Mercurial Dreams – Chapter Sixteen

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: OMGGGGGGGG I haven’t updated in months!!! I hate how I’m been busy nonstop – first it was exams, and right after exams it was work… I really wanted to update my stories, but I had a stubborn writer’s block! I struggled really hard to edit this chapter (I had written this earlier, wayyy before my exams), but I pulled through for the sake of my lovely readers (who had me on a guilt trip when you guys sent emails and pestered me asking when an update is coming along XD). Thank you so much if you’re still reading this story – I wouldn’t have done it without your support. I’m updating Chapter 16 because I feel I need to reward you guys. You rock <3

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Mercurial Dreams
Chapter Sixteen

Outside the dressing room, there were approaching footsteps thundering down the corridor, and out of a sudden Aiba barged into the room in full steam. He stopped short, his intense eyes scanning the two figures so caught up in each other on the sofa, and his jaw dropped dramatically.

“So it’s true!” he squealed, “Matsujun told me you both are alone here, but I didn’t know things had progressed that well. Sho-chan, YATTA NE!”

With a blank look, Sho glanced at himself and then at Hiroki. There was nothing explicit about their positions on the sofa, as Aiba wrongly interpreted – they were only sitting side by side so very innocently, Hiroki’s head was cradled on his shoulder while Sho’s hand was massaging the back of her head to ease the headache.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sho dismissed airily.

“Oooooooooh! Am I interrupting something here? Oh wait, wait, WAIT! Oh my, oh — I’m sorry! I’ll go out so you can continue your, errrr, activity.” And with a wink, he tumbled out of the room as fast as he had entered.

Sho stared at the closed door in perplexity, and then slapped his forehead with his palm, softly cursing, “That baka… doesn’t even know what he’s talking about. And where’s that damned milkshake?”

He went silent when he heard Hiroki swear under her breath, her body shuddering violently when another wave of fierce pounding attacked the back of her head. In a moment of pique she half-joked, “Either you keep talking, or I’m going to bang my head against the dressing table…”

“Even if it’s nonsense?” Sho asked with a poker face.

Hiroki chuckled softly and patted his arm. “No, thanks. But thanks for the effort.”

“I can take you home if you want,” Sho offered.

Hiroki was sorely tempted by his offer. She did want to go home and crawl into bed, and to soothe her headache in comfy hibernation. But from reading Sho’s Rolex watch, it was only seven in the evening. Arashi had to return to the dance studio after the photoshoot and wouldn’t be released until 10pm earliest.

“…where’s your manager?” she suddenly asked.

Sho shrugged. “Last I saw him, he said he had a meeting with Johnny-san and most likely won’t be around for the rest of the day.”

Hiroki silently cheered in triumph. Trying to hide her smile, she said solemnly, “Hmm… I guess I could just slip away tonight…”

Sho, on the other hand, didn’t bother to hide his mischievous smile. “Y’know, Manager-san isn’t such a terrible guy. He’s been with us for a few years now and he’s really professional with his job.”

Hiroki shook her head in vague disagreement. “I’m afraid his professionalism is the only good thing I can praise him for.” And Sho laughed.

“C’mon, I’ll take you home,” he said. He gently adjusted her head against the back of the sofa and got to his feet.

“But you’re in the middle of your photoshoot. You can’t ditch your work,” she argued, her eyes following him as he picked up his T-shirt from a nearby chair.

“I’m done with my part so I’ve been relieved. Besides, we’re not scheduled for the dance practice ‘til nine. I’ve got time,” he explained. With sheer nonchalance, he took off his shirt and changed into his own T-shirt. Hiroki’s eyes widened, and she quickly looked away before he noticed the darkening colour in her cheeks.

“C-Cover yourself, please,” she squeaked.

Sho seemed particularly amused. “This morning I was showing more skin than this and I almost got mauled, and now you’re actually embarrassed?”

Hiroki spun her head a whole 180 degrees and threw him a murderous glare, despite the rising heat she felt in her face. It didn’t not help that he was smirking at her.

“I’m just teasing!” he laughed. He helped her up and draped an arm around her shoulders as he carried her bag in his other hand. “You just lean on me, I’ll guide you,” he said, and he led the out.

For an unexpected moment, Hiroki thought she felt a sort of warmth generated from his words build up in the pits of her stomach. It puzzled her, but this time she didn’t deny she liked the tremendous comfort she felt. She felt so protected by him that she didn’t even notice the gawking stares from crewmembers they passed by, or even when Sho stopped for a while to speak to one of the assistants, telling him to call up the van to pick them up as well as pass a message to his, before they headed towards the backdoor of the studio.

Outside, the dusk sky was strewn in a hazy painting of red, orange and black, leaving a melancholic ease to the atmosphere. They waited outside the door for the van to arrive, awkward silence building between them. Sho still supported her with his arm, but from out of the corner of her eyes Hiroki thought she saw him gazing at her with such intensity that it made her uncomfortable.

“What?” she spoke out uneasily. She didn’t dare look at him.

“It’s nothing,” he replied softly, an almost unnoticeable crack in his voice, “it’s just that… you look beautiful in the setting sunlight.”

Hiroki held her breath. Slowly she looked up and almost gasped at the serene, almost adoring expression set deeply in his glowing face. It was so quiet, time must have stopped between them. They stared into each others’ eyes for what could have been forever, and Sho lowered his face to hers…

Out of nowhere, there was a loud commotion going on somewhere along the alley to their left, which was blocked off by a towering wooden gate. Loud voices rung out in the humid air, tinged with agitation and authority followed by some shuffling. Sho and Hiroki gawped in bewilderment towards that direction, wondering what sort of trouble could occur in a relatively small and fiercely-protected studio, which was frequented by Johnny’s bands thanks to its severe privacy.

“I’m sorry, but we cannot allow you through. Only authorised personnel and clients are allowed into this area,” a man’s voice reprimanded.

“We’re especially strict with female fans who stalk our clients, or in this case, Arashi,” another man sneered.

Just in time, the van arrived and stopped at the corner of the back parking lot. Sho clicked his tongue in annoyance and ushered Hiroki hurriedly towards the van. “Probably another overzealous fan…” he sighed.

A female voice spoke out. “Wait – listen! I’m not here to see Arashi, I’m looking for my friend! I was told that she’s supervising some photoshoot here…”

That panicky voice made Hiroki stop in her stride. She creased her eyebrows in deep thought to try and recognise that familiar voice. “Mayu…?”

“Who?” Sho asked.

“Oh no…” Hiroki groaned, putting her face in her hand. In the unprecedented and much-regretted events which had occurred in the past twenty-four hours, she hadn’t considered the consequences of having Mayu discover she had ditched their promised okonomiyaki celebration to having dinner with Sho (and the nonexistent bosses). Knowing that pesky university undergrad, whose lifelong ambition was to become a determined wife to Sakurai Sho, Hiroki just knew she wouldn’t be let off easy and unscathed.

“Please, I’m telling the truth here!” Mayu’s voice begged.

A guy snorted in disgust. “Yeah, and I’m Johnny Kitagawa myself, ho ho ho—HEY!”

There was a loud shuffling and muffled squeaks, and then thudding footsteps came running towards the fence. In the next second, the wooden gate flung open and Mayu sprinted through with the two burly security guards hot on her heels.

“COME BACK!” one of them yelled after Mayu.

Mayu continued to run, but the security guards were surprisingly swift and they caught her by the shoulders, cuffing her arms and almost lifting her off her feet. Just then, Mayu noticed Hiroki and struggled wildly against the men. “Ohmigod, there you are!” she shrieked. “Hiroki-chan, TASUKETE!”

Hiroki stepped up and put her hand out. “Don’t worry guys, she really is my friend.”

“SEE? I TOLD YOU!” Mayu shouted.

The security guards released Mayu and bowed quickly. “Gomenasai, Hiroki-sama! We did not know!” And quickly they scooted away to avoid further humiliation.

Hiroki rounded on Mayu, about to demand her intrusion into a strictly-prohibited area, when she noticed the wide-eyed, bedazzled look in her face. She followed the direction of which she was staring at (target: an uncomfortable Sho) with her jaw dropped in such shock and speechlessness, she seemed as though she was going to faint anytime soon.

“S…S…S…S…Sakurai…san…” she stammered.

Sho gave Hiroki a questioning sideward glance, and whispered quickly, “You said she was your friend.”

“Friend and maniac Arashi fan,” Hiroki remarked while rolling her eyes.

Mayu bowed in greetings to Sho. “Hajimemashite! I’mMayuI’mafriendofHiroki’s,” she almost shrieked, speaking so quickly that Sho almost couldn’t catch it.

“Err, Sakurai Sho desu,” he replied, bowing awkwardly.

Concluding that Mayu was going to jump onto Sho any moment, Hiroki decided to stand between the both of them for the sake of Sho’s safety. “Mayu, what’re you doing here?!” she hissed quietly.

Mayu snapped out of her dreamy state and glared at Hiroki. “I’ve been worried all day and night, wondering if you got raped by your boss, and the first thing you do when you see me is ask what I’m doing here?!” she gasped.

“It’s not that…” Hiroki refuted. She suspected Mayu’s sudden appearance had nothing to do with her, and EVERYTHING to do with Sho.

Mayu pulled Hiroki closer and muttered hotly, “And what’re you doing with Sho?! I know you lied to me and had dinner with him last night – are you having dinner with him tonight too?”

A-ha!

“Erm, actually, I’m just taking her home. She’s not in a good condition to work, actually,” Sho filled her in helpfully, “she’s got a hang—eurgh—I mean, headache.” He glowered at Hiroki while massaging the spot on his arm where she had pinched him hard.

Mayu blushed furiously, having been unintentionally overheard by Sho. Nervously she averted her gaze and began fussing over Hiroki. “A headache, you say? C…C…C’mon, let’s go home. Sakurai-san, are you driving us?” she asked eagerly.

Sho jabbed his thumb towards the white van behind him. “Nope, our driver is. Hop on.”

Mayu enthusiastically climbed onto the backseat and Sho helped Hiroki up to the middle seat, ignoring Mayu’s narrowed eyes. Mayu almost protested when Sho got in and sat down beside Hiroki, mostly because he had his back turned to Mayu.

“So, where do you live?” Sho asked, looking at Hiroki.

Before Hiroki could answer, Mayu fervently piped in. “Ikebukuro! Miyazaka area, to be exact.”

The driver nodded and drove down the road to the main street. Hiroki was left feeling rather irked by her roommate’s behaviour – Mayu had never shown this much avidness for anything, until it involved a certain Keio University graduate. She fought the urge to tell Sho everything she hated about her, but she clamped her lips together into a grim line and stared out of the window, feeling nothing but a stinging pain caused by Mayu’s fake cheeriness.

“So, Sakurai-san,” Mayu started, leaning forward and poking her head between Sho and Hiroki, “You graduated from Keio, right?”

Without sparing a glance at her, Sho nodded. “Yeah…”

Mayu squealed so suddenly that Sho and Hiroki jumped an inch in their seats. “What a coincidence!” she cried out joyously, “I’m studying at Keio, too!”

Hiroki fought very hard to stop herself from snorting aloud. What a white-faced liar, Mayu was, absolutely unashamed to lie when Hiroki knew fully well she was a student at Showa University!

“Oh, really?” Sho wondered aloud, raising his eyebrow and glancing at Hiroki helplessly.

“Yes! So, you are my senpai!” Mayu declared, and giggled in a painfully-sugary tone.

“What degree are you studying?” Sho interrogated.

“Business Administration,” Mayu answered shortly.

“Aaah, Business, I remember Yatsukawa Shinochi-sensei was the head professor for Business. Really funny guy. Is sensei still teaching there?”

“Erm, yeah… I guess,” Mayu stammered. Sho’s unexpected attack succeeded in shutting her up, and Hiroki gave Sho a grateful smile. Blissful silence greeted them… before an unrepentant Mayu started tackling again.

“By the way, how did you get so familiar with my Hiroki-chan? I don’t remember her mentioning you at all…” Mayu pointed out, and gave Hiroki a suspicious eye.

My Hiroki-chan?

“Oh, Hiroki,” Sho breathed, relieved to be able to talk about something he was actually interested in. “I’ve known her for quite a while now.”

“Really…?” Raised eyebrows. A nervous Hiroki.

“Yeah,” Sho beamed, “She’s now working for Arashi…”

Oh. My God. Sho, please, shut up! Don’t say a word. DON’T. SAY. A. WORD. DO NOT OPEN YOUR—

“…as our PR agent.”

In Hiroki’s mind, a very colourful string of curses were uttered unabashedly. She had feared this. She had a very good reason to hide this small information from Mayu for so long, all for the good of maintaining a healthy friendship free of scrutiny and jealousy. There was a niggling feeling in her gut that told her she couldn’t trust Mayu when it came to her job, and she was right. That memory of Mayu, clutching tightly to her and whispering cruelly “Sakurai Sho is mine” was still fresh in her mind.

“Wow, how come I’ve never heard this yet?” Mayu inquired quietly, now casting dark eyes at Hiroki. An awkward silence fell on them. Then suddenly, Mayu burst into laughter. Sho and Hiroki turned around and stared at her weirdly.

“For a moment I thought Hiroki-chan was hiding something from me!” she laughed, “but Hiroki-chan tells me everything!”

Sho shifted his eyes between Hiroki and Mayu, clearly baffled by Mayu’s odd behaviour. Hiroki was saved from doing the explaining, because the van had halted. “We’re here!” The driver announced chirpily to them.

Once out of the van, Mayu led Sho excitedly up to their apartment on the fourth floor. Outside their door, while Mayu was rummaging through her bottomless bag for her keys, Hiroki grabbed Sho’s sleeve and whispered exasperatedly into his ear, “Don’t talk about my job anymore or Mayu will skin me alive.”

“Why?” he whispered back.

Hiroki didn’t answer, but she shook her head pleadingly. To emphasise on her point, she ran a finger across her throat to demonstrate a sliced throat. Sho found it amusing, and a soft chuckled growled deep in his throat. That beautiful melody of laughter almost made Hiroki smile.

Once Mayu finally unlocked the door and strutted into the ganken in all her unabashed glory, Hiroki hesitated and stopped Sho from entering. “You don’t need to come in – you’ve brought me home safely and that’s really kind of you. Thank you.”

Sho was about to argue, but Hiroki shook her head firmly. She then nudged the tip of her hand over her shoulder at Mayu’s direction, mouthing that she didn’t want Sho to be ravaged any further by Mayu.

“You should stay away from her… in fact, I think you should be more careful around me, now that Mayu has found out about my job,” Hiroki sighed.

“She’s kind of… weird,” Sho said lamely, for lack of a more descriptive word.

“More the reason for you to stay away from her,” Hiroki advised with resolute, “I just don’t want any trouble around you, knowing that Mayu’s…” …a fanatic fangirl. But Hiroki couldn’t seem to say it in front of Sho. “Anyways,” she coughed, “you better get going. Oyasumi.”

She turned and was about to head into the apartment, when Sho caught her hand and held her back. She levelled him a curious look, but he was quiet. Their hands clutched together formed a bridge between them, recreating what’s lost of the magical moment from earlier at the studio’s back parking lot when Hiroki swore he was going to kiss her.

Sho broke the silence with a caring murmur. “Don’t stress out too much, alright?”

Not when I have comfort from you.

With a slow nod, Hiroki squeezed his hand in silent reply, and went in.

~