11th of February 2008, Jin and Tomohisa Jin looked around as he and Tomohisa entered the restaurant they had decided to meet up at. So they were supposed to be four people - possibly five, but even so it was just the two of them. "If I didn't know better, I'd think they tried to set us up or something...," he muttered under his breath as the two of them walked up to a table. He found it a bit ridiculous actually - that Yu, Jun -and- Ryo had gotten busy all at the same time. Of course he knew that it wasn't anything other than actually being busy but the timing was -kind of- ridiculous. As soon as they had seated themselves by the table in the far back of the small restaurant, Jin looked up at his friend. "You're not getting busy anytime soon, are you?," he asked, his tone slightly amused but at the same time serious. He didn't like eating alone so if -anything- Tomohisa wasn't allowed to leave because of that reason. Sure there was -that- reason too... probably, but it wasn't as important. Not anymore.
Tomohisa, while amused by the whole thing, wasn't all that bothered by it - he saw Ryo a lot anyway, and there would be a bunch of opportunities to see the others later. The point was that he was out doing things instead of sitting around being bored, and he got food out of it too! See, there's no bad in there. "Nope~," he sing-songed, hoping like hell that it was true. It had happened that he'd gotten called in on like half an hour's notice or something before now, but his phone was on silent and he'd been -told- he had this time off so they totally couldn't blame him if he wasn't super-alert. Okay, so they probably would anyway, but oh well.
"Good, I hate eating by myself," the older mumbled in reply to that and leaned back. This was pretty nice though, just being with Tomohisa like this... it'd been a while. He had gone out with him and Ryo and the others a couple of times but just the two of them... The two of them hadn't been -alone- like this in what seemed like forever. So in a way this was pretty nice. Jin glanced up at Tomohisa and couldn't help but smile slightly as he immediately took notice in how the younger one's eyes were tired. It wasn't difficult to understand though. "You holdin' up?"
Tomohisa pulled a face at that - was he holding up? Sure he was, he had to, but right now the word -barely- was one that he'd definitely use. Normally it was okay because he had something to look forward to at least, but now he'd gone ahead and done that stupid thing he didn't even have -that- anymore... Rubbing his eyes as though he'd just remembered how tired he was - not right now or anything but just in general - the younger one sank down a little in his chair. "Mm...," he mumbled. "Sort of."
Jin didn't know about that, about what had happened between- or to Tomohisa and Kazuya so he couldn't very well relate. Though it was probably just a matter of time before he would find out - that was usually how things worked. "That's good," he thus answered and nodded slightly. He knew Tomohisa had it kind of tough right now, especially what with shooting and school and all - all that at the same time. It was quite admirable how he managed to deal with all of it. The younger one didn't get a chance to reply though before the waitor came up to them and after quickly orderering the same thing they were left alone again - though only for a minute or so before they were served water. Then as the waitor had left once again, Jin drank some from his glass before leaning back with a heavy sigh. He still liked Tomohisa, didn't he? He had to - he wanted to. He wanted to still like him so much... because it was sort of comforting. Even though he knew that he wouldn't ever have a chance with him... It was still nice. Somehow. But lately he had been thinking less and less of him... and that? That was scary. "Ano saa," he started then, not quite sure of why he was saying this but this was Tomohisa after all - the guy he could talk to about anything. "You ever met someone that left such a strong first impression on you that you just can't stop thinking about the person?" He was being obvious now wasn't he? It was obvious he was talking about himself... but then again, if he had made it all smart Tomohisa would have figured it out anyway.
Thinking about it for a moment, Tomohisa tilted his head to the side and bit his lip - the picture of thoughtfulness. In fact it was kind of nice to have something perfectly harmless to be thinking about at any given moment. Something that wasn't to do with work being too hard or how much he missed his boyfriend; because both of those things had been featuring more and more frequently as of late. "A couple times, yeah...," he muttered after a moment, unable to think of many such incidents but knowing for a fact that it had happened before. Purely curious, he turned to his friend with raised eyebrows, having no idea that what the older one had just said was supposed to be about some hypothetical person. It never was, not really. "Why, who did you meet?"
Okay so it wasn't just Jin being weird then, it -did- happen to other people too. Apparently. Well, Tomohisa was a bit weird at times but even so there was no way that he would be thinking and working the -exact- same way Jin did when it came to this. "Hmm," he thus hummed, only to let the younger one know he was listening. He was listening and that meant he had heard the question too... He knew he had to answer of course, he always had to. If nothing else he kind of wanted to, but... wouldn't it seem weird? "We've met a few times more than just once now but...," Jin squinted his eyes for no real reason as he looked up at his friend then. "Aragaki-san?" Why he was saying it in a way that it was made a question? Simply because he wanted to know if Tomohisa had noticed that too when he had met her the first time.
"Gakky?," Tomohisa blinked, slightly surprised by that - though he probably couldn't have told you why. She hadn't made an incredible first impression on -him-, though he could remember having liked her. Dragonzakura, wow that felt like -forever- ago now - it'd been pretty much fun though. "I guess she is pretty cool, mature and stuff...," the younger one mused, going over the idea in his mind.
Jin nodded as he listened. That was exactly what he thought. She was cool and mature and she was pretty too. And she was really interesting! She was really great to talk to and... "And she's interesting!," he said then as he realised that Tomohisa didn't plan on saying anymore. How could he leave out -that- of all things? He must have talked to her loads when they were doing that drama together and he left it out - why?! "Talking to her is like having an conversation with the most interesting person ever. She can like talk about anything, y'know? And be interested in everything even if she's -not- really," as he said that, Jin almost had an expression of amazement on his face - though he realised it fairly quickly and thus looked down. "... yeah, you know?"
Tomohisa tried his best to keep the knowing smile off his features - but he didn't really succeed all that well. Hopefully it wouldn't be too noticeable or anything though; he didn't presume to -know- anything for certain, but damn if Jin didn't make things obvious sometimes. And Gakky of all people! Really! "She's a nice girl," the younger one replied, at least managing not to sound smug about it. "You guys really hit it off, huh?"
Jin blinked slightly at that, immediately taking notice in -that- smile on Tomohisa's lips. Why was he smiling like that? He didn't really know what it meant but it definitely meant -something- and... "What?," he thus asked before he remembered he'd been asked a question. If he had... really it hit off with Yui? Exactly what did he mean with that anyway? It wasn't as if they had met -that- many times! She was just a really interesting person, nothing wrong with that, was it? Definitely not, and if Tomohisa would say there was then he was wrong.
Tomohisa blinked innocently, as though he hadn't thought anything at all and the older one was just making things up. "What?," he replied with raised eyebrows and tilted his head, becoming the picture you might find next to 'innocent' in the dictionary. If your dictionary has pictures in it. "Is there something wrong with her or what? 'Cause if so then I'm not telling her to get lost for you, that's low, you'll have to do that yourself."
"What?!," Jin exclaimed then, realising a bit too late that he was talking in a loud voice and thus fell silent for a little while. Though only long enough for people to stop looking and for him to come up with a good reply. Because... because this was slightly... no, this was very, very wrong. "No," he eventually answered, shaking his head as he did. "No, just... you - what were you thinking just now? You were thinking something."
"Me?," the younger one asked, frowning slightly as though the idea had never entered his head at all. He could be pretty good at this when he wanted to be. "I wasn't thinking anything...," Tomohisa muttered, raising an eyebrow at his friend in almost a concerned kind of way, as though he was worried that the older one was hearing things or something - though in all fairness if either of them was going to start doing that, it'd probably be him. "Were -you- thinking of something?"
"I wasn't thinking anything, you were just all...," Jin fell silent once they were served the food. It was nice that they were fast, it really was but now that there was -food- in the picture there was no way that he'd be able to get what he wanted out of Tomohisa. Unless he decided to be nice because he -had- been thinking of something! And damn if it wasn't annoying when... when... when he didn't get stuff. Okay so it happened quite a lot that Jin didn't get -stuff- but most of the time it wasn't very important, this however -was-! "I know you know I know you thought something... and it was most likely about me too wasn't it? What was it?" ...unless it was something about Yui that he knew that Jin didn't? "...or was it about Aragaki-san? Something about her that I should know but don't?"
Tomohisa shrugged and shook his head - so not about to come out and say that even if it did turn out that Jin really hadn't been thinking anything. Which he totally had, that much was obvious. To be honest, the younger one hardly blamed his friend in that respect. "I was talking to her the other day actually," he said, changing the subject in a most graceful manner - even if it -was- a total lie. Maybe this would work. It was a bit sneaky and was actually something he'd learned from listening to Ryo, but Ryo was smart - coupled with just how well Tomohisa -knew- he knew his best friend and it just had to produce -something- like a result! "She mentioned you."
"What?," Jin asked then for the third time within the last ten minutes. It was probably starting to get silly but this was really a -what- moment. Sure, it bothered him that Tomohisa didn't tell -what- it was he had been thinking about but... but now he said something very much more interesting. He had been talking to Yui? And she had mentioned him? -Him-?! How could he not be curious about this?! "Wha-what-what did she say?" That stutter right there didn't happen, and even if it did it was because Jin had a dry throat right now - so he drank some water. Everything to make things look normal... because they were normal. Even if it wasn't -so- normal that Yui would say something about him to his best friend... really. How weird was that?! Awesome, but weird!
At that, Tomohisa shook his head, unable to keep back his laughter. That was so cute though! The whole stuttering thing and the enthusiasm, that was so very cute. "You really want to know what she said?," he asked, biting his lower lip hard so that he could actually keep from spilling already. This was what separated him from Ryo, obviously; Ryo was much better at keeping it up once a result had been achieved, had much better patience to see it through.
Okay when Tomohisa said that, Jin couldn't help but get a bit paranoid... what if she disliked him? What if what she had said had been something like how 'he is annoying' or how he 'isn't cool at all' or something? Well it could be any negative thing really! Because while Yui seemed to enjoy herself when they were having dinner every now and then, maybe she didn't really want to? Maybe she put up with it just to be nice... and maybe she had told Tomohisa to tell Jin that she didn't want to see him anymore, because she knew they were best friends? ...okay maybe it wasn't -that- bad but what if it -was-?! "What...," Jin started then - the enthusiasm in his voice gone and replaced by something similar to insecurity. "What did... she say?"
"You reeeeally wanna know?," Tomohisa asked, grinning widely - but there was no way he could keep it up any further than that. It just wasn't in him to tease that much. Or, well - he -could-. If the correct conditions were met he could be pretty bad. But right now? No. "I'll tell you then," he finally conceded. "She didn't say anything. Y'know why? Because I never spoke to her, I just made that whole thing up." He laughed, dangerously close to a giggle. "You were so worried just now!"
He... he had -made it up-? "Why would you do that...?!," Jin asked immediately, blinking a couple of times before looking down at his food. Right now he couldn't believe that his best friend - or who was supposed to be his best friend - had just done that. Made it up, made him feel really worried for -nothing- and then smile about it as if... as if... as if it was fun. It wasn't fun! How was this supposed to be -fun-?! "Itadakimasu...," he muttered as he grabbed his chopsticks and leaned forward to eat some. Totally, totally, totally not fair -Pi-, just so you know.
While Tomohisa wasn't one to pass up a chance to eat, he was still highly amused by the events of just now - that and how pouty Jin was being about it. Wasn't that cute though? That was so adorable, he was supposed to be older and yet he acted so -sweet-. "Itadakima~su," he sing-songed before eating some, still unable to keep the grin off his lips even as he ate. It wasn't very often that Jin was so cute so it was totally okay to enjoy it while it lasted.
Though only a few seconds - maybe even a whole minute - passed before Jin put down his chopsticks, drank some water and then looked at his friend. What was that? What was... "What's with that attitude?," he asked - not quite sure of what kind of 'attitude' he was talking about. It probably couldn't even be called attitude - this thing that Tomohisa was doing. Saying things but not telling the rest of it. He -would- tell though, he definitely would. Usually it might take a day or two to get it out of him but he was so totally going to tell right -now-. Or maybe in half a minute. "You've managed to make me super-confused, undo it."
Tomohisa took his friend's lead in stopping and drinking some, and sat back in the chair again for a moment - he felt really damn good about himself right now. And why shouldn't he? This was going really well, and he'd learned something that was undeniably awesome as well, and wow suddenly today was a good day. "I can't undo it," he answered, shrugging with the air of someone entirely unwilling to show a child what the answer to a question was because the answer was so damn obvious."Think about it!"
"I -am- thinking about it!," the older one exclaimed and nodded a couple of times. He was, he really was thinking about it but no matter how much he was -thinking- he simply couldn't make sense out of it. Unless Tomohisa was out to hurt him, but that sounded ridiculous too. Because surely your best friend wouldn't want that - and especially not in -this- way. There was simply no way that he'd do that but even so he had done -that- and... why?! "And it's making -no- sense!"
"Well that's not -my- fault," Tomohisa argued with a grin, absently beginning to fluff up his hair at the back - it was starting to lay flat again and he really didn't like that. Especially not when it was cut like this. "I guess you're just stupid?," he suggested offhandly, as though this were a perfectly normal guess to make, going right past the insulting connotations behind it.
At that Jin fell silent for a couple of seconds. Was that what he wanted to say? That maybe Yui thought of him as -stupid-? But he wasn't stupid! He could say stupid things and all but generally he wasn't really stupid. "I'm not stupid!," he thus argued and shook his head slightly to further show that he did not agree with what Tomohisa had said just now. "I'm not stupid but you're making no sense no one would be able to understand what you're trying to -say- right now... Just come out and say it already..!" It was becoming slightly annoying. Not to understand... it really was.
Tomohisa shook his head, barely able by this point to keep himself from bursting into laughter. What was with Jin today? ... Okay so maybe he wasn't like this -only- today but really! He could be smarter than that, Tomohisa knew -that- much. Obviously today wasn't one of his better days. "Actually, most people would get it by now," he corrected in a tone that could almost be called high-and-mighty. "I thought I was being pretty obvious but fine, I'll come out and say it." Wary of swipes that, while never meant in a malicious way, weren't exactly his idea of fun, Tomohisa leaned away from his friend a little. "I think you like her~"
Jin blinked once, and then another time before blinking a third time and shook his head slightly. Like her? Like Yui? Like, -that- kind of liking? He looked down, looking at his food as he tried to think of it... Did he like her? Well of course he liked her, she was a great friend and they had gotten really close. Sure they went out to eat a lot and so on but... "N...," Jin smiled slightly and looked up at Tomohisa again. "No, no...," he tried then and shook his head again. He couldn't really -like- her! She wasn't even an adult yet and while that probably didn't matter... why would he... If he liked her then why didn't he know that himself yet? Why would Tomohisa know if -he- liked her or not, that didn't make sense... did it? Or... ...but he didn't really -like- her... did he? No...
Now that was very different from the 'what the hell are you talking about' response that -generally- meant that Tomohisa had managed to get entirely the wrong end of the stick. As such, he could only really assume that this time (not as though it had never happened before, but even so) he'd hit the nail on the head. How cute was that though! Jin and... Gakky? Wow that was such a strange idea. "You suuuure?," he asked, knowing that if he dropped it now then there was every possibility that that would be that and it'd get forgotten. That would be totally sad, like seriously.
"Y-yeah! I mean...," Jin started but then fell silent as he thought more about it. He and Yui? Could he even -imagine- himself to be with Yui? Did it matter much? Did he like... What would he say if she got a boyfriend? Let's say Yui together with Kato Shigeaki? Okay that was just a big no, it was... He wouldn't really be cool with her being with anyone would he? What if she was a lesbian? After all there were -so- many people around him lately that decided to take that instead of a 'normal' straight relationship... but what if she wasn't? What if she was single and... What if she wasn't single? ...why was he suddenly so concerned about whether or not Yui was in a relationship with someone or if she had someone she liked? "... dude..."
While the younger one genuinely had absolutely no idea what was going on in his friend's mind at that moment, he could make a pretty good guess and it did seem to be highly favourable. "Hm~?," he prompted cheerfully, seeming to find it safe to sit back again at this point. This was such an awesome feeling though! Tomohisa could only bet that this was what Ryo felt like when he was all 'oh I'm so much awesomer than you' and then ended up being right - which was annoyingly often actually.
"I think I...," Jin mumbled, sounding almost as if he had forgotten all about Tomohisa already having said that he probably liked Yui. Well he... kind of had too. This was sort of like a completely new experience, it felt... it felt so weird. But at the same time it was kind of awesome, it was a little bit... different though. How would he be able to look at her when they met without thinking things like this now? He could just act like he always did of course but now he... what if she realised it and got freaked out? That wouldn't be very good... "I... I think I...," he frowned as he looked up at Tomohisa. "...like Yui...?" He did, didn't he? He liked... Aragaki Yui. ...just wow.
Absolutely ecstatic at this new development that he had -so- not expected from the beginning, Tomohisa grinned widely. He couldn't help but be happy for his friend, of course not, because if you think about it him and Gakky would look really good together and she was a nice girl as well which Jin totally deserved after the last few things that had happened to him and damn this was awesome! "Good!," the younger one chirped, patting his friend's shoulder excitedly.
This was scary, Jin thought. It was... really scary because it meant, this meant that he was having feelings for her. Feelings he hadn't... he hadn't had for someone who wasn't the guy in front of him for a very long time. But now... if he was to be hones the still liked Tomohisa. He really did but at the same time... this he felt... this that he apparently felt for Yui... "Man...," he muttered and grabbed his glass to drink some water. This was... he hadn't expected this to happen at all. He had... thought of her as a nice friend, as a nice girl with an open mind about most things. Sure she was interesting but he hadn't even -once- thought about her in... that way and now... "That... is so weird." Well it was! It... like... it... It just was.
Slightly crestfallen by the strange reaction, Tomohisa blinked a few times and frowned a little, biting his lower lip as he tried to think of what to say. "Weird?," he ended up asking, raising his eyebrows and tilting his head to the side some. 'Weird' usually wasn't the word to use in these situations after all, it was kind of... well, it made it seem like a bad thing. It wasn't a bad thing, right? Gakky was really nice and... it was better than Jin staying hung up on -him- after all... "Not bad weird, right?"
"I... guess not, but..." Usually when he wanted a girlfriend or something, -usually- he looked for it. Usually he went out on dates with a person, aiming to come to like them if he -wanted- a girlfriend and if he didn't and ended up getting one anyway that was because they were -very- attracted to each other... But this, this hadn't been any of that. This... Okay so Tomohisa hadn't been like that either but he was different. He was a guy, guys worked differently. This was... this was -Yui-... Yui who was his friend. Who... most likely didn't see him as anything other than a friend, too. "...she so doesn't think that way of me...," Jin mumbled then and again looked up at Tomohisa, now thinking of something completely different. This was really bad, wasn't it? It was just his luck, coming to like someone who didn't like him back. They never did. Maybe he just wasn't meant to -be- in a relationship. "Dammit Pi," he said and sat back, thankfully not noticing how he actually pouted slightly. "Just my luck, really..."
Tomohisa sighed quietly - he hadn't thought of that. Why hadn't he thought of that? Of course when someone got to like someone else there was always the possibility that the feeling wouldn't be mutual... But... He just hadn't considered the possibility at all. "Well...," he started, almost hesitantly - he didn't want to say 'oh of course she does' only to find out the complete opposite. But then again, it was just that - a possibility. Not a certainty. Unless she'd already come out and said something, which seemed really unlikely, or maybe she had a boyfriend already... "Have you -asked- her?"
"Well... no...," Jin mumbled in reply to that, actually feeling a bit better about that whole thing already. He hadn't asked her and... sure, she might not... like him, but maybe she did? Or maybe she didn't but maybe she wouldn't mind giving him a chance? Oh but that would be so awesome... Smiling slightly, the older one nodded and then sat straight again. "I... guess I will," he said then and nodded before taking his chopsticks again. Okay so he most likely never would -ask- her if she liked him, but maybe sometime within this year and the next he would let her know? And then she could say that she felt the same or just didn't... That sounded like a great idea!
Well that was good! That was very good because it meant that this at least wasn't a dead-end street. Or if it was then they didn't know that it was yet. But it probably wouldn't be! Because... Because Tomohisa had a really hard time seeing Gakky -reject- Jin. The image didn't fit. "You should!," Tomohisa replied, somehow already liking the idea of the two of them together. They'd be an awesome couple and he just knew so; he knew Jin was a good guy and he knew Gakky was a really nice girl, and since they were already friends what stopped them from making the jump? Elementary, my dear Watson~
"Mhmm...," Jin hummed in reply as he nodded slightly. He probably should, he thought. He most definitely should, because... because well, otherwise he wouldn't ever find out. And Tomohisa sounded so happy and positive about it too... Maybe it wasn't such a long shot after all - maybe she was single and interested? Maybe she already liked him and that was why she was so nice and agreed to go out and eat with him so often? Maybe that... Maybe she had already realised that the two of them would make a great couple. Maybe... Jin couldn't help but grin slightly at the thought; the awesome Aragaki Yui together with Akanishi Jin. Okay so he didn't really think of himself as -that- much of an awesome person but he could very well see that he was a -good- person. He was a great boyfriend too, he'd definitely be able to take care of her and so on. He'd be able to defend her if something happened - if there would be some creepy fan after her and she was out with him, he'd definitely protect her and then she'd be... Jin tipped his head to the side. "She's really cute..." At least a blushing and grateful Yui was cute in his imagination, though he couldn't really imagine it being much different in reality.
Tomohisa, who'd just been sitting there watching his friend's facial expressions change for the past few moments, grinned and held out his hand, waving it in front of Jin's face as though to snap him out of it. "You're so totally in dreamland over there," he pointed out, not bothering to hide the amusement in his tone. "If you really like her thaaaat much, why didn't you think of it before, eh?" And that was an excellent question! Tomohisa was such an awesome friend really, thinking of these things. In fact if it hadn't been for him then it might have taken Jin -ages- to think of it, and then what? Maybe she would've gotten a boyfriend in that time! Unless she already had one -but- assuming she didn't! It was all down to him really~
The older one snapped out of his thoughts then, blinked a bit and looked at Tomohisa. "Eh?," he asked, sounding like someone who just had been daydreaming and not listening at all - which basically was what he had done. "Eh... I... it's not thaaat much," he replied, sounding about as stubborn as he was sure of that Yui was adorable. And that was alot, because she really, really was very adorable. "She's just cute... And... nice... and... fun to talk to... and," Jin rubbed the back of his head slightly. "... I don't know! I don't think of those things normally!" That? That was very true! Not like you normally think of if you're falling for your friend or something.
Tomohisa blinked, automatically taking that completely the wrong way, and frowned a bit. Now that couldn't possibly mean what it sounded like. "You don't think she's cute and nice and fun normally?," he asked, his voice telling of just how confusing that was. Stupid Jin always had to be confusing, didn't he? No wonder everyone (or maybe not everyone, at least not anymore) called him Bakanishi. It fit. Really well actually. "Why not?"
"I do! I just... not like I think about if I liiiiike my friends like -that- normally...," the older of the two muttered and sighed as he looked down on his food again. He didn't... think of that a lot, actually but now that he -did-... He really did like her. Maybe that was what this liking was about? That he liked spending time with her and all... was it because he liked her that he felt so comfortable around her? Was it because... or... Maybe it was because he liked her that she made him feel so much at ease and so calm and... "She...," Jin smiled slightly, "she's really amazing..." And after he had said that he continued eating. That was so true though, she really was amazing.
Picking up his chopsticks one more time, Tomohisa sighed happily. He hadn't expected anything like this having agreed to come out, but now that it had actually happened he was -so- all over it. "Mm," was all he said - if he said anymore he might end up making things all weird. But in his head, he couldn't help thinking that this was really nice. If it worked out that is, but he was already kind of assuming that it would... After Uehara and then what had happened between the two of them, it was great for Jin to finally like someone nice like Aragaki Yui. And even if she didn't like him back, she seemed like the kind of girl to give him a chance anyway. Without another word, Tomohisa nodded to himself and set about finishing his food.