[fic] Pinky Promise - chapter 2 (1/2)

[moon_catcher]

Title: Pinky Promise 2: Real Face (1/2)

Author: gina84 

Pairing: Akame

Rating: PG15

Disclaimer: In my dreams I can own anything... otherwise they belong to each other

Summary: They made a promise. But as time goes by will they be able to keep it?

Warning: My first Akame fic + my first fic written in English ever (means beta wanted and most probably needed ^^;)

A/N: Some time twists from now on (I love nonlinear stories ^^)

 

2. Real Face

Sorry, but I'm not clever
I'm the type
Who thinks with his heart, not his head

 

End of March 2006, KAT-TUN debut, Filming of Ousama no Brunch TV Show

 

„KAT-TUN created a record with their 2005 Live DVD going to #1. This Wednesday they celebrated their 5^th year together with a CD debut. First single Real Face is already a million-seller within three days of being released.”

 

If an absolute happiness had a definition it would sound exactly like this.

 

Ueda Tatsuya was calmly sitting in front of a mirror in the dressing room of Ousama no Brunch Studio, his eyes shut while a stylist was working on his hairstyle. He felt her skillful fingers running through the strands of his hair but he didn’t mind what she would create. Not long time ago he colored his hair black but now, again, he felt the familiar feeling of discontent with his features.

 

But nothing of that was important at the moment.

 

Even his hair didn’t matter because KAT-TUN finally made it. After all those years of waiting, throughout which they were often desponding and doubting themselves, their dream became true.

 

Now they were real.

 

As he heard a noise somewhere behind him Ueda opened one eye and in the mirror he saw Koki and Maru who had just arrived. They quickly changed as the stylist signalized them she would take care of them right after finishing Ueda’s hair.

 

With Kame and Taguchi being already there the only one missing was Jin, to no one’s big surprise. Jin was always late and apparently nothing could change that, not even their debut.

 

Koki was all hyper and overactive, more than usual, and as the young stylist was titivating Taguchi’s hair Koki’s jokes made it almost impossible for her to concentrate on her job. Being alone with five young handsome boys made her feel nervous and it didn’t take long and she found her hands shaking. She got through the rest of the guys as quickly as she could and with a deep bow she excused herself telling them she would wait for Akanishi-san outside.

 

Without any other shy young stylist nearby to tease Koki focused on Kame, who was quietly sitting in the corner with headphones in his ears and iPod on the lap. Koki just like anybody else who knew what Kame was usually like couldn’t pass over that there was something evidently bothering him in last days. Kame was all vacant, with a far away look in his normally lively eyes and he hardly spoke to them except of the work matters.

 

Koki didn’t need to be any know-it-all to understand who was involved in Kame’s current not so bright mood. As Koki saw it there were two alternatives. For once he could try to be a good listener and ask him what had Akanishi done this time but he was sure Kame didn’t want to talk about that. That’s why only the second option had left. Koki decided to be just himself, carefree and witty and do whatever it takes to disturb Kame from his glumness.

 

“A penny for your thoughts.” Koki sprang to Kame surprising him by plucking out one of his headphones.

 

Kame forced a smile, trying hard to pretend everything was alright, but soon the smile changed into a real one. Not such wide but sincere. Likewise it was infeasible to keep serious face with grinning Koki right in front of him. Although all of them were very excited by everything what had been happening around them since the date of their debut had been settled Koki seemed to be the most wild.

 

“Frankly? I’m completely thoughtless.”

 

“Oh man, what the enthusiasm? You should say that to the camera.”

 

“Let me think about it. That would be really great first impression, wouldn’t it?” Kame shook his head and with a deep sigh he switched off the iPod, putting it back to his bag.

 

“At least that could explain why it took so long before they let us debut. I mean look at you, why such a wretched face? You can’t show on-air like this. You are the very first letter of KAT-TUN and they will, again, ask you in the first place!”

 

A resigned smile came across Kame’s wan face. Koki was right. Although the designated leader of KAT-TUN was Ueda it was Kame and Jin who all the attention was focused on for most of the time. If the group was interviewed Kame and Jin were the main voices. Fans went all crazy only seeing them. Jin usually kept a cool head and acted very unstudied and natural. Kame, in contrast with him, still felt a bit uncertain, even after all those years in this industry. But as much as he was uncertain he knew at the moment like this there was no place for such a feeling. They were given the one and only opportunity to show how good they were. And they needed to make the best of it because if they failed there wouldn’t be another one.

 

“Let’s try it, Kame-chan, ne?” Koki offered. He clutched his hand simulating he was holding a microphone. “You certainly look like you need a little practice.”

 

Kame rose his brows in surprise but objected nothing as everything was better than just sitting there and thinking about Ji…. correction…. thinking about Akanishi. He nodded to Koki, spotting Maru and Taguchi stopped whatever they were doing to join them.

 

“Sounds great! Let’s practice!” Taguchi butted in, throwing himself to the chair next to Kame. “I’m in, ask me.”

 

“I’m asking Kame first,” Koki cut Taguchi off quickly. He put his fist in front of Kame. “So, Kamenashi-kun, tell our audience how does it feel like to release the debut after five years of being a singer?”

 

Kame tried to be as serious as he could slowly being dragged into another of Koki’s games. “Um, it’s great, really great. I’m glad I have this opportunity…”

 

“You have?” Maru asked, confused at first not catching what this particular game was about. “Perhaps you wanted to say we.”

 

Koki, being perfectly in his role of interviewer, wrinkled his forehead. With his free hand he pointed at Kame. “He is Kamenashi Kazuya, just debuted singer with shining future ahead. But who the hell are you? Kinda seem like an annoying fan or something.”

 

At that point Maru finally understood and he immediately adapted himself devising his new role. “My name is Nakamaru Yuichi and I’m his…” he glanced at Kame trying to think out any possible reactions on whatever he was about to say and then he continued, simply ignoring Koki’s impatient and curious “His who?” in between. “I’m his spokesman. An annoying fan is over here,” Maru pointed at Taguchi.

 

Kame chuckled. Poor Junno, always the one being taunted.

 

“No way! I’m his manager,” Taguchi shrieked.

 

Kame noticed Koki’s not-so-pretended look of sympathy which was saying something like Taguchi being your manager is not good for your career, and he was wondering whether he should defend his band mate or agree with Koki or remain in his role and introduce Taguchi as his manager.

 

He hadn’t decided yet and on a sudden there was no time left for any decision as the door of the dressing room opened and by then the only missing KAT-TUN member showed up, brown hair scattered and dark sunglasses covering tired eyes.

 

About an hour or two ago Akanishi Jin had finished another wild night with his friends Yamashita Tomohisa and Nishikido Ryo to celebrate KAT-TUN’s debut, painting the town red for nth time within the last two weeks. But while Yamapi and Ryo gradually blacked out while all three of them were watching dawn from the terrace of Yamapi’s flat, Jin had to put himself together and come to the studio to shoot another obligatory interview about how grateful he was for the chance the group had got.

 

All this fuss was such a pain in the ass, at least for Jin, but the policy of JE was more than strict at this point. KAT-TUN debuted because fans loved them and fans wanted more, no they literally begged for more, and for this simple reason KAT-TUN had to be seen everywhere. No one was interested in Akanishi’s splitting headache.

 

With his glasses still on to protect himself from the intense sunlight outside the windows Jin looked to the mirror and then looked up to the last costume left on the rack. Thanks God it was neither made of red rexine nor with fur attached on it like those they were forced to wear in the past. But Jin didn’t bother with changing either. He was dead tired due to a lack of sleep and Kame’s obvious unconcern, however false, didn’t help anyhow.

 

Jin closed his eyes and sighed.

 

He screwed up, obviously. But then, if he could turn back time he wasn’t convinced whether he would do anything differently.

 

Most probably not.

 

He finally took down the sunglasses and blinked several times to adapt his eyes to the annoying morning light.

 

Kame felt his heart skipped a little as Jin came to the room, the same reaction his body had been giving the last two weeks whenever he stuck in the same room with Jin. His breath quickened and it took all his might to not let anyone know how the mere Jin’s presence affected him. He shivered remembering what had happened two weeks ago.

 

“Kame! Kame-chan! You are not cooperating at all!” Koki slapped him on the shoulder. “Even Taguchi is better than you!”

 

Taguchi grinned.

 

Kame lifted his head to Koki but somewhere along the way his eyes stopped, suddenly meeting Jin’s in the mirror. Tiredness, regret, sorrow, distress, everything was there, written in those dark orbs and Kame shrugged remembering that there was also lust the other day.

 

He felt Koki slapped him once again to get his attention but Kame couldn’t move paralyzed, his look glued to the reflection in the mirror.

 

Neither of them detached the connected looks until Ueda came to Jin, stopping right in the line of Kame’s vision, and asked Jin something Kame couldn’t hear. Only then Kame, still little confused of what had just happened, turned his attention to the far impatient Koki who was about to slap him for the third time.

 

“What?”

 

“Your manager-san has just assigned you to a charity concert for woodcutters somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Are you ok with that?” Koki asked.

 

“Um?” Kame confusedly looked around at Taguchi and Maru, slowly regaining his consciousness and remembering what they had talked about before. His mind betrayed him. A game… Koki’s game, consisting in asking questions and Kame was… What was Kame? Was he the one supposed to answer…? Maybe.

 

Kame peeked back to the mirror but all he could see was Ueda’s back.

 

He was safe. For now.

 

But not for long.

 

Soon they were called out to the studio. In the hallway Kame did his best to stay enclosed by Koki, Maru and Taguchi but it didn’t seem Jin wanted to get closer to him anyway.

 

Keep the distance, that was the most important thought in Kame’s head as the six of them entered the studio but all his intentions disappeared into thin air the moment he was shown his seat for the show was right next to Akanishi. Kame put his unawares shaking hands into the pockets of his black jacket, trying to pick himself up before the cameras were on. He could smell the light scent of Jin’s after-shave lotion mixed with bitter beer odor. He could hear the silent rhythmic sounds as Jin’s shoe sole was nervously tapping on the floor. And if he mustered his courage and looked at Jin, most probably he could see Jin’s eyes occasionally flicking his way.

 

The sign on announced the start of today’s show and Kame made himself to focus. All he needed now was to stay calm and focused, to put on the mask of utter professional. What had happened between him and Akanishi had not to affect KAT-TUN in any way.

 

Koki patted Kame on a shoulder from behind him and as Kame turned in surprise, the rapper grinned. “Remember, Kamenashi-kun,” he said imitating his serious voice from before while they were playing the game, “you are happy to be debuting finally and you are looking forward to all challenges that lay ahead of you.”

 

“Such as the forest concert,” Maru reminded promptly. “Where it was again?” That was dedicated to Taguchi who was sitting by the other side of Jin than Kame.

 

“Shimokita District. It’s a saw-mill in Sai.”

 

Koki cracked up only by hearing Taguchi saying the name of that absolutely unknown jerky-town again. “Plead guilty Junno, you’ve just made that up, right?”

 

“Yeah,” Maru laughed, “no such village exists!”

 

“It does, I swear,” Junno defended himself.

 

Kame tried to follow his band mates but quickly found himself unable of making it. So he just forced a smile.

 

Before Koki, Taguchi and Maru could calm down the sign on was over and the quick montage of the Real Face PV promoting their debut single as well. They were on-air. The moderator congratulated them with passion on their successful debut and they performed their roles, thanking her and clapping hands, gummy smiles all over their faces.

 

This part was easy.

 

The next moment was way worse, at least for Kame, when Jin started to tease the woman, saying that her enthusiasm was only pretended. Kame felt Jin’s hand tipped his shoulder as Jin pointed at excited yet choking moderator, and that graze sent Kame shivers down to the whole body. And when Maru joined Jin’s chaff, Kame secretly thanked him for prolonging the time Kame wasn’t the one the attention was being paid on. He desperately needed that moment to collect himself up. Kame had never imagined that a mere touch like that could affect him this way.

 

Koki was watching Kame with growing misgiving but most of his dread disappeared as the moderator asked them to introduce themselves one by one with Kame being the first to talk.

 

This was, again, the easy part. Or it should have been.

 

Kame knew what to say. His name. That was facile, wasn’t it?

 

Then the next question came up. “What’s your favorite word?”

 

This was the right time for the mask of an entertainer. The mask he had been trained to wear for most of his life. He took a think and then smiled to the camera: “Ousama. King,” he answered regarding the name of the show. In the end there wasn’t a big difference between hosting a TV program and being a host in one. The mask was still needed. Still required.

 

Kame was satisfied with himself.

 

And then the only sentence ruined everything. Here he was, glamorous Akanishi Jin with his irresistible charm. “He is good at making it in this industry,” Jin dropped a hint, leaving an unspoken taunt which only Kame could understand. In Jin’s reasoning Kame had to be good at making it in this industry because he put not only his head but also his heart into it and let nothing stand in his way. Jin didn’t even try to smile.

 

Jin’s words faded away in Koki’s and Maru’s chattering and soon Kame doubted whether Jin had ever said them.

 

But then again, of course he said them and each of them cut Kame to the quick. Was that Jin’s way how to punish him?

 

If it was, Jin couldn’t choose better.

 

(to be continued...)