“Sho, you really need to come see what Ohno’s working on in his dressing room. It is one seriously scary piece of work.” Toma’s voice was low and quiet in the busy hallway but Sho could clearly hear the note of concern from his friend. “Seriously scary.” Toma repeated in the same tense, hushed voiced. Sho knew that Ohno was under a lot of stress between the Maou production and the physically demanding Dream A Live concert schedule, but he’d never heard the word ‘scary’ used to describe an over-worked Ohno before. His protective nature was instantly aroused.

 

“How late will you be filming today?” Sho asked, mentally reviewing his own tightly packed schedule. Exhaustion was the expected and common lot of Arashi during the summer but he had hoped to be home tonight before the trains stopped running.

 

“We’ll be shooting night time street scenes on the lot until midnight at least,” Toma groaned. “It’s cooler at night but the bugs are making life miserable for the cast and crew. Shooting this summer drama is going to make all of us crazy!” The word crazy hung in the air between the two men. Sho made his decision. “It will be late, but I’ll come tonight,” he promised.

 

It was well after ten when Sho knocked on the door to Ohno’s dressing room. The door opened quickly, but it wasn’t Ohno’s face in the entrance. Toma was there, obviously relieved to see Sho. “Hey, Ohno, look who dropped by!” Sho flicked a glance at Satoshi, wondering if he’d picked up on the falsely bright tone in the other man’s voice. He saw nothing but surprise registering on his friend’s face. “I was in the area so I thought I’d come see how you two were handling the heat.”  He quickly scanned the room and immediately saw the subject of Toma’s concern. Tacked carefully on the far left wall, was an enormous sheet of heavy white paper, at least 2 meters square. It was covered with a huge drawing of an elaborately detailed maze. Even from across the room, the sheer intricacy was stunning. “Can I look?” he asked Ohno respectfully, knowing how hard it was for the artist to show unfinished projects to his biggest supporter. 

 

Ohno nodded. “Sure, go ahead. It’s really almost done.  Please excuse me for a moment.” He walked to the far side of the room and fished a cell phone from his bag, punching the keys as he sat in a chair. 

 

“Wow!” Sho stepped closer to the drawing, and then, even closer. He stared at the images in amazement. “This is … there’s not even words to describe this!” he breathed. The complex maze was drawn with images of barbed wire, thorny vines, and hundreds of fanged and hissing snakes twisted and coiled on the rough stone walls. Snarling dogs, needle-toothed foxes, and ferocious rodents appeared at regular intervals along the curving walls, all with teeth bared and ready to attack. Giant centipedes and spiders patrolled the exterior walls of the maze, adding to the already terrifying mood of the stark black and white composition.

 

“I told you this was scary!” hissed Toma, suddenly pressed closely against Sho and interrupting his fascinated inspection.  “I guess this is Ohno’s form of mood music.”

 

“Ehh? What do you mean?” Sho asked, unwillingly dragging his eyes away from the drawing.

 

“This whole Maou drama is about a twisted, sick attorney who is trying to get revenge for the murder of his family. Maybe this maze represents all the hatred and fear Ohno has to put inside himself to play that character. Did you see the little guy in the upper right hand corner?” He pointed to a part of the drawing Sho hadn’t looked at yet. 

 

Sho carefully examined the figure Toma was pointing to. There was an open space, a room with multiple entrances. In it, was the slight form of a naked man, crouching with one arm futilely lifted as if to deflect a blow coming from above. His body was turned to the side, his face only partially visible under shaggy black hair. The pathetic figure seemed defenseless as he braced himself against the blows of an unseen attacker.  

 

“That poor guy looks like he’s wandered into hell, doesn’t he?” Toma whispered tightly. Sho looked at Toma’s wide, apprehensive eyes and sensed he was picturing his own character being attacked by the unsuspected and overwhelming evil Ohno had been able to create for his role. The other man shuddered and Sho found himself wondering if it was possible that Ohno had shown Toma the work in order to un-nerve the actor. It obviously had that effect but to consciously plan something that sinister seemed unlike the gentle Satoshi Sho knew. 

 

 Sho looked intently at the crouching figure as it whispered familiarity to him. He took a step to the left and closely examined the twisting vines and  hissing snakes again. 

 

“Do you think he’ll like my present?” Ohno asked from across the room.  “It’s for his birthday.”   

 

“Present?” spat Toma, looking over at the seated man in amazement. “This is a gift for someone?” Disbelief flooded his face. 

 

“Nino will love it!” Sho suddenly laughed in a booming voice, amusement mingling with relief as he recognized the roman letters formed by the writhing snakes. “Look, Toma. See how Ohno formed the words G-i-m-m-i-c-k G-a-m-e with their bodies?” he explained to the dumbfounded man, pointing out each letter.   

 

“But… for a birthday present! How did you come up with this kind of terrifying idea?” Toma practically spluttered as he questioned Ohno. 

 

“It’s partly from a RP game Nino’s playing. He’s been describing this maze scenario for months now and it just seemed like the right setting.” Ohno explained quietly to the worried man opposite him. “I added a few special touches, of course.”

 

“Why is Nino naked? What’s attacking him?” Toma asked, and the other two men laughed at his obvious confusion. Sho knew the answer to the question before Ohno opened his mouth and it amused him to realize how well both he and Ohno knew Nino’s twisted sense of humor. 

 

“Gimmick Game has been really popular. Some fans say it’s even sexier than Jun’s Naked,” Ohno explained with a smile as Sho draped a comforting arm around his confused friend. 

 

“That’s not Nino in the maze.”