Disclaimer: As usual, dun own Gravi...
Pairings: None really, give one-sided Tatsuha/Ryuichi
Warnings: POV, teeange/adult issues, romance, angst - life in general is a warning, may contain SPOILERS if you have not read Gravi book 12
Author's Notes: Here we are...I have many plans for this fic, and it's all going to unravel slowly, so stay tuned! Lyrics you will see are by Bon Jovi (no, it's not a songfic).
Thank ye Aja again for beating it! It helps tons!
Feedback is coveted and worshipped! I love the comments you guys leave, thanks!
Chapter 2
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The fanboy in me still squealed with excitement. Ryuichi had not only remembered me, but what my bike looked like, and thought I was important enough to pull over! Or freak out a bit, at least. That had to mean something, right?
Regardless, I was still a bit wary of, well, everyone, my idol included. Even as I questioned his motives, I didn't think twice when he invited me to go back into town with him. He wasn't hard to follow, not with a car that practically screamed "look at me!" but then, who wouldn't want to look at him?
Ahh, I'm starting to get a little distracted, eh? I can't help it. Even six years later, I'm still a loyal fanboy. Or fanman. Is that even a word? It sounds like some sadistic second cousin of the sandman or something.
Fanman. Heh heh.
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The cast and crew were on location. The movie was supposed to be a hit, with big names like Ryuichi Sakuma and Judy Winchester headlining. Tatsuha was not even sure of the plot, but from the glimpses he was able to catch of the set, it looked like it was going to some sort of action drama romance combination, not that that was a helpful observation. The important part was that he was following Ryuichi Sakuma to his personal trailer.
He was able to suppress the need for a camera. Sort of.
"We're going to spend about two weeks in Japan. Week here, week in Tokyo. Then we'll be heading off to Sydney, Australia! I'm so excited about that; I've always wanted to go back to Australia! It's so pretty there, have you been to Australia, Tatsuha-kun?"
Tatsuha shouldered one of his two duffle bags more closely. "Ahm, no."
"Oh, that's right! You haven't been outside of Japan, eh? Well, I'll have to take you with me someday! We'll have lots of fun, right? Staying at your father's temple must get so boring after a while, no da!" Ryuichi said with a smile as he walked up the few steps to his trailer.
The teenager blinked, mentally screaming with joy and very shocked and flattered at the same time. Ryuichi had remembered all that about him? It was a strange thing to see, considering sometimes the superstar seemed to not even recognize him at all. He ducked his head a bit with the statement about the temple.
"Yeah, well, it's going to be a lot more interesting from now on," he replied with a smile of his own.
Ryuichi took a second too long to make his gaze simply casual, before returning the grin and opening the door. The trailer seemed average, as far as Tatsuha's knowledge with celebrity trailers went. There was a couch, desk, mirror, coat rack, coffee table, stereo, and various personal items.
"This is where I get to be during the day. We stay at a hotel to sleep," the older man explained as Tatsuha shut the door behind him, dropping his duffle bags down next to it. Ryuichi slipped off his own jacket and just tossed it on the couch. The teenager could not help but smile when he noticed a familiar pink rabbit sitting on that couch.
"So what's this movie about?"
The actor turned to face him, blinking once then smiling widely. He gave Tatsuha a playful poke on the nose. "Silly! I can't tell you that, it'd be giving away the plot, no da! If you want to know, you should just come and see it when it's finished, okay?"
Tatsuha gave a short laugh to that, rubbing his nose a little. "Guess so."
"What is Tatsuha-kun doing all the way in Osaka, hmmm?" the former singer asked cutely, walking over to the couch and motioning for Tatsuha to do the same. "Errands or something?"
He twitched at the question. While he would give anything to spend a few seconds with Ryuichi, the last thing he needed was to tell the other man what he was doing. He did know Tohma, after all, and thus had connections to Mika.
"Or something," he mumbled, plopping down onto the cushy material. "Ohhh, soft…"
It was Ryuichi's turn to chuckle as he picked up his famous bunny companion, making the rabbit almost dance his way over to where Tatsuha sat. "Kumagorou is glad to see you too, no da! He hasn't seen a familiar face in so long and it was starting to get to him!" Without waiting for a response, he dropped the plush in the teenager's lap, then walked over to the stereo and shifted through a collection of CDs sitting on top.
The raven-haired boy took the rabbit and petted him softly, looking the plush over. Truth be told, he was slightly jealous of the bunny in all its pinkness. Kumagorou got to go everywhere with Ryuichi. Tatsuha would not have minded being Ryuichi Sakuma's plushie. It sure beat what he had planned – which was nothing.
His head shot up when he heard music suddenly blaring from the speakers. The older man gave a quiet 'oops!' with a laugh, turning the volume down to a reasonable conversation level. The lyrics were in English, so Tatsuha could only pick out a few things. His English was decent, not amazing, but he could probably hold a conversation with a six year old.
"Who's this?" he asked, handing the bunny back to his rightful owner as said man sat down.
"Na, it's an American band called Bon Jovi! I got to listen to a lot of American music when I was doing that solo tour. I really like them and even got to do a welfare concert with them a few years ago! It was so cool! There were lots of bands and artists there."
"Sounds like a party," Tatsuha said with an amused lopsided grin.
Ryuichi beamed, hugging the plush. "It was! You would have liked it, I think."
"Probably."
"This song is one of my favorites! It's kind of old, from the 80s – you probably weren't even born yet! – but I really like it." He paused as Tatsuha seemed to frown a bit, concentrating on understanding the lyrics. "Sometimes I forget you're so young, Tatsuha-kun. You never look or act like it, you know." Tatsuha blinked in mild surprise at the comment. The older man was watching him carefully, loosely holding his rabbit. There was something behind his eyes that Tatsuha could not place, but it was gone as soon as he noticed.
"So…it's one of your favorites?" the teenager asked, scooting a little closer to Ryuichi.
"Yeah! It's so much fun to sing along to, too! It's just got that quality to it, you know?"
Tatsuha nodded, eyes going over to the stereo before returning to his idol. The man was ageless, truly ageless. "It's hard to believe you're as old as you are too, Sakuma-san." Then he winced at his own words. "Ah, I didn't mean it that way! I'm not saying you're old or anything!"
Great, just go and insult the guy, will ya? Tell him that he's probably the hottest guy in the nursing home while you're at it!
"I mean, you're really cool and everything! Really! You just don't seem like…ah…forget it," he ended sheepishly, messing his hair quickly with a fast hand out of nervous habit. Ryuichi just smiled and laughed, bouncing Kumagorou on one leg.
"I hope so!" he said, giving Tatsuha a playful pat on the shoulder. "I'm still 30 some odd years young, right?" Ryuichi pointed to his own face as if that was the answer to all.
Tatsuha was grateful for the understanding, even if he still had made an idiot of himself. "Yeah, that's the best way to put it," he said with an uncomfortable chuckle.
"Ahh, the chorus is my favorite part!" That was all the warning the sixteen year-old got, as the former singer broke into song along with the voice of Jon Bon Jovi. His English really was very good; he hardly had an accent at all.
That was when Tatsuha began to understand the lyrics.
"Ohh…She's a little runaway.
Daddy's girl ran fast,
All those things you couldn't say.
Ohh…She's a little runaway.
Daddy's girl ran fast,
Now she works the night away.
Oohh…She's a little runaway."
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To say that I nearly shit my pants is too tame a description. When I finally translated what exactly Ryuichi had chosen for us to listen to, I nearly bolted at that moment. I'm still not entirely sure what kept me sitting on that couch as Ryuichi kept singing along. I stopped trying to understand what he was singing, I knew enough.
He couldn't have possibly known, so I acted as casually as I could through the song. We sat there and talked through a few loops of that CD. It struck me as odd that he'd always choose to sing along with that one song, but I generally ignored it because it was his favorite.
Strangely ironic song to have as a favorite, though.
He'd told me that this was their very first day in Japan, and he'd caught an early flight so he was there before he needed to be. The next day the real shooting began. He was even kind enough to invite me to stay and watch. I flirted with the idea, playing out the various scenarios in my head how that would go. Some of them consisted of me magically getting cast as his new co-star and love interest. Other ideas fancied the thought that I'd get to stay with him in his trailer; we'd get to be so close that we couldn't live without each other.
But, in the end...things...didn't really turn out the way I imagined.
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"Are you okay, Tatsuha-kun? I can ask room service to bring up something else if you don't want yakisoba!"
Tatsuha blinked out of his daze, shaking his head and giving Ryuichi a smile. "No no, sorry. Didn't mean to space out on you."
"It's okay, as long as you're not getting food poisoning or something!" Ryuichi said with a relieved air to his voice, then gave a questioning look to the food. It caused Kumagorou to slip off the actor's head towards the food, but Tatsuha's hand shot out and grabbed the plush before rabbit was added to their menu.
"Kumagorou better be careful or I'll eat him up too!" Tatsuha teased with a wink. Ryuichi beamed and took the bunny back, scolding him for being so careless before setting him down on the table.
The hotel rooms rented out for the stars of the movie were generous, though Tatsuha figured that Ryuichi was used to that sort of treatment. It seemed that Ryuichi would be staying alone as well, because there was only a single king-sized bed in the center of the room. The two of them were sitting out on the balcony at a small table eating food the actor had ordered. There was a light breeze and evening was slowly taking over the skyline.
All in all, it had been a very good day.
After taking another bite, Tatsuha held loosely onto his chopsticks, watching the other man take a generous serving for himself. "I've gotta ask, though I'm sure you've been bombarded with this question before, but…" Ryuichi looked up expectantly, chopsticks hanging from his mouth. "Why'd you decide to take on acting and stop singing?"
The brown-haired man nodded, accepting that as a worthwhile question. Then he answered with a shrug. "I'm not really stopping singing; I like it too much just to stop! But I like other things too, and acting makes me really happy. I want to try that for a while," he finished, taking another bite. "Does my decision disappoint you, Tatsuha-kun?"
"Ah, no! Not at all," he answered in a rush. "I'd follow your career wherever it went. Hell, if you decided to be a fry cook or botanist or something, I'd still be a fan." That was probably the most truthful thing he had said all day. "As long as you're happy," he finished with a genuine smile.
Ryuichi blinked at that, letting his eyes run over the teenager's face. Tatsuha started to feel a little uncomfortable with the scrutiny, then practically melted as his idol's whole body seemed to warm up with a smile of his own.
"Thank you, Tatsuha," Ryuichi said honestly and seriously, though his face did not lose that warmth. "Not many people have said that."
"Well, um, I do mean it. Really," Tatsuha pushed further, trying to fight the urge to cuddle the other man, and at the very least blush. The look on the former frontman's face was just too appealing. For a moment, that light was back in his blue eyes, then once again it flashed away as Ryuichi laughed with a bubbly smile.
"Hehe, you're too cute, Tatsuha-kun!" Said boy was promptly given a playful poke on the shoulder with Ryuichi's pinky finger.
Tatsuha grinned. "I was hoping for something more along the lines of incredibly sexy and devilishly handsome," he chided, trying to seductively wink and play with a strand of hair. Ryuichi laughed warmly, tilting his head to the side with amusement.
"Well, that too." He smiled around another mouthful of yakisoba.
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I can't for the life of me imagine a more perfect day before that one! Everything just seemed to be going right for once. Ryuichi was so friendly and casual, cute and sexy. He made it feel like we were on the same level, that I wasn't just some kid who drooled after him every time he got on stage.
All of that made me want to stay so badly. I could just sneak away with Ryuichi, be a roadie or water boy or coffee guy or something! Maybe he would never tell Tohma, and my family could just keep moving on with their lives like nothing ever happened, and I could have my happily ever after with the man I'd wanted for years.
I guess the stars weren't made for wishing that night.