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ninoexchange2017-06-26 11:38 pm
nino_mod) wrote in ninoexchange2017-06-26 11:38 pm
Entry tags:
fic for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nino1711azuki
For: nino1711azuki
From: :3.
Title: Switch On!
Pairing/Focus: Ohmiya (kinda.. you’ll see), Sakumoto, a bit of Juntoshi (a tiny tiny bit), and of course Aimiya bff-ery
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Summary: After coming back from filming in Kyoto, Aiba Masaki handed out the souvenirs he got from an obscure temple. The next day, he noticed something strange between MatsuJun and Nino, but he couldn’t pinpoint it… until later that day when he eavesdropped on them.
Notes:nino1711azuki I had sooooo much fun writing for you, you have no idea. =D And I hope that you like the story. Your fantasy prompt that involves with Aiba’s doing intrigued me. Sorry if it isn’t what you had in mind, but I tried to make it as funny as I could.
“What is this?” Sakurai Sho raised an eyebrow at the necklace Aiba Masaki just gave him.
“It’s a necklace, Sho-chan,” Masaki replied as he handed out the rest of the Arashi members their own necklaces. They weren’t those fancy ones people would find at jewelry stores. In fact, each necklace was just a band of leather cord and a pendant the size of a 1 yen coin in each member color. Masaki handed them out enthusiastically so when Matsumoto Jun cringed when he handed the purple one to him, he felt a tinge of disappointment. MatsuJun must have sensed it, so he gave a nod to Masaki and quickly wore it around his neck.
“You guys told me you wanted souvenirs from Kyoto. Well, here you go.” The four exchanged glances. Masaki sighed. “The vendor, a monk, actually, was selling it near this temple shrine. It’s supposed to be for good luck or something.”
“Aren’t they all?” Ninomiya Kazunari quipped, earning a chuckle from everyone. Masaki smirked at his best friend, but the guy didn’t seem to be in a goofy mood. Instead, he sunk back into his chair. Nino just being Nino again, he guessed.
“Haha. No, see, the monk said that the necklaces will grant the wearer’s heart’s desire.”
“Ooh…” Ohno Satoshi finally piped up, but Masaki wasn’t sure if Riida was mocking him or was really intrigued. Masaki was about to say something when the staff members-art directors, choreographers, and others involved in the concert production-started coming into the conference room.
Masaki, Nino, and Ohno sat in a row on one side of the table and across from them were Sho and MatsuJun. While trying to listen in on the ideas everybody around the table were sounding off, Masaki couldn’t help listening to Nino and Ohno whispering to each other. Well, mainly just Nino. Ohno was his usual silent self. “Oh-chan, do you like it when I touch you here?”
Startled, Masaki turned in time to see Nino playing with Ohno’s earlobe and he couldn’t help sighing in relief. Ohno let out a throaty “Un” and a giggle. “Stop. That tickles.”
“Excuse me,” came a sharp bark from MatsuJun. Masaki sheepishly turned to face him even though he really wasn’t involved with anything. “I don’t know about you guys but this concert is pretty important for the rest of us. This is supposed to be a team meeting. Do I need to separate you two?”
Masaki sat up straighter. He hated being under the fiery wrath of MatsuJun. Nino only clucked his tongue. “Man stealer,” he scoffed. “He would love that.” Masaki swiveled back to Nino in horror. Something was definitely wrong with him. Fortunately, MatsuJun didn’t hear him and was already back in the discussion.
“What’s going on with you?” Masaki whispered to Nino.
“Nothing,” Nino said, jutting his chin in MatsuJun’s direction. “You better stop talking and pay attention, Maa-kun, or else the almighty Matsumoto-sama will bite your head off.”
“So, before I forget,” the concert director called out as the staff members were slowly gathering their things to leave, “There is one segment of the concert that Matsumoto-san and Ohno-san will be working on together.”
Masaki joined in the excitement, but Nino beside him mumbled, “So it starts,” and a wave of realization came over Masaki. Right. Nino has been pining over Riida for years, and yet it seemed that he and MatsuJun would have to spend more time together. He turned back to Nino to reassure him, but the man had hurried out the door, making Masaki scramble after him. “What was going on with you at the meeting just now?” he asked when he pulled Nino aside in the hallway, and leaned in closer to avoid being overheard. “Are you jealous that Jun-kun will have more time with him?”
“What?” Nino clucked his tongue and shook Masaki’s hand off. “No… If Oh-chan wants to spend time with J, he can. He’s a grown-ass man. Plus, it’s just for work anyway. Not like they are dating and stuff. Nothing’s gonna happen between them. And besides, doesn’t J like Sho? Why would he even have a thing for Oh-chan, that fishing baka?”
Masaki leaned back and smiled at him. Someone was protesting a bit too much. Nino narrowed his eyes at him, trying to convince himself more likely than Masaki. Taking the yellow pendant necklace from his pocket, Nino quickly put it on. “Thanks for the necklace, by the way, Maa-kun. I appreciate the thought-” MatsuJun and the creative director walked by them, nodding to them in greeting- “unlike some people.” Nino seemed to stare daggers at MatsuJun’s back. Masaki chuckled, to Nino’s annoyance, and quickly walked away from him.
—
The next morning, Masaki walked down the hallway of the company on his way to the conference room for the day’s meeting. As he rounded the corner, he overheard MatsuJun and Nino arguing. Gingerly, he creeped closer to the doorway, keeping himself hidden.
“How the hell did I end up being in this… this thing!”
“You think I am happy about this… situation?”
“You better not tell anyone about this.”
“You think I want people to know about us?”
Masaki frowned, getting more curious by the second. He stepped closer just to peer inside, when his shoe squeaked against the tiled floor. “Shh,” he hushed his shoe, but it was too late. The men inside were dead silent. Masaki froze for a moment, not daring to even breathe. He heard movement inside the conference room.
“What was that?” Nino whispered.
“I don’t know and I don’t care. We need to do something about this.”
“Fine. Let’s do that jolt thing. Maybe that’ll help.”
Masaki furrowed his eyebrows. Jolt thing? What the hell were those two up to? Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, Masaki dared himself to peek around the doorway… just in time to witness MatsuJun and Nino, silhouetted against the bright sunlight outside the glass window of the building, colliding into each other with a hard smack. The two grown men moaned, sprawling on the floor spewing “itai” and “fuck” as each clutched his forehead. Masaki clamped up his mouth, gasping in horror, yet, trying his best not to laugh at their pain.
“Damn, Kazu, your scrawny body nearly had me killed. You should workout more.”
“Serves you right for suggesting the stupid jolt thing. Finally, a stupid idea from the one and only Matsumoto Jun.”
“Are you mocking me?”
Masaki gasped. Did he just hear what he thought he heard? Did they sound different? He really couldn’t see who was speaking because of the sunlight streaming in. But the two men were now aware of him standing at the doorway. Masaki dashed inside. “What the hell is going on?” he exclaimed. “You two out of your minds?” He looked between them, not knowing who to help up first.
“Something like that,” Nino mumbled, still rubbing his forehead. “I think I might have broken something.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I, er, you’re not that fragile,” MatsuJun mumbled. He slowly sat up and rubbed his arms. “Damn. J- I mean, uh, damn my arms are so big and muscular. I never really realized it.” He flexed his biceps.
Nino scoffed. Since MatsuJun was already sitting up and admiring himself, Masaki rushed to Nino to help him up. With a groan, Nino sat up and rubbed his back. “What the hell was I thinking?” he mumbled under his breath.
“What’s going on?” Sho’s voice boomed from the doorway. They turned to face him, but didn’t answer. Sho rushed in and held out his hand to MatsuJun to pull him up. Ohno walked in, his shoes squeaking when he stopped short to take in the scene. “Did something happen?” he asked. Sho shrugged. “I just got here myself.”
Nino and MatsuJun brushed themselves off, mumbling something, and limped to the tables where they gather for meetings, sitting on opposite sides. Masaki eyed each man in turn, but neither seemed to give him, Sho, or Ohno any attention. As people started coming in, Nino patted the seat next to him and called out, “Riida, come sit next to me.” MatsuJun seemed to protest against it, but clamped his mouth shut and silently watched Ohno making his way next to Nino.
Sho chuckled and sat next to MatsuJun. “Someone is needy today,” he said lightheartedly. Masaki sat on the other side of Sho. He was still lightly baffled at what he had witnessed, but he shook his head to himself. Maybe the argument was really for nothing. With that assurance, he turned to the staff members to greet them, then proceeded with their discussion from yesterday.
“So, any necessary changes we can make?” the director asked, looking expectantly at MatsuJun who had his head down inspecting his nails like he had never discovered them before.
“Well, I think that the yellow glow around the close-up frame would be too bright for the words to be seen on the screen, distracting those in the stands. Maybe change it back to purple or blue?”
Masaki’s jaw slackened, as did everybody else’s around the table, and he stared at Nino who spoke up. Unable to believe what he just heard, he shifted his eyes to Sho, but the guy looked dumbfounded himself. Nino cleared his throat. “Oh, um, that was what, uh, J told me a few minutes earlier. Yeah.”
That wasn’t what he had heard earlier when he came up to the conference room, but MatsuJun cleared his throat and said, “Uh… yeah.” MatsuJun narrowed his eyes at Nino. “What he said.”
“O…kay,” the director said slowly, unsure what to make of that. He turned to MatsuJun again. “Matsumoto-san and Ohno-san, my secretary has reserved a practice studio for you.” He handed a stapled stack of papers to MatsuJun who sat closer to him. “It’s available after lunch for however long you need. This is what technology and features we were thinking of doing, as we had discussed, Matsumoto-san, as well as the song list we called out yesterday.”
MatsuJun grabbed the papers and turned to Nino with a grin. Horrified, Nino spoke up, “That’s not fair! I-“ but he cut himself short and glanced around. Masaki stared at him. Something was definitely off with the two. MatsuJun would not gloat to Nino about spending time with Ohno, and certainly Nino wouldn’t protest about it. He turned to Sho, but the man was looking at his phone under the table, tapping away at his calendar, his mind obviously on something else. Masaki turned to Ohno, but MatsuJun had given him the papers and he was now looking over them.
The director called for the end of the meeting, and while the staff filed out, Nino looked at the members and said, “Let’s have lunch. My treat.” Masaki almost fell out of his chair. Sho dropped his stylus. Ohno stopped fiddling with his messenger bag and looked up at Nino. “Seriously?” he asked. Nino grinned at him, and caressed Ohno’s cheek. “Especially for my Riida.”
“Hey!” MatsuJun jumped up in protest and glared at Nino. Nino gave him his signature smile that bordered into a smirk. He hooked his arm around Ohno’s, leading him out the door. MatsuJun pointed at them, speechless, but he seemed to be aware that Sho-who finally had fished his stylus off the floor- and Masaki were watching him.
“That’s inappropriate, don’t you think?” MatsuJun asked. Sho shrugged. “Why? How? They do that every filming.” He followed Nino and Ohno out. Masaki hung back, wondering what had gotten into MatsuJun. He never reacted like that before, always with his aloof, stoic attitude.
“Maa-kun,” MatsuJun said. “Don’t you think it’s strange that I- er, Kazu is clinging onto to Riida like some obsessed teenager?” MatsuJun was looking at him, expecting a reply, but Sho called them to hurry up. MatsuJun clucked his tongue again and hurried out. Masaki stood still in his spot. Did MatsuJun just call him “Maa-kun ?”
—
Masaki’s glass of beer hovered just on his lips as he stared across the table at Ohmiya being the Ohmiya on stage and on camera, times 100. He never really minded how much the two seemed to always have their hands all over each other, but this was sickeningly too much. And for god’s sake, they were in a public restaurant! Paparazzi are everywhere!
Masaki rolled his eyes and drank his beer. God, after the morning he had, this was a respite. He glanced at MatsuJun sitting beside him, food and drink untouched as he stared with disgust on his face at the “couple” displaying their affections publicly. The unfortunate one was Sho, who had to sit at the other side of Nino and directly across MatsuJun. On occasion, he would scold Nino to stop tickling Ohno, but he pretty much was unfazed by the two.
Masaki elbowed MatsuJun. “Hey, you haven’t eaten once.” He pointed at MatsuJun’s plate with his lips. “You can’t afford to not eat.”
“How could you eat when that is what you’re being entertained with?” MatsuJun said quietly, glaring at Nino and Ohno.
True, Ohmiya had been close, but they’d been like that for years. Why now, all of a sudden, did MatsuJun care? Masaki turned his head the other to look at MatsuJun, still unaware that he was being observed by both him and Sho. Had MatsuJun finally had enough? Masaki glanced at Sho, feeling sorry for the man who had lately reciprocated MatsuJun’s teenage feelings for the second eldest of the group. Ohno’s giggles and saying “Nino, that tickles” brought Masaki back to look at them in time for Nino to lean in to the leader of Arashi and kiss him in public.
“Nino!” MatsuJun’s chair scraped on the floor, nearly knocking it back when he shot up. Nino stopped, and glared back at MatsuJun. Masaki could’ve sworn there was bolt of electric current running between the glares the two were exchanging. Yabai! Masaki cleared his throat to say something when his phone broke the dense atmosphere. Excusing himself, he left the table to accept his manager’s call. When he came back, only Nino and Ohno were left, still drinking, their heads leaning close to each other in an intimate conversation.
“Where did Jun-kun and Sho-chan go?” The waitress bowed to him as he stepped aside to let her clear the table. Nino and Ohno separated for just an inch.
“Probably off on their own date,” Ohno said with a chuckle. “That guy has been trying to get with that man for months.” He turned to Nino. “Have you noticed?”
Nino blinked. “Who was trying to get with whom?”
“Sho-kun with Jun-chan. Why do you think there’s been all the skinship between them lately?” Masaki sighed. Ohno was slurring his words, and when drunk Ohno comes out, he gets chatty.
“Fan service?” Nino looked askance at Masaki, but he just shrugged. He had suspected as much with Sho, but Ohno was confirming it. Leave it to a chatty drunk.
Ohno snorted. “Fan service. Off camera?” He gulped the last of his beer. “Ahhh!” smacking his lips. “Thanks for the treat, Nino.” But Nino was frowning, seemingly troubled by the information he just learned. Masaki frowned, studying Nino. Was he the only one without a crush on other members? Why did Nino care what Sho thought of Jun?
__
Masaki groaned as he parked his car in his designated space in the parking garage of the jimusho. It felt like such a long day, yet it was only the afternoon and once again he found himself having to go back to another meeting, this time with Johnny-san himself. They were to talk about the upcoming album that will drop later in the year, plus the Waku Waku Gakkou.
As he entered the meeting room, he nearly dropped his bag. Standing in the middle of the room was MatsuJun wearing the brightest red cutoff jeans with glittery leopard print and a vertical-striped dress shirt in red and yellow colors. On his feet were shiny patent leather shoes, in orange. On his head were yellow Ray-Ban sunglasses, and hanging off his shoulder was the biggest leather duffel the same color as the shoes.
“And the shoes are by Uniqlo, as well as this matching bag,” MatsuJun was saying to a group of people who worked in the jimusho. He must have heard Masaki coming in, turned around, and raised is hand in a greeting. “Yo, Masaki!” Masaki tasted blood on his tongue, and he didn’t realize he had been biting his lower lip to stifle the laughter he was holding back with all his might. A small chuckle finally escaped when he saw that hanging from MatsuJun’s neck was the biggest gold chain- the kind hardware stores would sell- and a huge round pendant hanging off the chain.
“What the hell are you wearing?!” Masaki nearly jumped out of his skin when Nino exclaimed behind him, most likely just arrived and saw the most ridiculous get-up ever. Ohno burst into laughter right next to Nino, who didn’t look all too happy. In fact, he was clutching his hands into fists so hard that Masaki could see the knuckles turning white.
“What?” MatsuJun looked at Nino with a feigned innocent look “You don’t like it? These are all designer items, you know. I’ve been telling the staff here.” He thumbed at the group behind him. The women all covered their mouths, but judging from their shoulders hiking up and down, Masaki could see they were trying to not laugh out loud.
“Whoa, Jun, what happened?” Sho asked, just going into the room. Jun smiled brightly at him. “Yo, Sho-chan, what do you think?” He turned around to show off his outfit. “Very hip-hop, ne?” He stepped a foot back, crossed his arms across his chest, and nodded, trying to imitate a hip hop artist, Masaki guessed, but he was trying too hard.
A giggle finally escaped Masaki’s lips, clamping it down with his hand as Sho made a funny look trying to come up with words to say. “I… um… am speechless,” the man said. Masaki grinned. Leave it to the man who is considerate of people’s feelings.
“Thanks.”
“That’s not a compliment!” Nino burst out. He ran closer to MatsuJun. “What have you done with my-er, your money!” He flailed his hands over the clothes and accessories.
“Maa, maa,” Ohno said, patting Nino’s shoulder. “It’s Jun-kun’s money. Leave him alone.” He turned to MatsuJun and caressed the man’s face with both hands. “MatsuJun, the clothes are super ridiculous, and the colors are splitting my eyeballs. It’s a good thing you’re handsome, ne?” MatsuJun blushed and giggled like a teenage girl. “Aw, shucks, Riida. I’m glad you think so. In fact, I bought three more of similar combos. They should last me for a month!” He brought out three shopping bags from under the table, beaming at his newly bought treasure. Nino gasped, one hand shooting up to cover his mouth and the other on his hip, mumbling something to the ceiling.
Then, without another word, he grabbed MatsuJun by the arm and pulled him out the door. Wanting to know what really is going on with them, Masaki trailed behind quietly, but the men seemed oblivious to the fact that they were being followed. They went into the restroom, and Masaki lingered just outside, making sure he left the door ajar. The guys were standing behind the door, so Masaki had to watch them through their reflection on the restroom mirrors.
“What the hell are you trying to pull? And what the hell is this outfit?” Nino asked, tugging on the sleeve of MatsuJun’s shirt. “I hoped you kept the receipt! I can’t believe you spent my money buying shit like this.”
“They’re brand names.” MatsuJun pulled his arm away from Nino’s fingers and smoothed out the fabric. “Aren’t brand names your thing?” he added, mocking him.
“I don’t care. I am not keeping this shit. You are going to return them.”
“Then while we’re on the subject of returning, J, can I please return to my own body?” MatsuJun said, glaring at Nino. Masaki clamped a hand over his mouth. What?! Returning bodies? What does that even mean?
“I would love to get back in my own body as well, Kazu. In fact, I am tired of being short. And scrawny!”
“Scrawny?! Why you vain sonovabitch. You know what?” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a long piece of paper and started tearing it up. “You can never return those clothes and accessories I bought. Say goodbye to your cool image!”
“Ack! That was the receipt, wasn’t it?” Nino glared at MatsuJun. “Oh, you are so gonna pay for that. In fact, I think I just might fuck Ohno tonight! Yeah, that’s right. I will fuck Riida in your body, but you will never know how it is.”
“Oh, yeah? Well I will let Sho top me tonight while I suck Maa-kun’s dick, cuz everybody knows MatsuJun is a dirty dirty slut!” MatsuJun yelled at Nino, seemingly indifferent to who could possibly hear them. Masaki leaned against the wall, unable to listen any further. The guys were still arguing, but his mind was reeling from what he just saw. MatsuJun is Nino and Nino is MatsuJun? How? Why?
The door flung open before he could come up with a theory and he watched Nino stomping out the restroom. He didn’t see him standing just outside the restroom behind him. A moment later, MatsuJun came out, and he didn’t notice him either. Masaki waited a while, then followed suit, feeling a bit uneasy. They were having a meeting with Johnny soon and both guys were still mad at each other. He hoped neither would do anything dumb.
Johnny finally arrived, dispersing the staff from the room, leaving only the five of them with their boss. He glanced at MatsuJun up and down, and just rolled his eyes, Everyone sat down around the table just as Johnny took a seat. ”So, what have you-tachi come up with as the album concept?” he seems to ask the group, but his eyes were on MatsuJun.
The man in question leaned back casually and said, “I really have no idea.” Masaki gasped. Oh, yeah, Nino in MatsuJun’s body went there. The room was deathly quiet as they all stared at him. MatsuJun in Nino’s body, Nino, sitting beside him, punched him on the shoulder.
Johnny’s jaw clenched as he stared at MatsuJun. “What?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at one of the elite of his company. Masaki swallowed. He loved the old man, he did. Johnny was like a father to him. But there were moments, especially when it came down to business, that Johnny-san was more like the Godfather mafia than a grandfather. He should do something, anything, before Johnny fires them and Arashi is no more. He opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn’t even squeak in defense.
“Well, I haven’t really gotten that far yet, Johnny-san.”
“That’s not like you, Matsumoto,” Johnny replied with a frown. “Usually, you have a plan by now. I was hoping to have your concert in September and then the album like how we planned.” Masaki squirmed in his seat, and he wasn’t even on the opposite end of Johnny’s intense stare. MatsuJun was losing that cocky attitude and was doing the same thing.
“Um, Johnny-san,” Nino piped up. “MatsuJun must have hit his head or something because he clearly told me that the concept is Chicago in the 1920s. I know we had done something similar, but I was thinking we also could infuse some blues and R&B into the mix.”
Johnny turned to Nino and looked at him silently. Then he took out a cigar from his suit jacket, clipped off the end and lit it up, still silent as if pondering the idea. After a while, he flicked off the ashes in the ashtray and said, “If you can revamp the idea and make it sound fresh, I might consider it. I need a demo of the potential songs you want on the album by the end of the month.”
“Yes, sir,” Nino replied quickly. “I have Isawa-san and Nishimoto-san working on a couple of tracks as we speak, and we’re also looking for possible composers from Sweden and Norway.” He nodded to Sho and added, “Sho-chan here has been writing some lyrics as well. And Ka- er, I have also been playing around with lyrics and music.”
Johnny nodded again, giving a slight smile at Nino before taking another puff of his cigar. “I’m glad somebody is on top of things here.” He eyed MatsuJun and scraped his chair back. “Whatever it is you’re doing or acting on right now, Jun, I hope you get it out of your system. I like your guts, son, but remember, I took a risk adding you. Don’t make me revoke that risk, even if it has been 20-some years. Dismissed.”
They all quickly shot to their feet, bowing goodbyes to their boss as he made his way out the door. Once alone, they collectively sighed with relief. Nobody talked. Masaki wiped the sweat off his forehead. He was too close to losing his job as Arashi, all thanks to Nino’s stupidity in MatsuJun’s body. He could choke the guy for making him worried. This switched bodies thing between them needed to stop.
“Jun, what the hell was that?” Sho almost yelled at him, standing too close for comfort for the now cowering MatsuJun. “You nearly had all of us fired!” He stepped back, giving MatsuJun an inch of space and sighed. “I could strangle you right now, you know that? Don’t ever risk our group that way. Since when are you so… so…”
“Careless?” Nino piped up, earning him a glare from Sho.
“And you!” Sho pointed straight at Nino. “Since when do you risk this group by making out with Oh-chan in public? Do you not know we are always being watched by the press? Not enough recent scandals for you, Kazu?” All Nino could do was hang his head, his face flushed red.
“We all need to talk. Just the five of us.” They all turned to Ohno, who to Masaki never looked so serious and very leader-like. “We need to clear the air between us before we destroy each other. So let’s all meet up at Masaki’s house tonight at 7.”
“Eh?!” Masaki exclaimed. “Why me? I thought you were gonna invite us to your place.”
Ohno shrugged. “My mom is home. Do you want her to butt her nose into this?” Masaki sighed. Dammit, Riida! Before he could say anything else, Ohno walked out the room, followed closely behind by Nino and MatsuJun, who was lugging the shopping bags. Masaki was about to leave when he felt a tug on his shirt.
“Sho-chan?”
“Something is different, right?” Sho said. “I am not hallucinating?”
“No. Something is definitely off today.” Masaki nodded, remembering the scene in the restroom and shuddering. “I have never been in meetings that are so intense in my life.”
“Jun was holding his chopsticks with his left hand.”
“What?” Does Sho-chan suspect something?
“I was watching Jun earlier during lunch and-“
“Wait, you were watching Jun? Sho-chan~” Masaki elbowed his friend in the side, and he had never seen Sho blush brighter red before. Man, the guy had it bad.
“Aw, look at you all blushing. You should do something with that crush of yours. Confess tonight or something.” Sho bit his lower lip and looked away. Masaki giggled at his reaction. He patted Sho on the shoulder and walked out the door. Well, at least he had kept Sho distracted from his suspicions. Gomen ne, Sho-chan, but Masaki is on the case with this one, and he’ll find a way to switch them back!
__
Masaki displayed the food on the table, glancing up once in a while at his visitor. MatsuJun came to his home early and settled himself comfortably on the couch in front of the TV. Now that he knew that it was actually Nino in there, it made sense why MatsuJun would feel quite at home, lounging lazily on the floor, propping his head up with his arm. The real MatsuJun had been to his house once, and he wouldn’t sit that casually in someone’s home. The comedians on TV laughed about something, and Masaki laughed along, but only because MatsuJun was still wearing that ridiculous clownish ensemble.
MatsuJun’s phone rang. He answered it, whispered to whoever called him and excused himself. Masaki cocked his head. He never understood that guy and his privacy, but then he realized that the guy was Nino and on the phone happened to be MatsuJun asking for directions and they just didn’t want the rest of the Arashi members to know about the switch, including Masaki himself. He smiled to himself, determined to let the two know he knew about their dilemma. On the way home, he thought up ideas on how he could help.
Moments later, the doorbell rang, and sure enough, it was Nino. Masaki stepped back to let him in the genkan. “Were you lost?” he asked casually. Nino shook his head. “Of course not. I’ve been here many times, you know.” The man passed him by and made his way to the living room where MatsuJun had come back.
Masaki walked behind Nino, waited for him to sit at the end of the couch and lean his arm on the arm rest and cross one leg over the other. Masaki snorted, and they glanced up at him. He cleared his throat. “I know about the switch,” he blurted out. The guys stared at him, their faces blank as if they didn’t know what he was talking about. “Don’t pretend. I saw you guys talking in the restroom in the jimusho.” He pointed at Nino. “Jun-chan.” He turned to MatsuJun. “Nino.”
MatsuJun sat up. “Leave it you, Maa-kun, to realize it. Love you boo.” He puckered his lips at him. Masaki giggled. “What are best friends for?”
Nino sighed and stretched his legs. “Okay, Masaki, what ideas do you have to solve this thing? We jousted already, and that didn’t seem to work.”
“Jousted?” Masaki cocked his head, and the realization came on. “Oh! That jolt thing you guys did this morning. Hahaha. That was the best.”
“You knew since this morning?” Nino looked surprised.
Masaki shook his head. “I just happened to walk in and see it, but didn’t know what it was for.” He grabbed MatsuJun and Nino’s hands and pulled them up to their feet. “Come on. First idea, to the bathroom.”
“Not again,” MatsuJun groaned, but having no choice since Masaki was pulling them in that direction, they made their way up.
Standing in front of the toilet, a few coins in his hand, Masaki grinned at the guys who only looked at him like he had lost his mind. “It’s a wishing well.” He gave a couple of coins to each and instructed them to make a wish before throwing the coins into the water. They half-heartedly did. Nothing.
“Oh, well, then come down to the kitchen!”
The two men followed behind him, still sort of dragging their feet, but he was on a roll now. He had a list of ideas in his head, and he’d go through with each one. No time to linger on if they’ll work or not.
“It’s a birthday cake,” he said with pride. ”Make a wish.”
“It’s a piece of bread with a birthday candle,” Nino said drolly. MatsuJun snorted. Masaki just rolled his eyes. “So pretend, duh.” He gestured to the guys to go ahead and blow out the flame. They did together. Nothing.
“Okay, Plan C.” Masaki went up to one of his cabinet drawers and pulled out a knife. The guys jumped back. Masaki laughed. “What? You think I’d kill you guys? No, let’s try that blood brothers ritual. You cut your finger with a knife and exchange blood.”
“You’re supposed to just prick your finger, not cut!” Nino exclaimed. “But there’s no way I’m doing that, Masaki!”
“No thanks, Maa-kun,” MatsuJun piped up.
Masaki shrugged and returned his knife. No harm, no foul. “Plan D.” He motioned with his hand to follow him and they piled out to the front yard. Masaki checked his watch. Almost 7. Sho and Ohno would be coming along soon, and he wanted this to be done with before they get here.
“How is this going to help?” Nino said, though his voice was muffled. He and MatsuJun had pressed their foreheads together, arms weaved into each other’s, hands on the opposite man’s shoulders like how Masaki had seen some wrestlers do with their opponents. But they weren’t about to wrestle, though. “This is really stupid, Masaki!”
“Oh, hey, I didn’t know that my eyes are that beautiful shade of light brown,” MatsuJun piped up. “J, did you know that about me?”
“Shut up.” Nino grunted. “Don’t stare at my, or your eyes, rather. It’s creepy seeing my own face not in a mirror.”
“Okay, you guys just spin around as fast as you can on my signal. Go!” But the guys didn’t budge. “Are you two spinning in the same direction?”
“No!” Right. One of them was left-handed. Masaki guided them on which direction, and soon they spun around until they collapsed on the grass, breathing heavily. Masaki clamped his mouth shut again. That was just as ridiculous as the joust they did that morning. No surprise, it didn’t work. Masaki sighed. He had hoped that by them spinning around, their mind or souls would get confused and they would just switch back. Maybe if they had spun just a tad bit faster, it could’ve worked.
“Plan E!”
“Enough, enough,” Nino waved his hand in the air. “I’m tired.”
“Well, I was going to suggest wishing on a star,” Masaki pouted, crossing his arms. “You guys wanted to switch back, don’t you?”
Somehow, all three grown men managed to climbed up onto the roof of the porch in Masaki’s backyard and lay down on their backs, Masaki between them, looking up to the sky. The sun had set a few minutes ago, leaving a hint of violet in the horizon, but some stars were already visible, in spite of the glow of the city lights. They lay waiting in silence for a shooting star.
“This is all my fault.” Masaki turned to his left, seeing Nino’s mouth moving, but he knew it was MatsuJun talking inside. “It’s stupid, really. I rubbed my thumb over that damn pendant you gave us, about granting our desires, and wished that I were Kazu.” He was thumbing the pendant now. “I wanted to be closer with Riida, to be by his side, but he just treats me like his youngest brother, you know?” He sighed and closed his eyes. “The only person who actually could manage to touch him, albeit onscreen and on camera, was Kazu, and I wished I were in his shoes.” He chuckled, but Masaki knew he was having a hard time telling the truth. “So I woke up this morning, in Kazu’s aparment, in Kazu’s shoes. I thought I was still dreaming, until I came to the office and see my own body staring back at me, and I knew it had come true. I became Ninomiya Kazunari, a good-looking guy.”
They laughed at that, until Nino-MatsuJun- sighed again. “Anyway, I’m so sorry, Kazu, for literally taking over your life. I wish I could go back to how it was before. Now, we might never be able to switch back.”
Nino fell silent again. Masaki smiled up to the dark sky, more stars twinkling right above them. He admired MatsuJun’s courage to admit such a thing, knowing how proud the man was and yet humble enough to confess he was at fault.
“Aw, hell!” Masaki turned to his right, seeing MatsuJun’s body, but Nino speaking. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do this.” He paused, sighing. He sat up, still staring at the stars. “I was hoping for some miracle before I got found out.” He chuckled softly to himself, rubbing the purple pendant around his neck. “I also rubbed my thumb over that stupid pendant-no offense, Maa-kun—like this, wishing I could be J.” Masaki and Nino gasped. MatsuJun looked at them and smiled, a hint of the smirk Nino was known for, then turned back to the stars. “I know, I know. I am a good-looking guy, and my only competition in this department is Jun himself.”
“Hey!” Masaki protested, but MatsuJun didn’t seem to hear him. Instead, he sighed again, and continued. “You guys, I’m not really close with Oh-chan. Well, not the way I want to be, anyway. I really love the guy, but I don’t have the guts to tell him. And J’s charisma and confidence, well, I kinda wish I had that. Then I found out from my manager yesterday that he and Oh-chan will be working on a project for the concert, spending even more time together, and well, I got jealous and really wished I were in J’s place.”
Masaki frowned, recalling Nino’s stark attitude yesterday toward an unsuspecting MatsuJun, and now it made total sense. He shook his head. If they were all just brave enough, confident enough, but in spite of the fans’ perception of them, they were still fallible men.
“Anyway, J, I’m sorry.”
Nino chuckled. “Well, Kazu, at least today, Riida must have an idea how much you like him. If we ever switch back, promise me you’ll confess to him?”
“And you’re okay with that?”
Nino’s mouth stilled for such a long moment that Masaki thought MatsuJun must be having second thoughts. Then, in a quiet, peaceful voice, “Yes. I’ll be okay with that.”
Suddenly a gust of wind, forceful and strong, whirled around them, deafening Masaki. All of them held their hands over their ears, then MatsuJun and Nino’s bodies jerked about like fish on a hook. Masaki didn’t know who to help first, looking back and forth between the two.
The air stilled, the silence deafening. MatsuJun and Nino limply lay down on the roof. Masaki could hardly breathe. What just happened? Did they die? Just when the panic started to rise from his voice, Nino groaned, stretching his arms, sitting up.
“Nino?” Masaki quietly asked, a faint hope rising in his chest. Please let it be him. Nino blinked, looked around, then stared at him. Then he saw MatsuJun lying still. He gasped and looked at his body. “Ah!”
That was when MatsuJun’s eyes opened, and like Nino, he sat up, and stretched. He saw Nino staring at him, and he quickly inspected himself. “Ah!” he exclaimed, standing to his feet. “I’m home!”
Masaki gasped. He could hardly believe it. Nino jumped to his feet and screamed, “I’m me again! Yatta!” Unable to contain his happiness that his friends finally switched back to their own bodies, he jumped up to his feet and together, three grown men jumped excitedly, screaming to the sky with all their might.
Crack!
Masaki stopped jumping. Was that—
Crash!
Next thing he knew he was sprawled on the cool cement floor of the porch. The porch roof totally gave way under their feet. He rubbed his legs, hoping he didn’t sprain anything. Luckily for Nino, he fell on top of the lounge chair, but MatsuJun fell hard on the table.
“Itai~” the youngest groaned, rubbing his neck. Yet, he got up, to Masaki’s relief. Nino sighed, looking up the sky.
Sho slid the backdoor open, and Ohno right behind him. The two older men looked around, trying to assess what happened. “What in the world?!” Sho said, helping MatsuJun from the table, and helped Masaki up from the floor. Phew. He didn’t sprain anything.
Ohno helped Nino up, turned him around to make sure nothing was broken. Masaki rolled his eyes. Of course nothing was broken, the man fell on the lounge chair, but he figured it was Ohno’s excuse to look at Nino. “Sho-chan and I were worried,” he said. “We came here, found the front door unlocked, but nobody was home.”
“Are you sure, you’re okay?” Sho said to MatsuJun, gingerly placed his hand on the man’s shoulder. Masaki stifled his giggle at how MatsuJun suddenly looked incredibly shy, his face - even by the glow of the lights inside the house - shining bright red. Masaki turned to Nino and Ohno, the other pair almost mirroring the first.
“Um, Oh-chan, can we talk?” Nino said, shyly. “I, uh, I kinda want to tell you something.”
That reminded Masaki that Nino had to fulfill a certain promise. Grabbing Sho and MatsuJun by the wrists, he pulled them back to the direction of the house, and pushed them inside. With one look at his best friend, he was just in time to see Ohno leaning in to Nino, giving him a kiss. Masaki smiled to himself. The monk at that obscure temple in Kyoto was right about the pendants after all.
FIN
nino1711azukiFrom: :3.
Title: Switch On!
Pairing/Focus: Ohmiya (kinda.. you’ll see), Sakumoto, a bit of Juntoshi (a tiny tiny bit), and of course Aimiya bff-ery
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Summary: After coming back from filming in Kyoto, Aiba Masaki handed out the souvenirs he got from an obscure temple. The next day, he noticed something strange between MatsuJun and Nino, but he couldn’t pinpoint it… until later that day when he eavesdropped on them.
Notes:
nino1711azuki I had sooooo much fun writing for you, you have no idea. =D And I hope that you like the story. Your fantasy prompt that involves with Aiba’s doing intrigued me. Sorry if it isn’t what you had in mind, but I tried to make it as funny as I could.“What is this?” Sakurai Sho raised an eyebrow at the necklace Aiba Masaki just gave him.
“It’s a necklace, Sho-chan,” Masaki replied as he handed out the rest of the Arashi members their own necklaces. They weren’t those fancy ones people would find at jewelry stores. In fact, each necklace was just a band of leather cord and a pendant the size of a 1 yen coin in each member color. Masaki handed them out enthusiastically so when Matsumoto Jun cringed when he handed the purple one to him, he felt a tinge of disappointment. MatsuJun must have sensed it, so he gave a nod to Masaki and quickly wore it around his neck.
“You guys told me you wanted souvenirs from Kyoto. Well, here you go.” The four exchanged glances. Masaki sighed. “The vendor, a monk, actually, was selling it near this temple shrine. It’s supposed to be for good luck or something.”
“Aren’t they all?” Ninomiya Kazunari quipped, earning a chuckle from everyone. Masaki smirked at his best friend, but the guy didn’t seem to be in a goofy mood. Instead, he sunk back into his chair. Nino just being Nino again, he guessed.
“Haha. No, see, the monk said that the necklaces will grant the wearer’s heart’s desire.”
“Ooh…” Ohno Satoshi finally piped up, but Masaki wasn’t sure if Riida was mocking him or was really intrigued. Masaki was about to say something when the staff members-art directors, choreographers, and others involved in the concert production-started coming into the conference room.
Masaki, Nino, and Ohno sat in a row on one side of the table and across from them were Sho and MatsuJun. While trying to listen in on the ideas everybody around the table were sounding off, Masaki couldn’t help listening to Nino and Ohno whispering to each other. Well, mainly just Nino. Ohno was his usual silent self. “Oh-chan, do you like it when I touch you here?”
Startled, Masaki turned in time to see Nino playing with Ohno’s earlobe and he couldn’t help sighing in relief. Ohno let out a throaty “Un” and a giggle. “Stop. That tickles.”
“Excuse me,” came a sharp bark from MatsuJun. Masaki sheepishly turned to face him even though he really wasn’t involved with anything. “I don’t know about you guys but this concert is pretty important for the rest of us. This is supposed to be a team meeting. Do I need to separate you two?”
Masaki sat up straighter. He hated being under the fiery wrath of MatsuJun. Nino only clucked his tongue. “Man stealer,” he scoffed. “He would love that.” Masaki swiveled back to Nino in horror. Something was definitely wrong with him. Fortunately, MatsuJun didn’t hear him and was already back in the discussion.
“What’s going on with you?” Masaki whispered to Nino.
“Nothing,” Nino said, jutting his chin in MatsuJun’s direction. “You better stop talking and pay attention, Maa-kun, or else the almighty Matsumoto-sama will bite your head off.”
“So, before I forget,” the concert director called out as the staff members were slowly gathering their things to leave, “There is one segment of the concert that Matsumoto-san and Ohno-san will be working on together.”
Masaki joined in the excitement, but Nino beside him mumbled, “So it starts,” and a wave of realization came over Masaki. Right. Nino has been pining over Riida for years, and yet it seemed that he and MatsuJun would have to spend more time together. He turned back to Nino to reassure him, but the man had hurried out the door, making Masaki scramble after him. “What was going on with you at the meeting just now?” he asked when he pulled Nino aside in the hallway, and leaned in closer to avoid being overheard. “Are you jealous that Jun-kun will have more time with him?”
“What?” Nino clucked his tongue and shook Masaki’s hand off. “No… If Oh-chan wants to spend time with J, he can. He’s a grown-ass man. Plus, it’s just for work anyway. Not like they are dating and stuff. Nothing’s gonna happen between them. And besides, doesn’t J like Sho? Why would he even have a thing for Oh-chan, that fishing baka?”
Masaki leaned back and smiled at him. Someone was protesting a bit too much. Nino narrowed his eyes at him, trying to convince himself more likely than Masaki. Taking the yellow pendant necklace from his pocket, Nino quickly put it on. “Thanks for the necklace, by the way, Maa-kun. I appreciate the thought-” MatsuJun and the creative director walked by them, nodding to them in greeting- “unlike some people.” Nino seemed to stare daggers at MatsuJun’s back. Masaki chuckled, to Nino’s annoyance, and quickly walked away from him.
—
The next morning, Masaki walked down the hallway of the company on his way to the conference room for the day’s meeting. As he rounded the corner, he overheard MatsuJun and Nino arguing. Gingerly, he creeped closer to the doorway, keeping himself hidden.
“How the hell did I end up being in this… this thing!”
“You think I am happy about this… situation?”
“You better not tell anyone about this.”
“You think I want people to know about us?”
Masaki frowned, getting more curious by the second. He stepped closer just to peer inside, when his shoe squeaked against the tiled floor. “Shh,” he hushed his shoe, but it was too late. The men inside were dead silent. Masaki froze for a moment, not daring to even breathe. He heard movement inside the conference room.
“What was that?” Nino whispered.
“I don’t know and I don’t care. We need to do something about this.”
“Fine. Let’s do that jolt thing. Maybe that’ll help.”
Masaki furrowed his eyebrows. Jolt thing? What the hell were those two up to? Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, Masaki dared himself to peek around the doorway… just in time to witness MatsuJun and Nino, silhouetted against the bright sunlight outside the glass window of the building, colliding into each other with a hard smack. The two grown men moaned, sprawling on the floor spewing “itai” and “fuck” as each clutched his forehead. Masaki clamped up his mouth, gasping in horror, yet, trying his best not to laugh at their pain.
“Damn, Kazu, your scrawny body nearly had me killed. You should workout more.”
“Serves you right for suggesting the stupid jolt thing. Finally, a stupid idea from the one and only Matsumoto Jun.”
“Are you mocking me?”
Masaki gasped. Did he just hear what he thought he heard? Did they sound different? He really couldn’t see who was speaking because of the sunlight streaming in. But the two men were now aware of him standing at the doorway. Masaki dashed inside. “What the hell is going on?” he exclaimed. “You two out of your minds?” He looked between them, not knowing who to help up first.
“Something like that,” Nino mumbled, still rubbing his forehead. “I think I might have broken something.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I, er, you’re not that fragile,” MatsuJun mumbled. He slowly sat up and rubbed his arms. “Damn. J- I mean, uh, damn my arms are so big and muscular. I never really realized it.” He flexed his biceps.
Nino scoffed. Since MatsuJun was already sitting up and admiring himself, Masaki rushed to Nino to help him up. With a groan, Nino sat up and rubbed his back. “What the hell was I thinking?” he mumbled under his breath.
“What’s going on?” Sho’s voice boomed from the doorway. They turned to face him, but didn’t answer. Sho rushed in and held out his hand to MatsuJun to pull him up. Ohno walked in, his shoes squeaking when he stopped short to take in the scene. “Did something happen?” he asked. Sho shrugged. “I just got here myself.”
Nino and MatsuJun brushed themselves off, mumbling something, and limped to the tables where they gather for meetings, sitting on opposite sides. Masaki eyed each man in turn, but neither seemed to give him, Sho, or Ohno any attention. As people started coming in, Nino patted the seat next to him and called out, “Riida, come sit next to me.” MatsuJun seemed to protest against it, but clamped his mouth shut and silently watched Ohno making his way next to Nino.
Sho chuckled and sat next to MatsuJun. “Someone is needy today,” he said lightheartedly. Masaki sat on the other side of Sho. He was still lightly baffled at what he had witnessed, but he shook his head to himself. Maybe the argument was really for nothing. With that assurance, he turned to the staff members to greet them, then proceeded with their discussion from yesterday.
“So, any necessary changes we can make?” the director asked, looking expectantly at MatsuJun who had his head down inspecting his nails like he had never discovered them before.
“Well, I think that the yellow glow around the close-up frame would be too bright for the words to be seen on the screen, distracting those in the stands. Maybe change it back to purple or blue?”
Masaki’s jaw slackened, as did everybody else’s around the table, and he stared at Nino who spoke up. Unable to believe what he just heard, he shifted his eyes to Sho, but the guy looked dumbfounded himself. Nino cleared his throat. “Oh, um, that was what, uh, J told me a few minutes earlier. Yeah.”
That wasn’t what he had heard earlier when he came up to the conference room, but MatsuJun cleared his throat and said, “Uh… yeah.” MatsuJun narrowed his eyes at Nino. “What he said.”
“O…kay,” the director said slowly, unsure what to make of that. He turned to MatsuJun again. “Matsumoto-san and Ohno-san, my secretary has reserved a practice studio for you.” He handed a stapled stack of papers to MatsuJun who sat closer to him. “It’s available after lunch for however long you need. This is what technology and features we were thinking of doing, as we had discussed, Matsumoto-san, as well as the song list we called out yesterday.”
MatsuJun grabbed the papers and turned to Nino with a grin. Horrified, Nino spoke up, “That’s not fair! I-“ but he cut himself short and glanced around. Masaki stared at him. Something was definitely off with the two. MatsuJun would not gloat to Nino about spending time with Ohno, and certainly Nino wouldn’t protest about it. He turned to Sho, but the man was looking at his phone under the table, tapping away at his calendar, his mind obviously on something else. Masaki turned to Ohno, but MatsuJun had given him the papers and he was now looking over them.
The director called for the end of the meeting, and while the staff filed out, Nino looked at the members and said, “Let’s have lunch. My treat.” Masaki almost fell out of his chair. Sho dropped his stylus. Ohno stopped fiddling with his messenger bag and looked up at Nino. “Seriously?” he asked. Nino grinned at him, and caressed Ohno’s cheek. “Especially for my Riida.”
“Hey!” MatsuJun jumped up in protest and glared at Nino. Nino gave him his signature smile that bordered into a smirk. He hooked his arm around Ohno’s, leading him out the door. MatsuJun pointed at them, speechless, but he seemed to be aware that Sho-who finally had fished his stylus off the floor- and Masaki were watching him.
“That’s inappropriate, don’t you think?” MatsuJun asked. Sho shrugged. “Why? How? They do that every filming.” He followed Nino and Ohno out. Masaki hung back, wondering what had gotten into MatsuJun. He never reacted like that before, always with his aloof, stoic attitude.
“Maa-kun,” MatsuJun said. “Don’t you think it’s strange that I- er, Kazu is clinging onto to Riida like some obsessed teenager?” MatsuJun was looking at him, expecting a reply, but Sho called them to hurry up. MatsuJun clucked his tongue again and hurried out. Masaki stood still in his spot. Did MatsuJun just call him “Maa-kun ?”
—
Masaki’s glass of beer hovered just on his lips as he stared across the table at Ohmiya being the Ohmiya on stage and on camera, times 100. He never really minded how much the two seemed to always have their hands all over each other, but this was sickeningly too much. And for god’s sake, they were in a public restaurant! Paparazzi are everywhere!
Masaki rolled his eyes and drank his beer. God, after the morning he had, this was a respite. He glanced at MatsuJun sitting beside him, food and drink untouched as he stared with disgust on his face at the “couple” displaying their affections publicly. The unfortunate one was Sho, who had to sit at the other side of Nino and directly across MatsuJun. On occasion, he would scold Nino to stop tickling Ohno, but he pretty much was unfazed by the two.
Masaki elbowed MatsuJun. “Hey, you haven’t eaten once.” He pointed at MatsuJun’s plate with his lips. “You can’t afford to not eat.”
“How could you eat when that is what you’re being entertained with?” MatsuJun said quietly, glaring at Nino and Ohno.
True, Ohmiya had been close, but they’d been like that for years. Why now, all of a sudden, did MatsuJun care? Masaki turned his head the other to look at MatsuJun, still unaware that he was being observed by both him and Sho. Had MatsuJun finally had enough? Masaki glanced at Sho, feeling sorry for the man who had lately reciprocated MatsuJun’s teenage feelings for the second eldest of the group. Ohno’s giggles and saying “Nino, that tickles” brought Masaki back to look at them in time for Nino to lean in to the leader of Arashi and kiss him in public.
“Nino!” MatsuJun’s chair scraped on the floor, nearly knocking it back when he shot up. Nino stopped, and glared back at MatsuJun. Masaki could’ve sworn there was bolt of electric current running between the glares the two were exchanging. Yabai! Masaki cleared his throat to say something when his phone broke the dense atmosphere. Excusing himself, he left the table to accept his manager’s call. When he came back, only Nino and Ohno were left, still drinking, their heads leaning close to each other in an intimate conversation.
“Where did Jun-kun and Sho-chan go?” The waitress bowed to him as he stepped aside to let her clear the table. Nino and Ohno separated for just an inch.
“Probably off on their own date,” Ohno said with a chuckle. “That guy has been trying to get with that man for months.” He turned to Nino. “Have you noticed?”
Nino blinked. “Who was trying to get with whom?”
“Sho-kun with Jun-chan. Why do you think there’s been all the skinship between them lately?” Masaki sighed. Ohno was slurring his words, and when drunk Ohno comes out, he gets chatty.
“Fan service?” Nino looked askance at Masaki, but he just shrugged. He had suspected as much with Sho, but Ohno was confirming it. Leave it to a chatty drunk.
Ohno snorted. “Fan service. Off camera?” He gulped the last of his beer. “Ahhh!” smacking his lips. “Thanks for the treat, Nino.” But Nino was frowning, seemingly troubled by the information he just learned. Masaki frowned, studying Nino. Was he the only one without a crush on other members? Why did Nino care what Sho thought of Jun?
__
Masaki groaned as he parked his car in his designated space in the parking garage of the jimusho. It felt like such a long day, yet it was only the afternoon and once again he found himself having to go back to another meeting, this time with Johnny-san himself. They were to talk about the upcoming album that will drop later in the year, plus the Waku Waku Gakkou.
As he entered the meeting room, he nearly dropped his bag. Standing in the middle of the room was MatsuJun wearing the brightest red cutoff jeans with glittery leopard print and a vertical-striped dress shirt in red and yellow colors. On his feet were shiny patent leather shoes, in orange. On his head were yellow Ray-Ban sunglasses, and hanging off his shoulder was the biggest leather duffel the same color as the shoes.
“And the shoes are by Uniqlo, as well as this matching bag,” MatsuJun was saying to a group of people who worked in the jimusho. He must have heard Masaki coming in, turned around, and raised is hand in a greeting. “Yo, Masaki!” Masaki tasted blood on his tongue, and he didn’t realize he had been biting his lower lip to stifle the laughter he was holding back with all his might. A small chuckle finally escaped when he saw that hanging from MatsuJun’s neck was the biggest gold chain- the kind hardware stores would sell- and a huge round pendant hanging off the chain.
“What the hell are you wearing?!” Masaki nearly jumped out of his skin when Nino exclaimed behind him, most likely just arrived and saw the most ridiculous get-up ever. Ohno burst into laughter right next to Nino, who didn’t look all too happy. In fact, he was clutching his hands into fists so hard that Masaki could see the knuckles turning white.
“What?” MatsuJun looked at Nino with a feigned innocent look “You don’t like it? These are all designer items, you know. I’ve been telling the staff here.” He thumbed at the group behind him. The women all covered their mouths, but judging from their shoulders hiking up and down, Masaki could see they were trying to not laugh out loud.
“Whoa, Jun, what happened?” Sho asked, just going into the room. Jun smiled brightly at him. “Yo, Sho-chan, what do you think?” He turned around to show off his outfit. “Very hip-hop, ne?” He stepped a foot back, crossed his arms across his chest, and nodded, trying to imitate a hip hop artist, Masaki guessed, but he was trying too hard.
A giggle finally escaped Masaki’s lips, clamping it down with his hand as Sho made a funny look trying to come up with words to say. “I… um… am speechless,” the man said. Masaki grinned. Leave it to the man who is considerate of people’s feelings.
“Thanks.”
“That’s not a compliment!” Nino burst out. He ran closer to MatsuJun. “What have you done with my-er, your money!” He flailed his hands over the clothes and accessories.
“Maa, maa,” Ohno said, patting Nino’s shoulder. “It’s Jun-kun’s money. Leave him alone.” He turned to MatsuJun and caressed the man’s face with both hands. “MatsuJun, the clothes are super ridiculous, and the colors are splitting my eyeballs. It’s a good thing you’re handsome, ne?” MatsuJun blushed and giggled like a teenage girl. “Aw, shucks, Riida. I’m glad you think so. In fact, I bought three more of similar combos. They should last me for a month!” He brought out three shopping bags from under the table, beaming at his newly bought treasure. Nino gasped, one hand shooting up to cover his mouth and the other on his hip, mumbling something to the ceiling.
Then, without another word, he grabbed MatsuJun by the arm and pulled him out the door. Wanting to know what really is going on with them, Masaki trailed behind quietly, but the men seemed oblivious to the fact that they were being followed. They went into the restroom, and Masaki lingered just outside, making sure he left the door ajar. The guys were standing behind the door, so Masaki had to watch them through their reflection on the restroom mirrors.
“What the hell are you trying to pull? And what the hell is this outfit?” Nino asked, tugging on the sleeve of MatsuJun’s shirt. “I hoped you kept the receipt! I can’t believe you spent my money buying shit like this.”
“They’re brand names.” MatsuJun pulled his arm away from Nino’s fingers and smoothed out the fabric. “Aren’t brand names your thing?” he added, mocking him.
“I don’t care. I am not keeping this shit. You are going to return them.”
“Then while we’re on the subject of returning, J, can I please return to my own body?” MatsuJun said, glaring at Nino. Masaki clamped a hand over his mouth. What?! Returning bodies? What does that even mean?
“I would love to get back in my own body as well, Kazu. In fact, I am tired of being short. And scrawny!”
“Scrawny?! Why you vain sonovabitch. You know what?” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a long piece of paper and started tearing it up. “You can never return those clothes and accessories I bought. Say goodbye to your cool image!”
“Ack! That was the receipt, wasn’t it?” Nino glared at MatsuJun. “Oh, you are so gonna pay for that. In fact, I think I just might fuck Ohno tonight! Yeah, that’s right. I will fuck Riida in your body, but you will never know how it is.”
“Oh, yeah? Well I will let Sho top me tonight while I suck Maa-kun’s dick, cuz everybody knows MatsuJun is a dirty dirty slut!” MatsuJun yelled at Nino, seemingly indifferent to who could possibly hear them. Masaki leaned against the wall, unable to listen any further. The guys were still arguing, but his mind was reeling from what he just saw. MatsuJun is Nino and Nino is MatsuJun? How? Why?
The door flung open before he could come up with a theory and he watched Nino stomping out the restroom. He didn’t see him standing just outside the restroom behind him. A moment later, MatsuJun came out, and he didn’t notice him either. Masaki waited a while, then followed suit, feeling a bit uneasy. They were having a meeting with Johnny soon and both guys were still mad at each other. He hoped neither would do anything dumb.
Johnny finally arrived, dispersing the staff from the room, leaving only the five of them with their boss. He glanced at MatsuJun up and down, and just rolled his eyes, Everyone sat down around the table just as Johnny took a seat. ”So, what have you-tachi come up with as the album concept?” he seems to ask the group, but his eyes were on MatsuJun.
The man in question leaned back casually and said, “I really have no idea.” Masaki gasped. Oh, yeah, Nino in MatsuJun’s body went there. The room was deathly quiet as they all stared at him. MatsuJun in Nino’s body, Nino, sitting beside him, punched him on the shoulder.
Johnny’s jaw clenched as he stared at MatsuJun. “What?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at one of the elite of his company. Masaki swallowed. He loved the old man, he did. Johnny was like a father to him. But there were moments, especially when it came down to business, that Johnny-san was more like the Godfather mafia than a grandfather. He should do something, anything, before Johnny fires them and Arashi is no more. He opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn’t even squeak in defense.
“Well, I haven’t really gotten that far yet, Johnny-san.”
“That’s not like you, Matsumoto,” Johnny replied with a frown. “Usually, you have a plan by now. I was hoping to have your concert in September and then the album like how we planned.” Masaki squirmed in his seat, and he wasn’t even on the opposite end of Johnny’s intense stare. MatsuJun was losing that cocky attitude and was doing the same thing.
“Um, Johnny-san,” Nino piped up. “MatsuJun must have hit his head or something because he clearly told me that the concept is Chicago in the 1920s. I know we had done something similar, but I was thinking we also could infuse some blues and R&B into the mix.”
Johnny turned to Nino and looked at him silently. Then he took out a cigar from his suit jacket, clipped off the end and lit it up, still silent as if pondering the idea. After a while, he flicked off the ashes in the ashtray and said, “If you can revamp the idea and make it sound fresh, I might consider it. I need a demo of the potential songs you want on the album by the end of the month.”
“Yes, sir,” Nino replied quickly. “I have Isawa-san and Nishimoto-san working on a couple of tracks as we speak, and we’re also looking for possible composers from Sweden and Norway.” He nodded to Sho and added, “Sho-chan here has been writing some lyrics as well. And Ka- er, I have also been playing around with lyrics and music.”
Johnny nodded again, giving a slight smile at Nino before taking another puff of his cigar. “I’m glad somebody is on top of things here.” He eyed MatsuJun and scraped his chair back. “Whatever it is you’re doing or acting on right now, Jun, I hope you get it out of your system. I like your guts, son, but remember, I took a risk adding you. Don’t make me revoke that risk, even if it has been 20-some years. Dismissed.”
They all quickly shot to their feet, bowing goodbyes to their boss as he made his way out the door. Once alone, they collectively sighed with relief. Nobody talked. Masaki wiped the sweat off his forehead. He was too close to losing his job as Arashi, all thanks to Nino’s stupidity in MatsuJun’s body. He could choke the guy for making him worried. This switched bodies thing between them needed to stop.
“Jun, what the hell was that?” Sho almost yelled at him, standing too close for comfort for the now cowering MatsuJun. “You nearly had all of us fired!” He stepped back, giving MatsuJun an inch of space and sighed. “I could strangle you right now, you know that? Don’t ever risk our group that way. Since when are you so… so…”
“Careless?” Nino piped up, earning him a glare from Sho.
“And you!” Sho pointed straight at Nino. “Since when do you risk this group by making out with Oh-chan in public? Do you not know we are always being watched by the press? Not enough recent scandals for you, Kazu?” All Nino could do was hang his head, his face flushed red.
“We all need to talk. Just the five of us.” They all turned to Ohno, who to Masaki never looked so serious and very leader-like. “We need to clear the air between us before we destroy each other. So let’s all meet up at Masaki’s house tonight at 7.”
“Eh?!” Masaki exclaimed. “Why me? I thought you were gonna invite us to your place.”
Ohno shrugged. “My mom is home. Do you want her to butt her nose into this?” Masaki sighed. Dammit, Riida! Before he could say anything else, Ohno walked out the room, followed closely behind by Nino and MatsuJun, who was lugging the shopping bags. Masaki was about to leave when he felt a tug on his shirt.
“Sho-chan?”
“Something is different, right?” Sho said. “I am not hallucinating?”
“No. Something is definitely off today.” Masaki nodded, remembering the scene in the restroom and shuddering. “I have never been in meetings that are so intense in my life.”
“Jun was holding his chopsticks with his left hand.”
“What?” Does Sho-chan suspect something?
“I was watching Jun earlier during lunch and-“
“Wait, you were watching Jun? Sho-chan~” Masaki elbowed his friend in the side, and he had never seen Sho blush brighter red before. Man, the guy had it bad.
“Aw, look at you all blushing. You should do something with that crush of yours. Confess tonight or something.” Sho bit his lower lip and looked away. Masaki giggled at his reaction. He patted Sho on the shoulder and walked out the door. Well, at least he had kept Sho distracted from his suspicions. Gomen ne, Sho-chan, but Masaki is on the case with this one, and he’ll find a way to switch them back!
__
Masaki displayed the food on the table, glancing up once in a while at his visitor. MatsuJun came to his home early and settled himself comfortably on the couch in front of the TV. Now that he knew that it was actually Nino in there, it made sense why MatsuJun would feel quite at home, lounging lazily on the floor, propping his head up with his arm. The real MatsuJun had been to his house once, and he wouldn’t sit that casually in someone’s home. The comedians on TV laughed about something, and Masaki laughed along, but only because MatsuJun was still wearing that ridiculous clownish ensemble.
MatsuJun’s phone rang. He answered it, whispered to whoever called him and excused himself. Masaki cocked his head. He never understood that guy and his privacy, but then he realized that the guy was Nino and on the phone happened to be MatsuJun asking for directions and they just didn’t want the rest of the Arashi members to know about the switch, including Masaki himself. He smiled to himself, determined to let the two know he knew about their dilemma. On the way home, he thought up ideas on how he could help.
Moments later, the doorbell rang, and sure enough, it was Nino. Masaki stepped back to let him in the genkan. “Were you lost?” he asked casually. Nino shook his head. “Of course not. I’ve been here many times, you know.” The man passed him by and made his way to the living room where MatsuJun had come back.
Masaki walked behind Nino, waited for him to sit at the end of the couch and lean his arm on the arm rest and cross one leg over the other. Masaki snorted, and they glanced up at him. He cleared his throat. “I know about the switch,” he blurted out. The guys stared at him, their faces blank as if they didn’t know what he was talking about. “Don’t pretend. I saw you guys talking in the restroom in the jimusho.” He pointed at Nino. “Jun-chan.” He turned to MatsuJun. “Nino.”
MatsuJun sat up. “Leave it you, Maa-kun, to realize it. Love you boo.” He puckered his lips at him. Masaki giggled. “What are best friends for?”
Nino sighed and stretched his legs. “Okay, Masaki, what ideas do you have to solve this thing? We jousted already, and that didn’t seem to work.”
“Jousted?” Masaki cocked his head, and the realization came on. “Oh! That jolt thing you guys did this morning. Hahaha. That was the best.”
“You knew since this morning?” Nino looked surprised.
Masaki shook his head. “I just happened to walk in and see it, but didn’t know what it was for.” He grabbed MatsuJun and Nino’s hands and pulled them up to their feet. “Come on. First idea, to the bathroom.”
“Not again,” MatsuJun groaned, but having no choice since Masaki was pulling them in that direction, they made their way up.
Standing in front of the toilet, a few coins in his hand, Masaki grinned at the guys who only looked at him like he had lost his mind. “It’s a wishing well.” He gave a couple of coins to each and instructed them to make a wish before throwing the coins into the water. They half-heartedly did. Nothing.
“Oh, well, then come down to the kitchen!”
The two men followed behind him, still sort of dragging their feet, but he was on a roll now. He had a list of ideas in his head, and he’d go through with each one. No time to linger on if they’ll work or not.
“It’s a birthday cake,” he said with pride. ”Make a wish.”
“It’s a piece of bread with a birthday candle,” Nino said drolly. MatsuJun snorted. Masaki just rolled his eyes. “So pretend, duh.” He gestured to the guys to go ahead and blow out the flame. They did together. Nothing.
“Okay, Plan C.” Masaki went up to one of his cabinet drawers and pulled out a knife. The guys jumped back. Masaki laughed. “What? You think I’d kill you guys? No, let’s try that blood brothers ritual. You cut your finger with a knife and exchange blood.”
“You’re supposed to just prick your finger, not cut!” Nino exclaimed. “But there’s no way I’m doing that, Masaki!”
“No thanks, Maa-kun,” MatsuJun piped up.
Masaki shrugged and returned his knife. No harm, no foul. “Plan D.” He motioned with his hand to follow him and they piled out to the front yard. Masaki checked his watch. Almost 7. Sho and Ohno would be coming along soon, and he wanted this to be done with before they get here.
“How is this going to help?” Nino said, though his voice was muffled. He and MatsuJun had pressed their foreheads together, arms weaved into each other’s, hands on the opposite man’s shoulders like how Masaki had seen some wrestlers do with their opponents. But they weren’t about to wrestle, though. “This is really stupid, Masaki!”
“Oh, hey, I didn’t know that my eyes are that beautiful shade of light brown,” MatsuJun piped up. “J, did you know that about me?”
“Shut up.” Nino grunted. “Don’t stare at my, or your eyes, rather. It’s creepy seeing my own face not in a mirror.”
“Okay, you guys just spin around as fast as you can on my signal. Go!” But the guys didn’t budge. “Are you two spinning in the same direction?”
“No!” Right. One of them was left-handed. Masaki guided them on which direction, and soon they spun around until they collapsed on the grass, breathing heavily. Masaki clamped his mouth shut again. That was just as ridiculous as the joust they did that morning. No surprise, it didn’t work. Masaki sighed. He had hoped that by them spinning around, their mind or souls would get confused and they would just switch back. Maybe if they had spun just a tad bit faster, it could’ve worked.
“Plan E!”
“Enough, enough,” Nino waved his hand in the air. “I’m tired.”
“Well, I was going to suggest wishing on a star,” Masaki pouted, crossing his arms. “You guys wanted to switch back, don’t you?”
Somehow, all three grown men managed to climbed up onto the roof of the porch in Masaki’s backyard and lay down on their backs, Masaki between them, looking up to the sky. The sun had set a few minutes ago, leaving a hint of violet in the horizon, but some stars were already visible, in spite of the glow of the city lights. They lay waiting in silence for a shooting star.
“This is all my fault.” Masaki turned to his left, seeing Nino’s mouth moving, but he knew it was MatsuJun talking inside. “It’s stupid, really. I rubbed my thumb over that damn pendant you gave us, about granting our desires, and wished that I were Kazu.” He was thumbing the pendant now. “I wanted to be closer with Riida, to be by his side, but he just treats me like his youngest brother, you know?” He sighed and closed his eyes. “The only person who actually could manage to touch him, albeit onscreen and on camera, was Kazu, and I wished I were in his shoes.” He chuckled, but Masaki knew he was having a hard time telling the truth. “So I woke up this morning, in Kazu’s aparment, in Kazu’s shoes. I thought I was still dreaming, until I came to the office and see my own body staring back at me, and I knew it had come true. I became Ninomiya Kazunari, a good-looking guy.”
They laughed at that, until Nino-MatsuJun- sighed again. “Anyway, I’m so sorry, Kazu, for literally taking over your life. I wish I could go back to how it was before. Now, we might never be able to switch back.”
Nino fell silent again. Masaki smiled up to the dark sky, more stars twinkling right above them. He admired MatsuJun’s courage to admit such a thing, knowing how proud the man was and yet humble enough to confess he was at fault.
“Aw, hell!” Masaki turned to his right, seeing MatsuJun’s body, but Nino speaking. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do this.” He paused, sighing. He sat up, still staring at the stars. “I was hoping for some miracle before I got found out.” He chuckled softly to himself, rubbing the purple pendant around his neck. “I also rubbed my thumb over that stupid pendant-no offense, Maa-kun—like this, wishing I could be J.” Masaki and Nino gasped. MatsuJun looked at them and smiled, a hint of the smirk Nino was known for, then turned back to the stars. “I know, I know. I am a good-looking guy, and my only competition in this department is Jun himself.”
“Hey!” Masaki protested, but MatsuJun didn’t seem to hear him. Instead, he sighed again, and continued. “You guys, I’m not really close with Oh-chan. Well, not the way I want to be, anyway. I really love the guy, but I don’t have the guts to tell him. And J’s charisma and confidence, well, I kinda wish I had that. Then I found out from my manager yesterday that he and Oh-chan will be working on a project for the concert, spending even more time together, and well, I got jealous and really wished I were in J’s place.”
Masaki frowned, recalling Nino’s stark attitude yesterday toward an unsuspecting MatsuJun, and now it made total sense. He shook his head. If they were all just brave enough, confident enough, but in spite of the fans’ perception of them, they were still fallible men.
“Anyway, J, I’m sorry.”
Nino chuckled. “Well, Kazu, at least today, Riida must have an idea how much you like him. If we ever switch back, promise me you’ll confess to him?”
“And you’re okay with that?”
Nino’s mouth stilled for such a long moment that Masaki thought MatsuJun must be having second thoughts. Then, in a quiet, peaceful voice, “Yes. I’ll be okay with that.”
Suddenly a gust of wind, forceful and strong, whirled around them, deafening Masaki. All of them held their hands over their ears, then MatsuJun and Nino’s bodies jerked about like fish on a hook. Masaki didn’t know who to help first, looking back and forth between the two.
The air stilled, the silence deafening. MatsuJun and Nino limply lay down on the roof. Masaki could hardly breathe. What just happened? Did they die? Just when the panic started to rise from his voice, Nino groaned, stretching his arms, sitting up.
“Nino?” Masaki quietly asked, a faint hope rising in his chest. Please let it be him. Nino blinked, looked around, then stared at him. Then he saw MatsuJun lying still. He gasped and looked at his body. “Ah!”
That was when MatsuJun’s eyes opened, and like Nino, he sat up, and stretched. He saw Nino staring at him, and he quickly inspected himself. “Ah!” he exclaimed, standing to his feet. “I’m home!”
Masaki gasped. He could hardly believe it. Nino jumped to his feet and screamed, “I’m me again! Yatta!” Unable to contain his happiness that his friends finally switched back to their own bodies, he jumped up to his feet and together, three grown men jumped excitedly, screaming to the sky with all their might.
Crack!
Masaki stopped jumping. Was that—
Crash!
Next thing he knew he was sprawled on the cool cement floor of the porch. The porch roof totally gave way under their feet. He rubbed his legs, hoping he didn’t sprain anything. Luckily for Nino, he fell on top of the lounge chair, but MatsuJun fell hard on the table.
“Itai~” the youngest groaned, rubbing his neck. Yet, he got up, to Masaki’s relief. Nino sighed, looking up the sky.
Sho slid the backdoor open, and Ohno right behind him. The two older men looked around, trying to assess what happened. “What in the world?!” Sho said, helping MatsuJun from the table, and helped Masaki up from the floor. Phew. He didn’t sprain anything.
Ohno helped Nino up, turned him around to make sure nothing was broken. Masaki rolled his eyes. Of course nothing was broken, the man fell on the lounge chair, but he figured it was Ohno’s excuse to look at Nino. “Sho-chan and I were worried,” he said. “We came here, found the front door unlocked, but nobody was home.”
“Are you sure, you’re okay?” Sho said to MatsuJun, gingerly placed his hand on the man’s shoulder. Masaki stifled his giggle at how MatsuJun suddenly looked incredibly shy, his face - even by the glow of the lights inside the house - shining bright red. Masaki turned to Nino and Ohno, the other pair almost mirroring the first.
“Um, Oh-chan, can we talk?” Nino said, shyly. “I, uh, I kinda want to tell you something.”
That reminded Masaki that Nino had to fulfill a certain promise. Grabbing Sho and MatsuJun by the wrists, he pulled them back to the direction of the house, and pushed them inside. With one look at his best friend, he was just in time to see Ohno leaning in to Nino, giving him a kiss. Masaki smiled to himself. The monk at that obscure temple in Kyoto was right about the pendants after all.
FIN