[ October 2003, Manager’s house ]

"You’re late -- *again*!" Sakamoto-kun pointed out angrily, reprimanding Go as soon as his figure appeared at the door.

Go, on the other hand, simply gave Leader an unaffected look.

"Well, aren’t you going to say anything?" the older man asked expectantly as Go passed him by.

Go just blinked at him. "What do you want me to say?"

Sakamoto-kun had to roll his eyes to the heavens. "How about, ‘I’m sorry I’m late,’" he replied sarcastically.

Go looked perplexed. "Why should I apologize?"

"Because you *are* late!" Sakamoto-kun exploded.

Unfortunately, the younger man didn’t see his point. "Well, nobody’s complaining."

"I am!" the older man shot back impatiently.

Only to have Go reply, "But you always complain when I’m late."

"Because-- " Sakamoto-kun stopped himself halfway, realizing their talk was going nowhere. "You know what, just go take your seat," he told the rebellious boy, pinching the bridge of his nose out of frustration.

Go shrugged his shoulders and obeyed.

Leader, on the other hand, had to go to the manager’s office to personally apologize for the delay. He would have taken Go with him, but past experiences only proved the idea to be more damaging than helpful, so he went alone.

"Hey people!" Go called out to us as soon as Sakamoto-kun left the room, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Guess who was voted BADI magazine’s ‘Most Popular Artiste Among Gays’?" (1)

Nagano-kun had to look up from the sports newspaper he was reading. "Eh? Do we really have to know?"

"Who? Who?" Ken asks excitedly, already grabbing for the magazine his best friend brought out from his jacket.

"Me?" Inocchi-kun raised his hand enthusiastically (clearly, already wide-awake), making Nagano-kun and I laugh.

Go shook his head then pointed his finger. . .at my direction.

I almost choked on the tea I was drinking. "Me!?"

"WHAT!?" The others blurted out in unison then burst into wild laughing.

"Okada!? W-why Okada?" Nagano managed to ask amidst uncontrollable laughter.

"I always thought you’re too pretty for your own good! HAHAHAHA!!!" Inocchi-kun teased loudly, slapping me at the back.

To which Ken added, "I didn’t know gay men prefer guys with big foreheads!"

And laughed some more they did as they passed the magazine around.

"So, Jun-chan," Nagano-kun began, once he had calmed himself a bit, "What can you say about this?" he asked, pointing at the magazine now in his hands.

The other three prodded me loudly for an answer.

Calmly, I stood up and walked over to Go. "It’s not what I think that matters right now," I remarked, then, grabbing Go’s shoulders from behind, told them, "Because the more important question here is: Why does Go have a copy of *that* magazine?"

And with that, everyone exploded into crazy laughter -- except for Go.

Promptly, I exited the room, Go trailing heatedly behind me. "Oi! Deko! What are you trying to imply, eh! Oi! Answer me! O~oii!!"

Like I said, sometimes I still couldn’t believe I’m in a group with these five other guys who are very different from me and from one another. One would look at us, with our differences in age and personalities, and wonder how we ever have gotten along for the past eight years. I don’t know the answer to that, either. All I know is that I’m so lucky to be a part of something as wonderful and special as V6; and I wouldn’t trade it for anything! Because in spite of our differences, we have found in each other a strong bond that could last us for infinity.

~Owari~

2004/02/06

Chapter 5: Everybody Loves Inocchi | And Six Make One