Mercurial Dreams – Chapter Five

Author: tashiichaan
Rating: T
Genre: Romance, angst, humour
Featuring: Sakurai Sho
Banner designed by: tashiichaan
Story Summary: Hiroki never holds expectations for anything. She never expected to be promoted just 6 months into her job; she never expected her housemate to be a little more sane; but of all those damned unexpectations, she didn’t expect to find herself drawn into the life of Sakurai Sho. She didn’t expect to fall in love with him. And it all starts with a can of Coke.
Note: Let me just confess that I wrote this 5 months ago XD I’ve been wanting to keep a steady pace of writing the chapters so I don’t feel pressured into writing the story, so I can just dish out the chapters whenever I feel it’s suitable, like right now when I’m pretty free and bored…
The Real Note: This is when things get dramatic and nasty, so hold onto your teddys tight! XD Because I got a feeling you’re gonna MURDER me for the end of this chapter…

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Mercurial Dreams
Chapter Five

Hiroki felt really uncomfortable and awkward, walking down the corridor abreast with five men who towered over her (even Ohno, whom she concluded was the shortest among them, was taller than her by two inches. Two inches!), were arguing over whose car they should drive out, and the fact that she was a tiny nobody compared to this… this renowned idol group.

“Come join us! Please?” Aiba had practically begged Hiroki earlier on.

“But…” she lowered her voice so that only the five of them could hear her words, “wouldn’t it cause a… rumour?” She pointed at herself, an innocent girl, and to the rest, all adored idols who were easily prone to gossip when discovered in any female’s company.

“You’re quite small, it’ll be easy to hide you,” Sho smirked, to which he received a death glare from Hiroki.

“It’s easy to sneak around at this time,” Jun stated matter-of-factly, glancing at his bandmates in a very doubtful are-you-sure-you-know-what-you’re-doing sort of expression, “also, the restaurant we’re going to is quite exclusive and private.”

“Yeah, yeah, you heard Matsujun!” Aiba squealed, “Pleaaaaase?”

Aiba’s large, almond-shaped, wet eyes convinced Hiroki easily to pack her stuff and wait patiently on a bench down the hall from Arashi’s designated locker room as they showered and changed out of their sweat-drenched clothes.

“Are you sure it’s okay?” Hiroki asked uncertainly for the fifth time as she continued to trail behind Aiba’s tall figure.

“Dai-jou-bu!” Aiba pronounced each syllable in delight, practically prancing down the corridor on delighted toes.

Nino, who was at first walking up front, slowed his steps so that he was walking beside Hiroki. He leaned closer and piped in a hushed voice, “Just promise you’ll sit with Sho-chan.”

Hiroki unknowingly blushed at that remark, and made sure not to look Sho in the eye.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash from the end of the deserted corridor they’d turned to, followed by an unknown muffled noise. Two high-pitched voices followed, shouting incoherent words and then the noise got more violent and wildly frenzied. Hiroki and Sho unwittingly exchanged fearful looks, and in a second they sped over together to investigate.

Sakamoto, Hiroki’s troubled student, was gripping the front of one of Takeru’s friends, Yuusano’s shirt tightly, throwing tightly-clenched fists repeatedly into his stomach with a darkened and deadly look in his eyes. Yuusano kicked Sakamoto’s leg in futile retaliation but Sakamoto didn’t stop the incoming punches. Yuusano’s cut lip was bleeding as uncontrolled tears spilled down his cheeks, and he kept crying out, “Please, stop!”

Hiroki’s blood ran cold at the sight. “Sakamoto, yamero!” she screamed in horror, immediately sprinting over and wrapped her arms around Sakamoto’s waist, trying with all her might to pull him away.

“NO! LET ME GO!” Sakamoto shouted at the top of his lungs, thrashing and kicking deliriously as Hiroki kept a death grip around him.

Outraged, Hiroki set him down on his feet and slapped him hard across the cheek. “How could you do that?!” she demanded shrilly, her eyes ablaze with anger as she shook his shoulders, “how could you hurt your classmate like that?!”

“He asked for it,” Sakamoto said quietly, nonchalantly massaging his cheek now red with an angry mark.

Sho and Ohno rushed over to help Yuusano up, who was crouching on the floor clutching his stomach. He didn’t look good; Hiroki concluded in a messy array of panic that Yuusano needed urgent medical help, just as he coughed out a spit of blood on the carpeted floor.

“I didn’t like that stare he was giving me,” Sakamoto explained in a malevolent voice to no one in particular, smiling madly, “I didn’t like it at all. So I taught him not to do it again.”

Hiroki couldn’t resist an impulse and she slapped him again, harder and forcefully this time. “I’m disgusted by you and your attitude. I’m going to report this to your manager, and I’ll make sure with all my power that you’ll never step into Johnny’s ever again,” she spat.

Sho and Ohno carried Yuusano up to his feet, supporting him on their arms. He could barely stand up on his own, his head lolled around like a rag doll and the white of his eyeballs were visible. He was half-conscious and on the verge of fainting. Hiroki pressed her hand gently against his forehead, and shuddered at the piercing coldness of his pale skin. “He needs a hospital, now,” Sho said urgently, his forehead wrinkled in concern.

Around the corner off the main hall, a soft ring came from the elevators, announcing its arrival and the occupants inside. Distant footsteps could be heard and noisy chatters and laughter rose in a crescendo to Hiroki’s ears. In probably another ten seconds, the incoming crowd would take a left turn and unanimously walk onto a nasty disaster unfolded before their eyes.

Hurriedly Hiroki turned her white-washed face to the Arashi members and whispered, “Quick, go and hide before they catch you. I can take care of Yuusano and Sakamoto myself.” She gently took Yuusano’s arm from Sho and circled it around her neck and let him lean against her small frame.

“But—” Sho started.

“GO!” she hollered, furious determination etched deep in her face. She knew. If any of them were discovered with a bloodied kid and a woman, havoc like this would be thrown out of proportions. Arashi could even get suspended, and the last thing she needed was to pull innocent people deeper into the mud; her new friends. This was a good time to put her three years of developing management skills in university to good use, particularly in this one hell of a situation.

“Hiroki-chan, why do you say that?” Aiba voiced out his puzzlement, “There’s no problem telling those people the truth—”

“You know they aren’t as gullible as you think, Aiba, I said go!” Hiroki commanded desperately, struggling with an unconscious Yuusano.

Sho refused to budge even an inch from the spot. He couldn’t just leave her alone with this mess – it was totally irrational. In clear stubbornness he moved closer to Hiroki, but Nino caught his arm and held him back. Each of them understood Hiroki’s final word, and knew she wasn’t going to back down unless they retreated. After much persuasion, Aiba and Ohno gave Hiroki a brooding nod of appreciation, and ran down the opposite direction to find a hiding place.

“Let’s go, Sho-san, Hiroki can take care of herself,” Jun murmured to Sho, pulling Sho’s other arm and nudged him.

“Matsumoto, not you too!” Sho growled.

“Please, Sho…” Hiroki pleaded, the brim of her eyes threatening with tears strongly held back. Please, I know what I’m doing… I can handle this. She tried to convey that message to Sho through her eyes.

In defeat, Sho let Jun and Nino drag him off in Ohno and Aiba’s trail. Before he could hold it back, he mouthed the words, “Be careful,” to her, which she didn’t catch, before the sight of Sorae disappeared.

- ~ -

Hiroki marched back and forth directly in front of a hospital room, now and then glancing hopefully at the closed door, but only to have her heart sink when the occupants inside the room made no sign of exiting. Her legs felt numb to her; numb, yes, from standing and pacing feverishly. That was her way of calming her anxiety. Finally she sat on a bench opposite of the door, leaning her head against the wall.

She fingered the soft material of the bandage wrapped around her right arm. It had been almost four hours since she arrived at the hospital in an ambulance with Yuusano, strapped with an oxygen mask and pushed in a bed to an emergency surgery room. Sakamoto, barely came out with merely broken knuckles, was taken to a cubicle for a check-up, while a nurse pulled Hiroki, dazed and blurry and insistent on following Yuusano, to another cubicle and treated the bruise on her arm Sakamoto had caused.

The boys’ manager and Hiroki’s supervisor arrived soon, and spotted Hiroki standing quietly and still outside the surgery room. She was a sore sight to see: her office attire was crumpled as though she slept through three days in it, her dark tresses were messy and tangled, originally tied in a bun which had fell around her shoulders. In anger they went to her and demanded she retold the whole story, which she did. In her dizziness she told them everything, every word, every detail, minus the part of Arashi’s role in the scene.

“Yuusano’s still in surgery,” the boys’ manager said in frustration, glaring at the sign ‘SURGERY ONGOING’ still flashing crimson red.

“We’ll go talk to Sakamoto then, we’ll need everyone’s side of the story,” Hiroki’s supervisor decided, and the two middle-aged men left Hiroki alone.

Hiroki’s next set of visitors were Yuusano’s parents. She tried to stay as calm as she could, but exhaustion was burnt in every part of her face, every part of her body as she slowly explained to the parents of their son’s condition. The parents just cried in each other’s arms and hoped for the best. They didn’t forget to thank Hiroki for saving their son, though, which made Hiroki proud and feel more alive.

Yuusano was discharged from the surgery room, and brought to a room not far from Sakamoto’s, who was told to stay overnight in the hospital for further observation. The doctor told Yuusano’s parents and Hiroki that Yuusano needed a few stitches on his cut lip, and he suffered bruises on his head and stomach. However, he was stable and resting, which was enough for Hiroki to release a deep breath of relief.

All she needed left was to know the outcome of the fight, and how Sakamoto would be punished, before she could go home to her warm bed in peace.

Just then, the door flung open. Hiroki immediately jumped onto her feet and approached the figures exiting Sakamoto’s room, whom she recognised as Sakamoto’s parents. She gave them a weak smile, to which they returned with furious stares. Hiroki looked at them in confusion, just as her supervisor and the boys’ manager pulled her to the bench with passive solemnity.

“So what’re you going to do with Sakamoto?” Hiroki immediately asked, ignoring the parents’ glares.

“Well, Hiroki… we heard quite an interesting story from Sakamoto,” her supervisor said, an unreadable expression on his face.

“What other version do you want to hear? You know how the incident happened. Sakamoto and I told you the exact same story!” Hiroki cried out, exasperated by the stalling of their judgement.

“You’re not fit to be a teacher!” Sakamoto’s mother shrilled at Hiroki, jabbing a finger at her.

“Wha…?” Hiroki stuttered, staring between the men on her right and Sakamoto’s livid parents on her parents. Clearly she was missing something here, and it gave a cold shiver down her back. She turned to her supervisor, who answered gravely without even waiting for Hiroki’s question.

“Sakamoto told us that, you have ongoing anger issues and, in your rage, released your anger by abusing Yuusano and him.”

~