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It had been a year since Sho had announced that he was putting his solo work on hiatus, and that he was joining Red Shift as a permanent member. Since then, they’ve released two singles and were preparing for the release of their first studio album. They were waiting, because Sho was releasing his last solo album first. Despite the letters of complaint from members of Sho’s official fan club that they were against the idea, the singles were both well received. Sometime between the two singles, Nino had even recorded a duet with Cloud Chorus’s Ryuta. Red Shift became a name that buzzed in the air, at the tip of the tongue of many in the industry, and the subject of countless gossip and debate. It was everything that Aiba could hope for, and yet –
“Sho-chan.”
Sho was rummaging through his bag, but he stopped to look at Aiba.
“Sho-chan, did you –”
“Aiba-san!” One of the Ads called out in interruption. “We’re filming your part next.”
Sho was being rushed to make-up as Aiba filmed his solo part for their new PV, and when Aiba was done, he was being rushed to a short interview with a writer from some weekly magazine, while Sho was being prepped for his solo. They didn’t get to talk until a few hours later, when they were at a different studio – this time, being on a music show to promote their… to be honest, Aiba had forgotten what it was. It was like being caught in a whirlwind; he had hardly had enough time to take a breath and think about what was going on. He was sure that someone would fill it in for him soon, though. Someone always did.
“Sho-chan,” he started, glad to see Sho again. “Tomorrow –”
“Sakurai-kun,” Sho’s manager interrupted, appearing out of nowhere. “A note from Tachibana – your mother called a few times this morning, but wasn’t able to reach you. And about your schedule tomorrow…”
“Sorry,” Sho said. He really seemed regretful, but that didn’t matter when he was leaving anyway. “I need to talk to Horikawa-san for a minute.”
“But, tomorrow –” Aiba’s words were cut off as Sho gave him a smile and left with Horikawa-san. In the distance, Aiba saw them stopping to talk to An-chan, Sho’s personal assistant, and she followed them out of the studio. “But tomorrow’s my birthday,” he finished, in a small voice.
He didn’t know why birthdays were almost like a cursed event for them. They were celebrating Sho’s birthday the first time they had broken up, although Aiba supposed that they also got back together on Sho’s birthday, so the two should cancel each other out. Sho’s father had passed away right before Aiba’s birthday, when the funeral was held, and when Sho’s birthday came around again they had just officially announced Sho’s decision and were too busy dealing with the aftermath. Nino had rushed to get shortcakes from a convenience store, which they had all shared during a 15-minute break. Aiba and Sho didn’t even spend any time alone together, because news about Sho was too prominent at the time and he was constantly trailed by paparazzos. Sho had said that things would die down naturally in a few months, which they did, but by then they were already busy with various projects, and barely had time for themselves. Countless times Aiba had planned to stay over at Sho’s, just to fall asleep as soon as he went back to his own apartment to pack. (Nino had told him to pack beforehand, but he always forgot.)
Now Aiba was wondering if Sho even remembered his birthday.
It wasn’t that he was the kind of boyfriend who expected a grand celebration – to be honest, a simple “happy birthday” and a few hours of free time together would have been perfect. They wouldn’t even have to do anything – he missed being able to just relax at home with Sho. As long as Sho was there, it never really mattered what they were doing, really.
It wasn’t even that he was the kind of guy who put so much importance in anniversaries or celebrations, either. It was just that – he was born on Christmas Eve. Who forgot a date like that?
So Aiba did what he always did when something about Sho bothered him – he went to Nino.
Nino seemed irritated by the whole thing, but he curled up against Aiba on the greenroom sofa anyway, and asked, “So what if he forgot? It’s not like you can celebrate it anyway – it’s Christmas Eve, and even though I have absolutely no idea what our schedule is like, I’m sure that we’re going to be as busy tomorrow as we are today.”
“I know.” Aiba sighed. “I guess I just wanted to spend some time alone, but it’s impossible, isn’t it?”
“We-ell,” Nino said, drawing out his words. “For now, I guess. I’m sure it isn’t going to be like this forever. I’m sure there will be times when we’re recording and writing music more than doing promotional work, like before. And we’ll get used to this, eventually.”
“I guess.” Aiba was already half leaning against Nino, but he put more of his weight in, comforted by his best friend’s presence. “You’re going to be there, right? We’ll see each other tomorrow?”
“Idiot,” Nino muttered in response. “If Red Shift is working, of course I’m going to see you, right?” After a beat, he added, “Sho-chan, too.”
})i({
Everyone – even Sho, who gave him a quick kiss when no one was looking – wished him a happy birthday when he showed up in the morning, but they all seemed too distracted or tired out to put much energy or thought behind their words. Apparently Aiba wasn’t the only disgruntled one about their schedule on Christmas Eve. Jun was obviously in a bad mood – he had probably wanted to have time alone with Ohno, too. The morning and noon went by in a blur, as they went to several photo shoots and live recordings and even radio appearances. Aiba thought that he had said “Merry Christmas” enough times to last him the rest of his life.
Around 2 p.m., though, he found himself alone, buying a drink at the vending machine, when An-chan came up to him. “Aiba-san,” she greeted politely.
“An-chan,” he said, because that was what Sho called her, even if everyone else called her Tachibana. She smiled a little, seeming pleased rather than irritated that he was calling her in a familiar manner despite the fact that they didn’t know each other that well. “You can just call me Aiba, like everyone else,” he said.
“Aiba,” she said, like she was testing it out. “Sakurai-san asked me to wait for you, because the rest of the band had moved on to the next location. I’ll drive you over there.”
“They did? They went off without me?” Aiba was confused. Why hadn’t they at least told him that they were leaving first? “Oh well. Sorry for troubling you, An-chan.”
“It’s no trouble at all.”
It occurred to Aiba that after all his complaints to Nino that they had to work that day, so did An-chan, and all the people who worked for, or with them. On their way to the studio, he asked her if she was working all day, and she told him that she had dinner plans for the evening, but she had work until then. He thanked her, more sincerely than he’d thanked any of the staff before for doing so much for them, but she laughed and waved it away. “Really, it’s nothing,” she says. “Although, if you don’t mind me saying, I’m glad that Sakurai-san seems happier these days.”
Aiba ducked in embarrassment; he doesn’t know for sure, but he suspects that An-chan knows the exact nature of his relationship with Sho. “He’s been very busy, though,” he mumbled, thinking about how Sho had also taken over his father’s company, at least until his younger brother would be able to take it off his hands. “He barely has time to relax, even for a couple of hours.”
“Does it bother you?”
“No… I guess, maybe a little. I know it’s selfish and all, but I miss him.” He reddened, and added hastily, “I mean, as a best friend. I see him almost every day at work, but that’s work, you know?”
She seemed amused, but didn’t make any comment about his response to her question. She just nodded, as if she understood what he meant. “You know,” she says, “he’s doing this for –” she stopped, as if realising that she was saying the wrong thing.
“I know,” Aiba said quietly.
That was the problem with Sho, he thought. Always thinking of others first – especially if “others” meant Aiba, or Red Shift. Sometimes, despite Sho’s protests that he really was doing exactly what he wanted, Aiba wondered just how much of Sho’s efforts were because he thought it was what others wanted out of him. What Aiba wanted out of him. He thought of telling Sho that all he wanted was some time together, but he didn’t want Sho to feel pressured to make time for him, either.
“We’re here,” An-chan announced, as she turned into a corner, and slowed down in front of the entrance of a building. Aiba wasn’t familiar with the place, and wasn’t sure what the band was doing there, but An-chan gave him directions on where to find the rest of Red Shift as she dropped him off.
It wasn’t just any building, Aiba realised as he walked in. It was a hotel. That much wasn’t strange – sometimes they had interviews being handled in hotels, usually at the restaurants, or at the banquet hall if there was a special press release. But they didn’t have anything special going on that he knew of, and the directions that An-chan left him with had led him to the door leading to a banquet hall. His eyebrows knitted as he tried to think of the things he might find on the other side of the door, and he pushed it open.
The loud popping noise startled him, and he almost took a step back from the surprise. He blinked, unsure of what was going on, when a loud, cheerful chorus rang out from all the people in the room.
“Happy birthday!”
He stood, frozen, as he stared out at the people in the hall. Sho, and all of Red Shift, of course, but it wasn’t just them. Sugimoto and Suzuki and Ai-chan were there, too, and his parents and Yuu-chan, and Nino’s sister, Yukie. Ryuta and the rest of Cloud Chorus. Sheri-chan, Ohno’s friend who owned their current favourite live house, Ozeki’s. And Kinoshita and Takeshi and Ito and Tomo, who had all been his close friends and colleagues at various part time jobs when Red Shift were still starting out.
Everyone, Aiba realised. Everyone was there.
“How long are you going to stare at us?” Nino asked, and he suddenly snapped to attention.
“I – uh – how…”
“Watch it,” Nino said, loudly enough that Aiba was sure his best friend wasn’t talking to him. “He’s going to start blubbering now.”
He wasn’t; Aiba was sure that he was nowhere near wanting to cry, but of course the moment Nino said those words his eyes started to tear up. “Shut up,” he said, but he was already pulling Nino into a hug.
Over Nino’s shoulder, Aiba’s eyes met Sho’s, and he knew that the whole thing had been Sho’s idea.
})i({
Sho didn’t do it all by himself, of course. He had had a lot of help – from Nino, as well as from Sugimoto, who was the only one who had bothered to keep in touch with most of their old friends. An-chan had helped in tracking down the ones that Sugimoto had lost touch with.
Aiba peppered his band with questions – what about the live appearance they were supposed to do, weren’t they supposed to work all day? That was when he found out that the broadcasts they did that morning were meant to be aired later in the night, and that the reason they had so much work earlier in the day was so that they could finish faster. Sho had got their managers to pack their schedules as tightly as possible, so that they had the evening off.
And what an evening – Aiba felt a little dizzy, having all his favourite people in one place. He caught up with his older friends – Kinoshita’s band was debuting with a smaller label in a few months, while Tomo was now an accountant, of all things; he introduced Yuu-chan to Cloud Chorus, since it seemed that his brother was a fan; he found out that Yukie might be getting engaged soon. The evening seemed to end too fast, but even when he was saying good bye to everyone a part of him was glad to be alone with Sho, who was the only one who remained in the end.
“We have the rest of the evening,” Sho told him, “and we don’t have to go into the studio tomorrow until late noon. Is there anywhere you’d like to go, or do? It’s been a long time since we’ve been out, just the two of us.”
Aiba smiled. “Are you asking me out on a date?”
“Yes,” Sho replied, looking thoughtful. “I suppose I am.”
“Today’s been wonderful,” Aiba told Sho. “Well, except for the beginning of the day, but I guess it’s all worth it. If it’s okay with you… can we just go back to your place?” Sho looked surprised, so he elaborated, “It’s not that I wouldn’t love to go out with you. It’s just that – we’re out more often than not, and I can’t remember the last time we got to be alone.”
Sho breathed out a sigh of relief. “To tell the truth, I’m kind of beat, so going home is definitely preferable than going out,” he admitted.
“Yeah, I figured. You should rest more,” Aiba admonished, but Sho didn’t even have time to protest or agree before he asked, “what made you think of doing this?” He gestured to the now-empty hall, referring to the party. “I thought I asked you to stop going out of the way to do things for me.”
“You never really got to celebrate your birthday properly,” Sho said defensively, “it being on Christmas Eve and all. So we decided to give you a real birthday party this year.”
For once, Aiba couldn’t fault Sho for doing so much for him. His hand reached out for his boyfriend’s, and held on tight. “Thank you,” he murmured. “It was the best birthday gift ever.”
The smile Sho had given him in return was probably a close second.