New York, Rio, TOKIO - Chapter 3: Home party

[yoru-no-hikaru.livejournal.com]

Pairing: Nagase/Shigeru
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Don't own JE-stuff, or people
Warnings: none really, it's all fluffy
Multi-Chapter


Summary: Shigeru is holding a band party in his room. Taichi's not invited, though, because he might disapprove of the little ones being at such a gathering - not to mention so late at night. But what if he just happens to drop by, then?


Note: I know, it's not Taichi's personality to be all grown-up. But somehow I thought he'd be very protective of the younger band members, watching out for them. Somewhat like an over-protective father, in a way that would be weird again. I think that suits him quite well. ^_^

Nagase hopped up and down the room excitedly.

“When will they be here? When will they be here?” he kept chanting.

Shigeru sighed. “Aren’t you a bothersome child? They will be here soon. Why don’t you try to distract yourself while we’re waiting?”

Nagase blinked. “But they should be here already,” Nagase complained.

“Yes, well, maybe Yamaguchi took a shower, or what not,” Shigeru told him. “I’m sure they’ll be here soon.”

There was a knock on the door.

Shigeru sighed in relief. “See?” he directed at the boy. “Just a few minutes late.”

“Hai, hai,” Nagase sang out, still hopping.

The band leader shook his head as he went to open the door. Then he blinked involuntarily at the visitor.

“Shigeru-kun, sorry to disturb you so late,” Taichi said, bowing. “But I think you took my notes tonight and I still need to practice some links.”

Shigeru just stared at the keyboardist.

“Eh, Shigeru-kun?” Taichi asked carefully. “You okay?”

Shigeru shook his head to clear it, then stuttered, “Oh, er... yeah, fine, thanks. Just.... tired is all. I’ll get your notes.”

Taichi nodded and Shigeru was seriously relieved that he hadn’t asked permission to come in. As he turned around to look for Taichi’s notes, there came Nagase hopping up the hallway, though.

“Shigeru-kuuuuun,” the boy called out, as he reached the door.

However, when he saw the guy standing in the frame, he froze.

Taichi blinked. “Tomo-chan?!”

Nagase smiled awkwardly. “Er.... Hi, Taichi-kun.” He waved innocently.

Trying desperately to clear the situation he thought he’d first let Nagase know that Taichi had actually not been invited.

“Yes, ano... Tomo-chan, it’s okay, Taichi-kun is only here to collect some notes. Apparently I took them by accident.”

Nagase nodded at him. “Okay,” he said and made to retreat silently.

Unfortunately, Taichi was quick.

“And what are you doing here, Tomo-chan?” the keyboardist asked pointedly.

Nagase cursed, then turned back around. “Eto.... I.... homework,” he blurted out as that was the only thing that came to his mind.

“Homework?” Taichi blinked.

The boy nodded. “That’s right, I.... had some trouble and came over to ask for help.”

“You went from your room over here in your pyjamas?” Taichi inquired sceptically.

“I had already changed and didn’t bother to get dressed again,” Nagase shrugged.

Shigeru was quite impressed with the boy’s quick mind and plausible answers. If Taichi gave it a rest at that, they might actually survive this.

Taichi nodded. “I see. Well, then don’t bother with me, Shigeru-kun,” he said, taking off his shoes. “You go back to Tomo-chan, I’ll find the notes alright.”

Before Shigeru could oppose Taichi had gone past him into the living room. Nagase looked helplessly at the band leader, who too was quite at a loss. Unfortunately, there was no escaping. With a firm nod Shigeru grabbed Nagase by the shoulder and they moved back into the living room as well. The keyboardist was standing by the desk where Shigeru usually placed all his notes, roaming through the pages.

“Hah,” he exclaimed triumphantly, as he pulled out a few joined pages from the pile. “Found them.”

“Oh, good then,” Shigeru said, smiling awkwardly. “Well, good night.”

“Right,” Taichi nodded back, then blinked. “Tomo-chan, what kind of homework are you doing?”

Nagase broke out in cold sweat. “Eh?” he asked, looking distressed. “Well.... maths,” he simply blurted out. “I’m not exactly good at maths.”

“So you came over to Shigeru because his mathematic skills are legend,” Taichi remarked.

“Well, I thought I should ask if he could help,” Nagase tried to keep their run going.

However, it seemed that Taichi had finally caught that something was off.

“You came without your books, though?” the keyboardist analysed.

“Oh, that,” Nagase stuttered. “I... I know the exercise, so it’s okay.”

“You’re bad at maths, but you know your exercises by heart?”

Shigeru gulped.

Uh-oh. Not good.

At that moment, there was a new knock on the door. Shigeru closed his eyes in defeat.

Taichi raised his brows. “What’s that? Shigeru-kun, are you holding a remedial maths class in your room?”

Shigeru made one last effort to try and save them. “That might be food delivery. I didn’t have dinner yet and didn’t bother to cook. I’ll go check,” he said quickly.

“You can lead me out then,” Taichi told him and Shigeru knew he was defeated.

As they opened the door, Yamaguchi and Mabo were standing outside, both with pyjamas on. Yamaguchi was holding a pile of pizza packages and a playstation, Mabo was equipped with a spare pillow. Both guys flinched visibly at the sight of Taichi. Shigeru looked at them helplessly.

“What do you know,” Taichi said evenly as he turned back to Shigeru. “It too is food delivery.”

“Taichi-kun,” Yamaguchi exclaimed, trying to sound excited rather than too surprised. “Oh, Shigeru-kun,” he continued. “Sorry, I....” he paused there for a second, trying to find something plausible to say. “I was actually on my way to Sakamoto-kun,” he explained. “But that’s next door, right? So sorry, I guess I’m too worked up because I found Mabo out here wondering about when he should already be in bed. Really, there’s only ever trouble with those kids.” He chuckled desperately.

“Yes, and he’s not even doing his homework like Tomo-chan here,” Taichi added sarcastically.

“Well, I’m done with my homework,” Mabo tried to defend himself.

“That’s good to know. But you, Tatsuya, should seriously re-think your diet, if you and Sakamoto-kun plan to eat 5 pizzas tonight,” the keyboardist told his band mate, pointing at the pile.

“Er.... some other people are coming too?” Yamaguchi offered, smiling innocently.

Taichi sighed. “Okay, either one of you immediately tells me what’s going on around here, or else Johnny will learn about this serious mistreatment of minors.”

“No, no, no, no!!!!!” Shigeru yelled out. “Fine. You win. I’ll tell you everything. Just let me say this beforehand. We really planned to let you in on this anyway. We were just trying to find the right words and moment.”

Taichi sighed exasperatedly. “What now?!”

“Sit down,” Shigeru told him, pointing back into the room.

Nagase smiled. “Now we’re really all together. That’s good,” he decided.

Shigeru smiled at him. “Yes, you said so from the beginning, didn’t you,” he said, patting Nagase’s head.

They sat down in the living room and Shigeru explained how Nagase had come to his room for help. He wisely left out the part about the letters and the fact that Nagase had stayed not only that, but actually every night ever since in his room to sleep. However, he did explain how they had come to meet regularly and that it had only happened twice before (no need to actually let him know that it had really been going for almost 3 months) and that they had discussed inviting him already, but had been insecure about the when and how. Taichi stayed silent for a while after the band leader had finished his explanation.

Then the keyboardist nodded. “Okay, I get it,” he said evenly. “And actually it might be a nice idea to sit together once a week. Spare time activities are good for team work. However, I really disapprove of how you excluded me here,” Taichi pointed out, looking sourly at Shigeru. “No blaming you, Tomo-chan,” he added, smiling at the young boy, “seeing how you actually wanted to be clear from the beginning.”

“But I agreed to keep silent,” Nagase opposed. “If I had really done alright, I would have come and told you as I had wanted to.”

“Such a pure heart,” Taichi sighed, smiling. “Not to worry, there, Tomo-chan. Shigeru-kun and Tatsuya should have known better, they are your seniors and it’s a good thing you do as they tell you. I’m proud of how you spoke your mind, though. You really are a good kid.”

Nagase wanted to speak up again, but Shigeru beat him to it.

“Yes, isn’t he,” the band leader smiled. “Even tonight he wanted to save me from getting into trouble. It’s okay, Tomo-chan,” he assured the boy.

Nagase nodded, smiling back.

Taichi sighed. “Okay, now that we’ve finally cleared everything, why don’t we enjoy the rest of the evening?”

Nagase beamed. “Yays! Let’s play `Need for speed´,” he exclaimed happily.

Shigeru shook his head, laughing. “Fine, you set the playstation up, I’ll get a knife for the pizza.”

They kept sitting together, eating and playing until the late of night. Then there was only one problem left to take care of. Taichi got up as they made to go to bed, looking at Yamaguchi.

“I’ll bring Tomo-chan back to his room,” he declared. “Tatsuya, you take Mabo, yes?”

Yamaguchi nodded, but glimpsed carefully at Shigeru. Nagase looked quite lost.

“Ano...” Nagase said thoughtfully. “I still need some hot milk,” he burst out.

Taichi looked pointedly at him. “Now what – haven’t you been up long enough?”

“I won’t sleep if I don’t get it,” the boy insisted.

Shigeru immediately caught on, even though he had no idea what Nagase was actually planning.

“Fine,” the band leader said, already getting up. “I’ll set something up. Anyone else?”

He looked about the group. Nobody answered, though.

Yamaguchi smiled. “I think we’re fine. Mabo-chan, why don’t we leave first?” he suggested

The drummer nodded. “Yes, I’m really tired. Let’s go to bed.”

The two guys got up, said their farewells and good nights and left Shigeru’s apartment. Taichi sat back down on the couch.

“We won’t stay long,” the keyboardist informed Nagase.

The boy shook his head in affirmation. “No, only to finish my milk,” he stated firmly. “It always makes me sleepy anyway.”

“Fine, then,” Taichi sighed, as Shigeru came back from the kitchen with a cup of hot milk in his hands.

“There you go,” the band leader told Nagase, who accepted the cup happily.

“Domou Arigatou,” Nagase said, bowing slightly. “Ne, Shigeru-kun, you don’t have to stay here while I’m drinking,” he told the older man.

Shigeru blinked.

“There must be a lot of dishes for you to finish,” Nagase pointed out. “We all ate and drank here tonight. So I’ll finish this and you can get to your cleaning up, it’s fine.”

“Oh, that...” Shigeru mused.

Taichi sighed. “No, it’s fine. Shigeru-kun is host, after all. He should stay with you while you’re drinking. I’ll go do the dishes,” Taichi decided.

Shigeru blinked again. “Eh?”

“It’s not good manners to leave your guests with their food and drink,” Taichi insisted.

“It’s not exactly good manners to have your guests clean your dishes for you either,” Shigeru pointed out, earning a dirty look from Nagase.

Fortunately, Taichi waved him off. “Well, strictly spoken I wasn’t your guest tonight. I more like intruded, didn’t I? It’s fine, you stay, I clean up,” he stated, already getting up and leaving for the kitchen.

As soon as the keyboardist was out the door, Nagase quickly drowned his milk and lay down on the couch.

“What are you doing?” Shigeru asked, confused.

“If I’m already sleeping, he won’t wake me up again,” Nagase explained. “Then I can stay.”

Shigeru looked at the boy in amazement and disbelief. “Aren’t you a sneaky brat?”

Nagase grinned, flashing a v-sign, before flopping down onto the couch.

When Taichi returned from the kitchen he found Nagase lying on the couch and Shigeru sitting in his big chair.

“What now?” Taichi asked, pointing at the boy.

Shigeru looked up. “Eh?” He looked over to Nagase. “Oh,” he exclaimed in mock-surprise, “now look at that. Guess he really was more tired than he was ready to admit,” he stated, smiling.

Taichi looked at Nagase’s frame indecisively. “What do we do now?” he asked the band leader.

Shigeru shrugged. “Just leave him here. He seems to be sleeping all tight.”

“Is it okay?” Taichi asked, looking concerned.

“Don’t worry,” Shigeru waved him off. “I’ve taken care of kids before. And I’ve got some spare sheets. He’ll be fine.”

Taichi looked at the boy for another moment, then nodded. “Okay, fine. I’ll leave him to you.”

Shigeru nodded back. “I’ll take good care of him.”

“Well, then, I guess I had better take my leave,” Taichi concluded, bowing slightly as he left.

As soon as the door fell shut Nagase hopped up again. “Yays, worked out alright.”

“But we can’t do this every week,” Shigeru told him.

“By next week we’ll have a good plan, I’m sure,” Nagase pointed out, getting up and running over to the bed, on which he plopped down. “Ah, now I’m tired,” he sighed.

Shigeru nodded. “Same here. That was quite an exciting night. Let’s get some sleep.”

Nagase had already grabbed the sheets and covered himself comfortably. Shigeru smiled at the picture and went to get changed and get some sleep as well.

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Yay, I made it. I hope you liked it. From here the "romance" part will start. I wonder whether it'll be interesting. ^_^"

Chapter 2

Chapter 4