Type: Novel Summary
Title: Back Stage!!
Series: Love Stage!!
Author/Circle: Eiki Eiki, Amano Kazuki
Rating: NC-17 (porn!)
Language: English
This time: This is the first of several SUMMARIES of the Back Stage novels, which follow Sena Shougo and Sagara Rei. While we previously had mentioned we would only be providing these summaries, one of our translators has agreed to take on the task of translating the chapters word-for-word, as with the Yokozawa no Baai novel, so look forward to that :) For now, though, everyone gets a crash course in Back Stage!! to bring you up to speed and help make our upcoming releases easier to understand ^^ This is the first of at least three chapters (more if we can track down the magazines).

In case you missed the rating above, this summary does include descriptions of explicit porn, so proceed with caution ;) (or wild abandon, your choice)

Chapter 1

Our story starts off at the same point Love Stage!! canon does: Sagara Rei finishes getting ready in the morning–it’s 8:50 AM, and he lives a 5-minute walk from the SenaPro offices. He greets the receptionist and spends a few minutes checking his schedule and responding to emails before heading upstairs to the Sena family house, where Sena Seiya and his wife Nagisa are eating breakfast. He starts off running through Seiya’s schedule for the day and reminds Nagisa she has nothing planned, which annoys her–though it’s her own fault, as she refuses to take jobs she doesn’t find personally enjoyable.

Here, Rei watches the pair converse and reflects briefly on how he came to work for them, mentioning that Seiya was, in no small manner, Rei’s savior. He also recalls how Nagisa and Seiya met: Nagisa was a well-known actress who saw Seiya perform in a musical, and it was love at first sight.

At Nagisa’s complaining, Rei urges her to think about who she wants to perform with–and of course, just then, Ichijou Ryouma appears on screen in a commercial (c.f. the opening of the manga). Izumi wanders in bleary-eyed, and Nagisa continues to go on about Ryouma and how she wants to perform with him. Rei reminds her that there’s no way Ryouma’s schedule would allow such a thing–and just then, Shougo appears on screen, successfully diverting Nagisa’s attention.

Seeing the elder Sena son on stage, Rei reflects on Shougo: he’s a handsome, talented, and well-selling artist, but in his personal life, he and Rei have…a complicated relationship. It’s not that he dislikes Shougo or can’t handle him but well…as he said, it’s complicated.

Nagisa and Seiya start to prod Izumi about their attempts to drag him into the show-biz world, setting up auditions and lessons, but he flees before they can probe too deeply, heading off to class.

Rei then receives a phone call from Asou of Hakutsuu Agency about the Happy Wedding anniversary commercial, mentioning that Happy Wedding would like for Nagisa and Seiya to appear in it: but as a condition, they also want the little girl who appeared in the first commercial to reprise her role as well (figuring that SenaPro would best know how to get in touch the her).

Rei hedges, knowing it would be next to impossible to get Izumi to agree, and asks why it’s being instated as a condition–and Asou eventually admits that it’s the personal request of Ichijou Ryouma, who portrayed the little boy in the commercial. Rei eventually agrees to talk it out and see, bringing the notion up with Nagisa and Seiya right then. However, despite the fact that Nagisa is thrilled and Seiya is proud of his work, he knows there’s still the issue of getting Izumi to agree. Nagisa is already excited, though, and Seiya then entrusts the situation to Rei. Looking at the Sena couple smiling lovingly at each other, Rei feels conflicted emotions roiling within him.

That evening, Rei brings up the offer with Izumi–showing him the CM from before to remind him of just what he’d be getting into. As expected, Izumi refuses and instead suggests they just use a different girl who looks like him, After all, it’s not like Ryouma will have any way to tell whether or not she’s really the girl he remembers. But Rei explains that the reason Ryouma requested the exact same girl is because he clearly remembers that the girl had strange-colored eyes.

Izumi and Shougo are both only 3/4 Japanese (Seiya is half), so they both have strange-colored eyes. Rei urges Izumi to take the job, but Izumi protests that he’s a guy, and while it may have fooled people 10 years ago, people won’t be so easily taken in now. Rei responds that there’s definitely no problem there, and Izumi, pissed, heads up to his room to sleep.

Rei quickly stops him from leaving–they have to issue their reply by tomorrow, so he has to get Izumi to agree now. He reminds Izumi that a chance like this could help launch his show-biz career, which is really not a persuasive argument at all. When Izumi reminds him staunchly that he has no intention of pursuing a show-biz career, Rei scoffs and asks what he plans. Why, be a mangaka of course! Rei then rips him apart for his crappy art, which cuts Izumi to the quick, and he flees to his room in tears.

Rei instantly regrets having flown off the handle and spoken his mind, but he really couldn’t help it. Nagisa and Seiya had been watching the whole interaction, and she pitches a fit when she thinks this means she can’t perform with Ryouma. Seiya urges her not to worry, reassuring her that Rei will manage it somehow, right? Rei is torn–they obviously saw how futile it was–but being smiled at like that by Seiya, he can’t respond. Seiya is, after all, his savior. He agrees to try again.

He leaves the Sena household area for the business portion of the agency and decides he’ll have to give in and call that guy. Izumi’s always been weak to his brother, listening to Shougo when he won’t listen to any others, and while it might be futile, he has to try.

Shougo picks up with a happy, “Hello~?“, and when Rei asks where he is, he responds that he’s at the recording studio right then. Rei explains quickly what’s going on and asks if Shougo can help. Shougo hesitates–a rare occurrence for someone who usually leaps at the opportunity to do things when Rei asks–but he eventually agrees. Rei, noticing his uncharacteristic hesitation, tries to tell him not to do it if he’s busy, but Shougo cuts him off and says, “If I can make it, let’s have lunch tomorrow then! And if I can’t, then I’ll call you.” He then quickly hangs up, leaving Rei concerned at his hesitation. Shougo’s the type to usually happily blow off work for something he might consider more fun, but he actually seemed genuinely concerned this time.

The next day, Rei finds himself walking down the hall of a floor in a luxury hotel after receiving a strange call from Shougo:

“I made it, I made it! Let’s meet at room 1120 of the ***** Hotel and order room service!”

It takes Rei a minute to figure out that he was talking about convincing Izumi for the ‘I made it’ comment.

Rei understands well that, for a star like Shougo, meeting in public would just attract too much attention to be able to talk, but a hotel is a little… Still, Rei was the one who asked a favor, so he has no right to object.

He rings the bell on the room, and Shougo flings it open with an excited, “Rei~ long time no see!” and jerks him inside–where he promptly pushes him against the door and kisses him. Yup–this is exactly why he hadn’t wanted to call up Shougo.

For several years now, Rei’s been chased around by Shougo constantly professing his love for Rei. It wouldn’t be so bad if it had stopped there–but Shougo’s always looking for ‘rewards’ or talking about his passion ‘exploding’, so through a series of complicated circumstances…now they’ve become like this.

Still kissing, Shougo’s hands start to slip down to his hips and below, and Rei shoves him off, which Shougo complains about since it’s been a long time since they’ve been together. Rei reminds him that he didn’t come for that–he just wants to know how the convincing went. Shougo excitedly whips out the LalaLulu clock, explaining how he managed to get it and how he intends to use it to convince Izumi to take part in the commercial. At the explanation, Rei realizes he hasn’t actually gone to convince Izumi yet–which makes his earlier phone call all the more confusing now. If he hasn’t gone to see Izumi yet…what did he mean ‘he made it’?

Just then, Rei’s phone rings, and he picks up–it’s the CRUSHERZ manager Sotomura, asking if Shougo is there with Rei and explaining, “He disappeared after sending an email saying he was heading back to Japan for a bit!”

Rei calmly replies that he’s there–but then twigs to what the manager has just said. “Wait, what? ‘Heading back to Japan’?? WHERE ARE THE CRUSHERZ RIGHT NOW?” Rei isn’t Shougo’s personal manager or even involved in the CRUSHERZ movements, so doesn’t keep up with the guy’s schedule and had just assumed they were around.

“Doing a recording in London.”

Rei hangs up the phone after agreeing to speak with Shougo and immediately blows up, demanding an explanation and calling him an idiot. Shougo is adamant though: “But–it was a request from you! I can’t help wanting to make anything you want happen!” He says it with a serious face that makes Rei’s angry words stick in his throat. “Plus, I’m stuck on some lyrics I’m supposed to be writing right now–and I figured it was because I hadn’t seen you in a while. I’m Rei-deficient, see?”

Shougo’s always like this–frank and straightforward, going on about how he’d do anything for Rei, needs Rei more than anything, and it’s troubling. Considering now all the trouble Shougo has gone through just for him, Rei can’t bring himself to be mad.

“…This favor’s really gonna cost me…” Shougo gets excited, thinking that this means he’s about to get rewarded, but Rei stops him and says not now–Shougo first needs to go convince Izumi to take part in the CM, and then he needs to get back to London. He adds, to sweeten the deal: “I’ll repay you when you get back from London.”

Shougo’s got no problem with this and quickly steals a smooch–calling it a down-payment and making Rei promise to make good on his offer when he gets back from London. He then departs and leaves Rei alone.

Rei kind of regrets not being able to have lunch together, even though he knows the guy was busy and tired, but brushes it off as not needing to spoil him. Even if he had suggested it, Shougo probably would’ve said something like, “I’d rather eat you though~” and so he decides to just let Shougo handle Izumi for the time being.

---

Shougo finally calls him back later that afternoon, letting him know that Izumi ultimately agreed to take part in the commercial. He’s presently on his way back to the airport, already has his ticket bought, and should arrive in London the next day–though he’s still worried about the lyrics. Rei asks if he’s sure it’ll be fine, since being stuck on lyrics will affect other scheduling down the line, and Shougo says he’d be better off if he’d gotten to be with Rei more, but for now he’ll work hard and is looking forward to coming back to him.

Rei reflects to himself that he probably shouldn’t have put himself in this situation, but they couldn’t have resolved this without Shougo, to be sure, so he just reminds Shougo to contact him when he’s back in the country and hangs up first, dialing Hakutsuu Agency to let Asou and the Happy Wedding people know that everyone is on board.

He also calls up Nagisa and Seiya to let them know the news–Nagisa is thrilled of course, and Seiya replies that he always had faith Rei would come through. At Seiya’s words in particular, Rei feels truly glad that it all worked out.

Rei heads home to his apartment and enters the lobby–only to be greeted with who else, Shougo, cutting off Rei’s rant and explaining that the flight was canceled due to bad weather in London. He’s already let his manager and everyone know, so he’ll just catch a flight in the morning. Rei agrees that it can’t be helped and tells him to come inside.

Worried that Shougo standing around outside might have attracted unnecessary attention, given how huge a celebrity Shougo is, he considers for a brief moment that he should’ve given the guy a key to his apartment–but quickly rejects the idea, knowing Shougo would let it go to his head.

He asks if Shougo’s eaten yet–and he replies that he had something earlier, as did Rei. Taking this to mean there’s nothing stopping them from continuing their earlier activities, he grabs Rei from behind, and Rei protests that he seems quite lively for someone who just got off a long flight and has been running around all day.

Shougo explains easily, “I’ve got a separate energy stock just for being lovey-dovey with you~”

Rei isn’t entirely objecting–he had known this would happen when he invited Shougo in, after all–and urges him to get it over with quickly since he has work the next day. Shougo protests that it’s too much of a waste to do that and instead takes his time in stripping Rei, calling his name softly.

Rei notices how cold his fingers are and realizes that Shougo lied earlier about only waiting for Rei for a short while. When he goes to question about this, though, Shougo stops him with a kiss.

The kiss quickly gets heated, and Shougo’s chilly fingers brush over a nipple, making Rei thrust his hips. When Shougo pulls back a bit, Rei notices his and Shougo’s lips are still linked by a strand of saliva from the kiss, and he wipes his mouth–which hurts Shougo a little, as they both know after all this time there’s no reason for Rei to rebuff his kisses. Despite the fact that that wasn’t why he wiped his lip, Rei resists explaining himself, not wanting Shougo to think he cares about his feelings.

He’s agreed to do things like this–but it isn’t like they’re lovers. He’s mostly only doing it out of a sense of guilt for all that Shougo’s done and feeling that it’s part of his duty as a manager.

To divert his attention and cover up for his action, he reminds Shougo, “I’ve got a bed right over there; you don’t have to be so hasty.”

“I can’t help it~ It’s been a while after all! If I had my way, I’d get to fall asleep holding you every night~”

He says this jokingly, though, and Rei feels relieved–but then wonders why he was worried about having to take Shougo’s feelings into consideration in the first place. They’ve been sleeping together for quite some time–so perhaps feelings and emotion have started to enter the equation to some extent. If that’s the case, he definitely shouldn’t think too hard on it.

Shougo notices his expression and asks if anything’s wrong–but Rei brushes him off and says they should continue this in bed.

Shougo strips off Rei’s shirt once they make it to the bedroom, clearly intent on getting right down to business. When Rei protests that he hasn’t taken a shower yet, Shougo admits that he likes Rei’s scent. To prove this, he brings Rei’s shirt to his nose and breathes in: “Smells great~”

Rei gripes at him not to say stupid things–it’s not like he has a bad scent, since he works with high-class clients a lot, but still, he’s worked all day and knows that he’s sweated some, so it has to stink. However, Shougo protests that it isn’t bad at all–he loves Rei’s scent more than any other scent in the world.

Rei tells him to get on with it, and he continues stripping Rei, kissing all over his body as he does so. Shougo takes his time, teasing all of Rei’s erogenous zones–which Rei hadn’t even realized he had until he started sleeping with Shougo–until it gets to be uncomfortable for Rei, and he urges Shougo to hurry it up.

Shougo’s in no mood to be hasty tonight, though: he wants to draw this out for maximum pleasure. He rises up to kiss Rei on the lips and then starts teasing his nipples, which just drives Rei even wilder. He then moves down to kiss his nipples directly, while his hand travels even lower–brushing Rei’s cock and making him shudder at the sensation. They have a bit of a verbal scuffle, as Shougo wants Rei to ask for a blowjob, which Rei resolutely refuses to do. Shougo, however, doesn’t seem too put out: “Too bad… Ah well, I’ll give you one anyways!”

He starts sucking off Rei with vigor, and given that Rei was already at the edge from their foreplay, he can’t help thrusting into Shougo’s mouth because it feels so good. But he can feel his climax quickly approaching and urges Shougo to get off, trying to push him away–but Shougo stays put and swallows it all with great gulps.

Rei, breathing hard, tells him he shouldn’t drink that kind of thing, but Shougo’s not bothered at all. “I told you: I want everything from you.” He then pushes Rei’s legs up and bends down to rim him as well. Rei objects, urging him to just use the lotion if he needs lubricant.

Shougo laughs and reassures him, “Don’t worry; I’ll use the lotion, too. But you like this, don’t you~?”

Rimming is one thing Rei’s never gotten used to, and no matter how he objects, Shougo never stops. After teasing Rei for a few moments, though, he reaches over to the sideboard and grabs a condom and lube, tossing the tube to Rei and telling him to open it while he rolls on a condom. Rei squeezes a dollop into Shougo’s outstretched hand, and Shougo presses a finger into him slowly to stretch him.

He brushes Rei’s prostate teasingly, taking pleasure in the way Rei contracts around his fingers as he does so. The teasing doesn’t last long, though, and after admitting that he’s about at his limit and seeing that Rei is as well, Shougo proceeds into the main event. As he slowly seats himself within Rei, he relishes the sounds Rei makes, teasing him the whole while and reminding him that he really must enjoy having Shougo inside him, if the sounds are anything to go by. Every time Rei tries to refute, though, he just winds up crying out more.

Even though he just climaxed earlier, Rei’s already getting hard again despite the fact that he never used to get hard from Shougo fucking him unless he was hitting his prostate–meaning, just as Shougo had teased, that he’s starting to get off just to the sensation of their joining.

Shougo then starts thrusting with vigor, heading towards his climax while he calls out Rei’s name. Something sticks in Rei’s chest when he hears his name called like that…and it makes him think of someone who is not Shougo. When they’d been kissing earlier, as well, the eyes staring down at him had had the same effect… Every time he sees those strange-colored eyes, he experiences the same disconnect.

Desperate to get rid of that feeling, he closes his eyes and calls out Shougo’s name, wrapping his arms around his neck–as if to confirm for himself just who he’s having sex with right now.

Shougo’s thrusts grow gentle and slow, and Rei can feel his climax approaching. He lifts his hips in time with Shougo’s thrusts, and the tension in his hips squeezes Shougo tighter, which is enough to push him over the edge along with Rei.

He then falls back to the bed, boneless beneath Shougo, who asks concernedly, “Rei…are you all right?”

“……………..”

He can hear Shougo calling him from far away, followed by a fading I love you, but to Rei, that voice seems to overlap with someone else’s…

[Note: Interestingly, the I love you that Rei hears Shougo whisper to him is not the far more common suki da but the “uber taboo even among married couples because it carries so much weight and emotion” aishiteru]

---

Rei wakes the next morning to his growling stomach and remembers the previous night after a moment–but Shougo’s nowhere to be seen. He doesn’t seem to be in the shower, either, so Rei assumes he’s left. He can’t help but feel a bit relieved he doesn’t have to face Shougo the morning after sleeping together.

On the low table in his living room, he notices a piece of paper with writing on it: it’s Shougo’s writing…and they’re song lyrics. He recalls Shougo’s comment the previous day that I’d have been fine if I could’ve just cuddled with you a little more!

He feels relieved that the guy seems to have finished the lyrics–but at the same time, he feels a stab of guilt. The lyrics…are a love song. Rei understands that these, like all of Shougo’s songs, are meant for himself.

Shougo always only sings love songs for Rei. He can still clearly recall the day that Shougo confessed to him that all those songs that tens of thousands of fans had heard and been moved to tears by even…were meant for him.

“Why does it have to be me…”

No matter how much Shougo professes his love for Rei…he just can’t return the feelings. Because the one he loves is…

–but before he can get too caught up in those thoughts, his alarm clock goes off at its usual time, and he regroups and starts to get ready for work.

[END CHAPTER 1]

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