Mercurial Dreams – Chapter Twelve

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.
Author’s note: More all-Arashi scenes this time around! All the boys get more lines and in-depth (except Ohno because, y’know, he’s happy being in his Fishing Land all the time XDDDDD), because it’s just so much fun to portray them as the lovable Arashi we love <3

- – - – - -

Mercurial Dreams
Chapter Twelve

“Please welcome the guest for this episode, Michiro Shoko desu!”

The mostly-female audience clapped and cheered politely, and the towering woman sitting between Sho and Ogura bowed to everyone with a charming smile. Sho thought the fangirls were pretty civilised to give Shoko the deserving applause, even though they were bounded by strict conditions to appear on the set of Arashi no Shukudai-kun. After all, fangirls weren’t always keen on female guests.

“So, Michiro-san, you just got married recently?” Sho remarked, “Was the wedding held at the beach in Okinawa?”

The audience went into fits of ‘ooooh’ing. There was a chorus of ‘sugoi’ and ‘it must be a really beautiful wedding’ from along the couch. Sho read the cue cards in his hand and continued, “You also mentioned a wedding at sunset, bridesmaids showering the married couple with rose petals, a reception dinner at a garden—”

“You got that out of a wedding catalogue, did you?” Nino suddenly interrupted with his hand cupping his chin in exaggerated contemplation.

“Sounds more like a woman’s dream wedding,” Jun commented casually, then turned to Shoko, “how much did you spend—”

“I’m not finished!” Sho retorted, and the audience broke into peals of laughter.

Shoko giggled shyly and tried to intervene Jun and Nino’s mild argument, “Well, the beach wedding was my husband’s idea, since he grew up in Okinawa. He chose the layout of the setting, the colour theme, even the daffodils and gladioluses…”

Shoko’s words weren’t registering in Sho’s head. He wasn’t paying attention to Shoko’s soft, melodious voice describing the enchanted imagery of her wedding, and instead he was looking towards the back of the studio, past the cluster of fangirls, past the cameras and the studio crew, at a single woman standing by the corner and watching him intently. She was far away and Sho would have to squint to recognise her face, but he already knew who it was. He felt warm shivers up his skin from that stare and quickly looked back at Shoko. Pay attention, Sakurai, you’re on camera…

“Look at Sho-san’s dreamy expression…!”

“He’s probably dreaming up his own wedding!”

“Am not!” Sho countered, throwing an icy glare at Nino for picking on him.

Nino was unrepentant. He leaned over Ohno and murmured rather mockingly, “Yeah, and I bet the rakki woman walking down the aisle is Hir—OOF!”

Sho had slapped him squarely on the head with his cue cards before he could finish saying that name. “Don’t be ridiculous, oji-san,” Sho smirked, but clearly he was perturbed. For a moment his face was blotched with embarrassment, alarmed that Nino was just this close to breaking loose hell in the form of rabid fangirls.

“You’re looking at the wrong person. THIS is your ojisan,” Nino refuted, elbowing Ohno lightly around the middle. Ohno blinked and stared at Nino for a full 2 seconds, before going, “Eh?”

Everyone laughed. Nino chuckled, and then he exchanged a meaningful glance with Sho. From the slight smirk Nino had, it just dawned on Sho. Nino knew he was going to stop him from saying Hiroki’s name – they knew it full well names weren’t allowed to be randomly mentioned on TV. No… Nino just wanted to tease Sho, and he succeeded in it.

“Sho-san, how about sharing with us your dream wedding, then,” Jun challenged, an amused twinkle in his eyes.

Sho inwardly groaned. It seemed that Nino wasn’t the only one intent on making his life miserable. He knew it, right from the moment they received this episode’s script, the boys were going to bully him into answering this question. It was inevitable, since among the five of them, he was most likely the first to settle down. But unlike other days when Sho would tolerate any means of being bullied by his bandmates, today he wasn’t in the mood. He didn’t want to answer this question when she was watching…

“Err… in a church, I guess, with family and close friends…” Sho stammered.

“Morning or evening? What song are you going to play? Would you choose an auspicious day to get married? Would you make me your best man?” was Aiba’s first attack.

“Nan de – how should I know?!” Sho exclaimed, sitting upright and looking alarmed, “I don’t think of those stuff.”

“Ehh?! Not even about picking me as your best man?!” Aiba gasped in insult, “What about the flowers? You gotta think about the flowers, at least, right?”

“Isn’t the bride supposed to figure all these out?!”

Then Shoko spoke up with a shy smile, “My husband was the one who arranged almost everything for my wedding.” That got everyone howling with laughter, and an embarrassed and reddened Sho.

“Let’s just go to the food segment now…” Sho huffed in irritation.

“Hai!” Aiba grinned, and pushed out a yellow-boxed cart. “These are Turkish buns which is Shoko-san’s favourite. I personally baked them myself!”

“This is going to be interesting,” Jun commented, moving closer and inspecting the yellow box hiding the dish.

“Matsujun, don’t be mean!” Aiba pouted, and then he lifted up the box, revealing a few golden brown butter buns with dabs of cream on it.

“Ohhhh, sugoi!” Shoko breathed in delight. Excitedly she grabbed one bun and bit a chunk off. A look of pure bliss washed over her face. “Oishii!” she gasped. “It tastes curious, ne, but yet the spices blend really well!”

As Ohno and Jun started attacking the buns, Sho stood politely at the back and peered at them inattentively. Then Nino suddenly leaned over to Sho and whispered into his ear, “She’s here.”

Sho elbowed him in the ribs and gave him a pay-attention-already-dammit glower, but he knew Nino already saw him through and through.

“You bunch of high school kids, you two can’t even make one move to make our lives better. All this shyness and girly embarrassment is driving us crazy!” Nino swore.

Sho fixed him a blank look, and simply replied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Nino rolled his eyes. It seemed like Sho was the only one who didn’t know everyone knew he liked Hiroki. It was hard not to notice them exchanging brief glances and then turning away with evident blushes. Every inch of their faces said they liked each other more than they could call each other friends or colleagues, but they weren’t making any moves. Hence, the frustration. And Nino’s particularly peevish mood today.

Jun eyed Sho while he chewed on the Turkish bun, and sighed. He then stared at Nino, who stared back at him, and they both knew they had to intervene. If Sho and Hiroki weren’t going to do anything about it, then the evil geniuses of a sadistic nature would have to take charge.

When they looked back at Sho, they caught his lips curving into a knowing smile, for just a moment before he put on his mask of obscurity and reached out for a bun. He bit off a huge chunk, chewed it solemnly, and then nonchalantly remarked to the nearest camera, “Maximum umai.”

- ~ -

Hiroki flipped her phone close. She’d just got off the phone with Ichida, whom she was confirming with about Arashi’s press conference tomorrow afternoon to promote their new single. It was her biggest project thus far, and she wanted everything to run smoothly up to the perfect detail so she could impress not only her supervisor, but the snotty manager whom she concluded she would never get along with. They could never agree on the same matter, and when on rare occasions they did, they would start contradicting their points. That was the only frustration in Hiroki’s otherwise-satisfactory job. She had started to enjoy travelling around with Arashi.

A few studio crewmembers passed by and she wished them, “Otsukaresama!” Filming for Arashi no Shukudai-kun had ended half an hour ago, and the crew was packing things up. A few fangirls lingered, trying to catch another up-close glimpse of their idol, but were shooed away by Arashi’s manager. Hiroki remained where she had been for the past two hours, leaning against the wall at the back of the stage where filming was held.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Throughout filming, there were times when she thought Sho was watching her, but in the next second he would look back to the guest and acted as if he hadn’t spotted her at all. She knew his every move was being recorded on camera and had every right to control his appearance, but she still felt exceedingly disappointed. No matter how many times she watched them, through their photoshoots, through their filmings, through their dance practices, she still couldn’t conceal the churning sensation in his stomach, and her constant craving to see him, to be near him.

“Hiroki!”

She flung her eyes open and stood rigid as Jun approached her. “Matsumoto-san,” she greeted.

“I’m cooking dinner at my flat tonight and the guys are coming. You’re invited too,” he said enthusiastically. However, it didn’t seem like an invitation; in fact, he seemed dead set on bringing her over, because he was pressing on her shoulders and already guiding her down the corridor.

“But… Mayu…!” Hiroki promised her roommate earlier they could have okonomiyaki to celebrate the end of her exams. Due to their clashing schedules, what with Hiroki’s flexible work hours and Mayu’s exams, they hadn’t hung out for a long time. Mayu wouldn’t be happy to know Hiroki was going to ditch her for some pretty boys.

“Who? Nevermind, just call her and tell her your presence is ordered or someone will be punished…” Jun’s voice trailed off, and he smirked.

Hiroki gave him her most pitiful and pleading eyes, but none of it worked on the notoriously elegant sadist himself. She tried to create any excuses, but they were already nearing the backdoor of the studio, where the rest of Arashi was waiting for them. They cheered at the sight of Hiroki and patted a stoic Sho, and Jun winked at him.

“Okay, okay, okay, I’ll come with you, but let me just make a phone call, alright?” Hiroki reasoned, and before waiting for an answer, she whipped out her phone and deftly dialled Mayu’s number. The call was picked up almost immediately.

“Hiroki? You said you were coming fifteen minutes ago!” Mayu almost shrilled.

“Gomen, Mayu, I got held up and filming was delayed,” Hiroki lied, ignoring the surrounding men’s raised eyebrows. “Listen, I can’t make it for dinner tonight. My boss wants me to go out for a drink, and my supervisor doesn’t want a ‘no’,” more white lies, “I can’t turn them down, they’re my superiors. I’m sorry! We’ll have okonomiyaki tomorrow night, alright?”

“Oi,” Sho called from outside the door, “I’m starving! Hurry up or we’re leaving without you!”

There was an awkward silence on the other end of the line. “Do my ears deceive me, or is that Sakurai Sho I hear?” Mayu asked quietly.

Hiroki’s face burned with embarrassment. Sho walked up to her, attempting to snatch her phone away, but she pressed her hand to his chest and pushed him away, putting him at an arm’s length as she desperately tried to think of another lie. “Errrr… my supervisor’s a close friend of Sakurai-san, and to be honest Sakurai’s a downright idiot. I don’t know what you see in him… anyways I really gotta go, bye!” and she pressed the ‘End Call’ button before Mayu could argue.

“Nice lies,” Sho commented.

“You almost ruined my perfect lie!” Hiroki snapped, shutting her phone roughly. She almost came out with another unkind remark when she noticed her hand was still on his chest. Her eyes widened, and she quickly retracted her hand, her face reddening so badly that she almost hid behind Jun, who stood between them.

“Stop making fun of her, let’s go already!” Jun whined.

All of Arashi except Aiba carpooled today, so they all headed to Jun’s flat in Aiba’s Toyota. It wasn’t a bright idea to squeeze all six of them in the car, because with Jun in the front passenger seat (“I’m cooking your food, so I should have some sort of privilege here,” Jun sneered, and closed the door. He even helpfully locked it before Nino could rip it open), Ohno, Nino, Sho, and Hiroki were forced to squeeze themselves into the backseat. They debated for a full two minutes on how they should sit: Sho, with his intelligent-beyond-all-cracked-idols Keio brain, suggested Ohno and Nino sat at the edge of the seat so Hiroki and him could have some space. But Aiba had a much better suggestion, which everyone happily agreed on.

Now Ohno and Nino were sitting comfortably, with Nino immersed in his Nintendo DS and Ohno staring at the passing headlights, and Hiroki was propped on Sho’s lap.

“How’re you two coming along back there?” Aiba asked happily, peering at them through the rearview mirror.

“Fine,” they both muttered, and looked away.

Hiroki clutched the door handle for dear life, because if she didn’t, she would have to lean against Sho’s chest for support. They didn’t touch each other, except for her butt and the back of her legs touching his thighs, but that touch itself was sending her heart into urgent fits of throbbing, she felt as though it would rip out any moment now. All the while she pretended to be distracted with the Tokyo nightlights outside the window so Sho wouldn’t see her reddened face.

“So, Hiroki-chan, how old are you?” Aiba inquired.

“Why’re you suddenly asking that?” Jun asked suspiciously.

“Nothing, it’s just out of curiosity…”

Hiroki was rather glad to be distracted from her current situation, and obliged to entertain Aiba. “I turn twenty-four in November,” she told him.

“You’re younger than all of us here…” Jun noted, sounding between sceptical and amazed. He turned his head around and grinned, “You should call us oniisan.”

“Don’t make me call you ‘Jun-chan’,” Hiroki countered, but her sniggers were short-lived when Jun practically froze her with his glare.

“Ne, you’re just almost three years younger than Sho-chan,” Aiba said happily, and through the rearview mirror Hiroki could see he had a fatherly smile spread across his face.

Hiroki narrowed her eyes. “What’s that supposed to—”

Aiba made an abrupt right-turn and everyone suddenly lurched to the left. In alarm, Hiroki almost fell onto Nino, but Sho caught her waist and held her tightly. “Watch your driving!” Sho warned Aiba.

“Sumimasen, I almost forgot Matsujun’s flat is through this way,” Aiba apologised, but he exchanged triumphant grins with Jun.

Hiroki turned her head sharply to Sho and ogled at him. “What’re you doing?” she whispered. He pointed at his arms which were around her waist and she was pressed deeper against his chest.

“Holding onto you so you don’t fall again,” Sho replied simply, and was silent again. They remained that way until they reached Jun’s flat, and unknowingly, deep down it was the best fifteen minutes they had ever shared.

~