Mercurial Dreams - Chapter Eleven

Story: Mercurial Dreams
Chapter: 11
Author: tashiichaan
Type: Long, full-fledged story, Sho-centric
Rating: T
Genre: Romance, angst, humour
Pairing: Sakurai Sho x Original Female Character (Model: YUI)
Banner designed by: tashiichaan
Summary: Hiroki walks in as an employee of Johnny’s Entertainment, young, eager, and with no expectations. But of all she least expects, of all those damned expectations, she never thought of meeting Sakurai Sho, and feeling drawn to him with unexplainable feelings. They know how much they want to be together, but all the tides pull them apart. For the sake of loving him, Hiroki has to sacrifice a lot.
Author’s note: Just before I go to bed thinking about nothing but numbers (damn you Add Maths folio) and Matsujun (IS HE COMING OR IS HE NOOOOOOT?!?!?! *dies in suspense*), thought I’d post up another chapter since it’s been agesssssss, and Aki-chan has been dying to read it <3 Douzo!

- - - - - -

Mercurial Dreams
Chapter Eleven

After two days of leave, Hiroki was as positive as the golden summer sun itself about her new job. A PR agent, she would breathe to herself in near disbelief. It was what she had always wanted to be, and to accomplish it so soon, it was a dream come true! She kept this euphoric news to herself, not even confiding with Mayu, because she knew Mayu would fly through the roof and then zoom right back to drive Hiroki up the wall every single bloody day, pestering Hiroki to introduce her to her future husband, Sakurai Sho.

 

Nothing could ruin her sunshine mood the morning she returned to work, despite waking up at an ungodly hour, precisely at the crack of dawn; despite nearly nodding off to sleep while trying to drink her coffee; and despite having to arrive at a dance studio by 6am to observe Arashi’s choreography sequences for their upcoming concert.

 

Until she got a call from Arashi’s manager.

 

“On the way here, why don’t you get some cappuccino and croissants for the boys,” he ordered.

 

“Don’t you have runners to fetch you that?” Hiroki frowned into her phone, “Besides, what do I have to do at the studio anyways? I deal with media coverage and the band’s public relations, and I have my own office desk to prove that. How am I supposed to meet with the other PR staff to discuss matters?”

 

Arashi’s manager was silent, and then he barked, “I already told you, it’s all in the matter of studying the new single and knowing the theme of the PV, so you actually know what you need to know to secure publicity for it! Now for our sake, do as I tell you from now on, are we clear?” And there was an unceremonious click on the phone.

 

Hiroki grumbled as she dumped her phone back into her bag. She was right to think the manager was a downright tart who clearly regretted having Hiroki trekking into his territory, and she already felt uneasy under his thin lips that seemed to always purse at her, and piercing eagle eyes that seemed to underestimate her.    

 

She took the usual train to Shibuya, but instead of stopping at Johnny’s office, she walked fifteen minutes further through the square to an uptown street where the dance studio was situated. Studying the unsuspicious building with a full glass exterior and an elaborately-designed signboard, it was no wonder why Johnny picked such an exclusive studio for Arashi’s dance session.

 

The lobby was half-lit and deserted, and spotting the row of elevators by the side, Hiroki made her way over and stepped into one elevator, letting it close its doors and ascend to the 4^th floor. Clutching the paper bags in her arms protectively, she breathed deeply and hoped for the best out of her new job.

 

Clink. You have arrived on the 4^th floor.

 

The corridor was brightly lit and carpeted, and surprisingly – considering it was six in the morning and WAY before working hours – there was a flurry of people scurrying around and interacting boisterously. Most of them were boys, and it struck Hiroki how young they appeared. Juniors, she thought.

 

A young woman dressed in sweatpants and a sweater approached her and greeted, “Ohayou gozaimasu. I assume you’re Hiroki Sorae?”

 

Wondering how the young woman knew her name, Hiroki nodded anxiously, “H…hai.”

 

The woman smiled warmly. “I’ll lead you Studio B. You’re here to monitor Arashi’s dance session, yes? They told us you aren’t expected ‘til six, and it isn’t even past five forty-five! An early bird, aren’t you?”

 

Again, Hiroki nodded. “Err, I just like to get an early head start,” she replied.

 

The woman gave an understanding nod. “I understand you’re nervous – it’s your first day, right?” she grinned broader when Hiroki’s mouth formed a shocked ‘O’, “That’s the very first thing Aiba-kun told us when he stepped into the studio. He’s quite excited about it, seeing how he’s normally half-dead at this hour. Oh, and I’m Tegumi, by the way, I’m Arashi’s assistant choreographer. Nice to meet you!”

 

Tegumi was quite a talkative person, but she was friendly and approachable (not to mention tall and attractive, too) so Hiroki immediately warmed up to her. The two of them were following the noisy bunch of Juniors, who seemed to be headed for Studio B too. Tegumi sternly told them to pipe down, to which they obediently quietened, but the moment they entered the studio they started chattering aloud again, and Tegumi shook her head. Hiroki giggled.

 

The studio was furnished with polished pinewood floorboards and an entire stretch of floor-length mirrors were installed on the opposite wall. Propped on a high stool in front of the mirrors was a portable radio, which was blaring out an upbeat song. Ohno was dancing to the music in a series of complicated steps that left Hiroki speechless in awe. His movements were so fluid and graceful and in sync with the fast beat, that it was hard not to be mesmerised by it.

 

“Hiroki-chan!”

 

Hiroki broke her eyes away and found Aiba bouncing towards her. “Your first day, ne! Excited?” he asked.

 

“Excited, yes,” Hiroki agreed.

 

“But I don’t really know what a PR does…” Aiba admitted, scratching the back of his neck idly, “We only meet them during public appearances and stuff, so I can’t really be of much help. Demo, it’s great you’re gonna be with us today!”

 

“Aiba… you don’t think that I’m going to be accompanying you here the entire day, do you?” Hiroki asked nervously, “I don’t know what I should be doing now, there’s no one to guide me—”

 

“I’m sure Manager-san will be glad to help!” Aiba piped as though it was the most obvious answer.

“…he’s not even in charge of my department…” Hiroki muttered under her breath.

 

Jun strode over and bowed in silent greeting, and she bowed back with a smile. He peered at Hiroki’s paper bags and grinned. “I smell caffeine and buns.”

 

“Ah, yes!” Hiroki exclaimed, and made a beeline for the tables at the other end of the studio, a very hungry pack of men and young boys trailing after her.

 

“Thank goodness I bought enough to feed all of you,” she breathed and took out five large boxes of freshly-baked croissants, “everyone gets croissants, but only Arashi gets the cappuccino because I ran out of money,” she remarked cheekily, and received groans from the Juniors.

 

“Thanks though, onee-san!” a few Juniors exclaimed to her, waving the croissants at her.

 

Hiroki suppressed a giggle. Perhaps it was a right move for Arashi’s manager to command cappuccino and croissants from her, because it served as an unlikely icebreaker with everyone. They became friendly with her, even sharing a few jokes with croissant-filled mouths and even asking if she was single. Shyly Hiroki would reply that she was single and wasn’t looking.

 

“Your cappuccinos,” Hiroki offered, handing the paper cups to the eager Arashi boys. Then she suddenly noticed someone very significant was missing, and she searched around. “Where’s Sakurai-san?”

 

At this, Jun snorted aloud, earning a questioning glare from Hiroki. Tegumi nudged him in the ribs and pointed a thumb to the other end of the studio, saying to Hiroki, “He’s over there.”

 

Hiroki stood on tiptoes to look over Tegumi’s towering shoulders, and narrowed her eyes at where she was pointing. Sho was lying down on a leather sofa, a black cap covering his face and he was clearly fast asleep.

 

“I was the first one to arrive here and he was already waiting at the lobby. After I unlocked the studio, he went straight to sleep and hasn’t budged since,” Tegumi explained, rolling her eyes dramatically.

 

“He’s probably tired,” Aiba argued, poking Tegumi lightly.

 

“Yeah, and we’ve tried waking up but apparently none of our attempts worked,” Nino sighed, looking sadly at the useless plastic forks as though to draw inspiration. He casually offered his cappuccino to Ohno who, despite having his own cappuccino, drank it delicately.

 

“Sou ka…” Hiroki murmured. With a sigh, she grabbed a piece of croissant and the cappuccino and strode across the studio. She felt her back sizzle with the numerous pairs of eyes watching her, but still she had to make sure Sho didn’t have to dance on an empty stomach. It was all for the sake of her client’s condition, nothing else.

 

Nothing else, right?

 

Now, why was she getting more and more nervous as the distance between Sho and her became closer?

 

“Oi,” Hiroki snapped quietly upon reaching the sleeping figure. Sho remained unmoved, and for moment Hiroki thought she heard an obnoxious snore emit from under the cap. With a disgusted look, she balanced herself on one leg and nudged his thigh with her foot. “Oi, wake up already.”

 

Still no reply. Exasperated, she clutched the croissant and the cappuccino in one hand and went to lift the cap in her other hand, and unknowingly sucked in her breath. Sho had the most serene expression in his face – it was a face of no anger, no sadness, and no smirks, just calmed and soothed. A light smile played on his lips, and his closed eyes made him look almost child-like, but what make Hiroki’s heart skip a beat was that, he looked so handsome.

 

Aiba appeared beside her and crossed his arms. “Any ideas?” he asked.

 

Hiroki shrugged, and then an idea hit her. Biting her lip, she reached her hand out carefully and pinched Sho’s nose. Gone was the serene face, because Sho couldn’t breathe, assuming he was being suffocated, and he woke up startled and distressed, his dark brown hair in a dishevelled mess. He peered at a reddened Hiroki and a laughing Aiba, and scowled, “What were you trying to do?!”

 

“Nothing to do with me, it’s her fault!” Aiba blurted, pointing accusingly at Hiroki.

 

“Thanks for covering me up,” Hiroki muttered sarcastically, but she shut up when Sho turned his glare to her.

 

“What’re you doing here?” he demanded.

 

“None of your business,” Hiroki retorted instinctively and then thrust the paper cup and the croissant at him, “but this is yours and I thought you had to eat them up before the other boys wolf them down.”

 

Sho studied the two objects suspiciously and then the un-mocking expression Hiroki had, and he smiled. Sleepily, but a smile nonetheless and Hiroki’s heart skipped a joyous beat again, the word ‘handsome’ crossing her mind again. He took them, his fingers lightly touching Hiroki’s and he gratefully murmured, “Thanks,” and hungrily drank the cappuccino.

 

The spot where Sho touched her tingled distinctly, and Hiroki shoved her hand into her pocket to rub the shivers away. She spun around and walked away quickly to hide her blushes, but then the room became quiet as Arashi’s manager and the head choreographer stepped inside.

 

“Alright boys,” Arashi’s manager spoke, “Takaya and I have discussed your practice sessions and have agreed to increase them to four times a week. This is your last month of practice before the concert and it’s important to complete your choreography. Ohno-kun, I believe you’re teaching them the steps today?”

 

“Hai,” Ohno nodded quietly, “I’ll teach the steps for Sakura Sake and the dance for my solo to the Juniors.”

 

“Let’s get started then,” the head choreographer decided, clapping his hands to assemble all the people to the centre of the floor. He turned to his assistant, “Tegumi, I’ll teach you Ohno’s steps.”

 

Everyone stood poised in their positions in front of the mirrors, even Sho who looked quite prepped-up despite waking up just five minutes ago. Gone was a light and easy atmosphere, now replaced with seriousness. Everyone was back to work now, and Hiroki felt thoroughly lost.

 

“Hiroki,” Arashi’s manager called, walking up to her and handing her another damned stack of papers, “this is your assignment for today. Your supervisor is no longer Fukuda, but Ichida, whom you’ll need to report to at eight o’clock. For now, you’ll have to sort through Arashi’s schedule for next week and set up appointments.”

 

Hiroki knitted her eyebrows in confusion. “I’m sorry,” she gulped, “but isn’t that your assistant’s job?”

 

Arashi’s manager gruffly flicked his hand in annoyance. “Kyoko is on maternity leave and won’t be back till the end of summer. We’re still looking for a temporary assistant, but for now you’ll do.”

 

“I deal with PR, not PA,” Hiroki retorted sharply, fighting the impulse to add ‘you brainless moron’ which would definitely give her a great sense of satisfaction, “but I’ll do as you say, until I speak with Ichida.” And she skulked off to the table, not even noticing Sho’s eyeful glance at her.

 

She spent the next two hours suppressing her frustration, but as she scanned through the papers and absorbed all the information she read, she realised just how hectic Arashi’s schedule was. They had filming for an impossible variety of TV shows, TV and magazine interviews, photoshoots, news conferences, public appearances, and meetings with Johnny’s staff to discuss the concert. Plus, their schedule started at 6am on some days, for instances on a Thursday like today. And, from what she learnt, this was only their schedule as Arashi, and not including their own solo work which was left to a different representative. Hiroki stared in amazement as she typed the schedule into a laptop; so being a famous idol wasn’t as glamorous as she thought it would be. All this while she had misinterpreted them as pretty boys who wanted to be adored obsessively by females.

 

At eight o’clock she called Ichida, whom she assumed was another droning old man like Arashi’s manager, but he turned out to be a young man who was just as talkative as Tegumi, but not any less sociable and good-natured. He explained to her patiently that there was a team of four PR agents under Arashi, and Hiroki was put in charge of news conferences and public appearances. She would have to arrange with all responsible parties to put Arashi in the public eye, and with that Ichida sent an e-mail to her with all the details. He also added, in a light and amiable tone, that she would get it off easy today since it was her first day. Hiroki couldn’t help but grin to herself.

 

“Oh and – Kato-san,” Hiroki meant that impudent manager, “said I have to be around every time Arashi has to work outside the office. Personally, I find it harder to do my work if I can’t discuss with other PR representatives. Could you… possibly talk to him?”

 

She heard Ichida sigh. What was that sigh for? It didn’t sound very positive. Hiroki waited anxiously for an answer.

 

“Well…” Ichida started, “Kato-san requested that we send one of our agents to accompany Arashi everywhere. Don’t ask me why,” he added when Hiroki was about to argue, “but I think it’s to monitor the boys’ appearances. You do know we handle every single detail of promoting their image. And of course… Kato-san is known to be demanding…”

 

Hiroki groaned and mumbled, “He’s such a miserable donkey,” which Ichida unmistakeably heard and laughed aloud.

 

“On the bright side, your working place is flexible!” Ichida reasoned, “You’re free to roam between Arashi’s working venues and the office whenever you want. You still have to maintain your office attire, of course. Anyways, come by the office during lunch hour and I’ll introduce you to the rest of the team!”

 

“Alright,” she answered, and with a ‘bye’ she hung up the phone. Feeling much better than before, she watched Ohno demonstrate a complicated step. It involved the whole body sliding to one side and the feet stamping in a sequence Hiroki knew she could never imitate. Then her eyes instinctively darted to Sho, who tried out the step a couple of times and got it perfect in his third attempt. His movement lacked the grace Ohno had, but the way he danced… it gave off a street-cool impression that told her Sho enjoyed every bit of dancing.

 

Sho suddenly looked left and momentarily their eyes met. The colour rose in Hiroki’s cheeks and she pretended to concentrate on the Word document she was working on (even though it was already completed and sent for printing).

 

It suddenly occurred to her that, she was going to be working with him. Every day. She would be around to watch him dance, to watch him film his TV shows, to watch him pose for photoshoots. Now things were starting to get interesting…

~

September [Nino one-shot]

So I wrote this out of a whim while listening to an old Earth, Wind and Fire song, which I kinda got obsessed with after hearing my mom playing it out loud of the stereo XD This one-shot is inspired by my obsession with the song (the ficcie title shares the song title!), and based on how my parents met (which is kinda kawaii XDDDDDDD). Also, it’s about time I wrote a Nino ficcie! Gomen for the delay, my beloved DS-lovin’ Ohno-hubby <3

NOTE: As I wrote this, I began to notice the similarities between this one-shot and another Nino one-shot which Maiba-neechan wrote before. GOMEN NEE-CHAN T_T Maybe I was influenced? XD But no, this story is on a totally different ground of discovering love in fated coincidence, rather than sexual tension… XDDDDDDDDD

- ~ -

September

Nino tapped his foot in synced rhythm to the song blaring from the speakers. Leaning against the bar and fingering his drink, he lightly he bopped his head along and found himself humming to the infectious tune, a serene smile unknowingly forming across his brightened face.

His mood was incredibly good tonight, judging by the ease he carried by his relaxed shoulders. He wondered inaudibly if it had anything to do with Arashi finally finishing their nationwide concert tour, or with Jun inviting all of them to celebrate the night away at an exclusive Shibuya club. After all, it wasn’t like him to be hanging by the bar alone, while all his buddies danced among the gyrating bodies on the dance floor.

No, he just felt like something was in for him tonight. Have you ever have this unexplainable but joyous feeling, that somehow tells you that something great and absolutely amazing is out there waiting for you to stumble upon it? Nino felt just that tonight. The sensation oozed in his very guts the moment he woke up that day, with the sunlight pouring on his face and blessing him with the delight of anticipating something that would change his life forever.

Would it, on a chilly September night, in an unsuspicious night club, change his life?

Sipping his drink, Nino scanned the crowd in semi-darkness for his friends. There was Jun, squeezed so seductively close between two women’s bodies and thoroughly enjoying the attention. Not far away, he found Aiba dancing with Ikuta Toma and grinning broadly, clapping his hands in rhythm while trying to get his awkward Riida to dance along. At the other side, Sho was chatting animatedly with Yokoyama Yuu and Koyama Keiichiro, probably about the country’s economics, judging by the vigorous gestures he was making with his hands.

Do you remember the twenty-first night of September?
Love was changing the minds of pretenders…
While chasing the clouds away…

Nino pushed himself off the bar and walked over to the edge of the balcony, so he could get a perfect view of the entire club. Leaning casually against the glimmering gold-painted railing, he cast his eyes around from the DJ to the cluster of occupied high tables, as though searching for something. The song continued to fill his ears and echo in his mind, its tune giving him nothing but a glimpse of hope. Hope that there was indeed something there for him.

It was then, Nino laughed aloud when he caught Aiba’s hysterical attempt at Egyptian dancing to amuse Ohno, then he had looked a little to the left and in a stretching of eternity, someone caught his eyes. At the far end of the dance floor, a lone figure was standing with her back pressed defensively to the wall. She was dressed rather unimpressive for attending a night club – in jeans and a simple black jacket over a flowing purple shirt. Her head was slightly bowed and her hands were held together on her lap; her very body language told Nino she didn’t seem quite willing to join the gyrating crowd.

However, there was this indescribable air of unrepressed happiness around her that Nino was so mesmerised with. She was slightly bopping her head to the song and her body briefly moved in sync to the song; at times she appeared hesitant to dance, and when she couldn’t help herself she’d dance very indistinctly, as though she was restraining herself from enjoying too much. But it was the small smile playing on her soft lips that betrayed her immense control. The smile lit up her flawless face, and it made her radiate with such a beautiful glow.

In that stilled moment, there was only Nino and that mysterious woman in that room, and that song of September weaving a song to the beginning of their story.

Nino had found that great and absolutely amazing person that was waiting out there for him.

Dumping his drink unceremoniously on the bar – and earning a curious look from the bartender – he strode to the spiral staircase and descended with purpose, his eyes never leaving the woman. He felt drawn to her; he felt that if he didn’t follow the string of destiny that would lead him to her, life would lose this new vibrant burst of colour.

“Excuse me,” he said loudly as he made his way through the dancing crowd.

“Hey!” Jun yelled in exuberant greeting, when Nino passed by, “why aren’t you dancing?”

“Looking for someone,” Nino yelled back absent-mindedly, but Jun probably didn’t hear because of the deafening music shaking their bones. Not like Nino cared…

Our hearts were ringing…
In the key that our souls were singing…

Just then, Nino saw an unrecognisable guy, dressed in every way a fashion-conscious youth, approach her. He pressed a hand onto the wall and towered over her, thus trapping her in an intimidating force, and Nino despised the scheming grin he plastered on his fake face.

The smile on the woman’s face momentarily disappeared, replaced by a hint of fear and indifference as the guy leaned closer and offered a drink. The guy was going to trick her to the bed. That kicked Nino in full testosterone-infusion, and he felt a strong desire to kick that man’s undeserving bum away from her. That strong desire also included a need to protect her.

“Want a drink? No one can resist a Bloody Mary…” Nino heard the guy say in a slick voice. He leaned closer and painfully closer and…

“There you are!” Nino called out, and almost ran over in the last few steps to the duo. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he breathed out, loud enough for the guy to hear.

The woman blinked in confusion, and wordlessly Nino winked. Then, he turned around and placed himself protectively between the woman and the a-hole. Nino was almost a good 20cm shorter than the guy, but his dark and insinuating expression was enough to make the guy shudder.

“Trying to steal my girl?” Nino inquired in his deathly tone.

Frightened, the guy shook his head vigorously and stepped backwards before turning around and running off with his tail between his legs. As soon as the guy was gone, Nino threw his head back in laughter.

“That guy really needs to get some balls, if he’s scared of puny little me,” he exclaimed. Gone was the don’t-mess-with-me air, and Nino was now smiling brightly. His heart also remembered to thump harder and faster against his ribcage, sending warm jolts around his body.

“Arigatou, for saving me…” the woman murmured, bowing her head to show her gratitude.

Nino waved his hand airily. “I never hesitate to save a damsel in terrible distress,” he grinned, although inwardly he was figuratively sucking in his breath. She was so much more beautiful up close, and now he could clearly see that an innocent sparkle glittered in her soft eyes. God, she was so beautiful.

“I’m really sorry to trouble you,” she apologised quickly, “just that… it’s my first time here. My friend brought me on a girls’ night out but I don’t know where she is now…”

“Probably trying to get her hands on Jun somewhere…” Nino muttered, unable to suppress a wicked grin.

“Sorry, you were saying?”

“Ah! Nothing!” he quickly refuted. “Anyways, where’s the fun when there’s no one to show you how to enjoy yourself here? Your friend should be ashamed of herself, abandoning you on your own. By the way, I’m Nino. You’re…?”

“Kiyomi,” she introduced herself, and she bowed again.

Sharp tingles ran under Nino’s skin as he softly repeated her name on his lips, to which Kiyomi blushed furiously. It was a pretty name, Kiyomi… and he smiled.

“Ano ne, can I ask why you’re not dancing, when you’re right beside the dance floor?” he asked amiably, his lips curled in mischief.

Kiyomi blushed deeper under Nino’s watchful gaze, and anxiously she replied, “I guess I was too caught up in the song. I really love it, even though it’s an old song…”

My thoughts are with you…
Holding hands with your heart to see you…
Only blue talk and love,
Remember how we knew, love was here to stay…

“Say… do you want to dance with me?”

It was a sudden request. Nino wasn’t even aware that he had blurted out those words out of instinct, until he realised the registered shock in her face. Slowly, she turned her chin up and peered directly into his caramel eyes, trying to find a hidden message behind them.

“…I’d love to,” Kiyomi finally replied, and grinned.

Nino’s heart could’ve stopped its workings with the pouring love overflowing his heart. Without another word, he had already led her through the crowd to the middle of the dance floor, and their bodies fell into a calm, rhythmic gyration to the song. He had his arms around her waist to hold her close; to him, it was a feeling of such warmth as though he had done this for a long time.

They continued to dance and laugh in delight in their own world, where there was only the two of them gazing at each other and singing to that song of September, which wove the beginning of an entwined destiny.

Say, do you remember,
Dancing in September?
Golden dreams were shiny days…

~

Mercurial Dreams - Chapter Ten

Story: Mercurial Dreams
Chapter: 10
Author: tashiichaan
Type: Long, full-fledged story, Sho-centric
Rating: T
Genre: Romance, angst, humour
Pairing: Sakurai Sho x Original Female Character (Model: YUI)
Banner designed by: tashiichaan
Summary: Hiroki walks in as an employee of Johnny’s Entertainment, young, eager, and with no expectations. But of all she least expects, of all those damned expectations, she never thought of meeting Sakurai Sho, and feeling drawn to him with unexplainable feelings. They know how much they want to be together, but all the tides pull them apart. For the sake of loving him, Hiroki has to sacrifice a lot.
Author’s note: Added another chapter because I won’t be able to come on as often, now that school has reopened and I’ve to start studying seriously. Feel free to e-mail me if you wanna nag me for the next chapter XD

- - - - - -

Mercurial Dreams
Chapter Ten

Hiroki knew there was something wrong the moment she stepped into the office lobby. The way the security guards, stationed at the entrance and clad in intimidating dark suits and tinted sunglasses, bowed to her in respect and opened the door for her; the way passerbys in the lobby gaped at her, not in disgust or in strangled sniggers like before, but in awestricken inspiration; the way some people suddenly bowed at her accompanied with a friendly smile; the way some people – whom she swore she had never met before – bowed deeply as she passed by and greeted exuberantly, “Ohayou gozaimasu, Hiroki-san!”

She glanced down at her clothes and wondered if people were taunting her for it. After all, she wasn’t dressed in the proper office attire – a red summer dress was visible under her untied waistcoat, she had a sling bag over her shoulder, and she was wearing sneakers. It was something she put together in a hurry, but so much for casual wear and looking fashionably-eccentric.

After all, Hiroki reasoned angrily, it was a last-minute call.

As she cast her anger at a suitable subject in the form of an insufferable man, Hiroki waited for an elevator and fished out her mobile phone from her pocket. She re-read Aiba’s text message, which told her that:

We’ll be in your supervisor’s office.

For the umpteenth time, Hiroki raised an eyebrow. She racked her brains all the way through travelling to the office, figuring out the message behind this puzzling message. We? Who exactly were these people consisted in ‘we’? And what were they doing in her supervisor’s office in the first place? Hiroki anxiously stepped into the elevator and let it ascend to the 12^th floor, wondering if it had anything to do with her involvement in the Sakamoto scandal, or worst, the matter of losing her job.

Hiroki started to feel her nerves wrack a hole in her insides when she stepped onto the 12^th floor and made small, dragging movements to the PR department. In fact, if she just followed her impulse, she would’ve turned around and ran back to the elevator and out of the building in the matter of seconds.

“Hiroki, you can do this. You can do this,” she told herself quietly. She stood in front of the door with the sign, ‘Fukuda Yuujiro, Public Relations Executive’, with clenched fists around the strap of her bag, and after taking a deep breath filled with resolution, she turned the doorknob and entered the room.

At first Hiroki blushed furiously at the numerous pairs of eyes staring at her, but then she almost gasped aloud in surprise as she studied the people surrounding Fukuda’s desk. There was her supervisor, Fukuda, standing with a grim expression behind his desk; Yuusano, sporting a bandaged head and arm, was sitting opposite of Fukuda with his parents by his side, and beside them was Yuusano’s manager; an unfamiliar, greying man who was previously discussing seriously with Fukuda was now gaping at her outfit with a disapproving glare. Surrounding the desk was Arashi.

“Hiroki!” Aiba called, and approached her with a worried look, “Sorry for the short notice! Daijoubu ka?”

“Hai, daijoubu,” Hiroki assured, forming up a smile to prove it.

Aiba looked skeptical, and was about to fuss over her pale face when Jun came up to Aiba’s side and slung an arm over his shoulder, leaning over and saying softly to Hiroki, “Nice shoes. Converse and a summer dress – a new look this season?”

Hiroki immediately flushed in embarrassment, to which Jun grinned in satisfaction and turned to Aiba. “See? Her skin’s getting some of its colour back. She’s fine.”

Aiba retorted something, but in a light and playful tone. Hiroki didn’t hear his words, because she glimpsed across the room and laid eyes on Sho, who was standing rigidly and staring at her with unreadable eyes, they seemed to exude… desire? Hiroki felt a strange tingle all over her body at that stare, and quickly she looked away.

“What’s going on?” Hiroki inquired loudly, trying to change the subject.

With that, Fukuda coughed loudly and adjusted his glasses, peering directly into Hiroki’s eyes from behind them. “We’re all gathered here to deal with this issue concerning Sakamoto, Yuusano, and you. It appears that we’ve arrived with new witnesses, and Yuusano’s ready to give his statement.” he stated monotonously.

Yuusano refused to have eye contact with Hiroki. He kept looking shiftily at his lap and wringing his hands around his pants. Guilt, Hiroki concluded. With an empathetic sigh, she went to the boy and knelt down beside his chair, levelling a warm smile at him. “Yuusano-kun,” she started, “How’re you feeling? Does your arm still hurt?”

He hesitated, before he shook his head in reply. Hiroki continued, “That’s good. No matter what, I want you to get better so you can go back to class, alright? Don’t make okaa-san and otou-san worried. They want to see you happ—”

She gasped when Yuusano suddenly threw himself at Hiroki. He had clung his arms around her and started sobbing raggedly, choking out his words. “Gomenasai, sensei! I should’ve spoken to them earlier! If I… if I wasn’t such a coward… People wouldn’t talk bad things about you! They wouldn’t have hurt you! Please forgive me, sensei!”

Hiroki hugged the boy back and patted his back to calm him down. “Shh… it’s fine, I never blamed you in the first place. You were never at fault,” she said.

“But they hurt your hand! And you fainted… and Sakurai-san had to bring you to the hospital because you were bleeding…”

At the mention of that name, Hiroki shuddered. She closed her eyes so Sho wouldn’t read her joyful expression, but inwardly she cursed at the hot shivers now prickling under her skin. The frenzied rush of her beating heart thumped heavily against her chest, and she wondered if Yuusano could feel it. So, those strong arms are…!

“The boy is still traumatised,” Yuusano’s manager spoke up feebly, “perhaps we shouldn’t interrogate him…”

Sho set Yuusano’s manager the deadliest and iciest glare, which immediately shut him up. Behind him, Nino sniggered and gave a thumbs-up to Sho, who just rolled his eyes silently and returned to gazing at Hiroki and Yuusano.

Suddenly Hiroki perked up, and scanned the room, noting a missing presence. “Where… where’s Sakamoto?” she asked coldly.

“Not here, evidently,” Fukuda explained wearily, as though all this drama wasn’t necessary in his office, “Kitagawa-san has given approval to sack him out of the agency.”

“W… what?”

At this, the man whom Hiroki didn’t recognise stepped up and cleared his throat. “Sakurai went to talk to Kitagawa-san himself, along with the rest of these boys, and decided on his own will,” at this, he fixed a disapproving glare at Sho and the other four unapologetic men, “that Kitagawa-san should kick up some of his authority and deal with this issue himself, or it’d get out of hand. Those are his exact words, not mine,” he added.

Jun clicked his tongue in annoyance, and said, “Manager-san, I know you don’t want us to be involved, but it’s done. Now cut to the chase.”

“The thing is,” Fukuda boomed, clearly trying to maintain control in his office, “the truth is out. With Yuusano’s story and Arashi backing it up, Sakamoto is no longer part of the agency, and word of Hiroki’s innocence has been spread.”

Hiroki blinked dumbly at each and everyone. Her legs (thankfully knelt on the ground) trembled slightly as she stammered in disbelief, “What…?”

Aiba grinned. “Hiroki-chan, your name’s been cleared!”

“You’re free to return to work,” Nino said brightly. He nudged a silent Ohno, who started nodding vigorously with a goofy smile.

Yuusano released Hiroki. He wiped his tears childishly and pleaded to her, “Come back and teach us, sensei.”

Finally… finally… the long-awaited truth took harder to sink in. She stared around at everyone’s joyful face, trying hard to believe that she was finally free of her misery. She gazed at Sho, who smiled joyfully and nodded, as if to answer her inaudible question, is this for real? When it all sank in, her eyes started to well up with floods of tears. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed with gratitude and of all, relief. She was happy; so happy and elated, a heavy burden had been lifted off her shoulders.

“Yokatta ne…” she whispered.

Everyone smiled along, feeling just as relieved as Hiroki was. They were all glad that Hiroki, who was forced to bear the brunt of all unkind gossips, finally had her innocence proven. No one said a word as Hiroki continued sobbing, but they exchanged thankful glances with one another; the boys among Arashi grinned and nodded at each other, as if saying, we’ve done our part.

Arashi’s manager suddenly broke the silence by coughing unkindly. “Well, now that we have that cleared…” He pulled out a wad of papers from his parchment folder and thrust it out to Hiroki who, between sniffling and wiping her tears, took it.

“What is this?” she inquired.

“A list of Arashi’s public appearances, musical performances, news conferences, TV shows’ filming, you name it. Along with it are necessary notes to assist you in your tasks, and also names and contact numbers of people you should refer to.”

Hiroki still didn’t comprehend any of his words. What did she have anything to do with Arashi? She stood up and gaped at Arashi’s manager blankly. “What do you mean? Why’re you giving me this?” In complete bafflement, she turned to Fukuda for an explanation, to which he obliged.

“Hiroki, you’re no longer conducting the PR classes for the Juniors. After reviewing your capabilities and recommendations from certain parties,” at this, Fukuda raised a thick, grey eyebrow at Arashi, “Kitagawa-san has personally requested to have you transferred to, err, a different field. Said he’s confident you can pull this off.”

The two greying men’s god-unhelpful suspense was very much a breaking point of frustration. Everyone was exasperated at it, with exception of Hiroki, who was as puzzled as the fly on the wall and practically dying for a straightforward answer. Sho thought so too, and with a roll of his eyes, he stepped out and announced with pride, “You’re going to be our new PR agent.”

Arashi’s… PR agent? Working for Arashi? Hiroki thought she heard wrong, thought she was probably still dazed in happiness. But oh was she wrong on both counts. Still knelt on the floor and her eyes blotched from the tears, she finally absorbed the shock and widened her eyes to the size of almonds, when Nino walked up and bowed to her, and wished her oh-so-eagerly, “We’ve wanted to work with you. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!”

Ohno, Aiba and Jun all followed suit and bowed along with such euphoric grins, reciting a deep chorus of “Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!”

“No way…” Hiroki mouthed.

Sho, the last of the five who remained standing upright, fixed her an amused grin, and bowed to her. “Yoroshiku.”

~

Mercurial Dreams - Chapter Nine

Story: Mercurial Dreams
Chapter: 9
Author: tashiichaan
Type: Long, full-fledged story, Sho-centric
Rating: T
Genre: Romance, angst, humour
Pairing: Sakurai Sho x Original Female Character (Model: YUI)
Banner designed by: tashiichaan
Summary: Hiroki walks in as an employee of Johnny’s Entertainment, young, eager, and with no expectations. But of all she least expects, of all those damned expectations, she never thought of meeting Sakurai Sho, and feeling drawn to him with unexplainable feelings. They know how much they want to be together, but all the tides pull them apart. For the sake of loving him, Hiroki has to sacrifice a lot.
Author’s note: Still another filler-ish chapter, but I feel it reveals an important hint to the development of the plot. Anyways, the end is more interesting XD

- - - - - -

Mercurial Dreams
Chapter Nine

Morning light crept unashamedly into the bright azure sky, its uplifting flood of sunlight bringing warmth and dizzy happiness to the spring-weary people. Hiroki felt exactly that, just amplified by ten times fold, judging by the gleeful twinkles in her eyes. Carrying her bag and gladly turning her back to the receptionist to exit the hospital lobby, Hiroki couldn’t shrug off this amazing, rejuvenated spirit she woke up with this morning.

Hiroki glanced at the taxi stand just off the hospital property and contemplated hitching a taxi. After all, she’d just recovered from a burnout and couldn’t possibly walk home on her own, but the burnt hole in her wallet couldn’t agree with the taxi fare. That didn’t faze her at all, though, and with a huge goofy smile she strode down the pavement and blended herself into the busy crowd heading towards the underground subway.

It was unexplainable, this new feeling. She convinced herself it was the fact her tainted name would be cleared, and she could return back to work. Well, that wasn’t confirmed, since she only assumed that, but she would be able to forget everything that had happened for the past few weeks and get back to her normal life before that incident. No betrayal, no sadness, no pain. No tears.

Unconsciously, she touched her bandaged hand with the other fine one. As she gazed at it, her grin shortened into a small smile that played lightly on her lips. For some unknown reason, she viewed her scarred hand in a different light, one that gave her a fuzzy sensation and an encouraging lift in her heart. Could it…?

“Hiroki-chan!”

Hiroki stopped herself before she descended down the stairs into the underground station. Curiously she turned around to search for the person who called her out, and her face fell the moment she saw Mayu waving like a madwoman while sprinting towards her.

“Mayu… what’re you doing here?” Hiroki asked neutrally. She was eyeing her roommate warily, because she still hadn’t forgiven her for her two-face stint.

“I went… to the hospital… to pick you up… but the nurses said you had left,” Mayu panted, resting against the railing while fanning herself and loosening her woollen scarf.

“Right,” Hiroki said slowly and coldly, her loath for pretenders like Mayu still fresh in her mind.

Mayu noticed Hiroki’s reproach and her eyes lowered to the ground with guilt. She bit her lip in hurt and awkwardly adjusted the strap of her bag. “Hiroki-chan, I was worried that you didn’t come back last night, and your supervisor said you were sent to the hospital. It was late and visiting hours was over. I’m so sorry I didn’t come visit you, but I don’t have classes till afternoon so I came to bring you home.”

Hiroki observed Mayu’s sincere, apologetic face and felt herself fume even more at the act. She could still come up with a million reasons why she should hold onto her grudge towards her. Hell, she felt like exploding out all the angry accusations at her, like why she didn’t even call to check up on her, or why she was such a two-faced cow, or why she proclaimed her everlasting support for Hiroki because “you’re the most wonderful friend I ever had” and never given any in times of trouble.

“Look, I’m not angry at you for not showing a hint of concern when I was hospitalised, but don’t pretend to be worried when you really aren’t,” Hiroki growled, and stomped off furiously.

“Wait, Hiroki-chan!” Mayu called out, and hopped after Hiroki’s retreating figure, “Are you mad at me about Sakamoto?”

“Why, that’s very smart of you,” Hiroki replied sarcastically, continuing her way towards the designated subway line in large, angry strides without even a glimpse over her shoulder. However, she got exhausted easily due to her very-recent recovery, and her steps were reduced to very slow trots while she breathed heavily.

In a flash of a second, Mayu had her arms wrapped around Hiroki to support her. “It’s dangerous to go home on your own,” Mayu consoled, “And you still got to face me whether you like it or not, so please accept my apology?”

Hiroki narrowed her eyes at Mayu’s persistence and concern, evaluating the depths of her sincerity. But the longer she scowled at Mayu and her pleading expression, the more she unwillingly softened. It was a grudging defeat for her pride, divided in a dilemma to bash that pretty face of hers or to forgive her. After all, if she hadn’t met Mayu at her rented apartment, she could’ve been broke and homeless when she first came to Tokyo. Plus, her compassion for sympathetic people was always an insufferable weakness.

“Whatever, I just want to go home,” Hiroki scoffed, and went to the ticket machines to buy a train ticket. Mayu stood patiently in the line behind her, not even uttering a word about Hiroki’s selfishness in unsparing a ticket for her as the ticketing machine swallowed a 300 yen note.

Hiroki waited on the platform between a group of gyaru women and a fish-eyed businessman for the train from Ebisu to arrive. She glanced irritably over her shoulder at Mayu’s skulking figure, and purposely turned her stubborn head the other way as Mayu tried to talk to her.

“Hiroki-chan… just listen to m-”

Mayu stopped midway through her sentence at the screeching noise of the train sliding smoothly along the tracks, which slowed to a halt beside the platform in poised grace. The doors clinked open, and Hiroki followed the people filing in such discipline into the tube. She made a beeline for a vacant seat by the other door on a left and quickly sat down, cruelly leaving Mayu to stand among the unlucky occupants who resorted to clinging onto the handle bar above.

During the entire trip, Hiroki purposely ignored her friend for the sake of avoiding a confrontation. Mayu, too, couldn’t even speak to Hiroki due to the rule of silence while riding the train. Although in a silent motion, Mayu pointed at the wall behind Hiroki, gesturing her to take a look. Hiroki curiously turned around to inspect, and felt a gasp get stuck in her throat at the advertisement poster of Arashi’s endorsement for AU by KDDI. Hurriedly she turned back and glared at Mayu, and hid her rising nervousness that stayed with her for the rest of the trip.

The moment they arrived at Ikebukuro Station, Hiroki rushed out through the sliding doors and marched off onto the platform, once again with Mayu hot on her trail. They didn’t show any more for any sort of interaction as they scanned their tickets through the machines and crossed the barriers to the stairs ascending up to the open air of Ikebukuro district, and during the 15-minute walk to their apartment. Finally at the door of their apartment unit, Hiroki spoke up suddenly while inserting her keys into the lock.

“Don’t you have class today?” she snapped as she entered and kicked off her shoes.

“Not till 2 o’clock,” Mayu answered simply, immediately grabbing Hiroki’s shoulders from behind and steering her gently to the dining table. She set her down on a chair and smiled to her. “Hungry?”

“No,” Hiroki lied in spite of her empty stomach.

“Ramen should be okay for you?” Mayu inquired. She shrugged off her jacket and went to the kitchen, calling to Hiroki as she rummaged through the refrigerator, “It should be ready when your shower is done!”

Wordlessly Hiroki went to the adjoining bathroom they shared, her face scrunched up in terrible confusion as to why she was so quickly losing her anger at Mayu. Moreover, she was rather touched by her hospitality which she never had, and while standing idly in the shower she wondered for a full five minutes if she was too harsh on her.

After the refreshing shower, she found Mayu waiting for her at the table with a large steaming bowl. Silently Hiroki sat down on a neighbouring chair just as Mayu gently pushed the bowl to her, the inviting scent of the beef ramen so irresistible that Hiroki’s stomach growled in desperate craving.

While Hiroki hungrily dug into the ramen, Mayu attempted her apology again. “Hiroki-chan, I’m really, really sorry about everything. I know it’s hard to forgive me, but I feel bad for making everything so hard for you. I really do…”

“Damn right you made things difficult for me,” Hiroki spat after swallowing a mouthful of noodles. She lowered her chopsticks unceremoniously and glowered at Mayu, “Do you know how it feels like to have your own friend, your close friend, to turn her back to you when you needed her? Tell me you don’t know, or it won’t justify what you did. You should be ashamed of yourself!”

Mayu bowed her head in shame, not meeting Hiroki’s eyes, and Hiroki sighed. Being a bitch was one thing, but repenting and being aware of her mistakes was another thing which being angry at was totally uncalled for. Hiroki decided to give Mayu a chance, for the sake of their friendship.

“And… even if I’m very angry and disappointed, I still share this apartment with you. I don’t live with people who aren’t my friends.”

Bewildered, Mayu looked up with uncertain eyes. “So… that means…?”

“Uh hmm,” Hiroki grunted softly and returned to her ramen, but before she could fish out a chunk of noodles, Mayu threw herself at Hiroki and wrapped her arms around her.

“Thank you, Hiroki-chan!” Mayu cried out with threatening tears, “You know, you’re the nicest person I’ve ever known, it’s never hard for you to be so compassionate and forgiving! How could I be so stupid to abandon you like that?!”

Awkwardly Hiroki patted Mayu’s back while the girl sobbed noisily into her bathrobe. “At least you realised your idiocy,” Hiroki replied. She carefully pushed a sniffing Mayu away and gripped her arms sternly, “but promise me. PROMISE ME! That you will be more honest the next time, got it?”

Wiping her tears away with the back of her hand, Mayu nodded vigorously. Hiroki smiled at Mayu’s hiccoughing sobs, relieved to have solved this conflict and have their friendship revived. Hiroki figured Mayu was probably thrown into a conflict herself of picking between her friend and the gossip which was rife and cruel when it came to those pulled into the centre of it in the entertainment industry. Besides, Mayu was still young. For her genuine apology, Hiroki hugged her back and comforted her.

“I’m always your friend as long as you treat me nice, you know that right?” Hiroki said. Mayu sniffed in reply, and Hiroki giggled.

“Well then, leave me to eat my ramen in peace because I’m just famished,” she continued with a satisfied nod. She was about to return to her ramen, but Mayu still had her arms locked around Hiroki’s waist in a painful captive hug. Caught unexpected, Hiroki couldn’t escape her clutches and could only see Mayu’s long locks of shiny black hair.

“You’ve to promise me this, Hiroki-chan,” Mayu murmured in an expressionless, possibly cold tone.

This caught Hiroki by total surprise; Mayu’s inhuman evolve from her sobbing remorse to a calm, composed demeanour was rather shocking that sent an unfriendly shiver running down Hiroki’s back. “Erm, anything,” Hiroki gulped anxiously.

“Promise me,” Mayu swore in a dangerously soft breath into her ear, “that you won’t fall in love with Sakurai Sho.”

Hiroki’s pale cheeks reddened into a rosy shade of life at the mention of that name. Her lips pursed in annoyance at her helpless self; now really, however could she get nervous just at a mere name of a mere person? “Why would I ever fall in love with that idi—”

“He’s mine.”

Those two simple words uttered in such quiet malevolence made Hiroki’s blood run cold. That ominous voice that spelt every letter of warning didn’t sound like Mayu at all; it sounded strange and unfamiliar and made Hiroki extremely uneasy. Where did this come from? Why was she claiming Sho as hers in the first place? Or rather, what sort of relationship did she have with Sho that had Hiroki in the shadows? Hiroki experienced nothing but puzzlement and an unexplainable a tinge of fear.

“W… what do you mean?” she asked quietly, pushing Mayu away from her. Her eyes widened when she saw the large, mischievous grin on Mayu’s face.

“Hiroki-chan, I can’t believe you fell for that!” she exclaimed, throwing her head up and giggled out loud.

Hiroki chuckled nervously, not knowing whether to laugh out loud or to scream at Mayu for playing such mind games with her. It definitely wasn’t funny; those vile remarks she made were either a very badly-executed joke or a real act, and her guts told her it wasn’t fake. Hiroki still felt rather disturbed by it, but at the same time, she felt annoyed all over again.

“You and your terrible humour,” Hiroki retorted, rolling her eyes and returning to her ramen.

“I aim to marry Sakurai Sho one day,” Mayu proclaimed dreamily, pressing her palms together in a sort of prayer as she gazed afar with sparkling eyes, “and I don’t want to have my friend to be my rival. It’d be a nasty battle!”

Hiroki pretended not to listen at Mayu’s ongoing rant about her plans to be Mrs Sakurai, but felt relieved nevertheless. She was aware that Mayu’s sole reason for working alongside Hiroki at the cafeteria was to catch a glimpse of her idol, but Hiroki didn’t care about the sort of girls targeting Sho. Of course she didn’t, of course not, why would she? She was nothing more than a mutual friend of his who shared nothing more than a few normal conversations and a platonic interaction. As simple as that.

Right?

The sudden surge of thumping in her chest told her otherwise.

“Hey, your phone’s ringing.”

“Hmm?” Hiroki grunted out of her reverie, looking up at her friend’s retreating figure to the bedroom. True enough, she heard the familiar ringtone of her mobile phone, and Mayu went to fetch it, passing the vibrating gadget to her.

“Moshi moshi,” Hiroki answered into the phone.

“Ah, Hiroki-chan!”

Hiroki choked at that very familiar, slightly husky voice. She glanced at Mayu who looked at her in anticipation, and decided it was best to leave Mayu out of any nosy eavesdropping. She ran to her bedroom, shut the door, and practically shrilled into the phone, “Eh, Aiba! How did you get my number?!”

“That’s not important. Where are you now? You’ve checked out of the hospital without notifying any of us - I got worried! Okay never mind that, are you okay? Did you manage to reach home safely? Have you eaten? You need to eat, you know, it won’t do good to faint again!”

Hiroki smiled in amusement at Aiba’s outburst of neverending questions. Forgetting her initial suspicion as to how Aiba achieved her mobile phone number, she felt very grateful by Aiba’s concern for her, and his intention of visiting her at the hospital touched her.

“You don’t have to worry about me, I’m fine. I’m home and I’m just eating,” Hiroki replied serenely, absent-mindedly playing with the furry strings securing her bathrobe.

“Oh… well. I’m sorry to interrupt your meal, but you have to come to work!”

Hiroki frowned. “Why? I already applied for leave and it’s been approved.”

“But it’s, erm, urgent and you’re needed here. I can’t tell you why because I’m outside and a few photographers are tailing me, so it’s not safe to explain everything, but please come?” Aiba pleaded.

“Gomen ne, Aiba, but I’m really, really tired. I just got out of the hospital and I need to recover. Please allow me to rest…”

“Please! You don’t know how important this — NANI YATTE!”

Hiroki heard a messy shuffle and some loud muffled voices, and she figured Aiba’s phone just got snatched away by someone else because she could hear Aiba’s annoyed yells in the background. She giggled at this, but the deeper voice that now emitted from the earpiece made her stop short. She immediately felt the familiar rush of increased heartbeats.

“Hiroki, listen to Aiba for god’s sake, he doesn’t simply say mindless things without knowing the importance of it.”

The slight exasperation in that voice didn’t bother her at all; in fact, she was staring into open space with her mouth opened into an evident ‘O’.

“Sakurai… san…”

“And it’s a matter between losing your job and keeping it, so stop whining and get over to the office now.”

And the phone clicked to a dead line.

Slightly offended, Hiroki stared at her the screen of her phone. That idiot… thinking he could boss someone around as if he was a superior! And so she thought he could be a little different, more of a tolerable person who could actually care for her. And the first thing he spoke to her since that day was in such an indifferent tone, Hiroki couldn’t help but feel a little depressed.

“So?” Mayu interrogated once Hiroki stepped out of the room.

“I’ve no choice but to return to work,” Hiroki grunted irritably, flipping her phone close violently, “after I finish my ramen.”

She tried hard to hide her blushes, and weirdly her bandaged and stiff hand tingled indistinctly.

~

Mercurial Dreams - Chapter Eight

Story: Mercurial Dreams
Chapter: 8
Author: tashiichaan
Type: Long, full-fledged story, Sho-centric
Rating: T
Genre: Romance, angst, humour
Pairing: Sakurai Sho x Original Female Character (Model: YUI)
Banner designed by: tashiichaan
Summary: Hiroki walks in as an employee of Johnny’s Entertainment, young, eager, and with no expectations. But of all she least expects, of all those damned expectations, she never thought of meeting Sakurai Sho, and feeling drawn to him with unexplainable feelings. They know how much they want to be together, but all the tides pull them apart. For the sake of loving him, Hiroki has to sacrifice a lot.
Author’s note: Boring chapter. But it’s fills up something XD

- - - - - -

Mercurial Dreams
Chapter Eight

“I’m fine,” Hiroki muttered.

“No you’re not,” the doctor said patiently. She applied a layer of antiseptic solution on Hiroki’s wound, and Hiroki winced at the liquid seeping into her skin and blood, leaving a pricking, burning sensation.

“Honestly, sensei, I’m well enough to be discharged.”

The doctor remained smiling as she fetched a roll of bandage. She then cast her warm eyes at the woman fidgeting uncomfortably on the clean hospital bed. “I’d like to keep you overnight. Aside from your wounded hand, you’re deadly pale, you’ve dark circles around your eyes and clearly you’re not eating well. You’re exhausted, dear.”

“I…I’m fine,” Hiroki repeated in a shaky voice. In silence she allowed the doctor to wrap the bandage around her hand.

Where’s everyone? That question crossed Hiroki’s mind too many times that she lost count. She was barely conscious when she was brought out of the shower room, dizzy and pale from the excessive amount of blood loss and lack of sleep taking its toll on her. In her blurriness, all she could recall was being carried by unknown strong arms and being driven to the hospital. When she was fully conscious, it was already half an hour to eleven p.m. – hours and hours since she last remembered, she was dressed in a pale turquoise hospital gown and registered into this hospital room.

Her first visitor was the soft-spoken doctor who came to check on her and to replace her bandage. Said doctor was right now peering at Hiroki with an understanding gaze.

“Rough time you’re going through, dear? Heartache, perhaps?”

In a sudden succession of thoughts, Hiroki’s mind suddenly produced a clear image of Sho and her in the dark shower room, hugging and crying and murmuring words of comfort to each other. From that moment of reminiscence Hiroki blushed furiously and started studying the pale violet curtains intently to hide her deep embarrassment.

“Ah, so your heart isn’t broken then,” the doctor commented. She secured the bandage in place and rested Hiroki’s hand back on the bed, pulling the thick blanket over Hiroki’s figure in a motherly fashion. As she picked up Hiroki’s health status file and scribbled on it, she continued, “You just need rest and well-deserved sleep. Although I’ll prescribe some light dosages of iron pills, as well as sleeping pills. Do you need painkillers for your hand?”

Hiroki shook her head. Dotting a period on the paper hard, the doctor placed back the file back at the foot of the bed and smiled at Hiroki. “You’ll be discharged tomorrow if you get better. Also,” the doctor’s eyes twinkled, “whatever it is you’re going through, you’ve a nice man who cares a lot for you. It’s easy to tell from the way he asked me to watch over you. Repeated it about six times, in fact.”

At that, Hiroki’s head perked up in alert. Was he here…? Despite her reddening cheeks, she was prompted to ask the doctor about the people (or mysterious person) who brought her in, but the doctor had already slipped out of the room, leaving her in the dark room with only the bedside lamp shining a furious glare at her.

I need my clothes… she thought to herself in defeat. She turned to the bedside table on her left but found none of her possessions. She reached out and pulled each of the drawers open, but they were empty. Hiroki bit her lip at the thought of occupying a hospital room without any money for the fees – she just recalled she’d left her bag back at the restaurant’s locker room. No purse, no mobile phone, no lifesavers. Her teppanyaki outfit was in the hospital cleaners, and that was the only thing she had with her.

“Maybe I should just leave…” she muttered to herself, and threw the blanket off. She swung her legs over the bed and shivered as her bare feet touched the cold floor tiles. Suddenly, the door quietly swung open and someone stepped in, only to stop short at the sight of Hiroki standing feebly by her bed.

“Ah… Matsu… moto-san?”

Jun was standing by the door, his hand still wrapped around the doorknob and staring at Hiroki in surprise. A thick aroma of black coffee waded into the room from his direction, but strangely Jun wasn’t carrying any cup.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you’re still awake,” he started.

Dejected for being caught in her escape, Hiroki got back into bed and quickly dug her legs under the blanket so to hide them, which were left naked from her thighs down by the short hospital gown. She couldn’t help but feel her heart sink in disappointment at Jun’s unexpected appearance. She was hoping for someone else…

Jun glanced out of the room uncertainly for a while, and then closed the door softly behind him and sat on a chair beside the bed. Under the bright light, she saw that Jun was wearing his dark-rimmed spectacles and his messy hair was ruffed up. He looked tired.

“I brought your stuff,” he said shortly, swinging a black sling bag off his shoulder and handed it to Hiroki.

“My bag…” she whispered with wide eyes. She opened it and searched for her things. Her purse with all of her cards and money in the exact amount, checked. Her Sony Ericsson phone, checked. Her Johnny’s employee ID card, checked. Her clothes, checked. Even useless stuff, like the expired Isetan complimentary card and empty Cadbury chocolate wrappers, were left untouched.

“I, err, don’t know where you live, so I couldn’t get extra clothes for you,” he elaborated awkwardly.

“Thank you, Matsumoto-san,” Hiroki said sincerely. She attempted to smile at him as she hugged her bag tightly to her chest, and Jun returned the smile with a warm, friendly one.

There was a knock on the door, and a nurse walked in with a plastic cup, two pills clanking noisily in it. “Your sleeping pills for tonight,” she told cheerily, putting the cup on the portable table. She poured a glass of water from the prepared jug by the window and handed it to Hiroki, who murmured thanks. “Sleep well,” the nurse wished and exited the room, not sparing a blush and a muffled giggle at Jun.

“How’re you feeling?” Jun asked as Hiroki swallowed the pills and drank the water hungrily.

“Better, I think,” Hiroki answered uncertainly, putting the empty glass aside and unconsciously touching the bandage around her hand. She felt a desperate clutch inside her, the wordless pleadings to herself to ask Jun the question that’d been bothering her. There were many questions that she wanted them answered, like how she got her, what happened to everyone, why she was alone her, or why only Jun was here to see her…

Plucking up her courage, she turned her fully to Jun and asked in the most airy voice she could muster, “How… how’s Sakurai-san? And everyone else?”

Jun suddenly broke into a grin at the sound of Sho’s name on Hiroki’s lips, and Hiroki arched an eyebrow in curiosity. He sighed and replied, “After you were admitted here, Sho immediately went back to Johnny’s to sort out the Sakamoto scandal personally with Johnny-san.”

Hiroki gulped nervously as she studied Jun’s innocent face. Johnny Kitagawa? Sho actually brought this issue ALL the way up to the highest-positioned man in the company, just for this misunderstanding? That guy never ceased to amaze her. But mostly, she felt a sudden lift of burden from her chest, feeling so much easier to breathe without worrying about her maintaining her job and her dignity. She didn’t feel so helpless and alone anymore. Warmth and joy gripped her heart.

He kept his promise.

“Also, he paid for the hospital fees beforehand. He told me to tell you not to worry about that.”

A sudden lurch groaned in her previously-warmed heart, and Hiroki’s joy quickly tumbled into the drain. For all that happened, the only message Sho passed on to her was that he’d covered her bill? Stung, Hiroki’s lips quickly pursed into a thin line.

“How about everyone else?” Hiroki grunted in annoyance.

“Gone to convince as many people that Sakamoto’s story is a lie,” Jun continued, nonchalantly playing with the straps on the sleeve of his jacket, “Ohno-san seems to have worked his magic with the Juniors, having such an admirer in Chinen-kun. Nino and Aiba went to talk to your supervisor, as well as the boys’ manager to clear up this mess.”

Hiroki’s jaw dropped as she listened intently and tried to absorb everything that Jun had said. “You really… don’t need to…” she stammered, but Jun interrupted her.

“Look, Hiroki…” With an averted gaze, he took a deep breath and continued in a regretful tone, “I’m sorry for having put you through all of this. I – We – shouldn’t have done what we did, running off like that. Just because of an image we have to put up to, it doesn’t give us an excuse to be so selfish.”

Hiroki smiled sadly at Jun’s apology. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. We all did the right thing, just that one of us had to play the sacrificial lamb and you guys don’t deserve that,” she said softly with sad eyes, “Besides, I’m really, really thankful for all of your help. Really.”

She gave Jun a reassuring smile, and her face then scrunched up as she yawned loudly. The sleeping pills were starting to take a knock out of her. Instinctively, Jun grabbed Hiroki’s bag from her and placed it on the floor, just as Hiroki eased herself deeper into the blanket. Sleepily, she mumbled something like ‘g’night’ and ‘don’t worry’, and almost instantaneously fell into a deep slumber, her eyes closed and her breath slowing into a calm rhythm.

Jun remained standing where he was, studying Hiroki’s sleeping face and trying to measure the strength in this lithe woman. Secretly, he was amazed by the compassion she had, and also the strength to face all the problems unrightfully thrown at her.

Without his eyes leaving her, Jun nudged his head slightly towards the door behind him and called out, “You can come in now.”

The door creaked open slightly, and the familiar aroma of coffee from before filled the room. Sho entered, carrying a paper cup that was the source of the bitter scent, and wearing a concerned expression on his face.

He was the one who dragged Jun along to visit Hiroki, knowing it would’ve been horribly awkward on his own (not like Jun protested). Once he heard Hiroki’s voice, he panicked and barred himself out, and hid outside as he eavesdropped on the conversation. He just couldn’t bring himself to meet her. He didn’t know how to greet her, or what to say to her, what he should say to her, after all that happened. It’s was rather hypocritical of him though, because his heart skipped a beat when he heard Hiroki say his name.

“She’s fine,” Jun automatically answered the question he knew Sho was about to demand from him.

Wordlessly, Sho nodded in relief and stepped closer to the sleeping figure. Hiroki looked so relaxed and vulnerable, so vulnerable, it still hurt him to recall the pain and anguish he felt from her back in the shower room. Tomorrow everything would be fixed, he promised Hiroki that inwardly. Silently and gently, he picked up Hiroki’s heavily bandaged hand and squeezed it, as if afraid of letting go.

“Sho-san really likes Hiroki?” Jun whispered with curiosity, looking between Sho and Hiroki.

“I just care a lot for her, that’s all,” Sho retorted a little in annoyance, but his face was gentle as he read every detail of Hiroki’s soft face and still kept hold of her hand. In truth, he was confused about his feelings. He was very sure it was just infatuation, but something inside was telling him it would develop into something deeper and much more meaningful. Despite his hopes, he didn’t want to cling onto that belief, because love would get nowhere in this industry he was embroiled in.

He just knew that evidently, he cared deeply for Hiroki, and he would do everything and anything to make sure she wouldn’t get hurt again.

~

Dimmed Lanterns [one-shot]

Wrote this out of nowhere because I was bored and kind of frustrated with a lot of things, while also listening to a song on loop. This one-shot is based on a Wang Lee Hom song, and if you’re familiar with him (who is just yummy and hawt), try and guess what song this is XD

This one-shot doesn’t imply the names of the characters, so you may assume any of the Arashi boys as the main guy with the random girl to suit your imagination. Also, I wrote this on impulse - meaning it’s the unadulterated, unedited version, so gomen for any mistakes!

WARNING: This one-shot contains lemon. Not very detailed, but nevertheless it’s not suitable for anyone who feels that it’ll taint your innocent mind forever. Read on at your own risk!

~

Dimmed Lanterns

It was a mistake to go to that flower field that night.

I was unaware; I was numbed of all senses; I was in a drunken stupor after spending hours and hours at the bar and downing shots of vodka, hoping to mend the broken and stilted heart. I wasn’t going to go back until I was sure I was drunk beyond the brink of no return.

Blurrily, I was constantly glancing at the vibrating phone I held in my hand. Why wouldn’t you stop calling me? You said you had enough. You said you couldn’t stand it any longer. I accepted it and took a step away from the circle of companionship we formed so long ago. Why did you still have to appear in my life?

Why did you have to lure me to that flower field?

That force I felt, the magnetic attraction that was pulling me to that all-too-familiar trail into the forest, it was undeniable. It was as if, while I was staggering drunkenly through the dark forest, with only moonlight and crickets guiding me, something unconscious inside me knew that you would be there. At the flower field – our secret sanctuary, waiting for me.

And it was there, while standing at the edge of the wind-blown field of dahlias, the flames in the pits of my heart was ablaze with fury as I gazed at you. Then you turned around and stared straight at me, as thought the breeze blew the scent of my presence towards you. In those fiery eyes of yours, you beckoned me with a hand held out vulnerably.

You were calling me. I went to you.

“I was hoping you’d come,” you murmured as I got nearer. “Were you drinking?”

“What do you want?” I demanded, ignoring your question.

With pained eyes, you looked away and gazed afar at the vast lake beside the field. “Don’t you remember what this place means to us? This is our haven – it holds an important part of our memories and our love,” you said.

“There’s no love,” I growled, wavering lightly in drunkenness, “you took it all away and left me to pack up. Don’t you remember that? Now tell me, what do you want? If you’re going to drag—”

“You,” you whispered. You looked back at me with pleading eyes and edged closer. “I want you.”

“Should’ve made up your mind. You’re not wasting my time here,” I retorted, and with disgust I spun around and began to walk away. But I felt you throw yourself at my back and wrap your arms around my waist.

“I want you back,” you cried, sobbing into the back of my shirt, “you are always the only one I ever want. I was wrong to let you go…”

Those amber flames inside me crackled wildly. I was struggling hard to stay composed, and so I closed my eyes. “Why’re you doing this?” I murmured angrily, “why now?”

“Please,” you begged, “stay.”

Without releasing my waist, you spun me around and turned your tearful face up to me. You cupped my cheek, and whispered again, “Please stay…”

Your warm touch on my skin, your body pressing so closely against mine and exuding shivering heat, I shivered with wild desire that grew beyond my sober control. Infused with drunkenness and ravishing crave, I kissed you fully. Our lips fell into an urgent rhythm, our mouths opened and heavy with passion, our hot breaths merged. I clung onto you, pressing the back of your head closer to me as our lips went into a fiery duel. I was starting to get dazed.

You then pushed me backwards, with you guiding me until we reached a woolen blanket that was already spread out on the grass. Without needing any prodding, I laid you down impatiently on the blanket and kneeled on all fours over you, and before I knew it, you had ripped off both of our clothes. With the pale moonlight glimmering on us, the cool air kissing our hot, naked skin, the gentle melody of noisy crickets and rippling waters combined with our echoing cries, we made urgent love tinged with wanton passion that was lost between us for so long. At that time, all the overwhelming love I had for you all these years fired up and overcame my shuddering body.

We both fell asleep wrapped in each other. We had done it: the damage was done and was irreversible. It was a grave mistake made in that flower field.

Right before dawn, I woke up from my slumber with the sensation of soft, butterfly kisses tickling the base of my neck and my chest. Sleepily I lowered my chin and saw you press your lips all on my skin. You then noticed I was watching you, and you looked up with a smile. “I miss the feel of your body,” you cooed.

You reached up and kissed me tenderly on the lips. For a while I crumbled under your light kisses and enveloped you in a possessive hug, but then I remembered last night: both of us in the field, our argument, the ensuing love we made out of wild abandon, and I became overridden with pain and remorse. I pushed you away.

“What?” you asked in confusion.

“We shouldn’t have done it,” I whispered, “I was drunk.”

Guiltlessly you continued to kiss me and said, “It was done out of love. You and I can’t deny it.”

“No, you did it out of love. I made a mistake coming here,” I cursed, closing my eyes in hopes the guilt he felt would stop gnawing his insides. “By doing this, you’re betraying Yuri, and I’m betraying my better judgment.”

“Please, don’t leave me!” you gasped, and clung onto me. “I need you!”

“No you don’t,” I said in a final tone. I gently push you away and got onto my feet to put on my pants and my shirt, whilst you sat up and looked at me helplessly.

“Stop crying,” I mutt