The Great Manipulator

by Lady7 ( runaluna )

Synopsis: Sequel to Sextape/Home Video. Shinya is cornered by Toshiya, who witnessed his touchy feely ways with Die. Will Kyo finally talk to the two?
Disclaimer: I own no one but the fic is mine
Comments: Thank you so much for reading! Comments are highly appreciated ^^


Chapter 6


I saw you … and Die, walking out of your house … Together … So early in the morning.

I saw how touchy feely you guys were.

I think you are hiding something from us


Shinya stood there, his feet cold and his palm sweating. His eyes went from Toshiya, to Kaoru and back to Toshiya. Never once he thought he would be cornered this way, by Toshiya! With Kaoru looking on. The drummer twisted his fingers together anxiously, but he managed not to lose the icy calm expression on his face.

Now he needed to think. Hard.

Shinya looked at Toshiya, who was looking at him accusingly. The older man was chewing on his lips and his arms crossed together. He knew Toshiya was as anxious. And at that moment, Shinya realized, he wanted to tell Toshiya! If there’s anyone he was asked to confess to, it would be the bassist. Toshiya would understand. Toshiya would gladly accept it. Perhaps, he would be happy for them. Toshiya was close to him, and was even closer to Die.

Then Shinya averted his eyes to the other man standing behind Toshiya.

Kaoru

“Where are you going?!” Toshiya asked aloud, as the drummer started to walk away.

Shinya said nothing as his feet felt heavy stepping on the floor. He reached the practice room and the door was not closed. He looked inside and saw Die sitting on a couch, next to Kyo. The red head was holding the latest GameBoy Kyo had just purchased, and Shinya narrowed his eyes.

“You can’t get away this time!” Toshiya’s voice was heard and Shinya felt a tug on his sleeve. He sighed and looked at the bassist.

And then he looked at Kaoru, who’s approaching them.

No way

There’s no way he could confess.

Kaoru’s there.

Shinya licked his lips as he turned to look at his lover.

Kaoru and Die were so tight not even Shinya could come between them. They had a special relationship that Shinya couldn’t fathom. They had their own jokes that Shinya couldn’t understand, or let alone laughed at. They had their own subjects to talk about that although anyone could participate in the conversations, they couldn’t stay in for long.

If Kaoru was to know about their relationship, he shouldn’t hear it from him.

Kaoru should hear it from Die.

Shinya felt his throat dry as he contemplated in his mind … he’s tired of keeping it secret. He’s dying to tell Toshiya. It’s been three years. And if he asked Toshiya not to tell, Toshiya would promise him. But Kaoru’s there. No way … he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. It’s not fair for Die, not fair for Kaoru.

“Shinya!” Toshiya pushed.

The drummer took one last look at Die. Then Kyo.

And then he paused.

Another tug on his arm, and Shinya turned to look at Toshiya with a bewildered look. Kaoru widened his eyes at the sudden expression on his face and asked, “Are you okay?”

Toshiya huffed impatiently and pushed more, “Shinya, we’re waiting!”

Shinya said nothing. He casted his eyes down, looking at his fingers, before lifting his chin up and looked at Toshiya. Then he reached out for the door and slowly closed it. With a hand still on the door knob, he pondered for a while, before his thoughts were cut off by Toshiya’s desperate plea, “Please say something!!! Answer the question!”

“Toshiya, he looks unwell, maybe we should-”

“NO!!! I finally get my way and corner him!”

Shinya looked up, and cleared his throat.

“Yes”

Toshiya and Kaoru looked at him confusedly.

Shinya licked his lips as he continued, “It’s true that Die has been … staying at my place”

Kaoru looked shocked, and the smug look on Toshiya’s face was priceless. He turned to the guitarist and pouted, “Told ya!”

“Are you two ….” Kaoru asked and suddenly was not able to finish the sentence. He couldn’t believe what he was about to say, couldn’t even understand how it had just crossed his mind. The guitarist looked at Shinya nervously, hoping the younger man would just comprehend what he was trying to ask.

Toshiya, on the other hand, had no problem with it, “Kaoru’s asking if there’s anything special going on between you and Die” he said out loud, rolling his eyes, “I wouldn’t even consider it yesterday but this morning seeing how close you two seem to be…” he trailed off shaking his head.

Shinya placed a hand on his neck as he continued,

“Die is nursing a heartbreak”

At that moment the other two was probably too engrossed with their own thoughts that it took a few seconds to register what Shinya had just said. And when they finally did, Toshiya thought he heard wrong and repeated after the drummer, ”Die’s nursing a heartbreak?”

“Huh?” Kaoru managed

Shinya gulped and took a deep breath. Then he pulled a distressed-looking face, the best he could do, and boldly replied, “Die’s girlfriend left him”

“WHAT?!!”

Toshiya and Kaoru exclaimed in unison, and they stared at Shinya with jaw dropped, their eyes widened like never before. If he was waiting for the right moment to divert their attention from his secret relationship with Die, this was it. Shinya felt something in him stirred, the way he always did when he realized he’s got a power. It was the right moment. He could have them averted to the direction he wanted.

“You guys know … the girl is a lot younger than him. Right?” he started with a low tone, as if he was telling a secret, his eyes looking at the other two.

Toshiya nodded slowly.

Kaoru opened his mouth, “But … why …? I mean … like … how…?” and realized he couldn’t even manage a sentence, so he shut up and waited for another reply.

“She’s also quite selfish if you can remember” Shinya said, followed by sounds of agreements from the other two.

Now he needed to make it sound real bad for Die.

“Apparently, Die kinda wanted to get serious”

Kaoru’s face fell and he shook his head, “Are you serious?!”

Shinya nodded, “She couldn’t”

Toshiya gasped, “So she just left him?!!!” he exclaimed.

Shinya held up a finger near his lips and hushed the bassist, who quickly covered his mouth and looked at the closed door.

“I’m not supposed to tell you!” the drummer hissed.

It was somehow giving him a great feeling, to watch Toshiya shaking his head in disbelief, and Kaoru, still in shocked, leaned on the wall weakly. The older man shook his head slowly and snorted, “It’s unbelievable. Die wanted to get serious?! Oh my god, when he finally wanted to be serious … the girl left him?!!”

Shinya shook his head in dismay, “She’s still young, and when they first hooked up it’s Die’s status that attracted her most. You guys should know, the rockstar tag he’s got, the wildness and freedom and rebellion it came with… everything just…” Shinya paused to shrug, “fizzled” he stated calmly. “As soon as he mentioned the M word-”

“WHAT?!!!” it was Kaoru’s turn to exclaim, and immediately he covered his mouth too and stared at Shinya in shock. Toshiya choked as he raised a hand up and questioned, “You mean… when he said getting serious … he meant …”

Shinya nodded

Kaoru covered his face and bent his knees. Toshiya brushed his hair and looked away.

Shinya waited until the two seemed to calm down a bit. Then he continued, “Die was … a wreck when it happened. As you guys know, I pick him up from his house most the time, and … it’s only natural that I found out” he explained. Kaoru and Toshiya was listening intently and they nodded in agreement with the drummer.

“I was trying to be supportive, asking him to come over and stay with me. He couldn’t even sleep …” Shinya bit his lower lip, as more lies went thru his teeth, “I accompanied him … until he’s … well …” Shinya paused, as if trying to find the right word, “Until he could accept it”

Toshiya suddenly shook his head, “But” he uttered, “I don’t see it AT ALL. He seems fine, he seems … upbeat” he looked at Kaoru for support and the older man nodded, saying, “Yeah. It’s a total shock! I don’t see it too. He seems … FINE”. As soon as Kaoru finished the sentence, Toshiya leaned forward and grabbed the doorknob. Then he twisted it opened and looked inside.

Die cheered along with Kyo, followed by a round of laughs. Shinya narrowed his eyes at his lover, who didn’t realize the three pairs of eyes staring at him. The red head proceeded to snatch the GameBoy from Kyo, who protested but laughed anyway. Witnessing it, Toshiya raised an eyebrow at Shinya, “See, he looks …”

“A little too excited?” Shinya offered.

Kaoru looked at Die and pondered, “Really?”

Shinya brushed his forehead in a quick motion, this was getting too far. He had lied so much he’d get his tongue cut off in hell. By now Toshiya and Kaoru were staring at Die, studying the red head’s expression, and that’s just the last thing he needed.

When two people were in a relationship, they’re not supposed to blame each other when ugly things came up. But he swore Die could’ve shown a bit of morose if he’s really nursing a heartbreak! Didn’t he tell Kyo he broke up with his girlfriend? Shinya’s surprised Kyo didn’t realized how happy Die was.

“Well” Shinya said, and the attentions were back to him, “Die’s not living the reality at the moment” he continued, “I mean … look at him” he looked at his lover, “He’s pretending to be fine. He’s faking it! You can so see it from his actions!”

Toshiya and Kaoru turned to Die, and coincidently, at that moment the red head jumped up and held his fists in the air, “I BEAT THOSE BASTARDS!!” he yelled. Kyo covered his face in mock shame and sunk into the couch, “I own that damn thing and you’re the one winning the game?!!” the blond head moped.

Shinya closed his eyes, obviously suppressing the anger toward the red head slowly building inside as Toshiya raised an eyebrow at him.

“Really. I have seen him …” Shinya paused and bit his lip, “Crying?”

Kaoru gasped.

“Are you serious?” Toshiya asked with arms crossed on his chest, looking at Shinya suspiciously. He wouldn’t trust the drummer anymore. It’s too risky. Besides, he had another theory.

“I think” Toshiya added, switching his attention back to the other two inside the room, “Kyo looks like the one pretending”

Shinya rubbed his forehead one more time, one problem at a time, he thought, “I just want you to know, Toshiya. I have nothing to do with the missing tape. Die’s in a very bad position in his life right now, and I’m just trying to help him get thru it. If it looks like we’re having any sort of … conspiracy” he paused and looked at Kaoru, who raised an eyebrow, “Against you … you’re wrong”

Kaoru decided to speak, and he looked at Toshiya with a serious face, “I’m not going to stand here and repeat myself about this, but I guess what Shinya said is believable”

Toshiya opened his mouth to protest and Kaoru quickly raised his hands up, “I’m not taking sides!!” he quickly said, “This is just from my point of view. Die DID act a little weird the other day … when we” he looked at Shinya, “Were in the room with him, Die just stood in a corner and … played weird sounding riffs on his guitar”

While Toshiya was listening intently, Shinya turned away from the other two, trying his best NOT to smile as Kaoru continued, “He didn’t seem like the normal Die at all, the melody was … I don’t know, so fucked up at one point I told him, hey Die you need to work on it we should sit down and do something about- Oh my god!!!” Kaoru suddenly exclaimed.

Toshiya joined his eyebrows, “Huh?”

Kaoru looked at Shinya, palms on his face, “I must have sounded like a jerk!! Clearly he’s too distraught to play properly!”

Shinya could only widen his eyes at Kaoru. He wasn’t able to even say something in return. It hit him that the whole Dir en grey had been living in a fake reality he created with Die. Everyone was living a lie. This had gone too far. It’s like rolling a snow ball, the longer they rolled the bigger the snow ball became. Just like their lies, the longer they did this, more lies were made. And if they weren’t careful, they would reach the edge of the cliff … and with one final push … Shinya sighed as he closed his eyes.

“It must have been tough for you”

Shinya blinked and looked up. Kaoru was looking at him sympathetically.

“It’s not easy to see a friend falling out of a relationship” Kaoru added, shaking his head sadly, “I give it to you, being so supportive. And you managed to take care of him. I’d probably let Die had his way and he’d probably become an alcoholic by the time we go for the FVT”

Toshiya rolled his eyes and looked at Kaoru, “Obviously that’s one of the first things we’d suggest!” he argued, turning to Shinya, “I mean, when you saw Die moping around didn’t it make you say Hey Die! Come on let’s forget about this. Let’s just go out … have a few drinks …”

Kaoru nodded, “That’s be my first reaction”

And that’s something totally unexpected to Shinya.

“Erm …” he muttered, “Well … You see, I prefer to talk it out. I believe in dealing with the problems instead of drowning myself with alcohol …” he shook his head, ‘That’d be wrong. I asked him how he felt … and he talked to me … until he’s better”

See … the snowball effect.

Kaoru raised an eyebrow and gave Shinya a look, “Really? You? Talk? The quiet one?”

Shinya covered his face with a hand and turned away.

Fuck.

He shouldn’t open his mouth from now on. Everything he said were lies. Lies and more lies.

“Kaoru…” Shinya said, and the older man nodded, “Die told me not to tell you”

The guitarist narrowed his eyes, and started to protest but Shinya quickly explained, “I think he wants to tell you himself. He knows how happy you” he looked at Toshiya, “And you too, he sees how happy you are. He knows you’re content, and in a right place in your life, he doesn’t want to …” Shinya paused and took a deep breath. God it’s tiring to make up stories. “He feels bad to let you know about this, because then you will worry about him!”

Toshiya shook his head, “But that’s not true!” he patted Kaoru’s back, “We’re here for him!”

Kaoru nodded

“I know! We’re all here for him” Shinya agreed, “But he made me promise not to tell anyone. I guess he wants to tell you guys personally. Please promise me you won’t talk to him about it”

Shinya saw the other two fell silent, considering what he had just said, pondering about the lies he fed them. Was it bad to take advantages of people … to be able to manipulate them like this? Because it surely felt great! He never had the power. He was always the quiet one. Even when he fell in love and was currently in a beautiful relationship, he had to keep it secret. And now, he’s standing right here, controlling the band.

“I guess … you have a point” Kaoru was the first to speak, “I’m a bit upset he didn’t come to me. But yeah …” he shrugged, “I AM happy with my life, and I’m in a good place. I’m just really touched that Die knows … that I’m happy. It only means he pays attention to my being” the guitarist gave Shinya a smile. Then he nodded and went on, “I promise that I won’t say a word about it. Besides, I’ll be totally prepared when he finally tells me. I’ll have something to support him”

Shinya smiled back and looked at Toshiya. The older man huffed, throwing his hands in the air, “Guys!!! Big picture please!!!” he exclaimed, and both Kaoru and the drummer were taken aback.

“Okay. I know what happened to Die is serious stuff. But like Kaoru said, when he finally decides to tell me then I’ll deal with it. Right now, I’m more concerned about Kyo!”

Kaoru gasped and looked at Toshiya in disbelief.

“I’m not saying Kyo is more important than Die!” Toshiya defended himself, “I think we should settle the problem with Kyo first, then we move on to Die. I mean … we’re not even supposed to know about it!”

“Yeah! But that’s a little heartless to say! Our sex tape shit is NOTHING compares to what Die’s going thru now!”

By now Shinya’s leaning on the wall, trying to sort his own thoughts. Actually, he’s thinking of what to tell Die later on. Things had gone far worse than he expected and he knew Die’s the only one who could save the day. Kaoru and Toshiya exchanged a few more snide remarks when Shinya decided to clear his throat.

Kaoru blushed and felt a little embarrassed. Toshiya, on the other hand, had always had no problem in showing his emotions. That’s something about being an Arian, he would say whatever he wanted to, whenever he wanted to. So the bassist placed his hands on the hips and looked at Shinya, “I saw what he did when he saw us! He walked pass me as if nothing happened … I knew him well enough to know that he’s doing it on purpose!”

Shinya hung his head down. That’s not a lie. He and Die saw it too, and were as shocked.

“I’m not going to stand here and be miserable!” Toshiya decided there and then. He held his chin up stubbornly, “If he’s trying to make us feel sorry and guilty about the sex tape, well …” he paused and looked at Kaoru, “You’ll be miserable and sorry and guilty for as long as you want, Kaoru. I’m not playing this game! This shit is long overdue! It’s taken so much of my energy if I do this any longer I’ll go insane!”

Shinya blinked as Toshiya turned to him, “You go and tell Kyo, I am sorry, and I am guilty. But this has taken so long, I just can’t sit around and cry and mop about it anymore. I won’t talk to him, unless he apologizes to me!”

Kaoru looked gobsmacked, “Huh??” he managed to utter.

Toshiya turned his heel and stomped off determinedly. Both Kaoru and Shinya watched his retreating back with mixed feelings, Shinya felt stupid, while Kaoru was surprised. After a while, the older man looked at Shinya and scratched his head, trying to find something to say. Shinya, on the other hand, swore he could have seen this coming.

“I’m sure he’s … joking!” Kaoru said, chuckling nervously. “I’ll go and talk to him”

Shinya shook his head and patted Kaoru’s arm, “No, I think he’s …” he paused and looked at the direction Toshiya went, “He’ll go thru it. We know that’s not what he wants to do. It’s just… his feelings taking control”

Kaoru couldn’t help but laughed, “I find it weird… that I can still laugh amidst all the crap happening …” he said in a low tone.

“Don’t worry about it. Like I said, it’s the feelings taking control. Kyo too, I’m sure he’s regretting it inside”

“You will talk to him?” Kaoru looked up and asked Shinya, who nodded and gave the guitarist a small, but assuring smile.

***

“Hey Shinchan!”

Die wrapped his arm around his lover’s shoulder, but was surprised when Shinya pushed him away and looked at him with serious eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asked worriedly.

Shinya looked around the corridor. Obviously there’s no one near them, because Die just hugged him. And at times Die could be more observant than him. But Shinya had always been the more careful one. He dragged the red head to a corner and held both of his arms. Die looked surprised, and worried at the same time.

“Die kun, something has happened this morning while I was talking to Kaoru and Toshiya!!”

“Oh”

“Right” Shinya swallowed and went on, “Remember you said Miyu was barking at something you couldn’t see?”

Die nodded

“It’s Toshiya. He was there. He spied on us”

Immediately Die’s jaw dropped as Shinya went on, “I had to come up with an excuse. He was basically pinning me up against the wall, demanding an answer!”

Die gasped and held Shinya’s cheeks gently, “Oh my god! Are you okay? What did you say?”

“I said we’re living together because your girlfriend dumped you and you needed support”

…

Die blinked

“They promise me not to ask about it, but if they do, you know, I don’t trust them at all!” Shinya said, rolling his eyes, “Please just ... play along!”

There’s no response from the older man so he continued, “They didn’t believe it at first, I took quite a while to convince them! But then Toshiya went on and threw a hissy fit about Kyo … my god!” The drummer joined his eyebrows as he noted the weird expression on Die’s face, like the red head was pissed or something. Shinya blinked and poked his lover’s chest, “Die?”

“Dude!” Die finally said, “I’m Die. I don’t get dumped!”

Hearing that, Shinya widened his eyes, and then crossed his arms on the chest, giving Die a look. Somehow, he sensed that this would be a long discussion.

************