Arashi--the follow up to Waxrose's present.

[ciircee]

So, do you remember how I said I made massive edits to that present I wrote for waxrose? Because it was more plot and less porn and it kinda just didn't work? Because the style and focus were both off? (In part because I've been on a kick about Sho/Nino BFFery.) Well, this is it. More rather than less. Originally this had been written in sections to fit into the format of the other story and therefore the transitions didn't make any sense so I had to actually add some stuff in to make it more readable.

Which I'm not sure it really IS. But it's six pages and I hate deleting anything that's more than three. (This is why you've never been inflicted with 'Arashi is Four Guys and a Cat' and the like--less than three saves your life! <3)


you might have to talk

When Sho needs to talk, he goes to Arashi. It's not that he can't go anywhere else, just that they understand him best because they've been closer to him than anybody else for longer than almost everybody. When he fights with his mother, he goes to Jun. When he misses his family, he goes to Aiba. When he needs somebody to just listen it is Ohno and when he needs to know what to do, Nino.

Going to Nino's room late at night while they're touring is kind of like killing two birds with one stone.

Ohno answers the door before he even has a chance to knock. "Hi, Sho," he says and Sho finds that Ohno has already taken his upraised fist, uncurled it, threaded their fingers together, and is pulling him to the bed. He also finds that Ohno is completely nude.

"You know you're naked, right?" he asks for form's sake. Ohno is a little spacey at times but it's actually rare that he forgets he's not wearing clothes.

"'m a mess," says Ohno companionably, lying down again and tugging Sho with him. He butts his head against Sho's arm a few times and then lets out a kittenish sigh.

This is when Nino comes out of the bathroom, holding a washcloth and saying, "If you complain about the temp—hi, Sho." Nino is also naked. He looks at Sho, looks at Ohno, looks at the washcloth and then tosses that over his shoulder, back into the bath. "No sponge bath for you, Captain," he says. "Go take a shower or something." Ohno grumbles a little but gets out of bed. He slaps at Nino as he passes and they're both distracted for a moment, trying to hit each other. Sho turns his eyes up to the ceiling.

They all know that Ohno and Nino are sleeping together. It's one of those obvious things, like the sky being blue and the grass being green. But, at the same time, it's not something that is ever talked about. Despite all the public touching and wild innuendo Nino and Ohno are amazingly discreet. They usually end up sharing rooms during the tours but this is the first time that Sho has ever had something resembling 'proof' that anything more than sleepy cuddling goes on once they've closed their door.

He scoots over in the bed when Nino sits down next to him, throwing the blanket over both of them. Nino smells like hotel soap.

"I—" Sho starts but even though Nino is his best friend he doesn't know how to do this. He doesn't know how he can. "I went out drinking with Jun-kun and Masaki," he manages. "We got really drunk. I mean, really drunk."

Nino thumps him on the side of the head. "You got drunk a year ago." Sho's eyes shoot to his face and Nino smiles at him, sweet in a way only Nino can manage. "MatsuJun came to talk to Oh-chan the day after." Nino looks down at their hands, a little frown wrinkling his face. "Aiba-chan talked to me about it a few months after that."

"We keep drinking," Sho tells him. He can't really look at Nino while he does this. It's one of those things that isn't covered in the Johnny's handbooks—how to tell somebody things you can barely tell yourself. He focuses on touching Nino's hands, tracing the outline of his short fingers, the round curve at the heel, the shallow cup of his palm. "We're not getting drunk. We aren't but we…" he sighs and touches the delicate webbing at Nino's thumb. "There isn't any other way, huh?"

"Sho." Nino touches the pad of his little finger to Sho's thumb. "We're going to get married one day."

Two thoughts hit Sho first. 1: But we're not in Canada and 2: I am NOT wearing the dress. So he says, "Huh?" because the dress thing is a bit of a mindbender.

Nino smiles his Ni-no-Arashi smile and outright grins for a moment when Sho punches him on the arm. Their other hands are still connected and Nino is warm all along Sho's side. "We're each going to get married, all of us, one day. If we're in love with some girl or if it's what we're supposed to do doesn't matter; one day, we're all going to be married and having the Second Generation Arashi."

It's not that Sho has never thought the same; it's only that it's different to hear it said out loud. "You and Satoshi," he says.

"Date girls," Nino says. "We both date around with girls." Nino's face is set with concentration; he's turning over deep thoughts. "One day there's going to be one that stands out, I guess." He offers Sho a smile. "Captain could already be married, for all we know."

"She likes it when I bring home fish!" Ohno calls from the bathroom.

"Shut up," Nino calls back. "You're not listening."

The sound of running water gets louder—obviously the tub and shower running at the same time.

"Ah, you're just playing," Sho says. He's not sure what the feeling in his chest is.

Nino's fingers stop and squeeze his tightly, until Sho meets his eyes. Nino's eyes are fierce—the kind of eyes that he has when he absolutely refuses to lose. "It's not playing. I love him."

"I love you, too," Ohno's voice floats out over the sound of his bath.

"I said shut up," Nino yells to him. "Wash your ears." There's a pink blush tipping across his cheeks and he's smiling, that fearsome look gone. To Sho he says, "Sometimes you don't want to sleep with anybody; you want to sleep with somebody."

He looks at Nino for a long, quiet moment. "You know," he says at last, "I already know how I feel about them."

Nino scowls back at him. "Then what are you doing in my room?"

Ohno comes padding out of the bathroom, scrubbing his head with a towel. "I said so," he says, dropping the towel to point at Nino. "I said Sho was smarter than that."

"He came for advice," Nino tells him, glaring up at him. "That's what matters."

"No, no, you said he didn't know and I said that when he came it was going to be because he did know. You owe me dinner."

"No I don't."

"I want steak."

Sho wants to laugh at them but it's never a good idea to feed into them unless you want to end up a part of the OhMiya SK skit. "Excuse me," he says politely.

"Oh," says Ohno. He lifts the blankets and then pauses. "Are we wearing pajamas?" he wants to know.

Nino shrugs. "Sho is, but he's a prude."

Sho is sitting in bed with a naked Nino, looking at a naked Ohno, and in his spare time has sex with two other guys. He thinks it is really kind of amazing that he can still be called a prude. What he says is, "I was walking around in public to get here."

"So?" Nino says.

Ohno climbs into the bed and is warm all along Sho's other side. Ohno wraps both his arms around Sho, curling around him a little awkwardly as they sit together. "So, Nino told you about the arm thing?"

"…arm…thing?" Sho loves Nino but he doesn't need to know what it is that Nino and Ohno get up to alone together.

Nino huffs and slaps Ohno's shoulder, making a loud sound in the quiet room. "I didn't get there yet. Besides, Sho is smarter than you; he doesn't need visuals." He's refusing to look at Sho which means that whatever it is, it means something to Nino. "You love them, you know," Nino says softly, looking at the generic furnishings. "So you should hold on to them as much as you can." Nino fidgets, his hands moving restlessly out of Sho's. Around his waist, Ohno's arms tighten fractionally and Sho lays his arms over them. "That way, when all the weddings start, you can let go of them properly."

It sounds pretty but Sho thinks sometimes Nino thinks a little too much because it also sounds convoluted. "Satoshi?" he mouths the question, turning his head to look at him.

Ohno smiles at him and his arms move, twining around Sho's own and then he lifts them away from Sho's body and Sho suddenly gets what Nino meant. Like this, Ohno's arms are supporting his, reaching out with him. When Sho turns his hands over he's the one supporting Ohno's reaching out hands. His hands tremble and Ohno cups his own under them, holding him steady. "The arm thing," he says.

"God," Nino says, sounding exasperated but still not looking at them directly. "You're all retarded."

"Huh," says Ohno and he gets out of bed again just as a knock falls on the door.

Sho loves Ohno and so he holds up a corner of the blanket. "Don't answer the door naked."

"Hey, Nino," Jun's voice precedes a second knock on the door. "Do you know—" he cuts off as Ohno pulls the door open.

"Nice toga," Aiba says. Sho watches Aiba, who is standing just behind Jun, look past Ohno and take in the sight of himself and Nino in the bed together. Sho isn't wearing a shirt, just pajama pants. Nino is shirtless and one naked leg is bared nearly to the hip by the fall of the sheet. Ohno is wearing the blanket. Aiba grins. "Are we having an orgy?"

"No," Nino says at the same time as Sho. Sho has loved Nino for longer than he's loved any of them and if there is one thing in the world that Sho doesn't want to know about, it's Nino's sexual habits. If there are two things in the world that he doesn't want to know, the second is definitely Satoshi's sexual habits. "I came over to talk to Nino," Sho goes on. "I didn't know he was busy being a naked pervert."

Ohno raises one hand. "He was mostly done with the pervert part by the time Sho got here," he says, making Nino hide a smile behind his hand.

"No I wasn't," Nino says to Ohno. Ohno lights up and Jun body checks him into the door frame before he can do more than turn. "What do you two want, anyhow?" Nino asks. "I'll put up with Sho but you two," he gestures at Aiba and Jun, "I can't deal with you."

Jun leans on Ohno, pressing him into the frame. "Manager was looking for Sho," he says easily, raising his voice over Ohno's little squeaks. "The group manager, not your manager," he elaborates before Sho can ask. "We sent yours down to check Leader's room for you."

"Ah." Sho's manager is actually new to Johnny's as a whole and not just him. They're trying to break him in gently. "Okay. Thanks." He starts to get out of bed only to be stopped a noise from Jun. "Huh?"

"Carefully," Jun says, waving a casual hand at him and Nino. "If he's naked under there…nobody wants to see that."

"I want to see that," Ohno says from under Jun's elbow as Sho eases out of the bed.

Aiba nods. "I wouldn't mind a look," he says. He ducks away even before he finishes speaking, dodging Jun's irritated swat.

"I'd put your eye out," Nino says gleefully.

Sho waves briefly as he steps into the hall, passing Aiba who is on his way in. Aiba's shoulder, left bare by a tank top, brushes against Sho's chest leaving a streak of warmth. Aiba gives him a smile and it's a moment that lasts only a second but Sho knows he's seen that smile a million times before, that he'll see it a million times again, and there's only one time that he never looks for it. "Later," he says.

"You couldn't put a flea's eye out," Jun is saying as Sho walks away and, even though it's at the opposite end of the hall from the room, he laughs his way to the elevator.



It turns out that all Manager wants is to go over the MCs a little bit, mostly about the promos and a little bit about filming for the DVDs. Sho learns that originally Manager had asked Jun about it and Jun had insisted that Sho was best at that part, obviously, so any choices about it should go to him. It's common sense but it still makes Sho feel warm inside.

With that feeling in his heart, as well as in his mind, Sho stops by the vending machine that's just down the hall from his room before he heads for Aiba's room. Technically they each have their own rooms and it's possible that he'll have to go looking for Jun...except he has a feeling that he won't have to go that far.

In fact, when he knocks on Aiba's door, it's Jun who answers him. "I don't care if he did call you from his bathroom, he doesn't really want to see it, Nino," Jun says as he yanks the door open.

Sho smiles at him. "I am completely not sorry that I left you to deal with that."

"Oh, you will be," Jun says, stepping back to let him in.

He doesn't enter, hesitating on the threshold. Aiba comes out of the bathroom, holding his phone. "He's not answering," he says and then sees Sho and gives him that smile. "Hey, Sho-chan."

Sho swallows. "I came by to see if you guys wanted to have a drink with me," he says. They are the words they've used every time, like a code. It's a pretty crappy code, really. He sees the heat flicker in both of their eyes and wonders how they've ever managed to pretend it was about the alcohol.

Jun smiles casually and sometimes he can't act at all, Sho thinks. Then he thinks that maybe he just knows him that well. "Sure," Jun says in cool, calm, idol-star fashion. "I'll go change."

"I brought something," Sho says quickly. His mouth is dry as he brings out the hand behind his back, the one holding three diet colas. Jun looks at him, and whatever he's feeling is something he's trying desperately to hide but Sho knows him. Uncertainty. Fear. Hope. He looks over at Aiba. The heat is still there in Aiba's face but Sho lets himself look for that smile and it's there, too. Sho clears his throat. "Nobody minds?" he asks because he's still in the hallway and he really doesn't want to be anymore.

"No," Jun says immediately. "No, that's good." Sho steps into the room, right into Jun's personal space.

"I'm glad," says Aiba, reaching past him and shutting the door. "I'm really glad."

"Me too."