The Great
Manipulator
by Lady7 (
runaluna
)
Synopsis:
Sequel to Sextape/Home Video. Kaoru walked in and caught
Die and Shinya on the couch?!!!!
Disclaimer: I own no one but the fic is mine
Comments: Thank you so much for reading! A little tired
so I apologize for the late update ^^ a short chapter.
Chapter 3
“No one’s gonna walk thru that door Shinchan” he
whispered.
As soon as he finished that sentence, the door was
opened and Kaoru entered the room
“Shinya here? … HEH?!”
Kaoru blinked in surprise as he saw Die, with a hand on
Shinya’s head, pushing him down on the couch. His right
hand grabbed Shinya’s arm as the drummer weakly tried to
free himself.
“Ano … Die?” Kaoru asked uncertainly.
“It’s you!” Die taunted.
“Is Not!” Shinya replied.
“Yes!”
“No!”
Kaoru rubbed his chin in confusion as he approached the
bickering two, “What’s going on here? Die, I thought
when we quit vk you quit the teasing too?” he asked the
red head. Die huffed and pinned Shinya’s head down. The
drummer yelped as Die explained, “Someone threw my
sticks away! It’s gotta be this kid here!”
“I’m not a kid anymore and I DID NOT throw your cancer
sticks away!” Shinya muffled and held Die’s arm with his
other hand. He turned around and caught Die’s eyes and
glared. The red head, trying his best to suppress a
grin, let go and sat down on the couch. Kaoru turned to
Shinya and the younger man sat up too, eyes still
glaring Die.
“Shinya … I …” Kaoru hesitated and took a glance at Die,
who raised an eyebrow, “What …? You have a secret with
Kaoru and NOT sharing it with me?!” he inquired, putting
his best pout on display. Shinya rolled his eyes and
answered, “There’s no secret between us!”
Kaoru nodded furiously
Die studied Shinya’s Shit-he’s-asking-me-about-Kyo face,
and Kaoru’s I-don’t-have-no-secret-with-Shinya-please-go-away-so-I-can-talk-secrets-to-him
face. Then he got up, “Yeah whatever. I don’t wanna know
your secret anyway!” and walked toward a corner to
unpack his guitar. Kaoru sighed and crouched in front of
Shinya, “Why is Kyo not here? Didn’t you say you’d bring
him along?” he demanded. The drummer pouted and
scratched his head, “Well, he said he needed to …erm…”
“He hates me doesn’t he?” Kaoru suddenly asked.
Shinya blinked in surprise, “I don’t think so! Hate is
such a strong word Kaoru!” he replied quickly. Great.
What now? From the place he sat, he could see Die, and
the red head was shaking his head. Trying to ignore
that, Shinya continued, “Kyo needs time. He will talk to
you when he’s ready. Now there’s something else I think
you need to do”
Kaoru looked at him intently, waiting.
“Toshiya. He’s very hurt” Shinya started, and already
Kaoru was shaking his head, “You don’t understand.
There’s a reason behind this, I don’t know what kind of
things he has been telling you” the older guitarist
paused as the other guitarist was heard playing a
few angry riffs on his acoustic guitar. Shinya shut his
eyes and mentally noted that he should slap Die later.
“What kind of things?” Shinya asked calmly, tho he had
an idea of what it might be. Kaoru opened his mouth and
spoke in a low tone, “He came up with this theory” the
drummer raised an eyebrow, “This BIZARRE thing about
you, stealing the tape”
Shinya widened his eyes, “Really?” he wondered aloud.
Aha! Confirmed. Die actually almost dropped his guitar.
Then he calmed down and gave the drummer a knowing look,
mouthing Told Ya! Kaoru suddenly turned around to
see Die and the red head quickly went back to his
guitar, plucking the strings furiously. Shinya covered
his face and hung his head down. Could it get any worse?
The older guitarist furrowed at Die, then leaned closer
to Shinya and whispered, “Actually, he thinks you and
Die, are involved”
“Oh!” the drummer gasped. Damn, what’s Toshiya, a shaman
too?!
Kaoru added, “He thinks you guys gang up to frame him”
Shinya narrowed his eyes and took a glance at Die, who
raised an eyebrow at him. Was this the conspiracy thing
Toshiya was talking about? That Die and him stole the
tape, then vindictively put it into Kyo’s box? WTF?! Die
grinned at Shinya and poked his forehead, mouthing
‘smart’. Shinya felt guilty. Poor Toshiya. He guessed it
right, but they kinda framed him. Now Kaoru didn’t trust
him anymore.
“Kaoru” Shinya started, “I think you’re being unfair to
Toshiya”
The older guitarist pouted and shook his head.
“You truly are”
Shinya saw him unaffected so he decided to push a little
more, “Do you care about this band?” he asked bluntly.
Die had started to play melodies that sounded very sad
and melancholic. Kaoru blinked and answered too quickly,
“Of course I care about this band!”
Die shook his head and played louder
“Well” the drummer calmly stated, “It seems like you
only care about Kyo. How about Toshiya? He cried
everytime we’re on the phone. Kyo’s not talking to him,
and you’re giving him cold shoulders. I don’t think it’s
his fault that the tape was in Kyo’s box!”
Kaoru looked at him weirdly, “That guy accused you of
stealing the tape and you’re on his side?” he asked.
Shinya sighed and paused. Placing a palm on Kaoru’s
shoulder, he replied, “Kaoru kun, I know I’ve been
wronged” –upon hearing this, Die bit his lower lip hard
to prevent himself from laughing- the drummer ignored
and continued, “I know I’ve been falsely accused, but I
also know Toshiya doesn’t deserve to be treated this
way”
Kaoru, obviously amazed, looked at him with mouth
opened, “Really?!”
“Yes” Shinya said firmly, “I still trust Toshiya kun. He
said he searched everywhere and the tape wasn’t there.
So I believe in that”.
Die wondered, looking at his lover. Of course Shinya
would say that. Only made him look even more innocent.
And surely Kaoru would think, if Shinya trusted Toshiya,
then he should trust the bassist too! Besides, Shinya
played with Kaoru’s ego well. Even someone ignorant like
Shinya cared for Toshiya. Kaoru would kinda lose face,
if he admitted he shunned Toshiya away from this.
“I … believed in Toshiya too, actually" Kaoru started,
and Die just threw his head back, "Until we rushed into
the room and saw ….” the older guitarist paused, not
wanting to mention the incident anymore, and blushed,
“But … I thought he was putting blames on you and Die
..” he reasoned, then shook his head, “I guess I
shouldn’t be so tough on him. But you … as the one
holding this band together …” Kaoru trailed off and
shrugged. Die looked at Shinya in disbelief, mouthing
‘preposterous!!’
Shinya wanted to remark on that but decided not to. “You
should go and see Toshiya. and tell him, the theory is
wrong, and there’s no such thing as conspiracy” he
advised instead, “And tell him that you care for him.
He’s still part of the band! Oh you should have known,
the state he’s in right now … ” the drummer sadly hung
his head down, and continued, “He’s a mess, crying all
the time … and getting so angry with himself”
Kaoru suddenly stood up, with a look of realization on
his face, “I’ve treated him so badly!” he exclaimed.
Die coughed and looked at him. Kaoru clamped his mouth
shut and nodded to the red head, who raised an eyebrow
and went back playing on his guitar. Shinya looked up
and smiled, “Go” he pushed. Kaoru smiled back and said,
“Thanks Shinya, you’re the best!”
As he turned to leave tho, he threw a look at Die and
exclaimed, “Die, you need to work on your acoustic. I’m
sorry been neglecting you. We’ll get together sometime
okay?” and the door was shut tightly.
Shinya exhaled, throwing his back on the couch. Die put
down his guitar and exclaimed, “What the fuck did he
just say?!!! MY acoustic sucks?!!! Because he’s been
NEGLECTING me?!!!” he spat out furiously, looking at his
lover. Shinya refused to reply so the red head let it
dropped and changed the subject, “That’s the kind of
thing I want to do!” he stated firmly.
The drummer closed his eyes and covered his face. What
now?!
Die dumped him non existent ass on the couch and sulked,
“I want to be able to play a part in this! Say something
like that to Kaoru, and do what I can to help Kyo! But
NO! I’m just sitting around … and do nothing!!!” he
berated. “I want to manipulate them, the way you’re
manipulating them! Kaoru’s actually listening to
whatever you say! I want to do the same!” Shinya opened
an eye and looked at him. Heh. A tiny but sly smile
escaped his lips as he leaned closer and wrapped an arm
around Die’s shoulder.
“Die kun…” he whispered, “You have no idea the role
you’re playing”
The guitarist paused and looked at him
“You know about this whole sextape incident don’t you?”
Shinya asked. The red head nodded, “Yeah. We kinda
started this whole shit” he stated matter of factly.
“Exactly. But they don’t know that you know”
“Uh-huh. So?” Die asked, “What are you trying to say?”
Shinya smiled more and leaned closer, “So here’s the
situation. You know but they don’t know that you know.
And you know that they don’t know that you know” Sure he
looked so smooth saying it, but Shinya’s actually
getting confused. He had no idea what he just said!
Die’s face suddenly lit up and like a little kid, he
gushed, “Yeah! And they don’t know that I know that they
don’t know that I know!”
Okay, better get his new plan worked before Die confused
him even more. Feeling like he might went insane, Shinya
cleared his throat and started, “Die kun, YOU are the
manipulator here. YOU play the biggest part here”
The red head nodded slowly as he continued, “They’re all
thinking you have nothing to do with this. And that’s
exactly what you’ll do. If I push Kyo to talk to Kaoru,
he’ll think I’m on Kaoru side. If I tell Kaoru to stop
pushing Kyo, he’ll think I’m on Kyo’s side. Either way,
I’m doomed. And Toshiya, he’s been nagging me about how
Kaoru mistreated him, and I just can’t face him without
feeling guilty! Here’s something I CAN’T DO” he paused
for the effect, and Die looked at him intently.
Shinya looked back at him, “I can’t pretend nothing
happened. I can’t pretend everything is fine and hang
out with them, without feeling under pressure. Seeing
Kyo reminds me of the promise I gave Kaoru. YOU, on the
other hand, since they think you’re not in this-”
Die nodded, ‘Yeah. I know what you mean” he interrupted.
Shinya suppressed a smile as he added, “You can easily
hang out with Kyo, and you can casually bring him here,
without giving him the pressure the way I do. I’ve been
an idiot, telling him about Kaoru’s plan”
“That’s right!” Die exclaimed with a dazzling smiled, “I
can do that. I can totally hang out with Kyo, cheer him
up and stuff. And I can hang out with Kaoru too! And
pretend like nothing happened!”
Shinya raised his hands up and shrugged, “Yeah. You can
do that!”
Die planted a wet kiss on his cheek, packed his
belongings and left the room.
Finally
Shinya sighed
A little ‘me’ time. For the moment, everything was okay.
Kaoru went to see Toshiya, Toshiya’s calmed down, Kyo’s
immobile, Die’s doing his job, and Shinya smiled. It
felt nice to just sit down, leaned back, relaxed and let
other people do his work. Actually, it felt REALLY nice
to have the whole band wrapped around his fingers. Then
he mentally evil- laughed. The quiet one … Teh Power.
And Shinya closed his eyes, slowly dozing off to the
much needed sleep.
----
Author’s note: I wasn’t aware
of it until
seiichiyamagai told me how it reminds her
of Friends, the ‘I know they don’t know that I know’
thing LOL
************