Mousapelli’s Fanfiction » 26 JE Birthday Kisses, Now That We’re Done

26 JE Birthday Kisses, Now That We’re Done

Title: Kiss Twenty-One: Now That We’re Done (I’m So Sorry) [Nakamaru/Koyama]
Rating/Warnings: PG for Taiga-kun having a disaster.
Summary: Nakamaru and Koyama find that change is harder than you’d think.
AN: for 26 Birthday Kisses, Kiss Twenty-One: Kiss on the Forehead.

Kiss Twenty-One: Now That We’re Done (I’m So Sorry)

Handing over the reins, as it turns out, is a lot harder than it sounds.

“Don’tâ€¦” Nakamaru starts to warn when a few of the juniors on skates get a little reckless, but Yabu is already stepping in to grab the culprits by the collar while Yuto herds the littlest juniors out of harms way. Behind him, someone yells a question about where they’re supposed to be, but Hikaru yells the answer back before Nakamaru can even turn around to see who’s asking. All three of them holler “NO!” to send Nikaido scampering away from the fire alarm, and Nakamaru sticks his hands in his pockets and tries not to look like he’s sulking as he gets out from underfoot.

He’s not the only one; Nakamaru finds Koyama sitting on the edge of the room on a pile of mats, looking thoroughly miserable.

“Doesn’t seem like they need us much, do they?” he tries to tease as he sits down next to Koyama, but it falls flat between them and Koyama’s attempt at a smile dies a painful death.

“I don’t know what’s worse,” he sighs, “the ones who cry while they say goodbye, or the ones who don’t even seem to notice.”

“It isn’t like we’ll never see the juniors again,” Nakamaru comforts, wrapping an arm around Koyama’s shoulders, even though he doesn’t feel particularly comforted himself. “They’ll still be working all our events. But now we can come back as guests and do all the fun stuff without doing all the work.”

Koyama leans his head against Nakamaru’s shoulders and makes a noncommittal noise, and they don’t say anything for several minutes. They watch the stream of people go by idly, a scatter of Kis-My-Ft2 veterans followed by a handful of juniors so tiny that they practically swimming in the smallest smocks anybody could dig up. Nakamaru thinks of how things have changed over the years, thinks of his first Shounen Club ever and backdancing for senpai on the show, thinks of asking favorite juniors to backdance for him and how they all nearly got killed by that lighting rig during one of their first shows as MCs.

“It isn’t that I thought we’d do this forever,” Koyama finally says, and Nakamaru knows he’s been thinking about the same things. “It’s just that I can’t imagine anybody else doing it either. Things will be different, right?”

Nakamaru wants to say that of course they will, but also that they definitely won’t, and in the end simply leans his cheek on top of Koyama’s head and hums thoughtfully.

“It’s what Shokura is about, isn’t it?” Nakamaru asks at length. “Change, I mean. The little ones grow up and the grown-up juniors debut, or sometimes the little ones debut and the grown-up ones stay. People come and go and it’s never the same group even from one month to the next, is it? I suppose we’re a part of that too, ne. Everyone gets their chance, but you have to let others have their chance too, or else it doesn’t work.”

“Nakamaru-kun sounds well-adjusted, naa,” Koyama says, a hint of sniffle in his voice. He waits a beat before adding, “Yabu-kun and Hikaru-kun and Yuto-kun have been here a long time, haven’t they?”

“I think they’ve been here longer than us,” Nakamaru chuckles, “if you add it all up. They’ll be fine. They’ll be good.”

“Not as good as us!” Koyama protests, petulant but resigned. Nakamaru squeezes him tighter for a moment, then turns to kiss Koyama’s forehead, a gentle, lingering touch.

When he pulls back, Koyama is watching him, his cheeks flushed lightly. “What was that for?”

Nakamaru shrugs, because he isn’t exactly sure, but he knows that he will miss this, being an integral part of the bustle, being surrounded by it and knowing that Koyama will be standing right beside him at the calm in the center of it all.

Just then, a wide-eyed and desperate-looking Taiga-kun dashes up and skids to a halt in front of Nakamaru and Koyama.

“Senpai!” he exclaims, out of breath and costume disheveled. “There’s an emergency! Shin-chan and Casey-kunâ€¦”

“Actually,” Nakamaru interrupts, holding up a finger, “the senpai you’ll want to talk to about that are over there.”

He points over Taiga’s shoulder, and Taiga turns to look across the room at Hikaru, Yabu, and Yuto. Yuto, who happens to be looking, elbows Hikaru and Yabu, and when all three of them are looking, Nakamaru gives a cheerful wave and points at Taiga.

“SENPAI!” Taiga shouts, his volume honestly quite impressive for his size. “IT’S A DISASTER!”

“Okay,” Nakamaru says as Taiga goes running across the room and the other three give Nakamaru dirty looks, Koyama snickering until he’s leaning hard against Nakamaru’s side, “I will admit that that felt pretty damned good, though.”