Another Eiji/Daiki and TxN drabble.
7 July 2008 04:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fencer_xI can't stop writing DDDDD: And more so, I can't stop writing about HappyPani >_>
"Who're you texting?" Eiji bumped into Daiki, a bit off balance as he slid into the chair next to him. Their Leader had himself sqirreled away in the corner booth, ignoring the revelry of their post-birthday uchiage, and this was something Eiji just couldn't tolerate. For long, at least. He leaned over as far as he could without toppling into Daiki's lap (which admittedly sounded like a not-bad idea, but was probably best reserved for when both his and the rest of the guests' glasses were a bit emptier).
"Huh?" Daiki looked up over at him, distracted, "Oh, just Motoki-nii. He emailed me before we went on earlier, and I didn't have time to message him back. I forgot about it until just a few minutes ago--hope I don't wake him up." He frowned at the screen, then shut his phone, setting it aside.
Eiji regarded him cautiously, wary when Daiki was so serious in the midst of a party. "Hey, you okay?" he prodded, leaning forward to give them a little more privacy, hardly necessary since the only guests still left at this hour were the ones who weren't planning on going home sober, with Tsuchiya leading the pack as he led them all in a rousing chorus of the Doraemon theme, Besshi and Tecchan backing him up.
Daiki nodded weakly, rubbing his eyes. "I think I'm just tired; it's been a long day."
"Yeah," Eiji agreed, taking a swig from the bottle he'd been nursing for the past thirty minutes that had long since settled to a lukewarm temperature and no longer tasted quite as good. He winced at the taste. "Maybe you should head out?" Daiki seemed to contemplate this, and Eiji added, "You've got a big date tomorrow, after all, wanna look your best."
"Mou, Eiji~!" This elicited the desired response, and Daiki nearly pushed the man off his seat, fighting back a smile.
"Sorry sorry, you're right." He repositioned himself next to the other man. "Not like Wasshi can be picky anyways." He jerked his head to indicate the fourth *pnish* member who was currently fighting drifting off to sleep with his head upon a worried Taizou's shoulder. "You kids'll have a great time, I'm sure." He pinched the cheek nearest to him in an over-affected display of parental affection, and Daiki shoved him away again with a grunt. Eiji relented, moving his hand instead to rest at the nape of Daiki's neck, twisting a few of the longer hairs there in his fingers and soothing the skin flushed from the cramped quarters. "You really should call it a night, Leader. You've run yourself ragged the past few weeks."
Daiki shook his head, motioning to the rest of the room. "It'd be rude; everyone else is still having a good time--"
"Everyone else is drunk out of their minds by now--or on their way there," Eiji reminded him, shaking his own bottle as evidence. "Now--" he brought a finger around with some effort, shaking it in Daiki's face. "Moriyama-sensei says you--" He poked Daiki's nose, "--should go straight home and get in bed. Do not pass Gain, do not collect 20,000 yen, do not jerk off thinking about anyone but me. Straight. To. Bed." The last few words he punctuated with further nose-pokes, prompting Daiki to brush away both Eiji and his lewd remarks.
"You'll make up an excuse for me?"
"No problem--leave it to me. The fuku-Leader is on the job."
"That's partly what I'm afraid of."
"Eh? That's crazy talk, Daiki-chan. I'm a perfectly compe--cometent--"
"--Competent."
"Thanks--competent guy. They'll never notice you're gone." Daiki stood and twisted around to grab his bag and hat, prompting Eiji to give him a sharp pat on the ass. "There's a good boy."
Daiki swatted the hand away, missing it as his fuku-Leader jerked it back like he'd been caught with it in the cookie jar. "Eiji, get a hold of yourself," he sniped, turning back for his bag.
"Love to, Daiki-chan, but we're in public." Eiji couldn't see his face, but he was sure Daiki was rolling his eyes right about now, and smiled at still being able to get a rise out of him even as tired as he was. "Want me to walk you to the station?"
Daiki jangled his keys for show. "I think I can only handle one Moriyama-san at a time. Besides--" He motioned Eiji to scoot aside so he could squeeze by, managing with some effort as Eiji didn't seem all that inclined to move still, "--you're about past the point where I'd trust you to get back on your own."
"Mmm, yeah. Then I'd just have to come home with you."
"I plan on sleeping in in the morning; you think I wanna be woken up at 6 AM because you thought it'd be a great idea to plan overlapping rehearsal schedules with HappyPani?"
Eiji winced, ungrateful at being reminded of the string of rehearsals he had looming before him--his next show was only just over a week away and he'd only read through the scipt a few times over the past few days. With this harsh reminder, the beer he was reluctantly downing now didn't look so tasty, and he pushed it away, staring at it like it had just pulled a fast one on him. "I could just stay up the whole night," he pondered aloud.
Daiki adjusted his bag at his hip and snorted incredulously. "2000 yen says ten minutes after I'm gone you're passed out in that corner and Tsuchiya and Wasshi have to let you stay at one of their places because you're too out of it to get on the right train yourself." He checked his watch quickly. "Speaking of which, crap, the last train to my neighborhood leaves in twenty minutes and I need to recharge my card--I gotta go or I'm going to be paying a lot more than a couple hundred yen to get home." He checked around at the others quickly, then leaned in and stole a short kiss from the still-dazed Eiji. "Don't stay out too late--you're not as young as you used to be, you know."
If Eiji had had the strength and sense of mind, he would've smacked Daiki, but instead he just muttered something between a grunt and a whine as he watched Daiki bid his farewells to the rest of the group.
For seven years now they'd been Leader and fuku-Leader. They'd been friends for longer, and more-than-friends for shorter, but their relationship really hadn't changed all that much considering.
A vibrating in his pocket let Eiji know he'd gotten a text message, and he wiggled around in his seat trying to reach his phone. After a moment's awkward stretching, he finally pulled it out, flipping the display open, and read the message.
"Happy Birthday, fuku-Leader. Wanted to ride a different Moriyama-san tonight, too bad. Call me in the morning so I know not to put out a police report~"
He smiled and snapped it back shut again, then wandered back over to help Tsuchiya entertain their guests some more.
"So it was a good show?" Yamashita queried offhandedly as he filled out the form to send off to the manufacturers, ticking boxes left and right and scribbling notes in the margin that whoever had to read would be hard-pressed to decipher the scribbling. "I wish I could've made it but, alas, your fans won't let me take more than one night off a week."
Takashi smiled as he pieced through the racks of new arrivals in Gain, pausing now and then to look over a piece that caught his eye. Gaku answered for him to the affirmative, "Great show. Tuti even came up with a camera and did some kind of mini-interview with the guests. Talked to a bunch of us and got our thoughts on the performance and all. The fans loved it."
"They let you be on camera?" Yamashita followed up, laughing, "You didn't break the lens?"
"Oi oi!" Gaku whined, tempted to shove the store owner good, but was nearly boxed into a corner by Takashi already. "He was...well, he was Tuti."
"He means Tuti ripped him good," Takashi supplied helpfully, giving Yamashita a knowing smile, "Even Eiji-san got in on it. Cheer up Gakkun." He patted the man on the shoulder in an empathetic manner. "Everyone love to hate on you, it's just the vogue thing to do. In another few years only the crazies will still do it! Like how everyone used to go crazy at my fanclub events whenever I'd throw in a reference to Tuti somewhere just because we were in TeniMyu together."
"That's not a very good example, Takashi," Gaku grumbled, fiddling with one of the price tags hanging from a shirt beside him. "The way they went crazy over you two tonight you'd think you still were in TeniMyu."
"Eh eh??" Yamashita was suddenly a lot more interested in the conversation now. "What happened?"
Takashi just waved him off. "Tuti came up to the second floor to do his little interview segment and...I kinda got dragged into it."
Gau pushed past him, interrupting, "And you 'kinda got dragged' into telling the world you were going to be in his next show, too, I guess?"
Yamashita smiled knowingly, eyebrows raising, "Takashi~ I thought you told me you weren't going to do any more collaborations!"
"It's not a collaboration!" he piped back, and turned on Gaku, "And it's not his show--I just said *pnish*."
Gaku just rolled his eyes. "Like any of those other girls care. When it comes to you, *pnish* = Tuti. Period."
Yamashita nodded solemnly, "'Fraid so, Takashi. Just yesterday there were a couple of girls in here picking up an order--both of them had that new bag of yours on. And one was wearing, of all things, that old shirt from a couple of years back."
"That first one we did?" Takashi repeated; he hadn't seen anyone wearing those shirts aside from himself in a long time. "I thought they'd all disappeared."
"Yup--in fact," he turned to Gaku, "--it was that foreign fan of yours, that Courtney girl." He ribbed the man in jest. "You're losing out to Takashi-kun here, better step in or she'll switch over completely!"
Gaku brushed him off, "Never gonna happen; the day that the Great Katou-sama loses to the likes of a big-foreheaded loudmouth like Tuti--"
"Watch it, Gakkun," Takashi warned, crossing his arms, "That's my big-foreheaded loudmouth you're talking about there. If you're going to say that kinda stuff about him you better make sure you mention how he's a horrible drunk and never returns people's phonecalls." The group burst into laughter at this, and somewhere on the other side of Shibuya, Tsuchiya Yuuichi sneezed.
"Ah, sorry for making you cut out of the uchiage to go over this before I send it off to the printer tomorrow, Takashi," Yamashita apologized, "Are you two going to head back there later? We probably could've just done this over the phone, you know."
Takashi waved him off, "Nah, I've got rehearsals in the morning, and uchiages that aren't for me aren't really my thing. All the drinking and smoking's more *pnish*'s scene than something I'm into. I get enough of that in my free time from O-deko-san anyways."
"You ought to tell him to quit if you hate it so much," Gaku suggested, relaxing against the counter.
"Hah!" Takashi laughed a harsh bark, "You try telling Tuti to do something he doesn't want to do. In fact--you have. Weren't very successful, were you?" Gaku gave this some thought, then shrugged. "He'll quit when he's ready, he always tells me. Which will probably be the day he keels over on stage." The others nodded in consent--the man in question was notorious for his bad habits, as much as Takashi was for not engaging in them. Takashi glanced at his watch, "I'll text him later--he's probably just hitting 'karaoke mode' now; I couldn't live with myself if I knew I was tearing him away from a captive audience."
"All right--" Yamashita looked over the paper in his hand a final time. "Just need your signature here and I'll drop it in the mail tomorrow. They should have a rough printup of the design to me by next week, then." He handed the form to Takashi, who looked it over and, seemingly satisfied, picked up the pen and printed his name, fishing around with his other hand in his bag looking for his seal. While the man was distracted, Yamashita tested, "So, you sure you two won't do another collaboration?" No response. "You've definitely got a corner on the 'crazy for TsuchiNaga' market, after all."
"I think we're fine," Takashi muttered flatly, concentrating on pressing his seal onto the paper. "Besides, I'm not the one you'd need to convince. O-deko-san over there keeps whining about getting enough creepy pink and yellow presents at his performances already. If we make Decossam an official brand, he'd throw a fit probably."
"He should just change his *pnish* color," Gaku suggested.
"That's what I keep telling him, but does he listen? Noooo." He popped his seal back into its case, blowing on the ink to dry it. "I think he just likes whining about it anyways. Deep down he feels flattered I know. One of these days I'll get him drunk enough to agree again, then you'll have your fourth collaboration."
Yamashita gave him a small salute, which Takashi returned. "I'm counting on you, Takashi-kun! Now--" He cleared away the rest of the papers from the counter. "I really need to finish closing shop, it's almost 10."
"You've got tomorrow off, though, don't you?" Gaku questioned, checking the date on his watch.
"Unlike some people I don't like staying out til midnight every night getting plastered." He began to herd the two towards the door. "Where are you off to?"
"Home," they both answered, rehearsals waiting for the both of them in the morning. "Call me when the print comes in?" Takashi added.
"Will do--tell Tuti I'm sorry I missed their show. I'll send them a gift in the next couple of days. And I promise it'll be tasty." Another nod, and the pair descended the steep steps, breaking out of the cool store interior into the warm Tokyo summer night.
Yamashita began to count down his register, reflecting on the young man who'd just stepped out of his store. He'd known Takashi-kun for years, had met him through a friend of a friend of a designer friend, and had more than eagerly agreed to vend his up-and-coming brand which had brought his little store more fame than he'd anticipated. He sold as least some bit of Blossam merchandise every day, which was more than he could say for his other small brands, and the fact that he now had to give out passes and limit the number of items a customer could buy on rare occasions attested to Takashi-kun's--and to some extent, Tsuchiya-san's--popularity.
Which brought him back to the pair--honestly, he hadn't seen them coming. The first time Takashi-kun had even mentioned collaborating with the man, Yamashita hadn't thought anything more of it than the time he'd collaborated on a product with Kimeru-kun. That time, the singer had dropped by a few times, mostly to go over a mock-up Takashi had already made and stick his seal of approval on it, and that was it. There was a rush on it the first few hours it went on sale, and then demand tapered off, with the stocks lasting a few months before they were finally all snapped up by eager fans.
But with Tsuchiya-san, it was...different. It was truly more of a collaboration--with Tuti actually offering his own opinions on how the product should look--and Yamashita would be lying if he said his eyebrows hadn't raised when Takashi-kun mentioned actually giving Tsuchiya-san a brand name of his own and making it official. Back then, he'd just thought they were good friends; it wasn't like he knew that much about Takashi-kun's personal life anyways.
When the second collaboration came around though, and he sat in the shop on his lunch break watching the two quibble over the latest mock-up from the printer--a bag of hideous patterns if Yamashita had ever seen one--he was jerked into their lives when Tuti snatched up his bag, ran a hand through his hair in frustration, and stormed down the stairs tossing back, "Why not just stitch 'We're fucking' on the side then?" There had been a moment of silence as Takashi-kun stared at the now-empty doorway, and Yamashita hadn't said a word in response, but still the other man had muttered feebly, "...Cause Tamacchan won't let me."
Since then, though he'd never outright admitted to his off-and-on relationship with Tsuchiya-san, it was an unspoken understanding between them and their group of friends now. Most of the Kitty Guys knew (and all at least suspected as much), the rest *pnish* had known before Takashi-kun and Tuti himself had, and Yamashita suspected that a good few of the pair's fellow cast members over the years could now count themselves part of the club. It was one of Tokyo small theatre's worst-kept secrets, the kind hardly anyone officially knew about but nearly everyone was familiar with.
He didn't doubt that Takashi-kun would get some agreement on another collaboration from Tsuchiya-san in short order; he loved teasing their fans, giving them a little taste and then reigning it back in. Tuti himself likely got a little thrill from the secrecy of their relationship that still managed to pop into the light now and then via blog posts, interviews, and occasional collaborations.
Yes, Nagayama Takashi would continue to bring him business for years to come yet, Yamashita suspected. And secret or otherwise, his relationship with Tsuchiya-san would continue to be a topic of conversation among his customers as well. And so it was, Yamashita decided, that he had a solemn duty as a store-owner to continue to do his duty and help fan the flames of rumor as long as possible. Hell, it was all business anyways.
"Who're you texting?" Eiji bumped into Daiki, a bit off balance as he slid into the chair next to him. Their Leader had himself sqirreled away in the corner booth, ignoring the revelry of their post-birthday uchiage, and this was something Eiji just couldn't tolerate. For long, at least. He leaned over as far as he could without toppling into Daiki's lap (which admittedly sounded like a not-bad idea, but was probably best reserved for when both his and the rest of the guests' glasses were a bit emptier).
"Huh?" Daiki looked up over at him, distracted, "Oh, just Motoki-nii. He emailed me before we went on earlier, and I didn't have time to message him back. I forgot about it until just a few minutes ago--hope I don't wake him up." He frowned at the screen, then shut his phone, setting it aside.
Eiji regarded him cautiously, wary when Daiki was so serious in the midst of a party. "Hey, you okay?" he prodded, leaning forward to give them a little more privacy, hardly necessary since the only guests still left at this hour were the ones who weren't planning on going home sober, with Tsuchiya leading the pack as he led them all in a rousing chorus of the Doraemon theme, Besshi and Tecchan backing him up.
Daiki nodded weakly, rubbing his eyes. "I think I'm just tired; it's been a long day."
"Yeah," Eiji agreed, taking a swig from the bottle he'd been nursing for the past thirty minutes that had long since settled to a lukewarm temperature and no longer tasted quite as good. He winced at the taste. "Maybe you should head out?" Daiki seemed to contemplate this, and Eiji added, "You've got a big date tomorrow, after all, wanna look your best."
"Mou, Eiji~!" This elicited the desired response, and Daiki nearly pushed the man off his seat, fighting back a smile.
"Sorry sorry, you're right." He repositioned himself next to the other man. "Not like Wasshi can be picky anyways." He jerked his head to indicate the fourth *pnish* member who was currently fighting drifting off to sleep with his head upon a worried Taizou's shoulder. "You kids'll have a great time, I'm sure." He pinched the cheek nearest to him in an over-affected display of parental affection, and Daiki shoved him away again with a grunt. Eiji relented, moving his hand instead to rest at the nape of Daiki's neck, twisting a few of the longer hairs there in his fingers and soothing the skin flushed from the cramped quarters. "You really should call it a night, Leader. You've run yourself ragged the past few weeks."
Daiki shook his head, motioning to the rest of the room. "It'd be rude; everyone else is still having a good time--"
"Everyone else is drunk out of their minds by now--or on their way there," Eiji reminded him, shaking his own bottle as evidence. "Now--" he brought a finger around with some effort, shaking it in Daiki's face. "Moriyama-sensei says you--" He poked Daiki's nose, "--should go straight home and get in bed. Do not pass Gain, do not collect 20,000 yen, do not jerk off thinking about anyone but me. Straight. To. Bed." The last few words he punctuated with further nose-pokes, prompting Daiki to brush away both Eiji and his lewd remarks.
"You'll make up an excuse for me?"
"No problem--leave it to me. The fuku-Leader is on the job."
"That's partly what I'm afraid of."
"Eh? That's crazy talk, Daiki-chan. I'm a perfectly compe--cometent--"
"--Competent."
"Thanks--competent guy. They'll never notice you're gone." Daiki stood and twisted around to grab his bag and hat, prompting Eiji to give him a sharp pat on the ass. "There's a good boy."
Daiki swatted the hand away, missing it as his fuku-Leader jerked it back like he'd been caught with it in the cookie jar. "Eiji, get a hold of yourself," he sniped, turning back for his bag.
"Love to, Daiki-chan, but we're in public." Eiji couldn't see his face, but he was sure Daiki was rolling his eyes right about now, and smiled at still being able to get a rise out of him even as tired as he was. "Want me to walk you to the station?"
Daiki jangled his keys for show. "I think I can only handle one Moriyama-san at a time. Besides--" He motioned Eiji to scoot aside so he could squeeze by, managing with some effort as Eiji didn't seem all that inclined to move still, "--you're about past the point where I'd trust you to get back on your own."
"Mmm, yeah. Then I'd just have to come home with you."
"I plan on sleeping in in the morning; you think I wanna be woken up at 6 AM because you thought it'd be a great idea to plan overlapping rehearsal schedules with HappyPani?"
Eiji winced, ungrateful at being reminded of the string of rehearsals he had looming before him--his next show was only just over a week away and he'd only read through the scipt a few times over the past few days. With this harsh reminder, the beer he was reluctantly downing now didn't look so tasty, and he pushed it away, staring at it like it had just pulled a fast one on him. "I could just stay up the whole night," he pondered aloud.
Daiki adjusted his bag at his hip and snorted incredulously. "2000 yen says ten minutes after I'm gone you're passed out in that corner and Tsuchiya and Wasshi have to let you stay at one of their places because you're too out of it to get on the right train yourself." He checked his watch quickly. "Speaking of which, crap, the last train to my neighborhood leaves in twenty minutes and I need to recharge my card--I gotta go or I'm going to be paying a lot more than a couple hundred yen to get home." He checked around at the others quickly, then leaned in and stole a short kiss from the still-dazed Eiji. "Don't stay out too late--you're not as young as you used to be, you know."
If Eiji had had the strength and sense of mind, he would've smacked Daiki, but instead he just muttered something between a grunt and a whine as he watched Daiki bid his farewells to the rest of the group.
For seven years now they'd been Leader and fuku-Leader. They'd been friends for longer, and more-than-friends for shorter, but their relationship really hadn't changed all that much considering.
A vibrating in his pocket let Eiji know he'd gotten a text message, and he wiggled around in his seat trying to reach his phone. After a moment's awkward stretching, he finally pulled it out, flipping the display open, and read the message.
"Happy Birthday, fuku-Leader. Wanted to ride a different Moriyama-san tonight, too bad. Call me in the morning so I know not to put out a police report~"
He smiled and snapped it back shut again, then wandered back over to help Tsuchiya entertain their guests some more.
"So it was a good show?" Yamashita queried offhandedly as he filled out the form to send off to the manufacturers, ticking boxes left and right and scribbling notes in the margin that whoever had to read would be hard-pressed to decipher the scribbling. "I wish I could've made it but, alas, your fans won't let me take more than one night off a week."
Takashi smiled as he pieced through the racks of new arrivals in Gain, pausing now and then to look over a piece that caught his eye. Gaku answered for him to the affirmative, "Great show. Tuti even came up with a camera and did some kind of mini-interview with the guests. Talked to a bunch of us and got our thoughts on the performance and all. The fans loved it."
"They let you be on camera?" Yamashita followed up, laughing, "You didn't break the lens?"
"Oi oi!" Gaku whined, tempted to shove the store owner good, but was nearly boxed into a corner by Takashi already. "He was...well, he was Tuti."
"He means Tuti ripped him good," Takashi supplied helpfully, giving Yamashita a knowing smile, "Even Eiji-san got in on it. Cheer up Gakkun." He patted the man on the shoulder in an empathetic manner. "Everyone love to hate on you, it's just the vogue thing to do. In another few years only the crazies will still do it! Like how everyone used to go crazy at my fanclub events whenever I'd throw in a reference to Tuti somewhere just because we were in TeniMyu together."
"That's not a very good example, Takashi," Gaku grumbled, fiddling with one of the price tags hanging from a shirt beside him. "The way they went crazy over you two tonight you'd think you still were in TeniMyu."
"Eh eh??" Yamashita was suddenly a lot more interested in the conversation now. "What happened?"
Takashi just waved him off. "Tuti came up to the second floor to do his little interview segment and...I kinda got dragged into it."
Gau pushed past him, interrupting, "And you 'kinda got dragged' into telling the world you were going to be in his next show, too, I guess?"
Yamashita smiled knowingly, eyebrows raising, "Takashi~ I thought you told me you weren't going to do any more collaborations!"
"It's not a collaboration!" he piped back, and turned on Gaku, "And it's not his show--I just said *pnish*."
Gaku just rolled his eyes. "Like any of those other girls care. When it comes to you, *pnish* = Tuti. Period."
Yamashita nodded solemnly, "'Fraid so, Takashi. Just yesterday there were a couple of girls in here picking up an order--both of them had that new bag of yours on. And one was wearing, of all things, that old shirt from a couple of years back."
"That first one we did?" Takashi repeated; he hadn't seen anyone wearing those shirts aside from himself in a long time. "I thought they'd all disappeared."
"Yup--in fact," he turned to Gaku, "--it was that foreign fan of yours, that Courtney girl." He ribbed the man in jest. "You're losing out to Takashi-kun here, better step in or she'll switch over completely!"
Gaku brushed him off, "Never gonna happen; the day that the Great Katou-sama loses to the likes of a big-foreheaded loudmouth like Tuti--"
"Watch it, Gakkun," Takashi warned, crossing his arms, "That's my big-foreheaded loudmouth you're talking about there. If you're going to say that kinda stuff about him you better make sure you mention how he's a horrible drunk and never returns people's phonecalls." The group burst into laughter at this, and somewhere on the other side of Shibuya, Tsuchiya Yuuichi sneezed.
"Ah, sorry for making you cut out of the uchiage to go over this before I send it off to the printer tomorrow, Takashi," Yamashita apologized, "Are you two going to head back there later? We probably could've just done this over the phone, you know."
Takashi waved him off, "Nah, I've got rehearsals in the morning, and uchiages that aren't for me aren't really my thing. All the drinking and smoking's more *pnish*'s scene than something I'm into. I get enough of that in my free time from O-deko-san anyways."
"You ought to tell him to quit if you hate it so much," Gaku suggested, relaxing against the counter.
"Hah!" Takashi laughed a harsh bark, "You try telling Tuti to do something he doesn't want to do. In fact--you have. Weren't very successful, were you?" Gaku gave this some thought, then shrugged. "He'll quit when he's ready, he always tells me. Which will probably be the day he keels over on stage." The others nodded in consent--the man in question was notorious for his bad habits, as much as Takashi was for not engaging in them. Takashi glanced at his watch, "I'll text him later--he's probably just hitting 'karaoke mode' now; I couldn't live with myself if I knew I was tearing him away from a captive audience."
"All right--" Yamashita looked over the paper in his hand a final time. "Just need your signature here and I'll drop it in the mail tomorrow. They should have a rough printup of the design to me by next week, then." He handed the form to Takashi, who looked it over and, seemingly satisfied, picked up the pen and printed his name, fishing around with his other hand in his bag looking for his seal. While the man was distracted, Yamashita tested, "So, you sure you two won't do another collaboration?" No response. "You've definitely got a corner on the 'crazy for TsuchiNaga' market, after all."
"I think we're fine," Takashi muttered flatly, concentrating on pressing his seal onto the paper. "Besides, I'm not the one you'd need to convince. O-deko-san over there keeps whining about getting enough creepy pink and yellow presents at his performances already. If we make Decossam an official brand, he'd throw a fit probably."
"He should just change his *pnish* color," Gaku suggested.
"That's what I keep telling him, but does he listen? Noooo." He popped his seal back into its case, blowing on the ink to dry it. "I think he just likes whining about it anyways. Deep down he feels flattered I know. One of these days I'll get him drunk enough to agree again, then you'll have your fourth collaboration."
Yamashita gave him a small salute, which Takashi returned. "I'm counting on you, Takashi-kun! Now--" He cleared away the rest of the papers from the counter. "I really need to finish closing shop, it's almost 10."
"You've got tomorrow off, though, don't you?" Gaku questioned, checking the date on his watch.
"Unlike some people I don't like staying out til midnight every night getting plastered." He began to herd the two towards the door. "Where are you off to?"
"Home," they both answered, rehearsals waiting for the both of them in the morning. "Call me when the print comes in?" Takashi added.
"Will do--tell Tuti I'm sorry I missed their show. I'll send them a gift in the next couple of days. And I promise it'll be tasty." Another nod, and the pair descended the steep steps, breaking out of the cool store interior into the warm Tokyo summer night.
Yamashita began to count down his register, reflecting on the young man who'd just stepped out of his store. He'd known Takashi-kun for years, had met him through a friend of a friend of a designer friend, and had more than eagerly agreed to vend his up-and-coming brand which had brought his little store more fame than he'd anticipated. He sold as least some bit of Blossam merchandise every day, which was more than he could say for his other small brands, and the fact that he now had to give out passes and limit the number of items a customer could buy on rare occasions attested to Takashi-kun's--and to some extent, Tsuchiya-san's--popularity.
Which brought him back to the pair--honestly, he hadn't seen them coming. The first time Takashi-kun had even mentioned collaborating with the man, Yamashita hadn't thought anything more of it than the time he'd collaborated on a product with Kimeru-kun. That time, the singer had dropped by a few times, mostly to go over a mock-up Takashi had already made and stick his seal of approval on it, and that was it. There was a rush on it the first few hours it went on sale, and then demand tapered off, with the stocks lasting a few months before they were finally all snapped up by eager fans.
But with Tsuchiya-san, it was...different. It was truly more of a collaboration--with Tuti actually offering his own opinions on how the product should look--and Yamashita would be lying if he said his eyebrows hadn't raised when Takashi-kun mentioned actually giving Tsuchiya-san a brand name of his own and making it official. Back then, he'd just thought they were good friends; it wasn't like he knew that much about Takashi-kun's personal life anyways.
When the second collaboration came around though, and he sat in the shop on his lunch break watching the two quibble over the latest mock-up from the printer--a bag of hideous patterns if Yamashita had ever seen one--he was jerked into their lives when Tuti snatched up his bag, ran a hand through his hair in frustration, and stormed down the stairs tossing back, "Why not just stitch 'We're fucking' on the side then?" There had been a moment of silence as Takashi-kun stared at the now-empty doorway, and Yamashita hadn't said a word in response, but still the other man had muttered feebly, "...Cause Tamacchan won't let me."
Since then, though he'd never outright admitted to his off-and-on relationship with Tsuchiya-san, it was an unspoken understanding between them and their group of friends now. Most of the Kitty Guys knew (and all at least suspected as much), the rest *pnish* had known before Takashi-kun and Tuti himself had, and Yamashita suspected that a good few of the pair's fellow cast members over the years could now count themselves part of the club. It was one of Tokyo small theatre's worst-kept secrets, the kind hardly anyone officially knew about but nearly everyone was familiar with.
He didn't doubt that Takashi-kun would get some agreement on another collaboration from Tsuchiya-san in short order; he loved teasing their fans, giving them a little taste and then reigning it back in. Tuti himself likely got a little thrill from the secrecy of their relationship that still managed to pop into the light now and then via blog posts, interviews, and occasional collaborations.
Yes, Nagayama Takashi would continue to bring him business for years to come yet, Yamashita suspected. And secret or otherwise, his relationship with Tsuchiya-san would continue to be a topic of conversation among his customers as well. And so it was, Yamashita decided, that he had a solemn duty as a store-owner to continue to do his duty and help fan the flames of rumor as long as possible. Hell, it was all business anyways.
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Date: 2008-07-08 03:22 am (UTC)MorixDaiki: There is something very... loving about this one. I can't explain it really. It expresses their easy to and fro with their conversations and teasing, and just how well they know each other. Comfortable is a word I would describe them in this (btw - flails over the sneaked kiss). Settled would be another good word. Add them together... you get married *nods*
Favorite line: I think I can only handle one Moriyama-san at a time.
Why? Because had the bike not been named that... this line wouldn't have even been possible!
TutixNagayan: I love you throwing yourself in here, because dude! It is reality isn't it. (As a side note... they day you posted about Yamashita calling you to tell you your order was in... all I could think about was how easy it would be for Gaku to get your number...) And much enjoyment over the Gaku bashing ;) You just know Tuti isn't the only one that gets some sort of pleasure out of it.
I loved this outsider perspective, and yet while it's an outsider's perspective it's not really because Yamashita is on the inside in a sense, but you know what I mean.
Favorite line #1: Which brought him back to the pair--honestly, he hadn't seen them coming.
Why? I don't think anyone saw them coming... least of all Takashi and Tuti themselves, which I think only adds to (at least my) fascination with this pairing! If it hadn't been for TeniMyu, this pairing wouldn't even exist - they wouldn't know each other, and that... that... well, I don't even want to think about that!
Favorite line #2 (actually more than a line): "Why not just stitch 'We're fucking' on the side then?" There had been a moment of silence as Takashi-kun stared at the now-empty doorway, and Yamashita hadn't said a word in response, but still the other man had muttered feebly, "...Cause Tamacchan won't let me."
A very powerful exchange, and pretty much confirms whatever Yamashita had been speculating about, obviously, but also powerful in showing a period of frustration for the two.
Keep writing!!!!!
I should say
Date: 2008-08-03 09:59 am (UTC)thanks much
Date: 2008-09-24 12:29 am (UTC)well done
Date: 2008-09-28 05:30 pm (UTC)