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Journey to the Stars
(or the Idiotic Love Story of Tegoshi and his Boyband) 9/12 by Tha Wrecka
See part 0 for details.
9.
Tegoshi noticed the changing of seasons; the warm, fresh smells in the air; the lighter mornings and sounds of birdsong. It invigorated him and he wanted to soak himself in the beauty of the season.
Tegoshi looked over at Koyama and Shige sitting next to each other at the end of the room. They weren't looking at each other, but every time Koyama started to look like he needed something Shige reached over and gave it to him before he could ask. Tegoshi wasn't sure whether that was freaky or cool, but either way it was leading to the formation of an interesting idea.
Shige and Koyama were touching all along their sides. Whenever Koyama's way of speaking moved his body too hard his arm flailed about and rubbed against Shige's but didn't lose contact with him. They looked like they ought to be a couple, Tegoshi thought, and then decided that this meant they should be one and that he was the best person to bring this about.
Tegoshi hadn't ever tried matchmaking before so he didn't really know what was involved but he thought it couldn't possibly be all that hard. Plus, he knew Koyama and Shige best so it had to be easy to handle them.
Tegoshi thought about it and the more he thought about it the more he really wanted to get them together. Well, they didn't actually have to get together. It'd be enough if they would make out. That would be really hot. Still, he thought that they were already so sweet that wouldn't it be nice if they were together like that. They already finished each other's sentences half the time, anyway. It was like they were halfway there and the only thing missing was the hot sex.
Tegoshi could just imagine that, too. Kei-chan would tear off Shige's clothes and Shige would touch all Kei-chan's muscles and...
"Tegoshi, you're drooling," Kei-chan said, his voice cutting clean through Tegoshi's fantasies.
Tegoshi blinked, wiped his face and tried to look innocent.
Tegoshi thought he'd start small.
First he tried bringing Shige up in conversation with Koyama a lot. That only made Kei-chan look at him strangely and ask if he had a secret crush on Shige. Tegoshi frantically denied it, eyes wide.
Tegoshi thought that perhaps that approach had been too subtle and it was time for something sneakier.
Kei-chan said he was going down the street to the convenience store to get a drink and that everyone should place their orders with him if they wanted anything.
"Maybe you should take Shige," Tegoshi suggested with a mischievous look on his face.
"...Ahh, okay," Kei-chan said, looking confused. "Shige do you want to come with me?"
Shige looked up from his very thick, very boring book. "No. Why would I?"
"Ah, okay then," Koyama said and began to leave. "Bye bye!"
Tegoshi frowned.
Shige had to go return a DVD to a friend so Tegoshi thought it was time he tried again.
"Hey, Shige," he said, grabbing Shige's elbow before he could leave.
"Yeah?" Shige said, looking up to Tegoshi as he picked up his bag.
"You should take Koyama with you."
"...Why?" Shige asked.
"Don't you think he's looking lonely right now?"
They both looked over at Koyama who was, in fact, having an animated conversation on his phone with a friend. He laughed happily. Tegoshi winced.
"No, he really doesn't," Shige said, looking at Tegoshi like he'd lost his mind, and left.
Tegoshi wasn't ready to give up on this technique so he thought he'd try one last time. Surely there had to be a way to get them alone together and then the rest could take care of itself. Well, it always worked that way in foreign movies, at least.
At just that moment Koyama excused himself from a conversation with Yamapi saying he just had to go to the toilet quickly.
"Take Shige with you!" Tegoshi recommended frantically, hand flying up to point at Kei-chan.
"What? No!" Shige burst out.
Nishikido-kun started laughing.
"Tegoshi," Koyama said carefully, "I can go on my own. I don't need Shige's help with it."
It was at that point that Tegoshi decided that being tricky wasn't working that well, either and he'd have to try a more straightforward approach.
Shige knew what Tegoshi was doing. Tegoshi wasn't exactly subtle about it. Shige wanted to roll his eyes at it but that would mean acknowledging it. Koyama seemed happy to ignore it, by and large, so Shige decided to follow his lead in this. That didn't stop it from being really annoying.
"Kei-chan, I think you should have sex with Shige," Tegoshi declared.
"Wh-what?" Koyama said, flailing a little, and started making strange noises.
"You're going to spend the rest of your life with him, anyway. Why not have sex?"
"What-? Tegoshi!" Koyama seemed shocked - shocked! - at the very suggestion. "You can't just go around having sex with people because it would be convenient."
"Why not?" Tegoshi asked.
"It just doesn't work that way! Also, it's wrong," Koyama replied.
"You say this like sex is a bad thing."
"You're just obsessed with it," Koyama said, nodded.
"I am not!"
"Of course you're obsessed with sex. You're 19."
"Shige isn't obsessed with sex," Tegoshi replied, biting into an apple.
"Shige is completely malformed and also an alien," Koyama said.
"Hey!" Shige yelled from across the room and threw a used tissue at Koyama's head.
No matter what he did to them, Shige and Koyama refused to get together. Sure, he wasn't putting in that much effort but it was still rather frustrating. Tegoshi didn't like it when his plans didn't work out. Tegoshi decided it was time to get other people to help and who better than the rest of the group.
"Massu you have to help me!" Tegoshi said.
"With what?"
"I'm trying to get Shige and Koyama to date each other!"
"Why?" Masuda asked, looking confused.
"Because it'd be cute. And I want to," Tegoshi explained.
"I don't know, Tegoshi..."
"Come on, Massu! Please! It'd be fun," Tegoshi said trying to pull the most beguiling, manipulative look he could. "I'll buy you a cake!"
"You can't just bribe me with food," Masuda protested, half-heartedly.
"I saw a really nice cake shop in Shibuya. I'll buy you honey treats and a really nice hat next time we go shopping," Tegoshi offered. "Please!"
"Fine," Masuda said, giving in to Tegoshi's big smile.
"Thank you, Massu, you're the best!" Tegoshi exclaimed and moved to hug him, splashing the water every which way.
"Tegoshi!" Masuda exclaimed. "Not while we're naked."
And he blushed a very pretty shade of red.
Tegoshi pushed Massu into the room where Shige was reading with a smile and a thumbs up.
"You can do it," he whispered in encouragement.
"Shige," Masuda said, standing awkwardly above the other boy.
"Yes?" Shige said, looking up from his book.
"Tegoshi wants you and Koyama to go on a date."
Shige looked unimpressed. "Tell him I said no."
Tegoshi stood in the hallway, psyching himself up to knock on Nishikido-kun's door and ask for help with such a delicate matter, when Nishikido-kun came barrelling out on his own.
"Tego-nyan!" Ryo said, exuberantly. "Just the person I was looking for!"
"Eh? Ryo-tan was looking for me?"
Ryo slung a conspiratorial arm around Tegoshi's shoulders.
"I just bought a new guitar," Ryo breathed into his ear. "Do you want to see it?"
"I would love that!" Tegoshi exclaimed.
Ryo pulled him inside the hotel room and showed him the instrument, smooth and shiny and new. Ryo let him touch it, smell it and Tegoshi gasped in pleasure.
"It's so beautiful," he said.
Ryo grinned and started to talk about this new song he'd been writing, which led into a discussion of music that lasted hours.
Tegoshi got so distracted that he realised he'd completely forgotten to ask Nishikido-kun for his help at all.
"Yamashita-san, will you help me get Shige and Koyama to-"
"No, leave them alone," Yamapi interrupted.
"But-!"
"No, Tegoshi."
"Fine, then. I'll call Kusano and see if he'll help instead," Tegoshi threatened, pouting like a little boy. He moved to get off the bed but Yamapi grabbed his sleeve and dragged him back down.
"No, you won't," Yamapi replied. "Do I have to distract you to make you stop?"
Yamapi pulled Tegoshi on top of him, anchored his hips with warm and friendly hands.
"...I wouldn't object."
Of course, the next morning Tegoshi was kind of annoyed. His plans hadn't worked out at all, Yamapi told him off and he owed Masuda cake and a hat. It was like he put in that minimal amount of effort for nothing!
Well, sure, he got to spend some very exciting hours having a really cool conversation with Nishikido-kun and he got hot sex so it wasn't a total waste but that didn't stop him from being a little disappointed.
Tegoshi wondered if it was even possible that he could get Koyama and Shige together at all. Matchmaking was a lot harder than he thought.
Tegoshi supposed he should give up on it. He wasn't really feeling energetic about the idea any more, anyway.
"You don't speak to Shige much," Koyama said.
"It's because otherwise we wouldn't be able to contain our incredible sexual tension. If we spoke to each other too often we wouldn't be able to keep our hands off each other," Yamapi said with a very serious face.
"Yes, that's true," Shige said, sliding his tongue out to the side.
Koyama snickered.
"Just the person I wanted to see," Shige said as Tegoshi entered the room.
"Were you talking about me?" Tegoshi asked.
"No, we were talking about sex with Shige," Koyama replied.
"Who's having sex with Shige?" Tegoshi asked. "Or were you making plans?"
"You are going on a snack run with me," Shige commanded, pointedly ignoring the question.
Tegoshi followed obediently.
Tegoshi threw from where he stood by the vending machine and Shige caught the snacks. He sat down on the bench, opening the bag and stuffing a bunch of them into his mouth.
Tegoshi was leaning against the vending machine, opening his drink with dainty fingers.
"Sit down already," Shige said.
Tegoshi strolled over and sat next to Shige's folded legs.
"Are you over that stupid idea about me and Koyama yet?" Shige asked.
Tegoshi hesitated.
"I guess it doesn't matter that it never worked. I mean, I like you guys better like this, anyway," Tegoshi said. "If you were all gooey and stuff all the time you'd never have any time for me."
"Good. He'd make a terrible girlfriend."
"I like having people like Shige in the group. He makes the group's intelligence level not be so low. And if I send him a look it's like he knows what it means. Maybe this is proof that I have succeeded in learning to send people my thoughts," Yamapi said.
"Try to send someone your thoughts right now," Koyama said.
"Hmm," Yamapi said, thinking deeply.
He stared at Ryo, willing him to pay attention and hear what Yamapi was thinking. After a few moments Ryo looked over and rolled his eyes.
"I know; you're thinking that you're an idiot," Ryo said.
"No, that's not it!" Yamapi protested. "You're not playing along very well, Ryo-chan."
"Try it with me!" Koyama demanded.
Yamapi sent Koyama an intense look with all his concentration behind it.
"You want a warm towel?" Koyama guessed.
Yamapi shook his head.
"No? You want a meat bun? You want curry?" Koyama continued to guess. "You want tea?"
"It's not working," Yamapi whined. "It only works with Shige."
"I should ask Shige how he does it," Koyama said with a ponderous look.