Log: Hiro / Suguru / Tohma Rating: PG? Status: Completed Characters: See title Summary: They store Suguru's extra things at Tohma's house, then Tohma and Suguru have a talk.
It was still before noon on a day they had off. So.. why was Hiro up again? Oh yeah. He was helping Suguru.. or something. Right? He felt half-asleep as he drove the truck to.. Seguchi's house? was that where they were going? He wasn't sure. He stopped paying attention ages ago.
"Are you all right, Nakano-kun?" Suguru asked softly, looking over at him with his head tilted to one side. "You know, you didn't have to help me if you were tired. I'd prefer we get there alive."
"huh? what? Oh. no, I'm fine... you just owe me coffee later is all." He yawned and sank back into his seat. So far, things were going okay with Suguru living with him. It was a little cramped but he didn't mind so much. At least it was another person there. "How much further are we?"
"Hmm.... ten blocks, maybe? It's not too far, it-" he paused turning away to sneeze. Some time over the past two days he'd developed a sore red nose and a congested feeling in his sinuses, more than likely the result of walking the entire way to Nakano's on New Years. He'd been pretending it didn't exist, though, and so far it'd worked out okay.
Hiro wasn't dumb. He knew Suguru was getting sick but simply let him be for now. When they'd settled down maybe he'd offer to help or something. But Surugu wasn't complaining, so why should he? He was a big boy, after all. "Good. Just let me know which castle is his. I don't see any big hills with spooky trees, so you'll have to help me out."
"Oh, shut up," Suguru laughed slightly, shaking his head. "It's that one, up there, to the left."
"Gotcha." He squinted to look at the house. "..Surprisingly more modest than I pictured. It's.. almost normal." Big surprise. He pulled into the driveway, looking around for armed guards or exploding lawn gnomes or something. Or like.. K clones. Just the thought made him shiver.
Suguru stood up to get out of the truck, pulling his jacket closer and hurrying up to the front door, ringing the doorbell.
Tohma had gotten about four hours of additional sleep since he got home and hadn't even bothered to change out from what he wore to Ryuichi's the night before. He yawned and answered the door with a pleasant smile. "Ah! Fujisaki-san. Nakano-san. A pleasure. Please, won't you come in?"
Hiro stared at Tohma for a moment. So even demons slept, it seemed, due to the disheveled state of the blond's hair. "Uh.. sure. Thanks." And yet he still somehow managed to look fantastic. How was that?
"I appreciate you doing this for me, Tohma-san," Suguru smiled slightly, pulling his hands out of his pockets as he slipped off his shoes - he's worn some that would be easy to put on and off, being that they'd be moving in. "Could you show us where we can put everything?"
"Of course." He smiled at Suguru and led them into the house. "What all have you brought with you? I've cleared some space in the studio if you need to move in your keyboard"
"That would be wonderful. I've got my portable model at Nakano-san's, but I also took the one you gave me when I was eleven... I didn't see my parents being able to use it. Perhaps we could put it in the studio?"
"You still have that old thing?" Tohma asked, quite impressed, "I'm sure you've kept it in fine shape." He smiled at his cousin and nodded. "The studio will be fine for it."
Hiro looked around the house. Sure the furniture was nice, but everything was... normal. It almost freaked him out. If not for the framed platinum Records lining the hall going toward the studio, it would have been difficult to tell what kind of person lived here at all. "Uh.. Should I go get that out of the truck, Fujisaki?"
Suguru looked briefly worried, despite the fact he trusted Hiro. "I'll... get it. If you can get the things that could go with it?" he asked, smiling to Tohma and hurrying out the door.
"Sure thing." Hiro followed him out and looked back to the house. "You seem tense. You okay?" he asked once they reached the truck.
"What? Oh, no, I'm perfectly fine," Suguru chuckled softly, carefully pulling the keyboard out of the truck. "I just haven't ever moved so many things at once."
"It's a pain in the ass, isn't it?" he asked, climbing in to pick up the box, "I plan to do it as little as possible."
Suguru nodded, carrying the older keyboard carefully, indicating a box next to it. "Those are the accessories, could you grab that?"
"No problem." He picked the box up as well and kept a close eye on Suguru. "You got that?" "No need to worry, Nakano-san," Tohma said, coming out, having found some shoes, hurrying over to help Suguru. These were his once upon a time, after all. They needed to be treated nicely
"Thank you, Tohma-san," Suguru replied, following the other into the house and then the studio, setting up the stand quickly so that they could put the keyboard down in the space Tohma had cleared.
Hiro was right behind him with the box of accessories, setting it down next to the keyboard and looking around the room. Basic studio setup, even with some recording equipment. He made a note to get a room like this when he eventually got a house. "It's nice in here, Seguchi-san."
Tohma wiped his brow and smiled at Hiro, "Thank you. It's taken me a long time to get it just the way I like it. I come here when I need to relax." He looked back to Suguru with a smile, "You're welcome to use this room whenever you need to."
"Thank you, Tohma-san," Suguru smiled, nodding a little. "As for the one at Nakano-san's apartment, I have my headphones, I-" he turned away, sneezing, to which he blushed, feeling embarrased at his inability to hide such a thing. "..Excuse me," he added offhandedly.
Tohma frowned at his cousin's sneeze. At first he thought that he may have just been cold but... "Are you ill, Suguru-san?" he asked, reaching over to feel his forehead.
This, of course, caused the other's flush to darken, and he suddenly felt ten years younger. "I... ah... might have a cold..."
"Well that's no good. Did you know about this, Nakano-san?" Tohma asked rather offensively to the sleepy guitarist.
"Eh? What? Oh.. Well maybe a little. I didn't really think anything of it," He admitted, scratching the back of his head, "He seemed fine to me."
Tohma shook his head. "That won't do. How long have you been sick, Suguru-san?"
"I'm not sick, Tohma-san, it's just a cold," Suguru protested offhandedly. "It's... been just a couple of days, I suppose. The day after New Years."
Hiro frowned. "You think you got sick walking to my place?" Wonderful...
Tohma looked back and forth between them "You walked there, Suguru?"
"I... yes, I... I could have taken the subway, it would have cut about half the travel time but I sort of... walked past it..." Suguru was extremely red by now, the entire situation embarassing.
Poor Suguru.. Hiro really did feel badly for him. Getting treated this way... It wasn't really fair. "I'm taking care of him," he stated with a nod. "I'm making sure he doesn't get too cold and keeps himself hydrated." Was that what Tohma wanted to hear?
The blond raised an eyebrow at him. What was his problem? "I see." he looked down to Suguru, "I'm half-tempted to have you stay here until you feel better..."
Suguru sneezed again, about dying of embarassment. He absolutely hated being the center of attention, especially in this sort of setting. "Let's... get everything moved in before we discuss this, please..?" he pleaded, having a feeling that the two had very different ideals and he'd rather get everything done before they felt like clashing.
"Sounds like a plan," Hiro said quickly, eager to break the awkwardness and hurried for the door.
Tohma sighed and placed a hand on Suguru's shoulder to keep him back. "Are you sure you're all right living with him?"
Suguru offered him a slight smile, really appreciating that the other still cared for him. "I'm not really sure what I'm doing at all, Tohma-san. But I get the feeling that real life is sort of like this..."
Tohma wasn't sure about that answer... he didn't like it. "then let me help. I was on my own about your age as well.. it's hard. And I didn't really have anyone I could turn to. If you need me for anything.. I want to know."
Suguru nodded. "Maybe after Nakano-kun has helped me bring my things in.... we could talk," he trusted the other, and he didn't really care to speak too seriously about his life with someone who didn't know the sort of situation he came from.
Tohma nodded softly. "I see. Well then, shall we get everything in here then?" He asked with a smile. "When we're all done, I'll put on some coffee."
Suguru smiled slightly, taking that as a cue to hurry off to the truck, wanting to get this done as efficiently as possible.
Tohma strode along behind him casually. Suguru knew what he was doing, tohma felt... he was handling this so well so far. At least as far as he could see, anyway... Hiro was already in the doorway with a box of Suguru's things. Yeah. he moved efficiently.
"I'll take those," Suguru replied, letting Hiro go back for another couple of boxes. In much this fashion, they'd soon loaded up the spare room with boxes and other similar containers, and Suguru sat down on a spare chair, exausted. "It's done.." he sighed in relief, mostly to himself.
Hiro was glad for this. He took off his shoes for the last time and leaned against the wall. "Thank god we don't have to take it up five flights of stairs..." he said. "Do you live in an apartment building, Nakano-san?" Tohma asked, starting a pot of coffee in the kitchen.
Hiro nodded and fished a hair tie from his pocket to get some of the heat off of his neck. "Yeah. But it's fine for me. It's comfortable."
"Nakano-kun, after we relax for a short while, I'd like you to leave me here, all right?" Suguru smiled softly. "I'd like to... tell Tohma-san about what happened with my parents."
Hiro blinked and nodded. "Sure. Gotta spend time with family after all." He smiled at him, "I can leave now if you'd like me to."
Suguru stood, walking up to the other and looking him over. "I owe you coffee, remember? So go home and have a nap, and I'll bring some back."
"Thanks. You're a champ. I gotta return the truck anyway." He paused and lowered his voice. "Are you going to tell him what happened? With us, I mean."
Suguru shook his head. "No. He doesn't need to know..."
"I thought so too." He smiled at him and put his shoes back on. "kay. Until later then. Have fun you two." He turned to leave, shutting the door behind him.
"Is Nakano-san not staying for coffee?" Tohma asked, stepping out from the kitchen
"I... told him to go home and go back to sleep. He seemed tired, after all, and I thought we could have some time..." Suguru replied softly.
"probably a good idea. Come and sit. You've got quite a bit to tell me, I take it." He offered, sweeping his hand toward the kitchen
"I'm not really sure where to start," Suguru replied, having a seat and clearing his throat slightly.
"Well.. how about from the beginning?" He asked, taking a seat of his own. "You said you were thrown out?"
"I... well, yes," Suguru sighed softly. "My father and I had an arguement," he stared down at the tablecloth.
Tohma nodded, folding his hands in front of his face and listening intently "What about? It must have been something big if he threw you out..."
"Well... I meant to spend New Years eve with Nakano-san, but they had planned for me to entertain at their party... without telling me," he shook his head. "Of course, I said that I already had plans. He informed me that he didn't like Nakano-san, or Shindou-san, and that he never wanted me to join the band..."
Tohma's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "They didn't tell you? Well you would think that they would so you'd have time to practice... maybe it was a spur-of-the-moment thing?" He asked. "Seems rather silly to throw you out over..."
Suguru shook his head. "That wasn't all. I said that it was my livelihood and he shouldn't concern himself over it. He went off about you and teaching me these things, and I told him that without it, I wouldn't be able to entertain for any of mother's parties..." Suguru added, staring at the offered coffee.
They had mentioned him? What for? He wasn't part of the conversation... was he? "Ah. He always was one to demand respect of hierarchy. I imagine he didn't enjoy being talked back to."
Suguru shook his head. "No, he claimed that you and Bad Luck have corrupted me...said the band was full of.. homosexuals..." he said the last part quietly.
"You mean it's not?" he asked with a playful laugh. "Is it something that you're afraid of, Suguru-san? Do you not like being lumped in with that kind of person?"
"That's not it at all!" Suguru insisted, coughing as he got a little too worked up. "He said that I should quit, that I shouldn't lower myself to be with people like that, that he didn't approve. So I..." he took an uneven breath. "I... told him that I was gay."
Well.. that certainly was surprising. He sat up straight and looked at him. "I thought you liked women as well, Suguru-san." Well.. that would be a good reason to be thrown out at least...
"I- I- I- might, but I..." Suguru suddenly turned very red. "I've never had feelings for any..." he mumbled quietly, staring down at the table cloth. "He said he didn't want a queer for a son, and... told me to get out."
Tohma took a deep breath and nodded, folding his hands. "I see.. So we're the same then."
Suguru looked up at the other tentatively, his eyes almost watery, though he was nowhere near getting all together too emotional. Stilll, it was difficult for him. "...What..?"
"It's strange that we were both thrown out for the same reason. Of course, I tell people it was because I wanted to become a rock star. Truth be told, it was only a small, inconsequential part of it." he nodded and reached over to place his hand on Suguru's. "I left home to be with Ryuichi." He shrugged, "that was before anyone had even heard of us. At least you already have the respect of your fans and people to support and love you."
Suguru's eyebrow raised slightly, his lips parting as he searched for something to say as he realized he'd become privy to very private information. He nodded a little bit, but then frowned, shaking his head. "I didn't have a reason. Perhaps I didn't want to hide, or maybe I had something to prove... I just couldn't stand to hear everyone talked about like that..."
"You're a bigger person than a lot. Many would have simply kept their mouths shut and taken it. I know that I did." He smiled softly. "Thank you. For defending me as you did. I'm sure your bandmates feel the same." Tohma then paused, "You.. didn't leave for someone, did you?"
"N-not... really..." Suguru looked back down to the table, a slight flush on his face that was probably still from embarassment.
"Not really?" he couldn't hide the playful little smile on his lips. "Who is he? You'll tell me, won't you?" He laughed softly and poked his cousin's pink cheek, speaking in a sing-song little voice, "Na-ka-no-saan?"
"T-Tohma-san!" Suguru half-pleaded, looking as if he'd die of embarrassment. "I... really don't know. But he..." Suguru shook his head. "I'm not sure... sometimes my heart jumps when I see him, and I'm fairly certain I've never felt that way about anyone.." he half mumbled, embarrassed at what he had said.
"aaaww... Little Suguru has a crush on someooone~! How cute!" he laughed and rested his cheek in one palm "Does he know?"
"No - No!" Suguru turned away to sneeze again, shaking his head. "He doesn't. Of course he doesn't. I don't... think... so... anyway..."
"Then you should tell him," Tohma wore a wide smile. So this wasn't so bad after all. "You are staying with him, after all. Who knows? Maybe it could turn into a permanent thing?"
Suguru groaned, laying his head down on the table. "Tohma-san... you act as if it's easy..."
"well you recall that I haven't had to ask anyone out in over ten years... Why wouldn't it be easy? Just tell him you like him. I suppose he could throw you out but I think you're clever enough to get him to let you stay." he winked at him and smiled.
Suguru blushed. "...Maybe you're right, Tohma-san," he sat up slowly. "But... this is all new to me, and... I don't really know what to do."
"well you have many options. You can keep it bottled inside you and slowly get driven insane while you're living there, you could keep quiet, flirt with him, see how he responds and act accordingly, or you could burst into his apartment with your declaration of love and hope for the best." He smiled pleasantly. "It might make for good publicity."
"Oh, no, no, Tohma-san. Please don't do that to me," Suguru groaned, taking a sip of the coffee. "Besides... the fans need to have someone to crush on. I couldn't take Nakano-san away from them."
"They seem to crush on Shindou-kun just fine. Besides, it might spike your popularity. I don't think the fans really know much about you. You always seem rather buttoned up and don't answer many personal questions."
Suguru sighed. "It's not like I have anything to lose, right..?" he shook his head a little bit, sniffling slightly.
"I.. suppose. But it would make working together awkward if something were to happen." He frowned and got up from his seat, moving over to give Suguru a hug. "If he's a jerk and turns you down for some reason, come tell me. I'll set him straight."
Suguru nodded a little, still looking tired despite having time to rest after moving everything. "I'll still need to find somewhere to stay... his place wouldn't easily fit my things."
"well, I'll keep an eye out for you if you would like. But if you find his place unsatisfactory, our home is open to you to stay as long as you like."
"Thank you for everything, Tohma-san," Suguru replied, sneezing again. With a little noise of discontent, he turned back to the other. "It was... that night... I got kicked out. I passed right by the subway because I was too... too distracted..."
"Understandably so. You had a lot on your mind." Tohma smiled at him, feeling... strangely proud of him for some reason. "Well.. even if you don't tell him, let him think it's his fault you're sick. That way, he can take care of you. And wouldn't you like to be taken care of by someone you like?"
Suguru blushed again, but almost smirked. "Tohma-san.. that's terrible.."
"But effective. You're in a bad situation. You may as well enjoy it as much as you can. Besides... I thought you knew me better than that."
"I.. think I know you pretty well," Suguru replied with a small laugh. "Thank you... Tohma-san. For everything."
"It's my pleasure, Suguru-san. I like knowing I can make some kind of difference." He hugged him again, "And welcome to the club."
Hugging the other back, Suguru eventually pulled away and stood. "I'll be in contact with you soon," he added softly. "When I know a little more of what I'm doing, and... I'll remember to take the subway this time."
"Wonderful, Suguru-san. It'll be better for you if you do. You don't need to be any more sick." he laughed softly, "And if anything comes up, let me know right away and I'll do anything I can to help"
Suguru nodded, moving into the hallway to put his shoes and jacket on. "I'll see you soon. And... I'll let you know how it goes with Nakano-kun."
Tohma laughed and followed him to the door. "Nakano-kun now, is it?" He grinned and nodded. "I look forward to an update as soon as possible. Please take care of yourself. You know how I worry"
Suguru smiled, nodding again as he headed out. "Bye, Tohma-san!" he waved slightly, hurrying off into the cold weather.