Title: Coming to Love "Arashi"
Pairings: n/a
Rating: G
Word Count: 1, 703
Summary: Obviously the members didn't like being in a group at the start, so... when was it that each member finally realized that Arashi was one of the best things in their lives?
Disclaimer: I do not own Arashi, nor do I own any of the members of Arashi - they are owned by Johnny's Entertainment.. (sadly)
-Story Start-
Nino was the last member to fully enjoy being in the group Arashi. He had never really wanted to be an idol but he was raised to never give up on something just because you didn’t like it, so that’s why he didn’t quit. He didn’t enjoy his work though.
When he was told he would be going to Hollywood to act in a Clint Eastwood film, Nino wasn’t too sure if he was supposed to be feeling happy or annoyed. He didn’t want to leave Japan. Looking back, Nino realized his annoyance was probably there because he didn’t want to part with his four best friends, but at the moment he didn’t realize that.
The day before leaving the four members held a small party for him. Taking him out to eat, going to sing karaoke. They would’ve seen him off at the airport but it was slightly risky doing that. At the time, he thought the entire affair was annoying. It wasn’t like he was dying or moving away forever. He was only gone for a couple of months, they could live without him.
It wasn’t until Nino returned and was trampled by four men upon his arrival that he realized how much he truly missed them all. In that moment, while being squashed (it was supposed to be a hug) by those same four guys who he saw almost everyday in his life, Nino thought…
Arashi really is the best.
***
Ohno was the fourth member to enjoy being with Arashi. He had never been to sure about why he was in Johnny’s Entertainment. In his time in Kyoto he has missed his family dearly and by the time he was schedule to debut he wanted to quit and work as an artist or go to some art school in Europe. His mother wouldn’t let him though, Ohno was thankful for his mother’s decision.
Still, Ohno wasn’t entirely sure when he began to love his four best-friends. He had always been a loner, so in the beginning everything had been awkward. Especially when the sudden touching had started. Honestly, Ohno had been scared when Nino first groped his ass, and he desperately prayed to God it would stop one day, but he was too weak to stop it himself. During concerts it was even more embarrassing when the members touched him openly. Did they not care? Did they themselves feel uncomfortable? He had always wondered.
One day though, those groping hands, instead of being an annoyance had soon turned into a comforting gesture. One day, during a concert while singing Arashi, when he felt those familiar four hands grope at his bottom, he couldn’t help but grin and think,
These guys are really the best… .
***
Sho was the third member to enjoy Arashi as a group. At first he had thought it troubling to debut as a group. He had wanted to quit, after getting into University. It had been to stressful, he just wanted to popularity to stop. He just wished he could graduate and move on with his life, working as a government worker just like his father.
Everyday, he had to study. Whenever he had some spare time in the Arashi dressing room he would grab out his books and study. He tried to at least, but the members would never leave him alone. Aiba was constantly bugging him with idiotic questions, Jun was constantly leafing through his textbooks curiously and Nino wouldn’t stop playing his PS2 with the TV as maximum volume and Ohno was always muttering to himself and drawing all over his notes… Sho wondered why he hadn’t gone insane yet.
Exams were coming up, the need to last-minute-cram was there. The stress was building, and Sho again he wondered why he wasn’t going insane. He wondered how he had managed to last so long with all the work he was doing. He opened the door to Arashi’s dressing room.
Sho was met with a strange sight. A large banner was on the wall that read “Good luck on your exam Sho-kun!” Confetti and balloons were everywhere and a desk was in the middle, empty of everything with a chair in front of it. Sho looked at the room curiously, he entered hesitantly and then felt four things slam into him, pushing him to the ground in a large dog pile, and he couldn’t help but laugh.
This was why he had never gone insane, because of these four idiots with him. They had let him relax, they had made sure he wouldn’t freak out from stress and would always push him to fool around with them so his mind wouldn’t always be bent on school and studying. As Sho sat up laughing, he glanced warmly at the other four, also laughing, around him and grinned wide.
These four idiots… they’re the best.
***
Aiba was the seconds member to enjoy being in Arashi. At first he didn’t enjoy it too much because he felt he couldn’t do much. No one got a long very well, and he had no idea what to do, what role he should play. Ohno was silent and never spoke, Sho was always scolding him and studying and Nino looked like he really wanted to quit and MatsuJun was going through all these phases. Honestly, Aiba felt very alone in the group.
When he felt the pain in his chest while in rehearsals he convinced himself it was nothing and continued on, ignoring the pain. When he woke up in the hospital he received a scolding from his manager saying he should’ve said something and that he had caused a lot of trouble and panic for the staff that day.
At that moment, he had really felt worthless. He sat in the hospital room alone, no one came to visit him for a few days except his manager to inform him of his work schedule. The thought of quitting was looking more and more appealing, that was until he woke up one morning to the loud sound of laughing and a muttered “shut up you’ll wake him up!”
Aiba had slowly opened his eyes and was surprised to see four worried faces looking at him. He had thought the members were mad at him because none of them had decided to visit him but here they were standing beside his bed. When he sat up, the four worried faces changed into wide grins and he felt four fists punch his shoulder (lightly of course) and then laughter as they all talked excitedly among themselves.
He didn’t speak because he had been too afraid that if he opened his mouth he would start crying. He really couldn’t express his happiness. They had stayed with him the entire day, playing games with him and Nino, and MatsuJun even let him win a couple of times. Sho, for once, wasn’t studying and Ohno drew pictures for him. When they left that day, they argued about who would watch over him tomorrow and the day after. Aiba knew they were only acting, but deep down he knew they really wanted him to be happy and he grinned at the four guys who were trying their hardest for him. He made a promise then,
I’ll try my hardest for the four of you as well…
***
MatsuJun was the first to like Arashi. He had always wanted to debut into a group, after all, what was the point of getting into Johnny’s if not to debut? When he learned about Arashi he had been excited and happy, and he couldn’t wait to get started. Even after learning about the hardships of debuting, he was still happy that he could do something in life, and he worked hard at it, but he was quick to realize the other members were not even near as excited as he was. For the next years to come, Jun would work hard to make sure the other members loved Arashi as much as he did.
When Aiba was sick in the hospital, he had told Jun that he would work his hardest to make Arashi the best. Jun had smiled and told Aiba to stop being stupid and just rest, but deep down he was happy that one member had finally realized how great Arashi was and could be in the future.
When they had jumped Sho in the dressing room so he wouldn’t be stressed about his exams, Jun was the only one who had noticed that Sho’s smile at the four of them had changed from a tolerating smile to one that said “I really love these guys” and Jun had winked at Aiba. There was another member who realized that being with Arashi wasn’t all that bad.
When Arashi started playing and Ohno stood in the center of the other four members, each of them had gathered around and groped his ass as if it was the most normal thing to do and Ohno smiled to the crowd as always but only Jun noticed that this time the smile was genuine and the youngest member smiled himself. Three down, one more to go, Arashi was getting there.
When Nino had returned from Hollywood, the other four members had honestly no time to welcome him home. All of them had been busy to the neck that day, but when the news of Nino’s arrival reached their ears, none of them hesitated to drop their work and rush to the second-youngest member’s home. They had ambushed him in the doorway and tackled him to the ground, grinning as they saw the tears of happiness streaming down Nino’s face.
It was at that moment, in Nino’s home, that the five of them felt fully complete and whole, and could all safely say that they were Arashi.
“Cheers! Cheers!” The five of them were holding their own special party for Arashi’s 10th Year Anniversary. Jun grinned as each of them down their glasses and all of them ordered for more. The youngest member relaxed, after 10 long years, he could finally rest and stop worrying. Arashi was complete, and all of them, together, were now aiming for the top.
