The Great Manipulator

by Lady7 ( runaluna )

Synopsis: Sequel to Sextape/Home Video. Shinya had no choice but to tell Kaoru and Toshiya about Die’s break up. What would Die’s reaction be? And will Kyo ever gonna break the ice between them?
Disclaimer: I own no one but the fic is mine
Comments: Thank you so much for reading! Comments are highly appreciated ^^ sorry for any misspellings, this is a shirt chap i hope u enjoy ^^

Chapter 7


I said we’re living together because your girlfriend dumped you and you needed support … Please just play along! … I took quite a while to convince them.

Dude! I’m Die. I don’t get dumped!

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. He stared at the red head for a while, while Die looked like he’s about to throw a fit right there.

“Don’t get dumped huh?” Shinya inquired.

“I’m serious!!! That’s why you took a long time convincing them about it!” Die explained desperately, “Because it’s so hard to believe that I was dumped by a selfish spoilt bitch! That’s the impression they get when I told them about her”

Shinya widened his eyes and stated coldly, “If I’m not mistaken, you were talking about me?”

Die opened his mouth to reply, but he paused after Shinya’s sentence registered in his mind. The drummer waited with an eyebrow raised while his lover stood there quietly, trying to find the correct words to say without ended up being disfigured by the much stronger Shinya.

“Well” the red head started, “This and that are two totally different things! I mean, that’s like … my imaginary girlfriend!”

“Exactly!” Shinya exclaimed, “So why so worked up about you being dumped by this imaginary girlfriend?” he asked, looking at the guitarist funnily, “This is so ridiculous! Are you saying you’re gonna dump me first bcuz you never get dumped?” Shinya added.

Hearing that, Die joined his eyebrows, “What? … wha ... what does this have to do with that?” he managed to say, looking even more confused. “Wait!” he suddenly held up a hand, “You’re gonna dump me first bcuz you never get dumped … is that what you just said?”

There was no reply

Die narrowed his eyes at the drummer, “What do you mean by first?

Shinya rolled his eyes and huffed, “You just told the person currently going out with you” he pointed at himself, “Me… that you’re Die, therefore you don’t get dumped. So it’s only natural for me to think that one day, if things don’t go well between us, you’ll dump me! So before you get to do that, of course I have to protect myself, have some dignity … I should dump you first!”

Die face-palmed and leaned on the wall, “Shinchan…”

“Don’t Shinchan me!!” Shinya warned.

The red head put his hands on the hips, looking at Shinya with an amused smile on his lips, “Shinya … you know I don’t mean it that way. Come on” he laughed a little. Shinya pouted at Die’s reaction and felt that he should be more defensive, “Why are you laughing? I don’t see the humor!” he hissed, pressing his arms even tighter on his chest.

“I laughed because we have strayed sooo far from the subject that is Kaoru and Toshiya” Die replied still with a smile on his face, “That’s just a phrase …” he explained, “Kaoru and I used to joke about that, we’re always saying we’re Dir en grey … we don’t get dumped!” The red head exclaimed, laughing as he did so. Shinya looked at him intently, trying to read his face.

“You learnt this from whom?” The drummer asked.

Die smiled sheepishly, “It’s a joke!” he shrugged and approached Shinya, throwing an arm around the younger man, “Now what was it you tried to tell me?”

Shinya narrowed his eyes at Die, as if telling the guitarist the subject wasn’t really closed yet. But then he went on about Kaoru and Toshiya, “I have convinced them about your break up, so please, act like it really happened okay?” Die pouted as his lover continued, “Just now, you didn’t even look sad for a bit. You’re supposed to be devastated by it. I’m surprised Kyo hasn’t said anything. You just got dumped by the girl you thought of marrying! That’s huge!”

“Well …” Die whined, “I thought I was trying to look … normal? I told Kyo I was fine”

“You should’ve tried harder!” Shinya said with a pout, before clearing his throat and pulling Die closer. His facial expression serious and Die listened in attentively as he talked.

“Toshiya has sworn he won’t ever talk to Kyo, unless Kyo apologizes to him”

Die’s face fell, “What?!” he shouted, “I thought it’s the other way around?!”

Shinya rolled his eyes, “Tell me about it! He thinks Kyo’s pulling on the thread, and I quote!” the drummer said hurriedly, “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!”

Die raised an eyebrow at that, and Shinya quietly cleared his throat, “That’s what he said”

“This is funny!” the red head said, and then laughed. “Shinya, how can a missing sextape turn this band into something so ridiculous?!” he asked his lover, shaking his head, “Seriously. Kyo won’t talk to them bcuz they’re hiding a secret from him. Now Toshiya won’t talk to Kyo bcuz he’s using the secret to make them feel guilty?”

Shinya nodded, “And it’s true” he stated, “That is Kyo’s intention! He told me himself!”

Die shook his head more, “Well I don’t know how sort this out” he threw his arms in the air.

Shinya blinked and gently tucked his hair behind an ear. Quietly, he studied Die’s expression and inched closer to his lover, “Hey Die kun, I think you can”

“Huh?” the red head looked up.

“You see …” Shinya started, “I agree with you, that things have gotten worse, beyond our wildest imagination. It’s a huge mess and of course, when we think about it” the younger man said carefully, “We don’t know how to sort it out”

The drummer paused, looking at Die’s thoughtful face. Then he continued, “But if we look at it closely, I think there is a way”

Die pondered for a while, and turned to Shinya, “What are you saying?” he asked in a low tone.

Shinya gave him a smile, pressing a hand on his shoulder as he explained, “You see … we’re all guilty here. Kaoru and Toshiya are guilty for keeping the secret from us. But who stole the tape in the first place? I did. And who put it into Kyo’s box? You did. And what did Kyo do to be guilty here? Instead of letting Kaoru and Toshiya explain to him, he’s building a wall, shutting all of us from him!”

Die nodded, but then he asked, “So what’s your point?” he pushed.

“Well, my point is, there’s a person among us who’s got the upper hand in this”

“Who is it?” the red head asked.

Shinya smiled, pulling Die even closer to him, “You!” he stated poking the guitarist’s chest. The younger man waited as Die thought carefully about what he had just said. And slowly, Shinya could see the realization in Die’s face.

“You’re right” the red head smirk, “See … I know about the tape, but they don’t know that I know about the tape, and I know that they-”

“Okay! Okay!!” Shinya held a hand up, cutting Die’s sentence, “I get what you mean! They still don’t know that you knew about the tape!” he said impatiently. One more sentence of that I-knew-they-knew stuff, Shinya’s gonna get a headache.

The older man raised an eyebrow, nodding a little, “Alright. So I’m kinda innocent in this no?” Shinya rolled his eyes but replied anyway, “Yes. And you know it gets better”

Die gave him a confused look.

“You are the only one who can solve this problem!” Shinya pointed at Die’s face, “You can throw shit at them, they won’t even budge. They’re just gonna let you have it! You know why? Because you’re nursing a heart break!”

“Oh!” the red head gasped, “That’s right!” he exclaimed, and Shinya continued, “Here’s what to do” he pulled Die closer once more and whispered, “Tell them to meet you in the room. I shouldn’t be there, bcuz I know too much. I knew first. This is between you and those three”

Die nodded as Shinya talked more, “They will definitely think you get them together to talk about your break up. And this is the time to catch them off guard”

“I get it. I’ll talk about something else instead. Once they’re surprised, all walls will be shattered” Die responded confidently. Shinya continued, “You should look like a train wreck. Like you’re destroyed or something... You’re too devastated to even speak. Yet there you are, sitting in front of them. Then you drop the bomb, you tell them, ‘Guys, I sense something is wrong between the three of you’”

Die’s jaw dropped, “Ohh!!! That will SHOCK them!!!”

“It will! It will!” Shinya repeated himself, feeling suddenly excited. “They won’t know what to do and what to say bcuz they’re not prepared! You delve a bit more into that, and then you walk out the room”

“Yes. I should walk out the room” Die agreed, “I’m not supposed to know about the sex tape”

“Great!” Shinya smiled, satisfied, “I believe things will work out after that”

“This is so cool!” Die clenched his fists together and wrapped his arms around Shinya, “We’re sooo gonna put this ridiculous thing to an end! Okay, I need you to do something Shinchan!”

“Huh?” Shinya blinked, “I thought that’s it?”

“No, no …” Die flicked his index finger in front of Shinya’s face, “Sitting in front of them looking morose certainly won’t do the trick! We need more drama” he said, stressing the last word.

Shinya suddenly felt like he’s in one of those situations when he dug a hole to trap someone and ended up falling into the trap himself. He watched as Die looked at his wrist, “Okay, it’s almost lunch time” the red head stated, “Now, Shinya. Go have lunch. After you eat, go to the practice room and sit on the couch”

The drummer looked at Die as if he was insane.

Die continued without even noticing the look on his lover’s face, “Kaoru will always be there at two, so when you see him, you’re gonna say this ‘Kaoru, I can’t find Die’”

Shinya widened his eyes

“And please, put up your best worried look” Die ended with a peck on Shinya’s cheek, “You’re the best Shinchan!!” he cooed. And Shinya tried to speak as he saw the red head walking away.

“What ..? Wha … WAIT!” he shouted, finally found his voice and Die turned around with a smile.

“Where are you going?”

Die made a ‘tsk’ sound and shook his head, “You’re supposed to look very worried bcuz you can’t find me! Kaoru can read faces and even though you have that steely icy expression of yours, your eyes don’t really lie Shinchan! See ya!” he said his goodbyes and disappeared.

WTF?!

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