rabenhorst (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rabenhorst) wrote2007-05-31 10:42 pm
rabenhorst) wrote2007-05-31 10:42 pm
(no subject)
Title: With a little help from my friend, Chapter two; Only friends?
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
seinen_no and fonulyn
Rating: PG13
Pairing: Die and Kaoru
Disclaimer: No one owns anyone and it sucks.
Comments: Well, this is the sequel we promised for “ With a little help from my friend ”. Apologies for taking so long with it^^
seinen_no: Okay, fonulyn told me to add my comment first. I tell you, she only wants to have the last word^^ We had so much fun writing the first part, that we smoothly went on with it, determined not to leave it at that So, this is the second part and a third will follow soon too (as long as I'm not signed to edit it first.. I'm so slow). And since I dunno what else I should say, I shut up and retreat in a cloud of smoke.
fonulyn: Heh, and damn right I wanted to have the last word. Well, actually I dunno why though, since I have nothing really clever to say. Except that we really enjoyed writing this and hopefully you’ll enjoy reading it as much^^ Two parts will follow after this still but that will be it then^^ Go on, read it!
Only friends?
Kaoru had woken up early the next morning. The thoughts about the happenings of the past night had denied him a peaceful sleep and he practically hadn't closed one eye. After making sure that Die was still buried under his blanket, obviously fast asleep, he got up and dressed. It had become a habit, that the band took breakfast together, but he still had some time until then. He wasn't ready to face the redhead again and thus decided to take a walk in the small park that belonged to the hotel, to meet the others later without returning to his room first.
As usual, Die didn't wake up before his mobile phone started beeping, signalling that it was time for him to drag his bones up and get ready for breakfast. He hated the mornings since he wouldn't have wanted to wake up early, but still he wasn't as grumpy as usually right now. When he opened his eyes he didn't yet remember the past happenings, his sleepy brains only trying to form a clear thought. But as soon as he swiftly sat up and the burning pain shot up from his lower back he remembered; remembered every single detail and it made him nervous instantly. Where was the older man, and how should they act around each other now? With a huge sigh Die got up, knowing he should hurry not to miss the breakfast.
Coincidentally, both guitarists entered the small restaurant at the same time. Kaoru offered a faint smile for the other and they approached the table together. Shinya, Toshiya and Kyo were already waiting, chatting merrily. When they beheld the two eldest, they hushed and stilled in their movements.
Shinya looked at the two for long, obviously trying to suppress the smile that tried to break free. "So finally you two arrive. We already thought you'd be too tired after last night." The redheaded guitarist tried to ignore the words, but couldn't help that a barely noticeable blush appeared on his cheeks as he silently sat down beside the drummer. Kaoru's blush was very well visible, but he tried to act casual, sat down and instantly began to collect some of the foods from the table on his plate.
Kyo grinned widely, winking first at the drummer, then at Toshiya who nodded. Suddenly, the vocalist let out a long moan and began to pant. "Uuuh yeah, right there Kao," he teased and the bassist instantly joined in. Inhaling the air sharply, he gasped for breath. "Faster Die ... harder, deeper." The red on the older guitarist's cheeks deepened and he didn't dare to look up. He would've dearly wanted to laugh out loud, showing that this scene didn't bother him, but his throat was like laced up.
The redhead had just been drinking, and now managed to spit all of the orange juice onto the table, dropping the glass with a loud bang. The red on his face matched the other guitarist's, as he momentarily panicked and didn't know what to do. Shinya was smirking widely, and added when the other two paused for a few seconds. "The walls are awfully thin here. But I'm glad to know you had fun. It sounded like you needed it."
"Desperately," the vocalist added smirking. He and the bassist had stopped their performance to wet their dry mouths with some juice. "Die, you should make Kao do whatever he did yesterday more often. You're so much less cranky than usually," Toshiya stated chuckling and patted the redhead's back. Kaoru was still paralyzed and tried to come up with a clever and funny reply, but his brains were empty.
Die coughed, turning his head to smile at the bassist. It came out as a forced grin though. Swiftly he turned away, pointing at the other side of the table. "Could someone pass me the bread, please." The drummer had been about to say something, but fell silent, frowning thoughtfully. They had been talking before the guitarists came into the room, and decided the others had just given an audio show to fool them or something. But the thing was, now he wasn't so sure anymore, since both Kaoru and Die seemed to be honestly embarrassed.
To Toshiya, it was still clear that the guitarists had tried to trick them and when he handed Die the bread, he smirked. "Say Die, do think that was enough for your bad mood to disappear or shall we leave you alone all day?" The bassist's comment made Die sigh frustratedly, and mumble under his breath something like "You can start by disappearing right now yourself." He poured himself more juice, immediately taking a long sip and trying to calm himself down. It was bad enough that he didn't know how to act around the older guitarist, but now their friends were all even dropping comments about it.
Kyo had noticed that the drummer didn't comment anymore, as well as it hadn't passed him by that the blushes on both guitarists' faces were quite believable. However, he decided it had been nothing but a huge joke. Smirking, he addressed their leader who clung to his coffee mug, his gaze locked at his hands. "So Kao, a gentleman doesn't kiss and tell, huh?" Slowly, the older guitarist looked up, forcing a smile on his lips, but didn't answer.
Kyo and Toshiya had stopped their show and allowed all of them to eat in peace. Just as Kaoru had begun to relax a bit and had pulled himself together enough to ask Die for some more coffee, it started again. "Kyo darling, would you be so kind and hand me the butter?" the bassist piped. "Sure love, there you go." Kyo did as he was told and blew exaggerated kisses in the air left and right to Toshi's cheeks.
The redheaded guitarist simply tried to ignore the others, turning to Shinya, addressing him. "You and Tosh talked something about going out all of us tonight. So what's the plan?" He hoped that he could distract the others with changing the subject. The drummer nodded, deciding he could have mercy on the other and answered the question without any hints or mocking comments. "We found a small bowling alley a bit further away and thought we'd go there."
"That sounds great." Kaoru nodded hastily, glad that they finally had found something else to talk about. "Did you already reserve for us? I mean, there's not much else to do in this small town, so many others might get the same idea." Spending some fun time together with all of them sounded tempting. That way, he wouldn't have to deal with his insecurity towards Die. It would give him some time to think this through properly and he was hoping that everything would turn out naturally just by itself.
"Yeah, we did." Shinya turned to look at the bandleader. "We need to go there a bit after 6 pm." Die nodded silently, glad that they would go out and he wouldn't have to spend the whole evening in the hotel room with Kaoru, trying to guess what he was supposed to say and how to act. Maybe this all would turn out well eventually.
"Sounds perfect." Kaoru smiled relieved, finished first his coffee, then his juice and stood up. "I might come there directly. I have some things to attend and need to do some shopping and am not sure if I'm back before or not, so don't wait for me." He nodded once at everybody, his gaze resting a split second longer on the redhead, before he turned around to leave. Inwardly, he cursed himself for using such a cheap excuse to escape. Never in his whole life had he acted like that, but he was too afraid that the last night had damaged the friendship to Die and he needed to think of a way how it could be fixed again. After sorting his thoughts, he would talk to the other, that was for sure.
Deep in his thoughts Die looked after the older guitarist even when he had vanished through the door already. He snapped back to reality as Toshiya coughed, winking at him as he turned to look at him. The redhead turned back to his plate swiftly, intending on finishing the breakfast so he could flee the scenery. Somehow he was now even more confused than a moment ago, as he wasn't able to interpret the look the lead guitarist had given him. All he could do was to hope they could fix their relations after this.
**********
The other three remained sitting at the table even after Die had left for the room he shared with the lead-guitarist. Kyo scratched his head and frowned thoughtfully. The two guitarists had indeed acted quite weird that morning. Maybe their mocking had been a bit too much. Still, he was convinced that the others had tried to fool them first. "I dunno. Die might not be cranky anymore, but I'm not sure if I like him better like this," he gave away quietly. Toshiya arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Well, he didn't even laugh at one of our jokes and he was very quiet, don't you think?" The bassist curled his nose and shook his head. "Well, I guess they just didn't get enough sleep. They were too busy giving us an audioshow. Who knows, maybe they had a party to which we weren't invited."
Shinya pondered silently for several moments, before coughing and waiting for the others to turn their attention towards him. "Guys, I shouldn't maybe be telling this, but I trust you won't be giving the info away to anyone." He looked rather serious, as he paused for a moment to search for words. "What if it wasn't a show?"
Both of the others were staring at him disbelievingly before bursting out in roaring laughter. "Good one, Shin. You almost fooled me," Kyo admitted, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
The drummer sighed, clearly annoyed since the others weren't taking him seriously. "Honestly guys, they might've really done it."
"C'mon Shin," giggled Toshiya, "you can't be serious. There's nobody more straight on this planet than Kao and Die." Kyo had calmed down a bit and put his hand on the drummer's arm. "They fooled you. I bet they are hanging on the phone right now, talk to each other, and make guesses if their little show was successful or not."
"Die's not straight." The words escaped Shinya before he even realized he was talking, and he quickly added as he noticed what he had said. "I mean completely. He kinda goes both ways."
Kyo and Toshiya were gasping simultaneously, both of their jaws dropping a few inches. "No way... Die? Our Die? How'd you know?" the vocalist asked after he had collected his senses.
The drummer hung his head, biting his lower lip softly before going on. "I've seen him kiss a guy before." He was a bit uneasy to talk about this since technically it wasn't their business. That was why he had kept the information to himself in the first place, since Die probably wouldn’t be happy to know he’d seen him kiss some random guy.
In a sloppy gesture, Toshiya hit the back of the drummer's head. "Damn you Shin, why didn't you tell us before?" Kyo decided to answer that one "Duh, because it's none of our business really." He turned to face the drummer again, this time sounding less secure. "So you think they could've really done it? I mean, even if Die likes it both ways, what's with Kao?"
"I don't know." Shinya shook his head, sighing again as he wasn't really sure about anything. "All I know is that Die isn't completely straight, and that they both looked terribly embarrassed just some moments ago. Those blushes weren't faked."
"Maybe they were just watching porn together?" Toshiya suggested more quiet. He had no idea what he was supposed to think about the imagination of their guitarists having sex together and had to admit that it confused and overextended him. "And jerked off," the vocalist added. He thought that this would be a plausible explanation why both had been blushing and still didn't have anything going. After all, they were best friends. That was something one wouldn't risk for a one-night-stand.
"Might be." Shinya shrugged. He honestly didn't know what to think, as this all was based on guesses. It was true that Die and Kaoru spent a lot time together, but never ever had there been even the tiniest hint that there might be something else than friendship between them. So why the sudden change? "Look, I really don't know and this all is just speculation. I'm just saying that it's possible that something really happened."
"I don't know..." Kyo thought aloud, "even if something happened, it's their business and we just have to wait and see what's coming of this." He took a huge gulp from his juice and lit himself a cigarette afterwards. "Let's not worry. I bet tonight they are back to normal and try to surpass each other with mean comments about their bowling play."
The drummer laughed, remembering the last time they had been bowling together all five of them. "I guess you're right. And when they start to mock each other's playing we always win them since they lose their ability to concentrate."
"You mean I win," interrupted Toshiya grinning. The mood had loosened up and the three decided to wait for the evening and see how the guitarists would act around each other. Kyo still refused to believe that there had been anything happening between them. He was sure, that the guitarists wanted to pay them back for the several times they had pranked them. But he had to admit that they were quite convincing though.
**********
Die spent almost all of the day in the hotel room, simply trying to figure out what would happen next. He didn't want the friendship between him and the older guitarist to vanish, that was for sure. But the more he thought about it, the more confused he became. What if he wanted to have more from the other than the friendship they shared? And how would Kaoru think about this all? He calmed his mind by deciding to talk to him in the evening after the bowling, since something surely needed to be done. Still he didn't want to meet the other before they'd be safely around their friends, and left outside.
As he had told his bandmates, Kaoru had gone shopping and then strolled aimlessly through the streets. The town was a small shithole indeed and there wasn't much to do for him, nothing to distract him from his nagging thoughts. Whenever something red met his eyes, it instantly reminded him of his friend. Finally, he had decided to be honest with himself and admitted that what they had shared the other night had been more to him then just satisfying carnal needs. He had enjoyed it and now another problem appeared. A question he couldn't answer, no matter how often he went through the possibilities in his mind. Was he gay, or at least bisexual. And if yes, was this feeling only attached to Die or a general thing he just happened to notice now?
Without realizing it, he had walked all the way back to the hotel. Hesitating outside a few moments, he finally gathered his courage and decided to talk to the other guitarist right away. A bit disappointed, he noticed that Die had gone out and so he dropped down on his bed and grabbed the book he still hadn't begun to read. However, his thoughts were trailing off and he caught himself reading the first paragraph over and over until he put the book aside and closed his eyes. Again, he was thinking.
The redhead simply wandered around aimlessly in the streets, lost deep in his thoughts. As he had admitted to the other already, he had had his experiments with men previously. Not many though, at least when he thought about it he remembered three guys he had had something going on with, and all those had been really short affairs. Although it would've been possible to just throw the past night into the same category, a part of him knew it had meant more to him than that. The problem was, he didn't know how much exactly it had meant to him. Or what it had meant to Kaoru.
For hours he went through all these things in his mind, again and again, until he noticed it was already a quarter past 6 in the evening. He dug out his mobile phone, calling the bassist to ask where exactly the bowling alley was, before heading there, praying that things would go more normally this time.
The others were awaiting him, all already dressed in those stylish rented shoes. They had ordered beer and were chatting merrily when Die approached them. "Hey mr. tardy," kyo greeted grinning and offered him a beer. Kaoru smiled too, determined to act natural around the other. He thought they had been acting like teenagers and tried to push aside his insecurity. "Gotten astray?" he teased mockingly.
"I was just thinking." Die shrugged it off, thanking the vocalist for the beer before taking a long sip and plopping to sit down on the nearest seat. He didn't mention what he had been thinking though, and decided to try and be as natural as possible. "Gimme the shoes." He gestured for the bassist, kicking his normal shoes away.
"Thank you Toshiya for being so kind and organizing me some at least decent looking bowling shoes," the bassist said sarcastically before doing as he had been told.
"Thanks." The redhead grinned, slipping his feet into the shoes as soon as he got them. "What would I do without you?"
"You'd have to start thinking on your own?" the younger man answered vaguely. "So, do we team up or is it everybody against everybody?" Kyo asked, got up and tried the bowling ball he had chosen for him. It was a light, small one for children and bright green.
"How would you suggest we'd team up then?" The drummer asked, standing a few steps away from them, trying to decide which ball he wanted to use.
"Dunno," Kyo shrugged and then grinned. "I'd pick your team though. You're good."
Toshiya pouted "But I always win," he contradicted whining.
"Yeah, but you are not a good team player."
Kaoru eyed the scenery silently for a second and then spoke up. "How about Die and I against you three? The best game counts." He thought that way he would be able to test his friend's reactions towards him and see if he was angry or acting weird.
The redhead nodded, standing up and going to pick a ball for himself as well. "Sounds fine with me. That way I'll at least be in the winning team." The comment earned him a light punch from Shinya, who happened to stand beside him. "Watch it. You've never won us."
"Well, only because we held back so far, right Die?" Kaoru laughed, took his ball and swung it a couple of times, testing the weight. "More like not being focused enough," the vocalist mocked and stepped on the alley. "I begin." Without further discussion, he swung the ball, aiming for the centre of the pins. Before the ball reached its goal, he turned around, walking back to the others. The sound of falling pins reached his ears and he grinned "Strike." Coolly, he sat back down, gesturing for Shinya to make a cross on his game-sheet.
Shinya did as he was told to, and nodded towards Die next. "Your turn." The redhead got up immediately, trying to focus on the task at hand. He couldn't help but to try and cast a glance at the older guitarist when passing by, as he still was nervous how to act around him. The dissorted thoughts managed to distract him with the throw as well, and he only got three pins down.
"You got a second one," Kaoru reminded him grinning. "You still look like a girl when you aim," he teased in the attempt to act as usual. They always had been mocking each other, fooling around, but this time, it didn't come easy to the older guitarist and he had to think about his words beforehand. Actually, he had caught himself staring at the other's butt for a second and immediately blushed when he realized it.
Die blushed a tiny bit, but managed to cover it by bending down to take his ball. "I do not!" He defended himself, trying to sound cheerie. His other attempt was better already, and he managed to get all the pins but one. When coming back he hesitated for a moment, but as the nearest free seat was beside the lead guitarist he decided that he could damn well deal with this whole thing and sat there.
Kaoru managed to form a believable grin and winked. "You at least throw like one." He reached past the other for his beer, flinching when he noticed how close their faces were to each other. The smile was gone and he quickly took a few gulps, searching for the bassist with his eyes. "Forget it Tosh, you won't win today." The answer was a bright pink tongue, poked out at the guitarists. "You'll see."
"We'll see how you whine after you get your ass kicked." Die grinned, gesturing for the bassist to get moving. "Go on and try your best." He had noticed though how the lead guitarist's smile had vanished, and he couldn't help but to feel a bit nervous again. The other's proximity did the same as well, and even increased his nervousness.
Almost by the way, the slender bassist striked for his team again and turned around with a wide smirk. "Mess with the best and die like the rest." Kaoru rolled his eyes and sighed theatrically. "I see, I have to save our butts again." He clapped his hands and got up. In passing by the redhead, a cloud of his cologne engulfed him and the smell again reminded him of their night. It caused his thoughts to trail off and he only hit the rail with his first aim. "Goddammit!" Cursing and swearing, he waited for his ball to reappear, glaring at the vocalist who was smirking widely.
Die sighed, both at the other's failure and his own nervousness. He didn't like this at all, how he still wasn't capable of acting completely natural around the older man. Shinya had been silent for some time, only watching all the others, and it bothered him that there was this much tension between the guitarists. He didn't want to mess with other people's business, but if this wouldn't get sorted out soon he feared there might be more troubles ahead.
When the ball appeared again, Kaoru instantly took it, strolling towards the alley. He closed his eyes for a second, holding the ball at the same level as his chest. After taking a deep breath, he bent down and carefully dropped the ball. It slowly rolled towards the pins, hit and striked. Of course it was only a spare, because it was his second try, but better than nothing. Smiling relieved, the older practically danced towards his team-mate, holding up his hand for a high-five.
For a moment Die actually forgot all the awkwardness, jumping up from his seat and cheering as the other managed with the second try. "Way to go old man!"
As a usual reaction to being called like that, Kaoru slapped his friend's head playfully. "I give you old." They could waltz this discussion back and forth and this time it gave them some kind of security, something comforting and steady that made them act naturally for some moments again.
"I'd like to see that." The redhead chuckled, utterly relieved that the tension seemed to fade. Even Shinya was smiling on his seat, thankful that things seemed to turn to the better. It was his turn next though, and he calmly striked without any hesitation.
They drank a couple of more beers and the mood seemed to become more and more relaxed. As expected, Shinya and Toshiya were leading the field. It had been Kao's turn again, an important throw for either Die or he needed a strike again to have at least still a chance to win. He concentrated and managed to strike. Utterly relieved and bouncy, he did a little victory dance and launched himself at the redhead's lap, back first. "Did you see that? Did you see that? That's how it goes!" he yelled, but when he turned his head, he hushed instantly. It was clearly obvious for everybody that there was something odd between the guitarists. Kyo threw a knowing glance towards Shinya, nodding slowly.
Die's grin slowly faded away, but as soon as he noticed it he forced it back, ruffling the older's hair. "Maybe you aren't such a crippled old-timer after all." He couldn't help but to be utterly nervous though, especially since the whole place seemed to be dead silent then. Shinya answered to the vocalist's glance, nodding as well. He hoped he'd get the chance to exchange a few words with Kyo about this later.
As if it had never been gone, the smile was back on the older man's lips and he bit the air, aiming for Die's nose. "You can prove your abilities in a second. Then we talk again about cripples and oldies," he piped and quickly got off the other. He couldn't help but to feel watched by their other three bandmates and tried to avoid their questioning glances, knowing all too well that he acted
strangely.
It was Shinya's turn next, and after his strike there technically wasn't any possibilities for the guitarists to win anymore. Die tried his best nevertheless, and managed to strike. He was grinning widely although they lost, perfectly happy 'cause of the last good throw. "Now that we've had the practice round, next time we'll surely beat the shit out of you three."
"You bet we will," Kaoru agreed nodding and waited for his friends to tell them who had won, Toshiya or Shinya. The drummer had two points more and thus had won for the team. However, even Kyo had been better than Kao and Die, so they were truly last. "We'll show you where you truly belong," winked Kyo, getting up from his seat. "Anybody else another beer?" The two guitarists nodded eagerly, as well as the bassist. "Shin, mind to help carrying?" It was obvious, at least for the drummer and for Toshiya, that Kyo wanted to talk to the youngest in private.
Shinya nodded, immediately getting up from his seat and following the vocalist. The poor bassist was left alone with the guitarists, who had both fallen silent for the moment, trying to figure out what to say next to seem normal. They were perfectly aware of the awkward pause in all conversation, but couldn't do anything due to the nervousness before Toshiya began to babble merrily, trying to distract them all.
Once they were out of earshot, Kyo addressed the drummer without looking at him. "So, I guess you were right. It wasn't a joke."
"We can't be sure." Shinya tried silently, but knew it was a weak attempt and there clearly was something out of usual.
The vocalist stopped, grabbing him by the arm. "We can. If they'd only watched porn and jerked off or whatever, they wouldn't act like that. Did you notice, whenever everything seemed to be fine again, they suddenly became silent and stopped in their movement. That's more than suspicious." He had lowered his voice, not wanting any uninvited listeners to overhear their conversation.
"And they avoided looking straight at each other, but both were staring when the other didn't notice." The drummer sighed, nodding silently as an agreement. "I know."
"Oh my god," Kyo sounded truly desperate, "what if they begin to hate each other? And what if they really fall in love?" He was afraid that, no matter how everything would turn out, it could have a bad effect on the band. Well, maybe not the latter, but definitely the first.
"I don't know." Shinya shook his head, sounding horribly confused. He feared that if the guitarists just acted like nothing happened then this awkward situation would eventually affect them all and prevent both, their working together and hanging out as friends. "I guess the main thing is that they should solve this fast, before it'll affect their work and us all."
"You're right. They are both grown ups and hell, sex is sex, right? They shouldn't let it affect them or us." The small blonde forced a smile on his face, nudging the drummer to continue their way to the bar. "If they still act like that before and after the show tomorrow, I will put my foot down," he said determinedly and nodded to emphasize the seriousness.
"Maybe we should wait a few days and see how it develops." Shinya followed his friend, chewing on his bottom lip thoughtfully. "But we need to be sure not to wait too long."
"You're great Shin," the other snorted sarcastically, "Then you tell me when the moment comes to kick their asses and I'll be glad to do it then." Actually, Kyo had no idea how to act or react on that and was tempted to say it was none of their business. After all, Kaoru and Die were professional enough not to let things like that affect the band, weren't they?
"Don't you mock me." The drummer couldn't help but to chuckle a bit at the other's words. He had similar thoughts, and he would've really wanted just to forget about all this.
"I'm sorry." It didn't sound too serious though and Kyo grinned broadly. "Let's give them some time to sort things out and make sure Toshi stops mocking them." He thought that if they left them in peace, the guitarists would manage to solve the problem on their own, preferably without their interfering.
"That sounds fair enough." The younger nodded. After they had received the beers they headed back, only to find the bassist talking alone and two uneasy guitarists trying to look polite and listen to him.
Both of them seemed to be glad when Kyo and Shinya arrived back and grabbed a beer from their hands. By that time, Kaoru felt more like getting senselessly drunk rather than to play another match of bowling with his friends, but he got a grip on himself and smiled. "We've been waiting for you."
Die downed a half of the beer in one gulp, before looking up to his friends. "To be completely honest, I'd say let's leave the other match to some other day. I don't quite feel like playing right now." Honestly he felt like he wanted to get the hell outta there and drink his worries away in some other place.
Toshi wanted to complain, already opening his mouth. A dark glance from the vocalist silenced him however and he arched a questioning eyebrow. Glad that Die had brought this up, Kaoru agreed nodding. "Yeah, let's leave the match for another day if you don't mind." He threw a short glance at the redhead and thought that the minibar of their room wouldn't survive the night.
Shinya smiled, sitting down on one of the empty seats. "No problem. We'll beat you anyways." He took a glance at Die first, and then at Kaoru, and as both seemed still a bit uneasy he thought he'd try to distract them. "You guys hungry? We could get something to eat."
The older guitarist smiled wearily. "Not really." He sighed deeply, lost in thoughts for a moment. "Actually, I'm not feeling too well and think I should go to bed." Again, he was lying and hated himself for it, but he really was confused, the urge to either talk to Die alone or just drink himself unconscious becoming unbearable.
Die couldn't suppress a small relieved sigh, as he definitely wanted to get out of here. But then he remembered that he had to share a hotel room with the older guitarist, and instantly tensed, not wanting to be alone with him. "Well, I'm a bit hungry, so if someone wants to come with me we could snatch something?"
"I'm hungry as hell," Kyo said grinning. "So I'm in." Toshiya nodded too and threw a questioning glance at the lead guitarist. "You manage to go back on your own? Because I'd like something to eat as well." The older guitarist couldn't hide the obvious relief in his voice when he answered. "Sure I manage. I'm old enough and only have a little headache." He got up, smiling. "Have a nice one then and see you tomorrow."
"I can come with you if you want to." Shinya offered, turning to the lead guitarist. Die had already stood up, relieved to get something to eat and a short break from being so close to the bandleader.
Kaoru froze in his movement, an inaudible 'damn' on his lips. He turned around and grinned. "No need Shin. Just go with the others if you want. You surely should eat something."
A bit reluctantly the drummer nodded. He had hoped the oldest might talk to him if he'd try to get a conversation going alone. But he didn't want to push and gave in. "Okay. So see you later then."
Thankfully, the older turned around again and retreated quickly before one of the others could change his mind. He simply needed some time alone before he would have to face Die again. Kyo put his hand on the drummer's shoulder, whispering into his ear "Nice try."
"Could've been better." Shinya shrugged, before following the others as they went on to search for a cheap and good place to eat something.
Basically, the others were talking, trying to get a casual conversation going while Die simply sat there, staring holes into nothingness. It didn't pass the others by unnoticed, but they were ignoring it, only addressing him occasionally.
After they all had gotten themselves stuffed with burgers, Die decided he needed to talk to Kaoru after all. He still didn't want to, but he realized that if he'd still wait it'd be even more difficult. Standing up swiftly he offered the others an insecure smile. "Well, I think I should get some sleep..."
"Get going. It's not the same when you're getting older ne?" Toshiya mocked grinning and waved his hand. "Just make sure not to break any of your rotten bones." Kyo and Shinya joined his laughter, trying to make it easier on the redhead.
The redhead managed to even chuckle, waving at the others. "Just talk. I know you're only envious." He turned on his heels, heading outside as soon as possible.
Immediately after entering his hotel room, Kaoru had opened the mini bar, searching for the heavy stuff. After two double whiskeys, vodka and something that tasted awfully sweet, he had calmed down enough to think things through once again. Only that this time the alcohol brought back the feelings he had gone through last night along with the images which only confused him more and made him open the bar again.
Die was almost sober as he opened the door to the hotel room, the few beers not really able to affect him in any way. The lead guitarist was sitting beside the minibar when he got in, and it made him stop in the doorframe. "Hi." Die smiled insecurely. "I thought you went to sleep."
Kaoru flinched, almost jumping up a bit. He hadn't heard the other guitarst, too lost in the decision over two exotic looking liquors in his hands. Offering him a smile, his cheeks flushed and eyes a bit glossy already, he giggled. "Nah, the thought of overly expensive vodka was more tempting than sleep."
"I hope you saved some for me as well." The redhead chuckled, kicking his shoes off and taking the few steps that separated them. He plopped down to sit on the floor in front of the minibar, taking a look at the stuff inside.
"Well ...," The older guitarist reached inside the bar and whooshed all the small bottles outside with his arm. "There's still enough for both of us, I guess." He searched for something and made a small victorious sound when he found it. "Here, try that one." Grinning, he held up a black bottle with a red chilli pepper on the label. "It's good."
Die simply nodded, trusting the other's decision and taking a sip straight from the bottle. "It is." He nodded, focusing on the label. "I have to remember this one."
"Never seen it before." With sparkling eyes, Kaoru reached for a can with salted peanuts. As he ripped it open, he managed to spill half of its content on the floor and even to cut his thumb on the lid. "Goddammit!"
"How much did you drink already?" Without looking at the other Die began to collect the peanuts from the floor to occupy himself somehow.
Shrugging, Kaoru wordlessly pointed at a heap of empty bottles at his side. "A bit."
"A bit?" The redhead couldn't help but to laugh at his friend. "That's quite a lot, Kao. I need to be quick to catch up with you."
"You can't anymore." The older guitarist giggled merrily and shook his head. "Because I'm not quitting yet."
"We'll see. I'm swift." The younger grinned. Suddenly he fell silent though, swallowing hard and trying to find a way to begin. He simply needed to talk about what had happened between them. "Kao, we need to talk. About last night."
The words had the effect of an ice cold shower and Kaoru felt sober instantly. "I know." His voice had become quiet and he finally looked up to meet the other's gaze. Collecting all his courage, he took a deep breath. "Nothing changed, right? I mean, we're still friends, aren't we?" He simply needed the redhead to confirm his words, to tell him that they still could act like they had before, although he wasn't sure if that was what he truly wanted. But he guessed it was what Die wanted and that counted.
"Of course." Die nodded instantly. He pushed back the slight feeling of disappointment, convincing himself that it would be the best to try and go back to where they'd been before all this. They would still remain friends, and it would be better than nothing. Definitely better.
"Good then." The older guitarist nodded as well, but had to avert his gaze. Somehow he had anticipated the other to say something else, to contradict and tell him that it indeed had changed something. To get rid of the uncomfortable feeling, he rose his bottle and smiled at the younger man "To friendship."
The redhead smiled as well, trying to look as honest as possible. "To friendship." With that he took a long sip from his bottle, deciding that now was the time to get seriously drunk.
Kaoru wasn't far from it already and together, they managed to kill the remains of the minibar. Neither of them even wasting one thought about the amount of money those drinks cost them.
After hours of drinking and only a few exchanged words Die simply fell asleep on the floor. At least the worries would be gone until the next morning.
Kaoru followed his example, simply passing out where he sat and falling into an oblivious sleep. He had curled up in a tight ball, not even noticing that he lay partly on empty bottles, his head pillowed on his arms.
**********
Author:
seinen_no and fonulynRating: PG13
Pairing: Die and Kaoru
Disclaimer: No one owns anyone and it sucks.
Comments: Well, this is the sequel we promised for “ With a little help from my friend ”. Apologies for taking so long with it^^
seinen_no: Okay, fonulyn told me to add my comment first. I tell you, she only wants to have the last word^^ We had so much fun writing the first part, that we smoothly went on with it, determined not to leave it at that So, this is the second part and a third will follow soon too (as long as I'm not signed to edit it first.. I'm so slow). And since I dunno what else I should say, I shut up and retreat in a cloud of smoke. fonulyn: Heh, and damn right I wanted to have the last word. Well, actually I dunno why though, since I have nothing really clever to say. Except that we really enjoyed writing this and hopefully you’ll enjoy reading it as much^^ Two parts will follow after this still but that will be it then^^ Go on, read it!Kaoru had woken up early the next morning. The thoughts about the happenings of the past night had denied him a peaceful sleep and he practically hadn't closed one eye. After making sure that Die was still buried under his blanket, obviously fast asleep, he got up and dressed. It had become a habit, that the band took breakfast together, but he still had some time until then. He wasn't ready to face the redhead again and thus decided to take a walk in the small park that belonged to the hotel, to meet the others later without returning to his room first.
As usual, Die didn't wake up before his mobile phone started beeping, signalling that it was time for him to drag his bones up and get ready for breakfast. He hated the mornings since he wouldn't have wanted to wake up early, but still he wasn't as grumpy as usually right now. When he opened his eyes he didn't yet remember the past happenings, his sleepy brains only trying to form a clear thought. But as soon as he swiftly sat up and the burning pain shot up from his lower back he remembered; remembered every single detail and it made him nervous instantly. Where was the older man, and how should they act around each other now? With a huge sigh Die got up, knowing he should hurry not to miss the breakfast.
Coincidentally, both guitarists entered the small restaurant at the same time. Kaoru offered a faint smile for the other and they approached the table together. Shinya, Toshiya and Kyo were already waiting, chatting merrily. When they beheld the two eldest, they hushed and stilled in their movements.
Shinya looked at the two for long, obviously trying to suppress the smile that tried to break free. "So finally you two arrive. We already thought you'd be too tired after last night." The redheaded guitarist tried to ignore the words, but couldn't help that a barely noticeable blush appeared on his cheeks as he silently sat down beside the drummer. Kaoru's blush was very well visible, but he tried to act casual, sat down and instantly began to collect some of the foods from the table on his plate.
Kyo grinned widely, winking first at the drummer, then at Toshiya who nodded. Suddenly, the vocalist let out a long moan and began to pant. "Uuuh yeah, right there Kao," he teased and the bassist instantly joined in. Inhaling the air sharply, he gasped for breath. "Faster Die ... harder, deeper." The red on the older guitarist's cheeks deepened and he didn't dare to look up. He would've dearly wanted to laugh out loud, showing that this scene didn't bother him, but his throat was like laced up.
The redhead had just been drinking, and now managed to spit all of the orange juice onto the table, dropping the glass with a loud bang. The red on his face matched the other guitarist's, as he momentarily panicked and didn't know what to do. Shinya was smirking widely, and added when the other two paused for a few seconds. "The walls are awfully thin here. But I'm glad to know you had fun. It sounded like you needed it."
"Desperately," the vocalist added smirking. He and the bassist had stopped their performance to wet their dry mouths with some juice. "Die, you should make Kao do whatever he did yesterday more often. You're so much less cranky than usually," Toshiya stated chuckling and patted the redhead's back. Kaoru was still paralyzed and tried to come up with a clever and funny reply, but his brains were empty.
Die coughed, turning his head to smile at the bassist. It came out as a forced grin though. Swiftly he turned away, pointing at the other side of the table. "Could someone pass me the bread, please." The drummer had been about to say something, but fell silent, frowning thoughtfully. They had been talking before the guitarists came into the room, and decided the others had just given an audio show to fool them or something. But the thing was, now he wasn't so sure anymore, since both Kaoru and Die seemed to be honestly embarrassed.
To Toshiya, it was still clear that the guitarists had tried to trick them and when he handed Die the bread, he smirked. "Say Die, do think that was enough for your bad mood to disappear or shall we leave you alone all day?" The bassist's comment made Die sigh frustratedly, and mumble under his breath something like "You can start by disappearing right now yourself." He poured himself more juice, immediately taking a long sip and trying to calm himself down. It was bad enough that he didn't know how to act around the older guitarist, but now their friends were all even dropping comments about it.
Kyo had noticed that the drummer didn't comment anymore, as well as it hadn't passed him by that the blushes on both guitarists' faces were quite believable. However, he decided it had been nothing but a huge joke. Smirking, he addressed their leader who clung to his coffee mug, his gaze locked at his hands. "So Kao, a gentleman doesn't kiss and tell, huh?" Slowly, the older guitarist looked up, forcing a smile on his lips, but didn't answer.
Kyo and Toshiya had stopped their show and allowed all of them to eat in peace. Just as Kaoru had begun to relax a bit and had pulled himself together enough to ask Die for some more coffee, it started again. "Kyo darling, would you be so kind and hand me the butter?" the bassist piped. "Sure love, there you go." Kyo did as he was told and blew exaggerated kisses in the air left and right to Toshi's cheeks.
The redheaded guitarist simply tried to ignore the others, turning to Shinya, addressing him. "You and Tosh talked something about going out all of us tonight. So what's the plan?" He hoped that he could distract the others with changing the subject. The drummer nodded, deciding he could have mercy on the other and answered the question without any hints or mocking comments. "We found a small bowling alley a bit further away and thought we'd go there."
"That sounds great." Kaoru nodded hastily, glad that they finally had found something else to talk about. "Did you already reserve for us? I mean, there's not much else to do in this small town, so many others might get the same idea." Spending some fun time together with all of them sounded tempting. That way, he wouldn't have to deal with his insecurity towards Die. It would give him some time to think this through properly and he was hoping that everything would turn out naturally just by itself.
"Yeah, we did." Shinya turned to look at the bandleader. "We need to go there a bit after 6 pm." Die nodded silently, glad that they would go out and he wouldn't have to spend the whole evening in the hotel room with Kaoru, trying to guess what he was supposed to say and how to act. Maybe this all would turn out well eventually.
"Sounds perfect." Kaoru smiled relieved, finished first his coffee, then his juice and stood up. "I might come there directly. I have some things to attend and need to do some shopping and am not sure if I'm back before or not, so don't wait for me." He nodded once at everybody, his gaze resting a split second longer on the redhead, before he turned around to leave. Inwardly, he cursed himself for using such a cheap excuse to escape. Never in his whole life had he acted like that, but he was too afraid that the last night had damaged the friendship to Die and he needed to think of a way how it could be fixed again. After sorting his thoughts, he would talk to the other, that was for sure.
Deep in his thoughts Die looked after the older guitarist even when he had vanished through the door already. He snapped back to reality as Toshiya coughed, winking at him as he turned to look at him. The redhead turned back to his plate swiftly, intending on finishing the breakfast so he could flee the scenery. Somehow he was now even more confused than a moment ago, as he wasn't able to interpret the look the lead guitarist had given him. All he could do was to hope they could fix their relations after this.
The other three remained sitting at the table even after Die had left for the room he shared with the lead-guitarist. Kyo scratched his head and frowned thoughtfully. The two guitarists had indeed acted quite weird that morning. Maybe their mocking had been a bit too much. Still, he was convinced that the others had tried to fool them first. "I dunno. Die might not be cranky anymore, but I'm not sure if I like him better like this," he gave away quietly. Toshiya arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Well, he didn't even laugh at one of our jokes and he was very quiet, don't you think?" The bassist curled his nose and shook his head. "Well, I guess they just didn't get enough sleep. They were too busy giving us an audioshow. Who knows, maybe they had a party to which we weren't invited."
Shinya pondered silently for several moments, before coughing and waiting for the others to turn their attention towards him. "Guys, I shouldn't maybe be telling this, but I trust you won't be giving the info away to anyone." He looked rather serious, as he paused for a moment to search for words. "What if it wasn't a show?"
Both of the others were staring at him disbelievingly before bursting out in roaring laughter. "Good one, Shin. You almost fooled me," Kyo admitted, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
The drummer sighed, clearly annoyed since the others weren't taking him seriously. "Honestly guys, they might've really done it."
"C'mon Shin," giggled Toshiya, "you can't be serious. There's nobody more straight on this planet than Kao and Die." Kyo had calmed down a bit and put his hand on the drummer's arm. "They fooled you. I bet they are hanging on the phone right now, talk to each other, and make guesses if their little show was successful or not."
"Die's not straight." The words escaped Shinya before he even realized he was talking, and he quickly added as he noticed what he had said. "I mean completely. He kinda goes both ways."
Kyo and Toshiya were gasping simultaneously, both of their jaws dropping a few inches. "No way... Die? Our Die? How'd you know?" the vocalist asked after he had collected his senses.
The drummer hung his head, biting his lower lip softly before going on. "I've seen him kiss a guy before." He was a bit uneasy to talk about this since technically it wasn't their business. That was why he had kept the information to himself in the first place, since Die probably wouldn’t be happy to know he’d seen him kiss some random guy.
In a sloppy gesture, Toshiya hit the back of the drummer's head. "Damn you Shin, why didn't you tell us before?" Kyo decided to answer that one "Duh, because it's none of our business really." He turned to face the drummer again, this time sounding less secure. "So you think they could've really done it? I mean, even if Die likes it both ways, what's with Kao?"
"I don't know." Shinya shook his head, sighing again as he wasn't really sure about anything. "All I know is that Die isn't completely straight, and that they both looked terribly embarrassed just some moments ago. Those blushes weren't faked."
"Maybe they were just watching porn together?" Toshiya suggested more quiet. He had no idea what he was supposed to think about the imagination of their guitarists having sex together and had to admit that it confused and overextended him. "And jerked off," the vocalist added. He thought that this would be a plausible explanation why both had been blushing and still didn't have anything going. After all, they were best friends. That was something one wouldn't risk for a one-night-stand.
"Might be." Shinya shrugged. He honestly didn't know what to think, as this all was based on guesses. It was true that Die and Kaoru spent a lot time together, but never ever had there been even the tiniest hint that there might be something else than friendship between them. So why the sudden change? "Look, I really don't know and this all is just speculation. I'm just saying that it's possible that something really happened."
"I don't know..." Kyo thought aloud, "even if something happened, it's their business and we just have to wait and see what's coming of this." He took a huge gulp from his juice and lit himself a cigarette afterwards. "Let's not worry. I bet tonight they are back to normal and try to surpass each other with mean comments about their bowling play."
The drummer laughed, remembering the last time they had been bowling together all five of them. "I guess you're right. And when they start to mock each other's playing we always win them since they lose their ability to concentrate."
"You mean I win," interrupted Toshiya grinning. The mood had loosened up and the three decided to wait for the evening and see how the guitarists would act around each other. Kyo still refused to believe that there had been anything happening between them. He was sure, that the guitarists wanted to pay them back for the several times they had pranked them. But he had to admit that they were quite convincing though.
Die spent almost all of the day in the hotel room, simply trying to figure out what would happen next. He didn't want the friendship between him and the older guitarist to vanish, that was for sure. But the more he thought about it, the more confused he became. What if he wanted to have more from the other than the friendship they shared? And how would Kaoru think about this all? He calmed his mind by deciding to talk to him in the evening after the bowling, since something surely needed to be done. Still he didn't want to meet the other before they'd be safely around their friends, and left outside.
As he had told his bandmates, Kaoru had gone shopping and then strolled aimlessly through the streets. The town was a small shithole indeed and there wasn't much to do for him, nothing to distract him from his nagging thoughts. Whenever something red met his eyes, it instantly reminded him of his friend. Finally, he had decided to be honest with himself and admitted that what they had shared the other night had been more to him then just satisfying carnal needs. He had enjoyed it and now another problem appeared. A question he couldn't answer, no matter how often he went through the possibilities in his mind. Was he gay, or at least bisexual. And if yes, was this feeling only attached to Die or a general thing he just happened to notice now?
Without realizing it, he had walked all the way back to the hotel. Hesitating outside a few moments, he finally gathered his courage and decided to talk to the other guitarist right away. A bit disappointed, he noticed that Die had gone out and so he dropped down on his bed and grabbed the book he still hadn't begun to read. However, his thoughts were trailing off and he caught himself reading the first paragraph over and over until he put the book aside and closed his eyes. Again, he was thinking.
The redhead simply wandered around aimlessly in the streets, lost deep in his thoughts. As he had admitted to the other already, he had had his experiments with men previously. Not many though, at least when he thought about it he remembered three guys he had had something going on with, and all those had been really short affairs. Although it would've been possible to just throw the past night into the same category, a part of him knew it had meant more to him than that. The problem was, he didn't know how much exactly it had meant to him. Or what it had meant to Kaoru.
For hours he went through all these things in his mind, again and again, until he noticed it was already a quarter past 6 in the evening. He dug out his mobile phone, calling the bassist to ask where exactly the bowling alley was, before heading there, praying that things would go more normally this time.
The others were awaiting him, all already dressed in those stylish rented shoes. They had ordered beer and were chatting merrily when Die approached them. "Hey mr. tardy," kyo greeted grinning and offered him a beer. Kaoru smiled too, determined to act natural around the other. He thought they had been acting like teenagers and tried to push aside his insecurity. "Gotten astray?" he teased mockingly.
"I was just thinking." Die shrugged it off, thanking the vocalist for the beer before taking a long sip and plopping to sit down on the nearest seat. He didn't mention what he had been thinking though, and decided to try and be as natural as possible. "Gimme the shoes." He gestured for the bassist, kicking his normal shoes away.
"Thank you Toshiya for being so kind and organizing me some at least decent looking bowling shoes," the bassist said sarcastically before doing as he had been told.
"Thanks." The redhead grinned, slipping his feet into the shoes as soon as he got them. "What would I do without you?"
"You'd have to start thinking on your own?" the younger man answered vaguely. "So, do we team up or is it everybody against everybody?" Kyo asked, got up and tried the bowling ball he had chosen for him. It was a light, small one for children and bright green.
"How would you suggest we'd team up then?" The drummer asked, standing a few steps away from them, trying to decide which ball he wanted to use.
"Dunno," Kyo shrugged and then grinned. "I'd pick your team though. You're good."
Toshiya pouted "But I always win," he contradicted whining.
"Yeah, but you are not a good team player."
Kaoru eyed the scenery silently for a second and then spoke up. "How about Die and I against you three? The best game counts." He thought that way he would be able to test his friend's reactions towards him and see if he was angry or acting weird.
The redhead nodded, standing up and going to pick a ball for himself as well. "Sounds fine with me. That way I'll at least be in the winning team." The comment earned him a light punch from Shinya, who happened to stand beside him. "Watch it. You've never won us."
"Well, only because we held back so far, right Die?" Kaoru laughed, took his ball and swung it a couple of times, testing the weight. "More like not being focused enough," the vocalist mocked and stepped on the alley. "I begin." Without further discussion, he swung the ball, aiming for the centre of the pins. Before the ball reached its goal, he turned around, walking back to the others. The sound of falling pins reached his ears and he grinned "Strike." Coolly, he sat back down, gesturing for Shinya to make a cross on his game-sheet.
Shinya did as he was told to, and nodded towards Die next. "Your turn." The redhead got up immediately, trying to focus on the task at hand. He couldn't help but to try and cast a glance at the older guitarist when passing by, as he still was nervous how to act around him. The dissorted thoughts managed to distract him with the throw as well, and he only got three pins down.
"You got a second one," Kaoru reminded him grinning. "You still look like a girl when you aim," he teased in the attempt to act as usual. They always had been mocking each other, fooling around, but this time, it didn't come easy to the older guitarist and he had to think about his words beforehand. Actually, he had caught himself staring at the other's butt for a second and immediately blushed when he realized it.
Die blushed a tiny bit, but managed to cover it by bending down to take his ball. "I do not!" He defended himself, trying to sound cheerie. His other attempt was better already, and he managed to get all the pins but one. When coming back he hesitated for a moment, but as the nearest free seat was beside the lead guitarist he decided that he could damn well deal with this whole thing and sat there.
Kaoru managed to form a believable grin and winked. "You at least throw like one." He reached past the other for his beer, flinching when he noticed how close their faces were to each other. The smile was gone and he quickly took a few gulps, searching for the bassist with his eyes. "Forget it Tosh, you won't win today." The answer was a bright pink tongue, poked out at the guitarists. "You'll see."
"We'll see how you whine after you get your ass kicked." Die grinned, gesturing for the bassist to get moving. "Go on and try your best." He had noticed though how the lead guitarist's smile had vanished, and he couldn't help but to feel a bit nervous again. The other's proximity did the same as well, and even increased his nervousness.
Almost by the way, the slender bassist striked for his team again and turned around with a wide smirk. "Mess with the best and die like the rest." Kaoru rolled his eyes and sighed theatrically. "I see, I have to save our butts again." He clapped his hands and got up. In passing by the redhead, a cloud of his cologne engulfed him and the smell again reminded him of their night. It caused his thoughts to trail off and he only hit the rail with his first aim. "Goddammit!" Cursing and swearing, he waited for his ball to reappear, glaring at the vocalist who was smirking widely.
Die sighed, both at the other's failure and his own nervousness. He didn't like this at all, how he still wasn't capable of acting completely natural around the older man. Shinya had been silent for some time, only watching all the others, and it bothered him that there was this much tension between the guitarists. He didn't want to mess with other people's business, but if this wouldn't get sorted out soon he feared there might be more troubles ahead.
When the ball appeared again, Kaoru instantly took it, strolling towards the alley. He closed his eyes for a second, holding the ball at the same level as his chest. After taking a deep breath, he bent down and carefully dropped the ball. It slowly rolled towards the pins, hit and striked. Of course it was only a spare, because it was his second try, but better than nothing. Smiling relieved, the older practically danced towards his team-mate, holding up his hand for a high-five.
For a moment Die actually forgot all the awkwardness, jumping up from his seat and cheering as the other managed with the second try. "Way to go old man!"
As a usual reaction to being called like that, Kaoru slapped his friend's head playfully. "I give you old." They could waltz this discussion back and forth and this time it gave them some kind of security, something comforting and steady that made them act naturally for some moments again.
"I'd like to see that." The redhead chuckled, utterly relieved that the tension seemed to fade. Even Shinya was smiling on his seat, thankful that things seemed to turn to the better. It was his turn next though, and he calmly striked without any hesitation.
They drank a couple of more beers and the mood seemed to become more and more relaxed. As expected, Shinya and Toshiya were leading the field. It had been Kao's turn again, an important throw for either Die or he needed a strike again to have at least still a chance to win. He concentrated and managed to strike. Utterly relieved and bouncy, he did a little victory dance and launched himself at the redhead's lap, back first. "Did you see that? Did you see that? That's how it goes!" he yelled, but when he turned his head, he hushed instantly. It was clearly obvious for everybody that there was something odd between the guitarists. Kyo threw a knowing glance towards Shinya, nodding slowly.
Die's grin slowly faded away, but as soon as he noticed it he forced it back, ruffling the older's hair. "Maybe you aren't such a crippled old-timer after all." He couldn't help but to be utterly nervous though, especially since the whole place seemed to be dead silent then. Shinya answered to the vocalist's glance, nodding as well. He hoped he'd get the chance to exchange a few words with Kyo about this later.
As if it had never been gone, the smile was back on the older man's lips and he bit the air, aiming for Die's nose. "You can prove your abilities in a second. Then we talk again about cripples and oldies," he piped and quickly got off the other. He couldn't help but to feel watched by their other three bandmates and tried to avoid their questioning glances, knowing all too well that he acted
strangely.
It was Shinya's turn next, and after his strike there technically wasn't any possibilities for the guitarists to win anymore. Die tried his best nevertheless, and managed to strike. He was grinning widely although they lost, perfectly happy 'cause of the last good throw. "Now that we've had the practice round, next time we'll surely beat the shit out of you three."
"You bet we will," Kaoru agreed nodding and waited for his friends to tell them who had won, Toshiya or Shinya. The drummer had two points more and thus had won for the team. However, even Kyo had been better than Kao and Die, so they were truly last. "We'll show you where you truly belong," winked Kyo, getting up from his seat. "Anybody else another beer?" The two guitarists nodded eagerly, as well as the bassist. "Shin, mind to help carrying?" It was obvious, at least for the drummer and for Toshiya, that Kyo wanted to talk to the youngest in private.
Shinya nodded, immediately getting up from his seat and following the vocalist. The poor bassist was left alone with the guitarists, who had both fallen silent for the moment, trying to figure out what to say next to seem normal. They were perfectly aware of the awkward pause in all conversation, but couldn't do anything due to the nervousness before Toshiya began to babble merrily, trying to distract them all.
Once they were out of earshot, Kyo addressed the drummer without looking at him. "So, I guess you were right. It wasn't a joke."
"We can't be sure." Shinya tried silently, but knew it was a weak attempt and there clearly was something out of usual.
The vocalist stopped, grabbing him by the arm. "We can. If they'd only watched porn and jerked off or whatever, they wouldn't act like that. Did you notice, whenever everything seemed to be fine again, they suddenly became silent and stopped in their movement. That's more than suspicious." He had lowered his voice, not wanting any uninvited listeners to overhear their conversation.
"And they avoided looking straight at each other, but both were staring when the other didn't notice." The drummer sighed, nodding silently as an agreement. "I know."
"Oh my god," Kyo sounded truly desperate, "what if they begin to hate each other? And what if they really fall in love?" He was afraid that, no matter how everything would turn out, it could have a bad effect on the band. Well, maybe not the latter, but definitely the first.
"I don't know." Shinya shook his head, sounding horribly confused. He feared that if the guitarists just acted like nothing happened then this awkward situation would eventually affect them all and prevent both, their working together and hanging out as friends. "I guess the main thing is that they should solve this fast, before it'll affect their work and us all."
"You're right. They are both grown ups and hell, sex is sex, right? They shouldn't let it affect them or us." The small blonde forced a smile on his face, nudging the drummer to continue their way to the bar. "If they still act like that before and after the show tomorrow, I will put my foot down," he said determinedly and nodded to emphasize the seriousness.
"Maybe we should wait a few days and see how it develops." Shinya followed his friend, chewing on his bottom lip thoughtfully. "But we need to be sure not to wait too long."
"You're great Shin," the other snorted sarcastically, "Then you tell me when the moment comes to kick their asses and I'll be glad to do it then." Actually, Kyo had no idea how to act or react on that and was tempted to say it was none of their business. After all, Kaoru and Die were professional enough not to let things like that affect the band, weren't they?
"Don't you mock me." The drummer couldn't help but to chuckle a bit at the other's words. He had similar thoughts, and he would've really wanted just to forget about all this.
"I'm sorry." It didn't sound too serious though and Kyo grinned broadly. "Let's give them some time to sort things out and make sure Toshi stops mocking them." He thought that if they left them in peace, the guitarists would manage to solve the problem on their own, preferably without their interfering.
"That sounds fair enough." The younger nodded. After they had received the beers they headed back, only to find the bassist talking alone and two uneasy guitarists trying to look polite and listen to him.
Both of them seemed to be glad when Kyo and Shinya arrived back and grabbed a beer from their hands. By that time, Kaoru felt more like getting senselessly drunk rather than to play another match of bowling with his friends, but he got a grip on himself and smiled. "We've been waiting for you."
Die downed a half of the beer in one gulp, before looking up to his friends. "To be completely honest, I'd say let's leave the other match to some other day. I don't quite feel like playing right now." Honestly he felt like he wanted to get the hell outta there and drink his worries away in some other place.
Toshi wanted to complain, already opening his mouth. A dark glance from the vocalist silenced him however and he arched a questioning eyebrow. Glad that Die had brought this up, Kaoru agreed nodding. "Yeah, let's leave the match for another day if you don't mind." He threw a short glance at the redhead and thought that the minibar of their room wouldn't survive the night.
Shinya smiled, sitting down on one of the empty seats. "No problem. We'll beat you anyways." He took a glance at Die first, and then at Kaoru, and as both seemed still a bit uneasy he thought he'd try to distract them. "You guys hungry? We could get something to eat."
The older guitarist smiled wearily. "Not really." He sighed deeply, lost in thoughts for a moment. "Actually, I'm not feeling too well and think I should go to bed." Again, he was lying and hated himself for it, but he really was confused, the urge to either talk to Die alone or just drink himself unconscious becoming unbearable.
Die couldn't suppress a small relieved sigh, as he definitely wanted to get out of here. But then he remembered that he had to share a hotel room with the older guitarist, and instantly tensed, not wanting to be alone with him. "Well, I'm a bit hungry, so if someone wants to come with me we could snatch something?"
"I'm hungry as hell," Kyo said grinning. "So I'm in." Toshiya nodded too and threw a questioning glance at the lead guitarist. "You manage to go back on your own? Because I'd like something to eat as well." The older guitarist couldn't hide the obvious relief in his voice when he answered. "Sure I manage. I'm old enough and only have a little headache." He got up, smiling. "Have a nice one then and see you tomorrow."
"I can come with you if you want to." Shinya offered, turning to the lead guitarist. Die had already stood up, relieved to get something to eat and a short break from being so close to the bandleader.
Kaoru froze in his movement, an inaudible 'damn' on his lips. He turned around and grinned. "No need Shin. Just go with the others if you want. You surely should eat something."
A bit reluctantly the drummer nodded. He had hoped the oldest might talk to him if he'd try to get a conversation going alone. But he didn't want to push and gave in. "Okay. So see you later then."
Thankfully, the older turned around again and retreated quickly before one of the others could change his mind. He simply needed some time alone before he would have to face Die again. Kyo put his hand on the drummer's shoulder, whispering into his ear "Nice try."
"Could've been better." Shinya shrugged, before following the others as they went on to search for a cheap and good place to eat something.
Basically, the others were talking, trying to get a casual conversation going while Die simply sat there, staring holes into nothingness. It didn't pass the others by unnoticed, but they were ignoring it, only addressing him occasionally.
After they all had gotten themselves stuffed with burgers, Die decided he needed to talk to Kaoru after all. He still didn't want to, but he realized that if he'd still wait it'd be even more difficult. Standing up swiftly he offered the others an insecure smile. "Well, I think I should get some sleep..."
"Get going. It's not the same when you're getting older ne?" Toshiya mocked grinning and waved his hand. "Just make sure not to break any of your rotten bones." Kyo and Shinya joined his laughter, trying to make it easier on the redhead.
The redhead managed to even chuckle, waving at the others. "Just talk. I know you're only envious." He turned on his heels, heading outside as soon as possible.
Immediately after entering his hotel room, Kaoru had opened the mini bar, searching for the heavy stuff. After two double whiskeys, vodka and something that tasted awfully sweet, he had calmed down enough to think things through once again. Only that this time the alcohol brought back the feelings he had gone through last night along with the images which only confused him more and made him open the bar again.
Die was almost sober as he opened the door to the hotel room, the few beers not really able to affect him in any way. The lead guitarist was sitting beside the minibar when he got in, and it made him stop in the doorframe. "Hi." Die smiled insecurely. "I thought you went to sleep."
Kaoru flinched, almost jumping up a bit. He hadn't heard the other guitarst, too lost in the decision over two exotic looking liquors in his hands. Offering him a smile, his cheeks flushed and eyes a bit glossy already, he giggled. "Nah, the thought of overly expensive vodka was more tempting than sleep."
"I hope you saved some for me as well." The redhead chuckled, kicking his shoes off and taking the few steps that separated them. He plopped down to sit on the floor in front of the minibar, taking a look at the stuff inside.
"Well ...," The older guitarist reached inside the bar and whooshed all the small bottles outside with his arm. "There's still enough for both of us, I guess." He searched for something and made a small victorious sound when he found it. "Here, try that one." Grinning, he held up a black bottle with a red chilli pepper on the label. "It's good."
Die simply nodded, trusting the other's decision and taking a sip straight from the bottle. "It is." He nodded, focusing on the label. "I have to remember this one."
"Never seen it before." With sparkling eyes, Kaoru reached for a can with salted peanuts. As he ripped it open, he managed to spill half of its content on the floor and even to cut his thumb on the lid. "Goddammit!"
"How much did you drink already?" Without looking at the other Die began to collect the peanuts from the floor to occupy himself somehow.
Shrugging, Kaoru wordlessly pointed at a heap of empty bottles at his side. "A bit."
"A bit?" The redhead couldn't help but to laugh at his friend. "That's quite a lot, Kao. I need to be quick to catch up with you."
"You can't anymore." The older guitarist giggled merrily and shook his head. "Because I'm not quitting yet."
"We'll see. I'm swift." The younger grinned. Suddenly he fell silent though, swallowing hard and trying to find a way to begin. He simply needed to talk about what had happened between them. "Kao, we need to talk. About last night."
The words had the effect of an ice cold shower and Kaoru felt sober instantly. "I know." His voice had become quiet and he finally looked up to meet the other's gaze. Collecting all his courage, he took a deep breath. "Nothing changed, right? I mean, we're still friends, aren't we?" He simply needed the redhead to confirm his words, to tell him that they still could act like they had before, although he wasn't sure if that was what he truly wanted. But he guessed it was what Die wanted and that counted.
"Of course." Die nodded instantly. He pushed back the slight feeling of disappointment, convincing himself that it would be the best to try and go back to where they'd been before all this. They would still remain friends, and it would be better than nothing. Definitely better.
"Good then." The older guitarist nodded as well, but had to avert his gaze. Somehow he had anticipated the other to say something else, to contradict and tell him that it indeed had changed something. To get rid of the uncomfortable feeling, he rose his bottle and smiled at the younger man "To friendship."
The redhead smiled as well, trying to look as honest as possible. "To friendship." With that he took a long sip from his bottle, deciding that now was the time to get seriously drunk.
Kaoru wasn't far from it already and together, they managed to kill the remains of the minibar. Neither of them even wasting one thought about the amount of money those drinks cost them.
After hours of drinking and only a few exchanged words Die simply fell asleep on the floor. At least the worries would be gone until the next morning.
Kaoru followed his example, simply passing out where he sat and falling into an oblivious sleep. He had curled up in a tight ball, not even noticing that he lay partly on empty bottles, his head pillowed on his arms.