Banany's fic journal

Title: Voices (Part 9/?)
Pairings: Koyama/Shige, Tegoshi/Masuda
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Following an accident, the members of NEWS are left in hospital in comas. Upon awakening, their memories have been replaced with those of being other people, from another world.



Kaori asked Yamasaki to stay an extra hour and a half that night, until 10:30. Her excuse was that it was because they had a test next week, and although that could have been true, he wasn't sure he believed her.

However, once they were in her room, she didn't ask him to do anything but tutor her for the whole two and a half hours. The only thing they stopped to do was to have a small drink and a snack, and then it was back to computers again. Perhaps she hadn't found the time or the energy to break up with her boyfriend yet, Yamasaki concluded when the clock hit 10:20 and she still hadn't brought up what had happened at their last session.
They stopped at exactly half past ten, both too exhausted to continue, and only then was it that Kaori casually said on their way to the front door, "I broke up with Kenta yesterday."

Her tone was light and conversational, as though she was mentioning it without any ulterior motives. Yamasaki kept his head lowered and concentrated on lacing up his shoes so she couldn't see his expression. She waited for him to finish, not saying anything, and Yamasaki swallowed, throat suddenly dry, not looking forward to rejecting the girl. However, all she did once he stood up was lean in close, lightly but provocatively pressing her body to his, and said, "Since you stayed late today, I'll give you a special bonus next time when I pay you."

And then she pulled away and giggled, and all Yamasaki could muster up was, "Um... thanks..." before he escaped out the door with the feeling of her body still burning against his where she'd touched him.
Once he was a good few metres away, Yamasaki paused by a wall to calm himself. He really had meant to tell Kaori that he couldn't have that kind of relationship with her, hadn't intended to lead her on in any kind of way, but she hadn't given him much of a chance to do anything. And just now, when she'd pressed herself against him... he'd panicked. He'd needed to get out.

Yamasaki sighed and began his walk to the bus stop.
It was warm and still outside, quiet but for the sharp chirp of crickets and the soft flutter of moths, drawn to the nearby street lamps. It was as he passed underneathone, skin tinted orange by the light, that he heard three pairs of footsteps approaching him from behind. At first he assumed they'd walk past him. He was ambling along at a relatively slow pace, since his bus wouldn't be arriving for a while, but they stayed the same distance apart, the group behind him speeding up and slowing down to match Yamasaki's pace.

He swallowed, too nervous to look behind him to see who it was, and broke into a slow jog. The increase in the speed of footsteps indicated that the group behind him had done the same, and his heart lurched into his throat.
If that hadn't been enough to confirm that they were chasing him, they were yelling now, sentences filled with coarse language and insults. Yamasaki's jog turned into a flat-out run, heartbeat pounding in stereo with his footsteps each time his shoes hit the concrete. He ran past the bus stop, hoping that he’d be fast enough to get to the next one at the same time as the bus did. But soon his legs began to tire and his pace decreased, despite his brain screaming at them not to.

He'd never been athletic; he'd always been the one who came in close to last in relays in physical education, and even now, when he was being pursued by three unknown men with seemingly malicious intent, he still couldn't push himself to run that little bit further and faster. It only took them a few more minutes of pursuit before they caught him and had him backed up against a cement wall.
"Scared little fucker, ain't ya?" One of them, a non-descript college-age looking guy slurred, sticking his face so close that Yamasaki could smell his breath. It wafted into his nose, bringing the bitter stench of beer with it.
They'd all been drinking, Yamasaki realized with even more fear, as well as a little shame because he hadn't even been able to out-run a bunch of drunk guys.

"You must think you're a hot piece of shit." One of the other guys leered, and Yamasaki, with a start, realized he knew who he was.
Kaori's ex-boyfriend, Kenta.
"What do you want?" He hazarded asking, although he wasn't sure if it was better to speak or stay silent. Either way, it could provoke them further.
Kenta sneered at him. "What were you doing at my girlfriend's house so late at night, you nerdy little asshole?"
Yamasaki swallowed a lump beginning to form in his throat, "I'm her tutor." He said. "And we have a test in a few days. I was just..."
"You wanna fuck her, right?" The ex-boyfriend said, looking down on him with a sneer. "Bet you want her to suck your tiny cock, right?"
Yamasaki flushed red with embarrassment and anger at the turn of conversation. He wanted to defend himself, but he was too scared.
"But she wouldn't do it." Kenta continued, words slurring together. "Because she doesn't want little nerds like you. What she likes is real men."

"I guess that explains why she broke up with you." The words were out of Yamasaki's mouth before his brain had even had a chance to process them. All three of his attackers stopped still for a moment, beer-logged brains trying to process whether or not he'd really just dared to fling an insult their way.

"What did you just say, you little fag?" The boyfriend said, voice raised from a mixture of alcohol and anger. "You think it's okay to say shit like that? You think it's okay to check out my girlfriend when you're supposed to be tutoring her, you fuck?"
"I can do whatever the hell I like with her." Yamasaki bit back, trying to make himself feel braver through talking big. "And since she broke up with you, it's none of your business."
There was another pause before Kenta almost calmly drew a bottle of beer from his bag and smashed it open on Yamasaki's head. A white blob exploded in front of his vision, and his knees buckled, threatening to send him sprawling to the pavement. Then the ex-boyfriend had him shoved up against the wall, bashing him repeatedly with the shattered remains of the bottle. Blood began to run down Yamasaki's face, mixing with the beer that had showered his body. He may have been screaming, but he couldn't be sure.

It barely mattered, didn't even register, when he slumped to the ground and the bottle was replaced by a foot, kicking his already wounded head. The words being shouted at him no longer sounded like a language he understood, and the foot ramming into his face showed no signs of stopping until a light flicked on in one of the houses across the road. It was followed by the sound of a door opening, and then a man's voice.

"What's going on out there? Is anyone hurt? I heard screaming."
The three attackers fled, leaving Yamasaki crumpled and motionless on the road side.
By the time the elderly man had hobbled over from his home to where he'd seen what he'd thought looked like a dark, curled up human shape slumped on the sidewalk, there was nothing left there but a pool of blood and beer and shards of a broken glass bottle.

~*~*~*~

It turned out that Nishito didn't have to wait as long as he'd expected he would for his sister to be out of their mother's clutches. It was Eri who told him the news, that his sister had found a hostel to stay in situated somewhere between her university and where she worked her part time job. Apparently she'd moved out promptly after their conversation, and told Eri to tell her brother that he could stop sending their mother cheques as soon as she had settled in.

"See, your sister does care about what you think." Eri said, all cheerful to be the bearer of good news. "She just needs a bit of time to digest and think about what the things you say, but that's all."
Nishito graced her with one of his rare real smiles, and then went to call his sister to talk about the details; perhaps even to see if she was doing alright. Eri listened to Nishito's half of the call, sitting at the dining room table, sipping at a cup of hot tea as she did.

"Are you sure you won't let her talk you back into the house and make you start working full time? .... No, I mean once she finds out I'm going to stop sending her the cheques." Eri watched him roll his eyes. "No, I do trust you, it's her I don't trust, and I know how manipulative she can be. ... Look, just be careful, okay? I can't be around to take care of you forever, you know."
The conversation went on for a few more minutes – Nishito's calls never lasted very long, considering he didn't believe in talking for the sake of talking – before he said his abrupt goodbye's and take care's and hung up.
Eri beamed at him once he was off the phone, and asked, "So, has everything been worked out?"

He nodded to affirm, but suddenly looked very tired. "Yeah, as long as she can hold out and doesn't end up being tricked back into that bitch's clutches, everything's been sorted out." He stretched and yawned, and Eri wondered if he was just particularly exhausted right now, or if he always looked this old. "I'm not sure what to do with myself now." He continued. "I can't even remember how long I've been waiting for the day she wouldn't have power over me anymore."

"You'll think of something." Eri reassured him, voice warm and encouraging. She was thrilled with the turn of events. Since long before she'd even met him, Nishito had been consumed by this drive to cut all ties with his mother, while at the same time unable to leave his sister in a position where she could be used. But now that it was over, she hoped that he could put all of this aside and finally start to live life for himself – do the things he really wanted to do.

"Maybe I will." He replied. Then, "I'm going to go and lie down. I need a rest."
Eri nodded, and let him go. That was another thing he liked about her. She didn't try to follow him all over the place and insist that she go and lie down with him or anything like that. It was no wonder he was so fond of her. The sufficient amount of time they spent apart was probably what had brought them so close together.

Nishito lay down on his bed on top of the covers, and allowed himself to go limp. A lot of the tension he usually had in his body had disappeared after the phone call with his sister, and it left him feeling weak and tired.
Maybe if he took a nap, he'd feel better. Nishito closed his eyes.


"I fucking hate NEWS." You tell a brunet boy who, if you recall correctly, is named Uchi. And although this is not something you'd usually bother saying aloud, you do agree with yourself. If something has already happened and nothing can be done about it, then what's the point of making a big fuss about it? That's why you’ve made sure that no newspapers will ever be delivered to your apartment. If they were, you'd just have to throw them out, and that'd be an extra hassle that you don't need.

Uchi seems a little hesitant, and you feel yourself getting annoyed. You know that you probably shouldn't, because people have their own opinions, and it's pointless to get mad at them, so you almost never waste your time on it. But you are annoyed, and you can't do anything about that either.

"What the hell, Uchi? I thought you hated NEWS as well. Don't tell me you're going soft and starting to enjoy yourself. I'm so fucking sick of travelling between Osaka and Tokyo that I'm about ready to jump in front of the train instead of riding on it."

It looks like Uchi has gotten fed up with your attitude, because he clicks his tongue and rolls his eyes. "If I'm going soft and starting to enjoy myself, can you give me one reason as to why that's a bad thing, Ryo-chan?" He asks, calling you by that funny nickname of his. You can never quite figure out how he got Ryo out of Akira or Nishito, but you know that you like Uchi, despite not really knowing who he is. You can tell by that way that you can never really bring yourself to be truly mad at him.

Except, apparently, when it comes to NEWS. Which you're starting to suspect is a completely different sort of news from what you had assumed it was.
"But what about Kanjani8?" You say, and you're embarrassed by the way your voice has taken on what almost sounds like a whine.

"What about Kanjani8?" Uchi repeats, and you think he sounds like he's mocking you. "I love Kanjani8 and you know it. But does that mean I can't like NEWS as well? Can I have fun with both groups, or is that illegal, Ryo-chan?"

You're getting dangerously close to pouting, and Uchi, although he doesn't know you, knows you well enough to tell, because he laughs and pats you on the back.
"Masuda is really nice, and Kato, Kusano and Koyama are really funny. And you're already good friends with Yamashita, so I don't see why you're still being so negative." Uchi says.

"You and Yamapi are the only reasons I can tolerate this group." You reply, wondering who 'Yamapi' is.
"What about that Tegoshi kid?" Uchi says. "He's so cute."
You snort, and then cringe inside your head because snorting is such an undignified thing to do. But for some reason it doesn't seem as if you care much, because you keep talking. "What about him? His mother used to dress him in skirts, and now that she doesn't anymore, his fashion sense has taken a turn for the worse."

Uchi surveys you, seemingly to try and figure out if you're joking. "You're kidding, right, Ryo-chan? Have you not noticed how Tegoshi looks up to you? The kid practically worships the ground you walk on."
"Yamapi's the one who's his beloved senior colleague. Not me." You spit back, but you can tell that you're only putting on a show now because you're flustered.
"Yeah, but he's decided that it’s you he loves now." Uchi says, and rolls his eyes as though it's obvious, and you should have already noticed.

"I..." You say, but suddenly all the fight has gone out of you. 'Tegoshi looks up to me? Tegoshi actually likes me?' Is what you're thinking, but you don't know why. After all, you've had other dreams that Tegoshi was in, and he's always sitting in your lap and being cutesy, and declaring that he loves 'Ryo-tan', so you're not sure why it's coming as a surprise.
Maybe all of that never happened in this dream. Somehow that bothers you – the real you, not the you who says and does strange things that you can't control – but you don't know why. It's not like you know these people in real life. You shouldn't care if Tegoshi sits in your lap or not, because he doesn't exist outside your head. Except you do care. You really do.

Suddenly, Uchi bursts into peals of laughter.
"What?" You ask snarkily, dangerously close to getting grumpy again.
Uchi smirks. "I saw a smile." He says, dragging the last word out.
You want to punch the smug expression off his face, but instead you turn your back to him and hastily find something to preoccupy you. It's definitely not to hide the fact that you're blushing though.
Fucking Uchi.

~*~*~*~

Before Shige and Masuda had woken up, Koyama and Tegoshi had clung almost religiously to the hope that Yamapi would regain consciousness quickly. Because, although Massu was Tegoshi's important person, and Shige was Koyama's best friend – despite the fact that both of them desperately wished for all four of their band mates to regain conciousness – both Koyama and Tegoshi had been desperate for Yamapi to wake up first. It's not that they were playing favourites; it was just that Yamapi always knew what to do. If Yamapi woke up, they knew that everything would be okay, because when Yamapi was in control, things just magically went right.

In fact, they'd decided, the moment that Yamapi woke up and went to visit the other members, they'd probably wake up the moment he walked into the room.
That's why, during the long days and even longer nights when the two of them had started to lose hope, they'd remind each other that they just needed to wait until they had their leader back. Then everything would be okay. Then they could relax, because as long as Yamapi was in charge, he'd make sure everything was alright.

Of course now that they had Massu and Shige back – though whether it was really Shige or not was debatable – Tegoshi and Koyama felt much less lost than before. Still, there were times when Tegoshi caught sight of his short patch of hair in the mirror, or times when Seisuke had no recollection of a memory that Koyama held dear to his heart, that the two of them wished Yamapi would come back, wake Ryo up – even if it meant having to kiss him, like in Sleeping Beauty – and tie up the loose ends left over from their accident.

Koyama hadn't visited him for a while. It wasn't because he was busy with work – he'd made time to visit all the others, after all – though that was part of it. It was mainly because he hated seeing Yamapi limp and motionless in his hospital bed. Yamapi was the one who could do anything, no matter what the odds were. To see him so helpless made Koyama feel as though everything was impossible.

The agency kept them updated on Ryo and Yamapi's statuses, though there was never any change, but Koyama remained optimistic that no change was probably a good thing. When Shige and Massu had woken up, there had been no change in their physical states right before it happened, so it just seemed logical to him that the same would happen with Ryo and Yamapi.

So while they were at work one day, it wasn't surprising when their manager came in and announced, "I've been told to report on Nishikido and Yamashita-san's statuses."
All of them stopped to listen, though only with a half-ear, since they heard this same speech several times a week.
"There's no change with Nishikido-san, but we've just heard from Yamashita-san's family that he's regained consciousness. We've yet to confirm this ourselves, but it's more than likely true."
At first Koyama didn't think he'd heard correctly, but looking around at Shige, Massu and Tegoshi's surprised faces, their manager couldn't possibly have said anything else.

"He... Yamapi's awake?" Koyama asked, and his own voice sounded far away to his own ears. He got a nod in reply.
"Yes, late last night we're told."
Koyama smiled. "Oh." He said. "That's good."
Then he burst into tears.
~*~*~*~