jacy_86

Title: Unexpectedly sweet change
Rating: NC-13
Genre: AU
Characters: Shigeaki Kato, Ueda Tatsuya, mentions of the rest of KAT-TUN and News (esp Koyama Keiichiro)
Summary: A chance meeting at an unlikely place brought two people together. However, is it all that coincidental?
Notes:Thank you all for reading this. I hope it does not seem too awkward, it has been a while since I've written anything. And to my dear personal cheerleader, ILUSM *glomps* Written for wasurenaisa's Winter/Holiday Mini Contest.





The only constant is change. We have to accept that, for it is the one thing that remains while everything else moves, or so that famous saying had implied, but sometimes accepting the fact that change happens and will continue to happen is hard. Especially when everything around you; your world as you know it, crumbles, leaving only ashes from which you will need to rebuild you life again.

Sometimes he feels that change is a good thing, something that prevents him from being stagnant, from being too complacent in what he already has. But he is human, and the feelings of disappointment and anger that all his best laid plans were not coming to fruition got to him. He guesses that he is better off than some of his former colleagues; he has managed to secure a job, albeit not the one the whole world thought he would. The offers on those side blinked away pretty quickly, the allure of the shiny idol with good academics faded off when they realized they would rather have someone more understated, rather than someone whom, before even starting, has already outshone them all. Of course, the scandal that came attached with that incident did more than enough to ensure that it would be a long time before he would even be considered for a job in the law industry.

He jerked his thoughts away from the past as he heard the receptionist call his name. He sighs. Here we go again...He headed into the room which for the past 3 months has come to be familiar, in a weird kind of way, it has become a place of solace, smiling politely at the pretty receptionist as he passed by.

~~~

Will this even work? I've been here for a while already. This is tiring....Does it even work?

'This will not work if you don't at least have some faith,' she said, interrupting his thoughts and bringing him back into reality.

Did I really say that out loud? How long has she been silently listening? He sighed. This was getting to him more than he thought it would. He knew it would take time, but he had hoped that it wouldn't need this long. There was hardly any change. Maybe this is all his fault, he shouldn't have expected miracles.

'Maybe we should end here today. I'm just not in the right mind for this,' he said.

'Indeed.' came the sarcastic reply. 'This is not going to be easy, you know that. Come back again next week, and next time, try to be a little more positive.'

He could only nod and move to take his leave. Head full of thoughts, he was almost on auto pilot as he walked towards the entrance of the hospital and ran into a mouthful of hair.

'Ueda?' he managed to chock out spluttering a little when the figure whom he has bumped into turned around, 'What are you doing here?'

'Well hello there yourself. I think, the bigger question is, what are you doing here?' Ueda replied, a little smirk playing on his lips while evading the original question.

'Still as secretive as ever,' Shige replied, smiling a little. As he was about to move to take his leave...

'Want to go for a cup of coffee?' Ueda asked, looking a little shocked that he had even asked.

Heh, this might be a good chance to peel a layer or two of Mr. Mysterious. Ueda was not exactly on close terms with Shige, not when they were back in Johnny's Entertainment. They ran in separate groups; Shige wasn't too sure which groups Ueda mixed with, other than KAT-TUN, but Ueda definitely did not mix around with the people Shige normally did.

'Um, sure. I know this great cafe down the street,' Shige smiled.

'Alrighty, lead the way then,' Ueda smiled and as he stepped out of the building, he placed his shades over his face; big enough to cover half his face and afforded him some anonymity.

They walked in relatively companionable silence, each lost in their own thoughts for the moment. It wasn't long before the reached the cafe Shige has mentioned. It was a quaint little cafe, secluded from the main flow of traffic and offered a small measure of peace amongst the bustle that is the norm in Tokyo. It had low lighting, and comfortable sofa chairs which encourages patrons to come in and rest and with the staff being unobtrusive, this place suited them both.

'Nice place. I never knew such a place existed near the hospital,' Ueda commented, taking a seat and surveying the surroundings.

'They don't exactly advertise this place. I found out by chance while looking for a place to hide after...' Shige explained, trailing off at the end, unsure of just how much he should tell. This wasn't his best friend forever and ever, or so Koyama likes to say.

'After your sessions?' Ueda filled in, looking mildly interested, almost as if it was something ordinary, as if he was talking about the weather instead of someone's mental health.

'Well yeah, that,' Shige replied and silence lapsed again when the waiter came over to their table and took their order. After the waiter left,

'So..'

'So..'

'You first,' always the gentleman, Ueda gestured for Shige to continue with what he was about to say. Instead of trying to be gracious and repeating the gesture as people are wont to do, Shige decided to make it less awkward and just go ahead.

'You never did answer my question back at the hospital,'

'Ah, yeah that. Well, I was visiting, not a patient there myself. So what's with you? Too much legalities messing you up?'

'I wish, well not really. Not after that happened. I'm a writer now, well on days when I can actually write.'

'I know the feeling,'

'Hmm, so what have you been up to now? It's been two years since...' the rest went unspoken, they both knew which event Shige was talking about.

'You haven't been catching up with the music industry? I'm a song writer now, and sometimes composer,'

'Yeah, after that, I guess I kind of closed myself off to that world. Koyama updates me sometimes, but he never did mention your name.'

'That's because I don't use my real name. Going by a moniker takes some of the edge of being Ueda Tatsuya of Johnny's Entertainment. People in the showbiz have some very long memories,' Ueda replied, grimacing a little.

Shige laughed, 'That is way too true. Same goes for those in law, I could never get through the first round.'

'Then why writing? I mean I knew you did those articles for Myojo, but that seemed more like something done for fun rather than something you'd make a career out of...'

'It did start off that way, but maybe it got me more than I think it did,' Shige sighed.

'Is that why you are at the hospital? To get rid of your urge to write?' Ueda teased.

'Hahaha, no. To get rid of my extreme dislike of white. I can't sit down and face a blank paper without getting the urge to type something, anything really, just to not see a blank page in front of me. In rare cases, the words makes sense and it turns out wonderful, but mostly it is just gibberish and a waste of time,'

'Wow, that seems kind of intense, but you were always the intense type,'

'Hey, what did you mean by that?'

'Nothing,' Ueda replied, smirking as he lifted his cup of tea and took a sip.

With that out of the way, they began to relax and conversation flowed. They spoke about their group members, well ex-members to be exact, and things they were up to. They spoke of the collapse of Johnny's Entertainment. They spoke of how they should have realized that a decrease in activity was something to be taken note of, but at that time, they were just relieved to be given a break from the hectic schedule of previous years. It should have been expected, in hindsight, that such a company would not last. The music world was changing and more artist and performers preferred to be in control rather than being controlled. Taste of the younger generation was also changing but the company still held to the old tried and tested method for making music. The company had been making a loss for some time and finally the management decided that it was time to close before they went bankrupt. It was then that many lives changed. Some stayed on in the music industry, some moved to a similar one, others simply left the world behind.

Before they realized, the sun had already gone and the sky was rapidly darkening. Shige motioned to the waiter for their bill and they left.

'Well, that was surprising. I never thought I'd have so many things to talk about with you,' Shige remarked.

'Same here. We should meet up again soon. Call me.' Ueda replied as he handed Shige a slip of paper.

'Sure. Well, I best be getting home now,'

'Alright, take care Shige,' Ueda said as he pulled up his coat and walked away with a wave.

~~~

They met up frequently after, some times after Shige's sessions at the hospital, some times just for fun for dinner. They did not speak of what they were doing at the hospital again but there was no end to things they did talk about. Their friendship had grown as they hung out more but there were still some things which they did not know about each other, such as where they lived. And this was the main concern for Shige as he rushed to meet Ueda at some bar. Should I just bring him home? Ueda had called earlier and it took some time to understand that he wanted Shige to come and pick him up and he sounded like he was well on the road to a major hangover in the morning, Shige agreed and reached the bar half an hour after. He moved through the crowd and scanned the room as he went looking for Ueda. He finally found him slumped over the bar counter, almost falling asleep.

'Ueda? Ueda?' Shige said, shaking the older man's shoulders.

'Humm, whossat?' Ueda blinked up blearily and rubbed his eyes. 'Oh Shige, took you a while. Now you can bring me homeeee~' Ueda replied as he draped himself all over Shige.

Shige sighed. Why did this always happen to him? Why of all people, did Ueda call Shige? He half dragged and half limped out of the bar and into the back of a taxi, giving the driver his address when Ueda refused to give him his, saying something about not talking to strangers. Shige was half tempted to just leave Ueda on the stone cold sidewalk, that ought to wake him up. But he was a 'bleeding heart' or so some people have told him and decided to just bring Ueda home and let him crash on his couch. He will deal with tomorrow when tomorrow comes.

For someone who was adamant about not talking to strangers, Ueda was surprisingly docile about being led into someone's home. The ride and bit of fresh air seems to have woken him up and he stood against the wall surveying his surroundings.

'Nice place. I think I shall....' Ueda said as he walked past the living room and flopped onto the bed, instantly falling asleep.

Sighing, Shige took off Ueda's socks and shoes and draped a blanket over. Grabbing an extra blanket he has in the cupboard, he headed to the couch and made his bed for the night.

When he woke up in the morning it was to the smell of coffee brewing and he saw Ueda in the kitchen with an apron on working and humming a soft tune. He looks great in that. Shige mentally slapped himself, where had that thought come from? He stood up and headed to the kitchen.

'Something sure smells nice,' Shige said as he reached the dining table, and sort of startled Ueda.

'Oh, morning and thanks. I didn't realize you were awake,' Ueda replied turning around and placing a plate of food in front of Shige. 'Sorry I kind of took liberties in your kitchen.'

'If you were to cook these kind of food every time, you are more than welcomed to my kitchen' Shige replied, and started eating. 'Mmm, this is good.'

'Thanks, glad you liked it,' Ueda replied, cheeks tinged pink, though Shige was not sure if it was from the heat or the praise, as he sat down and started eating as well.

'So why did you call me?' Shige asked after they finished eating and Ueda had taken the dishes to the sink, insisting he be allowed to do the dishes as thanks.

'Well, if I called anyone else, my face would be plastered across the front page of the newspaper, and I trusted you to not make a scene,' came the reply.

'Humm, is that so?' Shige asked. 'Well that's okay I guess, just don't make it a habit,'

'I know, I know, you need your beauty sleep. You told me that a number of times already,' Ueda teased, moving to wipe his hands on the hand cloth hanging by the stove.

'I did no such thing and you know that.'

'Oh lighten up,' Ueda replied, flicking droplets of water onto Shige's forehead.

Shige glared.

'Okay, okay. I'll can it,' Ueda replied. 'This time.'

'You're incorrigible,' Shige laughed.

'Anyway, I gotta go home and change now else I would be late and my head will be on the chopping block,' Ueda said and moved towards the bedroom.

'Why don't you just shower here? There should be some clothes that you could fit into?' Shige blurted, shocking himself and Ueda.

'Well, if you are offering...sure,' Ueda replied.

It was about an hour later that Ueda finally left and Shige moved to the living room and started working. It was the first time in a few days where he had to urge to write, and write he did. He barely saw the white pages as words flowed through him and in three hours he has completed five articles. He saved them all for editing later and headed out to buy some lunch.

A Shige alone, also means a Shige who tends to think too much, and he was replaying his reaction to seeing Ueda in the apron and pink cheeks. No, Shige did not have the usual hang up some people did about sleeping with men. Shige enjoyed both, to him it was more of who the person is rather than gender. But it surprised him that Ueda could turn his thoughts that way. Sure, he was gorgeous, but he was a little to effeminate for Shige, even with all the boxing he did, there was the soft, sparkly quality about him that usually did not attract Shige's attention. Maybe it was just that it's been a while since he got laid. Maybe it was all nothing but repressed sex drive. Shige shrugged and pushed that thought out of his head.

~~~

But things never did go as Shige planned. Ueda somehow seems to find 101 reasons to be somewhere near Shige, be it asking him out for dinner, shopping trip or even appearing at his doorstep with a grin and a bottle of wine for a 'movie night'; a 'movie night' Shige didn't even know he was going to have.

'You know, if you wanted to stop by, you could just call instead of making up excuses or turning up unannounced,' Shige said one day as he moved away from the door to let Ueda in.

'Now where's the fun in that?' Ueda replied, chuckling a bit as he headed straight for Shige's DVD collection after depositing the bottle of wine he brought with him into Shige's hands.

Shige just shook his head, and stared at the swaying hips of one Ueda Tatsuya. He went to the kitchen, took two wine glasses and sank into the sofa, and watched as Ueda moved around his living room as if he owns it. What a sight, he thought as he caught a glimpse of skin as Ueda bent over the TV rack to fiddle with some wires.

'Alrighty, we're set,' Ueda said as he dropped into the couch beside Shige and quickly grabbed the glass of wine that was threatening spill its contents from Shige's hands. Shige froze as Ueda's fingers brushed against his hand. He gave himself a mental shake, This is so not the time to being acting like a girl with her first crush. Wait, what?! A crush? Like those that might, possibly, could, lead to love? Shige can't have a crush on Ueda, lust maybe, but that was because he hadn't gotten laid, right?

'Shige, what's wrong with you?' Ueda asked, leaning in towards Shige, seemingly without regards to personal space.

'I'm o-okay. I'm fine. So what did you pick tonight?' Shige asked, desperate to switch topics from himself to something else.

'Star Trek, I've been wanting to watch this for a while,' Ueda replied, bouncing a little on the couch.

'Good choice,' Shige smiled.

They watched the movie, or Ueda watched the movie while Shige watched Ueda. He watched every emotion playing across Ueda's face, the fear when the ship blew up, the smile tugging at his mouth when Captain Kirk tried to get smart and was put in place, the tensing of his body whenever it was headed towards a battle scene. He thinks he understands more of the movie from watching Ueda than from watching the movie itself. He was so engrossed in analyzing every thing that Ueda was doing that he was startled to find Ueda merely inches from his face and not a few feet away, like he was just seconds ago.

'Movie not interesting enough for you?' Ueda asked, that smirk still there on his face.

'What? Uh, no, no, it is. Very interesting, it is,' Shige replied, blushing a little at having been caught staring.

'Really now? I seem to think you found something else way more interesting, judging from the amount of attention it was given,' Ueda drawled out, voice mellowed out from the wine he had been drinking.

'Uh...' Shige was desperately trying to think of a suitable excuse when Ueda leaned in and closed the gap between them and kissed him right on the lips. In shock, he gasped and though it might be surprising to some, he sort of knew Ueda was going to take advantage of that and shove his tongue in. Oh but a skilled tongue it was, and they kissed till they were breathless and needed to part.

Ueda licked his lips and that turned Shige on more than he ever thought was possible. 'Been wanting to do that for a long while now,' Ueda said, with a self-satisfied smirk, kind of similar to that of a cat who has had cream.

'You, you, you have?!' Shige spluttered. He didn't think Ueda harbored any kind of designs on him. After all, Ueda never seemed to show any indication of it, well maybe he missed them all, being too focused on his feelings instead.

Ueda grinned, 'Why do you think I've been around you so much? I planned it all from the start, right from our encounter at the hospital. Didn't realize you were this slow, for someone who was nicknamed 'genius',' Ueda poked Shige's side.

'From the start? So you knew?'

'Knew what? Why you were there? Not really, I knew you were there, I just didn't know why,'

Shige covered his face with his hands, How did Ueda know? He had only told one person before Ueda...Koyama Keiichiro was going to be dead once he laid his hands on that neck of his; dead like those furballs the stylists once stuck on some of their concert outfits.

'Did you think that would have stopped me? If I wanted you, I'd have you, mental or not,' Ueda said chuckling. Shige shivered as he felt Ueda's breath on his neck. When did he get this close? Ueda took advantage of the moment and started kissing Shige again and he whispered, 'Don't think too much, just relax and enjoy the moment,' Shige decided those were the best suggestion he has ever heard, especially since his brains was rapidly losing logical thought as Ueda's hands drifted lower and started a slow stroking movement. Then, just as suddenly, all contacted ceased and Shige was embarrassed at the moan he let out.

'Come on now, let's get to somewhere more comfortable,' Ueda said, sticking his hand out in front of Shige in invitation. Shige could only follow as the need to recreate the feeling that left him was more powerful than thinking straight and they both headed to the bedroom.

~~~
The next morning, Shige woke up to fingers tracing patterns up and down his arm. Keeping his eyes shut, he tried to figure out what was being drawn, but they did not make any sense.

'I know you are awake, stop pretending,' Ueda's amused voice was heard somewhere in the vicinity of his chest.

He opened his eyes and grinned, 'Morning,'

'Morning sleepyhead,' came the reply as Ueda moved up and gave him a peck on his lips. He grimaced, 'We definitely need to brush our teeth first before more of these,' and stood up, unabashedly walking into the master bathroom.

'Are you saying I stink?' Shige half-groused, since it was true anyway.

'I'm saying we both do,' came the mumbled reply.

Shige made rude noises still and made a move to use the main bathroom down the hall.

~~~

Today was supposedly the last of all sessions at the hospital. He was nervous, although he has had less and less trouble facing that color, it sometimes scares him and he wonders if the doctor might think he would make a nice addition to the permanent mental ward instead. He wasn't even really sure what caused it, or why it was suddenly going away, but he was glad it was though. The alternative was too horrendous, having lived with it for almost a year he could not wait to go back to being normal. Normal, he chuckled, what a word. His whole life was anything but normal; this probably might be the most 'normal' it could ever get. He felt strong arms circling his waist and pulling him close.

'Don't worry, everything will be fine,' Ueda gave him a peck on the cheeks and shoved him towards the entrance of the hospital.

Shige laughed, 'See ya in a little bit,' he waved as he walked in.

Two hours later, he walked into the waiting area and saw Ueda chatting with the receptionist there. He cleared his throat. Ueda turned and gave him a blinding grin, 'How was it baby?'

'Great, I'm outta here for real,' Shige answered grinning and he was enveloped in a tight hug.

'Let's go then,' Ueda linked their hands and walked away.

Together they left the building hand in hand.
~~~

The only constant is change. It can crumble worlds, dreams and expectations, but sometimes change can be a great thing.

 

( Prologue )