted, and immediately wanted to pull the words back. He looked at Die apologetically. "No offense, I just don't like doing those things, you know that."
Die shrugged. "I don't think it's such a good idea, either," he told Kaoru, murder in his eyes.
"Is there something wrong with me?" Shinya asked Die, looking hurt.
Die stared at him, looking apologetic as well. "I didn't mean that, I'm sorry!"
Shinya grinned at Die. He mumbled something, too quiet for anyone to hear. When they just looked at him blankly, he repeated himself. "I got you."
His four band mates stared at him, and then burst out laughing, especially Die, who was incredibly taken aback at Shinya's joke.
A few days later, Shinya was sitting alone in a restaurant, eating, when Die walked in. Seeing Shinya, he walked over. "Hello, Shin-chan," he said cheerfully.
"Hello," Shinya replied. He motioned at an empty seat. "Care to join me?" he asked, and Die shrugged, sitting down.
"What are you doing here all alone?" Die asked.
"I was hungry," Shinya replied simply. "Why are you here alone?"
Die sighed. "I was supposed to meet Kao here, but he just called me and said he was 'occupied' with Toshiya. I decided to come in and see if anyone cool was in here to join." He glanced around the room. "It doesn't look like there is."
Shinya shrugged, taking the joke in stride. "No, I suppose not."
Die stared at him. "You're not going to get upset?" he asked, surprised.
Shinya just smiled at him. "Why would I?" he asked.
"I just thought—well, you always get upset, so I assumed that you would."
"I'm a bit different now," Shinya told him. "I'm not going to let things get to me anymore. It was stupid to ever let things get to me in the first place."
"Have you seen Die insult Shinya lately?" Kaoru asked Toshiya and Kyo the next day. They shook their heads. "It doesn't bother him anymore, apparently."
"What?" Toshiya asked. "It always bothers him when someone jokes about him."
Kaoru shrugged. "Die told me that Shinya told him it didn't bother him, that he's different."
"That's not good," Kyo said, frowning.
"Why not? Now we don't have to deal with them fighting all the time," Toshiya told him.
Kyo shook his head. "But Shinya's different now. Bad things happen when people change."
"Kyo, nothing bad is going to happen because Shinya has thicker skin now," Kaoru told him. "Everything will be the same, probably better, in fact."
"The whole dynamic of the band will be thrown off," Kyo told them. "Watch. It will happen. When one person changes, everyone else does, and I have a bad feeling about this." He thought for a moment. "Besides, do you think Die will still like Shinya is Shinya's different?" he asked.
"How do you know Die likes Shinya?" Kaoru asked Kyo.
Kyo sighed, shaking his head. "I know you guys think I'm a tad bit crazy, but I'm not stupid. I can see, I have eyes," he told his friends. "It's fairly obvious, the way he stares at our drummer." He yawned. "I'm taking a nap. You watch, things are going to get bad, and then they're going to go from bad to worse."
As Toshiya and Kaoru walked out of the room, Toshiya looked sadly at Kaoru. "As much as I hate to admit it, I think Kyo's right. And I'm afraid that everything will change."
"Think positively," Kaoru told him, smiling. He kissed Toshiya on the cheek. "You were afraid that us being together would change everything, and it did, but for the better. Right?"
Toshiya nodded. "I hope you're right," he said, but didn't seem to believe Kaoru.
Chapter two coming soon, hopefully.