Disclaimer: I own neither Inuyasha nor Love Stage! and make no money from these writings.

Starstruck

Chapter One

It was late when Ryouma finally got back home after a long day of shooting. The project he'd been part of had been fun, but the hours were long and had kept him away from Izumi for far longer than he liked. That being said, he wasn't exactly broken up about the last day of filming. He was as in demand as ever though (something that made his ego inflate a little whenever he happened to remind himself of the fact), and his manager had sent him home with three new scripts to go over for what he would potentially be working on next.

"I'm home," Ryouma called out from the entryway as he toed off his shoes and slid on a pair of slippers.

"Welcome home!" A slightly muffled voice called from deeper in the apartment. It was only a moment later that Izumi appeared from around the corner of the kitchen wearing an apron.

Ryouma paused. He hesitated before finally asking, "Were you cooking?"

Frowning at Ryouma's tone, Izumi answered, "You don't have to look so scared at the thought of it." When his boyfriend's face went a little pale, he rolled his eyes before turning around and walking back towards the kitchen. "No, I got takeout. When you texted me to let me know you were on your way, I started heating it up."

"You mean you haven't eaten yet?" Ryouma asked, a little disapproving.

Izumi turned back to him and smiled, "We haven't gotten to have a meal together in a while, so I figured that it wouldn't kill me to wait for you to get home. I like eating with you, Ryouma."

Feeling his chest tighten a little, Ryouma wondered if Izumi's smile would ever not make butterflies dance in his stomach. More than two years together and he still felt like a schoolgirl around Izumi at times. Laying his bag on the table, he walked up behind the smaller man and rested his hands on his boyfriend's shoulders before kissing the top of his head. "So," he began when Izumi tipped his head back to look up at him, "what's for dinner?"

"Your favorite from that little French place downtown," Izumi answered as he took a takeout plate from the microwave and transferred the contents to a plate. Truthfully, it tasted better heated up in the oven, but they'd long ago established that Izumi was forbidden from using the oven or stove. Or blender. Or garbage disposal. Or knives. Really, he'd been limited to the microwave and refrigerator.

"It smells great. Let me go change and then we can eat. I'm starving!"

"So today was a wrap on the drama you'd been working on, right?" Izumi asked as Ryouma returned to their table and they sat down together.

"Yes," Ryouma breathed. "Finally."

"Hmm? I thought you liked this one?"

"I did," he clarified. "The plot and script were great. So was the rest of the cast and crew. and It just felt like filming dragged out for a long time, especially here at the end."

"Oh, well I can understand in that case," Izumi smiled before taking a bite of food.

Ryouma figured that if anyone could relate, it would be Izumi. Family legacy aside, he was in equally high demand with his talent and cute face. Even now at twenty-one, he looked much younger than he actually was and was still very petite for a man. In the media, he was much more often referred to as "beautiful" or "pretty" rather than "handsome."

"So how much of a break do you think you'll have?" Izumi asked after a sip of water. "Do you know what you'll be working on next?"

Swallowing before he answered, Ryouma glanced towards his bag which still rested on the other end of the table. "I have some scripts that I'm supposed to look over. I'll probably get started on that after dinner."

"It's so late though," Izumi said in a slightly whining tone. "Do you really have to do it tonight?"

"I should," Ryouma shrugged. "You know how it goes. They want answers sooner rather than later."

Izumi was quiet for a few moments as they both ate in silence before he finally spoke up again. "Well, in that case, do you want some help? I know you well enough by now to tell what kind of scripts you will and won't like."

"Are you sure?" Ryouma asked, surprised but happy at the offer. "What about your work?"

"It's fine," Izumi waved him off. "I have a free day tomorrow unless something suddenly comes up."

"That would be great then," Ryouma smiled. The rest of dinner was light as they talked about their days and upcoming plans in the work schedules. Once the table was cleared, the dishes were washed, and they were settled in the living room, Ryouma pulled the scripts he'd been given out of his bag. "So," he said as he laid them out on the coffee table. "Which one do you want to start with?"

Izumi glanced over them, looking at the working titles for the shows and the director and producer names attached to each. But his eyes went wide when he spotted one title in particular. Snatching up the bound stack of paper, Izumi looked up at Ryouma with a slack jaw as he pointed down at the script in his hand. "Do you know what this is?!"

Leaning over to see which one Izumi had picked up, Ryouma read the title aloud, "Bride of the Water God?"

"Yeah, do you know what this is?"

"No?"

Izumi dropped the script on the couch before he scrambled to his feet and ran off to another room leaving Ryouma confused as he picked up the script to flip through it. It didn't take long before Izumi came rushing back into the room with multiple paperback books in each hand.

"This!" He said excitedly as he laid out the comics on the couch between them for Ryouma's inspection. "This is Bride of the Water God!"

"A manga?" Ryouma asked as he set aside the script and picked up the first volume of the series to flip through the first pages.

"No, no, no," Izumi shook his head. "It's manhwa. Similar to manga, but it's Korean."

"Oh, well that makes sense," Ryouma said more to himself than Izumi. Looking over just the art, he was able to see some of the difference between these comics and the usual manga that Izumi read.

"What do you mean?"

"From what I was told earlier, one of the scripts - I'm guessing this one - was apparently going to be a K-drama, but the company in Korea that was getting ready to produce it went under suddenly. So the script was put up for a bid and a producer here in Japan grabbed it up."

Checking the front of the script again, Izumi made a face before he looked up at Ryouma. "Have you looked at who got it?"

A little nervous at Izumi's reaction, Ryouma frowned, "No." They switched script for comic, and Ryouma read over the cover page.

Bride of the Water God
Producer: Jin Kisaragi

"Tch," Ryouma frowned deeper as he tossed the script back onto the coffee table. "Pass."

"No!" Izumi immediately wailed as he snatched the script back up and held it to his chest. "You can't just pass this up because you don't like Kisaragi. This is a great story!" Pausing to flip past the cover pages, Izumi looked for the highlighted part and practically started vibrating. "Look! Look here! You're up for the part of Mui!"

"So?" Ryouma asked. He really didn't want to have to work with Kisaragi if he didn't have to. Sure, things had gotten better between them after the first drama that he and Izumi had filmed together (after the horrible disaster it started out as, anyway), but there was still a fair amount of bad blood between them on Ryouma's part.

Izumi picked up one of his comics and flipped through a few pages before he stopped on one page and held the book up next to Ryouma's head. "You would make a perfect Mui! Please, please, please! At least read over the script, without thinking about who's producing it, before you say no. Read this one before the others. If you really don't like it, I'll let it go. I won't be happy, but I'll respect your decision. But you have to give it a chance first!"

Seeing Izumi this excited about a project that wasn't even one he'd be working on actually managed to get Ryouma interested in just what the whole thing was about. "Fine," he finally conceded. "I'll read this one first. But in the meantime, you pick one of the others to look over, okay? And you have to give those a fair try like I'm going to do for this one."

"Roger!" Izumi nodded before picking up another script without even looking at the title. They each settled on their own end of the couch and started reading. The room was quiet for a couple of hours, only the sounds of them breathing, shifting their sitting positions, and occasionally flipping pages.

Finally, Ryouma sighed as he flipped the script shut and set it aside. He saw Izumi glance up at him over the top of the script he'd been going over, eyes framed by his usual dark rimmed glasses. "Okay," Ryouma nodded. "It's a good script. I like it so far." He smiled when he practically saw stars light up Izumi's eyes. "Is it really that important to you that I do this one?"

"I honestly can't think of anyone better suited to play Mui," Izumi smiled sincerely.

Ryouma sighed as he tipped his head back against the arm of the couch. "Then how can I argue with that?"

"Really, Ryouma?" Izumi perked up as he set aside the script he'd been only half-heartedly reading. "You mean it?"

"Yeah," Ryouma answered as he lifted his head and smiled at his boyfriend's excitement. The script had managed to grab his interest and Izumi seemed so excited about the prospect of this project. He was having a hard time saying no even if it meant working with Kisaragi. "I have to at least look over the other scripts though, just to say I actually considered all of them."

Carefully moving his comics to the coffee table with the scripts, Izumi crawled across the couch and settled himself so that he was straddling Ryouma's lap. He wrapped his lithe arms around Ryouma's shoulders as he leaned in and softly said, "Thank you." Kissing his boyfriend, Izumi smiled when he felt Ryouma wrap his arms around his waist and pull him closer. As they separated a few seconds later, Izumi leaned back a little and nodded once before saying, "I know you'll do great in that role." After a moment of thought, he craned his neck around to look at the discarded script as he asked, "Do you know if anyone else has been cast yet?"

"Not a clue," Ryouma answered only partially paying attention to Izumi's words when the wide neck of the smaller man's shirt had put his collarbones on full display with his head turned off to the side.

"Hmm…" Izumi hummed before turning back to Ryouma and raising an eyebrow at the slightly dazed look the brunette was trying to wipe off of his face. "I wonder who they'll get to play Soah."

"Who?" Ryouma asked as he pulled his mind out of the gutter and back to the conversation.

"The female lead opposite Mui," Izumi easily answered.

"Maybe I can talk them into giving the part to you," Ryouma smirked as he pulled Izumi back to his chest so that he could plant kisses up the column of his neck.

"I'm being serious," Izumi laughed in an effort to suppress the shiver that ran up his spine.

"I don't know," Ryouma spoke against Izumi's skin. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

"Mmhmm," Izumi answered vaguely as Ryouma managed to pull his thoughts away from the scripts and into a completely different direction.

They could finish looking over the scripts in the morning.