Gyoza.

One word was all it took to get his attention.  He would stop whatever he was doing, no matter what it was, if you muttered the magic word.  The sound of the word on his ears made him swear he could taste the gyoza already in his mouth the moment he heard the first syllable.

The rest of the members never really understand his obsession.  Sure, Keii-chan had an unhealthy relationship with ramen and would sometimes be caught by the other members downing it on tour at 4 am in a fit of nerves, and don’t even mention Shige and curry rice.  They all had their own culinary vices, but none even came close to the way that Massu regarded gyoza. 

If there was a Church of Gyoza, he would have been worshipping there every day, no, he would be the head of that church.  One time, he had even mentioned forming it when he was drunk out of his mind on extra-strong liquor one of Jin’s friends had brought back from Korea.  Pi had convinced to Jin to let Massu come to the party (after all who could resist his cute pleading and smiling)?  After downing seven shots of the mysterious neon green liquid and puking on Jin’s favorite pair of skinny jeans and then nearly falling off the balcony, he wasn’t invited to Jin’s parties again.

One random time in Kabukicho, he found himself literally risking his life for gyoza.  The man brandishing a sharp stiletto knife had poked his hard belly threateningly, demanding his money.  Massu’s child-like face had crumpled and he acquiesced, but insisted on keeping 550 yen for the gyoza that he was on his way to get at an izakaya (they were famous despite being in a shady back-alley).  The assailant was stunned but let him keep the small amount, running off with the rest of the money in his wallet and his expensive cell phone.  Despite the fact that he had just been mugged, the pungent smell of the gyoza and the lovely warm sensation of the meat dumplings sliding down his throat made everything all better.

Gyoza had even wrecked havoc on his (albeit few) romantic relationships.  Massu didn’t understand that not everyone found the little pieces of heaven so enthralling.  Tegoshi had been nice and hooked him up with an adorable classmate, a sweet girl who was an education major and wanted to be a kindergarten teacher.  Tesshi was sure Massu wouldn’t screw this one up.

But he did, via letting the conversation drift towards their favorite foods.  She smiled and waxed poetic about Korean food, and politely asked what his favorite food was.  Massu took a breath and then began talking about gyoza with stars in his eyes.  After five minutes of hearing about where the best gyoza were in Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe and a small village in Nagano-ken, his date’s eyes were the size of dinner plates.  She was aghast and a bit frightened by his passion for the food.

Oblivious, Massu rambled on and on.  After ten more minutes (fifteen minutes total so far) of describing the subtle nuances of the grinding of the meat in gyoza fillings and the differences of salt levels in brands of dipping sauce, she excused herself to the restroom.

He was utterly flabbergasted when she never came back.

“I don’t get it Tegoshi! We talked about movies and food….” he whined to his bandmate.  Sighing, Tegoshi shrugged but then a light bulb appeared above his head figuratively (although Ryo would swear that sometimes it would really appear like symbols appear above Sims characters since it was a rare event Tegoshi thought about anything but hair products and perfumes). 

“Did gyoza enter the conversation?” he asked apprehensively.

Massu nodded, his eyebrow raising in a questioning manner. 

“UGH!” Tegoshi squealed, turning as his hands flew up in exasperation.

“HEHEHEHE” Ryo laughed nearly falling off the couch as he put two and two together and figured out that not once (the last time involved a friend of Yamapi’s that ran away due to his insistence on visiting four gyoza places in one night), but TWICE, Massu’s gyoza love had caused him problems in the love department.

“HEY MASSU, IF YOU LOVE GYOZA SO MUCH WHY DON’T YOU MARRY IT?” he chortled, face scrunching up as he laughed so hard his sides began to ache. 

“Shut the hell up!” Massu retorted, pouting. 

“Although I would if I could….” he murmured wistfully.

Ueda sat there, letting the rain soak into his clothes. It slipped off of his pale skin and onto the concrete underneath him. His eyes stared at the ground, searching for something he knew he wouldn’t find. Brown hair was plastered to his face messily, and his jeans tightened uncomfortably around his skinny legs.

“Hold me,” he whispered to the wind. He knew not a single soul would hear him, and that made his crack lift with happiness and shatter with pain. Ueda felt as if he was drowning within himself, even though the oxygen flooded his brain and lungs rapidly. Tears mixed with rain, both streaking down his face.

“Never let me go.” His voice ghosted across the small park, reaching the ears of none. Numbness came over him, and he could no longer feel the rain pattering on his back.

“Don’t forget me.” Ueda drew his knees up to his chest, burying his face in the chilling fabric of his pants. He bit his lip and almost ripped through the tender skin, and he wondered if his blood would mix with the rain in a beautiful swirl, or instead, stain it a dirty and sinful color. The boy shook his head and let his body lean on the tree next to him.

“Don’t leave me.” His eyes were devoid of any emotion and his body numb with pain. He closed his eyes, ignoring the tears which flowed from them freely. His eyelids drifted closed, hiding the coffee-tinted orbs within.

“Just hear my voice,” he choked out. Only the sound of the rain reached his ears, not even a single human voice. “Save me,” Ueda pleaded. The only warmth he could find was in the rough bark of the tree next to him. There were no kind words which would soothe his soul, and even if there was, they wouldn’t be enough to bring him back to reality.

He sighed. Rain washed over his pain coldly, and dark shadows were splayed across his face messily. Maybe he could just sit here…and let himself fall asleep…

His eyelids felt heavy with lead and depression, and Ueda faintly wondered if he would ever wake up afterwards. He didn’t have the strength to open them now, and maybe he wouldn’t later. A shiver ran over his body, shaking life into him.

“What are you doing?”

The voice was smeared with disgust and void of pity. Ueda smiled to himself like a maniac. Maybe an angel had come down to bring him away from this damned place. He opened his eyes, ready to meet the glowing figure.

Only Nishikido Ryo stood in front of him.

The crazed smile dropped from Ueda’s face and into a frown. Red lines stained his eyes, and the tears were starting to burn his cheeks.

“What do you want?” He was in no mood to deal with the egotistical man who hated him.

Hate. Ueda nearly spat at the ground. Such a useless and pointless matter to the world.

“Coward. Weakling.”

Ueda sat there, taking all of Ryo’s insults at face. His heart thudded quietly, agreeing with each one thrown at him. He couldn’t help but feel hurt slightly, however. He already knew all these things, and Ryo felt the need to throw all of them right back at him.

“Okay,” Ueda whispered, startling Ryo.

He pushed himself off the ground, ignoring the curious gaze on his back. Ueda turned to face the emptiness and forgot that Ryo existed. There was no need to lie to himself anymore. There wasn’t a force that compelled a disgustingly fake smile to his face. He didn’t want to pretend that he was happy anymore.

He just wanted to drown in his own tears, and then sleep.

Ueda stretched his arms, the crack and pops of his shoulders showing him the fact that he was still painfully alive.

He turned to look at Ryo once. They stared at each other for a few fleeting moments.

“Thanks,” Ueda murmured.

He found himself being held by a pair of strong arms and a face buried in the crook of his neck. His body tensed up uncomfortably before relaxing.

“I’m sorry.”

Ueda let the last of his tears mix with the rain.

“Don’t apologize. That just makes me feel worse.”

He thought he heard Ryo sniff.

“What do you want then?”

Ueda’s eyelids slipped close once more.

“Just drown with me.”

“Yay! Thanks Keii-chan!” Massu screeched as he unwrapped a tray of brownies. The Western treat was one of his favorite things in the world to eat and Keii-chan made the best brownies ever (his sister did actually, but he would never tell). Everyone in NEWS had received a batch of some type of foodstuff made by Koyama, and everyone was smiles all around. Edible presents were great, and they knew that he had paid attention to each and every one of them, which even though some of them wouldn’t admit (Ryo), made them happy. Member-ai was at an all-time high, and Koyama was grinning from ear to ear.

After everyone had gone with their presents (Tegoshi giving everyone accessories, Massu massive boxes of gyoza, Yamapi mix CDs and Ryo strangely out of character really nice scarves), only Shige was left. Shige always surprised everyone with his choice of presents. Last year, everyone had received seemingly random things (like Massu a Beatles calendar). But after a few months, everyone was surprised that the presents made sense and Shige had somehow seen that they would like the interest he had introduced them to (like Keii-chan who received a small bonsai tree).

This year, Shige wanted to appeal to their more intellectual interests. Although he was known as the “Smart one” of NEWS, it became annoying sometimes. No one in NEWS was stupid, he just chose a difficult major because he enjoyed it. Even though Keii-chan could act like an airhead sometimes, he was actually witty and incredibly knowledgable. But the rest of NEWS did lack in one field Shige was skilled in: English. Due to his shyness, he avoided speaking it, but when they went to New York, Koyama was stunned at the way Shige handled English. So Shige aimed to improve everyone’s English skills with his present.

“What is this?” Tegoshi asked curiously as he pulled the square object from the silver wrapping. A small leather-bound book and a blocky plastic and paper object were enclosed in everyone’s package. Keii-chan grinned as he flipped through the pages of the book. “It’s a dictionary and a word-of-the-day calendar!” Shige exclaimed excitedly. Massu looked baffled but happy, and Ryo looked intrigued rather than the hostility Shige had expected.

“Thank you!” Yamapi said in accented but clear English after everyone had figured out what it was.

Pleased with the effect his gift was having, Shige looked forward to the English conversations they would soon be having.

April in the NEWS Dressing room….four months later
—————————————————————————————————————————–

Shige’s gift of making their English better backfired horribly and he was paying for his choice of gift dearly. From Ryo using the dictionary solely to find ways to insult him (with best intentions Shige had gotten the most comprehensive dictionary available including slang) to Keii-chan now being able to yammer his ear off in two languages (okay one and a half languages if that was possible), Shige had never regretted a Christmas gift more than now.Everyone had sprawled around the dressing room, and to Shige’s chagrin, they still held interest in the dictionary and calendar.

Frequently, it would cause all hell to break loose in the dressing room.

Like today.

“Massu, you fatty, are you sure you should eat that?” Tego teased, giggling with glee. “Shut up ,you anagram!” Massu screamed, glad to be able to use one of the words he had learned from his calendar which he looked at every day when he woke up. “Just because I don’t starve myself like you doesn’t mean I’m not attractive,” he snarled. Tegoshi burst into tears and ran to Shige. “Shiiiigeeee” he sobbed. “Massu called me an anagram…” wailing, he clung to Shige, who was puzzling through an example case in his law book. “An….anagram?” Shige looked at him puzzled.
He thought for a second. “Do you mean anorexic?” he said, trying to soothe Tegoshi’s nerves.
“NOOO!!! AN ANAGRAM!!!!” Tegoshi cried out, running out of the room in the direction Keii-chan went in.

“What. the. f***.” Yamapi grimaced, looking between the printout of English lyrics in his hand and the dictionary he had received from Shige. “Jin…” he said, shaking his head. Shige squinted his eyes behind his thick-framed glasses and almost sighed out loud when he saw the lyrics were to Akanishi Jin’s song “Lovejuice”. Shige had kept his mouth shut on the obscenity contained within that song for years, and Yamapi hadn’t cared enough to decode the song, but apparently now due to his renewed interest in English (he would call Jin all the time just to talk to Jin’s annoyance) he finally found the true meaning of it.

“Hey you…” Ryo said in English, smiling all too brightly for Shige’s taste. “HEY YOU DUHM-ASS!” he continued, reading out loud phonetically from his dictionary and snickering at Shige. Shige scrunched up his face, sick and tired of this craziness around him. Couldn’t a man get a break to study?

Just that second his cell vibrated. Retrieving it from his pocket, he groaned when he saw who it was from. Keii-chan. Who insisted on texting in English even though half the time it made no sense, often garbled with random Japanese. Keii-chan was smart, but English was not exactly his forte.

“Tegoshi was hurts. Why is Tegoshi sad? Watashi happy ja nai….”

was all he read before he growled, snapping his phone shut.

“I’VE HAD IT! NO MORE ENGLISH!” Shige shrieked, arms waving and stomped out of the dressing room.

Massu looked up stunned. “Someone needs to cram down,” he muttered.

Ryo flipped through his dictionary furiously.

“You’re still a BAH-STERD SHIGE!”

The next Christmas, Shige got them all fruitcakes.

“Ryo-chan, I think you’re going the wrong way.”

“Careful, Massu. He’s going to start bitching if you keep talking.”

“Oh SHUT UP, Tegoshi.”

“See? Point proven!”

“You priss. I’m trying to drive guys, so be quiet.”

“Ryo, I thought we were supposed to be going east.”

“We are going east.”

“This is south.”

“Shhh, Shige. Don’t you still want to be able to have babie-“

“We. are. going. east.”

“No, we’re not, Ryo-chan! Look! The s-“

“Has anyone seen my comb and curling iro-“

“You brought a CURLING IRON on our roadtr-“

“Of course. You did-“

“Ashita kara mata nichi getsu k-“

“Shut your face, Koyama.”

“Hey! Don’t tell Koyama to s-“

“Oh, just because you love him, Shige.”

“HEY. HE IS MY BEST FRIEND, OKAY, YAMA-“

“Guys! I can’t find my curling ir-“

“SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR DAMN CURLING IRON. I’M DRIVIN-“

“Ryo, no need to be so feisty.”

“Go suck a dick, Koyama.”

“Already did!”

“THAT’S DISGUSTING! WE DON’T NEED TO KNOW THAT!”

“But, Massu! Ryo-chan said I should, so I just t-“

“GUYS. GUYS. GUYS. WHERE IS MY FREAKING CURLING IRON?”

“Oh, right here!”

“Thanks, Yamapi. Now Tegoshi can shut his pretty face.”

“Why thank you! I’ll take that as a compliment!”

“ASHITA KARA MATA NICHI GETSU KA HORA SU-“

“KOYAMA, SHUT THE FUCK UP.”

“DON’T TELL HIM TO S-“

“I CAN’T FIND MY BRUSH!”

“AH, IT’S RIGHT HERE, TEG-“

“YAMAPI, WHY ARE YO-“

“RYO-CHAN, LOOK OUT FOR THAT TRE-“

“WE’RE GOING TO CRASH! WE’RE GONNA CRASH! WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!”

“GODDAMNIT SHUT U-“

CRASH.

“…you guys are paying for my car.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Ryo-chan, you suck at driving.”

“…”

Koyama found himself watching the car drive off in the distance without him.

Summary: Jin loves Halloween. His party every year is awesome, but this year has a special twist…

      Jin smiles at his reflection in the mirror.  It suits him, he thinks, the tight black leather pants, the blonde wig and stretchy off-the-shoulder black top.  Pursing his lips at himself, he chuckles and wiggles around a bit more to get more of his ass inside the tight as can be pants that he had to lie down to get into.  The only part of his costume he wasn’t looking forward to were the spike-heeled black shoes that stood ominously in his closet.  It was worth the effect, he chided himself, and slid them on just as the first guests arrived at his door.  Ever since he had studied English in LA, his annual Halloween party had become an American tradition he had held fast to every year.  Halloween was his favorite holiday and he intended to celebrate it in style. 

Ueda, Koki, Junno and Maru were standing there, slack-jawed when Jin answered the door.

Ueda blanched and started chuckling deeply, he was too cool for a costume but Junno had nagged him to the point of no return and he had found a yukata at the last minute.

Junno smiled like the sun and said “Cool Costume!” (he himself was clad in a storm-trooper costume he had made out of scraps he had found behind the Jimusho, but somehow a sequined stormtrooper just isn’t as cool).

Maru stood there, his eyes as wide as dinner plates as he took in the sight of Jin wearing tight black leather capris, black high-heels and a skin-tight top. Junno had talked him into dressing like an Ewok, and Maru, ever the obliging yes man, said sure. He had wondered why Jin had been watching what he ate like a hawk, and the answer was right there. 

“What the hell Akanishi?” Koki said before bursting into laughter. He had dressed up like Flava Flav, who was an awesome rapper (in Koki’s mind).  The clocks around his neck clacked as he chuckled.

Jin merely smirked as he heard the sputtering cough come from Kame’s lips and his eyes reflected surprise and something the other members never noticed, thankfully for both Jin and Kame.

———–Two Months Earlier—————-

“FUN FUN WE HIT THE STEP STEP!” Junno screamed, almost off-key as he tried to match the Exile song marching across the karaoke screen. Koki shook his head, Maru had fallen asleep in a puddle of beer on the table and Ueda was texting someone, his lips curling upward almost into a smile. 

Kame looked at Jin and Jin shrugged helplessly.  As the song drew to a close, Jin stole the karaoke machine and punched in a song that he knew Kame knew at least a little of.  Since Maru and Ueda were off in a world of their own Jin figured what the hell and put on “You’re the One That I Want” from Grease.  He knew Kame could follow the words for the most part, and they had watched that movie enough times (in secret, of course) Kame did know the basic melody of it.

The karaoke video appeared and since they had sprung for a nice posh place this time, the video actually had John Travolta and Olivia Newton John singing to each other, Olivia in tight leather capris, high heels and her “bad girl” look and John in his letterman’s sweater.

Koki appeared ready to fall asleep, but was jolted awake by the shock of seeing Kame and Jin sing the American song about wanting each other and sex…he thought?  He wasn’t sure, his English had never been very good and besides, this wasn’t a rap song so he wasn’t sure what it was about (he knew what rap was about though man, for sure).

Junno wasn’t stunned, but then Junno wasn’t stunned by much.  He tried to sing along and enjoyed the parts where it when “WOOhoohoo Honey” and sang along with both parts.  Seeing nothing wrong with the song (and not really understanding it anyways) he clapped his hands as the song drew to a close.

Ueda was just annoyed by the noise but thankful that Junno was away from the microphone.

When Maru woke up and insisted on singing a NEWS song, which resulted into an argument with Ueda because how dare they do anything that has to do with Ryo, noone noticed when Kame sidled up next to Jin and muttered
“You know, you’d look pretty hot in that outfit that chick wore in the video.”

Jin merely giggled and smiled at Kame.  But at the back of his mind, he knew exactly what to do with that little remark. 

Jin never forgets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tegoshi walked into the KAT-TUN dressing room.

“Tegoshi-kun, what are you looking for?” Maru asked. It wasn’t every day they saw a NEWS member.

“My hairbrush…” Tegoshi frowned, searching around the mirrors. His eyes locked onto the comb which Kame was currently using. “There it is!” He walked over and snatched it out of the idol’s hands.

“Your’s?! Jin bought this one for me! He said it was rare or something.”

Tegoshi stared in shock.

“Jin told me he bought it for me because it reminded him of me.”

The two stared at the figure walking out the door.

“BITCH!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Kame, what’s something you’re not proud of?”

The idol turned, surprised. He looked at Ueda and raised an elegant eyebrow.

“Something I’m not proud of?” he echoed quietly. Kame stared at the ceiling, losing himself in his thoughts. He bit his lip in contemplation. After a couple minutes passed, he turned to Ueda.

“Losing my virginity to Akanishi.”

Ueda fell from the couch, Taguchi laughed out loud, and Maru looked like he was about to puke. Jin glared, pouting his full lips.

“At least I didn’t lose my virginity to you,” Jin spat venomously.

Kame laughed.

“Oh, you freaking whore.”

We do enjoy poking fun at our dear idols, but we will put warnings if there is to be any bashing of any JE boy. Appropriate warnings will be given to smut, yaoi, etc.

Comments are very much loved and appreciated. Hope you enjoy your stay here!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yamada slapped at the hands which played with his cheeks.

“Chinen, stop it.”

The hands kept poking his skin, irritating the older boy to no end. Yamada growled. He had just fallen asleep, too!

“Chinen, I’m trying to sleep.”

His face was bombarded with pinches and pokes, his ears filling with giggles.

“Damnit, Chi-“

“Yama-chan! I have cake!”

Yamada’s anger slightly disappeared before sleep took over him again. He laid his head back down on the cool desk.

“Maybe later. I want to sleep, okay?”

Fingers stopped their amusement on his head. Yamada was surprised. He didn’t think Chinen would give up that easily.

Messy frosting was shoved into Yamada’s face. It got in his perfectly styled hair, all over his cheeks, and some into his eyes. Yamada licked his lips sadly, knowing he would never be able to get sleep like this.

“Fine. Be that way, bitch.” Chinen snarled, stomping his way out of the empty classroom. He left a colorful string of curse words behind him.

Yamada watched the boy leave, wiping some icing off of his face. He sighed.

“I hate that he has to grow up.”

The boy sighed, relishing in his solitude. He let his face bask in the sunlight, knowing he looked ridiculous with the white frost on his face. Yamada snuggled in the warmth of his Horikoshi outfit which laid on his arms comfortably.

“It’s just puberty,” he reassured himself, thinking that Chinen would skip back to him in no time.