My Sweet Lullaby

Author: tashiichaan
Type: ONE-SHOT
Genre: Romance, kawaii love, fluffff <3333
Characters: Matsujun, Inoue Mao
Pairing: JunxMao (because it’s the most kawaii pairing ebar and I sweaaaar they’re dating in secret xDDD)
Summary: When on the verge of dropping dead in fatigue, the voice of an angel cures that in every single way.

Ramblings: I wrote this while I was really really miserable yesterday (and needed some comforting), so I decided to find comfort in giving poor Jun some. It’s amazing how my misery could actually stimulate my writing creativity juice xD Y’know how Jun looked totally weak in Tokyo Friend Park II last week? Well here’s what my version of how Jun got his tender loving care.

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My Sweet Lullaby

In all honesty, Jun is feeling very miserable right now. He’s holed up at the back of the van, being transported with the rest of Arashi straight from the filming of Tokyo Friend Park II to their Myojo magazine photoshoot, then to an interview for several TV magazines. And top it off, he has just flown back from the Hana Yori Dango movie filming set in Las Vegas. He’s exhausted to the point of near-death, he’s experiencing jetlag, and he’s not very happy.

“Matsujun, daijoubu ka?” Aiba asks with concern.

Closing his eyes and resting his head against the headrest, he grunts weakly, “Yeah, I guess…”

Sho turns around in his seat and grasps Jun’s shoulder with worry etched in his expression. “Maybe we should cancel the photoshoot and the interview. You’re practically on the verge of passing out.”

“NO!” Jun yells. He opens his eyes in alert and sets his infamous piercing glare on each of his bandmates. “We’re going to go along our schedule and finish up our jobs today before we’re dismissed, you hear?”

Everyone nod in silence, noting the final tone in Jun’s voice. It’s clearly impossible to tell Jun off, knowing that fulfilling his part as Arashi and attending every photoshoot and every television appearance and every interview without fail is the most important thing to him.

Although, inwardly, Jun wishes the day could’ve gone by faster.

At the studios, Jun practically collapses on a couch in the dressing room after his batch of solo photoshoot. His shoulders and neck feel stiff and tense, and his eyelids are threatening to drop. He already drank close to five cups of the strongest coffee a couple of hours ago and aside from the many trips to the toilet, the caffeine still aren’t kicking in yet. He needs something stimulating, something to motivate him, to comfort him…

Lazily reaching into his gym bag, he rummages around and pulls out his phone. With a hopeful expression he flips it open, punches the number ‘4’ speed dial contact and then the call button, and puts his phone to his ear while lying his full body stretched on the couch, waiting as the tone keeps ringing.

The call is picked up almost immediately after the fourth ring. “Jun-kun! Are you still alive?”

“Urusai yo,” Jun patronises, but in a light and playful tone. A smile dances on his dry lips at the comforting sound of the beautiful female voice.

“Ne, Mao-chan,” he continues, his voice now tinged with exhaustion and dullness, “I don’t think I can make it…”

“Of course you can!” Mao replies cheerfully, “think about happy things! Like ice-cream, or onsen, or Shun, or-”

“You?” Jun breathes.

Silence meets his ears, and he chuckles. He can just imagine the short woman blushing furiously with an embarrassed smile. This is always his cue to tease her by edging closer to her, wrapping his fingers on her chin and gently turning her face to him. He’ll taunt her by placing feather kisses on her face, anywhere but her lips. She’ll whine and whine and then push him away in mock anger, Jun then admits defeat and pulls her back to his arms, finally kissing her soft, plump lips.

But he’s not with her now, and hearing her nervous breaths through the phone almost makes him ache for her comfort.

“How about this…” Mao suggests shyly after regaining herself, “I’ll come over and cook dinner for you. Would that motivate you?”

Mao-chan is coming to his apartment. The idea of seeing her after the gruelling work is all he needs to push him to working harder and feeling all genki and spirited. He grins broadly at the thought and he speaks with the most evident happiness and joy in his tone.

“I’ll be back by 11 tonight, then!” he exclaims, and without wishing goodbye he already puts down the call and scrambles out of the dressing room.

Of course, sharp at 11 o’clock, Jun has already arrived at his own doorstep, and as he hesitates by the door, he closes his eyes and breathes in the smell of chicken and garlic and steaming rice floating in the air. This is what he wants to smell everyday as he returns home, to a warm, home-cooked dinner and a wife to greet him with a hug and a welcome-home kiss.

Jun then re-thinks the ‘wife’ part, and feels his cheeks go hotter significantly, and he grins goofily to himself.

Mrs Matsumoto Jun, eh…?

“Tadaima!” he calls out as he lets himself into the ganken, removing his shoes impatiently and searching everyone cubic metre of his living room for any sign of life.

On his right, a petite woman with an apron over her blouse and perfectly-formed jeans steps out of the kitchen, holding a plate of stir-fry chicken. Mao stops short at the sight of Jun, and smiles brightly.

“Okaeri nasai,” she says.

She walks over to the dining table and places the plate immaculately in the middle, beside a few other dishes she cooked. She ignores the heavy footsteps approaching noisily behind her, but gasps out loud when she feels a pair of arms wrap themselves around her small waist.

“Jun, what is it?” she asks softly.

“So… tired…” the weaker voice groans, his head lolling onto her shoulder.

“Do you want to eat, or sleep?”

“…Can I do both?”

“How is that possible?!” Mao exclaims, spinning around to face him but only to frown when she meets his grinning face just a few inches from her.

“Can I?” he asks again, deeply and huskily and softer like a murmur.

Mao escapes from his clutch with an obvious blush and orders him nervously, “Go take a shower first!” and runs back to the kitchen.

“What if I faint in the shower?” Jun challenges, but his remark receives only but silence. So he slumps in defeat and heads to the bathroom, hoping that he really does faint in the shower so at least he gets the attention he needs.

Fifteen minutes later, after a serious encounter of nearly fainting (because he knocked his head against the soap dispenser while bending down), he steps out dressed in pyjama shorts and an old T-shirt, with a towel over his damp hair.

“Mao-chan?” he calls out.

He hears the sound of the news report on TV, and strides over to the living room, finding Mao sitting on the leather couch, munching on a fresh apple and watching the news very intently. His dinner has been helpfully moved to the coffee table, arranged properly and awaiting as his royal highness’s feast.

“Aaaah…” Jun murmurs in delight as he plunks himself on the sofa, unashamedly stretching his legs out across the three-seater and resting his head on Mao’s lap.

“Argh, your hair is wet!” Mao squeals, quickly taking his towel and placing it between his head and her now-slightly-damp jeans.

Jun ignores her though. The extreme exhaustion is now taking its toll on him, and his eyelashes voluntarily droop to his cheeks, his breath slowing to a calm rhythm. He pulls his knees up closer to his chest, snuggling closer to Mao as he presses his face into her stomach like an innocent and helpless little child.

Mao can’t possibly get angry at him when she sees the brief smile on his content face. He looks so peaceful and loved, his handsome features full of warmth. She can just feel her heart melt at such vulnerability from the usually-proud and independent man.

“Baka,” Mao scolds softly, running her free hand lovingly through his hair, curled Domyouji-style for the Hana Yori Dango movie filming, “you should’ve just told me. Then I won’t have to cook the food you’re not going to eat.”

Quietly, she reaches out for the TV remote and turns down the volume. Circling her arms closer around him and gently patting his chest, she bends her head and kisses Jun on the lips gently. “Oyasumi.”

“…Love… youuu…

~