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It starts simple enough, with his usual dissing one-liners toward the rest of the cast.
Such a shame they don’t get that this is his way of showing how he likes them! Most sets are so boring that he escapes every second he gets. Surely someone would understand that pranking was his love language, right?
This particular time, he’s aiming at his favorite punching bag, the astronaut actor. The past few days have been all about the fifth trial, nonstop — and the very last time he gets to be here with these people… but he shuts down that thought right away — so it’s basically just the two of them doing nonstop scenes in the hangar setting before it gets brought down.
They’ve been spending a lot of time together for the hangar scenes and by now, he realized his co-star/partner in time/crush got much too used to his antics.
That won’t do. He clearly needs some new material.
“So, Momota-chan,” He starts with nonchalance by using his favorite nickname — so he likes to stay in character and use the character names, sue him — “What do you think about the climax?” He makes sure to put just a little too much emphasis on the word and leans up just slightly to get closer to the taller boy. They’re sitting down, so their faces are closer together; what a treat. He’s truly enjoying the pinkish hues appearing in his nemesis’s face.
“Uh- uh, what?” Even the skin under the goatee is a bit pink — god, he hopes he shaves that off the second they’re done filming — and he almost lets his script fall from his hands. “The what?”
Oh, this is so much fun! He’ll miss this when they’re done shooting. It almost makes him wish he had gotten to the survivor’s stage, just so they’d have another couple of weeks of filming together, seeing each other daily… but of course, the writers all got pissed off at him for intervening, ad libbing and giving ideas for free, even, bunch of ingrates. No wonder this show was on its last legs. Ugh no, this is just another job. Who cares when this is done, he has a full year’s schedule of recording to keep up with once he’s out of here. Focus on the now. Keep your head in the game.
“You knoow… the climax, the upcoming last trial with all the reveals coming up!” He smirks a bit. In truth, he isn’t a fan of the meta end but it’s not like the writers care for his opinion, especially as he already mixed it up quite a bit with his Ouma ad-libs. He’s sure they’re glad to see his character finally dead soon. In fact, he’s sure they killed him off earlier than planned because of how much he liked pitching in and criticizing the frankly bad murder schemes. Oh well.
“Oh yeah, that… I don’t know how to feel about that yet.”
He gets it. They discussed it a lot over the past few dates, but not as much as they discussed their own upcoming fifth trial. At least this one is well written, and thanks a bit to him too. But right now he wants to broach a different, more fun topic.
“Aw, aren’t you excited to see Saihara-chan finally man up and shine? All your tips on manly acting are finally coming to fruition!” He adds in his typical nishishi laughter.
Hook, line, and sinker. Momota-chan’s eyes are ready for a new round of arguments, always so fun. But this isn’t an argument on his precious sidekick, rather, it’s about both of them.
“I’m especially excited to see the kiss! Did you also give him points on that?” He’s adding another nishishi to that. Not like he’ll have many more times to use the fun laughter after the end of the week.
“What kiss?” The taller guy asks, confused.
“The one with Harumaki, of course! It’ll be the grand finale, once the dome is destroyed, all truths revealed, the survivors celebrate their victory!” To be fair, he wouldn’t put such a cliché end past the writers of the show. It is the last season for a reason. He purposefully makes sure to ignore Yumeno-chan in the final scene. What he wants to see after all, is the reaction-
Huh, no hint of jealousy. Time to up things a notch.
“I talked a bit with Saihara-chan, he’s preeetty nervous. Seems like it’s his first on-screen kiss too, what an amateur.” Lucky little detective actor for not having his first, second, and third kiss all on screen as pure lies… but this isn’t about him. “I don’t know about Harumaki, though, not like we talk.” Always add a little truth to make it sound real. “But she seems totally experienced, so it’ll be easy for her.”
“I didn’t hear anything about a kiss. Isn’t it kinda rare to have that in this show?”
“Who knows, it’s the last season. Guess they want to end with a bang!” At that, he raises his voice and pretends a balloon popped. Seems like those boring pantomime classes he couldn’t escape helped, since the taller guy actually did jump a little. And immediately pretended he didn’t. Haha, this guy is laughing. And he was falling for it, perfect.
“Hmm, makes sense. Are those two okay with it, though? I’m kinda worried.”
What.
There’s no jealousy, no envy, just… concern. Like if he was concerned for two friends. Which is still bizarre, as they are all paid to be here, not really friends. But surprise, surprise, looks like the Luminary act was turning into reality.
“I’m gonna go check up on them.” And with that, he got up and left the script on the chair.
They were still in the hangar scene days, it’d take clearance to get out, to promise he wouldn’t take too long and then come back on time — not like the tall, totally not an actual smoker guy didn’t have enough charisma to convince the no-name staff to let him do as he pleases.
Still… what a boring reaction!
He wanted to see drama, jealousy, a love triangle, something! Let him have some fun before his days here are over, come on…
God, he had to stop. He was starting to sound like those crappy writers and that cosplay boring whatever — no, he didn’t like the ex-pop idol and he didn’t want to bother learning her real name. He could tell she was insanely into this show. Unlike him.
After half an hour — too long if you ask him, come on, they’re on a schedule here and they only have a couple days more shooting before this job is over and he’s off to his next boring non-ending list of roles and they never talk to each other again — Momota-chan (the actor) is back fuming for falling for yet another prank. The anger is just about that though, his own gullibility but not about the possibility of a kiss.
Maybe goatee guy really is that good of an actor, with the little experience he has, because even he was quite convinced there was something going on in the hero-sidekick trio. Maybe it’s all one-sided. But he does know how to sell it well.
Time to up his game.
“Wait, wait… What is this?”
“Obviously, the script for our kiss scene! The one the fans are so desperate to see, featuring the weak hero and the powerful villain”.
It’s their penultimate day. It’s now or never.
Sure, the extra acting one-on-one is quite nice but after their hydraulic press scenes, he really wants a bit… more. Being carried carefully and put on the press was… interesting. He knows it’s depressing to think that is better than his escapades outside studios — never with colleagues or crew, though, never. And always wearing some disguise and with people who couldn’t possibly recognize him. He can’t risk incriminating videos or anything — and it is depressing.
But shooting is almost over and he needs to get some memory out of it. Hell, he even faked sneezing or having a panic attack inside the press so he could have the taller actor hold him and carry him around a couple more times. Never in his life would he admit that, though, not even under the most horrible torture imaginable (or spending time with his self-involved parents, same thing).
Time to go for it.
“Come on, you know how fans are. Remember Komahina? They want more of that! And the writers wanna deliver some copycat before the show is over. The hero and antagonist fight each other but with blatant chemistry,” He admits he enjoys the way the other gulps when he says it. So he’s not completely dumb, good. “One last bit of fanservice.” And one last nishishi because he wants to laugh as he pleases, fuck them.
A really long silence spans between them. Okay, probably just five seconds but god does it feel like forever. Finally, the astronaut wannabe breaks the silence.
“I don’t trust you. Not after what you said about the other kiss.”
No worries, he has all possible lines of dialogue prepared. This was one of the obvious ones.
“After you stopped filming when we’re really under tight scheduling and went all over the place, hunting Saihara-chan and Harumaki and any writer you could find to ask about the kiss, do you really think they’d go through with it?” Before he lets the other have time to absorb it, he goes on. “You know I have an in with the writers, I know spoilers.” More like he was banned from entering their office and giving his opinions unwarranted to make the plot more fun. “There is a kiss planned. They just changed the characters involved.”
Sometimes, he’s glad he’s that good of an actor. Even with no cameras on, he never really stops the show fully. Maybe he can’t. And that’s not a thought he wants to have in his head (but it always comes back).
“Here’s how it goes down: when you’re lowering me into the press-“ He ignores the ‘again?!’ from the astronaut, as if he didn’t enjoy holding and carrying him around, please. “I’ll cry out tragically, beautifully.”
He’s definitely ignoring that scoff. Moving on… “And reveal how oh so afraid I am to die, how I wanted nothing more than to help our fellow ingrates students, how I never got to have my first kiss.” Ok, don’t change tones, don’t let him notice this really would be his first kiss… a meaningful one, anyway. “And that’s my dying wish.”
To sell it further, he lowers his voice and says in a very serious tone, the one he uses when he needs to convince people he’s oh so repentant. “They want to sell the shit out of this season since it’s their last. Bringing back all tropes and twisting them, so much fanservice, so much cussing. A kiss is a small thing and the fans go crazy over it.”
All very true, though he knows most of his fellow teen actors here aren’t really comfortable with that. They haven’t lived in the industry as he has. Where there’s no privacy, no special stolen moments, not even having the privacy of your own body. His whole life, everything he is and does is always being recorded and shared. Ouma Kokichi really was too real of a role for him. He can’t help thinking the hydraulic press is really not that bad. At least his body wouldn’t be used for any more advertisements.
“Okay.”
He’s more surprised with how sure the line is delivered - no, not a line. They’re not acting right now. Or are they? Sometimes he can’t tell with his little arch nemesis. He does owe the Danganronpa team this: they know how to pick people with chemistry.
All of his possible dialogue lines (it’d be at least a small script if he’d written it down) fly all through the window. Really? Was it that easy? He’s kinda shocked. Not disappointed, no, because he’s getting what he wants, but a little part of his brain screams at him, “It can’t be this easy, this guy can read you, better than anyone. You really think he doesn’t get it?” He shuts it down immediately, lots of practice there.
One more nishishi for the road, he laughs a little like Ouma, and he sees the way the not-Momota smiles softly at that. Guess they both really enjoy these roles, huh.
He doesn’t want to waste too much time. They have this little break inside the staff room while everyone is having lunch — he’s never been more thankful. Both of them always eat together and spend all breaks together… for acting the hangar section well, of course — he thought he’d waste most of it arguing but life turned out not be a bitch for once. No time to lose.
Passing his fingers over the goatee, “You will shave this once this is over, right?” all too clear without having to say it — and how he enjoys how his co-star's eyes twitch annoyingly, he’s a bit addicted to his reactions — he settles his hands on each side of the cheek.
This is the perfect time for a joke, like-
“No idiot sandwiches, dude. Don’t ruin this.”
Wow. He was even getting his memes now. It’d be a bit hot how well he is reading him now, if they weren’t rehearsing. Funny how he said not to ruin it. As if there was something to be ruined. This is all acting.
Before he can come up with a cheeky reply, a strong, tanned hand holds his head — holy shit, his hand is like half of his head? The hell? How is this so hot, something’s wrong with him — while the other hand holds his hips.
No time to talk. They’re both well aware they have little time.
What was going to be a short, innocent kiss — oh, who is he kidding, he’d make it become a bit of a make out session if he could — has no place for innocence. They grab at each other, trying to hold the other in place, control the pace, tongue against tongue, breaths hitching, he doesn’t even realize when he’s sitting down on something deliciously hard (guess he really wasn’t compensating with all those Luminary speeches, huh) and he can’t even hold down a moan, rolling his hips.
Holy shit.
He’s actually kinda glad there’s no scripted kiss because there’s no way they’d contain themselves even in front of the camera. And he wants this to be their hidden moment. This isn’t for show.
Breaking the kiss (was it just one so far?) to breathe because he’s feeling so dizzy, what the hell is this, does the guy have porn experience or something?
He realizes his hands are trembling. No, his whole body is. Jesus, he seems like some virgin. Not like he isn’t, but he can’t ever let that show.
He feels better seeing the blown out pupils in front of him make him feel better. But shit, his reflection is all messed up, sweaty and red already. It’s embarrassing as shit. The shyness and shame can’t get him. Not now or here. It feels so desperate and hot but also so comforting. He’s never felt like this. The mauve eyes in front of him — still wearing his contacts, this guy… not like he can say he doesn’t also enjoy having purple colored irises — calm him down too much. To the point he can’t even joke about it.
Fuck it. If his first time ends up being here, all the better. At least he’ll leave with a really nice memory. His colleague turned nemesis on screen turned actual pain in the ass in real life turned into… friends, maybe? In front of him is really the most interesting human being he’s ever met.
He doesn’t want to let go.
He wishes the recording could go on forever.
It’s fine if they give him the most inane plot lines or dialogue. He just wants an excuse to keep acting together, spending all lunch and break times together, holding each other, definitely kissing and doing more after this exceeded even his highest late night expectations, god-
A knock on the door is the cruelest of murders.
“Hey, guys, ready for take eight?”
Thank god the crew is polite enough to check in beforehand. Thank god he pulled so many pranks, they’re afraid to open any rooms he might be in.
His rival is even faster to answer than he is. How he hates the total normal voice, as if he wasn’t giving him the tongue of a lifetime- “yeah, all good, man! We’ll be out in a sec!” With zero shortness of breath to boot!
What the hell.
Shit, this guy is a way better actor than he thought. Himself? He’s still struggling to catch his fucking breath. Damn him for having such a small body. Praying not to have an asthma attack, he doesn’t know where to look.
Well, this is ruined now. At least he got a damn good kiss out of it.
He gets up quickly and turns away — from those eyes, from his reflection in the mirror, all of it. He needs to get ready for the scene. Shit, which one was it again? The bathroom or the reveal before they go into the press? Maybe he can fake some faint blood or something so he can be carried again. No, that’d be pushing the limits even for him. The shooting was ending and he was a professional since before he understood that normal kids don’t memorize lines off a script daily.
“-ey, hey,” a firm, strong hand grabs him. Aaand that goes straight to his crotch, because he’s only human.
He can’t turn to look at him. Can’t bear to see the expression on the man behind him. Would his rival be happy? Upset? As confused as before, when he thought the kiss was between his two sidekicks?
“As soon as we’re done shooting, we’re continuing this.”
A shiver went through him. He thought he hid it well until he heard laughter behind him.
“Gotta use the bathroom first and then we can keep… practicing for our scene.”
His rival said with a wink so scandalous that there’s no way he didn’t star in some ridiculous romcom before. Or porn (he didn’t, though, spaceboy’s filmography was checked thoroughly once he saw who’d be his arch rival on the show).
Wait, shit, what was that just now?
Huh… he really did need to reevaluate his view on his rival. Definitely not as dumb… definitely a better kisser than he fantasi- imagined.
Oh, he’d make sure they’d practice a lot more.
So much more than any other actor — hell, anyone ever — could ever compare to him. Because the damn man already made this little make out session unforgettable to him.
For the first time in his life, he was looking forward to acting. Not in this silly series or any other project. But acting in their little future… personal roleplays.
Plenty of material for some hero and villain action, after all.