Title: Ai ni yotte Influenza desu

Meaning: Love by Influenza (roughly)
Pairing: KyoxShinya; KaoruxShinya
Type: Fluff-ish drama
Rating: PG

~*~*~*~*~

Chapter Six

“So, wait. You hate Shinya ... because you were attracted to him?” Toshiya asked, for what was probably the gazillionth time since Die’s admission, his face screwed up in a mask of total confusion.
The redhead sighed, but couldn’t honestly blame the bassist for being astounded. In retrospect, it was a very stupid reason to dislike someone – generally being attracted to them meant that you liked them, after all. He shrugged and nodded his affirmation yet again.
“Die, that’s the most fucking ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!” the younger man snapped, smacking his band-mate upside the head none too gently.
Die winced and grabbed the smarting part of his skull, “Iii-tta-ta-ta-tata-ta-taaa! Totchi! Watch it!”
“I bloody well will not!” Toshiya shot back, “And I’ll smack you again if you give me good cause! I mean ... you ... Shinya ... You’ve been taking out your parents’ frustrations with you on Shinya. That’s just fucking retarded!”
“That’s not entirely it,” the redhead snapped back half-heartedly, “It’s not just my parents and their prejudices.”
“Well then what is it?”
“It’s ... Shinya never had that,” Die muttered as he slumped down on the table-top, hiding his face in his arms, “He never had to deal with, or even think about, his parents not accepting him. He’s always had their support in everything; he’s always had a friend’s support in everything. I didn’t. It’s selfish of me, I know, I know. But I wanted that support – I wanted to know that my parents would be behind me no matter what – and I was denied that. And Shinya wouldn’t even help me. Hell, he couldn’t help me – he didn’t even know what was going on.”
“Die ... ” Toshiya sighed. He raised his hand again, but rather than smack the guitarist, this time he placed his palm gently on the flowing locks and petted them. “It’s all right. You can stop explaining, if you want.”
“Mmmn.”
The bassist sat quietly by Die’s side, petting the older man’s hair gently. Neither of them spoke for a long time; after all, what was there to say after soap-opera confessions like that? Toshiya giggled quietly at the thought, biting his bottom lip and covering his mouth with his free hand to smother them. Die heard him any way and raised his head slightly, peeking at Toshiya through his messy bangs.
“What’s so funny?”
Toshiya shook his head, laughing at the ridiculously adorable guitarist’s new “I just woke up” look. The redhead glared, his lips forming a pout, and he whine.
“C’mon. Tell me! What’s so freakin’ funny?”
“This ... ” the bassist panted, trying to talk and laugh at the same time, “This is ... like ... the stuff my ... mom watches ... on the TV. ... The soap-ops.”
Die sputtered indignantly and glared at his friend, his eyes wide. Toshiya only laughed harder, turning his face away from the guitarist in an effort to keep himself somewhat under control. But then Die got over his original annoyance, and started laughing, too, and soon both of them were clutching the table in an effort not to fall over. Two minutes later, the two had managed to bring themselves under some semblance of control, but neither could look the other in the eye for fear of starting all over again. There was a sense of calmness and peace that the guitarist hadn’t felt in a long time, and he hated to break it by speaking, but he did have to thank Toshiya.
“O ... Okay ... ” the redhead stuttered between half-chuckles, “So ... may ... maybe that ... that was stupid. ... But that’s ... what I thought at the time.”
“Maa ... ” the bassist grinned, “It’s all ... all right. ... I’m not ... angry at you. ... And I ... I don’t think Shinya really is, either. But he never knew anything about your parents, so you suddenly taking snipes at him came as something of a shock.”
Die nodded, his face taking on a more serious and contemplative look. “Teasing is one thing, eh?”
“Something like that. He told me that he didn’t really mind the teasing when it was in good humor. He was willing to brush it off on himself, too – said that he was just overreacting to it.”
“Overreacting? Shinya?” the redhead snorted.
“That’s what I thought. But it just shows that he really doesn’t want to push you away. He does like you, and he does want to be your friend. Dir en grey means just as much to him as it does to you, you know.”
Die just nodded, “I’ll apologize tomorrow ... assuming he’s at practice.”
Toshiya frowned, remembering the sudden coughing fit Shinya had gone into earlier that day. It was completely unlike him to cough at all, or get sick, let alone nearly have a seizure from it. Somehow he didn’t think that dust caught in the throat would turn a person that pale, either. He chewed a little on his bottom lip, worrying it between his teeth, and prayed that there was nothing seriously wrong with the young drummer.
“Kyo and Kaoru are with him,” the guitarist said reassuringly. He stood and placed his hand fondly on Toshiya’s hair, “Don’t worry too much. Shinya’ll be fine.”
The bassist smiled a little, “Worried about worrying about him ruining your pretty face?”
“Don’t start, baka,” Die groaned, sticking out his tongue.
“Oh, that’s mature.”
“Of course it is. I’m older than you, hence everything I do is more mature than anything you do.”
“Including sticking out your tongue like a four year old? Pull the other one, Die. Shinya’s got more maturity than you sometimes.”
“Sometimes?” Die echoed, a wry grin spreading across his face.
“Oh, right. Always.”
“Oi!”
“Don’t act like it’s not true.”
“You weren’t supposed to agree with that!”
Toshiya affected a blank and confused look, “I wasn’t? Oops.”
“Why you little – ” the redhead glared. Rather than give Toshiya the opportunity to respond, though, he dove for the younger man’s sides and started tickling him relentlessly.
“Kyaaaa!” Toshiya yelped, trying to get off the chair and squirm away, but Die weighed more than he did, and had the mechanical advantage of standing over him.
“Buwahahahahahahaha! You can never defeat the Great Andou Daisuke!” the guitarist stated triumphantly, continuing his assault and laughing maniacally in a way that would give even Kyo a run for his money.
“Never will I give in! I shall prevail!” Toshiya cried defiantly, finally grabbing Die’s hands and wrenching them away from his sides. He was up and out of the chair immediately afterwards, scurrying away from Die to get to the other end of the table and watching his friend warily.
The redhead simply gave him a wolfish grin and moved forward slowly, causing Toshiya to move back, swallowing nervously. His eyes went wide when his back came into contact with the counters, and his hand with the refrigerator door.
“You’d better ruuuuun, Totchi,” Die sing-songed, starting to circle around the table, “‘Cause there’s no where for you to hiiiiiide.”
Toshiya moved in the opposite direction from the guitarist, eyeing the door-way warily. It wasn’t much of an escape route, being that it could only fit one person comfortably, and it was a good ten feet away from his current position. Die, with his long legs, could easily over take him before he even got close to it.
“Resign yourself to your fate, Totchi. Admit that I am your master,” the guitarist grinned.
“Never!” the bassist cried dramatically, inching his way still closer to the door. It was closer now, only about seven feet away.
“Then you shall be tickled into submission!” Die proclaimed, and pounced.
Toshiya took off, but, as he predicted, Die was quicker and had tackled the two of them to the ground before either could get within four feet of the doorframe. Both of them landed harshly and felt the wind being knocked out of them. Slightly dazed, both had to catch their breath and blink a few times before either could do anything. When he came back to his usual state of awareness, Toshiya fought the urge to blush – he was practically wrapped up in the redhead’s arms, with Die’s left hand cradling his head and his right arm wrapped around his waist.
“Sorry,” Die breathed, slowly starting to extract himself, “Didn’t want you hitting your head. How would I explain the pre-mature death of our bassist to Kaoru?”
Said bassist snorted and thwapped Die’s shoulder, “Some friend you are. More worried about Kaoru killing you than my own precious health and well-being.”
Die sat up and offered Toshiya a hand, helping him to sit as well, “Precious my ass. Brat.”
“Only for you, Dai-Dai. Only for you.”[1]

“Shinya?” Kaoru murmured. He pulled the car into a legal space as close to the building as possible and stopped the car. “Shinya, we’re here.”
The sleeping bundle in his lap, formerly known as Terachi Shinya, muttered something unintelligible and curled up tighter. Kaoru smiled gently, and found himself absently rubbing his hands over the drummer’s cheeks and hair again, reveling in the soft texture. Unbidden, Kyo’s words came back to him.
“Look, I’m not going to push this here. We need to get Shinya home. But you will answer me straight-forward eventually. ... And ... good luck, with him.”
Kaoru frowned. What the hell had Kyo been talking about? As far as Kaoru knew, he had been answering in a straight-forward way. Of course he liked Shinya – they were band-mates and friends, and he liked all his band-mates and friends, or they wouldn’t be band-mates and friends. It was that simple. So why had Kyo sounded almost upset? Why had Kyo sounded so knowing when he’d asked if Kaoru was jealous because of that afternoon? With a guilty flush, Kaoru remembered that he had been jealous, and had pushed Kyo roughly awake because of it.
But that doesn’t mean I’m in love with Shinya ... Kaoru snorted mentally, Of course I’m not in love with him. ... Enamored of, maybe. Having a crush sounds really childish, but maybe that’s what it is. And who wouldn’t have a crush on someone like Shinya?
The little voice in the back of Kaoru’s mind remarked snidely that there were plenty of people who didn’t go for the quiet ones, but he ignored it. He had always gone for the quiet ones, and he knew lots of other people who did – like Kyo, the voice snickered and he shot it down – so that was all that really mattered to prove his point. His hand tangled in the hair at the nape of Shinya’s neck.
Did Kyo really go for the quiet ones? Kaoru frowned, trying to remember. He knew, obviously, that the short vocalist had to be attracted to Shinya in some way – and who knew for how long he had? He would never have let the drummer sleep on him otherwise; or let himself doze off with the drummer so close to his precious lyric-notebook. And being around the same person for so long might do that to you – make you think you have feelings for them – and God knew the two had known each other for a while. The pink haired guitarist chewed absently on his bottom lip. But Kyo had also appeared attracted to himself once, for a short time, a while ago. Kaoru had ignored it at the time, being too wrapped up in the band to care. Maybe Kyo had picked Shinya in an attempt to forget him?
Or maybe you’re being egotistical? Maybe Kyo picked Shinya before he knew who you were, and found himself with a silly crush on you, which you cruelly shot down, so he went back to his safety net. Maybe Kyo really does love Shinya and had turned to liking you only because he thought you might be a good quick fix for sexual frustration.
Sometimes Kaoru really hated his Inner Voice. He growled at it softly, and pouted, knowing that Shinya wouldn’t be awake to see it. He hated pouting in public – he was supposed to be calmer and more mature than that. He was supposed to be above it; he was a professional.
“K’oru-kun?”[2]
Shinya’s sleep-fogged voice drew Kaoru sharply, blessedly, out of his musings. He let his hands play a little more with the drummer’s hair before untwining from it.
“Good morning, Shin-chan,” he teased gently.
The younger man blinked, looked out the window, realized it was still the late afternoon, and smiled faintly. He yawned again, just barely getting his hand up to cover it in time, and rubbed at his eyes cutely.
“Where’s Kyo-kun?”
“He went off to get you some medicine. Don’t wrinkle your nose at me – after all that coughing earlier, you need it, and we both know you either don’t have any, or have it dated from twenty years ago ... “ he smiled at Shinya’s grumpy huff, and suddenly remembered why the car wasn’t moving, “Oh, Shinya – we’re at your home.”
“We are?” as if Shinya suddenly remembered that Kaoru had been driving him home, he sat up quickly and looked out the passenger side window. There was his building, in all its ugly, brick glory. When he looked back, Kaoru thought his face was decidedly disappointed.
“Domo arigatou gozaimasu Kaoru-kun,” he said and dipped his head, opening the door, “I guess ... I’ll see you for practice tomorrow.”
Seeing the stiff way Shinya moved, Kaoru’s Inner Voice came back from the dead with a vengeance, screaming at him to follow the drummer. Kyo speeding around the corner at that moment was only more of an incentive, and Kaoru really didn’t want to dwell on the reasons why. He was out of the car before Shinya had closed his door – and found himself hoping that Shinya looked as surprised as he did because his car was suddenly swerving down the block.
“Baka!” he grinned, as if it were the most normal thing in the world to be inviting himself into Shinya’s house, “Did you think I was going to leave you alone? You still look very tired, and I’m going to make sure you get to sleep.”
“Kyo-kun probably got enough tranquilizers to knock out a horse, let alone me,” Shinya remarked dryly, watching the progress of his car warily. He yawned, “... If he gets here in one piece, I’m sure he’ll gleefully show me just how to use them.”
Kaoru laughed and playfully took one of the drummer’s hands in his own. Kyo finished his race down the street, did a very sloppy parallel parking job, and jumped out to join them, waving the bag at them in greeting.
“Kyo!” the guitarist crowed, “Shinya thinks we’re trying to drug him!”
“Does he?” the short vocalist asked, making a show of hiding the bag he held behind his back, “Whatever gave him that idea?”
The youngest gave a sound, suspiciously like a snort, and curled his fingers loosely around Kaoru’s. The pink haired man tried not to feel too happy about it, even as he noticed Kyo’s eyes flash with some unidentifiable emotion. Then Shinya extended his hand impulsively to Kyo, saying, “Come on, Warumono,” and Kaoru watched the short man’s eyes light up.
So he is attracted to Shinya. And Shinya is obviously comfortable enough with him to tease him, which means there has to be something there, right? ... But where does that leave me?
And it made sense, didn’t it, that Shinya and Kyo would wind up together and leave Kaoru behind. They’d known each other longer, after all – much longer than they’d known any of the others in Dir en grey. Kaoru watched Kyo take Shinya’s hand and felt like laughing. But the laughter he felt bubbling up was slightly hysterical – the product of too many emotions coming to bite him in the ass – and he stamped down on it viciously. He shook his head subtly, wondering why he was even thinking about this, and blamed it on Kyo. The three of them entered the ugly building; Kaoru with his arm around Shinya’s waist, supporting the drummer as he walked, Kyo holding onto Shinya’s hand as if he’d been given a present before his birthday. All ignored the odd looks given by the security guards.

Shinya was half-dozing, practically draped over Kaoru, while the guitarist fished out Shinya’s spare key from his pocket. Kyo took it from him once it was out and unlocked the door for them, letting Kaoru guide the drummer to the couch in the living room and lay him down on it. The small singer joined them as soon as he had kicked off his shoes.
“Shin-chan’s not gonna be happy about that,” he grinned.
“Shin-chan’s n’gonna be ‘appy ‘bout wha’?” Shinya muttered, cracking one eye open.
Kaoru took off the drummers shoes in answer, stepping out of his own and retreating hastily towards the door. It took the drummer a minute to process the actions, then:
“Oh. ... Oi! K’oru-kun!”
“Yell at me when you’re not yawning, Shin-chan,” the guitarist smiled, ambling back to the couch, “It’s more effective that way.”
Kyo had set the bag of medicines on the coffee table and was in the process of laughing at the two of them, “Old married couple, the two of you, I swear. C’mon, Shin-chan. Time to play doctor.”
“Kyo!” Kaoru mock-gasped, “This is no time for sex games!”
“Baka!” the blonde said shortly, his face a mask of self-righteous indignation, “Unlike you – you crass, vulgar fiend – I am aware that not everything is a sex game. And I’m sure Shinya knows that, too. Right, Shin-chan?”
The younger man looked up at his band-mates, a tiny smile creeping over his face, “Can we play porn-star next?”
Kaoru nearly fell over laughing at the indignant and betrayed look plastered across Kyo’s face. The vocalist opened and closed his mouth a few times, but nothing came out excepting a few, muted squeaks, which only served to make Kaoru laugh harder. Even Shinya couldn’t keep his totally straight-faced and innocent expression and had to look away before he started laughing, too. Remembering that he last time he’d laughed had sent him into the coughing fits in the first place didn’t help.
“I ... Well I ... I never ... ” Kyo began, his voice going up an octave as he mocked the high-pitched women they saw on TV sometimes,[3] “In all my years I have never been quite so insulted.”
The pink haired guitarist dropped into one of Shinya’s chairs, clapping a hand over his eyes as he laughed silently. Kyo’s impression was scarily accurate.
“Must’ve been a lot of years,” Shinya muttered, sneaking a look back at the small vocalist.
Kyo gaped at his young friend, “Why ... you ... “ He turned to Kaoru, pointing at the drummer, “Did you hear what he just said?!”
Kaoru, still laughing, only nodded and laughed harder. Kyo looked back and forth between the two of them – Kaoru nearly falling out of the chair and Shinya with his eyes sparkling as he tried not to laugh out loud – then pouted and pressed a hand to his heart.
“Fine. I get it. I see what’s happening here,” the short man sighed, letting just a little bit of a waver into his voice, “I’m not necessary. Here’s your medicine. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He gestured at the bag on the coffee table and headed back towards the genkan area by the door, grinning slightly to himself.
Shinya immediately sat up, ignoring the flashing pain that stabbed at his chest, and looked at the pink haired guitarist, a slight alarmed look on his face. Kaoru proved to be no help, however, as he was still trying to calm himself enough to breath properly. Kyo was sitting down at the edge of the genkan and, from the back, appeared to be tying his shoes.
Is he really that upset? the drummer wondered, worrying his bottom lip anxiously with his teeth. Rather than wait until Kyo stormed out to find out the answer, Shinya got off the couch and quickly made his way down the short hall. By the time he stood three feet behind Kyo, he was leaning heavily against the wall, feeling as though he were Superman and had just been sitting on kryptonite, and Kaoru was getting out of his chair in concern.[4]
“Kyo-kun?” Shinya asked softly.
Kyo turned around, a slight smile on his lips. That smile was immediately replaced when he saw that his friend was all but falling to the ground. He grabbed onto the suddenly weak drummer just before the blonde’s knees touched the ground, pulling him close.
“Shin-chan? What’s wrong?” Kaoru was saying, kneeling behind them and putting his hand on Shinya’s shoulder.
The younger man shook his head, closing his eyes, and burrowed closer to Kyo’s warmth, “Sorry. My knee just gave out. Must’ve stood on it funny.”
“Baka!” Kyo exclaimed, but the concern underlying his voice took out any sting it might have had, “I wasn’t going anywhere! I was messing around. Come on now – back to the couch and I’m going to force feed you that medicine.”
Shinya wrinkled his nose, but otherwise didn’t protest as Kyo placed him into Kaoru’s arms, letting the older man pick him up and carry him to the couch. Vaguely Shinya thought that it was kind of funny – he’d never noticed how good Kaoru smelled, or realized how comforting it was to just sometimes be held.
“You look like you’re about to pass out – have you been sleeping?” Kaoru murmured, sitting down on the couch with Shinya placed carefully in his lap. He held the drummer propped up while Kyo dug through the bag of over-the-counter medicines he’d bought.
“Of course I have,” the drummer said, sniffing delicately. He eyed Kyo warily as the singer chose from one of the various bottles and read the instructions, “Probably just not enough.”
“Maa,” the guitarist sighed, letting his fingers run through the hair at the back of Shinya’s neck softly, “Are you trying to work yourself to death, Shin-chan?”
“Tha’s your job,” Shinya yawned, and snuggled closer, “ ... Feels good.”
“Okay, pill popping time,” Kyo announced cheerfully. Shinya groaned and Kaoru laughed at him. The short vocalist held out the pills and water, ignoring the pleading pout his younger friend was giving him. “Oh no you don’t, Shin-chan. You are going to take these pills if I have to force them down your little throat. I know you don’t like them, but you need them unless you want that cough getting worse. So suck it up, princess.”
“So cruel,” Shinya whimpered, but Kyo moved forward, brandishing the pills in his hand. Kaoru offered no salvation, either, so the drummer, still pouting, sighed and opened his mouth.
“Good boy,” Kyo grinned. He placed the pills on Shinya’s tongue, laughing at the way the younger man’s face screwed up at the taste. Taking pity on the drummer, Kyo gave him the water, which Shinya gulped down.
“Sadist,” the blonde muttered and stuck his tongue out at Kyo.
“You know you like it,” Kyo said loftily, picking up Shinya’s legs and settling himself under them and next to Kaoru.
The pink haired man just laughed at the two of them and petted Shinya’s head. “Go to sleep, Shin-chan. Those things’d knock out a horse. We’ll take care of everything.”[5]

~chapter six ga owarimashita~

NOTES

[1] See Die. See Toshiya. See Die and Toshiya banter. See Die and Toshiya banter so much that they eventually banter themselves into bed >_>;; Uh, yeah. Just gave that pairing away.
[2] This would be how I imagine you would say Kaoru's name while yawning. This is based on interviews when, while talking normally, sometimes it sounds like the band members say that.
[3] Y'know those old ladies on old '80s shows that either had Southern drawls or prim "English" accents? Yeah, imagine Kyo impersonating one of them. Amusing, no?
[4] Apparently one of the symptoms of the flu can be weakness. In any case, has it ever happened to you that you go to stand or take a step and suddenly your knee gives out? Well, it's happened to me, at any rate, and that's what just happened to him.
[5] As Shinya predicted, tranquilizers enough to knock out a horse ^____^ But hey, aren't the guys being so sweet to him?