#romin x ushiro

[merryfortune]

The Shadow of Your Success

Written for the 100ships Challenge

Prompt - #86 Shadow

Title: The Shadow of Your Success

Ship: not applicable | Romin/Ushiro

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens

Word Count: 1,406

Rating: T

Tags: Fluff, Slight Angst, Slight Hurt/Comfort, Crushes, Minor or Implied Kirishima Roa/Getta Taira

   Roa and Romin. Romin and Roa. RoaRomin.

   Ugh. It was all about them, them, them!

   No mention of either he or Taira. Nope, none, nada. If he was lucky, he and Taira might get called “those two guys” and at least mentioned in the background but more often than not. They got less than half a sentence each, if they were lucky. They were completely in the shadow of Roa and Romin’s success and it annoyed Ushiro to no end. 

   The band might have been called RoaRomin but Roa and Romin were just the face of it, the beginning of it. The drums and bass guitar were very much not performed by them. The whole band was successful, not just the Kirishima cousin duo. So a little credit where credit was due would be nice.

   His brow furrowed deep as he read the newspaper front page to back page again. Just in case he missed something in regard to the RoaRomin article which was splashed all throughout it. From the blockbuster headline with a full colour photo printed on the top to the back page hocking discounted seats in the nosebleeds. It was all about them. Their music, their singing, their lead guitar skills and nothing with regards to either the bassist or the drummer.

   Ushiro gripped on even tighter to the newspaper, until it scrunched underneath his fingers going white as he hardly contained his frustration. He read through for all the little details but found nothing useful. Just the statistics of the weather and Roa’s favourite food or holidays on sale for seniors or if Romin had a favourite fast food joint. All stuff either irrelevant to him or something he could get if he asked his fellow bandmates. 

   Not even lip service to either him or Taira. Ushiro’s mouth quivered. Frustrated or annoyed didn’t begin to describe, truly, just how shafted he felt not just for himself but for Taira, too. But at least he was memorable, all thunder and lightning! Roa’s bestie! He was just… 

   He was just their friend.

   Ushiro huffed.

   “Hey, you okay?” Romin asked as he gently placed her hand on Ushiro’s shoulder.

   Funnily enough, she startled him.

   His eyes went wide and he had a full shiver response, alarming Romin. She retracted her hand and awkwardly stepped back as Ushiro was sent whirling and she could only watch. 

   Ushiro shuddered as he ripped himself from the pages of the newspaper, all but falling back into the soft middle part of the lounge in the studio where he had been practising… Until vanity had gotten the better of him and he’d seen the newspaper lying about on the provided coffee table.

   He looked up at Romin and she seemed genuinely concerned. Once she had calmed down some from seeing Ushiro Omaeno, of all people, get startled from an unexpected shock.

   “Oh, uh, Romin, yeah, I’m fine.” Ushiro said and he tried to play it off cool.

   He crossed his arms and the newspaper half folded into his armpit because of it. He blew a puff of hair to move his fringe out of most of his face and leaned back only for it to flop back where it started over his forehead, eyes, and nose. Romin watched, unimpressed.

   “You’ve been reading these dumb gossip rags again, haven’t you?” Romin accurately deduced.

   She snatched the newspaper out from underneath the edge of Ushiro’s bony arm. She glanced through it and saw enough when she saw her cousin’s face on no less than three pages. Romin sighed. She tossed it aside and it messily fluttered back down onto the coffee table from where it had been laid initially by Roa, probably.

   “You really shouldn’t pay any mind to these hack journalists, they just want a quick buck and the most eyeballs on their words. They don’t care if it's fair or true, or even accurate.” Romin complained.

   “I know, I know, but…” Ushiro conceded and he leaned forward, elbows on his knees as he stared, glumly, at the floor “it's just… it would be nice… if once in a while someone remembered I - or, uh, Taira - existed.” 

   “We know you exist.” Romin offered with a smile.

   She was so bright, Ushiro couldn’t look her in the eye. They were true and blue and kind. She offered her hand and Ushiro made a point of not taking it, he retreated further under his fluffy mop of black-brown hair. 

   “I’ve been practising the bass for, like, as long as I can remember. I want people to remember that.” Ushiro miserably admitted.

   Romin sighed and put her hand on her hip, she jostled her guitar which was strapped to her back in its bag. “You are the best bassist I know.”

   “I’m the only bassist you know.” Ushiro said.

   “In real life!” Romin clarified, her voice going squeaky as made fists in front of herself. “I know of plenty of bassists and you are my most favourite.”

   “Am not.” Ushiro grunted.

   “Are to!” Romin argued back. “I’ll prove it!”

   She then proceeded to list off all the bassists she knew of and thought were inferior to Ushiro and it was… a surprisingly long list. Filled with grown ups from near and far in the annals of rock music history. Some of them were pretty good, even favourites and idols of Ushiro’s who had inspired him to pick up the bass guitar barely out of toddlerhood. 

   He couldn’t believe it but Ushiro found himself blushing which meant Romin was satisfied. She had done her job to hype him up again. She sat down next to Ushiro and elbowed him in the side playfully, he squirmed and tried to suppress a giggle.

   “Believe me now?” Romin smirked.

   “Maybe.” Ushiro lied quite obviously. 

   “C’mon, you are instrumental to our success, Ushiro, I promise.” Romin said as she readied her own guitar, wordlessly inviting Ushiro into a jam session with her.

   Ushiro straightened up his posture. He leaned over and picked his bass off its stand by the lounge. Romin made more room for them both. She began to play a couple chords, some to check tuning and others because she liked how they sounded. Ushiro mimicked and he could feel his head cool as he got into a better frame of mind rhythmically following along until they actually found themselves in the middle of a song. It was second nature to them both to meld into a familiar melody of one of their hit songs. 

   It was a lot of fun for the two of them to tear up and down those four-chord progression scales. 

   Ushiro felt his heart begin to race. It was a bit sopping wet and embarrassing, after all how many great bands before them had broken up because of members catching feelings for each other but yes. Ushiro had something of a crush on Romin. Only a small one, though. A really small one which didn’t give him insomnia at all.

   Like, sure, he wanted better conditions of fame for not just himself but Taira too but Taira had a leg-up on Ushiro because he came in kind of a pair with Roa. He and Romin didn’t really have that. They weren’t a duo within the quartet. They were just friends. Just bandmates.

   But what if?

   Ushiro had to be careful not to get too far into his own head as these kinds of mushy thoughts made his palms sweat. He didn’t want to slip from the position he held on the neck of his bass as he played it. He really respected Romin for her talent on the lead guitar. He thought she was cute and ferocious and hard-headed at times and a lot of fun to be around.

   Case in point: right now. She was great to play with and did a great job at sticking up for him, too. She looked gorgeous, head-banging in magenta, sweat on her brow, as she practised hard enough to make more than perfect. There were absolutely worse places to be than right beside her, Ushiro thought. 

   Sure, according to these dumb gossip rags, he - and Taira - didn’t exist. They were completely overshadowed by the other half of the band’s success but Ushiro found himself caring less and less. That newspaper could rot for all he cared because he was Romin’s favourite bass guitarist and the band’s success was built on all four of them.

[kanamori-kamper-moved]

🍽️ Dinner date Thunderstruckshipping?

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— Take me, don’t leave me

Pairing: Roa Kirishima/Kassidy x Tyler Getz/Taira Getta (Thunderstruckshipping)

Warnings: The ship in itself is like. So toxic (to me at least!!!!). So that requires a warning within itself. Also they kiss a little, and Roa makes a few promiscuous comments at the start. It’s nothing serious, there’s no sex of course because that’s weird lmao…, but just letting you know. That’s about it lol

Notes: This ended up being like. Way longer than I wanted it to be. I got carried away and had too much fun with it. AAGHHH I LOVE TOXIC YAOI!!! And as usual, they aren’t 11 here for obvious reasons. My ideals version of Sevens is where their like. Young adults (I wanna say 18-21ish?) so take that as you will. And just as a side note, I use Gettas sub and dub name interchangeably!!

Roa doesn’t like cooking, he never has, and Getta knows this well. He can barely make a scrambled egg. It seems like both him and Romin are awful with cooking, truly. He remembers when he was trying to cook for the whole band after a gig, and since it was late no place they liked was open. And of course, they all insisted on helping.

That was hell, he swore.

“Romin, you know that when the recipe calls for wine.. you’re supposed to put it into the pan, and not you.. right?”

“Don’t tell me what to do! I know what I’m doing.” Her words are slurred, as Getta would expect.

It wasn’t even the worst of it. Ushiro had about enough garlic that they’d ward away any vampire who stepped within 4 miles of the house.

“Just. Leave the cooking to me, alright?”

Getta truly doesn’t mind, he’s always liked cooking. Not everyone can manage, after all. But here he is, its the middle of the day. Roa invited him over to his impossibly expensive condo that probably cost an arm and a leg alone. It was just the usual for most days when they weren’t performing someplace. But, there’s something awful that’s plaguing the visit. Roa just won’t stop moaning and whining about how hungry he is.

“Getta-chan, I’m hungry!” Even while pouting, his voice remains so sickeningly sweet and smooth.

“You’re an adult. You can get something from the pantry.” After all, it was bigger than his own tiny kitchen, and stocked with all the things Roa loved, like his freezer which was mostly made up of fancy ice stuffed with strawberries and lemons (and one singular carton of butter pecan ice cream), salted caramel chocolates and bonbons, champagne (which Getta loved the smell of, but never the taste), freshly picked fruit, and strangely enough, far too many leftovers from the time Romin made (oddly, blue) curry.

“Mmph. No, not vibing with any of it.” He dramatically sighs, torso hanging from the head of the couch, “You’ve got so much stuff in here, what do you mean?”

“I know but-“ Roa pauses, he tries to vocalize it but nothing comes out just right, “I dunno how to explain it. And before you say anything, like hell I’m eating Romins curry.” That last bit was absolutely dipped in poison-laden bitterness.

“I don’t know what you like, you tell me.” Tyler finally gets up from the counter and sits next to Roa, who’s now shifted to lay his head on his lap.

“What do I like? Oh, don’t make me think too hard.” He sighs once more, “I think.. I like one thing… I like you.” Roa pulls him closer, smiling sweetly. That smile is poisoning him, ever so slowly. “I think I know what I’m hungry for now.” Roa is up to something, he knows it. But, he doesn’t know what yet, so Getta responds with a light ‘Hm?’, “Take off those clothes, please. Just for me, Getta-chan..”

Those words pierce him. Hard.

“W-What?” Gettas voice is becoming shakier, Roa straddles him, sitting on his lap and looking at his lover directly. His eyes are pretty pools of deep amethyst, he’s being hypnotized.

“Get out of those clothes, Getta-chan…” He rubs his against partly muscular chest, the nickname makes him gulp. Getta should stop lying; It’s not muscular, really. All it is, is just his soft tummy that Roa seems to adore so much. “So..” Roa rubs his shoulders, kissing his cheek. Tyler is flushed beyond belief.

“So what?”

“So you can get up and get dressed, we’re going out to eat!” The pink in his cheeks immediately fades. “What the- what the hell is wrong with you?!”

“What? Do you not wanna go out to eat? It’ll be nice, I’ll pay!” And he can’t seem to say no, Getta hates how he’s come to be a doormat.

But Getta won’t argue, he’s not in the mood for it. He has to go change, anyway. Gettas lucky he’s left so many of his clothes here. Escorting himself to the bathroom with a handful of clothes, he sighs. He wonders desperately as to why he gets so weak in the knees whenever Roa teases him, or just calls him a simple, “Getta-chan”. The pinups of cute girls in lingerie with flowy hair on Roas shower curtain mock him, calling him a sucker. Maybe he is a sucker.

Just maybe.

-

The drive to the place comes without any issue. Roa insists on getting an Uber, even when Getta is sure that driving isn’t an issue.

“Shoosh! don’t drive, Getta-chan.” He places a perfectly manicured finger on his boyfriends lips. “It’s my job to spoil you, not the other way around!” Getta doesn’t question it. The only way for things to go well with Roa is to give him exactly what he want, after all.

Getta doesn’t know why he feels so jealous when the driver notices who they are and asks for an autograph. Such a queer feeling. (As in strange, of course.)

It’s a nice little steakhouse, and Getta is lucky that no one’s recognized them here, too. Can you really be considered an indie band if so many people can recognize you just from a glance? He doesn’t know, he doesn’t think about it too hard. The setting is ambient and filled with the sounds of smooth jazz and light talking from its patrons, flowers and candles adorning every table.

They get a table, and the waiter pours them sparkling water. Gettas never liked water, much less sparkling water. It tastes like TV static, the texture bothers him. Lots of textures bother him, honestly. Getta just has black jeans and a jeans jacket on, and even though it’s appropriate attire for this restaurant, he feels so utterly naked next to Roa.

“Why so quiet, Getta-chan?” Roa softly asks, holding his soft hands in Getta’s hard, rough hands. He’s always enjoyed doing that, it’s one of the things Getta likes. “Nothing, it’s just that we don’t go on dates as often as we used to.”

They really hadn’t. Ever since RoaRomin took off, there was barely time for such a thing. Someone always noticed them and it had to be cut short, someone was busy, Roa and Getta broke up for the 15th time and absolutely hated each others guts only to come back to each other a week later, whatever. But, this seemed so magical to the both of them.

They spend the whole night talking, Getta doesn’t want it to end. He remembered when they first got together, how euphoric it felt to him, this was almost similar.

“We can get a steak to share, if you want. I don’t mind sharing.”

“That would be lovely, Getta-chan.” There’s that smile again, he’s invading his heart again, like he’s done so many times before. No matter how much he tries to say that he hates Roa, that he’ll never love him again, he always comes running back to that beautiful smile of his.

The time is passing by so quickly, in no time the the food is already here. Roa cuts a peice out of the overly expensive meat and lifts up his fork to Getta’s mouth.

“What are you doing? I can feed myself, Y’know.” There is no malice, Getta remains playful. “I know, but it’s cute when I feed you.”

“I guess you’re right.” Getta coos, eating from his fork. “Hey, can you kiss me-“

“Oh my goodness! Is that Roa Kirishima?” Shrieks a woman outside. They have a window seat, so pretty much anyone can see them together. Getta’s blood runs cold. Does it have to end here. “Hm?” Roa perks up, just another one of his princesses, the both of them know it. He’s waving lightly and smiling, just as girls clamor and gather by the window.

“What were you saying?”

“Can you kiss me?”

“Patience, Getta-chan. Don’t wanna cause a scandal.” Roa chides him, still waving, yet partly looking off to the side, “What’s scandalous about you being my boyfriend?”

“Nothing, of course! It would just break the hearts of my princesses, you know.” Parasocial. So parasocial.

“Whatever. We can just take the rest home.” Getta gets the bill, and Roas so busy signing autographs outside that he doesn’t even pay like he said he would earlier. He hates that about him, he never seems to stick to his promises.

Getta goes home alone that night, Roa is probably busy with his princesses. His phone lights up, with a text from Roa.

“Don’t be mad, Getta-chan ❤︎ xoxo”

He really wishes he got that kiss. Or better yet, just stayed inside.