Yay! It was still as amazing as ever.



A little higher than last night, but closer to being along the center. There were a lot of girls dressed up as Santa tonight.

Since I've already reported all the songs, this time I will just explain what was different (mainly the MC).

But right off the bat, when Jun was greeting the crowd, he mixed up the date (I believe he said the 7th), but he quickly realized his mistake and said "machigaetta" (I got it wrong), correcting himself that it was the 6th. It was cute.

Jun actually had a lot of little memorable moments tonight. During "Allergy", he was the one to drop his vegetable at first. I finally noticed that Jun usually has his jacket hanging partly off during the first half.

Sho had a cute moment with his "nantsute" pose from The Quiz Show.

Tonight's "Hitomi no naka" Ohmiya was Nino groping Ohno's butt and Ohno jumping away. ^_^

Then during Ohno's solo towards the end, he started singing "Te o tattake" at the wrong part and said cutely, "ah, machigaechatta" (I messed up), then picked up from there.

Jun was having fun getting really close to the camera in "A Day in Our Lives".

At the beginning of "Hadashi no Mirai", Ohno couldn't get the timing on the claps, so he gave up and just started waving.

There was no race between Aiba and Sho tonight cuz Sho went ahead to center stage without waiting.

The MC tonight was pretty funny. Sho thanked everyone for coming and said that this was their last night at Tokyo Dome. Aiba and Nino were standing off with him as Ohno and Jun were gonna do their customary shirt change. Aiba said "Go to it" to Ohno (to hide Jun), but Jun started to climb down the stairs off stage (to do it in private). Ohno said "chigau" (that's wrong) and waved for Jun to come out, then Leader ordered "Detekoi ya!" (Get over here!). He had this amusing, bossy voice as he said "you always change up here", but Jun said "I can't do it in front of everyone". Everyone burst out laughing when Ohno ordered "Take it off!", and when Jun didn't right away, our Leader went over and started unbuttoning Jun's shirt for him (The fans were screaming in delight at that). Jun took off the shirt the rest of the way and draped a concert towel over his shoulders as he pulled on a black staff shirt. The crowd was still yelling, so Jun went into DoS mode and said "urusei" (kinda like "shut up"). Ohno approved of the shirt change with a "sore de ee ya" (That's better).

Sho asked if, during Aiba's solo, the crowd was singing along really well at one point, but the crowd didn't really yell an affirmative, so he said "ah, maybe not...". Aiba told him to try asking again and when Sho did, everyone screamed "Yes!". Then Sho said that he wanted to hear it again. Aiba half sang his part and everyone sang out the next verse pretty well. Sho commented that they should try a "dansei version" (guy's version), so they tried the same thing, but the result wasn't very audible.

Moving on to the next topic, Aiba seemed surprised that Sho actually moved a bit when he was suspended from the balloon (or as Aiba put it "Sho-kun no daikirai na yatsu" (the thing Sho hates)) at the beginning of the show. Nino wondered if he finally got used to it. Sho didn't think he had, but he saw how everyone else enjoyed it and wanted to try it on the last day. He was still scared, but he did get his hands out.

Next, they wanted to know why Ohno burst out laughing during "Allergy", and he said he was laughing at Jun's exuberant (zenryoku) dancing with his rolling shoulders move. Jun wondered if we'd gotten tired of hearing the older song, and asked if we still liked it. (Of course, we couldn't say no)

Continuing with the mistakes theme, Sho talked about how during rehearsal Aiba was gone a lot for drama filming and there were times when he had to practice this little "Indian dance" move without Aiba, so it looked really goofy. He demonstrated, but the guys wanted to see it with both. They started singing the part, but Aiba and Sho couldn't really get the beat, so they just stood there and said "chigau na" (It's not like that").

And of course, they couldn't go without mentioning Leader's slip up during his solo. Jun scolded that everyone had been looking forward to hearing it. Ohno started saying, "kono kata ga..." (a strange way to say "these people"), which made everyone laugh, and he tried to give the excuse that their costumes (some had Uta no Oniisan outfits like him) distracted him, but since it wasn't gonna work, he just bowed and apologized too seriously, "I'm really sorry for my mistake." Nino had to laugh at the way Ohno'd lightly said "ah, machigaechatta" after his mistake. Sho said he'd tried to hide it. Ohno agreed that he'd tried to do more of a "pyo~n" jump off stage. The guys made Leader repeat the jump a bunch of times, comparing between last night's and tonight's. They asked if the pose had any meaning, so Ohno sorta explained that he'd realized he'd screwed up on the lyrics and at the end, he was thinking, "ah, I've gotta do something about it", then tried to do the jump a little differently. The whole conversation just had me laughing so hard, especially with all the jumps Ohno did. =^_^=

Jun commented that mistakes will happen because there is "only now".

Nino said how it was usually Aiba, and Aiba was like "You always pick on me! Every time!" (Everyone knows it's justified though with how many times Aiba gets choreography mixed up XD) Thinking of "happenings", they were reminded that during Crazy Moon's rehearsal, Nino "yelled" at Sho that "You don't sing there!". Sho had been surprised cuz he'd always sung that part (even though he wasn't supposed to have?).

There was a bit they were talking about red clothes being unexceptable somewhere, but I really couldn't catch it.

After briefly mentioning "Kohaku", Sho said he'd reserved a restaurant (to celebrate), but the owners had replied, "Please come in those clear suits".

About the Countdown, Jun said how he found out from a newspaper that Kanjani was doing their own concert in Osaka.

There were a couple of random topics until they got on the subject of Sho's dramas. He said that he was still filming one and that it was "anime-like". There was a part that he was supposed to be moving to music, but the music hadn't been created yet. They asked what kind of music and Sho paused "Hmm...", so Jun guessed "accompaniment music" (I think?) and Sho said "Sekai" (Correct). Nino wanted to know what it was like, but Sho was reluctant to reply, saying instead, "I want you to watch it..." It's hard to explain about music that was still being made.

For Sho's exit today, he said "Jaa~" (Well...) and everyone started guessing where he was going (Leader's "Are you going to go pee?" was brilliant!) and shoving their mikes in his face. He did the girlfriend sign and the one that I still can't decipher, then followed it up with a ninja pose before running off.

Aiba's birthday is coming up, but Nino made a mistake on the age (16, instead of 26). They also asked about Leader's. He said that he still can't get enough of fishing (guess he got some fishing gear?). They wanted to know what he got, so he said "From Nino, Mario Kart", and they were all like "wait, that's what I got from Nino, too." Nino said, "It's not just your Mario, it's everybody's Mario." (Great promotion, Nino!) Ohno said he got clothes from some of the guys, but that Sho hadn't given him anything. The newcaster had asked for his shoe size, but Leader still hadn't gotten anything. Everyone laughed when Sho's voice floated out from backstage, saying repeatedly "I'll but it tomorrow!". The boys pretended that they didn't know why the creepy voice was talking to them, so Aiba said since it was "scary", they'd get started on the second half. He called Sho out with a "detekoi ya!" (Get out here!"), repeating Ohno's imitation of the comedian Takada's joke.

Sho and Jun did their solos, followed by the wonderful medley and my favs "Truth" and "Believe". The speeches were a little different again.

Sho said (roughly translated) "Up to the very top, thank you. Today's been extraordinarily fun. Dreams are not only to be seen, but also made to come true. Like this, with all your cheering voices, making dreams come true is possible. Let's aim for the same dream."

Ohno thanked everyone for "supporting us as we've been able to see so many things. Arashi will continue, but please tell us to "Keep going!" or "Work harder!" and that'll be good enough for me to want to work harder. Thank you."

Aiba had a lot of fun seeing everyone's laughing and smiling faces. "I didn't really think it would come to this 10 years before, but now, I can feel the love. And of course, I love you too. Like this... What is it?... It's a feeling that I can't explain. When I go home and look in the mirror, I see my huge grin. This has gotten a bit long, but thank you."

Nino's was even longer. "Thank you. You all have great expressions (on your faces). I could feel that you were having fun. You really seem to enjoy Arashi's concerts. 10 years ago, I'd have thought it was impossible. Y'know, one of my friends came today. He was waving an uchiwa (fan) with his name on it. It helped me spot him. Never would I have thought that one of my former classmates would join the fan club, come to the concert, and wave a flag with his own name on it. Over the years, everyone that's sung and danced with us, I'll always feel grateful to you. As we go into our 11th year, we'll also continue with dramas and our other work. Thank you. Today was really fun."

Jun's was kinda poetic. "Today's been really fun. Eh... At our concerts, as Arashi, you guys are like our wind. Before our eyes is a mountain that you guys help us go up over with your power. Thank you. And also from now on, thank you. We'd like to do the same for you, to help you overcome your own mountains. With us, let's go together. Today's 6th of December was really fun." (Loved that he mentioned the date again)

After that, the encores came. During Jun's solo in "One Love", the other guys put out their arms to Jun, in a "douzo" fashion. Aiba and Ohno had a cute little side hug too.

Jun asked for their name with "na-n-da" tonight. Right before it, there was a funny moment when he was standing in the middle and looked around for a second before he realized he needed to use his mike (they all hold hands as they bow) and had to be on the end instead, so he quickly walked around to the right spot. Tonight, as the boys were lowered down, Ohno was the last one to jump up, waving goodbye.

They came back out and preformed "Fight Song" and "Gori Muchuu" first, but tonight, Jun managed to get ahold of a streamer that had been shot out earlier and tied it around his forehead. Like usual, he jumped off the stage again, but he must have had a bad influence on Aiba, cuz he jumped off too. They ran around, Jun being a bit more energetic about jumping up nearer to the crowd, then he tried to take off the makeshift headband, but it got stuck in his hair for a second.

They did five "finishing jumps" again tonight. They were completely exhausted as Jun started thanking the crowd again. He panted out "from now on, please support us in our 11th year", but interrupted himself with a "Chotto matte. Yame yo. Ha-ha shiteru." (Wait a sec. I need a break. I'm panting.) They stood around for a minute, then got ready to go again with a "yarimashou" (let's do it), before saying it would be My Girl from Aiba's drama. Aiba said "That's right... please watch it." He did a good job of introducing it tonight.

They ended the second encore with "My Girl", but everyone was still screaming for more. A video popped up from back stage with one of the tour towels displayed before Jun pulled it away to reveal them. They said thanks for coming again and that it was fun before the video cut off. We all kept yelling and then Jun's voice came out saying "What?", then Nino's "What happened?" and "You guys are stubborn". They all kept teasing us by saying "What? What?", then finally "You want us to come back out?" The boys came back out, followed by the camera from back stage, and preformed "Arashi". They were goofing around and took turns running at the camera, making faces or doing some silly move. They said their goodbyes again with Leader the last to say "Be careful going home!"

The concert ended at 9:30 tonight.

And with all the stationary cameras we saw everywhere tonight, I think it's safe to say this will be on the DVD.

It was the most memorable weekend I think I've ever had. =^_^=

Then, of course, my friend and I had our customary run through the crowds to get to the train station. We weren't alone tonight. It was hilarious to see this flock of about twenty young girls almost full out running to catch the earliest train (it really is nice when it's not so packed >.>;). We had no mishaps tonight (except for my friend's aborted effort to invade backstage... Seriously, she managed to get out into the Arena with a ticket only meant for the Stands and even headed for the side area, before she got stopped by a bunch of guards. She doesn't recommend trying it...).

Til next time!

So, today I was with my friend, who's in love with Jun. It started out a bit rainy and cold, but cleared up after we left the Dome.

Our seats were in Gate 40 again, but lower down and closer to the back stage!



I think I actually have a complete set list for the Dome concerts. The opening was pretty similar to yesterday's with the balloon opening of "Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi" and "Lucky Man", then changed to the screen-cars after opening greetings (same as yesterday) for "Kaze no Mukou e".

The guys went back to main stage for "We Can Make It" (pretty water fountains and ocean background) and "Crazy Moon" (great dancing and fireworks shooting off at the end).

Aiba's solo started with the Juniors drumming and waving the flags, giving him time to change. I'd forgotten that he popped out of the stage (with a really high jump from a trampoline thingy and little fireworks). I still really like this version of "Pikanchi".

The island theme came up again and the boys came out in their bright vests to sing "Horizon", "Danger-Liner", "Allergy" (w/ the veggies, but Aiba dropped his at the beginning ^_^;), "Kokoro Chirari" (Juniors came running out with yellow flags and Nino plopped down on the edge of the moving stage again. I realized that when he was laying down and rolling over to get back up, he was looking down at the fans through the clear glass and waving), and "Carnival Nights" (A fun Juntoshi moment when they stood close and stared at each other).

Nino's solo sounded great again. This time, no mistakes too. =^_^=

Band intros were followed by "Everything" and "Hitomi no naka". The star scape was still nice. I was personally waiting for Ohno and Nino's part to see what Nino would do. He reached over again slowly, but Ohno caught sight of it and looked "scared", and then Nino suddenly reached over Ohno's shoulder and grabbed his chest. Oh-chan had a funny face and Nino struck a "guts pose". "Aozora Pedal" was pretty and Nino's opening for "Typhoon Generation" got lots of screams.

I was watching for Ohno to come out for his solo at the back stage, so I got to see him in his outfit as he was hurrying to get into place. Today I saw there were actually people dragging the balloon clouds and sun along the sides with ropes. To my delight, Ohno did his little goofy jump off stage again.

Four of the guys came out on the cars in their pink suits and Sho got the crowd started on "A Day in Our Lives" chants while Ohno was changing. The next song was "Hadashi no Mirai" as they were still on the cars at the back of the Dome. Dancing to that song is so much fun! "Oh Yeah!" had lots of hand waving too. Aiba and Sho did their dash across stage again.

The dance for "Step and Go" was great, but they got the crowd settled down a little with "Beautiful Days" before the MC.

Today, Sho had no problems speaking and thanked us for coming. They all said "arigatou gozaimaSU". Jun changed his shirt on stage again, and Ohno tried to cover it with a towel, but Jun did a funny little glare at the camera (got a lot of "kya~"s instead). The guys mentioned Ohno looked a bit like a manager like that.

Aiba talked about "My Girl" and that Sho was in it (so Sho did his two finger salute, which he commented that he's always doing). Aiba asked if we'd watched it and the guys teased him about crying again, but also that he didn't go right home to watch it on TV (He was too hungry and he knew there was nothing to eat at home, so he went out). Leader sorta scolded him, saying everyone hurried home to watch it too. Nino said Aiba seemed in a hurry yesterday, and did an imitation in a panicked voice of Aiba's "Gotta hurry home!"

They talked about their preformance on FNS of "Fuyu ga hajimaru yo" with Makihara Noriyuki. I honestly couldn't figure out what they were referring to when Aiba said he'd gotten really nervous and suddenly turned around (during the show? or sometime else?), but I think it was along the lines that he'd been nervous to be around Makihara and thought "Yabai!" and spun around to it. Sho was talking about how he watched the performance later and his face looked shiny (I think). He wished he could have got rid of some of the oil and he wanted the guys to tell him about it next time it happened.

Continuing with Makihara, they said during rehearsal if he (Makki as Jun called him) made a mistake, he did this funny "Wha~!" Leader did a great imitation of it. Sho said that behind the row of celebrities in the front tables, there was a section of the Hexagon Team who were clapping and waving like crazy.

There was a random loud noise from one of the mics that started a few of the guys. Nino's was an "Oh! That surprised me," but Sho was a bit embarrassed that it made him jump.

Back to "My Girl", Aiba teased everyone by saying a line from the show about when his character was quitting his job and he stopped before he was going to say why (everyone yelled eh~?), then he said he shouldn't tell us. Nino said telling everyone here would be bad.

Talk turned to "Kohaku" after that. Aiba said one of the people he was looking forward to working with, but I think it wasn't supposed to announced, so Jun and Nino yelled at him "Don't say it again!"

Sho has two dramas starting next year. Before the concert started, they showed these commercials advertising different Arashi shows, including his new one, and Sho said they'd made that video specifically for this concert! Sho excused himself to leave, but since he didn't want to say it was for his solo, he made the gesture of "girlfriend" followed by some bizarre gesture that I'm not sure half the fans knew anyway.

The remaining four mentioned "Saigo no Yakusoku" and Jun's drama, but he stuttered as he said the title (tried to say "Bokura" instead of "Wagaya").

Nino asked Leader what he was up to and Ohno started to explain Himitsu (about Mannequin Five), Shukudai, and VS, to the other members who play-acted that they didn't understand "variety" shows. Then they asked what he was doing tomorrow and he answered "a concert here at Tokyo Dome", then what for the next day and Ohno said he was "Off" and would probably try to catch some sleep.

Aiba got everyone pumped up again for Sho's solo. Got to see his dancing up closer! Jun's solo also had a lot of impressive jazzish dancing too.

"Boku ga Boku no Subete" had the guys come out in their glittery (I mean, seriously glittery) suits. "Attack It!" is also a big fav of mine. "Truth" looked a bit different tonight. I think they tuned down some of the lasers, so the fire stood out more. The overall effect was nicer.

The pictures for "Ashita no Kioku" never get old. That song was followed by the video that summarizes everything they've done over the years, leading them into their medley ("Arashi", "Sunrise Nippon", "Kimi no Tame ni", "Jidai" (Seriously awesome with the fireworks and dancing! T.T), "Nice na Kokoroiki", "Pikanchi", "Tomadoinagara" (Ohno and Sho did their cute little twirl), "Kotoba Yori" (up on the stands), "Hero" (still on the stands), "Sakura Saku" (back to running around), "Wish", "Kitto Daijoubu", "Love So Sweet", "Happiness", and "Believe" (Still fantastic with the lasers, water, and mini fireworks; this song's effects also looked cleaner tonight).

At the start of their speeches, Sho was still out of breath. He talked about how everyone has different dreams, but when you can put those dreams together into one dream, it's great. From now on, he hoped we would continue to dream with Arashi.

Leader still seemed surprised that it's been 10 years and that they'd done so much, but he's really happy. He said if the guys ever have too big of an attitude to please tell them (Just saying that proves they don't! ^_^), but he thought that maybe they didn't.

Aiba joked that he might have forgotten two or three songs over the years. When he sees everyone's happy faces, he thinks "Damn, I can't lose now!" (Kuso, makenaizo!) and wants to try harder (at concerts), but by the time he realizes, it's over already. He'd like to play with everyone again sometime.

Nino thanked everyone, but since there were lots of random shouts around the Dome from fans, he joked "let me talk". He said with only them, this would be impossible and expressed his gratitude to the staff, people who made the stage, and song writers too. Their 11th year has started and he wants to keep going at this pace, which is "Arashi-like".

Jun said that it's been 10 years since their debut and it took time as they went one step at a time and met many people. Then he introduced 5x10.

They said their "goodbyes" before running off to get changed for the encores.

Same number of songs as last night. "Pikanchi Double", "Ashita ni Mukatte" and "Dekiru Dake" (My heart just about stopped when Ohno returned my peace sign and pointed in the direction of my friend and me. I have no idea if he was really pointing at us, but just the possibility made me wanna cry from happiness!!). "One Love" finished out the first encore and Jun shouted out "boku no namae was nan-da-ke?" (I love how he says this a little different each time). The streamers come out as we said their name again. Yay! Ohno and Aiba were jumping around waving as the stage lowered. (Cute!)

Second encore was "Fight Song" and "Gori Muchuu". Turns out, they did just change the way they said the lyrics, but it was great to hear again. Ohno's was still the best with his high pitched off-key singing. Then he finished out the song in the same tone. XD

So, I forgot to mention that last night, Jun jumped off the stage and shook hands with some of the handicap people near the stadium edge. Well, he did it again. But tonight he got an "Ohno" uchiwa from a fan and waved it around towards Leader as he was singing. Very funny! Then instead of returning to back stage to take a cart back to main stage, he ran around to the other side of the back and shook some more hands, then ran all the way back to the stage. He had to have been tired.

They did their "finishing jump" five times tonight as Sho was "helicoptering" his towel and Ohno looked ready to pass out.

The third encore started with Jun saying that the concert had been good for him, then he proceeded to ask the other members if they thought so too (Yokatta desu ka?). Sho answered "yokatta", Nino almost wanted to roll his eyes as he said "yokatta", Ohno answered a little uncertainly "yokatta", and Aiba said "yokatta desu kedo..." (It's good, but...), "why are you asking this?" Jun asked again "Is this okay?", so Aiba answered "It's good, but why are you asking your own members... we should be feeling the same thing." Jun played around by repeating again, "Is this okay?". Aiba gave up and said "Yes, this is good."

Jun tried to have Aiba introduce his own song for My Girl, but since Aiba just kinda waved his hand as a way to start, they said "that's no way to start (a song)". After they asked him if he was "starring in My Girl", Aiba said of course and he hoped we'd watch the last episode. Getting the song started properly, they sang "My Girl" wonderfully.

At the end, they waved and said their goodbyes again, but as the members split off to go into the back, Jun grabbed Aiba (who was going the other way) and then left him in the middle by himself. Trying not to laugh at the situation, Aiba gave a nice bow and blew a kiss to everyone before he left.

And so my fourth Arashi concert ended... but the fun didn't stop there.

My friend and me have this silly tradition of trying to dash through the crowds to get to the train station faster (cuz we're both usually starving by this time). We made it through in record time, but at the train station... we were there barely in time to catch a train before it left, so I'm not sure if it's cuz we were on an Arashi high or what, but my friend stepped to get on the train... and her leg went right down in that gap between the train and the edge of the platform...

I grabbed her arm and tried to pull her out, but the whole time, we were just giggling like mad. I've never actually seen anyone do that before, so it was a big shock. I kinda thought she'd just tripped, but her leg suddenly disappeared too (right up to her thigh). We ended up laughing about it the whole way to Yoyogi. Everyone around us must have thought we were crazy foreigners... so if any of you happened to witness this, that was me and my friend... We shall both be paranoid about stepping on and off trains for a very long time.

Her leg is currently a little swollen and will most definitely bruise tomorrow, but we'll find out what the full repercussions are later.

We kinda wonder what craziness will happen tomorrow when we go to do it again.

Anyway, look forward to one more report for tomorrrow!

This is officially the third time I've seen Arashi in concert, and every time, I think it just gets better.



I've only been to Tokyo Dome one other time (for a KAT-TUN concert), so of course I didn't remember the seat layout. I was in Gate 40, which is the uppermost floor, nearly at the top. (It was like Do As Infinity all over again. ^_^;). The view was great though.



The concert started with the boys appearing above the stage hanging from a huge balloon. It moved out into the stadium as they preformed "Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi" until the balloon reached the back stage. They had their white jackets on (that I think everyone has seen by now). Then the guys each yelled out their greetings (Jun thanking us for coming, Nino's "Irashaimase", Aiba just getting everybody to yell, and Ohno's "Hi!"s followed by a "tonight's a festival in Tokyo", and Sho yelling to the upper stands and lower).

They got onto two moving cars, but the interesting thing was that they had screens on the side of each car thingy that showed that group or individual on it at the time (Jun and Aiba were on one). It was a great way to see them up close!

I didn't write down the exact set list for the songs (sure it'll come out later anyway), but "Kaze no Mukou e" was the third, I believe. They had the Juniors run out and wave these tall flags around.

For "We can make it!", they had a pretty ocean scene on the screens, and then they made their way to middle stage for "Crazy Moon".

Aiba's solo came after that. The Juniors came out first and did their "drum line" dance with the red and blue flags too. There were some mini fireworks also.

The scene on the screens changed to an island theme and they did "Horizon", "Danger-Liner", "Allergy" (w/ the veggies), "Kokoro Chirari" (Nino plopped down on the edge of the moving stage and then laid down and rolled around to get back up. It was amusing.), and "Carnival Nights" (Very fun song!).

They had a pianist play a short intro and Nino came out with his guitar to sing "Kotoba Yori". I was listening carefully and he didn't screw up this time. ^_^

Band introductions came after that, which led into "Everything". The last picture of the slide show was of Tokyo Dome with the Arashi Bus.

"Hitomi no naka" was really pretty with the star scape on the screens and the red lights of the penlights. During Nino and Ohno's section in the song, Nino reached over to Ohno's shoulder slowly, then up to his face. At least he waited til Ohno finished singing before sticking his hand on Leader's face (in a rather silly motion). "Aozora Pedal" and "Typhoon Generation" were next, then... *drum roll*

Oh-chan's solo! (Obviously, I'm partial cuz he's my ichiban) They had these balloons (four clouds and one sun) come up above the back stage where he started out at, and they floated above the moving stage as it returned to the main area. Ohno looked great in his outfit and at the end, he did a goofy little jump into the back.

There were a few songs before the MC, but I do remember each of the guys riding one of the stage/cars with screens, then Aiba and Sho running full throttle across the stage during "Oh Yeah".

Sho tried to begin the MC, but he stumbled over a few words. They started talking about how much Aiba sweats, and Jun did his customary shirt change on stage. It was cute this time cuz Ohno "tried" to hide Jun from the camera.

The talk shifted to "My Girl" and how Aiba had already finished filming. Nino said he cried on the last day, which made Aiba pretend to get irritated and say "Don't tell everyone that". Then Nino replied "Everyone wants to see" (Aiba's crying face) and the crowd cheered. Aiba tried to explain that he'd been "Koharu's papa" for four months, so at then end, he felt the importance of that. Sho is gonna be in the last episode, so I think they said that he somehow ended up in the "commemoration picture" they always take at the end with the whole staff.

They talked about poses and Jun asked why a fist has ended up as a "guts pose". The guys tried to explain, but ended up joking about Sho's pose that is usually two fists instead (like a boxer). I think Leader said he was thinking it might be himself that would be asked to show up in Aiba's drama and he'd even got a little excited about it (doki doki shita), but they asked Sho first.

Their new drama with all five members actually doesn't have so many times when they are together on screen. Aiba and Nino had a scene and Sho and Jun too, but Leader was always "alone". They mentioned some of the people that they were filming with too.

Nino confirmed they should be doing the Countdown, but he apologized that Arashi wasn't doing the Johnnys Baseball Tournament. Aiba said he was surprised by the news that they weren't doing it and that he found out from the newspaper, then he said "sorry for last time" (Our miracle boy didn't have too much luck when he was pitching a few years ago).

Aiba said Nino should tell everyone about Gantz, and Nino complained that he'd just told everyone. There was a big pause when Nino was trying to think of the year it was coming out and he appealed to the crowd that Matsuken will star in it too.

Jun's drama talk was that since it's set in the Showa Period, there were a lot of things he didn't know about that time and that it was nice being with the family.

They turned to Leader to see if he had anything to add, so he said "Well, I have Arashi no Shukudai-kun, VS Arashi, and Himitsu". The other members play-acted surprised. Ohno said he'd try to go fishing for maguro again (and get a 400 kilo fish?, which I don't even know if that's possible).

Getting ready for the second half, Aiba teased the crowd by saying "are you going to stay sitting?" "Standing?" "Sitting?".

Sho and Jun's solos were great as ever, but the next song that left an impression with me was "Truth". The laser show and fire shooting out were really impressive. Also, I paid more attention to the member's pictures in "Ashita no Kioku". They were adorable!

Their wonderful medley was next, starting from main stage in those clear suits. Nino and Aiba rode two carts to the back stage and left to get changed, while the other three left a bit later (Sho pointed at his nipple before leaving >_<). "Jidai" was great with the fireworks that came out on the beats.

During "Hero", the guys rose up on stands. The members had lots of random moments where they were just playing around on the stage with each other (i.e. Jun and Nino's strange 'face off').

"Believe" was amazing. The laser show with the mini fireworks , followed by water shooting out, then more fireworks are making me really look forward to watching it again.

As usual, Sho was the first to thank everyone during the speeches. He said "hontou ni, hontou ni, hontou ni arigatou" (Thank you very, very, very much). He remembers how they started and now how they want to aim for the top, but commented that there are people that go straight up and others that weave their way, like Arashi. The view/scenery for today's show was a great one.

Ohno said many people have congratulated them and he kinda wonders if it is okay to be this happy.

Aiba bowed and thanked everyone, hoping that they could continue like this and also continue making something wonderful with everyone. He laughed that he couldn't cry today for us.

Nino teased that Aiba really is happy in Arashi, as he is too. If all the fans weren't there, they couldn't do this kind of concert. He said something funny that everyone laughed at, but I missed it. T.T

Jun said he wouldn't forget today. He thanked everyone that's been with them since the beginning and the staff too. He hoped we would show them our happy faces again sometime.

During 5x10, at the climax, they shoot out a ton of glitter from the stage in the center. There was also a beautiful water show to finish out the concert.

Then came the encores.

"Ashita ni Mukatte" and "Dekiru Dake" were fun. Jun's solo in "One Love" sounded very nice tonight too. Aiba was goofing around, facing the Juniors instead of the crowd, as he did the hand movements with them.

After they thanked the band and dancers, Jun said "What's our name?" (Boku no namae wa na-n-da?). They timed it so that when we said "Arashi", these glittering streamers burst out.

The second encore had "Fight Song" and "Gori Muchuu". During "Fight Song", Jun, Nino, and Aiba changed the beginning lyrics, but I couldn't hear what to. Sho's part was normal, but Leader did a funny higher pitched version. Arashi tried to do a finishing jump with the band, but they just kept playing the last part, so everyone ended up jumping about three or four times. XD

The third encore was "My Girl". Jun was looking at his watch, saying we might not make it home in time, so it would be the last song. The guys shouted their last goodbyes, but Jun's was "Don't catch a cold" and Aiba's was "Watch My Girl!".

Today's concert ended around 9:20, so I'm proud to say I made it home in time to watch "My Girl", as I was doing when I was typing this report... and it was a very cute episode.



*sigh* Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow!

Until then!

I've seen this song under a few titles (i.e. "I love you, Baby"), but I'm going with "Yours Baby" since it was on the screens at the concerts and it's in the song.

This is purely what I remember from the cons and what I could hear from a fancam, so if you have other suggestions, please tell me!

Yours Baby by Yamashita Tomohisa


Kanji:

I been you watchin' you the whole night through
Moonlight in your hair　You're beautiful
You feel like an angel　My heart's in danger
Don't stop, let's go
Now watch me, I'm a rock the floor

Tonight feels like 君がいいような
Set my secrets free on with the music
Release in the air

いつだって My heart grooves right into you
どうすればの事をように I want you to feel it too
Cuz darling, なんて don't come like the breeze
Under the mirror ball
Give me a chance, let it go
(your kiss/焼きそう)はバリ音
But it's yours baby

ベート your cool stare, you 1 2 3
ベースと合わせで let me be
ふうはある gangsters
make me a ?
don't stop, let's go
now listen, pass the microphone

Tonight feels like 君がいいような
Set my secrets free on with the music
Release in the air

いつだって　My heart grooves right into you
どうすればの事をように　I want you to feel it too
Cuz darling, なんて don't come like the breeze
Under the mirror ball
Give me a chance, let it go
(your kiss/焼きそう)はバリ音
But it's yours baby

Romanji:

I been you watchin' you the whole night through
Moonlight in your hair You're beautiful
You feel like an angel My heart's in danger
Don't stop, let's go
Now watch me, I'm a rock the floor

Tonight feels like　kimi ga ii you na
Set my secrets free on with the music
Release in the air

Itsudatte　My heart grooves right into you
Dousureba no koto wo you ni　I want you to feel it too
Cuz darling, nante don't come like the breeze
Under the mirror ball
Give me a chance, let it go
(your kiss/yakisou) wa bari on
But it's yours baby

Beat, your cool stare, you 1 2 3
Bass to awase de　let me be
Fuu wa aru gangsters
make me a ?
don't stop, let's go
now listen, pass the microphone

Tonight feels like　kimi ga ii you na
Set my secrets free on with the music
Release in the air

Itsudatte　My heart grooves right into you
Dousureba no koto wo you ni　I want you to feel it too
Cuz darling, nante don't come like the breeze
Under the mirror ball
Give me a chance, let it go
(your kiss/yakisou) wa bari on
But it's yours baby

English:

I been you watchin' you the whole night through
Moonlight in your hair　You're beautiful
You feel like an angel　My heart's in danger
Don't stop, let's go
Now watch me, I'm a rock the floor

Tonight feels like it'll be good with you
Set my secrets free on with the music
Release in the air

Anytime　My heart grooves right into you
So that you feel like you don't know what to do　I want you to feel it too
Cuz darling, things like this don't come like the breeze
Under the mirror ball
Give me a chance, let it go
(your kisses have a buzzing sound/this buzzing sound seems like it'll burn)
But it's yours baby

Beat, your cool stare, you 1 2 3
Matching the bass　let me be
Gangsters with style
make me a ?
don't stop, let's go
now listen, pass the microphone

Tonight feels like it'll be good with you
Set my secrets free on with the music
Release in the air

Anytime　My heart grooves right into you
So that you feel like you don't know what to do　I want you to feel it too
Cuz darling, things like this don't come like the breeze
Under the mirror ball
Give me a chance, let it go
(your kisses have a buzzing sound/this buzzing sound seems like it'll burn)
But it's yours baby


I believe this is an unreleased song of his, which I really hope Yamapi will put out sometime soon. If you haven't heard or seen it yet, youtube has it.

If you'd like romanji or English lyrics, let me know. I only posted this cuz I couldn't find a single version on google and it was driving me crazy... (added)

This is becoming an addiction. I just really love concerts!

Well, this time around, it was Do As Infinity, a band I've been in love with for about 6 or 7 years when I saw them live in America.



Now I got to see them in Japan. The Budoukan is located inside a really nice looking park with a moat and an old fashioned gate at the entrance.





I can't figure out if I was amused at my seat or what...



As the girl next to me put it, it was "ushiro no ushiro no ushiro" (the back of the back of the back), but "ma... miyasui..." (Well, it's easy to see everything.) I was in the last/top row of the arena... It was hella high. I kinda liked my seat though cuz there was a really nice monitor to the right that had great quality, and the black thing in the picture to the right is the stage, so I was right beside it (technically).

There was a girls high school band that did the opening act. It was their first open, but I have to say from the one song they sang, the lead vocal's voice sent chills up my neck. The guitarists were also great. Wish they'd played more than one.

Started a bit late (as is normal for almost every concert), but everyone was surprised when two holes in the floor of the stage dropped open and Ryo and Van popped out of them. The first song was "Break of Dawn", followed by "Saigo no Game" (my fav of the new album) and "Perfect World". The screen behind the stage had a ton of designs and images flashing across it and the light effects were pretty interesting throughout the show.

But I have to tell you, Van was very somber for the first third of the show (she hardly cracked a smile even). I kinda wonder if something had happened. Ryo did his best to keep everyone entertained (and did a great job of it too).

After Ryo and Van greeted the crowd and said they hoped we were ready for the "10th year party", they preformed "Hi no Ataru Sakamichi" and "Wings".

They talked a bit about being at the Budoukan and Ryo made the amusing comment of "let's break the Budoukan!", but when there was no reaction, he said "Forgive me for going overboard." Van tried to talk about the weather, which got a few laughs, but she was interrupted by a "bi-" from Ryo's mic (he'd been fiddling with it while she was talking), which got some more laughs, and then when she was floundering a little during her talk about the new and old songs, he did it again, which made everybody laugh.

"Desire" and "10W40" were followed by "Sell...". During that song, Ryo was playing around with a little toy gun that made sound effects and then he and the other guitarist had a little "rockin' out" moment.

Ryo was breathing really hard while he tried to talk about how some people were like "D.A.I. is still alive!" Van mentioned her bad habit of touching her head (messing with her hair or readjusting the ear phones any time she wasn't singing). She kinda tried to talk about the album, but forgot her point before she introduced "Eternal Flame".

"Honoo" was after, so they both had a fire motif.

Van messed up the lyrics on "Namonaki Kakumei". "Nighter" had pictures of a man who I assumed was her father showing in the background. After "Umareyuku Monotachi E", Ryo asked if we were having fun, because we really hadn't had much to do before then. Until this point, it was really just standing and listening to them sing, but after this, the concert really seemed to start.

Ryo goofed around on stage and Van finally smiled. He did a few fake starts to the next song that had her saying "chotto!" (Hey!/Knock it off!).

They did a very nice medley next that had the PVs for each song playing in the background. Everyone really got into this and Van seemed to be enjoying herself. The songs were "Fukai Mori" (Yay!), "Heart", "Yesterday and Today", "Rumble Fish", "Oasis", "Shinjitsu no Uta", "Rakuen", "Mahou no Kotoba", "Hiiragi", "Week!" (Everyone was waving their hands by now), and "For the Future".

Van dashed off the stage (to change), leaving Ryo to fend for himself. He was really amusing. He joked that his bad points were "kuuki yomenai" (can't read the atmosphere/mood or KY for short), KY, KY, and KY. He said that "this has never happened before" (him being on stage by himself). It was like "my time". He went over to center stage with his mic and said "forgive me" and "it feels nice here". It was like "a one person talk show". He tried to get everyone ready to start again by shouting "muryo" (?), but no one responded, so a guy in the crowd said "try it again!", and Ryo did a countdown the second time that got everyone to join in. He started the next song "Tsurezure Naru Mama ni" and Van came popping out of the stage again in a pink shirt.

She was really cheerful after this and got everyone shouting. "Under the Sun" and "Boukensha-tachi" were really fun. Van played around with the crowd, getting everybody to yell "yeah" a bunch of times. During "One or Eight", they introduced the band. They finished out the concert with "Honjitsu wa Seiten Nari", and Ryo didn't want to leave the stage.

The first encore was a song that they'd made for their 10th year annivesary, "Kimi ga Inai Mirai", "Piece of Your Heart", and "Summer Days". Van threw her towel into the crowd and Ryo was tempted to throw his toy gun into the crowd, but the staff said no. He said if anyone really wanted it, they could ask for it on the website.

They left the stage, but came back for a second encore. Ryo said "kichatta" (we came), and Van waved and Ryo pretended like he was bowing to the huge version of Van on the screen. They thanked the crowd and Ryo choked up at the end (he pretended to cover it up by making noise with the toy gun). They finished out with their debut song "Tangerine Dream" and then "Kimi ga Inai Mirai" one more time.

By the end, no one really wanted to leave, but it was raining outside, so people started going home. This will be a fun night that I'll remember, up there with my Johnny's concerts!

<3

Yay! It was total worth it to go again! I loved it even more the second time around.

The noticeable differences today were that during "Run from you", he did a small beatbox intro. Awesome! Not as good as KAT-TUN's Nakamaru, but still nice. This was also the song that he changed into the beanie hat and then straightened his tie very cutely, making all the girls scream.

The girl chosen for "Moonlight" today was a young woman by the name of Haruka. She seemed in shock as she sat on the chair and Yamapi came closer. He said he would give her the handkerchief, but he was gonna sign it first, and everyone yelled, "Eeeh?!", so Yamapi replied jokingly, "Don't bully her!" and then "Wa wa iranai de" (We don't need all the "wa~"ing). Him trying to lecture the crowd was pretty funny.

During "Daite", he screwed up some of the lyrics tonight, which he may or may not have cared if he did, but it was still interesting.

Then came the MC. He talked about being by himself again and how nervous he feels before a concert. Usually when he sees everyone's faces, the nervousness goes away. It had been 3 1/2 years since "Daite Senorita" (he pronounced it "SenoriTA" on purpose). Over that time his various goals had been changing. He'd started out as a Junior who really wanted to debut and release a CD, which he did, so he kinda felt like he'd been "getting used to everything". He thought worriedly "Is going like this really okay?". So his thoughts changed that he wanted to do more, like he wanted to be the best.

From talking about rehearsals, he mentioned how the choreography moves are decided, but when you match it to music, it's really fun. He said he wants to continue doing what he likes, so he hopes everyone will find a hobby they like to do the same with.

He's been really busy, but at night and in his free time he likes to look up information on artists from different countries on the internet and watch their videos.

He thanked the staff again, picking up a piece of fallen confetti and said that they were the ones who made everything even down to the little things.

Then Yamapi played with the penlights once again. It really was beautiful to see all of them lit up. He said it looked really amazing. He got everyone to wave them hard so we could stop them on his count, but he through out the extra comment "Kya~ te itte" (Say kya~). Very funny! >_<

He pointed out the t-shirt for sale, saying he "looked good".

Next, he called out to the audience if there were any guys in the crowd, and one man in particular yelled out a huge "HAI!" that surprised everybody. Yamapi thanked him for coming, along with all the other guys too.

He's got Osaka Hall coming up soon, so he said he wants to do more and better performances, which somehow led him back into talking about dancing. The accuracy and even placement of the fingers is very exact. He demonstrated a few things that he has to be careful about. Everyone was kinda giggling at him going on about the details, so he asked "Do you understand me?" and most people yelled out "We understand!".

I think one of the girls must have yelled something about Michael Jackson, cuz Yamapi jokingly reproached, "I'm not Michael" or rather "Maiko" as he said. He mentioned how he thought Michael was an amazing performer too.

After a few rambles about the nice weather, the crowd was yelling out "Cute!" so he said "You guys are all so nice." Somehow he got on the topic of Akanishi, talking about how they'd rode the train home together and gone out for meals, but "He still called me stingy" on TV. XD Back to that again. Yamapi said that Nakamaru had come yesterday and after the show he'd told Yamapi that he had such "nice fans".

Getting ready to start the show again, he asked everybody if they were ready to get pumped up, but he asked it cutely like a question ("Moriagate kureru no ka?"), so everyone said "ii yo!" (Sure!) and he replied "Yokatta" (That's good).

And the guest for today was.... Tanaka Koki!! Yamapi said they were classmates in high school and thanked him for coming. Once again, the two of them rode around on the cart thingys as Yamapi sang. Koki was quite adorable. He was giving little waves to everybody and bowing a lot. When Yamapi finished "Colorful", they switched carts, but Yamapi called it a "norikae" (transfer; usually used for trains or buses). Koki seemed surprised that he was gonna keep going, and even more when the carts stopped in a few places momentarily. He started trying to pick up some fallen confetti and started handing it out to some of the fans, acting like it was something actually important. Koki looked really nice today with his blondish hair and nice jacket. After Yamapi finished "Himawari", Koki asked is it okay not to "transfer" again which made Yamapi laugh. Koki said he'd take a few pieces of confetti as a souvenir before he left and he started jogging off the stage, but Yamapi shouted after him "It's okay not to run!" Then he said to Koki, "Give my regards to Jyuji"(? Not sure if that was heard correctly, but could someone clue me in to who that might be?).

The rest of the concert passed in a blur, but a wonderful blur. I still really liked "Me" with the laser show and "Thriller" the best. Yamapi went up in his little cart through the stand seating for the encore again and he didn't seem to have any close calls with the fans, so I think everything turned out okay. He did a lot more waving today though. I hope he had a great last concert for Yokohama, because I know I sure loved it.

Next weekend is Do As Infinity, for anyone who knows them, and the weekend after that is all three Arashi Dome Concerts! Look forward to more reports.

=^_^=

P.S. Has anyone found the mp3s for "Ima sugu ni" or "I love you baby"? They are proving elusive online...
Found fancams

*Edit* Thanks to everyone's comments, it must have been Koki's little brother, Juri, that Yamapi was talking about.

Blurry, but it's still there...

I saw a bunch of concert reports yesterday, but I thought I'd add mine (if only for my own memories).

First, I live pretty close to Yokohama Arena, so I ended up getting there later since I didn't want to stand outside in the cold. The lines for goods and the one to enter were pretty long, but nothing that quite matched up to Arashi's.

I got inside, got Yamapi's pamphlet after about a 20 min wait (cuz I was near the front), and found my seat. I was in the west stands, but I had a nice view overall.

When the show started, I was quite impressed by all the lasers they incorporated into each song. Yamapi came out center stage and sang "Gomen ne Juliet" wearing a white jacket, then "Yubiwa". The concert seemed to start out sorta mellow; just him singing and riding around on those little carts they use in many Johnnys concerts (Don't get me wrong though! Everything looked great!). I was impressed with Yamapi's voice. There are times when it's soft, but his pitch is very nice.

For "Mola" there was the PV from the NEWS Diamond DVD playing on the screens above the center stage that pretty much mirrored his dancing.

"I love you baby" was followed by "Run from you", which, if I remember correctly, had some awesome colored fire coming out of center stage where Yamapi and his dancers were. "Crush on you" left as impression on me cuz I specifically remember some very cute hip shaking. >.<

Somewhere in the first half, Yamapi changed hats and jackets a few time, but don't ask me for more than that... I'm sure there are tons of paparazzi photos out already.

He did a short greeting where he was a bit out of breath, so he just called out for sections (center, arena, stand, everyone) to yell a bit. He talked about the title being "Short but Sweet" and that he hoped we enjoyed the show.

"Aoi" and "Love Song" finished out the first half, then Yamapi ducked off the stage after announcing FIVE would play a number. The song was bouncy, so I liked it.

Next, the disco balls on the ceiling lowered a bit, and Yamapi got inside the clear "disco ball" that was already lowered on the stage. It rose up and he preformed "Snow Express" from inside. I love this song! So happy he did it and the "snowflakes" falling looked nice too.

For "Me", Yamapi put on sunglasses. The coolest thing about the song, besides the dancing, was when the dancers and Yamapi did a little choreographed bit with some hand-held lasers. I really liked how they used the screens that surrounded the arena too!

"Moonlight" was funny. He announced they'd bring a girl on stage because he wanted to "get closer to everyone". He let one of the dancers pick a ten (or so) year old girl to sit on a chair at one end of the stage. Yamapi said, "Oh baby!" in English which made everyone crack up, then "Come on baby!" Yamapi came closer while singing, patted her on the head, and gave her a handkerchief. He bent down to ask the girl her name before letting her go back off stage. Even if he does the same thing for each concert, it was still adorable.

"After the Rain" was really pretty, and then "Loveless" followed with the PV playing. I really liked these two one after another.

The center screen had lowered down, so that one dancer was positioned in front of each of the four screens. They had "Warning" signs flashing everywhere and then they did a short, but very impressively choreographed dance, combining the dancer's movements with the images on the screens. Very cool! T.T

Yamapi came out in a red jacket, pretending to shoot a gun around the arena. Then he got a different gun from a staff member and shot the dancers, making little fireworks shoot out from their chests as they were "hit". The dancers switched to the ones dressed as zombies and Yamapi preformed Michael Jackson's "Thriller". It was great!!! There were even flying ghosts too! Can't wait to see it again tomorrow.

As he did "Daite Senorita", I was starting to wonder who might be the guest today. So when he went into the MC, I was getting really curious.

For the MC, Yamapi talked about this being his first time doing a concert by himself and how the discussions about the concert started in October with the rehearsals right after. Then he thanked the staff for their hard work, especially how they had to come in earlier than himself. He also thanked the crowd for coming and asked them to put up their red penlights. He said a cute "Wa~h!" when he got a look at everyone's waving around. Then he said "Stop!" (moving the penlights) and everyone almost got them stopped at the same time, but not quite. He goofed around scolding everyone, "What's with that shaking around?" Getting everyone to try again, he did a countdown "3,2,1, Stop!" and the second time it was much more impressive to see everyone in sync.

Yamapi also talked about the t-shirts with their "dokkan to" (popping out) face of himself. The crowd was shouting a bunch of stuff at him ("I can't hear you clearly") and he took a few moments to listen to random girls screaming where they were from (Sendai, Hiroshima...). Then he teased everyone by saying, "Can you listen to me a bit instead?"

He promoted "Loveless" and mentioned the "Mola" PV. That led him into talking about how nostalgic his Junior days were, with rehearsals and tons of muscle training. He talked about how Juniours usually dance full out, but when you have to focus on singing and dancing, you can't anymore. He had to eat a ton to keep up his energy, which is still the same now.

Then he talked about how he wanted to "aim for the top" and how he admires everyone that can find something different that they try hard at, whether it be dancing, singing, or design.

He joked about how we had to listen to him being unable to talk properly (he sorta does ramble, but it's cute). He tried to get back on track by promoting Code Blue 2 ("on Monday at 9PM", which is becoming Yamapi's time slot), but went off on a tangent again about how everyone coming together like this was really an amazing power.

Going back to his Junior days, he mentioned how he danced for Kinki Kids (something about "Natsu da", which I think was the title for one of their concerts). I thought he'd just go into "Koi wa mystery" (the Kinki Kids' song that he said left an impression on him), but he made one last random comment about doing GYM and the lyrics that also made an impression on him (Golf and Mike's "Icchaeyo!" and his "Icchainayo!").

Yamapi called out "Stand up!" in English and got everyone to raise their penlights again, saying "Yosh!"

I really liked his version of "Koi wa mystery", better than the original.

Before "Colorful", but Yamapi called out "And now for today's guest... Nakamaru!" KAT-TUN's Nakamaru Yuichi came out wearing a green and white college jacket. I was pretty surprised, because he's my best friend's fav, but she wasn't with me tonight (I'll brag later). Yamapi and Nakamaru went around on those little carts through the center seating while Yamapi sung "Colorful" and one other song "Himawari". During "Colorful", Yamapi changed some of the lyrics to "Nakamaru, Nakamaru, Nakamaru no Yuichi da", which had me laughing. Nakamaru was being rather silly too as he was attempting to imitate the "Daite Senorita" "tsuyoku, tsuyoku" part, or something close to it. As Nakamura left the stage, Yamapi called out "Itterashai" and his friend replied "Ittekimasu".

"Dance Jam" was awesome, but I'm partial to that song to begin with. Everyone really seemed to be enjoying themselves!

Yamapi introduced back dancers and FIVE again before thanking everyone for coming.

The encore had a bunch of clips playing from his dramas and concerts, but I was more concerned with what the staff were doing behind us as they were roping off the pathway along the top of the stands. To my shock, Yamapi road around on a cart along the top of the stands, handing out balloons and signed balls(?). He preformed "Ima sugu ni" and "Seishun Amigo", but I was a little concerned for him cuz there were a couple times he had to yank his hand back from shaking a fan's hand. He even dove down one of the staircases between the fans and took a minature lift back to the first floor. I'm happy to say I was very close to him (didn't get a handshake, but that's okay).

He finished off by thanking everyone again and Nakamaru for coming. Apparently Yara was there too. I'm sure there were a few more that we'll find out about from fan blogs soon enough.

Overall, I was amazed by all the dancing numbers and fantastic light shows that combined with Yamapi's vocals to create a wonderful solo concert!

Now to go do it all again tomorrow!




*Edit* "It wasn't "Yokubou no Rain", but "Himawari"

Got the official kanji lyrics from a Japanese fangirl's blog found here. Scroll down to see the kanji, romanji, and English.


Kanji:

“Maybe”っていうか今日は　日々に感謝をする時?
1,2 ノックReady! with music すぐサンライズ on the beat
“Maybe”っていうか今日は　日々に感謝をする時?
1,2 ノックReady! 集まりLet'sカウントダウン3 2 1…
“Maybe”っていうか今日は　日々に感謝をする時?
いつもそばにはMusicとWe wish　そうでっかいLoveとピース

ピースサイン IDはスーパーフレッシュ
新たなシーンにこのメロディーライン

さあ行こうよ　始まる奇跡が 止まらないよもう朝まで
今年も来年も今日と　同じように祝えるさ
最高の 音になる鼓動　派手に騒ごう朝まで
いつもの仲間集えば　繋げる気持ちがフレーズさ
今日のモットー「優美Hold on」ダメージ傷なんて癒え小休止NOW
明日はもっとCool にGoing on　望んだとおりJust, フューチャーカム

“Maybe”っていうか今日は　日々に感謝をする時?
1,2 ノックReady! with music　すぐサンライズ on the beat
“Maybe”っていうか今日は　日々に感謝をする時?
1,2 ノックReady! 集まりLet'sカウントダウン321…
“Maybe”っていうか今日は　日々に感謝をする時?
いつもそばにはMusicとWe wish　そうでっかいLoveとピース

繰り返す気持ちありがとう　立ち止まり気になりルーズコントロール
声にならない声 I miss you so 今日はとりあえずはしゃぐよ
別々の場所で祝う二人は　それなりに距離はあるけど
離れて初めて気づく事　届きますようにHappinessが

“Maybe”っていうか今日は　日々に感謝をする時?
(繰り返す気持ちありがとう)
1,2 ノックReady! with music　すぐサンライズ on the beat
(声にならない声 I miss you so)
“Maybe”っていうか今日は　日々に感謝をする時?
(繰り返す気持ちありがとう　離れて初めて気づく事　届きますように…)

さあ行こうよ　始まる奇跡が 止まらないよもう朝まで
今年も来年も今日と　同じように祝えるさ
最高の 音になる鼓動　派手に騒ごう朝まで
いつもの仲間集えば　繋げる気持ちがフレーズさ


Romanji:

“Maybe” tte iu ka kyou wa　hibi ni kansha wo suru toki?
1,2 knock Ready! with music sugu sunrise on the beat
“Maybe” tte iu ka kyou wa　hibi ni kansha wo suru toki?
1,2 knock Ready! atsumari Let's Countdown 3 2 1…
“Maybe” tte iu ka kyou wa　hibi ni kansha wo suru toki?
Itsumo soba ni wa Music to We wish　sou dekkai Love to peace (because)

Peace sign ID wa Super Fresh
Arata na scene ni kono melody line

Saa, ikou yo　hajimaru kiseki ga tomaranai yo mou asa made
Kotoshi mo rainen mo kyou to　onaji you ni iwaeru sa
Saikou no oto ni naru kodou　hade ni sawagou asa made
Itsumo no nakama tsudoeba 　tsunageru kimochi ga phrase sa

Kyou no motto 「yuubi Hold on」damage kizu nante ie shoukyuushi NOW
Asu wa motto Cool ni Going on　nozonda toori Just, future come

“Maybe” tte iu ka kyou wa　hibi ni kansha wo suru toki?
1,2 knock Ready! with music sugu sunrise on the beat
“Maybe” tte iu ka kyou wa　hibi ni kansha wo suru toki?
1,2 knock Ready! atsumari Let's Countdown 3 2 1…
“Maybe” tte iu ka kyou wa　hibi ni kansha wo suru toki?
Itsumo soba ni wa Music to We wish　sou dekkai Love to peace (because)

Kurikaesu kimochi arigatou 　tachitomari ki ni nari loose control
Koe ni naranai koe I miss you so kyou wa toriaezu hashagu yo
Betsubetsu no bashi de iwau futari wa　sore nari ni kyori wa aru kedo
Hanarete hajimete kidzuku koto　todokimasu you ni Happiness ga

“Maybe” tte iu ka kyou wa　hibi ni kansha wo suru toki?
(Kurikaesu kimochi arigatou)
1,2 knock Ready! with music sugu sunrise on the beat
(Koe ni naranai koe I miss you so)
“Maybe” tte iu ka kyou wa　hibi ni kansha wo suru toki?
(Kurikaesu kimochi arigatou 　hanarete hajimete kidzuku koto　todokimasu you ni …)

Saa, ikou yo　hajimaru kiseki ga tomaranai yo mou asa made
Kotoshi mo rainen mo kyou to　onaji you ni iwaeru sa
Saikou no oto ni naru kodou　hade ni sawagou asa made
Itsumo no nakama tsudoeba 　tsunageru kimochi ga phrase sa


English:

“Maybe”, or rather today, is the time to feel gratitude for every day?
1,2 knock Ready! with music the sunrise is just on the beat
“Maybe”, or rather today, is the time to feel gratitude for every day?
1,2 knock Ready! Let's gather and countdown 3 2 1…
“Maybe”, or rather today, is the time to feel gratitude for every day?
By my side is always music and what we wish　that's right, a huge love and peace (because)

The peace sign ID is Super Fresh
This melody line is the new scene

So, let's go the miracle that's starting won't stop til morning
This year, next year, and today　let's celebrate the same as always
With a beat that will become the best sound　let's loudly make some noise until morning
Gathered with our usual friends 　the phrase is our connected feelings

Today's motto is 「gracefully hold on」　Recover from things like damaging wounds with a break right now
Tomorrow, be more cool as you go on and just like you wished, the future will come

“Maybe”, or rather today, is the time to feel gratitude for every day?
1,2 knock Ready! with music the sunrise is just on the beat
“Maybe”, or rather today, is the time to feel gratitude for every day?
1,2 knock Ready! Let's gather and countdown 3 2 1…
“Maybe”, or rather today, is the time to feel gratitude for every day?
By my side is always music and what we wish　that's right, a huge love and peace (because)

This repeating feeling of "Thank you" makes me stand still with a worrying "loose control"
In a voice that's not my voice　I miss you so　for today, let's be in high spirits
In a different place, there's a celebrating couple　and although, as it is, they have some distance
When they first notice the separation, they reach out hoping for happiness

“Maybe”, or rather today, is the time to feel gratitude for every day?
(This repeating feeling of "Thank you")
1,2 knock Ready! with music the sunrise is just on the beat
(In a voice that's not my voice　I miss you so)
“Maybe”, or rather today, is the time to feel gratitude for every day?
(This repeating feeling of "Thank you"　When we first notice the separation, we reach out hoping for…)

So, let's go　The miracle that's starting won't stop til morning
This year, next year, and today　let's celebrate the same as always
With a beat that will become the best sound　let's loudly make some noise until morning
Gathered with our usual friends 　the phrase is our connected feelings



{Note}
All the random bits of English actually made it more difficult to translate... -_-; If you have different suggestions, please let me know.

=^.^=

So imagine my surprise when I look into my mailbox this morning and find this shiny silver box from Johnnys Fanclub waiting for me. And inside was (Ta da!!):




The white see-through sheet is a little letter from the Fanclub saying thanks for your support. This wonderful black box with Arashi on the cover has inside:



This adorable red photo book!



Complete with an Arashi picture inside!

*sigh*

So happy right now!


{EDIT}

Letter translation:

To the Arashi Fanclub Members,

Sincerely thank you for always cheering on Arashi. Thanks to you, we are welcoming this coming November 3rd as ten years from our debut. To show our appreciation, we are presenting our Fanclub members with a Limited Edition Commemorative item, an "Original Photo Case". We would be happy if you put in photos that you'd like to be next to Arashi, or use it to decorate your room as a way of joining it with your life style. From now on, please favor Arashi with your support for a long time to come.


Since it was requested, here's the Japanese:

ARASHIファンクラブ会員の皆様へ

いつもARASHIをご声援いただき誠に有難うございます。
お陰様で来る11月3日にデビュー10周年を迎えます。
感謝の気持ちを込めてファンクラブ会員様限定記念品として
オリジナルフォトケースを贈呈させていただきます。
お気に入りの写真を入れていつもARASHIと一緒に、
部屋に飾る等ライフスタイルに合わせご活用いただきますと幸いです。
今後ともARASHIを未長くご声援いただけますよう
何卒よろしくお願い申し上げます。

2009年11月吉日


Translator's note: There is a very formal letter, but for some weird reason they use "life style" randomly in the middle of it. *shrug* Plus, they didn't use the Arashi kanji, instead opted for putting "ARASHI". *shrugs again*

Anyway, enjoy!

<3

Love So Sweet
Pairing: Juntoshi　Matsumoto Jun x Ohno Satoshi
Rating: PG 13 overall
Summary: Just how much could a dream change your life?

Promoted (一)

The Gift (二)

Old Friend (三)

Moving Out (四)

End of a Dream (五)

Awakening (六)

Confession -Jun’s Style- (七)

Confession -Ohno’s Discovery- (八)

Reactions (九)

Preparations (十)

The Missing Beanie (十一)

Naruse (十二)

Happening (十三)

Gone Fishin’ (十四)

Second Attempt (十五)

Mail (十六)

Confrontation (十七)

Heart to heart (十八)

The Haunting (十九)

Surprise Visit (二十)

Christmas (二十一)

Countdown (二十二)

Hallucination (二十三)

Visitors (二十四)

A Midsummer Night's Dream (二十五)

A Midsummer Night's Dream (二十六) その二

Epilogue

Title: Love So Sweet
Pairing: Juntoshi (Side pairings: Sakuraiba, Akame)
Rating: PG 13 overall
Summary: Just how much could a dream change your life?

Epilogue
~~~~~~~~~~


Akanishi dragged Kamenashi through the hospital straight into room 73, stopping dead when he saw the bandage on Ohno’s neck. Kazuya ran into the shocked idol’s back, rubbing his nose and muttering, “What was that for?”

Jin gulped. “Oh-chan?”

Ohno looked up from his sketchbook and set his pencil down. “Hey, Jin-kun, Kame-chan.” Then, seeing the look on Jin’s face, sighed. “You remember, huh?”

Kazuya shoved his boyfriend further into the room and towards Ohno’s bed. “Ohno-kun, will you please explain what’s going on? This guy’s been acting weird since he woke up from a nap at the studio this morning, babbling about checking on you.”

“Him too?” Nino finally spoke up from his bed, setting down the game system that he’d been glued to since waking up.

Kazuya raised an eyebrow at the comment. Ohno waved the singers over and smiled, “Jin-kun, it was just a dream, so stop looking so spooked. But do I have a story to tell you.”

By the time Ohno finished his narration with a lot of input from his roommate, both of their young kouhai were looking fairly freaked out.

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

Jun was staring.

His jaw had even dropped open unconsciously.

This is just...This is impossible.

Ohno set down his fishing book on the coffee table, looking curiously over his shoulder into the kitchen at his boyfriend. “Jun?”

Matsumoto jerked to life and snapped his mouth shut.

When Ohno padded over to his side, he wordlessly handed him the letter he’d received with the package that had come moments before.

Satoshi skimmed it in silence, frowning a little at its contents. “Your great grandpa passed away?”

Jun nodded, still staring into the package on the kitchen counter. “We… weren’t really all that close though.”

Ohno cocked his head to the side. “So you’re surprised that he included you in his will?”

“It’s not that… it’s this.” Jun carefully reached into the small box and pulled out its precious cargo, handing it to Ohno.

The smaller man inhaled sharply. “Is this…?” he trailed off, clearly in as much shock as Jun had been earlier.

Matsumoto smiled weakly. “The letter says it was passed down in my family for almost five hundred years. Then Matsu-jiji died last month and he left it to me.”

Satoshi turned the violet tea cup over in his hands with care, examining the ornately designed tiger that was carved into its side. Ohno felt a chill run up his spine.

It was, without a doubt, the same cup they remembered seeing in their shared dream.

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

“Do you have them?”

“Sakurai, I’m going to punch you if you ask that question again.”

Jun couldn’t stop a small chuckle from escaping at Nino’s exasperation.

But really, Sho had every reason to be nervous. After all, he was getting married today.

Arashi’s five members were in Hawaii again, thirteen years after their debut, having wrangled a joint trip out of the management with the promise to do some photo shoots at the same time. Of course their real reason for the mini vacation was to undertake Aiba’s grand scheme of a double wedding.

Three weeks ago, Jun and Ohno had been floored by the amount of detail Aiba had already finished arranging when he’d spread his plan nervously out in front of them. Ohno had looked to his lover with a smirk. “You did say you’d rather have a small wedding with the guys.” Jun had laughed and leaned over to ruffle Aiba’s hair.

Their miracle man had looked extremely relieved, but he’d still bit his lip. “There’s just one thing.” He’d swallowed a sip of his coffee with difficulty. “I haven’t asked Sho yet.”

The couple had rolled their eyes and immediately began plotting a proposal worthy of Aiba Masaki that evening.

Two weeks ago, once Sho had gotten over the initial shock of an exploding package of rose petals and Aiba in a classy suit holding a sign that said "Marry me", he’d answered with a deep kiss and a husky ‘yes’.

Now, they all stood around in their white suits under the warm Hawaiian sun, (looking every bit like the handsome idols they were.) The church Aiba had chosen stood to their right as the idols looked up at the beautiful white building with stained glass windows.

Nino, both couple’s best man, had been charged with holding on to their wedding rings, the reason for Sho’s anxiety. Every time the rapper asked, Nino paused for a second, patted his pocket self consciously, and then sniped at Sho for making him doubt himself.

Aiba was chattering away a mile a minute, on the edge of hyperventilating, even though no one was really listening. Sho was stuck in the loop of straightening his suit, then Aiba’s, then his again. Tapping a foot, Jun was struggling not to copy the newscaster. Even Ohno looked strangely alert for once.

The gamer rolled his eyes at everyone’s jumpiness, but Jun had just told him, “You’ll understand when you get married.”

At the appointed time, Jun hooked his arm in Ohno’s, leading their friends to the great white doors. He leaned down, kissed the shorter man on the cheek, and whispered, “Ready?”

The sleepy man smiled up at him. “Absolutely.”

And with that, they pushed the chapel doors open.




おわり


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author’s Note:

Thank you to everyone for your support. Until next time. >_<

Title: Love So Sweet
Pairing: Juntoshi  (Side pairings: Sakuraiba, Akame)
Rating: PG 13 overall
Summary: Just how much could a dream change your life?


A Midsummer Night's Dream (二十六) その二
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Nino groaned, covering his eyes with a hand. "Why are we still here?"

Another bright morning sun was invading their room. All five members of Arashi were once again piled on Jun's bed with their limbs thrown over each other. The sound of a commotion drifted in from outside.

Sho sat up and looked around the still unfamiliar setting in confusion as Aiba whined at losing his pillow. Jun rolled over in the little space he had to face Ohno. Frowning at the makeshift bandage wrapped around his boyfriend's neck, Jun sighed. At least Ohno had slept peacefully. He wouldn't speak of what happened, so everyone spent the rest of the evening trying to make Leader laugh instead. They'd finally gotten him relaxed enough to chuckle before he passed out from exhaustion.

Today, he looked better. The object of Jun's admiration squinted his eyes before opening one to peer around. Noticing Matsujun staring at him, he quirked a smile. Jun smiled back. "Mornin' beautiful."

Ohno scrunched up his nose cutely at the nickname.

Sakurai smirked over at the couple, then glanced down at his own boyfriend. He gave a peck on Aiba's cheek. "Mornin' sexy." Aiba giggled in response.

Before Nino could do anything more than roll his eyes, the door of their room slid open silently.

A voice dripping with sarcasm said, “Oh, isn’t that just sweet. All together in one bed. What’s the matter, Captain? Matsumoto-san wasn’t enough for you?” The slim figure crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame, sneering at Ohno as the older man flinched at meeting Kobayashi’s cold gaze.

Matsumoto felt his boyfriend stiffen next to him. Jun’s eyes narrowed into a glare. He smoothly climbed out of bed and approached Kobayashi. In a flash, Nino, Aiba, and Sho were right behind him, shielding Ohno from view. “Leave.”

The disdainful man closed his eyes, then switched his stare to Matsumoto. He was silent for a minute, but put on an amused smile and said, “After I went out of my way to tell Captain Ohno that the shipment of rifles have arrived, you tell me to leave? What manners. By the way, Captain, Takeda-sama requested your presence. If you could just follow me.” He swept an arm out of their room and bowed without breaking his gaze with Jun.

Ohno gently pushed his way through the wall of band mates trying to protect him and said in what he hoped was a calm voice, “Lead the way.”

His four friends instantly opened their mouths to protest, but he effectively cut them off by simply walking out after Kobayashi. Of course, they weren’t about to leave him alone. They caught up after a brief scuffle to get through the door.

Aiba seemed surprised that he made it to Ohno first, but grabbed Leader's hand and pulled him back a bit. He was ready to scold the shorter man himself, but Jun beat Aiba to it. He hissed in a low voice, "What d'you think you're doing?!"

Ohno looked at his friends with a tight smile. "This's just a dream. Everything'll be okay." He patted the katana attached to his side, more to convince himself than anyone else.

Sho ducked back into their room, emerging with his and Jun's swords and a look of determination. Nodding at each other, they caught up to Kobayashi.

The group exited the officer’s quarters, heading across the compound to the building designed for the Daimyo’s use. They all glared at Kobayashi as they walked passed him into the meeting room. About a hundred officers and soldiers had already arrived and had just finished prying open the crates while Takeda watched in curiosity. The idols found a spot away from the activity.

All of the soldiers tried to lean forward to inspect the contents, murmuring their opinions. Someone near the box began passing the rifles out for the men to examine. Aiba gulped as several came near their group.

"Ah, Captain Ohno! Take a look at these peculiar weapons." Takeda waved the shorter man over. Satoshi looked back at his friends, clearly worried, but he couldn't disobey the order.

He shuffled over to the Daimyo's side, nodding at the excited man while trying to keep an eye on Kobayashi too. So far, his tormentor was simply leaning against a wall, gaze fixed on Ohno.

Leader tried to calm his anxiety, but he couldn't help but turn to check on his friends every few moments. He heard Takeda speak up next to him. "How do you use these rifles?"

Kobayashi chose that moment to sneer and push off from the wall, throwing his arms out like a TV show host. “How about a practical demonstration?”

About half of the men around the room began expertly loading their guns with powder as everyone else watched in amazement. Ohno felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck.

His instincts were right.

The second they finished preparing the weapons, the men lifted their guns to aim at various high-ranking individuals around the room.

"What is the meaning of this?!" General Kitagawa moved to argue, but stopped when a rifle aimed at him went off a few inches from his head. Everyone in the room ducked down at the loud crack, except for the men with Kobayashi.

Ohno was about to spin around, hand already on his katana, but he felt three metal barrels shove into his back. "Don't move, Captain. I'm afraid the boys are kinda jumpy today. And I wouldn't want you to get shot just yet."

Satoshi met Jun's gaze from across the room, neither of them sure what to do in the case of a rebellion. His boyfriend looked like he was ready to inch his way closer, but Ohno shook his head infinitesimally. Kobayashi walked by in front of him, breaking his eye contact with Jun. He announced to the room, "For the officers who haven't figured out what's happening, this has been an infiltration. Yours truly-" He bowed before continuing his slow prowl. "-is working for the Shinano clan. On behalf of our Daimyo Fujisawa, we will be disposing of the leaders of the Takeda clan momentarily. And this brings us to the main star of our execution." The traitor redirected everyone's attention to Takeda, who had also been surrounded by several armed men.

Ohno took a deep breath. He needed a diversion.

Looking to his friends, he saw they were all watching the proceedings with agitation. However, when Aiba's gaze met his, an idea flashed through Ohno's mind. Deciding there was no time better than the present, Satoshi mouthed three words across the room to his friend. "A no Arashi".

Aiba's face scrunched up as he tried to lip-read what Leader was telling him, and after a few tries, his expression lit up in recognition of the words referring to his favorite goofy action from their older TV shows. The younger man mouthed back "Now?".

Ohno's eyes darted around the room and he slowly pulled his hand up to rest on the hilt of his katana. He looked back to Aiba and said silently "Now".

Arashi's ball of energy gathered his nerves, hoping this distraction would work. Aiba put his hands above his head so his fingertips were touching in his signature sign of "A". Several people turned at the sudden movement, including his band members. Aiba took in a gulp of air and then yelled "A no Arashi", squatting and pulling his hands down to the floor quickly. Nearly everyone spun around to stare in bewilderment at the young man's strange actions.

Ohno timed it carefully and used the diversion to pull out his katana, whirl around, and disarm the three men behind him. They were in just as much shock as the rest of the room that Ohno had the extra time he needed to sprint to Kobayashi before all hell broke loose.

Gunshots went off at intervals, filling the air with smoke from the gun powder. The Takeda soldiers didn't pause. They let out a cry as they attacked the traitors, regardless of the rifles. Jun cursed when he lost sight of his boyfriend. Sho and Jun shoved Aiba and Nino behind them, drawing their own swords hesitantly. Sakurai held his in a Kendo stance, hoping he was threatening enough that no one would come near. He had no such luck though, as one of Kobayashi's men took aim at the startled newscaster.

"Sho!" Aiba jumped up and pulled his boyfriend down just in time. The bullet missed him by a few inches.

"Are you guys okay?" Nino yelled over the uproar in the room. Aiba and Sho had collapsed to the floor, but hadn't gotten back up. He left Jun's side to check on the couple, heart pounding. Ninomiya leaned over his friends, ready to shake them until they responded, but he saw that their eyes were open. Empty, but open.

Right as Nino started breathing again, the pair both blinked. Sho noticed the gamer, and asked confusedly, "Who...? Ninomiya-san, what-?" Sakurai was interrupted by another rifle shot, which made Aiba bring his hands up to his ears, looking around at the fighting in shock as if he had only just become aware of it now.

Nino pulled himself back together. They left the dream?

Turning to Matsumoto, he shouted, "Aiba-chan and Sho-chan left! They're not here anymore!"

Jun whipped his head around for only a second, mind racing. How? Before he looked away completely, he saw another Shinano soldier take aim at Nino. The man fumbled with lighting the ignition on his rifle. Nino also noticed and charged the man, shoving the rifle to point straight up. There was another deafening bang.

Jun watched the gamer go motionless before twitching back to life as if he'd been restarted. Ninomiya seemed to take in the scene around him in an instant before he ducked down and peered around in amazement, looking like he wanted to head for the door.

Nino's gone back too. Is it the rifles?

But he didn't have the luxury of being able to ponder the reasons why his friends were waking up, as he found himself facing a different enemy. Jun swung his sword like a baseball bat, creating some distance. He looked to the spot he'd last seen Ohno. The taller man bit his lip and dove into the mass of people.

Moving with desperation, Jun pushed through the men. He stumbled into an open space in the chaos, eyes widening at the fight unfolding in front of him. Ohno's katana was trading blows with Kobayashi's in a dizzying display of skill. Matsumoto guessed Satoshi had already taken care of the men that had been threatening Takeda, because now he was shielding the Daimyo from Kobayashi.

Not wanting to distract Ohno, he waited until there was a lull in the attacks to yell, "Satoshi! Everyone woke up! We're the only ones left!"

Ohno didn't have time to look relieved because his opponent advanced toward him again. With a fierce yell, the older man knocked away Kobayashi's sword. The traitor seemed just as surprised as Ohno, staring at the sword lying on the ground for a moment before his eyes narrowed. Then he smirked.

Ohno stood still, panting. Jun spotted the reason for Kobayashi's amused look. Behind his boyfriend, one of the rebels had found a rifle again and had aimed it at Satoshi's back. The young enemy soldier paused, regret crossing his face. But it gave Matsujun the moment he needed to shove Ohno out of the way.

A crack echoed violently in his ears. Thinking he got hit, Jun's heart leaped as the scene in front of him lost its focus.

His vision went dark and the sounds of the fight faded from his senses. But there was no pain. Nothing.

Then he heard a steady beeping noise.

The idol opened his eyes with difficulty. The room that slowly became clear was none other than Ohno and Nino's hospital room in Tokyo.

Pushing himself up from his chair and wincing at sore muscles, Jun looked back and forth at the patients. Nino was already stirring in his bed.

"Nino?"

The gamer moaned, "Oh my god. Are we finally out of that dream?"

Jun couldn't begin to comprehend what had just happened, but he did know one thing. "Satoshi's still there."

Nino's eyes widened as he struggled to sit up. Jun collapsed back in his chair, staring at the older man's face. Matsumoto began to shake when he saw the bloody jagged lines cut across Ohno's neck.

He whispered in dismay, "Why here?"

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

He was on his own.

The Matsumoto from the dream world had joined the fighting, using his sword in a way Jun would never have known how to.

But Ohno was grateful too. Knowing everyone else was safe, he could concentrate on Kobayashi. The Shinano traitor was becoming more and more frustrated the longer Ohno continued to stand up to him.

Leader grunted as he blocked another strike. His calm eyes met Kobayashi's angry ones. Ohno panted out, "Why? Why are you fighting?"

His opponent stilled, looking at him in disbelief. Then he threw his head back and laughed. "Why?!" He shoved Ohno away. "Who needs a reason to fight?" Aiming a slash at the older man’s shoulder, he pressed forward with a feral grin.

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

Sho was pacing.

Aiba and Sho had arrived at the hospital five minutes before, both thoroughly freaked out from remembering the dream. Then they’d nearly had a heart attack when they discovered Leader hadn’t woken up yet.

“What should we do?” Aiba twisted the bed sheets in his hands, staring at the red jagged marks on Ohno’s neck.

No one had an answer for him.

Nino was also watching Ohno for any signs of stirring. On the other hand, Jun had his eyes shut tight, head buried in his hands.

Sho stopped in midstride. “What if we made a big noise on this end? Maybe he would still wake up.”

Everyone looked to the rapper and then at each other. Aiba sprung up from his chair and immediately started to hunt for something appropriate. With an “Ah-ha!” a second later, he held up a plastic bag. His friends watched as he blew air into the sack until it expanded as far as it would go, moved over to Leader, and prepared to smash his hand on his impromptu “balloon”.

There was a jarring pop that echoed through the room when Aiba did just that.

Unfortunately the only thing that happened was the nurse on duty arriving to give them a scolding.

The excited man didn’t allow himself to be discouraged. He began running through other possibilities in his head. He suddenly smiled at Jun, his eyes looking bright. “A kiss.”

Matsujun looked at his friend like he’d gone crazy. “What?”

“Like in the movies. A kiss always wakes up the sleeping princess.”

Nino smacked his own forehead with his open palm. Sho put his hands on his boyfriend’s shoulders. “Masaki…”

Aiba pouted at the skeptical look on Jun’s face. “Fine. If you won’t, I will.” He shrugged off Sakurai and took a step towards Leader.

“I’ll do it.”

Aiba stopped and put his hands on his hips at Jun’s declaration, grinning smugly. Although Matsumoto acted exasperated, he couldn’t stop himself from feeling stupidly hopeful that it could work.

Standing up, he leaned over the sleeping man, surprised at the skip his heart beat did just then. Jun placed his hand on Ohno’s cheek, praying the dumb idea would really wake up the older man.

He pressed their lips gently together, reveling in the way Ohno’s fit so perfectly against his. He held the kiss for as long as his heart could last, waiting for any kind of response, but when nothing came, he started to pull back, feeling the hope crumble away.

Everyone waited breathlessly in an awful silence.

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

Satoshi barely dodged.

His arms and legs felt like they’d been put through a brutal dance rehearsal from the way they were beginning to tremble. He wasn’t even aware of the fighting around him anymore. Kobayashi sneered at him, although his chest was heaving just as heavily.

Ohno shouted out desperately, “Don’t you feel anything when you hurt people?”

Kobayashi pointed his sword at Ohno and growled, “You’re just as much of a murderer as me.”

He knew Kobayashi wasn’t talking about him (rather the Captain belonging to the Takeda clan), but it was still chilling to hear. Suppressing a shudder, Ohno blocked the strike meant for his waist and stumbled backwards.

Right into the path of another rifle.

The end of the gun that jabbed his shoulder made his breath hitch. Knowing he only had a second to react, Ohno impulsively dropped to one knee. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut against the explosion of the rifle going off so close to his right ear. He could even feel the heat radiating from the barrel afterwards.

When he heard a gasp of pain faintly with his left ear, his eyes snapped open to see Kobayashi clutching his stomach. There was a growing patch of red dying the fabric that seemed to stun the young man.

Breathing shakily, Ohno was just as shocked. But then his own vision became blurry and he saw the chaotic room spin as he collapsed to the ground.

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

Jun felt tears stinging at his eyes as he straightened. This couldn’t happen. He needed Ohno, so much it was suffocating.

His trembling fingers closed over Ohno’s.

And they grasped back.

Jun jerked, raising his lowered head to see a soft brown peeking out of Ohno’s half closed lids. His friends noticed his reaction, eagerly looking to Leader. Seeing he was awake, they all grinned and shouted happily. Aiba was particularly loud as he grabbed Sho’s hands and spun around in a circle, yelling, “I told you so!”

Nino climbed gingerly out of his bed and took Ohno’s free hand. He gave a weak grin. “What d’you know? Aiba was right.”

Jun collapsed into his chair, too many feelings whirling around for him to do anything but hold onto his boyfriend’s hand.

Ohno smiled at him and whispered in a hoarse voice, “Tadaima.”

A smile finally blossomed on Jun’s face. He brought Ohno’s hand to his lips and tenderly kissed it. “Okaeri.”



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

Author’s Note:

I figured most everyone already knows what these mean, but if it’s your first time seeing them:

*Tadaima = I’m home or I’m back

*Okaeri /Okaeri nasai = Welcome back

Wow, this last chapter was long. Of course, when I first started writing this story I had no clue it was going to take over my life for so many months. It was my first experience writing fanfiction, but I’m very pleased with the outcome.

I’m really grateful to all the people who followed this story to the end. And thank you for every comment, especially some of the astronomically awesome ones!

And of course, my dear boblemon and tbeall deserve a shout out for catching my mistakes and helping me through all the writer’s blocks! お世話になりました。本当にどうもありがとうございます。

*bows*

And now, the Epilogue

Title: Love So Sweet
Pairing: Juntoshi  (Side pairings: Sakuraiba, Akame)
Rating: PG 13 overall
Summary: Just how much could a dream change your life?


A Midsummer Night's Dream (二十五)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Jun was stirring.

Something was wrong. Something that was pulling him out of his sleeping state.

What is that?

A burning smell made him twitch, trying to cover his nose. It was terrible enough he wanted to gag. But there was another odor mixed in with the smell of smoke. Something with a metallic tinge.

Blood?

Jun’s eyes snapped open in alarm. The sight of smoke drifted past, changing the beautiful blue color of the sky above him into a dull gray. He became aware of the cold ground he was lying on and how something was uncomfortably shoved against his side. Shifting away from the discomfort, he sat up on an elbow.

The field spread out before his gaze took his breath away.

It was soaking in the red of dried blood, but also blackened by the uniforms of a sea of unmoving bodies. Corpses. Thousands of soldiers who would never stand again. Several fires were blazing unrestrained through the battlefield, offering an unceremonial cremation for the remains of those ill-fated souls.

Matsumoto’s wide eyes jerked to the left to see a trembling, huddled figure. The slight frame was also dressed in a uniform of an ancient kimono. Jun realized they were the only two individuals that were still breathing in this horrific place.

This has got to be a dream.

Jun scrutinized the eerily familiar red kimono his companion was wearing, along with the bowed head, before inhaling sharply.

It is a dream. The same one I had a year ago. The one set in the past with Satos-

He whispered shakily, “Satoshi?”

The trembling man lifted his head and Jun’s eyes met the tear-stained, vacant face of his lover. Lifeless eyes stared at him until the smaller man blinked several times, awareness sparking back into the brown orbs. “Jun?” The word was spoken so quietly, it could have been carried away by the wind.

Matsumoto leaned over to touch the older man’s dirt-smeared cheek. Satoshi’s eyes flickered to his hand, noticing a ring, and breathed out, “Matsujun?” The shaking man held up a hand, displaying a matching ring on his finger. “Arashi’s DoS? My Jun?”

But last time-

Jun gasped, “Leader? Oh-chan? My Satoshi?” Ohno let out a relieved sob. Jun wrapped his arms around the smaller man while Ohno sniffed and whispered into his ear, “I thought you were dead. I woke up here and the hospital was gone and there were all these dead people and I saw you and you were covered in blood and you wouldn’t open your eyes, no matter wha-” Jun pressed his lips tightly over Ohno’s, trying to convey that he was alive and breathing.

With a great amount of effort, they separated from their desperate kiss and Jun set his forehead on Ohno’s. “It’s okay. This is just a dream.”

“But…it doesn’t feel like one.”

“It’ll be alright.” Jun was trying to convince himself of this too. He understood what his boyfriend meant. This place felt very real, almost terrifyingly so. Averting his eyes from the unmoving bodies, he attempted to stand, pulling Ohno up with him. Looking the shorter man up and down, his heart beat skipped when he saw the cuts in Ohno’s kimono, but inspecting closer, he only saw smooth tan skin under the clothes. “Are you okay?”

Ohno glanced at the slashed fabric. “I-I’m fine. The kimono was just like this when I woke up.”

Jun nodded, reassured. “I don’t know where we are, but if this is anything like that dream I had, there should be a camp near here.”

But before the dazed couple could take a single step, they heard the sound of running footsteps from the forest edge. They ducked down, glancing at each other worriedly. Ohno fumbled with the katana at his side, even though Jun thought using it would probably cause the artist himself more damage than to any opponent. After a few tense seconds, a man burst from the tree line and skidded to a halt, gasping at the scene before him.

The figure raised his hands to the sides of his head in dread. “Oh God. Satoshi. Oh-chan!? Satoshi, are you there!?” he cried.

Ohno rose a bit from their crouched position, looking closely at the panicked man. He turned to Matsujun suddenly, eyes wide. “It’s Nino.” The couple stood up tentatively.

The man, who was in fact Ninomiya, saw the movement and immediately began to jog carefully through the deceased towards them. “Oh-chan!”

Nino pulled Ohno into a tight hug, a little hysterical. “You made it in time! I didn’t know if it would be too late.” Then he released the shorter man and punched Jun on the shoulder. “Goddamn mole. Don’t make me so worried!”

Jun and Satoshi shared a look. They both knew this wasn’t 'their Nino'.

“Akanishi came back to camp with the survivors and announced you had died in battle. And then he said-” Nino froze suddenly, his whole body becoming stiff. He looked as if he’d become a life-sized mannequin. Puzzled, Jun reached out a hand to shake Nino’s shoulder, but the shorter man didn’t react.

Then Nino’s eyelashes fluttered, blinking as if coming out a trance. Finally focusing on them, his brow scrunched in confusion. “Oh-chan? Matsujun?” He made the mistake of looking around at the field and immediately clamped a hand on his mouth. His breathing sped up as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. With his wide eyes, he asked the silent question Where is this?.

An astonished Jun asked, “Nino? Arashi’s gamer, Nino?”

Looking ill, he nodded. Ohno stepped in front of his friend and blocked the awful sight from view. “Kazu, this’s a dream. I don’t know why or how, but we all ended up in the same one.” Nino’s gaze focused on the older man, taking a minute to comprehend what Ohno had just asked. “Are you okay?”

Nino nodded again slowly and replied, “I-I was playing Dragon Quest, then I thought I fell asleep, and the next thing I know, I’m here. What the hell is this?”

The couple shrugged in unison. Jun suggested they set out from the bloody battlefield, having decided getting away from there and going back in the direction Ninomiya had come from was the only idea that sounded reasonable. The trio entered the forest, thankful to spot something that vaguely looked like a trail. They spent the next half an hour walking and trying to get the shell-shocked Nino caught up on what had probably happened in this dream world before they'd popped up there. To Jun’s surprise, Ohno threw in a few facts he’d forgotten. “You had this dream too?”

The sleepy man nodded. “I couldn’t remember it clearly until now.”

A twig snapped behind the idols, making them jump. There was only a second before four uniform-clad Shinano men burst from the trees. Jun felt his heart leap in his chest and cursed himself for forgetting to pick up a weapon in the field.

The supposed leader of the enemy group lunged toward Matsumoto, yelling wildly. The katana that was pointed at him never reached its target, because Ohno had jumped in the way.

A loud clang reverberated around the forest. Their sleepy Leader had drawn his katana and expertly swung it to block the attack.

Jun and Nino watched in amazement while Satoshi shoved the first man away and blocked another sword from the right. His face was a mask of concentration as the shorter man continued to protect his friend from strike after strike. Panting, Ohno knocked the katana from a surprised man’s hands with a slash, then another with a sideways swing, until Ohno had single-handedly disarmed the four men with precision and speed. The men retreated with several terrified looks on their faces.

A shocked Nino and Jun ran to their friend, both checking for any wounds. The gamer glanced at the katana still in Ohno’s hands. “How did you do that?”

The older man shrugged tiredly, putting the sword back in its sheathe, “I don’t know. My body just did it.”

Jun hugged his protector, muttering, “So long as you’re not hurt.”

Ohno smiled into his shoulder.

Waiting until the couple separated, but looking around nervously, Nino prodded the group back into action. They walked swiftly, Nino and Jun dragging a tired Satoshi behind them. After another hour, the idols were starting to wonder if the direction they’d chosen was still correct when they jumped back as another uniformed figure stumbled out of the trees ahead of them. Ohno advanced in front of his friends, hand grasping his katana’s handle.

Everyone froze.

“Leader?” Ohno blinked at the man standing before him. A bewildered Sho called out to them, “Nino? Jun-kun? What the hell is this? Some kind of movie set? Why are you wearing kimonos?”

Arashi’s gamer sighed in relief. “Sho-chan, you’re not gonna believe this.”

“We’re stuck in a dream together.” Jun said tiredly, rubbing his forehead. Sho looked at Ohno and Nino, who nodded, confirming it was the truth. His expression still told them he thought they were crazy.

The idols sat down in exhaustion in the middle of the forest and began to throw stories around about what had happened so far. Sakurai shuddered at their description of the battlefield. He told them he had fallen asleep next to Aiba ("I was just crashing at his apartment. Really.") only to open his eyes again to see a chaotic camp of soldiers rushing around declaring that a battle had finished and several important figures had fallen. Assuming someone (bowing in apology to Nino) had pulled a huge prank on him, the rapper had left the grounds hoping to find civilization and run into them instead. Sho agreed to lead them back to the small fort, all of them hoping to find answers there.

Trudging along the rough path Sakurai had used earlier, the shouts of men barking orders reached their ear before they arrived at the meadow occupied with an old-fashioned wooden fortress belonging to the Takeda Clan. The four friends stared at the building in apprehension. Nino tugged Sho and Jun into a quick conference about whether they should really go through with this, all of them knowing Ohno didn't seem to have the energy to care one way or another.

Ignoring the trio's debate, Ohno spotted a young man next to the outer wall who was hugging himself and looking around fearfully, near tears. “Aiba-chan!”

The man jumped at the shout, whirling around to face the group. “Leader! Matsujun! You’re alive!” Aiba ran to them and grabbed Ohno in a hug, grimacing as he tried not to cry. Then he noticed a certain newscaster and moved to wrap his arms around Sho’s waist instead, burying his head in the crook of Sakurai’s neck. Sho returned the embrace, rubbing Aiba’s back and kissing the side of his head. “It’s okay.”

While they waited for Aiba to calm down, a guard circling the perimeter startled them, but quickly recognized Ohno and Matsumoto, letting out a shout of disbelief. “Captain!” The excited man called out to his fellow guards, announcing the advent of their once-thought-lost heroes. A crowd quickly formed and the idols were reluctantly whisked away by a sea of cheering soldiers, escorted to meet the Daimyo without delay.

Jun panicked when Ohno was suddenly led away from them for a private meeting with the young Daimyo. Satoshi looked back over his shoulder worriedly, but shook his head at Jun, silently telling him to stay put. Nino tried to reassure him that Ohno would try to take care of this mess the best he could, but all Matsujun could think about was how this dream had ended last time.

The idols were treated to a small feast as they waited for the debriefing to finish. Jun ignored the food and kept staring at the door he’d last seen his boyfriend walk through. None of the members knew how to act around the soldiers, so they sat talking amongst themselves and smiling uncomfortably when someone offered them a new dish. Jun shuddered when Johnny, in the form of Director Kitagawa, sat down at his side and patted his shoulder, saying he was thankful Matsumoto made it back safely.

It seemed like an eternity before Ohno stumbled through the doors, heading straight for Jun with a pale face. The room erupted in cheers at his arrival, startling the short man.

“Satoshi? Are you alright?”

Aiba, Sho, and Nino scooted closer to hear. Ohno looked agitated as he said, “Never mind that. Jun, he’s here.”

“Who?”

The older man flinched. “Taro Kobayashi.”

Arashi’s members watched the doors open again as Takeda and his attendants filed out. At the young Daimyo’s right side was a gaunt figure with a familiar face that made Ohno instinctively reach for Jun’s hand and whisper, “He’s the Daimyo’s second assistant. And I’m pretty sure he hates me now too.”

Nino glared across the room at the man. “Well, I hate him back, even if it is a dream.”

“What were you talking about for so long?” asked Sho, getting them back on track.

A flustered Ohno explained, “I made up a story for the battle and the rest of the time, they were reporting about other fights. I didn’t understand any of it, but then Kobayashi said there was a new weapon he wanted to get from some foreigners, and when he showed everyone what it was, it was a rifle.”

“Oh-chan, I think that’s the most I’ve heard you say in a long time,” Aiba laughed nervously.

Leader rubbed his face, obviously stressing out. “Kobayashi kept pushing the Daimyo to get a shipment of the new rifles, so he agreed. They’ll be coming really soon.”

“And we don’t know how long this dream is gonna last.” Jun filled in the rest of the unsaid worry. This just kept getting better and better. The dream had them all freaked out. Everything felt, looked, and smelled as authentic as reality. And Jun really didn’t want to experience getting shot. He looked around at his friends, feeling just as lost as they seemed.

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

Aiba was yawning.

The next morning found all five Arashi members piled onto one bed, no one willing to sleep by themselves in this strange place. Simply because Jun’s quarters looked the biggest, they crowded on his bed last night, shifting around until they all became comfortable.

“I still don’t get how we can sleep inside of a dream,” muttered Nino from his warm spot in the middle of the bed between Ohno and Aiba. Sho, on Aiba’s other side, replied wearily, “Well it’s not like this is a normal dream anyway.”

Ohno cracked an eye open, grimacing at the sunlight. “Still not back?”

“No,” grumbled Jun darkly. He hated waking up with a sore back and their thin mattress had done nothing to prevent that.

Nino yelped when Aiba flopped over on him, then shoved the sleeping man off him with a hard push. Aiba yelled in surprise, but smiled widely after he opened his eyes to see a dazed Sho lying under him, pouting at the sudden weight thrown on his chest. “Good morning, Sho-chan,” he purred while nuzzling the rapper’s neck, making the pout curve into a smile.

“It’s too early to start that,” Nino complained, poking Aiba in the side.

“I have to disagree with you, Nino.” Sho murmured as he wrapped his arms around the affectionate man’s waist.

“Me too.” Ohno cuddled up to Jun, who smirked as well. “Me three.”

Nino gagged and climbed out of bed, mainly to escape any chances of himself getting targeted with unwanted sappy affection.

The members untangled themselves from each other, following the gamer in getting up. Jun began to curiously inspect the room that belonged to his dream-self as Sho and Aiba volunteered to go out and find food. Ohno remained flopped on the bed, watching as Jun would pause and pick an object up before continuing his investigation.

Nino was also hunting, but probably for something more along the lines of "twenty first century". He muttered under his breath, "If this is a dream, why can't I make my games appear? Hell, why can't I just make food appear?"

Ohno snorted as he curled up in the sunlight streaming through the window near his head.

Several quiet minutes passed until the familiar voices of their friends announced their arrival. Aiba bounded into the room, "Hey guys! Guess what? I'm a cook here!"

Sho poked his head through the open door. "I think the party yesterday was a really special occasion, because what they were serving this morning looked like the end result of one of Masaki's experiments. I assumed no one else would want to eat it, so I didn't bring any back."

Aiba's protested, "My experiments looked nothing like that weird brown stuff! I'm sure I could make something better than them." He'd only taken a few steps to head back to the kitchen before Sakurai balked at his proclamation. "Masaki, get back here." He grabbed the back of the exuberant man's kimono and pulled him away from the door.

"Well now what are we gonna do? Wait for the dream to end?" scoffed Nino. Sho and Aiba plopped down next to their sleepy Leader, wondering where they were going to get something edible from.

Jun fingered one of the fishing poles he'd found propped up in a corner, glancing around at the dejected looking group. He smirked. "How 'bout we go fishing?"

Satoshi perked up immediately, rising from his prone position on the bed. He bit his lip as if he didn't want to force anyone into going. No objections came. Instead they all grinned at the excited look on Leader's face.

Aiba jumped up and punched a fist into the air, shouting, "Let's go!" The idols each collected a pole, Nino eyeing his with trepidation. An unusually energetic Ohno selected what other supplies he could see on hand and led his little troop out the door. He seemed to know where he was headed, so his friend let him guide the way to whatever fishing spot was located in his dream memory.

Along the path selected by Ohno, Sho and Aiba tried practicing their casting throws as they walked, but only really succeeded in getting the hooks stuck in various bushes. Nino jokingly criticized their techniques, but everyone knew the only person's advice any one of them would listen to was Leader's.

Jun threw an arm over his boyfriend's shoulder, finally finding something to enjoy about the dream world. "This is kinda like a vacation, isn't it?"

Ohno smiled at him and nodded his head cheerfully.

As soon as the sound of rushing water could be heard, Aiba took off to find its source with Sho right behind him. The path slowly widened out to display a broad, but calm river flowing passed. Nino glanced at Leader, a little confused. "I thought you only went fishing on the ocean."

"We're too far from the coast," Ohno explained and shrugged his shoulders. Nino grinned. At least he wouldn't have to deal with feeling crappy on a boat today.

To Ohno's surprise, his friends waited for him to set up his rudimentary fishing gear. He raised his eyebrow as if asking "What're you waiting for?".

Jun put a hand on his hip. "We want a demonstration."

Arashi's short Leader blinked, then gazed at the ground in pleased embarrassment. They watched as he picked a spot so he was standing a little into the river and pulled the ends of his long kimono up into his belt. He arranged the grip he had on his pole until he was comfortable, paused for a second, and then expertly snapped his line into the water.

His friends exchanged amused glances, clearly sure they wouldn't be able to make their attempts look as nice as Ohno's. Laughing at each other, they spread out along the riverbank. As expected, everyone's first try fell short, or just plain backwards in Sho's case.

They kept it up for an hour before Jun got frustrated and went off to find firewood, not that he knew how they were going to start a fire anyway. By then, Nino and Aiba's casting greatly improved while trying to copy Ohno. Sho either got lucky or he didn't.

Ohno's first catch was a large one. He had trouble pulling it in because he realized right then he had no reel and would have to use his hands to literally wrap the string around. He winced as the fishing line cut into his skin. After putting the fish safely aside in a separate pool of water he'd found by the river, the sleepy man jumped when Aiba yelped in surprise. "Leader! I think I got one! Help!"

Satoshi was about to use his hands again, but was stopped by Sho, who grabbed Ohno's right hand and began winding it with a strip of torn fabric from his kimono. "Ohno-kun, you should be more careful."

Leader smiled and said, "Yes, Mother." He got a light smack on the head as he went to attend to a panicked Aiba.

The afternoon flew by as the idols chatted and fished with differing levels of success. Nino snickered at Jun's first failures to get a fire started. Arashi's DoS muttered darkly, "It's like that Hana Yori Dango fire all over again." Then more loudly to the gamer, "Nino, get your butt over here and help!"

"No way! Just cuz you gave up on catching anything doesn't mean I'm gonna."

Matsujun was glaring so strongly at the sticks he wanted to burst into flame that he didn't spot his boyfriend approach from behind. The shorter man leaned on his back and wrapped his arms around Jun, whispering, "Want some help?"

Matsumoto let out a heavy sigh, saying stubbornly, "No, I'll do it." He felt soft lips on his cheek before Satoshi rose and padded off again. He turned and watched the older man move around at his relaxed pace for a few moments, noticing his own tense muscles loosen in return.

Maybe because his frustration had bled away or maybe because Satoshi's kiss had a bit of magic in it, his next attempt to get a fire going finally succeeded. His face brightened in a triumphant smile at the sparks that crackled to life. "Guys! We have a fire!"

Everyone cheered at the prospect of being able to eat. Nino came over to inspect the growing flame. "Nice. When can we cook with it?"

"How should I know? You'll be lucky if I don't accidentally burn down the forest." Nino and Jun noticed Satoshi pulling out a sharp knife from his small pack and heading over to their pool of fish.

Nino shrugged. "Guess it must be soon." The gamer wandered off to help Ohno, but caused everyone to jump at his shout of disbelief a second later. "Geezus! Just how many fish did you catch Oh-chan?!"

His friend looked up at Ninomiya blankly. "I didn't keep count."

Nino shut his open jaw and stuck out a hand. "Give me a knife. I'll help." He squatted down and set to work copying Ohno. Sho and Aiba poked by later, also offering to help, but Ohno wouldn't give them anything sharp. Instead he mumbled out a suggestion that they start frying the already gutted fish. Jun commented that he wished he had a camera to document this adventure and call it 'Arashi's Survival Cooking'.

In the end, all their hard work paid off. Aiba groaned in pleasure at the first bite. They were all able to eat their fill and more, because Ohno really had caught a ridiculous amount of fish.

The sky was beginning to shift from blue to orange by the time they had finished their first group fishing trip; all of them saying it counted, even if this was just a dream.

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

The group's enthusiastic conversations were overlapping each other as they arrived back at camp. Sho was still bragging about the one fish he caught, which he proclaimed was bigger than the two of Nino's, which Aiba said couldn't top his double digit total, which Jun said didn't matter because he'd started the fire, and all of which made Ohno laugh.

A content Satoshi trailed behind his friends, watching as Aiba leapt on Sho's back, whipped the fishing poles he was holding to point at the others and challenged Jun and Nino to a piggyback race to settle the manner. They agreed of course. As soon as Ninomiya had hopped on Matsumoto's back, they were off. Ohno shook his head and continued his unhurried stride through camp.

Several men sprang to attention and saluted when they noticed their Captain shuffle past. Uncomfortable with the special treatment, he started eyeing the side paths, wondering if he shouldn't duck down one. It was there he spotted a familiar face staring back at him.

Jin-kun?

Ohno couldn't read the look on the handsome man's face, so he wasn't sure if this was the dream Akanishi who betrayed them or perhaps his friend from the real world. Taking an unconfident step toward Jin, the man didn't move an inch in response.

Jin continued staring at him until Satoshi was within arm's reach. Leader stopped and opened his mouth to ask a question, but Jin suddenly turned to leave. A confused Ohno followed, grabbing the other man's shoulder. "Wait."

Jin slowly looked back at him, fear emerging on his face. "Why?" His whisper almost didn't reach Ohno's ears. "Why are you alive?" Akanishi spun around and yanked a startled Ohno closer by pulling on his kimono. "I saw you die. I even checked."

Satoshi shook his head in alarm, trying to get Akanishi to release his death grip on his clothes.

"That's what I'd like to know."

Leader froze, filling with dread at the familiar voice that came from behind him. He flinched when the next time Kobayashi spoke was into the air right next to his ear. "Just how did you and Matsumoto escape hell?"

Ohno's heartbeat sped up as he continued struggling to escape from Akanishi's grasp. He stifled a whimper when he felt Kobayashi pressed up against his back and snake an arm around his neck. The bitter man tilted his head to whisper directly into Ohno's ear, "And how much is it going to take to make you stay there?"

Ohno couldn't think past the voice screaming in his head to get away, shaking as he felt Kobayashi's other hand slide across his chest and under his kimono. He felt his breath hitch when the hand stopped over his heart. "How many times will I need to stab this until you'll stop breathing?"

Satoshi wanted to yell for Jun, but Akanishi's empty eyes were fixed on his and the disturbing lifelessness in them kept him from doing anything but shiver.

"It'll be a shame when I do." Kobayashi tightened one arm around his waist, then brought his free hand to Ohno's neck, where he fiercely dug in with his fingernails. "You have such pretty skin."

Leader winced in pain as he felt drops of blood flow down from the cuts. He gave up trying to get Akanishi to let go and focused his frantic efforts on removing the steel grip from around his waist. Ohno felt his body freeze up again when the demented man behind him gave a sadistic laugh and licked the blood from the side of his neck.

"Oh-chan?" A soft whisper came from the young man standing in front of him. Satoshi jerked his head up to meet soft brown eyes that were confused, but full of awareness. Jin released Leader's kimono, taking a step back. Akanishi paused for as long as it took him to recognize the fear in Ohno's eyes and that it was caused by Kobayashi, then sprung into action. Taking careful aim, the singer delivered a hard punch that flew a few inches from Ohno's ear. Satoshi stumbled forward when the restraining arms finally slipped away.

Jin caught the shorter man, supporting him because Ohno's legs couldn't. They looked at each other in astonishment until a groan caught their attention. Jin shoved his friend along the path behind them. "Go!"

"But-" Ohno stopped in his tracks, watching as Akanishi went rigid, blinked, and the vacant expression returned to his face. Knowing his friend wasn't in the dream any longer, he forced his legs to work, darting away from the pair. His fear-clouded brain prevented him from caring where he ended up, so long as it was not there.

It took colliding straight into a solid body for him to finally come to a standstill. A pair of arms pulled him into a hug.

"Leader!" Ohno melted into Aiba's embrace, setting his head on his friend's chest and panting with difficulty. "Where did you go? We've all been looking for you!"

Satoshi couldn't answer, but Aiba already knew something was wrong by the way the shorter man was shaking. Worried for his friend, the animal expert bit his lip, unsure what to do to help. The pair continued to hold on to each other even after Nino spotted them. The gamer looked back and forth between his friends, and then took off to find the others.

Ninomiya returned with Jun and Sho a moment later, who both frowned at the state Leader seemed to be in. Jun gently pulled Ohno's shoulder away from Aiba and bent down to inspect his boyfriend's face, even though Ohno wouldn't look up at him. His eyes widened when he spotted the jagged lines across the shorter man's neck. "Satoshi?" Aiba gasped, as it was the first time he'd really gotten a good look at Leader. A strangled questioning noise came from Sho while Nino stared in dismay. But in a flash of understanding, Jun's gaze narrowed into a glare. "It was him, wasn't it?" Ohno only closed his eyes and bowed his head.

Matsumoto set his hand on Satoshi's cheek, bringing the older man's chin up and kissing him on the forehead. Ohno's eyes fluttered back open at the soft touch. Jun brushed a few loose bangs from his boyfriend's face and said, "Come on. Let's go back."

Ohno nodded, closing his eyes again as Jun intertwined their fingers.


~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note:

Sorry for bringing Kobayashi back again, but I needed a crazy man for this part... and the next...

So who's seen the fantastic 2 hours VS Arashi special from yesterday, followed by the 2 hours Himitsu special? OMG, I was really going through withdrawal at not being able to watch them for the past three weeks, except for Shukudai. VS was amazing. More specifically, Aiba and Ohno's rock climb was amazing! It was a great show! Himitsu had another Mannequin Five competition that was great! I thought Ohno's vest and jacket was adorable.

My Girl's on tonight! Oh-chan's mini drama's on tonight! *waves Arashi flag happily* Please let them play more of "Tokei Jikake"!

Ahem. Back to business. Next, will be the continuation of " A Midsummer Night's Dream (二十六) その二".

Title: Love So Sweet
Pairing: Juntoshi  (Side pairings: Sakuraiba, Akame)
Rating: PG 13 overall
Summary: Just how much could a dream change your life?


Visitors (二十四)
~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m so sorry.”

“Kazu, stop apologizing.”

“But I should have-”

“Don’t make me sic Chinen-kun on you.”

The hospital bed next to his was finally silent as its occupant made a sour face. Aiba tried valiantly to keep from laughing, but erupted into giggles when Nino threw one of his pillows across the room at him.

Ohno rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. Nino had been apologizing to him nonstop for two days. And no matter how much everyone had told him he’d done his best to protect their Leader, the gamer was still overwhelmed with guilt at being so powerless when it mattered.

Ohno heard a shifting noise at his right. He turned to glance at Jun. His boyfriend stood and gave him a kiss on his cheek, whispering, “Don’t worry. I’ll talk to Nino.”

Ohno guessed he must have sounded more annoyed than he thought if Jun decided to take action so suddenly. He watched the taller man circled around his bed frame, dodging another pillow aimed at Aiba, and went over to the annoyed idol’s bed. He grabbed Nino around the shoulders, ignoring his protests.

Jun started speaking to Ninomiya, but his voice was too low to be heard by anyone else except the two. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway since Aiba was already off proclaiming a plan to invite Chinen back. As Matsumoto continued to whisper for a while, several expressions crossed Nino’s face until it settled into a thoughtful expression.

Looking at his injured band mate and wondering what Jun was telling him, Ohno's attention shifted to the handsome man who’d been at his side constantly. The last thing he could remember from the dark basement was being enveloped in strong arms before he passed out. His next memory was waking up to the damned beeping noise he’d grown to hate from his previous hospital stays.

His tired eyes had opened to see the boring white ceiling tiles above him, Nino sleeping uneasily in a hospital bed to his left, and Jun resting on an uncomfortable looking couch to his right. The flu that had nearly incapacitated Leader was already fading, thanks to the strong medication he was on. Ohno learned later that Kazu had been injured trying to protect him, that Aiba and Sho, along with half the building, had been frantically searching for him, and that Jun hadn't wanted to let go of his hand after the ambulance arrived at Tokyo Hospital.

He also learned of the events surrounding Taro Kobayashi, the teenager who would stop at nothing in his attempts to inflict pain on Ohno. Jun had told him that the state prison had called Johnny Kitagawa, when they couldn’t get an answer on Satoshi’s phone, to inform the president of the teen’s escape. Johnny had immediately contacted Arashi’s managers to insure that Ohno was safe.

But by that time it was already too late. A security guard who’d been posted at one of the station’s back doors had just been knocked out, and the escapee was searching at will through the building for his target.

Ohno tried to repress a shiver. He’d been so terrified that his attacker would succeed at getting him away from any chance of being rescued. Satoshi was never one to be afraid of the dark before, but when he’d been yanked into the station’s basement, the shadows had sucked any feeling of hope out of him. Ohno was still struggling to keep himself from thinking about the heart-stopping "what ifs". His friends had asked what happened, but after Ohno answered with a curt "I don't wanna talk about it", they let it drop.

After leaving his target behind, Kobayashi tried to slip away again from the building, but one of the multitude of guards running through the studio's grounds spotted the worn out man. It had been a fierce struggle, but after back-up came running to help, the fugitive had finally been detained. When Jun had told him the news, Ohno recalled the taller man punching a fist into the hospital bed out of frustration. His boyfriend had wanted one last chance to hit the teen before he was returned to jail. Sho, Aiba, and Nino seemed of the same mind.

Once hospitalized, Nino and Ohno shared a room. They both agreed that it was better than having their own rooms; Nino because he wanted to keep an eye on Ohno, and Ohno because he knew there was no way he could stand to be on his own right now. It was also more convenient for the flow of visitors constantly going in and out at all hours.

Both sets of their parents (and Nino's sister ) arrived as soon as they could, but when the stream of well-wishers from Johnny's and the entertainment world became overwhelming to them, their mothers and fathers told them they would return after it calmed down.

Johnny himself came, as he had when Ohno was in the hospital last time, and informed them that Arashi’s group work would take a short break so they could both recover. The three healthy members would continue their solo work as usual, though. Case in point, Sho was presently busy filming for NewsZero.

As for the visitors, they were a welcome distraction for Ohno. Not only did he not want to be alone, but he got the unexpected added bonus of watching Nino barely restrain himself to keep from climbing out of bed to shove an excited Chinen out of the room.

Snapping back to reality, Arashi’s Leader unconsciously flinched when he felt someone take his hand. While he’d been thinking, Jun had finished his secretive chat with Nino and returned to his side. The younger man looked at him with concern, but refrained from saying anything.

Satoshi couldn't catch a break tonight though. Just then, the door flung open suddenly, making him reflexively tighten his grip on Jun's hand. Ohno blinked in surprise when a wide-eyed Jin burst in the room and shouted, “Oh-chan! Are you alright?! I heard from Yamapi about what happened.”

As he nodded in reply, Leader noticed a second dark-headed idol behind Jin. Having been dragged into the room (not to mention around the hospital), Kamenashi was bent over in exhaustion with one hand on his knee and the other still wrapped in Akanishi’s tight grip. Jin noticed Ohno looking at Kamenashi with a raised eyebrow. He smirked and held up their clasped hands, almost as if he was trying to brag.

Ohno smiled softly. “Looks like you get to keep your sunglasses.”

Jin grinned widely, ignoring the confused looks from everyone else. The normally composed man seemed like he was dying to spill everything to Ohno about his confession to Kazuya, even in the middle of a crowded room.

Guessing what Jin was thinking, Kamenashi decided to humor his new boyfriend by creating an opportunity for Jin to speak to his "advisor" semi-privately. Finally able to recover his breathing, he bowed to the injured idols. “Ohno-san, Ninomiya-san. I hope you're feeling better?”

“Don’t be so formal,” dismissed Nino as he casually waved a hand, grinning. “You better’ve brought something for us though.”

Jin rolled his eyes, but brought out the gift bag of sweets from behind his back. Aiba quickly confiscated them, peeking into the bag while carrying them over to Nino. “Whoa! It’s yagumo mochi!” Kazuya pushed Jin lightly towards Ohno's bed and left his side to explain to the others about where they’d gotten the hard-to-find sweets from. Jun picked up on the hints, and leaned over towards Nino, as if interested to see.

Akanishi snuck over to Ohno’s currently unaccompanied bedside while the room’s other occupants chatted on. KAT-TUN’s singer ducked down next to Satoshi, plopping in a chair and dragging it closer. His grin faltered a little when he spotted the bruising on the older man’s neck. He whispered, “Are you really okay?”

An uncomfortable Satoshi rearranged his blanket. “I’ll be fine.” Hoping it was blatantly obvious he wanted to change the subject, he said, “So tell me what happened. Obviously you didn’t chicken out again.”

“Oi. Getting him alone was really hard.”

“Did you stutter?”

“Only a little.”

“And you didn’t use song lyrics to confess?”

“No! I told you I wouldn’t!” Jin hissed quietly so as not to attract attention. “I gave him the necklace I showed you.” Ohno glanced over at the group to his left, and sure enough, Kame was wearing a familiar silver pendant. “He was really happy. But it wasn’t easy convincing him it wasn’t a joke.”

“He’s willing to give you a chance?”

“Yeah.” The younger man smiled happily, gazing at Kame as he explained his “perfect” confession in an excited voice.

Ohno snickered when the object of Jin’s affection looked back at them and startled Akanishi. Kazuya sighed, “Jin. I don’t mind if you talk about me, but could you at least not stare across the room with those sappy eyes.”

“Kazu,” he whined, getting up from his spot.

Nino covered his face with his hands. “Eww. Akanishi-kun, please don’t say that name like that when I’m in the room.”

The hallway next to room 73 echoed with laughter for a good five minutes, until a nurse came along to see what the fuss was about. Aiba picked himself up from the floor where he’d slid off his chair in his enthusiasm and Jun ruffled the annoyed gamer’s hair, “You know he loves you too, Kazu.”

Kame and Akanishi took their leave a little after Sho arrived with pizza, saying they’d try to come again later. Their kouhai’s called a teasing “We love you, Kazu” from the hallway in farewell. Sakurai shook his head as if he didn’t want to know.

The pizzas were passed around, each taking a slice of their favorites. The group had just settled into their usual comfortable chatter, when Aiba set his plate down rather abruptly. He bit his lip, raising his head and looking nervous when he came to a personal decision. Aiba stood suddenly and pulled a confused rapper over to a corner of the room. Their friends shared several curious looks, but ended up wolfing down their pizza slices without commenting.

They didn’t have to wait long to find out what the hushed conversation was about, because after a few minutes of murmuring, Sho leaned over shyly and kissed a shocked Aiba on the lips.

Ohno looked at Matsujun and smiled. Them too, huh?

Aiba let out a loud “whoop” of joy and tackled Sho with a bear hug. Then the delighted man initiated a deeper kiss that made Sho squeak. It took a few more minutes of locked lips before Aiba would let the rapper breath properly, if the shaky panting could be called that.

Everyone offered their congratulations to the new couple, but Nino still crossed his arms, glaring half heartedly at Jun and Ohno. “Now look what you’ve done.”

Nino’s look of slight annoyance abruptly shifted to one of panic when he saw three pairs of mischievous smirks aimed at him as Jun, Sho, and Aiba surrounded his bed. “Don’t you dare!”

Ohno laughed uncontrollably through the shouts of protest from Nino as the trio each landed a kiss on his burning cheeks. Thoroughly ruffled and slightly traumatized, the gamer pulled his blanket over his head, determined to save what little pride he had left.

Their laughter died down rather quickly when the members of Arashi noticed a new visitor sticking her head nervously into the room. The petite figure wore stylish clothes that seemed a bit warm for the weather they'd been having. Ohno raised his eyebrows in shock. “Aki?”

Aki Ohno, the sister he hadn’t seen since she moved with her husband to Hokkaido, perked up when she recognized her brother. “Satoshi! You look terrible!”

“What are you doing here?” mumbled Leader, confusion marring his face. His band members didn’t say anything, since the newcomer seemed to be an acquaintance of Ohno’s, but they waited for an introduction.

“I haven’t seen you in six years and that’s how you greet me?” The pushy woman put a hand on her hips. She stomped between Nino’s and his bed, coming to a halt next to her brother and frowning down at him. Without warning, she smacked him on the arm.

Unfortunately she hit the worst spot possible. Ohno hissed in pain, doubling over on his side as tears welled up in his eyes.

Jun jumped up, in full protective mode, and shoved a bewildered Aki away, growling, "I don’t know who the hell you are, but if you touch him again-"

“Jun.” Ohno’s eyes were shut tightly, but he said through his gritted teeth, “Sister.” He hoped his boyfriend got the message. And he appeared to, because he stopped from advancing and forced himself to crossed his arms.

Aki seemed stunned, both from her brother’s injury and the man who was still scowling at her. She blinked several times before apologizing, “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know... I’m his older sister, Aki Ohno. Is he alright?”

“He will be if you don’t hit him,” Jun muttered under his breath, turning to check on Ohno’s arm.

An annoyed voice spoke from the other hospital bed as Nino made a face. “Of course he’s not alright. Do you even know why he’s here?”

Looking around at the serious faces, she realized she wasn’t making a very good first impression. Wincing, she admitted, “Mom and Dad called to say they were visiting you in the hospital. I just arrived from Hokkaido, so I… came by.”

Sakurai could sense the tension level rising in the room, so he interrupted before the next cutting remark left Nino’s mouth and took Aki out into the hall to explain the situation.

Aiba asked worriedly, “Leader, do you want us to call a nurse?”

“No,” Ohno bit out the short reply. The pain was already subsiding. The sensitive injury came from fighting back against the teen when he panicked at being pulled into the nightmarish basement. His pissed off attacker had snatched a piece of unfinished metal from the concrete floor and sliced his arm to discourage Ohno from trying to escape again. Jun inspected the bandage, but seemed satisfied that there was no bleeding. Sighing, he bent down and kissed his boyfriend's forehead.

Everyone sat in silence until the pair returned from the hallway a while later, Aki looking a bit pale. She frowned and bowed shakily, “I-I didn’t ...have any idea… Even though Mom called about the time you broke your arm, I-" She clenched the hem of her jacket in her hands. "I never asked about the whole story. I’m sorry.” She raised her head to look at her brother. “T-that man is in prison now, right?”

“Yeah.”

Aki nodded and looked remorsefully down at the arm she’d hit. The siblings both understood it was an accident. Ohno knew his sister was the act-first-think-later type. He forgave her with  a smile and she nodded in response. The idols looked at each other in a silent conversation, all of them agreeing that the drama had past and returned to their pizzas. Sitting down in the offered chair, his sister glanced around, having a hard time loosening up. She scrunched her brows together, blinking at a piece of jewelry that caught her attention. “Satoshi, what's that? I thought you couldn't wear accessories in hospitals.”

Finding that she was pointing at his “engagement” ring, he shared a confused glance with Jun. “Didn’t Mom and Dad tell you?”

Clearly not understanding what he was getting at, she stared at him blankly, “Huh?”

"It's not an accessory." Jun stepped closer and intertwined his fingers with Ohno’s to display the matching rings. He introduced himself while smiling softly at Ohno, “I’m Matsumoto Jun, Satoshi’s boyfriend.”

Her jaw dropped open. She looked at each person in the room, laughing nervously. “Is this a joke? Are there cameras somewhere?”

Ohno shook his head tiredly. “Aki, this is real. I’ve been living with Jun for a year now.”

“You moved out?!”

Aiba whispered to Sho and Nino, “I guess they really aren’t that close.”

She grabbed the edge of Satoshi’s metal bed frame, frowning again, “Why didn’t you call me about all this?”

Ohno muttered, “You never gave me your number. Or even an address.”

“You could have asked Mom.”

Nino rolled his eyes, whispering back, “Nope. Definitely not close. Even we know if you want Leader to contact you, you have to manually put your own number in his phone or he’ll never get around to it.”

Before their argument could go any further, the hospital’s head nurse knocked on the door. “Visiting hours are over for today. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to come back tomorrow.”

Aki pursed her lips tightly before deflating, “Sorry. I didn’t want to fight. Get better, okay?”

Satoshi smiled and hummed his acknowledgment, then he pulled on Jun’s hand to get the other man’s attention. “Jun, you should go home too. I know you normally stay, but you have filming early tomorrow.”

Matsumoto gave him a sweet smile again. “Okay, but only because you say to.” The taller man bent to give him a proper kiss, making Aki gape with an open mouth at the display. “Night, Satoshi.”

Aiba nudged Sho in the side, smirking. The rapper picked up on the hint right away, saying solemnly, “Nino, I know you want us to stay, but we have work early tomorrow.”

Aiba joined in, “We’ll go only because you say to.”

Nino put his arms out in front of him to ward off the pair with an expression of terror on his face. “No. No. Stay away fr-” The gamer kicked and yelled as Sho and Aiba planted two sloppy goodbye kisses on his cheeks.

The new couple chimed together in a sugary voice, “Sweet dreams, Kazu.” Sho grabbed Aiba's hand and they cackled as they raced out the door to avoid any more flying pillows. Ninomiya wiped his face and muttered darkly, scowling at Aki’s slack mouth expression. She finally pulled herself together and took her leave as well, with the nurse following her out.

Matsujun rolled his eyes. He returned Nino’s pillows to his bed and grabbed the empty pizza boxes on his way out. “Good night.”

The door swung shut, leaving the room as quiet as it had been all day. Nino settled back, sighing heavily.

Ohno tried to hold back a laugh, “Do you wanna good night kiss, Kazu?”

There was a pause before he heard the answer, “If it’s you, maybe.”

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

Ohno was waiting.

Waiting for daylight to return and a new day to begin. Nino was dead to the world at his left, having barely moved all night. On the other hand, Leader hadn’t been able to drift off, for fear of what new nightmares would be waiting for him. He realized belatedly that the only reason he fell asleep the previous days was because Jun had been there. Thus, he’d spent a very restless night doing nothing but thinking.

When his friend finally stirred in the bed next to his, he stopped wondering why hospitals were such a boring white color and how much trouble he would get into if he painted something interesting on the ceiling. He said tiredly, “Morning.”

Ninomiya cracked open one eye and muttered something that may have been “morning” or perhaps “leave me alone”. He shifted around, alternating between running a hand through his hair, yawning, and glaring around the room blearily. Pulling himself out of bed as if everything was sore, especially his ribs, he shuffled awkwardly to the bathroom to brush his teeth on autopilot. Ohno shook his head in amusement, but tried to follow his friend’s lead, climbing slowly out of bed and dragging his IV drip after him.

Morning rituals complete, the two friends groaned about aching muscles as they returned to their beds, which shifted into discussing a colossal prank Nino wanted to pull on their member if they tried to kiss him again.

Nino was putting the finishing touches on his scheme when a nurse knocked on their door, announcing, “Ninomiya-san, Ohno-san, you have visitors.” They glanced up to see two smiling faces peeking into the room.

“Good morning, boys,” Aiba’s mother chirped as she held up two wrapped lunch boxes, presumably filled with dishes from their family restaurant, Keikarou.

“Morning, ma’am. You didn’t have to bring us more food again.” Nino smiled widely though.

She scoffed, “Of course I did. I still remember Masaki complaining about hospital food from that surgery of his.”

“Thank you,” said Ohno. Then he turned to their other guest with a crooked grin. “Ogu-san. I thought you promised you wouldn’t come visit me anymore if I winded up in the hospital.”

Arashi’s co-host from Shukudai-kun, Ogura, shook his head, “I did. I was hoping it would discourage you from ending up here again, but it didn’t work.”

“Sorry. And I even got Nino involved this time.” Ohno tried to joke, but it came out as more of a bitter regret.

The elderly man frowned and said warningly, “Leader.”

“I know.” And he did. He wasn’t to blame. Just as much as Nino wasn’t to blame, even though he felt he had to apologize for being unable to stop Kobayashi. Ohno knew, but that still didn’t stop him from feeling guilty since he'd been thinking about it all night.

Aiba’s mom clapped her hands together and started a running commentary of what selections she’d brought this time, instantly dispelling the unpleasant atmosphere.

Ogura presented his own get-well presents of the boys’ favorite, but healthier, snacks. He said he agreed wholeheartedly that hospital food was not conducive to saving taste buds. Patting Ohno’s leg, the elderly man joked, “But maybe I should have gotten you two a bodyguard instead.”

Nino snorted and rolled his eyes. Ohno was too busy digging into a bag of cheese rolls to comment.

Their first visitors of the day stuck around and chatted for a while longer. The comfortable buzz of conversation made Ohno drowsy, but just as he was about to nod off, Nino’s doctor came for a checkup. Aiba’s mother and Ogura excused themselves so that they wouldn’t be in the way, leaving Satoshi wishing they had stayed.

“Oh-chan, you seem pretty tired.” Nino eyed him, trying to judge if it was his imagination or not.

“It’s just the flu.”       

“Why don’t you take a nap?”

Sitting up nervously, he didn’t meet his friend’s gaze. “I’m fine. Besides, it sounds like we have another visitor.” Sure enough, there was a shuffled footstep that stopped outside their door. Any chance of falling asleep soon disappeared for Satoshi as a knock sounded and an older woman entered.

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

Matsujun was humming.

Striding down the hospital hall, he continued to hum his solo “Yabai, Yabai, Yabai” until he noticed a woman’s voice floating out of room 73. He curiously stuck his head in the doorway and froze when he recognized the woman standing next to Satoshi’s bed. “Mom?”

Rie Matsumoto turned and bowed to her son slightly, explaining quietly, “Yoshie-san told me what happened. I asked if it would be alright to visit and she gave me the hospital name. I hope it’s not a bother.”

“Course not. Just didn’t expect you to come.” Recovering from his initial shock, he looked at Nino, who seemed rather tense and unsure what to think of his mother; then Satoshi, who was smiling tiredly with faint bags under his eyes that weren’t there yesterday. Not liking the sudden change in health from their energetic selves last night, Jun frowned as he came into the room.

Jun greeted, “Hey guys, I come bearing gifts.”

Nino perked up at the bag thrust his direction. Unpacking its contents, he let out a sigh of happiness. “My DS! Excellent. And you even got the right games. Thanks.”

“Your apartment is filthy, by the way.”

“Thank you. Just the way I like it.” Brushing off the supposed insult, Nino beamed as his handheld system lit up.

Matsumoto shook his head in exasperation and held out a different bag for Ohno to take. Satoshi raised his eyebrows at him, then peered inside. “My art supplies!” His boyfriend grinned up at him and started taking out the sketch pads and pencils Jun had brought for him. “There’s clay too!”

“Try not to get anything dirty.” Any misgivings he had about packing the potential mess-makers vanished at the content look Satoshi gave him. Settling into a chair, he gestured for his mother to sit too. The three of them (Nino was far too engrossed in his Dragon Quest IX to participate in a conversation) chatted about work, Ohno’s visitors, and plans for Arashi’s tenth year. Jun noticed Leader’s answer getting shorter as his eyes became glazed over. He continued to watch as Ohno’s eyelashes fluttered closed and his breathing evened out.

Rie asked in a whisper, “He fell asleep?”

Jun heard a voice behind him as Nino spoke up from his game, “I don’t think he slept very well last night.”

Damn. He’d been worried about going home, and he hated to find out that he was right.

“Jun. I should go. I don’t want him to wake up.”

He nodded at his mother, letting her find her own way out as he picked up Satoshi’s hand gently.

“Night, Satoshi.”

Jun rubbed his thumb over the back of a tan hand. Settling in for another long night, he and Nino sat in a companionable silence, marked only by intermittent button clicks.

Sometime later, Matsujun felt himself nodding off as his eyelids grew heavy. Not wanting to let go of Ohno’s hand, he leaned forward and laid his head on Satoshi’s bed on his crossed arms. His last conscious thought was hoping that his boyfriend could finally get some rest.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author’s Note:

This chapter has a bunch of my personal favorite moments, most of them being adorable or funny. Please leave a comment if there's a scene you've particularly liked in the series so far! ^_^

I've had "Tokei Jikake no Umbrella" on repeat for the past three days. I'm waiting rather impatiently for the full version to be released. It has fast become one of my top favs of Arashi's songs. The dance beat combined with the tango melody and the "wo, oh, oh, oh"s... *repeating Nino's sigh of happiness*

Next, the members of Arashi have ' A Midsummer Night's Dream (二十五)'.

Yay! The offical lyrics are out. Thank you for all the suggestions and enjoy! =^.^=


Kanji
~~~~~

不思議なことばかり 何信じればいいの
もし迷うなら　俺のそばにいて

初めて見る風景　君の胸生まれる
疑うよりも歩き出してみて 　（過去　未来... 今）

Ah Ah, Lady  Come on baby
心に差したアンブレラで
敲く fly me  do you wanna with me
ここでゼロから

時計じかけの　ラブソング好きさ
ロマンチックな針が交わる瞬間
抱き寄せて
君が居ればいい　何も要らない
二人で歩く長いこの回り道に
夢がある

My love go on & on
Your love go on & on

*Sakurap*

胸に火燃ゆる導火線　
いっそこのままどう成れ
もう俺もここまで　
我慢知らぬ大人で (あ,もうだめ）
夢はどこかで
いつか奏でていた音を変える　
この旅路どこまで
迷わぬよう二人の帆を立てる

まだだめ　まだだめ　朝まで暖め
明日の種まけ　裸で暖め

ずっともっと遠回り
街は辺り変わり
響くあまい話り
生まれくる愛のさなぎ

真実は何　誰も知らない
確かなことは　君はゼロから

嘘でいいから傷付くだけで真実
心の奥そっとしまうから

雨が二人も濡らし続けても
大切なのは君がいるで

その二人たくさん咲いた未来の花を温めて
優しい傘そっと差して行こう

時計じかけの　ラブソング好きさ
電気ショックに痺れたキスの瞬間
止めないで
君が居ればいい　何も要らない
二人で歩く長いこの回り道に
夢がある
愛の嵐で　離したくない
二人描いたこの希望の落書きを　
地図にして

My love go on & on
Your love go on & on


Romanji
~~~~~~~~


Fushigi na koto bakari   Nani shinjireba ii no
Moshi mayounara Ore no soba ni ite

Hajimete miru fuukei Kimi no mune umareru
Utagau yori mo arukidashite mite  (kako mirai...ima)

Ah Ah, Lady  Come on, baby
Kokoro ni sashita UMBRELLA de
Takaku FLY ME  DO YOU WANNA WITH ME
Koko de ZERO kara

Tokei jikake no  LOVE SONG suki sa
ROMANTIC na hari ga majiwaru shunkan
dakiyosete
Kimi ga ireba ii  nani mo iranai
Futari de aruku nagai kono mawarimichi ni
Yume ga aru

MY LOVE GO ON & ON   
YOUR LOVE GO ON & ON


*Sakurap*

Mune ni hi moyuru doukasen
Isso kono mama dou nare
Mou ore mo koko made
Gaman shiranu otona de (ah, mou dame)
Yume wa dokoka de
Itsuka kanadete ita oto wo kaeru
Kono tabiji doko made
Mayowazu you futari no ho wo tateru

Mada dame mada dame
Asa made atatame
Asu no tane make
Hadaka de atatame

Zutto motto toomawari
Machi wa atari kawari
Hibiku amai katari
Umarekuru ai no sanagi

Shinjitsu wa nani   dare mo shiranai
Tashikana koto wa   kimi wa zero kara

Uso de ii kara kizutsuku dake de shinjitsu
Kokoro no oku sotto shimau kara

Ame ga futari mo nurashi tsutsukete mo
Taisetsu na no wa kimi ga iru koto de

Sono futari takusan saita mirai no hana wo atatamete
Yasashii kasa sotto sashite ikou

Tokei jikake no  LOVE SONG suki sa
Denki SHOCK ni shibireta KISS no shunkan
Tomenaide
Kimi ga ireba ii  nani mo iranai
Futari de aruku nagai kono mawarimichi ni
Yume ga aru
Ai no arashi de hanashitakunai
Futari egaita kono kibou no rakugaki wo
Chizu ni shite

MY LOVE GO ON & ON
YOUR LOVE GO ON & ON


English
~~~~~~~

Nothing but mysterious things
I don't know what to believe anymore
If you're lost, stay by my side

Seeing this scenery for the first time that was born in your heart
Rather than doubt it, try walking out in it  (the past, the future ... the present)

Ah, Lady Come on, baby
This heart protected by a raised umbrella
Fly me higher  Do you wanna with me
Starting from zero

I like a love song like clockwork
When the clock's hand crosses a romantic moment
Hold on to it
If you're here I don't need anything
On this long detour the two of us are walking...
is a dream

My love go on & on
Your love go on & on

*Sakurap*

The burning fuse in my heart
Might as well see what'll happen to it
I already can't go any further
Because I'm an adult that doesn't know endurance [Ah, it's hopeless]
Somewhere in this dream
The sound that's been playing will someday change
How far will this journey go?
So we don't lose our way, let's raise the two of our sails

Not yet, not yet
Warm it til morning
Scatter the seeds of tomorrow
Warm them with your bare skin

A far away, longer detour
Changes in the towns nearby
Echoed sweet words
Love that's been born from a pupa

What is truth?   I don't believe anyone
The certain thing is that I'm starting from zero with you

Only getting hurt by lies is the truth
So I've softly closed my inner heart

Even if we both continue to be soaked by the rain
The important thing is that you are here

Warm up the many blossomed flowers of our future
Let's go, gently raising a kind umbrella

I like a love song like clockwork
The moment of a numbing kiss from an electrical shock
Don't stop it
If you're here I don't need anything
On this long detour the two of us are walking...
is a dream
I don't want to let go of this storm of love
This hopeful scrawl we drew...
will become a map

My love go on and on
Your love go on and on



*edit 4* Official lyrics out!
.

Title: Love So Sweet
Pairing: Juntoshi  (Side pairing: Sakuraiba)
Rating: PG 13 overall
Summary: Just how much could a dream change your life?

Hallucination (二十三)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Satoshi was shivering.

Arashi's break room was plenty warm, but he couldn't stop the tremors from running through his body. Feeling thoroughly sick, he was lying on his side on a semi-comfortable couch with Sho hovering over him. His friend had assumed Jun's mother-hen role so the younger man could hurriedly finish his part of an interview and they could go home.

He'd only felt a little dizzy when Jun dragged him out of bed this morning. It wasn't until the car ride over that he started feeling really ill. Matsujun had looked over at him worriedly from the driver's seat and asked if they should call their managers to say he was too sick to make it. Ohno was very tempted, but figured he could last through work with the help of some medicine.

Three hours later, he was curled up, feeling like crap, and regretting ever leaving bed.

"Is he gonna be okay, Sho-chan?" Aiba was crouched by Sho's side on the floor, trying to keep his voice quiet.

Nino wasn't far from the trio either. The gamer perched himself on the arm of the couch, glancing frequently between his DS and Ohno. Sakurai rearranged the jacket covering Leader for the thirtieth time. "He already said 'no' to a hospital, so all we can do is let Matsujun take him home."

"We could just take Oh-chan to the hospital anyway," Aiba suggested.

Satoshi grumbled from the couch, "And Oh-chan would kill you for it." His eyes were closed in a grimace. "I only want to sleep, Aiba-chan. Not be poked and prodded."

"Sorry." Aiba gave him an apologetic look, but Ohno missed it. He was pretty sure if he looked, the room would be spinning unpleasantly.

The door clicked open and everyone but Ohno turned to it, expecting Jun. When they saw it was only a staff member bringing the young idols their lunch boxes, they sighed disappointedly.

"He's only been gone ten minutes," Nino muttered behind his game.

The delivery woman tried to ignore the disappointment directed at her and began to set up the containers.

When the scent of food hit Ohno's nose, he unfortunately found out much too late that the smell was going to make him sick. He clamped a hand over his mouth, sat upright, and wobbled unsteadily out of the room.

"Oh-chan?" asked Nino confusedly.

"Satoshi-kun?" Sho moved to follow until he realized where the sick man was going. "Oh damn... I'm gonna go get Jun-kun. They should have gotten enough for the article by now anyway."

Aiba nodded and started gathering up Ohno and Jun's scattered belongings, although there were only a few items. Nino tried to return his attention to his digital hero's plight, but gave up after about five minutes. Sighing, he closed his DS and slipped off the couch. "I'm gonna check on Leader."

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

Stumbling from the bathroom stall to the line of sinks, Ohno fumbled with the cold water knob. After swishing some water in his mouth, he spit it out hoping the terrible aftertaste would fade.

It's official. Today sucks.

Just as he splashed his sweaty face, he heard the bathroom door squeak open. Ohno rubbed the water from his eyes and looked in the mirror to see the newcomer.

He froze as his heart stopped in his chest and his blood ran cold.

He was hallucinating. He had to be hallucinating.

There was no way the figure reflected could really be here.

He was supposed to be locked away serving six years on an aggravated battery charge for the multitude of injuries he'd given Ohno. Leader slowly shifted his gaze from the reflection to the haggard young man standing in front of him. He looked like he'd been through hell to get here and hated Ohno all the more for it.

As crappy as he’d been feeling before, the sick sensation was tripled by the teenager glaring at him. Satoshi's legs felt weak. He wanted to run, but knew he wouldn't get far.

The teen twitched as he straightened from his hunched position and took a threatening step forward. Satoshi backed away, making a crooked smirk appear on the pale man's face. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction, Ohno stopped and grabbed the counter for support.

He was scared, dizzy as hell, and at a severe disadvantage, but he wasn't going to give up without a fight. He didn't take any time to think. As quickly as he could in his condition, Ohno lowered his stance and tackled the teen's waist. Even though there wasn't much force behind his push, he'd caught the other man off-guard.

They both had the breath knocked out of them when they crashed on the ground. Ohno was seeing stars. It took him a second too long to get to his feet, struggling against his own weak muscles. He hadn't even been able to stand up before he felt a vice-like grip snatch his wrist.

A harsh whisper came from behind him, "Oh no you don't."

Satoshi was violently pulled backwards. Falling hard on the tile, he grunted as pain streaked up his side. Panting, Leader looked up through his spinning vision at his attacker. The young man calmly lowered to one knee and reached his hands towards the idol.

Ohno's eyes widened when he felt rough fingers close around his neck, tightening slowly. "Stop-" He tried to pry away the hands from his throat, or at best, shove the teen off, but the attempts only made the fugitive grow more angry as he pressed Satoshi harder against the floor.

Unable to breathe, he felt his consciousness slipping. He clawed in panic at the arms holding him down. Although the force lessened slightly, it wasn't enough to allow air to enter. Ohno wasn't sure of anything through his muddled senses. However, there might have been a door slamming open. And after that, there may have been a familiar voice calling his name. All he knew was that a second later he could finally breathe again as the fingers released his throat.

Kazu?

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

It had been Ninomiya's worst nightmare.

He'd opened the bathroom door expecting to find his best friend tiredly waiting for someone to come check on him.

Instead, he was fighting for his life as some maniac was bent on taking it away.

"Oh-chan!"

Nino didn't think he'd ever been more angry or panicked in his life. He used all of his strength behind in a single punch. The attacker was sent recoiling back against the side of the stalls.

Frantically kneeling at Ohno's side, Nino winced at the sobbing gasps the older man was making and the terrible red marks on his neck. Knowing his left straight wouldn't keep the eerily familiar looking man down for long, Nino pulled at Leader's arm. "Oh-chan. You gotta get up. We-"

Pain exploded through Ninomiya's temple. The crazed man had recovered faster than Nino had thought possible. Furious at the interruption, he shifted his attention to the intruder. Kick after kick connected with Nino's stomach, as well as the arms he tried to protect himself with. The barrage seemed to last for an eternity. Nino felt like he was drowning in a painful darkness until unconsciousness finally claimed him.

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

Aiba was pacing.

He'd been waiting for someone to come back, but no one had shown up yet. He didn't know which person to go search for, so he just continued wearing a path through the carpet. But he didn't have to wonder where everyone was much longer. The door burst open a moment later, making him jump and whirl around in a startled motion.

Two of Arashi's managers, Otaki and Nagasawa, followed by several security guards, rushed into the room. Aiba looked at them with wide eyes as they stopped and looked around the nearly empty room. Nagasawa's face paled as he only spotted Aiba. He panted out, "Where's Ohno-san?"

"He went to the bathroom a while ago. Felt sick. Nino just left to check on him," Aiba shakily replied. "What's wrong?"

The anxious men ignored his question and ran out of the dressing room, presumably heading to the nearest bathroom. Aiba followed as he felt his heartbeat speed up. Why are they looking for Leader?

Arriving a few seconds after the men, he skidded to a halt behind a wall of suits. Hearing Otaki shout for a doctor, Aiba gasped and shoved through the men. His breath caught in his throat when he saw a familiar small frame huddled on the floor. "Nino!"

Ninomiya was hiccupping through tears, holding his arms tightly around his stomach. "Nino, are you alright?!" He was in complete panic at the state of his friend. Aiba saw several cuts on the gamer's tear-stricken face and he didn't like the way Nino was gripping his sides either.

His friend reached out and grabbed Aiba's jacket, pulling him closer and whispering, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He sobbed softly, "He got Oh-chan. I couldn't stop him. I'm sorry."

Aiba whipped his head around searching for the older man and felt the ground slip out from under him when he realized Leader was missing. He grabbed Nino's shoulder. "Who?"

The injured man lowered his head into his hands, "The bastard who tried to kill Oh-chan before."

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

Jun was sighing.

Sho and Jun frowned at Arashi's deserted dressing room. "What the hell? They better not have really dragged him to the doctor," Sho grumbled under his breath as he picked up Ohno's paint splattered bag.

Jun set his hands on his hips, scowling at the turn of events. But the sound of running feet pounding up the hallway signaled someone's return.

Turning to the door, they froze when someone came barreling through and Sho ended up with an armful of a very upset Aiba. "What-?" Sakurai and Matsumoto shared a confused look. Their friend gulped in a breath before sobbing, "Nino's hurt really bad and Leader's missing. It's the same guy." Aiba shook the rapper's shoulders, trying to stress how important this was. "The same guy that smashed up the practice room and hurt Leader before."

A shocked Matsumoto collapsed into an empty chair. "That's impossible. He's in prison..."

Aiba didn’t allow them time to recover. He shoved Sho towards the door and then grabbed Jun's wrist, dragging him out of his chair. "We have to find him. The guards said they couldn't have left the building yet. They're here somewhere." Jun's head shot up.

Propelled by desperation and hope, the trio split up running full throttle through the halls. Jun passed several security guards that were also searching for Ohno. He only stopped momentarily to ask if they'd seen anything, but when they answered a negative, he took off again.

Satoshi, where are you?

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

Ohno tried to yell, but the hand clenched over his mouth only allowed muffled sounds to escape.

The teenager had one arm snaked around his waist from behind, forcing him down the empty hallway. Leader was doing his damned best to make it difficult, but the little energy he had left was fading. His throat was still throbbing from being strangled and a spike of pain shot up his right arm every time he tried to move it.

The fugitive suddenly paused, pulling Ohno to a halt. He chose a door on the left, swinging it open. He let out a bark of laughter and jerked his captive into the stairwell. Ohno couldn't stop a shiver from running up his spine. The demented man had found a way out.

Noticing the iron railing in front of him, Ohno’s mind raced.

Then he took a chance.

Lifting both legs up to set against the bar in a swift movement, he kicked, sending the two men flying backward. His fall was cushioned by the teenager. But instead of releasing him, like Ohno had hoped, the man clutched him even tighter, determined not to let his prize get away.

Growling, the teen rolled over so that he was straddling the smaller man. He grabbed Ohno’s short hair tightly in his fist and lowered his lips to the shaking man’s ear. Ohno heard a furious whisper hiss, "As much fun as it would be to kill you here, I have other plans for you-" The teen roughly slammed his head against the cement floor. "-so stop struggling."

Ohno’s face scrunched up in pain as he stifled a sob.

The teenager chuckled darkly. “That’s a good look on you.” Then he leaned over to kiss his forehead. The touch made Ohno’s skin crawl. He instinctively reached out to shove away the crazed man away, but there was no strength in his arms to do anything more than move the body a few centimeters away. The young man sneered at his attempted before seizing his wrists and yanking him forcibly up off the floor.

Ohno peered blearily down the flight of stairs in front of them, speechless from the feeling of despair that was drowning his heart.

He pleaded silently. Jun.

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

Jun was out of breath.

He stood in an empty hallway of the studio, closing his phone with a snap. No one had seen Ohno yet. He gritted his teeth and hit his fist on the wall in frustration, but didn't allow himself to stay still any longer than that.

Spotting an emergency exit sign glowing further down the corridor, Jun suddenly changed directions on a hunch. Flinging aside the door, he ran to the railing and peered down the stairwell.

There was no movement.

Damn it.

Then he heard a clank. The metallic sound echoed up from the bottom floor.

Deciding it was the best sign he'd found yet, Matsujun jumped down the stairs three at a time.

Please. Please be there Satoshi.

Panting heavily when he reached the last step, he shoved the heavy industrial door open. A musky scent hit his nose, but he couldn't see much in the dimly lit basement. What he could see were the many large pipes running in parallel lines with numerous gated storage areas packed into every empty space.

Jun ran down the five foot gap between two sets of pipes, straining his ears to hear something, anything.

There it was. To the right.

The sound of a muffled shout, followed by a yell of pain, and finally breaking glass. Running to the next section that branched off, he sprinted around the corner just in time to see an axe being swung by a small figure.

It appeared Satoshi had bitten the teen's arm to get free, and then smashed the glass door of a nearby emergency fire station with a kick. The exhausted man had grabbed the fire axe, spinning around to face his attacker. Ohno could barely hold it up, but with a fierce yell, he swung the weapon with all his remaining strength to stop the other man from coming closer.

Jun felt his heart stop. "Satoshi!"

The two men jumped and turned towards the shout. The teen hesitated for a second before his eyes widened in shocked recognition at the charging man. Looking back and forth between a now-armed Ohno and a pissed off Jun, he let out a frustrated yell before retreating down a different path, fading into the darkness.

Jun desperately wanted to chase down the bastard who dared to hurt Satoshi, but his lover needed him more right now.

Dropping the axe on the ground with a clank, Ohno only remained standing from the adrenaline rushing through his shaking body. Skidding to a halt, Jun caught the smaller man in a fierce hug. Ohno was too tired to return it, but set his head on Matsumoto's shoulder and closed his eyes. “Jun.”

“It’s okay. I’ve got you.” He felt the injured man lean against him heavily as he became dead weight. "Satoshi?" Lowering Ohno to the floor, he breathed a sigh of relief when he realized Ohno had only passed out.

Rearranging his hold on Satoshi, he lifted his unconscious boyfriend in his arms to cradle against his chest. He needed to find a doctor. Jun didn't want to think about the blood he felt making his hand slick. Without a second look back into the dark, he carried Ohno through the maze of pipe work, grateful to once again be holding the person who meant everything to him.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author’s Note:

Here was bit of action for everyone. What did you think? ^_^;

Tonight is Aiba's drama! In fact, it's gonna be on in about 5 hours here. *waves an Aiba flag* I'm sure it'll be cute, but I can't wait to see his acting. Go Aiba-chan!

We're nearing the homestretch for Love So Sweet now. Only 3 chapters and an epilogue left. Enjoy!

Next up, Nino and Ohno have a ton of ' Visitors (二十四)'.

Title: Love So Sweet
Pairing: Juntoshi  (Side pairing: Sakuraiba)
Rating: PG 13 overall
Summary: Just how much could a dream change your life?

Countdown (二十二)
~~~~~~~~~~~~


Satoshi was blinking.

He ran a hand through his spiky hair and tried to comprehend what he'd just been told. Ohno stared at the handsome young man in front of him in confusion. "You... love...?"

KAT-TUN's Akanishi Jin nodded solemnly and gave him a pleading look. Ohno closed his eyes and held up a hand, signaling to his kouhai he needed time to think.

The idols were standing in an empty backstage corridor of Tokyo Dome after their Johnny's Countdown concert. They still had their costumes from the show on; Jin in his "Queen of Pirates" jacket and jeans next to Ohno with his glittering sequined pants and purple overcoat. Jin had whispered that he had to talk to him just after they'd finished the last song and dragged Ohno off without waiting for approval.

Stopping in a hallway that was far from the bustle of other idols, the younger man had then started to pace back and forth. Akanishi was strangely jumpy tonight. He seemed as nervous as Matsumoto when he'd confessed to him.

Ohno waited for Akanishi to calm down enough to tell him why he had pulled him aside, but when Jin finally sputtered the words out, he was quite taken back.

What the…? You can't be serious.

Ohno sighed, knowing it'd be faster to ask than hypothesize. He pointed a finger at Jin. "You fell in love?"

Jin nodded firmly.

"With Kamenashi-kun?"

The taller man nodded again.

"And you wanted to tell me?"

Another affirmative.

Ohno scrunched up his brow and tried to keep the exasperation from his voice. "Why?"

Jin nervously clapped his hands together in front of himself and bowed his head. "I need your help. I really want to confess to Kazu, but I don't know how to do it. And if those matching rings on your and Matsumoto's hands are any indication-" Ohno glanced down at the silver band reflecting the hallway's florescent lighting. "-you know what you're doing." The young man bowed lower. "This is really important to me. I couldn't stand it if I screw this up... And I've screwed up a lot lately..." Jin trailed off.

Satoshi had heard more than enough about Akanishi's behavior. Everyone from juniors to make-up artists had been innocent bystanders. He found he was actually a little annoyed at Jin too. "You know it then? You know you've been acting like a jerk for the last six months to everyone around you?"

Akanishi winced and looked down at Ohno's sparkling gold pants, taking a minute to answer. He explained in a soft voice. "It … it took me a long time to figure out I love Kazu. Then I didn't know how to act around him anymore and I started getting angry at myself for being a coward... and everything started pissing me off for no reason."

"Idiot." Ohno admonished in a soft voice and smacked the back of Jin's head lightly. Re-crossing his arms, he leaned back against the wall. "I still don't know why you came to me. I'm no romantic. Plus… we're more coworkers than friends."

Akanishi chewed on his lip. "Like you said, I've been a jerk, so I don't really have that many friends right now. And not anyone I can talk to about this."

Ohno was just now realizing one of his character flaws. He was a big softie. "Alright. What d'you wanna know?"

Jin's head shot up and Ohno saw a genuine smile bloom on the young man's face. "Um, first, what did you say? How did you confess?"

"How? Well… it was Jun that confessed to me. He came to my art exhibition. I remember he had roses." Ohno smiled softly as he became lost in the memory. "That night he was so nervous at first, he could barely get a sentence out."

Jin let out a stifled chuckle at the image.

"Then he told me how he felt… that he loved me. A few times too. Because I wasn't very quick on the uptake… Y'know, you should really be asking Jun about this."

Akanishi looked slightly ill at the suggestion. "He'd laugh and slam a door in my face."

"Jun would never do that." Arashi's leader frowned. "And I don't see how I'm going to be able to help you."

"I want to get your opinion on what to say."

Ohno cocked his head to the side, saying, "Akanishi-kun, everyone's confessions are different and I don't think they ever go perfectly..."

Jin was pouting at him.

A groan escaped Ohno's lips. His shoulders slumped in defeat. "Fine."

Jin opened his arms wide, looking like he wanted to hug the shorter man, but he froze when he seemed to remember something.

"Ah! You have to promise you won't tell anyone about this. Especially Matsumoto."

Ohno closed his eyes, feeling a headache coming on. He muttered unenthusiastically, "I promise. But I have to tell you, I'm a terrible liar."

Akanishi nodded in understanding. "Thank you. It means a lot." Then Jin threw an arm over his shoulder. "Well, you better get back before Matsumoto sends out a search party."

Ohno rolled his eyes and reached over with difficulty to smack Jin on the head again.

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

Jun was brooding.

He continued staring into his coffee as Aiba pitched some new bizarre ideas for Shidome Aibaland from his list of viewer recommendations to Sho on the break room sofa across from him. The newscaster looked up from his laptop screen and glared at his friend. "Masaki, we are not running on top of that white liquid stuff you keep going on about."

Jun would normally support shooting down the crazier of Aiba's games, but today he couldn't bring himself to care. The reason being his boyfriend. Ohno had vanished. Again.

There had been a growing number of times in the last month that the sleepy man had gotten a text message on his cell, just to disappear for a few hours, then reappear with no explanation where he'd been. Matsumoto had tried asking, but he always got the same response.

Going to help a friend... Just how much help does this guy need?!

He didn't want to pry, but the jealousy that reared up when he thought of the disappearances was making him uncomfortable. And Satoshi was probably too dense to notice.

"Oi! Matsujun!" He jerked when Aiba poked his side to get his attention. "What's wrong? We called your name like, a hundred times. Are you sick?"

Jun ducked away from the hand reaching for his head. "I'm not sick. I was just thinking."

Sho switched seats from the adjacent chair to sit next to him. "About murdering your coffee? You were glaring pretty hard at it."

Matsumoto sighed and put the innocent drink on the table in front of him.

"It's Leader, isn't it?" Aiba and Sho watched him stroke the ring on his left hand. Aiba had jokingly called them the couple's "engagement rings", not knowing that's essentially what Ohno and Jun thought of them too. Sakurai clicked his tongue and slapped Jun's shoulder. "Go talk to him."

"How? I don't know where he is."

"Ah!" Their miracle boy hit one fist on his other open palm. "I saw him by the practice rooms before I came here. He was with Akanishi-kun."

Matsujun stared in shock. Akanishi? But…why was he with Jin? Those two barely know each other.

Standing up suddenly, his friends looked up at him in surprise. Ignoring them, Jun stalked to the door, determined to find out just what the hell was going on.

Sho glanced over to Aiba, asking, "Think they'll be okay?"

Aiba smirked, then turned around and plopped his head to rest in Sakurai's lap. "Of course. I overheard what those two were talking about. Jin-kun's got a loud voice."

"Why didn't you tell Jun-kun? What was it?"

The animal expert giggled, "Seems like our couple has started a trend. Jin-kun wants to confess to Kame-chan."

Sho's eyebrows raised into his bangs. "Really?"

"Yup." He paused, trying to decide if it was a good idea or not to continue. Aiba was never known for his restraint though. His heartbeat skyrocketed as he dared to say, "Y'know... if it's so popular, maybe... we should think about trying it?" And he really meant it too. He could only hope that by finally offering his heart to his long-time crush, it wasn't going to get smashed. Aiba bit his lip and looked up at the rapper nervously.

Sho's eyes widened and he jerked his head down to see if Aiba was making fun of him. He blinked confusedly at the worry radiating from his friend. He was even more bewildered to feel Aiba shaking slightly. "...Masaki... did you just say we should... be a couple?"

Aiba smiled weakly up at him and nodded. His next words came out much softer than either of them was used to. "I really like you, Sho."

The newscaster's jaw dropped open. His eyes became unfocused as he looked into the distance, lost in thought. Aiba tried to wait patiently for a response, but he grew apprehensive at the silence and sat up slowly. Turning around to face the rapper, his chest tightened as he whispered, "S-Sho-chan? I…I'm sorry... It-"

Sakurai's gaze snapped to the other man and he shook his head, silencing Aiba with a finger on his lips. "I just need some time to think, okay?"

Then he ruffled Aiba's hair, making the affectionate man lean into the familiar touch. A spark of hope returned. "Okay."

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

Ohno was scowling.

"Jin-kun, I swear to God, if you don't tell Kazuya-kun you love him this weekend, I'm gonna confiscate your sunglasses collection until you finally do."

Jin shot up from his wallowing position on the practice room's ancient couch, giving the older man sitting next to him a look of panic. "You wouldn't-"

"You've had a hundred chances."

Akanishi pointed a finger at Ohno. "There is no way I could have predicted Yamapi would pop out like that-"

Ohno crossed his arms, not really accomplishing the threatening look he was going for. "All you're doing is giving me excuses. Are you trying to tell me you can't do the same thing Jun did?"

Jin's expression melted into one of annoyance. "Oh-chan. That was low." Glaring, he declared, "Fine. This weekend." Then he smirked. "And for that comment..."

The younger man shoved Satoshi down on the couch, leaping on top.

"Ack! Get off!" Ohno tried to push the weight off without success. Then Jin's fingers found his sides and Ohno couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling up. However, he could try to retaliate by getting at Akanishi's collarbone.

They were in the middle of their half wrestling, half tickling match when the door to the room swung open.

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

Jun was wandering.

He'd been walking through the Agency's hallways in search of a certain short singer for the past fifteen minutes. About to return to Arashi's dressing room, he heard a shriek of laughter burst from a room behind him.

It was a laugh he'd know anywhere.

Unsure if he was nervous or angry, he opened the door after a pause. The sight that greeted him sent a twist through his stomach.

Akanishi was on top of his boyfriend, straddling his waist and tickling the smaller man's sides as Ohno giggled. Although he could see there was nothing indecent happening, it still made him angry. It took a lot of restraint to keep from marching over to the pair and bodily dragging the younger man off.

The laughter died rather quickly after Ohno spotted Jun and shoved hard to get Akanishi off. Jin finally noticed him and held up his hands in surrender when he saw Matsumoto glaring daggers at him.

No one spoke for a moment in the charged atmosphere.

"This is all my fault. I made him promise-"

"Jin-kun. Out," interrupted Ohno, pointing to the door without breaking his gaze with Jun. He saw out of the corner of his eye Akanishi bow to them in apology and leave the room hesitantly.

Satoshi patted the spot next to him on the couch and waited for the taller man to sit. Jun frowned and jerked his head at the door. "So the friend you've been helping is...?"

"Jin-kun." Ohno finished quietly.

"And you couldn't tell me because...?"

Ohno sighed. "Because he didn't want you to mock him for wanting advice about confessing to Kamenashi-kun."

"Kame...nashi?" He took a minute to digest what Ohno had just told him, running a hand through his hair. "He came to you... for romantic advice?"

Satoshi made a face. "Kind of. We mostly bounced ideas around and he asked what you did." Facing Jun, he continued, "And even though I promised not to tell anyone, would you have actually believed me if I told you I was helping him confess to Kamenashi-kun?"

Matsumoto rubbed the back of his neck. "Not really. Why didn't he just come to me then?"

The look Ohno gave him was of pure disbelief. "Jun, when has he ever come to you for help?" He shook his head. "But anyway, he was sure you'd not only make fun of him, but you'd flat out refuse without really listening."

Jun sighed and leaned back in his seat, picking at a loose thread in his jeans. "I guess we don't have the best track record."

Ohno frowned and poked him. "Were you actually worried something was going on?"

"…No… But, when you wouldn't give me a straight answer where you were going and then I walk in on..." He waved a hand at the couch they were sitting on.

A snort from the shorter man made him glance over at Ohno. "That was my fault. I was teasing him about being less of a man than you."

Jun finally cracked a smile. Thinking it over, he felt a lot better. He leaned over to kiss his lover’s cheek. "So there was nothing going on?"

Ohno shook his head and then fixed his boyfriend with a serious stare. "Nothing."

The taller man shifted closer, wanting a better angle to kiss Satoshi properly, which the other tilted his head happily to accommodate. "And you love me?" He gave a quick peck before continuing, "Only me?"

"Only you." Ohno pulled him in for a longer, deeper kiss. When they separated, dizzy for air, he panted, "Y'know, I should be the one who's insecure. Everyone, and I mean everyone, wants a piece of you. All you'd have to do is-"

Jun claimed another kiss to shut him up. Pushing the shorter man slowly to lay back on the couch, he swung a leg over the lithe body, mirroring the same position he'd seen when he came in the practice room, but with an entirely different intention.

Burying his head in the crook of Ohno's neck, he abruptly licked a spot he knew would make his boyfriend squirm.

"Jun!" Satoshi gasped and grabbed his shoulders, jerking under him.

Smiling at the desired response, he felt Ohno's pulse quicken as his lips touched the tender spot again. Trailing butterfly kisses up his neck and jaw line, Jun slid a hand to caress along a tan stomach as Ohno tugged at Jun's shirt. Their lips met again in a crushing kiss, tongues fighting for dominance.

They'd long since forgotten where they were, lost in feeling each other. Breaking for air once more, Matsumoto lowered his head to Ohno's ear. His warm breath made Ohno jerk again as he whispered, "Only you, Satoshi. Only you."



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author’s Note:

*kouhai - someone who is younger or of lower status in a group, company, or family.

To tell you the truth, I'm actually not that fond of Akanishi (but I do like the Akame pairing in fanfics >.< At least then I can give an excuse why Jin acts like an idiot sometimes.) I preferred his energetic self when KAT-TUN was just starting out. But anyway, ignoring the friendships they probably all have in real life, this is what I'm gonna go with instead. Yay for fanfiction!

On a happier note, Sakuraiba has made their entrance! =^.^= Damn, they always end up so adorable in my head.

One last thing, I was going through an Arashi withdrawal since Himitsu and VS Arashi are on break for a bit, so I finished my VS Arashi marathon, then moved on to Haikei Chichiue-sama (finished it in two days), then went back to old concerts. I'm seriously excited for their week-long takeover of NTV and the specials for Himitsu and VS Arashi. But more importantly, My Girl starts soon! I just know Aiba's gonna blow everyone away with his cuteness... お楽しみに！

Ohno has a ' Hallucination (二十三)' next.

Title: Love So Sweet
Pairing: Juntoshi (Side pairing: future Sakuraiba)
Rating: PG 13 overall
Summary: Just how much could a dream change your life?

Christmas (二十一)
~~~~~~~~~~


Matsujun was frowning.

He hadn't thought it would be this difficult to pick out a ring. Normally, he just tried on a few of his favorites at any store and made a prompt decision. But that method wouldn't work today.

Satoshi and Jun were deciding on matching rings for their Christmas presents to one another. To Jun's delight, his boyfriend had been the one to suggest it. Satoshi had told him he wanted to get the rings to express their commitment to stay together, an idea that came from something Jun’s mother said.

Although Matsumoto was happy with the result, he wasn't exactly pleased at the cause. Things had gradually been getting better between him and his mother, but still mostly awkward pauses and tiptoeing around different topics. Now it was to the point, he almost enjoyed having a short conversation with her. Then he found out she was still meddling, consciously or not.

Sighing, he returned his attention to the task at hand. The couple had already managed to narrow their choices down to their top five. Matsumoto had to admit, the problem wasn't Satoshi, but himself. Ohno had only requested that the rings shouldn't be clunky, due to plenty of mishaps with the larger of Jun's rings. The issue Matsumoto had with their current selection was that he couldn't find one that felt right.

I want this to be a ring we can wear the rest of our lives.

A pair of hands began massaging his shoulders. "Y'know, glaring at them isn't gonna do you any good." Ohno paused before asking, "Should we try somewhere else?"

"Satoshi?"

"Hm?"

"You're amazing for putting up with me."

Ohno snorted. "I just want you to be as happy with the present as I'm gonna be."

Jun stood up, apologizing to the shop clerk before leading Ohno outside into the cold winter wind from the seventh jewelry store they'd visited today. The previous stores had been recommendations from their friends and Ohno's mother, but Jun had vetoed them all so far.

The couple drove up the busy street aimlessly. They slowed to peer into shop windows when they found a candidate, but settled back in their seats when nothing caught their attention.

Matsujun was impressed that Satoshi held up for another two hours before suggesting they get something to eat, preferably at the nearest food establishment possible.

It happened to be a family run sushi restaurant, Morimoto. The younger pair was excitedly welcomed into the shop (not because they were idols, but because Ohno's cheeks reminded the wife of her nephew's). The married couple looked like they'd lived a happy life, shown by the deep laugh lines that marked their wrinkled faces. Itsuko, with her short stature, balanced the wiry frame of her husband, Takeshi. Matsumoto amusedly watched Itsuko dote on his boyfriend, forgetting his earlier frustrations.

The weather had finally taken a big dive in temperature two weeks ago, so Takeshi started up their antique stove to warm up the shop. Jun looked around at the simple decorations of heirlooms that had seen better days, scatterings of family photos, and books piled in artful stacks. Although it seemed worn and a little dirty, he liked this place.

We should bring the guys here. Aiba-chan would love it.

When Itsuko and Takeshi started speaking animatedly to Ohno, he tuned back into the current conversation.

Takeshi pointed off to his right, "There's this wonderful little jeweler that's over on Chuo Street."

Itsuko clapped her hands together in excitement. "She's sure to have something you'll like. When you finish eating, I'll take you there."

Satoshi panickedly tried to tell Itsuko it was okay if she just drew a map, but the woman had already bustled off to find her keys. The shorter man shot him a confused look, but Jun just shook his head and said, "I should be the one asking you what just happened, not the other way around."

Takeshi laughed, "Sorry. She seems to have taken a liking to you. Let me know if she goes too far."

Satoshi waved his hands, "Oh, no. I just didn't want to be a bother..."

Slipping on a thick coat and keys dangling in her hands, Itsuko went passed in a blur to "warm up the car".

"I take it you asked about another jewelry shop?"

Ohno nodded uncertainly as he finished off the last piece of tuna on his plate. The excited woman returned from a side door. Seeing the empty dishes, she bubbled, "Oh great! You finished!" She waved at the idols to follow her. Jun muffled a laugh, getting up from his seat. Ohno left some bills on the counter and thanked the husband for a great meal.

Itsuko continued to chatter on as she led them outside. "It's not far at all. Goes by the name Hoshikuzu. The rings there are quite lovely. Why, Takeshi and I got our wedding rings from there. See?" She stopped in front of the driver side door and offered her hand to them.

"It's very nice." Jun felt relieved when he spotted the signs of quality work.

The trio piled into Itsuko's clunker of a car, which made Jun raise his eyebrows at the strong smell of cinnamon radiating from the interior. In no time, they arrived in a small parking lot in front of a brightly lit store. Through the windows they could see the simply arranged glass cases, glittering with fine jewelry.

Walking through the shop door, a metal chime tinkled above to welcome the visitors.

"Akina-san? It's me, Itsuko. I brought some nice young men looking for rings."

A smartly dressed woman in a traditional black suit popped up from behind one of the cases where she was changing out some pieces. "Oh! How great to see you again!"

The two women barely refrained themselves from getting caught up on talking about recent news. The shop owner greeted Ohno and Jun, then asked, "So, is there anything I can help you find? Itsuko-san mentioned rings... By the way, you look very familiar... I think..."

The idols looked at one another and smiled. "You've probably seen us on TV."

Itsuko looked surprised. Akina's face lit up. "Ah! I've got it! You're in Arashi! Matsumoto-san and Ohno-san!"

They bowed in turn when she said their names. "That's us," said Jun. "If you don't mind, we just want to look around, so feel free to chat with Itsuko-san."

The jeweler nodded, smiling like a school girl.

"Akina-san? Are they famous?" Itsuko was looking back and forth between the singers and her friend.

"You really need to buy a new TV, hon."

Ohno and Jun started from the cases to their left and worked their way around the shop as the women gossiped quietly in the background. Matsujun was looking with a critical eye, so his boyfriend moved on at a faster pace.

There were so many types of rings with thickness and material to be concerned about. Jun was starting to feel a little discouraged when he noticed a tug on his jacket sleeve. He looked up to see Satoshi grinning like the Cheshire cat and pointing at a different case.

Finding the ring indicated by Ohno's long finger, Matsumoto inspected it for half a minute before straightening. He smiled and kissed the shorter man's cheek, forgetting the store's other occupants.

"It's perfect."

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

Matsujun was sighing.

"You both can't come?" Jun moved his cell phone from his ear to his shoulder and whispered to Satoshi, who was reading next to him on the couch. "Aiba-chan caught a bad bug last night, and Sho-kun's been taking care of him, but Sho-kun doesn't want him to get worse, so they're gonna stay in tonight."

His boyfriend frowned in concern. "Tell him to make sure he doesn't get sick too."

"Satoshi says to take care yourself. If you need anything, you know to call...Okay...Yeah...You too. Night." He closed his phone thoughtfully, "So there go Aiba's birthday dinner plans."

Ohno sighed deeply in return. "He's usually really healthy too."

"Yeah, but Sho-kun will get him back to torturing us with those idiotic games in no time."

Satoshi snorted.

"Well, now that we have some free time-"

"Ah!"

Jun was startled silent by Ohno's sudden outburst. The smaller man closed his book with a snap and paused before biting his lip. "Sorry... I was just thinking since I've been filming Uta no Oniisan, I... haven't been fishing in a long time... and you know how you said I shouldn't go too long without it, so... maybe..."

Matsumoto frowned. He wanted to say "We finally get a chance to have a night, a whole night, alone and you want to go fishing? In the dead of winter?" but something about the way Ohno had rattled on tipped him off. It was the same way Aiba acted when he tried to hide something.

"Fishing." It wasn't a question, rather an accusation.

Ohno winced and stood up without looking him in the eyes, heading for the door.

"You would rather spend the night on a freezing boat than in a warm bed with me."

The shorter man's steps halted in the hallway. "Well, this weather's really good for catching..." Ohno waved a hand vaguely as he racked his brain for an appropriate answer.

Matsujun crossed his arms. "Satoshi, you're a terrible liar."

Ohno's shoulders slumped a bit, but he didn't turn around. The taller man rose from the couch and stalked to his boyfriend. He wrapped his arms around the smaller frame from behind and growled in Ohno's ear, "Spill it."

Ohno fidgeted for another minute until he gave in. "...They're done."

Jun had no idea what he was talking about. "Elaborate, please."

"They're ready to be picked up...The rings. I wanted to get them now and surprise you."

Jun felt a fluttering at the bottom of his stomach. After a pause, he tightened his hug a little and nuzzled against Ohno's neck, whispering against the tan skin, "Thank you. Sorry I ruined your plan. The intention’s enough though."

The feeling in Jun's stomach became warmer. Turning the shorter man around, Jun captured Satoshi's lips and pushed him against the wall.

The artist's hand's automatically slid up Matsumoto's chest and wrapped around his neck. Impatient for more contact, Jun's tongue demanded entrance to Ohno's mouth. Ohno tried to stifle a moan, but it only made the taller idol smirk.

The blood flowing to Jun's lower body made it hard to think, but he was finally able to recall the reason for his sudden passion when he pulled back reluctantly to catch his breath. At his hesitation, Satoshi's eyes fluttered open and when they met his, it was clear that he understood. The couple had something they had to do first before they could let themselves get caught up.

Jun panted, "Sorry. We'll get the rings, come back, I'll give you a romantic proposal, and then we are most definitely finishing this. I don't care how much you want to go fishing."

Satoshi let out a delighted laugh, and then yanked the taller man after him towards the door to accomplish just that as soon as possible.


~~~~~~~~~~~
Author’s Note:

Well, there's another sappy chapter for you. Ohno and Jun have taken another step in their relationship.

I watched Nino's drama (Tengoku de Kimi ni Aetara) last night. It was really sweet. T.T I only cried a little though. The subject matter was heavy, but there was enough humor that I could easily sit through the movie without bawling. Nino did a good job in my opinion. I'm sure the downloads will start popping up online sometime shortly, so I recommend it to all those who are debating about watching it.

Next, a member of KAT-TUN will make his entrance in Countdown (二十二).

Title: Love So Sweet
Pairing: Juntoshi (Side pairing: future Sakuraiba)
Rating: PG 13 overall
Summary: Just how much could a dream change your life?

Surprise Visit (二十)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Ohno was sketching.

He felt like it had been forever since he’d had a chance to sit down properly and draw something. The creative juices were flowing with ideas from their music video shoot for “Beautiful Days.” Random elements were connecting into something new.

His hand continued to move across the page of his sketch book as he sat curled up on the couch. The apartment was quiet except the steady tick of a nearby wall clock and some absentminded humming from Ohno.

Having finished his recording for Arashi’s new single early that afternoon, Satoshi had left the studio as Jun was just arriving to start work. Right now, Jun was sure to be putting the final touches on the accompanying single, “Wasurerarenai.”

Ohno smiled at the thought that his boyfriend was probably giving a lot of grief to the recording staff about redoing his part until he was satisfied.

A sudden quiet knock at the door startled him out of his reverie.

Who...?

They weren’t expecting anyone today, so he set his pad down on the coffee table and went to the door, guessing it was a delivery man or something of the sort. Trying to remember if he’d ordered a new fishing pole and forgotten about it, Ohno twisted the knob open and looked up.

The slim figure standing on the other side when the door swung open made him gasp and back up into the side table by the entrance.

His frightened look was mirrored by Rie Matsumoto’s surprised one. Neither of them moved for a long time until Rie took the initiative and bowed low to Ohno. She straightened, saying softly, “I-I’m sorry for my rash actions. I... didn’t intend to make you frightened of me... I just wanted you to separate from Jun. If you have some time, I’d like to speak with you.”

Ohno eyed her warily, but waved an arm, gesturing to enter. She crossed the threshold and slipped off her shoes. Satoshi saw her searching in the entrance way for something and realizing what it was, he offered quietly, “Jun and I like to walk around barefoot, so we don’t have any slippers. Sorry.”

Rie raised her head. “Oh.”

Ohno led her to the living room and patted an armchair uncertainly. “Is this alright?”

She nodded slightly, sitting down with her back straight and hands overlapped in a complete picture of a proper lady. The atmosphere was stifling enough that Satoshi mumbled about making some coffee and retreated to the kitchen. He tried to ignore the woman sitting in his apartment. He busied himself with the coffee maker and picking out two of their plainer cups, figuring she wouldn’t appreciate Jun’s black ‘Fuck off’ mug.

He wasn’t sure he really wanted to have this conversation, but since Rie was already here, he couldn’t randomly give the excuse that he needed to go fishing, as much as he wished he could. Peeking around a corner to see if she wasn’t really an illusion, Ohno watched her gaze stopping at different points around the room.

There was a framed photo that caught her attention of everyone in Arashi smiling brightly, all decked out in their concert costumes at the end of a successful show. Next to it was another picture Jun had requested to be printed for his own collection from a photo shoot. That particular shot was between Satoshi and Jun when a near-kiss turned into a real one, making both of them smile.

She continued her pane around the room, seeing a few carefully organized bookshelves of Jun’s novels, Ohno’s fishing books, and random souvenirs from the guys. Then the cases that were packed with CDs and DVDs from their combined collections. She finally stopped at an oil painting Satoshi had completed a few months ago of an underwater scene.

There were a hundred fish of every color of the rainbow swirling around the colorful seascape. That was one of Ohno’s more time-consuming pieces due to his desire for it to be accurate. When the painting was completed, Jun unexpectedly told Satoshi he wanted to hang it in the living room. Ohno had been sure he was joking, until he’d come home from Maou’s filming to see the expanse of blue covering one of their walls and Jun grinning at his shocked look.

Smiling at the memory, he found he was able to calm down a bit and grab the steaming mugs of coffee with steady hands. Shuffling back into the room, Rie turned to watch him set a cup in front of her on the table and settle into his own spot on the couch. Silence reigned again as they were unsure how to start.

"That's a very lovely painting you have."

Ohno looked up from his caffeinated drink and was shocked when he saw she was referring to the underwater piece. "Uh, thanks. When I painted it, I didn't really think Jun would really put it up."

Rie's gaze jerked back to the art work. "You created that?"

"Yeah." Ohno ducked his head, uncertain if she was just making nice or actually impressed.

"Y- your apartment is quite clean." Rie inspected the space again. "It's my first time here, so I wasn't sure what to expect."

"You've never been here before?"

Rie shook her head and reached to take her cup of coffee. "Jun... Jun never invited us to see his apartment."

Ohno felt a bit guilty because his own mother and father came to visit whenever they were in the area, which had been about a dozen times already.

"Is he doing well?"

"Jun? He's finally taking a break since we just finished our tour."

"Oh." Rie stared into the cup in her hands for a few minutes. He was struggling for a polite way to ask why she had come when she blurted out, "Do you really love him?"

Ohno blinked in surprise. He didn't know what to make of the sudden question. But one thing he was certain of was that Rie was asking in all seriousness, so he felt he should answer with the same sincerity. Satoshi looked at his own mug for a few minutes, thinking of how he should express his feelings to the unnerving woman.

"I love him more than I can say. Jun's always been there for me... and I want to do the same for him. You may not believe me, but... I can't imagine being with anyone else but Jun... He's everything to me..." Ohno hadn't realized he'd leaned forward when he was speaking earnestly. Settling back, he avoided meeting Rie's piercing gaze.

"I don't agree with the choices you've both made... I think you don't realize the responsibilities and commitments that come with a long-term relationship." Ohno's brow furrowed as he kept his difference of opinion unvoiced. "But.. I don't want to lose Jun because I'm not willing to accept the possibility that I'm wrong and you two might be right." Rie was sadly looking at him. "For now... I hope you'll give me another chance."

He bit his lip and gripped his mug's handle tighter than necessary. "Maybe it's not my place to say, but... I think that'd be okay."

Jun's mother gave a small smile and a nod.

"Jun should be getting home soon. Why don't you stay for dinner?"

The offer seemed to stun Rie speechless. Waiting for her to respond, he took a sip of his now-cold coffee. Once she found her voice again, she breathed out, "May I?"

Ohno nodded his consent, fidgeting on the couch under her stare. "What do you want to eat? I can only fix a few dishes really well, mostly stir-frys."

Rie's stern face finally seemed to lighten a bit. She leaned forward in her seat with her hands held tightly together in her lap. "I-If you don't mind, I could cook something."

This whole conversation had long since left him confused, so he only shrugged at the offer. "Sure. That sounds... great. Um, I know we have some fish, maybe some chicken left, and..." Ohno trailed off as he stood to check what was really in the kitchen. He was far from feeling comfortable in Rie's presence, but the pair was losing the tense sensitivity to each other's reactions.

Jun's mother scoured the kitchen for different ingredients she needed for whatever she planned to make. Ohno pointed out where the necessary spices or basic dishes Rie asked for were located, helping with other menial tasks too. They had just barely settled into a working rhythm when the front door squeaked open. Jun yelled out, "I'm home."

Ohno hadn't noticed Rie was caught by surprise at the shout and the glass mixing bowl she was holding slipped out of her hands to crash on the floor.

The sudden explosion of glass took Ohno's breath away. Panic clouded his thoughts. Automatically, he backed away until he ran into something solid. Hugging himself tightly, Ohno couldn't see anything but a broken room swimming in front of his vision.

Jun had run to the kitchen immediately, hardly taking time to be dumbfounded by Rie's presence, instead looking around for the shorter man. "Satoshi!"

Ohno felt the pressure of arms wrapping around him, but he still couldn't make his mind tell him who it was. He whimpered softly as he tried to pull away. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Ohno wasn't sure what he was apologizing for, but he couldn't stop the flow of words from his mouth. At least, not until another pair of lips kissed him silent.

His consciousness returned at the recognition of this feeling. It was something familiar, something safe. Blinking the haze away, his eyes focused on Jun's worried face watching for signs that he was alert again. Letting out a shaky breath, Ohno said, "I'm okay..."

He saw his boyfriend's expression shift from relief to fury as he turned to face his mother.

Satoshi immediately grabbed the taller man's arm and pulled Jun's face back towards him, stopping him before he'd say something he'd regret later. "It wasn't her fault. It was only an accident. The sound just caught me off guard. She didn't do anything wrong." Ohno was still a little breathless as he explained.

Jun looked back at his mother. Rie was wringing a dish towel, not understanding what had just happened, but knowing it was possibly her fault. Jun sighed forcefully. "Why is she even here?"

"She apologized to me. She just wanted to talk."

"Why is she in the kitchen then?"

"I asked her if she wanted to stay for dinner. She offered to make it."

Jun frowned. "Satoshi, since when is it alright to have a guest make you food in your own house?"

Ohno's lips twitched into a grin, knowing his boyfriend was going to give Rie the benefit of the doubt, simply because Ohno already had. "Since now?"

Rie watched the quick exchange like a tennis match, concerned she was no longer welcomed.

Ohno turned to her, apologizing for the scare and breezing over his panic attack. Matsumoto moved to start cleaning up the glass and when Rie bent to help, Jun finally glanced at his mother. He said softly, "It's okay. I'll do it. I don't want you to get cut."

She stared at her son, daring to be a little hopeful. "Thank you... And I'm sorry. I'm very sorry."

Ohno skirted around the glass and slipped out of the kitchen, wanting to give them a chance to talk in private. He knew they would all be awkward around each other the rest of the night. And probably the next time they were together, and the next, but Ohno knew they were making an effort. He wasn't too worried about Jun and his mother. Rie had already taken the first step and his boyfriend wouldn't let the opportunity pass by.

However, Ohno was worried about whether dinner would ever get finished tonight.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note:

Yoshie was successful! That or Ohno's cuteness changed Rie's mind.

So, completely unrelated to the story, I've been working my way through all of the VS Arashi episodes for the past week. I'm only halfway so far, and I'm wondering if I'm going to die of laughter before I can finish all of them. *sigh of happiness*

One month to Oh-chan's mini drama. =^_^=

Christmas (二十一) time is coming!

Title: Love So Sweet
Pairing: Juntoshi (Side pairing: future Sakuraiba)
Rating: PG 13 overall
Summary: Just how much could a dream change your life?

The Haunting (十九)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Jun was grumbling.

Arashi (minus Sho) was on a large bus headed for their last shooting location of the trip. The reason for his discomfort was the dead weight draped over his right side. Aiba had passed out on him due to exhaustion from all their running around that day.

Jun had to admit it had been fun to do some off-site shoots with his friends and various comedians; that was, until the last guests had been revealed. Then he’d had to deal with the obsessive Matsujun fan Ooshima sitting on his lap during musical chairs and begging to be fed by him later. The only thing that made it bearable was seeing the jealous pout on Leader’s face.

His boyfriend had mostly returned to his usual spacey, cheerful self, much to Jun and Satoshi’s parents’ relief. Ohno’s mother was worried Rie’s less than ideal reaction to their talks would dishearten her son, but Ohno seemed determined to put the whole thing behind him.

Yoshie, as she had insisted Jun call her, hadn’t given up on getting through the woman’s thick head that their sons were actually in a healthy relationship.

I can’t understand why my mother is so set on hating Satoshi.

Said fisherman was attempting to reel in a salmon on Nino’s DS as its owner was watching over Ohno’s shoulder, trying to figure out why Leader was beating him at his own game. Jun didn’t want to deprive them of their fun, but he wished someone would trade seats with him. Aiba’s pillow was usually Sho, but since the rapper was out of the country at the moment, Jun got the job.

Jun’s thoughts turned to wonder why Arashi always felt strangely unbalanced when one of their members was absent for a while. The group had never felt this as strongly as when Ohno was in the hospital. The idols had been surprised by the number of times one of them would turn around to show Leader something, only to face an empty couch.

This week it was Sho, as he’d been appointed the main caster for the Beijing Olympics. They did talk to him most days, but it still felt weird that he wasn’t there with them. Aiba kept pouting when something reminded him of the rapper, so the other members had appeased Aiba by letting him buy an excessive amount of souvenirs for Sakurai. Little did they know that was going to backfire on them.

Jun felt the bus slow a bit and he pulled himself from his musings. The middle aged driver said over his shoulder to the group, “We’ll be there in five, boys.”

Matsumoto shoved Aiba off unceremoniously and stretched his sore arm above his head. The miracle boy blearily looked around and pouted when he realized Sho still wasn’t there. Jun didn’t say anything, but just ruffled his friend’s hair.

Arriving at their destination at nearly midnight, the members shuffled out of the bus and into a dark parking lot. Their co-hosts from Himitsu, Nakajima and Matsushima, were waiting to explain the producer’s next hare-brained scheme.

A haunted hospital?

Jun was not pleased, mainly because he knew they would all be filmed looking rather ridiculous. The group’s tension dropped further when the kimono clad comedian Ohtani introduced himself as an exceptional ghost story teller.

As soon as the cameras weren’t rolling, Aiba let out a soft whimper, clutching onto Ohno’s arm. “Le~ader. I don’t wanna go.”

The older man smiled softly, “Why not? It seems like fun.” Ohno patted his friend on the head playfully. “Nothing bad’ll happen to you. Don’t worry.”

Jun snorted, then glanced at Aiba. They both knew it was silly advice, but hearing it from Leader’s mouth still had a calming effect.

“Oh-chan, won’t you be the one that’s freaking out?” Nino froze as the snarky remark left his lips, wincing at the glare Jun was giving him. The members had been avoiding the topic of Ohno’s panic attacks, especially since their friend finally seemed to be getting better. “Sorry-”

Ohno shook his head and gave a wry grin. “It’s true. But...I think I understand now... there’s no one trying to hurt me here... and it’s hard to be scared when you guys are with me. Especially Jun.” The pointed grin sent Jun’s way warmed his heart. Matsumoto was relieved to know his special someone felt protected around him.

Aiba was awwing over the exchange, poking the shorter man’s cheek, while Ohno tried to swat away the finger. Jun was happily watching the two goof around when Nino passed behind him, whispering, “I’ll make sure the director doesn’t separate you two.”

Jun whispered back over his shoulder, “Thanks Nino.”

Once the staff had finished struggling to get a camp fire going, everyone reluctantly settled in to listen to Ohtani’s creepy story about a woman with the sixth sense and her deceased uncle. Everyone felt the hairs rise on the back of their necks, except a certain artist.

Aiba swallowed hard and wished the fire was warmer, while Jun shifted his leg to press against Ohno’s, wanting a bit of comfort too. His boyfriend glanced at him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

Brat.

After the chilling story came to a close, Nakajima tried to redirect everyone’s attention by announcing who was going with who for their courage tests. Although Nino made a fuss about being paired with Aiba, none of the group members missed the fake sarcastic tone the gamer used as he dragged the taller man away.

With nothing better to do but wait for the first two to finish their turn, the couple found a spot away from the staff members to relax. Leader sat down at Jun’s side with a pensive look on his face.

“Something on your mind?”

Ohno glanced sideways at him and then down at his own hands. “I talked to Mom this morning. I told her she didn’t have to try so hard to convince your mother. Then she scolded me, of course. She said this was one of the first times I’ve ever asked her for help with anything, so she won’t give up yet.”

Jun snorted lightly. “Sounds like your Mom.”

“I just didn’t want her to worry anymore.”

“Satoshi, I think she knows that. She’s just doing what she can for you.”

Ohno hummed his understanding and leaned against his shoulder. They sat in silence for a bit, and Jun would never admit it, but he was chilled by a shout belonging to a frightened Aiba echoing from the shutdown hospital just then.

Himitsu’s AD Kiku-chan called them over when Aiba and Nino’s turn was almost up. The pair came half running out of the hospital door towards the filming crew. They gave some vague hints about what startled them, but since Aiba was grinning rather widely, the lovers knew it was a sign not to worry.

Leader was right then. No need to panic... So why am I still worried?

A nervous Jun suggested the couple go holding hands and grabbed Satoshi’s a little too tight in his. Unable to calm down, Matsujun did what he always did when he got worked up. Talk.

He commented on the temperature, the poor lighting, little decorations, and where he thought the cameras were hidden. All the while, Ohno just let him chatter on, but he did grin when Jun yelled in surprise at an unexpectedly slam from a closing door. Matsujun lightly bumped his shoulder against Ohno’s in mock irritation.

After collecting a cell phone and camera from a locker in the dark hallway, they entered the first room and read the instructions painted on a sign. They were to take turns sitting on a chair in front of some ugly mannequins and take a snapshot.

They both knew something was going to happen here, so Satoshi raised his eyebrow in a silent question.

"I’ll go first.” Jun wanted to get this over with. His nervousness subsided when he saw his boyfriend struggling to work the Polaroid camera, relaxing a bit to laugh at their situation.

“Say cheese,” Jun held up a peace sign for the photo and smiled in response. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, so Ohno took his place on the chair next. When the shorter man seemed comfortable, Jun took the picture. As the camera clicked, the wood chair suddenly dropped down a few inches from the platform it was resting on. Satoshi looked down in curiosity.

“Did you say anything?”

Ohno glanced up at him. “I didn’t.”

“You didn’t? As expected of Leader.”

Ohno rolled his eyes, but smiled when Matsujun put an arm over his shoulder. They left the gruesome room for a silent hallway. For a few seconds, the pair spun around wondering where they were supposed to go next. They were saved the trouble when Ohtani popped out of a locker at the end of the gloomy hallway, much to Jun’s surprise.

“Wuii-” He took a step back and bumped into Satoshi. “Ah, I said something again!”

Ohno shoved him forward so they could grab the cushions Ohtani was holding out. Knowing they were in for another ghost story, Jun pulled up his legs close to his chest, only to hear Satoshi snicker at him.

Ignoring his boyfriend and trying not to let the story get to him either, he sat stiffly as the temperature seemed to drop. Matsujun frowned uncomfortably until he heard his partner ask, “How many?” in reference to the number of spirits in the tale. He laughed because it was just like Leader to want some bizarre details, even about a ghost story.

Their story teller screwed up his expression in confusion by the random question and while he was struggling to come up with an answer, Jun felt the air get warmer. He couldn’t help but giggle at Ohno’s antics.

Shaking his head, he dragged the shorter man off to complete their trip around the hospital. They started to climb the stairs to the next level, but Jun still didn’t let go of Ohno’s hand. He glanced up to see Satoshi with a shy pleased expression at his simple display of affection and he grudgingly came to the decision that haunted places weren’t so bad.

He felt a tug on his hand, so he looked back again, expecting Satoshi to say something sappy in the darkened stairwell. Instead, the shorter man was gazing back at a door behind them. Puzzled, he waited for Satoshi to say something, but the older man just met his gaze and jerked his head in the direction he’d just been facing.

It was then Jun noticed the quiet shuffling noise from behind a door leading off the stairs. Opening his mouth to ask how Ohno had heard the subtle noise, he was stopped as one of Ohno’s fingers pressed on his lips. Leader released his hand and went over to the mysterious door, promptly ripping it open.

The man dressed as a zombie standing behind it let out a startled yelp and raised his arms in surprise. The couple shared a long laugh. Jun felt much more relaxed when they were finally able to continue on to the next challenge.

The moving gurneys in the following room didn’t surprise them much, but Ohno snickered again when Jun yelled at a hair stuck on the doorknob leading to the final room.

“This is so annoying!”

Jun stalked into the morgue, ready to give whoever was waiting a piece of his mind, but it was only occupied with a single mannequin and a tripod. Sighing, he took the automatic switch for the camera, looking around as his nervousness returned.

Even Ohno could feel the tense atmosphere and groaned, “This isn’t good...”

Suspecting something would happen when he hit the button, Jun steeled himself to stay silent. Sure enough, many hands popped through the fake wall behind them, reaching to grab the idols. They whirled away from the trick wall and although Ohno was nearly giggling, Jun kicked the wall for good measure.

He turned to leave, but found the door wouldn’t open yet. Matsujun muttered darkly.

The pair watched as smoke billowed into the room, only to clear and reveal a ridiculously dressed Ooshima in zombie makeup and a cheap tiara. She outstretched her hands and tried to mutter in a low voice, but all Jun and Ohno could do was laugh at her, even when the other zombies from behind the trick wall joined her in trying to terrify the idols.

Hearing the door click open behind them, Jun grabbed his boyfriend’s hand and hightailed it out of Ooshima’s reach. They quickly left the hospital and met up with their co-hosts, but Ooshima persistently followed after, much to Jun’s irritation.

Satoshi caught his attention with a grin. Matsujun shook his head of evil thoughts and smiled back.

Returning his attention to finish the show, they all burst out laughing when Nino was declared the unanticipated loser of the game. The gamer growled at being obligated to pay for Sho’s souvenirs, but seeing everyone’s happy expressions, he only sighed and crossed his arms.

As soon as the director called for everyone to wrap up the equipment, the four members trekked back to the bus. Running ahead, Aiba was loudly vowing that he would convince the director to do this again and that next time, he wanted to be paired with Sho, and only Sho. Nino looked quite ill at the hinted suggestion that he might have to go by himself.

Feeling something was out of place, Jun was alarmed by the fact Ooshima was still following them. Spinning around to confront her, he demanded, “Where do you think you're going?”

She stopped like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. Jun scrunched his eyebrows together and pointed in the other direction. “Your van is over there.”

Ooshima pressed her forefingers together and looked down with a shy (but in Matsumoto’s opinion, disturbing) expression. “I thought I could catch a ride back with you guys. There’s so much for the two of us to talk about-”.

Jun put his hands on his hips in a “no-nonsense” stance. He wanted to tell her, “I put up with you for work and work only,” but it seemed a little harsh, even for the DoS. He glanced over at the bus to see Satoshi waiting for him with an anxious look. Ohno knew Jun could barely stand to be around the exasperating woman for limited periods of time.

Taking a breath, Matsujun looked at Ooshima squarely. “It’s time we had a talk.”

The chubby comedian perked up and started for Arashi’s bus again, but Jun sidestepped in front of her again.

“You seem to be under the impression we could be a couple. Under what bizarre reasoning did you come to that conclusion?”

Ooshima smiled. “But we get along so well and you always do everything I ask and you smile at me so sweetly and-”

Raising a hand to stop her list from growing, Jun regretted even asking. “Ooshima-san, I hardly have a choice." Once again, he struggled not to add the spiteful remark, "When the director orders me to follow your whim to make the show more interesting, I can’t just blatantly refuse,” as much as he really wanted to.

The woman’s face fell a bit, “But you don’t have a girlfriend and I thought I...”

“That’s where you’re off. I may not have a girlfriend, but I’ve already found the person who means everything to me.”

“Eh?... But I-”

Jun stepped forward and set his hands on her shoulders, face set in a serious expression. “Please understand that I’ve already got somebody waiting for me... and I’ve given my heart to him.”

Ooshima’s eyes darted to Ohno, who was watching the pair while biting his lip in worry, and in a flash of understanding, she deflated. Tears started to well up as she kept staring at the shorter man. “It’s him, isn’t it?”

Jun turned to gaze at Satoshi, and a sweet smile the comedian had never seen before graced the young man’s features. She sniffed loudly, knowing she was right.

“I’ve found my other half. Ooshima-san, you’re a nice woman. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding someone.”

She frowned, but nodded. Jun was pretty sure he’d broken her heart, but it was something unavoidable if he ever wanted her to realize his real feelings. “I gotta go. He’s waiting for me.”

The short woman sniffed again and rubbed a hand across her eyes. “If it doesn’t work out...” She left the open-ended invitation unsaid.

Jun ruffled her short hair and left her watching his retreating form. She had a sad smile on her face as she touched her hair.

Matsumoto strode directly to the shorter man and grabbed his hand with a grin. Ohno looked down at their intertwined fingers and then up to meet Jun’s eyes, a little surprised. “What happened?” Satoshi brushed his free hand against the taller man’s cheek, wondering why his boyfriend’s smile looked a little forced.

Jun closed his eyes and leaned into the warm touch, murmuring, “I’ve never liked turning down girls. They always seem to cry.”

Satoshi glanced back at the place Ooshima had been standing, but she’d already began to shuffle back to her assigned van. “Ah...” Then Ohno felt a painful flick on his forehead, shooting Jun an incredulous look, “Wha-?”

His tormentor smirked. “Don’t you go feeling sorry for her. She’ll be fine. I, on the other hand, demand retribution for all the times you’ve scoffed at me tonight. How is it anyway that you didn’t shout once?”

Ohno rubbed the sore spot and muttered something too quiet to hear. Annoyed, Jun pinned him against the bus and whispered in the shorter man’s ear, “What was that?”

Ohno stared at the ground as he repeated the words softly. This time Jun heard it.

“Because you were there.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note:

For anyone who hasn't seen the infamous Himitsu "Haunting" episodes, you are totally missing out. And for everyone who has, you should go watch them again. I love that Oh-chan seems half-asleep in them. <3

So, having finished planning ahead for Love So Sweet, it looks like it will end up being about 25 chapters with an epilogue. (That's if I don't get sidetracked somewhere...) Thank you to everyone for reading and look forward to the rest!

Surprise Visit (二十)